Nabor House History
Nabor House Fraternity was founded by five men in 1939. Garrett W. Loy, Burdette B. Lutz, Walter D. Parks, Samuel F. Ridlen, and Bonard S. Wilson teamed together to found a low-cost, Christian, agricultural fraternity. Nabor House started with just seven members and has survived through 80 years and has more than 700 alumni.
The Beginning
In the late 1930s, the economy was still recovering from the Great Depression. Few farm kids could afford to go to the University of Illinois, and those that did had to support themselves by working several jobs at once, jobs which payed just 35 cents per hour. Burdette B. Lutz and Garrett W. Loy moved in together to save as much money as possible while living with someone with a familiar background. Their living arrangements were so modest that they often wore rubbers while studying to save heating costs and deal with the flooding in their basement. A third founder, Samuel F. Ridlen, was living in an attic and cooking his eggs in a tin hung over the furnace.
In a Chemistry lab, Lutz approached Loy about starting a men's cooperative house--a group of men that cooked and cleaned cooperatively to save money. There were women's cooperative fraternities on campus but no male cooperatives. The University did not condone such houses and didn't think it was possible for men to live together without a house mother. Lutz found a 10-man house at 410 W. High St. in Urbana and, with the help of his co-signing parents, leased the property for two years. The landlord and the University both assumed that the men would have a house mother as required by the University's Code on Student Affairs at the time--and Lutz's mother was prepared to move in if mandated--but the early members of Nabors proved self-sufficient, locating low-cost bunks and food while bringing fresh meat and produce from their family farms. The first Nabor House monthly bill was just $14.50.
As the men moved into the house, they noticed comments about how neighborly they were. That neighborly ideal, along with the Good Neighbor parable, proved to be one that the early members of the house came to strive toward. They agreed to name the organization "Nabor House" because "Nabor" was "short, catchy, and distinctive."
On March 27, 1939, the decision was made to incorporate under the State of Illinois nonprofit laws. Nabor House was deemed to be a fraternal organization, so "Fraternity" was added to Nabor House's name, though the group. Those who lived in the house continued to add house functions that endure to this day. They organized the first official rush department and brought in the first Nabor House pledge class, organized Dad's Day and Homecoming house events and outlined pledge duties, focusing on acclimating rural kids to the big University while instilling in them the values of Nabor House.
After Lutz's lease was up, Loy spearheaded an attack to buy a property at 811 W. Oregon St. for $7,500. Though just two years old, Nabor House was an instant hit on campus. What started in a small, seven-person house quickly found the financing to purchase the 19-person capacity house at W. Oregon, and more than 20 men applied for the nine open positions. The house immediately jumped to its capacity and quickly paid off the mortgage by increasing the monthly house bill by almost 50 percent--all the way up to $22 per month.
In a Chemistry lab, Lutz approached Loy about starting a men's cooperative house--a group of men that cooked and cleaned cooperatively to save money. There were women's cooperative fraternities on campus but no male cooperatives. The University did not condone such houses and didn't think it was possible for men to live together without a house mother. Lutz found a 10-man house at 410 W. High St. in Urbana and, with the help of his co-signing parents, leased the property for two years. The landlord and the University both assumed that the men would have a house mother as required by the University's Code on Student Affairs at the time--and Lutz's mother was prepared to move in if mandated--but the early members of Nabors proved self-sufficient, locating low-cost bunks and food while bringing fresh meat and produce from their family farms. The first Nabor House monthly bill was just $14.50.
As the men moved into the house, they noticed comments about how neighborly they were. That neighborly ideal, along with the Good Neighbor parable, proved to be one that the early members of the house came to strive toward. They agreed to name the organization "Nabor House" because "Nabor" was "short, catchy, and distinctive."
On March 27, 1939, the decision was made to incorporate under the State of Illinois nonprofit laws. Nabor House was deemed to be a fraternal organization, so "Fraternity" was added to Nabor House's name, though the group. Those who lived in the house continued to add house functions that endure to this day. They organized the first official rush department and brought in the first Nabor House pledge class, organized Dad's Day and Homecoming house events and outlined pledge duties, focusing on acclimating rural kids to the big University while instilling in them the values of Nabor House.
