Frank W. Harrison, Jr., ’47, and his son Frank W. “Billy” Harrison, III, ’72, are both Gamma Chapter alumni and longtime advocates of the fraternity experience.

Frank grew up in a very small town—the only one in his graduating class of 12 to go to college. He enrolled at Louisiana State University and joined Gamma Chapter. Billy had a similar experience, moving to Baton Rouge after what he calls “a sheltered life” in a small town. “Gamma Chapter gave me a broad view of what life was about, and to this day, my chapter brothers are still some of my best friends. I do business with several from my pledge class,” says Billy.

If it hadn’t been for Gamma Chapter, Billy probably would not be here today. “Around his junior year, my father’s pledge brother introduced him to my mother. Years into the future, my pledge brothers introduced me to my wife, Anne. If it wasn’t for Gamma Chapter, I wouldn’t exist, and I know my sons wouldn’t exist,” he says.

Frank studied geology at LSU. He served in the Korean War after graduation but returned to the U.S. and went into the oil business. Billy followed in his father’s footsteps academically; he earned a B.S. in geology as well as a master’s. After training a few years with oil companies in Houston, Billy and a fellow Tiger alumnus founded Houston Energy, LP, a privately-held independent oil and gas company, in 1988. The company has grown exponentially and is now in its 26th year of oil exploration off the Gulf Coast of Mexico and in Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. And, at 86-years-old, Frank is still working full-time at his company, Optimistic Oil, in Lafayette, LA.  Father and son often have occasion to work together and enjoy interacting professionally on a daily basis.

Frank and Billy decided to get involved with the Building for the Next Century campaign because Gamma Chapter means so much to them. “We want the young men who come through LSU to have the opportunity for the life-changing experiences we had like finding a spouse, creating friendships for life, and building a business,” states Billy.

The friendships that resulted from Gamma are priceless to Billy. “These friendships molded my character. Being able to hang out with that class of men in our Fraternity transformed and changed me.” He also believes Gamma impacted him professionally. “It taught me how to get along with all different types of personalities, how to express myself in meetings, how to get up in front of people and speak, and how to evaluate personnel and talent because of the constant flow of pledges into the Chapter. The older guys taught me leadership just by being around them,” he says.

Both men gave to the campaign because they believe the chapter house plays a significant role in Gamma’s future success. “In this day and age, you have to have the right facilities to attract quality individuals. Right now we have an aging fraternity house. By building a new one, it gives us an edge up on attracting the type of man we want to attract,” says Billy.

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