Agape
House President: Kirk Tabor
Agape House began in the fall of 1962 as one of the original men's residence hall houses. The house name, a Greek term for "love", was suggested by Gary Bowman, who was inspired by the name of the Agape camp in the Des Moines, Iowa, area. Agape was among the first group of houses that selected a name in October 1962.
Agape was initially located on the second floor of Gunsolley Hall. House colors were navy blue and white from the beginning. The house symbol was originally an elongated "A" and the early house creed was "A house united can do what ten thousand men fail in". Agape's first sister house was Traver.
Agape's original house council members were James Gargano (president), Don Granvold (social chairman), Mike Utt (senator), Gary Bowman (chaplain), Gerry Hancock (assistant chaplain), Larry Slocum (assistant chaplain), Rick Swayne (intramurals).
In early years, Agape had a house choir and participated in a "chicken stealing party" (which involved taking chickens -legally- from a farmer and barbecuing them in a barn as part of a house Hobo Hike).
Agape was the first existing house selected to move into Gunsolley Annex (Graybill Hall) during the facility's completion in 1965. Agape occupied the top floor of that building throughout the 1965-66 school year. Agape is proud to have a celebrity as a house member. David Yost, the original Blue Power Ranger, lived in the house Agape while attending Graceland.
After several years at several different locations, Agape moved to the third floor of Gunsolley Annex in the fall of 1976. Later that school year the college decided to keep each men's house at its existing location. With its location permanently established, Agape became the first house to add unique painting to its hallway, embellishing the walls with bold geometric designs containing wide, colorful stripes.
