Of the acres and acres of farmland that stretch across Eastern Pennsylvania’s flat, fertile expanse, hundreds have been nurtured by Alpha Zeta’s most famous family.
The Seipts have toiled in the dirt, labored in the crop fields and tended to livestock for generations – four of which honed their skills as members of Alpha Zeta’s Morrill Chapter. It’s a pedigree that has been respected and revered by each Seipt that’s found his way past the proud white colonnades and through the doors of the stately red brick house on Burrowes St.
“Nine of us have gone through the fraternity house,” Fred Seipt (’56) says, remembering stories his father Wilbur (’24) would tell about the early days of AZ and how they influenced his own decision to pledge. “My dad was all Penn State. My brother and I both, I don’t think we had any other choices. But I was happy that I joined Alpha Zeta.”
Fred and his older brother Don (’50) raised third-generation Alpha Zetans. Fred’s sons – Vernon (’79), Matthew (’81) and Bill (’88) – along with Don’s son – Doug (’80) – all took early interests in agriculture growing up on their fathers’ farms. They made easy calls to join AZ after following in their grandfather Wilbur’s footsteps.
“It was certainly not a requirement in the family,” Vernon says with a laugh. “But I think my predecessors had a high opinion of Alpha Zeta having been members and coming through that part of the Greek system. It was an easy decision for me.”
So was his decision to return home to help Fred after his graduation from Penn State. Like Vernon, his younger brothers Matthew and Bill helped Fred grow the family business – Freddy Hill Farms in Lansdale.
What started out as a dairy farm derived from Wilbur’s Towamencin Farm, quickly became a destination spot for homemade ice cream. Batting cages, two miniature golf courses, a pro shop, driving range and miniature zoo are all under the Freddy Hill Farms umbrella today.
And it’s that time of year when Fred and his sons get busy with cornstalk mazes, pumpkin patch tours and hayrides, too.
Place a call to Freddy Hill Farms and whoever answers will tell you – “One of the Seipt boys is around here somewhere.”
“It’s developed into so much more,” Fred says, attributing his affable management style to his time in Alpha Zeta. “The camaraderie at the time, it’s all part of fraternity life and I think there are good things to be said about it. I’m happy to have been there and gone through that and obviously my three sons were probably influenced by me a little bit, what can I say?”
Don proudly lists himself as a “retired dairy farmer” on his Facebook profile. Doug spends his days doing what his dad and granddad did, too. His son Tim (’13) recently rejoined the family business in Easton after becoming the second fourth-generation Alpha Zetan from the Seipt Family, the first being his cousin, Bryant Hlavaty (’04).
“Alpha Zeta has been a home to my family for generations,” Tim said in his senior profile. “I was … privileged to call it home, and now it will forever be my home. I knew that the connections and the friendships that were made at AZ will last a lifetime. AZ made my college career one that I will never forget, and for that, I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Although Fred says he’s unsure why the family patriarch Wilbur joined AZ, his reasons were simple. Wilbur used to tell stories about his time in the fraternity and would go visit friends from his college days.
When Fred got to Penn State in the early 50’s, he was armed with his dad’s fond memories and quickly joined a handful of ag clubs and decided easily on a major.
“They called it dairy husbandry then, now it’s dairy science,” he says.
Vernon did the same, finding out early he had a passion for judging events as a member of the dairy science club. He insists he kept an open mind and looked at other ag groups – notably DTS and – but settled on Alpha Zeta after meeting a few brothers.
“I think AZ was a nice alternative certainly to dorm life,” Vernon says. “And I got to intermix and intermingle with like-minded ag majors, which in the dorms, you wouldn’t have necessarily had those around. You might’ve come across one or two on your way by on your floor or in your building, but I think AZ also helped out with leadership development.”
Vernon was president of AZ for a year and has continued to keep tabs on his fellow Alpha Zetans. Fred, now 81, doesn’t use his season football tickets as much as he used to but Vernon, Matthew, Bill and their families do.
They’ve all visited the house within the last decade and have made charitable gifts of more than $3,000 to help support Alpha Zeta initiatives, but Fred is quick to say he’d like to get back more often. He might have another reason to in the near future as a Seipt cousin is currently pledging AZ, continuing the legacy Wilbur began and eight others kept going.
“I hope to get up this fall for Michigan but I don’t know if it’s going to work or not,” Fred says. “I thought fraternity life was great. And it was. It turned out to be a wonderful experience.”
