ALUMNI NEWS
BROTHER SENATOR In one of the most closely watched races of 2017, Beta Theta Pi brother and 1980s district chief Doug Jones, Alabama ’76, was elected on December 12 as Alabama’s next U.S. senator – filling the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
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By Martin Cobb, Eastern Kentucky ’96
ALUMNI NEWS
THE BETA THETA PI
Jones, a former U.S. Attorney best known for his prosecution of two Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which killed four African-American girls in 1963, will become the seventh Beta to hold office in the 115th Congress. There, he will join two brothers in the Senate – Bill Nelson, Florida/Yale ’65 (D–Fla.), and Michael Bennet, Wesleyan ’87 (D–Colo.) – and four in the House of Representatives: David McKinley, Purdue ’69 (R–W. Va.); Patrick Meehan, Bowdoin ’78 (R–Pa.); Ami Bera, UC Irvine ’87 (D–Calif.); and Dr. Roger Marshall, Kansas State ’84 (R–Kan.). Beta’s longstanding tradition has been to remain apolitical, yet still recognize brothers of all political stripes who take the initiative to run for office and serve the greater good. For his exhaustive efforts to represent the people of the great state of Alabama, the Fraternity celebrates Beta Brother Doug Jones and his Delta Theta Chapter. Joined at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill by three University of Alabama Beta brothers (pictured above), Jones was escorted by former Vice President Joe Biden and sworn in as Alabama’s next U.S. Senator on January 3, 2018. Along with their wives, the Beta delegation was seated in the Family Box of the Senate Gallery. Left to right: Fred Metz ’77, Doug Jones ’76, Rick Tate ’75 and Kent Haney ’75. As shared by Fred Metz, “It was a moving experience we will always remember.”