Indian Frat Boys' Credibility Credited to Road House Film

The University of Georgia's fraternity Sigma Beta Rho, which was founded in May of 2004 as an exclusively Indian brotherhood, once prided itself on being a "different" frat since it hit the scene several years ago. In a 2004 interview, Sigma's president, Vinay Matai, said of his group, “(The fraternity) focuses on social aspects and philanthropy. We want to give back to the community.” However, the goody-two-shoes tide that has added to Georgia's southern hospitality has begun to experience an ebb since Matai's departure in May of '06. Since then, many of Sigma's members have expressed an interest in wanting their fraternity to become more like traditional U.S. fraternities.
* Former Sigma Prez Matai (left) in 2005 after a charity softball game that raised $246 for an area domestic abuse shelter.

So what does a fledgling frat do to try and gain the respect of heavyweights the likes of Tau Kappa Epsilon? This no-nonsense brotherhood decided to pay homage to a fratboy cinematic classic by hosting a Road House-themed bash mere miles from the campus at their duplex frat house.

* Road House, a 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze as James Dalton and a film favorite among young men.

"At first we had a hard time deciding on a date," confessed Samir Shah, Sigma's current president. "I had great ideas, but a lot of the dates just didn't work. We all wanted it to be perfect and memorable, kind of like the Ides of March."

Shah and his collective brethren were despondent after discovering that their first three dates were a wash, recalls Bhavesh Patel. "We wanted to hold the party on Patrick Swayze's birthday, but August 18th didn't work. That's a week before students even arrive on campus."

Sadly, Sigma's other two dates were no better:
* Sam Elliott, who plays Swayze's ol' bar bouncer pal Wade Garrett in Road House, celebrates his birthday on August 9th.

* Road House bad guy Brad Wesley played by Hollywood icon Ben Gazzara. His August 28th birthday would've been more preferable for Sigma, but "it wouldn't have given us enough time to prepare and get the word out on campus," explained Shah.

After the 9-member frat received permission to hold a party from their duplex neighbors on rural Briarwood Lane (a single mother of two and her elderly father), Sigma decided on May 19th as their date of choice, the date when the film was theatrically released in '89.

"May 19th is at the very end of the spring semester," admits Shah, "but it's the best we could do. Only 12 people showed up for our first party [in 2006] most likely because it was advertised as a 'dry' party, but these people stayed around campus just for our bash. Some of them were commuters. It was nice to see a few people dressed up as Road House characters."
* Swayze and Kelly Lynch, the Road House couple.
* Sigma's leader Shah dressed as Swayze, with his guest, Gail Drexler, dressed as Lynch's character. Unfortunately, the two were mistaken by some as Rod Stewart and ex-wife Rachel Hunter.

As for this year's Road House event, it was a commendable success, attracting the frat's 9 members in addition to 18 other university students. If you include one of the boys' neighbors, 72-year-old Gene Flanders, Sigma's soiree had 28 people in attendance.
* Sigma's elderly neighbor Gene Flanders with his dog Beauregard.

"My daughter and her kids were away for the day. The boys knew that, so they invited me over for the party," recalls Flanders. "It was a good time. They appreciated the horse shoes game I set up for them. They're good kids."

Aside from the horse shoes, the activities for this year's bash were a pin-the-tail-on-the-Swayze game set up in the living room and a backyard wiffle ball game that pitted the Brad Wesleys versus the James Daltons. Just the like the film, the Daltons were victorious in a 12th-inning 10-9 defeat.