"SUB TALREADY HAS ITS OWN TRADITIONS AND HISTORY, AND WE WANTTO KEEP THEM:' IIIIKYLE CHANDLER, SENIOR ;OPHOMORE JOEL STEPHEN, Sub T-16 member, meets interestedstudents at the men's .mall club open house Aug. 31. Sub T-16 grew in size this year due to 17 upperclassmen .ho left their clubs to help save Sub T-16 from disbandment. 'R. KECK JUNIOR AliSHA JOHNSTON, amember of Zeta Rho, laughs during the Zeta Rho and TNT "Brady Bunch"mixer Sept. 30. The 70s-theme mixer had been atradition for the two clubs for almost 10years.• A. BEENE 16 In the book of Harding lore there was a legend about amen's social dub that was slowly dying. In order to save that dub from peril, brave members of another club jumped to keep the club alive. The club in peril was TNT, and its rescuer was none other than Sub T-16. Now years later, it was Sub T-16 who was facing disbandment, and TNT members jumped to keep the dub afloat - and possibly return the favor. Founded in 1922, Sub T-16 remained one of the largest and wellknown clubs on campus. However, in the early '90s, because of a bad reputation, a lot of graduating members, and members unable to retum for various other reasons, Sub T-16 found itself with quickly dwindling numbers. In the spring of 2004, the remaining five members of Sub T-16 knew disbanding would be a reality if they could not increase their numbers. "To lose Sub T would have been one of the worst things to happen to Harding," said sophomore Joel Stephens, Sub T-16 vice president. "We have been part of Harding for so long." With Sub T-16's situation getting worse, the members did not know what else to do. "We started talking to our friends, and they started talking to their friends, and pretty soon we were getting contacted by guys who were interested in jumping," Neil Rampy, Sub T-16's president, said. A total of 17 men from eight men's clubs jumped to Sub T-16, enough to keep it going. "The jump was what we needed," senior Aaron Copeland said. Senior Kyle Chandler was one of the five men who jumped from TNT. "T love TNT," he said, "but it was a good thing for Harding and for Sub T to keep the club going. The traditions and stories are part of the schooL" Chandler said he had another reason for wanting to jump - a bit of Harding lore. "I was talking to some old Subbers at my church, and they told me in the late '60s, some guys from Sub T jumped to TNT to keep it from [disbanding]," Chandler said. Stephens, Chandler and senior Brad Bellamy claim to have found proof of the jump in old Harding yearbooks. "We compared member lists of Sub T and TNT in the late '60s and were able to find some proof of the jump," Stephens said. According to Rampy, however, the story may not be entirely true. "Most alumni say it is a big misinterpretation of what happened," he said. Whether the story was true or not, Sub T-16 survived in 2005 and was expected to continue growing. "We ... had about 40 guys at our first two mixers, and we [plan to] take a pledge class of about 20," Rampy said. Club members aimed to keep the mission and goals of the club the same as they had been for 80 years. "This wasn't like a group of guys starting a new club," Chandler said. "Sub T already has its own traditions and history, and we want to keep them." -LAURA KAISER 255 - TRADITIONS
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