APO – Alpha Phi Omega

In the fall of 1922, Eugene McRae Thomas, a native Floridian, was among 118 students enrolled in the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy. Thus, began his long association with the school, which he would head as Interim President for a time and from which he retired in 1967 as Professor Emeritus. His fellow alumni would recognize him as the Outstanding Ex-Student in 1964.

Eugene Thomas joined the local three-year-old fraternity, the Alpha Phi Omega, and continued a life-long affiliation with this oldest social organization on the campus. As a Senior, he was President of both the APOs and the Student Association. He completed his B. S. in Mining Engineering in 1926 and earned two master’s Degrees one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the other from the College of Mines in 1940.

Except for periods when he worked for the Chisos Mining Company of Terlingua, Texas, and the Paso City Engineering Department, he spent his professional life as a professor at his alma mater, starting in 1930. He was named Dean of Student Life in 1934. Upon the death of John W. "Cap" Kidd in 1941, Eugene Thomas succeeded him as Dean of Engineering.

At the time D. M. Wiggins left the College Presidency in 1948, the College was debating a name change. When Dean Thomas stepped in as Interim President, he wanted to retain the historic name of the school. During the debate, the "Peasants" on the Mining and Engineering side of the campus formed against their traditional rivals, the "Peedoggies," who inhabited the eastern portion of the campus; sometimes separated by a broad green line painted on the pavement in the "dark of night." These protests were fruitless, however. The College of Mines became Texas Western College in 1949.

"Dean Gene", as he was called by the students, stepped down as Dean in 1963, but continued to teach until his retirement in 1967. By that time the enrollment was over 9,000. The Board of Regents phased out the degree of Mining Engineering, effective in 1965. Dean Thomas spent his last years teaching Metallurgy.

During his teaching career, he spent some summers working in mines to stay abreast of the profession. A student at registration in the 1940's, who had worked in the same mine with him, spotted him and said, "Gene, what are you doing here?" His stern reply was, "I'm the Dean of Engineering and you'll call me, Dean Thomas!"

In a 1978 interview, he recalled that his students "would say I was mean, but fair. And what that added up to was that I was mean to everyone. If I didn't think a student could make it in Engineering, I’d tell him to try something else."

Dean Thomas died at age 75 in Pueblo, Colorado, on April 2, 1980.

Walter Ray Roser was a graduate of Texas Western College (now The University of Texas at El Paso) who subsequently returned to serve on the faculty after completing his graduate degrees and attaining his professional engineering experience elsewhere.

He was born on January 17, 1932, in El Paso, Texas, at the old Masonic Hospital in Five Points. His parents Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Roser were residents of Socorro, New Mexico, and the family returned there following his birth. After the death of his mother in 1941 and his father in 1945, "Wally" came to El Paso to live with his sister and brother-in-law, Vera and Walter Cook. He graduated from Ysleta High School in 1950 with an outstanding student award and a scholarship from the Ysleta Woman's Club.

He attended Texas Western College for a couple of semesters before enlisting in the U. S. Marine Corps. It took him just three months to attain the rank of Sergeant. He served in the Korean War as a radioman, just a few miles from North Korea. During this time, he was offered the opportunity to transfer to the Naval Officers' Training School. He declined the offer in order to return to Texas Western College. He and his wife, Jeannie, were married in 1956; tragically, she passed away from cancer in the 1980's

"Wally" Roser completed his B. S. degree in 1957. As a student, he was a member of the oldest social organization on campus, the Alpha Phi Omega, the fraternity for the engineering and geology undergraduates. During this period, 'Wally" was best known for the APO parties held at the home of his sister and brother-in-law, Vera and Walter Cook. On several occasions while cleaning the house on the following morning, they often had to "sweep out" the beer cans and a few APOs who had overstayed their welcome.

Following his graduation, he earned his M. S. at the University of California - Berkeley. He spent four years as an engineer with the Northrup Aircraft Corporation before completing his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Tucson. During this time, he kept in contact with one of his former professors, Joseph C. Rintelen, Jr., who convinced "Wally" to return to Texas Western College for his teaching career.

He returned to El Paso to teach at Texas Western College in 1966, the year before it became The University of Texas at El Paso. He served as faculty sponsor of his college fraternity, the Alpha Phi Omega. Due to the general changes in society during the late 1960's, many campus organizations had difficulty retaining their membership levels. Unfortunately, because of this, Alpha Phi Omega fraternity ceased to function as a viable campus organization

Dr. Roser died unexpectedly on August 8, 1984, while he was serving as Chairman of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering.

Dr. Roser had been the custodian of the Alpha Phi Omega funds. His family advised their attorney, Texas S. "Tex" Ward (also an APO Alumm) of the existence of these funds which were in the form of U. S. Savings Bonds. Tex Ward was successful in converting these Bonds into an endowment fund in the name of the APO Alumni, at UTEP. Dr. Roser's family, Vera and Walter Cook, also contributed to this endowment fund in the memory of their brother. Their donation made it possible to establish the current Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Endowment Fund in 1990.