A Narrative By Gary Lowell - Pledged Spring 1964

At the end of the 1932-1933 school year,

•The economy does not improve with the national unemployment ultimately topping out at almost 25%.

•Russell E. Lawrence starts his own school, Lawrence Institute of Technology.

•The U. of D. Dynamic Club members move to L.I.T. and become the Phi Kappa Upsilon fraternity under the guidance of Russell E. Lawrence.

•Phi Kappa Upsilon members help run and manage L.I.T.36

Beyond Spring 1933

On June 15, 1934, Russell E. Lawrence, at the age of 44, dies and is buried in Terra Haute, IN. His brother, E. George Lawrence, at the age of 26, has the fledgling L.I.T. thrust upon his shoulders as he becomes president. And the relationship between the President of L.I.T., the institution of L.I.T., and the men of the Phi Kappa Upsilon is never quite the same.

Phi Kappa Upsilon sponsors a tribute dinner for faculty, students, alumni, and Detroit industrial leaders. Robert A. Plumb, the first Dynamic Club president is the toastmaster.37

Where once there was a sense of adventure, a shared burden, a shared mission, a partnership – kindred spirits doing good work together with the true warmth and enjoyment of each other’s company – is now gone. The younger Lawrence is a good man who’s businesslike demeanor, needs to concentrate on donations and other fund seeking activities to help stem the tide of red ink, and lack of any long-established and endearing relationship with the fraternity, all resulted in a settling in of a more “professional”, more typical, relationship between a school and a fraternity.

In March 1936, the local and national economy, though slightly improved, continues to challenge L.I.T. E. George Lawrence reached out to Ben Comfort, a well know educator who had been the longtime principal of Cass Technical High School and who is well-connected to local industry, to offer him a deanship predicated upon helping with the schools debt. He declines38

On July 20, 1936, E George Lawrence reaches out to the organization that his brother had been intimately involved with and depended upon, the Phi Kappa Upsilon fraternity. He asks for assistance in finding “good reliable sincere students” for L.I.T.39

In 1938, Albert M. Wagener, a Dynamic Club member, a founding member of the

April 3, 2016

Page 10 of 11

Corporation (BBC) debuts the world's first television service with three hours of programming a day.

•Jesse Owens, a black Alabama native educated at Ohio State University, wins four gold medals (breaks Olympic and world records) in Berlin. Adolph Hitler refuses to recognize the American's achievements.

•Famous sit-down strike happens at General Motors Corporation plants in Flint.

•US Unemployment rate is 16.9%

1937:

•Japan invades China, conquers most of coastal area.

•The dirigible "Hindenburg" explodes at Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36

•Amelia Earhart and co-pilot Fred Noonan vanish over the Pacific Ocean on their Round-the-World Flight.

•Joe Louis becomes heavyweight champ.

•The Golden Gate Bridge is completed.

•Frank Lloyd Wright builds "Fallingwater."

•US Unemployment rate is 14.3%