Championing Our Second Century
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Dear Brother ,
Last month, we celebrated the fact that Psi Chapter turned 103 years old in March. From our early Founders to the undergraduates of today, quite a few men have been part of our history in that time. One of the men who has had made a significant impact on ZBT at the University of Alabama is Harold Blach, Jr. (Theta, '55).
A native of Birmingham, Harold has been a long-time volunteer and advocate for Psi Chapter, and is an inaugural member of the Psi Chapter Hall of Fame. He's certainly seen significant changes during his many years as an adviser, but believes that the impact that Zeta Beta Tau has on young men at the University of Alabama is as meaningful and as strong as ever.
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Donor Profile - Harold Blach, Jr. ('55)
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What prompted you to consider and ultimately join Psi Chapter?
"I enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in 1949, where my father had gone in 1921, and I joined ZBT's Theta Chapter there. In January of 1951 I went back home and transferred to the University of Alabama. I had a great experience at Psi Chapter. Those were great years of my life."
How did the fraternity impact you as an undergraduate?
"It was a great learning experience for me. I was President for 2 of my 4 years as an undergraduate member, and I learned more as President that helped me in business than any class I ever took. I felt it quite an honor to be re-elected after one year because I certainly didn't make a lot of friends in some of the disciplinary actions that were necessary, but they were necessary and I guess they earned me some respect. You might get criticism but you gain respect if you do the correct thing. As a fraternity member, you have learning opportunities that not everybody has in college. The experience broadens you and helps mold you for your adult life."
How has fraternity or college life changed?
"Things are very, very different today! Tuscaloosa was dry county then, so there was no nightlife in town. Everything centered around the fraternities. It was almost unheard of for someone not to join a fraternity, because there was no real social life other than the Greek system. Today, that's not the case.
"And everybody lived in the house back then. We had two sleeping porches with nine double-deck beds in each, with small rooms where we kept our things and studied. We had one bathroom for 36 guys that had three toilets, three sinks, and three showers, so you sometimes had to stand in line! Today they'd mutiny if they had to live like that, but coming out of WWII and during the Korean War, it was the best we had. It was a great experience that I'll never forget."
How did you come to be involved as a volunteer?
"After graduation in 1955 I was asked to serve as a Trustee, which I did. About 1958 I became Principal Trustee, which I was for almost 40 years. That was a real honor to serve that long. I was proud to have followed in the footsteps of some great men -
Joe Hirsch from Birmingham and Florian Strasburger from Montgomery, for example -
but am prouder still of those who followed me, like Jimmy Rotenstreich, Ross Cohen, Louis Tuck, Ken Grodner and, today, David Nomberg.
"I'm proud of the way they've advanced the organization. I was involved in moving the house from next to the football stadium with its expansion in the 1970’s to it’s current location, and worked with Dr. David Mathews, President of the University to make that happen. I'm proud of what that facility has become with additions and modernization projects they've undertaken over the years that keep Psi competitive with other fraternities."
In addition to your time, you've certainly been generous with your philanthropic support of the chapter over the years. What would you say to alumni about supporting the
Championing Our Second Century
campaign?
"I don't think the chapter would be there were it not for the support alumni have given over the years. Psi has been blessed by the generosity of a number of alumni in the past, and continuing that is the only way the organization can survive going forward. ZBT has been a very meaningful part of my life, as I know it has been to others, and i
t's up to us to support Psi chapter so it can survive and be there for their children and grandchildren. Without that support it would eventually vanish from the face of the earth."
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Are You On This List?
The
Championing Our Second Century
campaign is helping our undergraduate members by providing support in three special areas:
- Jewish Heritage & Leadership Training
- Academic Scholarships
- House Improvements
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Anonymous
Altmann, Steven D. 1989
Beringer, Arthur Richard 1942
Berman, Irwin M. 1982
Blate, Kevin S. 1998
Brafman, Marc Matthew 1999
Brown, Milton L. 1954
Bruchis, Marcus L. 1981
Campus Collection
Cofar, Jason A. 1998
Cohen, Mark Phillip 1967
Collat, Charles Benjamin 1990
Davidson, Ruben Seth 1995
Denson, Miles S. 1984
Diamond, Harrison B. 2008
Edwards, Yancy D. 1982
Engel, Lee E. 1998
Fisher, Kevin Raymond 1994
Franco, Paul R. 1988
Friedman, Jordan M. 1999
Geeser, Sherman 1955
Goldberg, Jonah D. 1998
Goldman, Yaron P. 1996
Goldstein, Chet 1986
Gottenberg, Jacob 2018
Grodner, Kenneth Alan 1981
Grodner, Michael A 2011
Halpern, Allen P. 1997
Hanover, Jeffrey Paul 1981
Herman, Michael 1980
Hirsberg, Terry M. 1991
Holberg, Michael R. 1990
Isaacson, Eric S 2011
Katz, Jonathan S. 1987
Kirzner, Bradley Foster 1999
Kosten, Alan L. 1964
Kosten, Lawrence R. 1998
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Kraselsky, Barry R. 1968
Krys, Alan D. 1983
Labovitz, Jerald J. 1976
Leader, Hugh I. 1982
Levingston, Keith D. 1989
Levy, Michael Ian 1994
Lewitt, Faron A. 1997
Lupuloff, Aaron C. 1982
Mazur, Shaun E. 2001
Meisler, Allen M. 1980
Meyrowitz, Blake A 2012
Mintz, Hurwitz
Mintz, Mitchell 1973
Mitman, Todd 2000
Nomberg, David Phillip 1998
Pake, Kevin R. 1990
Reiman, Michael Jacob 1996
Rotenstreich, N. Andrew 1990
Rubenstein, Randy A. 1998
Schulhafer, Louis 1952
Senoff, Joel Allen 1985
Shapiro, Jeffrey Bryan 1987
Shapiro, Lee D. 1998
Shulman, Andy M. 1994
Shulman, William S. 1973
Siegel, Bert Alan 1975
Sikora, Steven 1989
Silver, Paul J. 1988
Smith, W. S. 1996
Sokol, Bruce Henry 1966
Steinmetz, Stephen R. 1979
Stein, Jason Daniel 1980
Tuck, Louis Harold 1980
Weil, Benjamin S. 1990
Weil, Pat
Weinberger, David S. 1979
Weinstein, Bruce H. 1970
Weintraub, Gary M. 1986
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Many thanks, Brother for your generous consideration of support for Zeta Beta Tau. Your help in supporting our second century on campus is much appreciated.
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Championing Our Second Century
Steering Committee
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Paul Silver ('88), Chair
Charlie Collat ('90)
Lee Engel ('98)
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Ken Grodner ('81)
Jerald Labovitz ('76)
David Nomberg ('98)
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