Polly Akers, Chappie Chapman, and the Alfalfa Eta Society

This is the story of two mischievous students at the Michigan Agricultural College, and a secret society that might never have existed.

Among the many benefactors of Michigan State University, one of its more famous names is that of Forest H. Akers (1886–1966, M.A.C. w/’09). Akers, who worked as a salesman for Reo Motors before moving to Dodge Brothers and eventually heading that division within the Chrysler Corporation, was elected to three successive terms on the Board of Agriculture (1939–1957). His generous donations provided for two golf courses and several scholarships. One of the largest residence halls on campus bears his name. He even arranged for the Pere Marquette Railway to donate a steam locomotive that later served—at least in part—as inspiration for one of the most iconic trains in children’s literature and film (but that’s a different story).

However, as a student at M.A.C., “Polly” Akers—a nickname whose origin is lost—was less devoted to academics than to baseball and mischief. A star pitcher for the Aggies, he also gained a reputation as a prankster. By junior year, his academic standing had slipped badly enough that President Snyder took the unusual step of writing to Polly’s father, politely urging him to withdraw his son from school.¹

This article, though, isn’t just about Polly Akers. One man can only get into so much trouble on his own.

Among his fellow rogues in the Class of 1909 was William Carl Chapman—”Chappie” to everyone. Chappie was widely known across the M.A.C. community, serving as the school’s “yellmaster” (essentially the head cheerleader).^† Like his friend Polly, Chappie did not finish his studies, despite spending six years on the M.A.C. roll.²

Among their escapades, in their sophomore year Chappie, Polly, and their friends invented a secret society: Alfalfa Eta.

Alfalfa Eta was not a recognized student organization, and whether it even existed as anything more than an inside joke is debatable. Still, it left a surprising number of public traces—thanks in large part to Chappie Chapman.

In October 1907, a seemingly normal but decidedly offbeat article appeared in the Lansing Journal newspaper, describing a fencing duel between Chappie and fellow Alfalfa Eta brother Claude “Dunky” Meade. The duel’s absurdities included mismatched weapons—an old French bayonet versus a cavalry sabre—and a veterinary surgeon serving as attending physician. The article carried no byline, but it was very likely written by Chappie and its style closely mirrors his other writings.^{†† 3}

The following January, another Journal article claimed that President Snyder had abolished the group. This author has found no records to support this claim, and no mention appears in the Board of Agriculture minutes. Yet the article, after solemnly announcing the society’s demise, described it in the same ceremonial style used to introduce new literary societies.^††† It included elected officers, chosen colors (red and blue), emblem, and a loosely defined set of by-laws. In this case, all of the specifics were comical: Chappie was named as “high gazaboo,” and the emblem featured a beer stein (symbolizing “an unquenchable desire for… knowledge”), a pawnbroker’s sign (“financial reserves”), four aces, and a clock with the hands pointing to five o’clock. It continued:

It was decided to hold a literary meeting once every two months, and a social session every night. The study hour was from 7:30 to 7:45 o’clock in the evening, once a month. Workings of the society were left a dark secret, but it was hinted that something else besides philosophy and astronomy was studied at the literary meetings.

According to the Journal, Alfalfa Eta “entertained in a most loyal manner” during its meetings, which were held in rooms above the college grocery store—the original Chase Block (see College Grove), directly across the street from campus. It’s worth nothing that when the society was founded in March 1907, the state had no minimum drinking age, and the City of East Lansing had not yet been incorporated. Two months later, when the city was chartered, its governing documents included a “dry clause.” Whether Alfalfa Eta’s antics influenced this clause is anyone’s guess, but it’s easy to imagine. After the society was supposedly abolished, it was evicted from the Chase Block, and the Journal article ended with the deadpan claim that “plans are now being drawn for a new building which will make the state capitol look like a mosquito in a London fog.”⁴

In May 1908, the levity continued. Another Journal article described a “loyalty test” administered to new member William Mason of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—a spoof on Masonic initiation rites. While Chappie went unmentioned, the article’s dry tone and arch humor again suggest his authorship. This time, the society was described as an “ancient and respected order” and “one of the oldest and best known secret societies at the state institution.” The Lansing State Republican picked up the story the next day, reporting the ritual with mock seriousness and adding that Mason had not yet been “run through a hay baler and [come] out as a package done up in hay wire.” That article closed: “He will be baled later.”⁵

The final installment came in October 1908, again in the Journal. It announced Alfalfa Eta’s latest round of officer elections. Chappie—now “grand cacique”—was once again at the helm, joined by Charles Edwards as high priest, “Injin” Joe Siefert as dramatic and scout, Edwy Reid as musical director, “Leather Lung” Mason as scavenger, and “Polly” Akers as “chief Sudser.” (Though today “sudser” means a soap opera, the slang connection to beer—“suds”—suggests Polly was in charge of refreshments.) The emblem was tweaked to include a blazing skull in place of the clock, and a Heidelberg chapter was mentioned once more, along with the ludicrous claim that famed sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens had been a member.⁶

Chappie left M.A.C. around 1911 and moved to Detroit, where he worked as a salesman in his father’s wholesale millinery firm. He stayed in touch with his alma mater through reunion visits and letters to the M.A.C. Record, written in his inimitable style, offering witty updates on the whereabouts of his classmates. After a stint in the National Guard during World War One, he moved to New York City for a position in the advertising department of the Packard Motor Car Company. On New Year’s Day of 1919, he married Katharine Vedder (M.A.C. ’16), daughter of Professor Herman K. Vedder and Kate Dodd Vedder. By 1921, the couple had returned to Detroit, where Chappie joined the Ford Motor Company and managed its European advertising.⁷

Alas, this silly tale has a sad ending. While Polly Akers lived a long life of lasting prominence, Chappie Chapman, for all his charm, faded far too soon. In 1936, after an illness of several months, William Carl Chapman died at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, aged just forty-seven. The cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver, the likely outcome of hard living—and perhaps, of devotion to the Alfalfa Eta way of life.⁸

1. Letter from M.A.C. President Jonathan Snyder to G. W. Akers, 3 Apr 1908. MSU Archives. ↩︎
2. Detroit Free Press (DFP), 8 Nov 1911, p. 10. Yakeley (1916), p. 200. ↩︎
3. LJ, 30 Oct 1907, p. 5. ↩︎
4. LJ, 20 Jan 1908, p. 3. The following day the Grand Rapids Press took the bait, printing an abridged version of the Lansing Journal article as straight news—under a file photo of President Snyder. ↩︎
5. LJ, 12 May 1908, p. 4. LSR, 13 May 1908, p. 4. ↩︎
6. LJ, 26 Oct 1908, p. 3. ↩︎
7. MAC Record, 19(19), 17 Feb 1914, p. 6; 24(13), 10 Jan 1919, p. 7; 25(2), 3 Oct 1919, p. 8; 28(10), 27 Nov 1922, p. 12. ↩︎
8. DFP, 8 Feb 1936, p. 18. ↩︎

1. † One of his successors in that role gets a little more recognition today: F. I. Lankey (M.A.C. ’16) composed the fight song now known as “Victory for MSU.”↩︎
2. †† The 1910 Lansing City Directory lists “Wm Carl Chapman, reporter, Lansing Journal”—perhaps the clearest evidence of his authorship of the Alfalfa Eta articles.↩︎
3. ††† For more on the literary societies and their evolution into fraternities and sororities, see The Local Societies and the Union Literary Society House.↩︎