Mailman Dave
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – UNCW graduate Phil McGee, who is currently 67 years old, is not one to leave anything unfinished, no matter how long it takes, but dropping out of UNCW in 1977 was not a hard decision. “My mind wasn’t on school, you know, my grades weren’t very well,” McGee said. “I even got a letter from the Dean asking me to stay home a semester to figure out if college was right for me.”
MyFraternity
I finished one semester in college, and I know this feeling. For me, it wasn’t grades or anything; it was just a lack of wanting to go. I have never thought about going back, but hear about Phil’s story makes me have second thoughts about finishing my college degree.
So in 2017, 40 years after dropping out of UNCW, McGee returned to the registrar’s office to enroll in classes again. They looked at his grades from the 70′s and told him he was basically going to have to start over. McGee had no problem with that. But what McGee did have a problem with was his fellow classmates not seeing him as their peer. He didn’t fit in the way he wanted to. “They thought I was a professor and I didn’t want to be a professor I wanted to be one of them,” he said.
MyFraternity
What about a bunch of assholes, the man is 67 years old. If he has half of his credits, give the credits that he’s already worked for. If you’ve already done the work, you should be able to keep those credits. Of course, academics have changed a little bit since the ’70s, but come on.
So he did something no professor would ever do: he decided to rush Pi Kappa Alpha, the same fraternity his son, Hunter, had been a part of when he attended UNCW. “One Sunday afternoon I went around and found the fraternity house, knocked on the front door and they were scattering they didn’t know who this old guy was,” McGee said. The fraternity unanimously decided to let him because of his legacy status, but McGee made them a promise.
MyFraternity
I wonder how many times this has happened that somebody has been accepted because they have legacy status, but it’s because their son was part of that frat. I can’t imagine that it has ever happened before what a legend knowing that the best way to have fun in college is by joining a frat.
“I said I’ll come in as a legacy, but when I leave this campus I’ll leave a legend and I’ve lived up to that,” McGee said. “She would always give me the ride to the parties, but would not stay up late enough I had to Uber home,” he said.
MyFraternity
I don’t remember every line from Old School, but I feel like “come in as a legacy, but when I leave this campus, I’ll leave a legend, and I’ve lived up to that.” would be perfect for Old School. I would love to see videos of Phil partying it up with a bunch of 21-year-olds who are getting absolutely hammered. Perfect time to put this year.
It’s not like it was easy for Phil, but the hard work payed off.
“I would spend many a time in truck stops with my computer up on my dashboard, my notebook and me taking notes, McDonald’s because they had internet if my internet wasn’t working and I’d do my classes,” McGee said. McGee graduated Saturday from UNCW with a 3.8 GPA and Cum Laude honors. He earned a degree in business. “To get that program the other day and see the honor of Cum Laude under my name we just both teared up it was just you know, the hard work paid off,” he said.
MyFraternity
Hats off because I’m very confident that there is no way I could’ve done it. My lazy ass could barely handle school while working full-time as a prep cook. Adding being 67, and there’s no way I could do this. So if you’re like me and you’re in your late 20’s, maybe it’s time to go back and finish what you started.
