A Democrat running for New Hampshire governor wants the Dartmouth College chapter of Alpha Delta — the fraternity that inspired the raucous comedy "Animal House" and was kicked off campus last year for branding pledges' buttocks — to be reinstated.
Mark Connolly, who was an active member of the frat in the 1970s, says on a campaign fundraising letter to his Greek brothers and obtained by The Boston Globe:
"I understand the position the college was in … but I don't think hurting past generations and preventing future ones is the best course. In the coming months and years, I would hope to see AD back up and running and have its status restored."
Connolly, New Hampshire's former deputy secretary of state and director of securities regulation, added that it was "awful" to see the Alpha Delta house sitting empty.
The frat was thrown off the Hanover campus after an investigation revealed the student who was branded during a hazing rite developed an infection and had to be hospitalized.
A Dartmouth College spokeswoman told The Globe that there has been no discussion to restore the house as a recognized fraternity.
The raunchy 1978 comedy, said to be loosely based on the Alpha House chapter, starred John Belushi, Tim Matheson and Karen Allen, and contained nudity, sexual situations, cursing and non-stop use of alcohol.