Nothing is more exciting than a college football game, except maybe a once-in-a-lifetime college football game. This month, the University of Arkansas Razorbacks took the field against Arkansas State University’s Red Wolves, which led to a joint tailgate between Alpha Iota Chapter (Arkansas) and Beta Epsilon Chapter (Arkansas State).
Brother Andy Howard, Alumni President for Beta Epsilon Chapter, called Brother Chris Looney Alumni President of Alpha Iota Chapter asking him if the chapter was interested in getting together for this historic game.
“We've always wanted this game, and it never, ever happened,” Brother Josh Michaelis of Beta Epsilon Chapter said. “Well, it finally happened. And we said our Alumni President Andy Howard was on board and said, “let's do a joint tailgate!”
Brother Looney said alumni and collegiate brothers who attended represented classes from the 1960s up to the 2020s, with approximately 50 brothers in attendance and about another 50 spouses and friends.
He said Alpha Iota Chapter brought the tents, tables, chairs and drinks to the reserved tailgate spots, while Beta Epsilon Chapter brought and cooked a full spread of smoked meats and sides. Brother Josh Michaelis organized the meal and cooked, using his skills as a Food Service Administrator for a federal prison system.
“It was a chance for everybody from other chapters that didn't know one another to meet one another and get to know and share that brotherhood experience at a tailgate,” Brother Michaelis said.
Brothers, friends and family got the opportunity to meet AGR brothers from a different chapter, network and enjoy a fun day of friendly competition during the game.
Brother Chris Looney said the football game was overall a great event for the state of Arkansas as the game drew in a large crowd to Little Rock, Arkansas, consisting of people from all over the state. He said it was the first time in a long time that he had seen Little Rock so busy.
Brother Looney said his favorite part of the tailgate was getting to see alumni brothers from both chapters recognize each other and realize that the other is also an AGR.
“They started having conversations and talking, and I think that happened a few times, Brother Looney said. “It's a funny dynamic, but there were a lot of Arkansas State alumni, and our Arkansas State brothers are also Razorback fans. So, they got to root for both teams, and it was a lot of fun for their side. But I think the biggest deal was seeing some of our alumni know some of their alumni and didn't know that they were going to see each other there.”
