Conrad Eberstein ’65 talks about growing up in New Jersey, and his time in SigEp

Pictured with former District Governor Joe Langella (’83 CT Alpha).

Conrad was born in Manhattan, raised on a small farm in rural New Jersey, and graduated from Penn in 1965 (and Penn Law in 1968).

As a student in elementary school, Conrad became fascinated with Presidential “politics” and was often teased by his teachers who asked him what he did between campaigns.  Hunterdon County, NJ, was a bastion of Republicanism, split between Taft and Eisenhower wings, but to young Conrad, it was natural to favor Ike.  He deeply admired the ethical Senator Taft, but Ike’s grin did it for him.  Only later did he “find” Adlai Stevenson, and switched allegiance to the Democrats. 

In high school, Conrad raised $1,000 from his hometown to create a memorial of 30 trees along the highway of his school to hail the late State Senator Samuel L. Bodine who, in addition to having graduated from the predecessor high school in 1916, was the chair of the  New Jersey Republican State Committee.

In 1959, a rather impressive tree dedication ceremony was held in assembly at Conrad’s high school.  The dedicatory speaker was NJ Governor Robert B. Meyner and one attendee, among many state dignitaries, was then Assemblywoman Millicent Fenwick, later of Doonsbury fame.

In 1960, Conrad was selected to be his high school’s first American Field Service summer exchange student and lived a small town near Bordeaux.  His French family was headed by a medical doctor.  He, his wife, 2 children and Conrad all drove to the south of France on an August vacation.  Conrad visited Carcasonne, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, La Ciotat and St. Tropez in what was an almost life-changing experience–certainly broadening.  

“The first time I saw the azure blue of the Mediterranean, I was transfixed.  My experience of ocean color had been limited to places like Asbury Park and Harvey Cedars along the NJ coast, and the contrast between the two was literally eye-opening.”

While in France, the Democrats nominated JFK and LBJ in LA, and there was a time, as the family was driving along the coast of the Riviera, when Conrad had his nose in the Herald Tribune, resulting in his French sister’s displaying displeasure in his not enjoying the scenery.  “I learned a bit about diplomacy in that situation,” Conrad reflected. 

Soon enough, Conrad found his way to Penn where he was introduced to SigEp by a fellow AFS exchange student from Baltimore.  The chapter had a Baltimore contingent and Conrad seemed to fit in.  While a “pledge,” Conrad created another fundraising venture called “Student Orchestra Support,” to secure collegiate support for Philadelphia’s great orchestra, and was personally thanked by Eugene Ormandy, the famed Orchestra conductor.

At SigEp, Conrad met a number of alumni who came one evening for an alumni board meeting.  Among the board members were three members of the Class of 1955, Clarke Glennon, George Quinn, and Vince Rettew, later to be joined by Aram Jerrehian.  Conrad got hooked, and the rest, so to speak, is history.

During the summer of 1965, Conrad was offered an internship by Anthony D. “Red” Herbst, 1929, at the Bell Telephone Company, right near Suburban Station and City Hall.  1929 was another of many distinguished Penn Delta classes, which also included Chapter Counselor Charles R. Hilton, and long-time alumni board president A. H. Broadbent.  

Conrad became familiar with many other alumni going back to the chapter’s first president, Otto G. Wiedman, 1906, C. Edward Paxson, 1908, Charles S. Thompson, 1914, who was elected Grand President of SigEp in 1949, and the indomitable J. Bedford Wooley, 1916, an architect who took care of our 3909 Spruce Street chapter house until it was subsumed by an expanding University 

Several other alumni made strong impressions upon Conrad, included David Leslie Washington St. Clair Ffrench, 1951, Donald F. Sontag and Rodgers Vaughn, both 1953, and Gerald L. Robinson, ’54.

The effort to purchase 4028 Walnut needed the approval of the University Trustees, and Sun Oil President, Robert G. Dunlop, 1931, introduced the enabling resolution to the University Trustees (which passed).  Other University Trustees from Penn Delta at about that time included Charles S. Wolf, 1943, and John Bixler, 1949.

Conrad served as chapter president, president of the Young Democrats in 1964, vice president of the IFC, and chair of his class’s on-campus 25th Reunion Fund.  Conrad was inducted into the Sphinx Senior Society (and was awarded a $500 scholarship by the William L. Phillips Foundation, now the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, to attend Penn Law.). 

There is more to tell, of course, and you’ll need to come to our McCron Gathering at The Penn Club on March 30th to hear “the rest of the story.”