In the fall of 1961, only three pledges went through “Hell Week”. In those days, hazing was still going on. You can imagine with only three pledges and a houseful of actives, the pledges were kept busy. 

In those days, we ate all our meals at the house. During Hell Week, we ate out of a trough. The food was still good, clean, etc., but it was all mixed up and you couldn’t use utensils or your hands. Talk about interesting.

Whenever you were not in a class, which attendance was mandatory, or during study hours, which were also mandatory, you were at the call of the actives.

You were not allowed to tell anyone you were going through Hell Week. You wore feed sacks under your regular clothes, but you could not see any part of them if you were in public.

On Hell Night, we were “painted” head to toe—only water colors, not commercial paint. There was The Red Knight (all red), The Black Knight (ditto) and The Joker (half green, half blue, that changed from side to side at the waist. Guess who the joker was—yep! After that night, we were done! For 3 days after that, I was still getting rid of blue and green Tempra paint when I showered!

It sounds horrific now, but we were never in danger, and I remember that week fondly even 50+ years later. It was more than worth it to follow in my father’s and uncle’s footsteps to become a Delt!

-(Hugh) David Smeltzer, GU 1964