After Lutz's lease was up, Loy spearheaded an attack to buy a property at 811 W. Oregon St. for $7,500. Though just two years old, Nabor House was an instant hit on campus. What started in a small, seven-person house quickly found the financing to purchase the 19-person capacity house at W. Oregon, and more than 20 men applied for the nine open positions. The house immediately jumped to its capacity and quickly paid off the mortgage by increasing the monthly house bill by almost 50 percent--all the way up to $22 per month.
As WWII continued, able-bodied men were drafted or enlisted in the armed forces. In the fall of 1942, Nabor House dwindled to four members in the house who had not enlisted in the armed forces or been drafted, so the property was rented to two families and a women's group. J. Robert Harris, who was a charter member of Nabor House, coordinated all the renters agreements, since he remained in Champaign due to his failing eyesight making him ineligible for the service. By 1946, Nabor House was back to operating at 100 percent. |
This is the short version? |
Life at 811 W. Oregon St.
Nabor House was one of the few cooperatives to survive WWII, and it did more than survive--it flourished. Nabor House won the Men's Independent Association title for highest GPA 12 times from the late 40s through the 50s and was featured twice in the Daily Illini for being the preeminent independent fraternity at the University of Illinois. (Read one of those stories HERE.)
Nabor House members paid off the mortgage of the house almost entirely on rent, which kept costs even lower than similar agricultural fraternities. The demand to rush the house was so high that the fraternity considered disallowing junior college members, fearing that they wouldn't gain the same depth of appreciation for the house in just two years; however, they were, and still remain, welcome to join.
With the house mortgage completely paid off and demand to join the house at an all-time high, Nabors started considering upgrading its facility yet again. A house at 1002 S. Lincoln Ave. was spotted as a potential location, and in 1965, Nabor House purchased the property previously inhabited by Sigma Sigma Sigma and moved in. The fraternity sold the property at 811 W. Oregon, which it had bought for $7,500, for $50,000, and paid $125,000 for the property on Lincoln, which Nabor House remains to this day. |
How would you like to live at a place where everybody gets a half-housebill? Nabor House accomplishes this. Results, both visible and edible, are surprisingly good, and the time demanded of each member is surprisingly little. And the grades don't suffer, either. Always near the top, Nabor has won several scholarship awards from the Men's Independent Association. |
A New Era: New House at 1002 S. Lincoln Ave.
The men of Nabor House lived in the same building for more than 45 years. In the 2000s, it became apparent that the Nabor House needed either a new house or a major renovation. After years of work with the City of Urbana, Nabor House drew up designs for a new house and obtained a Planned Unit Development from Urbana that ensured a new house could be built at any time. When Urbana upgraded their code requirements, the Nabor House Fraternity Board was faced with a hard deadline to complete either a renovation or new house.
In the summer of 2011, Fraternity Board president Bob Stewart announced plans to forge ahead on a completely new facility. Within the first few months, hundreds of thousands of dollars poured in from alumni across the nation, and the Building Fund went over $1 million in less than a year. The Fraternity Board acted quickly, contracting Homeway Homes to construct the house off-site; as a result, the actives were displaced for only six weeks. In early October 2012, the actives moved in to one of the most state-of-the-art facilities on campus. Thanks to the generous donations of alumni, Nabor House remained the cheapest housing option on campus.
The new facility features 11 study rooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen, a library, a computer lab, and two recreation rooms. It holds a capacity of 42 men, giving Nabors the most square-footage per person of any fraternity on campus.
In the summer of 2011, Fraternity Board president Bob Stewart announced plans to forge ahead on a completely new facility. Within the first few months, hundreds of thousands of dollars poured in from alumni across the nation, and the Building Fund went over $1 million in less than a year. The Fraternity Board acted quickly, contracting Homeway Homes to construct the house off-site; as a result, the actives were displaced for only six weeks. In early October 2012, the actives moved in to one of the most state-of-the-art facilities on campus. Thanks to the generous donations of alumni, Nabor House remained the cheapest housing option on campus.
The new facility features 11 study rooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen, a library, a computer lab, and two recreation rooms. It holds a capacity of 42 men, giving Nabors the most square-footage per person of any fraternity on campus.