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He has played with the Pep Band for over 30 years, stood tall as a mainstay for Friends of Basketball, and over the years chaired or been heavily involved in planning for just about every athletics event sponsored by his chapter.
Chas Snyder ’78 got his due Aug. 11 at the annual Football Forum held by Lafayette Alumni of the Lehigh Valley, whose executive committee voted unanimously to give him the 36th Danny Hatch ’04 Award, bestowed for school spirit in support of Lafayette athletics. Past winners Ralph ’55 and Betty Doederlein made the presentation.
Snyder was recognized at Homecoming before the football game against Fordham. The honor included the opportunity to handle the coin toss before the game. Several past Hatch Award winners attended the event to wish him well.
The award was established in 1951. Plaques honoring the recipients are on display in the main lobby of Kirby Sports Center.
“Fans are important at Lafayette,” says John Becica ’69, president of Lafayette Alumni of the Lehigh Valley. “The Hatch Award for school spirit in support of the athletics program long predates the establishment of the Maroon Club Hall of Fame awards for athletic accomplishment.”
Award history
The year 1951 marked the 125th anniversary of the granting of the College Charter in 1826 by the state of Pennsylvania. As recorded in The Biography of a College — A History of Lafayette College 1927-1978 by Albert W. Gendebien ’34, on the Friday night of Founders’ Day Weekend that fall, the Easton Area Alumni Club’s annual dinner honored 125 who were active in their alumni clubs. The following day, the group marched in the academic procession to the Founders’ Day Exercises. At the ceremony David Arthur “Danny” Hatch 1904, a member of the mathematics faculty since 1910, and associate professor from 1925 until his retirement in 1948 at age 70, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
“Danny Hatch is remembered as ‘Mr. Lafayette,’ the chief speaker and inspiration at all football rallies, the embodiment of school spirit,” the book reports.
As part of the festivities, the Easton Area Alumni Club (now Lafayette Alumni of the Lehigh Valley) established the Danny Hatch ’04 Award to honor consummate boosters of Lafayette athletics.
Past winners:
2009 – Chas. M. Snyder ’78
2004 – Elizabeth and Ralph O. Doederlein ’55
2002 – W. Bruce Drinkhouse ’50
1998 – The Hutnik Family of West Easton
1995 – Friends of Lafayette Basketball
1993 – Joanne and Richard LaBarre ’58
1990 – Judith A. Campbell
1986 – Gerald T. Niles ’39
1985 – Hilton N. Rahn, Jr. ’51
1984 – Parnell Lewis
1983 – Dr. Wilbur W. Oaks ’51
1980 – Rev. John D. Kinard ’52
1979 – John L. Drugach ’26
1978 – Raymond V. Morrow ’53
1977 – William E. Greenip Jr. ’44
1976 – Russell F. DeMartino ’47
1974 – Martin Zippel ’49
1973 – Joseph E. Bell ’28
1972 – George T. Woodring ’19
1971 – G. Herbert McCracken
1970 – George L. McGaughey
1967 – Cyrus S. Fleck Sr. ’20
1966 – Lawrence J. Conover ’24
1965 – Dr. John D. Raymond
1963 – Hugh H. Jones Sr. ’27
1962 – Herman S. Beam ’33
1960 – Theodore W. Pierce
1959 – Kenneth F. Kressler ’18
1958 – Samuel Pascal ’27
1957 – Hilton N. Rahn Sr. ’20
1956 – John F. Magee ’13
1955 – Robert W. Davies ’15
1954 – D. Arthur Hatch ’04
1953 – Kenneth W. Kressler ’16
1952 – C.A. Reilly ’32
1951 – Charles C. Brownmiller ’17