What it lacked in cushy, the place Doug Erhard called home for his last 18 months at Illinois more than made up for in camaraderie.
“Needless to say, the living conditions at Koinonia Christian Cooperative were not great, although the great relationships built with the 27 brothers was awesome,” says the 1984 finance grad, now a wealth management advisor at Northwest Mutual of Champaign.
“We also had a sister house — and still do: Stratford House, with about 30 women, and several marriages resulted between the two houses. Our house at the corner of Fourth and Daniel is long gone as the university thought it better to put a parking lot there.
“My senior year included the ’84 Rose Bowl. What fun was that with season tickets in the student section and living in a house located in the center of it all.
“Some friends and I from the house went to the game and it was my first experience flying. I met with my parents at the old Ponderosa Steakhouse on Neil Street and they kindly agreed to buy me a ticket to LA. We stayed rent-free that week as my friends had relatives in the LA area.
“Unfortunately, as we all know, we lost the game to UCLA. I still can hear their chants: U-C-L-A ... UCLA.”
