Committee: I, state your name.
Stroock: I, state your name...Committee: That joke was played in 1980.
Stroock: Whatever.
Committee: Shall we begin?
Stroock: Why not?
Committee: Did you consume alcohol in college?
Stroock: Did I ever.
Committee: Did you, at any time, consume alcohol as a minor?
Stroock: You mean before college?
Committee: If you like.
Stroock: Sure.
Committee: Even though it was illegal?
Stroock: Especially becuase it was illegal.
Committee: Where did you get this alcohol?
Stroock: Being the early 90's, one could still order a beer if one was out with one's parents. And, my parents allowed me to have a beer at home on the weekends. Also I had Irish friends up the street. Their dad had, like, a case of Jameson's in the basement. Soooo....
Committee: Do you still like beer?
Stroock: I still like beer.
Committee: Did you ever blackout from drinking?
Stroock: No. Never.
Committee: Why not?
Stroock: Becuase I could hold my liquor.
Committee: Did you ever throw up?
Stroock: Yes, first time I up and chucked from booze was at Wesley College in the fall of 1992. Budd Hall had an Around the World Party. I did 19 shots in an hour and half. I was lucky I was displacing about 210 those days.
Stroock. A!X!P!
Committee: There's no need to pound the table like that.
Stroock: Fuck yeah there is...AXP in the houuuuuuuuse!
Committee: Is that really necessary? 1993 was a long time ago. Oh, never mind. Would you say you were pressured to drink when pledging your frat?
Stroock: Fraternity. You wouldn't call your country a....
Committee: That will be fine.
Stroock: No one needed to pressure me to drink. I just drank. And drank, and drank, and drank...
Committee: Thank you....would you say you drank a lot then?
Stroock: Absolutely.
Committee: How much?
Stroock: As much as possible.
Committee: Seriously.
Stroock: Whose joking?
Committee: Did you drink to excess?
Stroock: Define excess.
Committee: So much so that you threw up?
Stroock: Not only did I throw up, I boot-n-rallied.
Committee: Boot-n-rallied?
Stroock: I threw up, and then started drinking again.
Committee: And you thought this was good?
Stroock: I thought it was fucking awesome.
Committee: No there's no need for that language.
Stroock: Yes there is. A!X!P!
Committee: Thank you...How would you describe your place in the fraternity?
Stroock: Oh, I was the fraternity weirdo. Frankly, the tri-delts didn't like me much. But I liked AXP. And drinking. I think guys would say, 'Hey what's up with him,' and brothers would reply, 'Oh that's Will. He's in the corner, drinking. He called and asked, what time you guys getting the keg? I said eight, he said, great be there at 8:15. He's usually the first one here and the last to leave.
Committee: What kind of beer did you drink?
Stroock: Usually Naty Light.
Committee: Naty Light?
Stroock. Natural Light. But I vividly remember walking down to Driftwood Liquor and picking up a keg of Beast.
Committee: Beast?
Stroock: Milwaukee's Best.
Committee: So Alpha Chi Rho was basically a drinking organization.
Stroock: Oh, I wouldn't say that. We had events, participated in parades, had homecoming floats. All brothers were on call at all times to help with homework, studying and the like. We ran a study group to make sure the pledges kept their grades up.
Committee: Did AXP haze pledges.
Stroock: Sure. In fact kidnapping was a big deal.
Committee: Kidnapping?
Stroock: You'd grab a pledge, throw him in the back of a car with another pledge, take him to a brother's apartment, see if he knew the Greek alphabet, AXP history and what not.
Committee: Anything else?
Stroock: I got dumped off at Port Mahon once and had to walk back. There was like ten of us though, so it was safe. There was nothing malicious about that sort of thing. Everyone knew it was all in good fun. Hazing was never, ever mean spirited.
Committee: What else did pledges have to do.
Stroock: Pledge pin. Carry around a paddle and not lose it under any circumstances. Escorting. You always had to be with another pledge when outside of your room.
In fact I still remember getting sworn in. It was the first real accomplishment of my life.
Committee: You said you were the fraternity weirdo.
Stroock: Yeah. And I know for a fact a lot of guys were surprised when I pledged. But I was accepted without hesitation and earned all the honors and privileges of AXP. So there was a lot more than drinking.
Committee: When would you say your peek college alcohol consumption was.
Stroock: Winter 93-94. Then it fell off.
Committee: Why?
Stroock: As it happens we were having a Super Bowl party, and I thought it would be fun to do a shot for every turnover Buffalo had. You see, the previous year they gave the ball up nine times....
Committee: Oh yeah, right!
Stroock: Anyway, at that party I met this girl.
Committee: And?
Stroock: Well, nature took it's course, and suddenly I was interested in other activities...
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