Pranks, parties created lively frat scene in the past

A look back at times before alcohol was the prime event lubricant.

Lewis recalls an afternoon in the fall of '67 when his fraternity brother, the now-famous David Letterman, and a group of pledges made off with every mattress in the house.

"That was a good one," he said. Lambda Chi Alpha was always a target of their mischief, too.

"We burnt our Sigma Chi letters in their front lawn one year," he said with a laugh. "They were always harmless pranks, but boy were they fun."

So why don't we hear about those kinds of stories anymore? Lewis believes alcohol took much of the camaraderie - and playful competitiveness - out of fraternity life.

"To me, I look at it as this bygone era," he explained. "You have to have the creative mindset to do those kinds of things and that's just fallen to the wayside."

Lewis recalled how fraternity parties back then were more theme-centered than booze-centered. His favorite: a Hawaiian luau co-hosted annually with members of Beta Theta Pi.

"We went all out for that, building a pond and everything," he said.

Pranks, parties created lively frat scene in the past