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'Delta Upsilon' ('ΔY') is one of the oldest international, all-male, college, Greek-letter social fraternities and is the first non-secret fraternity ever founded. Delta Upsilon was founded in 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts when 31 men came together in response to the activities of the two secret societies on the Williams campus.
Delta Upsilon's mission is ''Building Better Men'' by focusing on the fraternity's non-secret heritage and Four Founding Principles:
''The Promotion of Friendship''

''The Development of Character''

''The Diffusion of Liberal Culture''

''The Advancement of Justice''
Delta Upsilon's Vision is to be "the premier men's fraternity committed to ''Building Better Men'' for a global society through service, leadership development and lifelong personal growth of our diverse membership."
Delta Upsilon recently initiated its newest chapter, and the first of the 21st century, at the University of North Florida making it the 151st chapter in the history of the fraternity. In 2009, the fraternity will achieve another milestone by celebrating its 175th anniversary since inception.

Contents

History

A Premise of Fairness

DU's First Meeting

Growth and Maturity

Insignia

Oath of Initiation

Motto

The Member Badge and the Associate Member Pin

The Flag and Colors

The Mascot

Partner Charity

Chapters

Notable DUs

Politics and Government

Sports

Education

Entertainment

Literature and Publishing

Business

Science and Technology

Philanthropy

External links

References

History

A Premise of Fairness

In the Fall of 1834, 31 men from the sophomore, junior and freshmen, classes at Williams College decided to act against the tyranny of the two existing secret societies.
These two secret societies were originally formed as legitimate debate and literary societies. In the race for campus honors, they decided to take advantage of their secrecy in order to secure the victories needed. In doing so, they became political machines whose goal was to put their members into high campus offices whether qualified or not. They were effective in doing so.
Faculty members frowned on this trend: previously unheard-of distinctions, jealousies, and animosities arose where none was needed. They wondered if the emphasis on campus politics was contrary to fundamental purposes of the college itself. They were not alone in thinking the way they did.
Students felt the same way. They saw a saw wave injustice infiltrate the college offices. The practice of conferring honors without merit was great dismissed and disliked. They yearned for a fair and equal system to operate in. They felt the spoils of victory should go to men of merit; men who truly worked for their reward. Not to unqualified men who used political clout to receive the prize that they did not earn.

DU's First Meeting

On the evening of November 4, 1834, 20 men from the sophomore and junior classes, along with 11 of the best men from the freshmen class, met to forge a plan of action. Though many would love to know what happened, the records of this first meeting were destroyed in a fire seven years later. It is known, however, that these men gathered in the Freshman Recitation Room of the Old West College, a building still standing today.
They chose a name: The Social Fraternity. "Social" didn't mean entertainment events, as many fraternity men mistakenly believe today. Instead, it was much broader. It meant an interest in life's interactions among people, and how society would better itself through group action. The following days brought much ridicule from the established secret societies, yet The Social Fraternity continued moving fourth, knowing full well that they would flourish. They were correct in their assumption. By aligning their aims with those of the college, The Social Fraternity soon had more than half the men on campus in its ranks. Eventually, the first DUs dominated the lists of campus honors.
The idea of spirited brotherhood based on merit began to spread rapidly. Within four years, men of similar beliefs establish a second group at Union College in Schenectady, New York. In 1845, another formed at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont and was followed by another in 1847 at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
In 1847, four of the chapters met in Convention at Troy, NY and formally established the Anti-Secret Confederation (ASC). Their constitution mirrored of the group at Williams, and the convention adopted a member key with the Greek motto, ''Ouden Adelon'', "Nothing Secret."

Growth and Maturity

The Civil War brought about great turmoil on college men, and on fraternity chapters as well. Therefore, it was at the Convention of 1864 (considered the most critical to DU's future) when the most important of changes were made. The Convention formally adopted the name "Delta Upsilon," a new Constitution, and the fraternity's badge as it remains today.
After the Civil War ended, college life returned to as it was previously, and DU began to grown. By 1880, Delta Upsilon had grown to 15 active chapters. Of these chapters came many notable men who would go on to become leaders in their own right: James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, ''Williams 1856'', Charles Evans Hughes, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, ''Colgate and Brown 1881'', and Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, ''Lafayette and Syracuse 1894''.
At the Convention of 1879, it was realized that the perpetuation of opposition towards the secret societies was no longer needed. Therefore, DU changed its policy from anti-secrecy to non-secrecy, as it remains today.
In 1898, a Canadian chapter at McGill made Delta Upsilon an International Fraternity. In 1909, Delta Upsilon was incorporated under New York law.

Insignia

Oath of Initiation

From the "RITUAL OF INITIATION," The Delta Upsilon Fraternity^[1]

Motto

The fraternity's current motto is "Dikaia Upotheke" in Greek - "Δικαια Υποθηκη" - which means "Justice Our Foundation." The motto was adopted in 1858 during the 24th Annual Convention of the Fraternity. Until this time, the motto of the Williams Chapter, "Ouden Adelon" - meaning "Nothing Secret," was used.

The Member Badge and the Associate Member Pin

The Member badge of Delta Upsilon consist of the Greek letters Delta and Upsilon in a gold monogram of overlapping letters. The arms of the Upsilon bear an engraving of the fraternity motto in Greek.
The Associate Member Pin consists of a gold Delta on a blue enamel with a gold Upsilon in the center of the Delta.

The Flag and Colors

The Flag of the fraternity consists of three vertical bars, two end bars in sapphire blue, and one central bar in old gold. The gold bar bears the monogram of the Greek letters Delta and Upsilon in sapphire blue.
The Colors of the Fraternity are Sapphire Blue and Old Gold.

The Mascot

The Duck has been considered to be the true mascot of Delta Upsilon International Fraternity.
Although the issue has come to the Undergraduate Convention numerous times, the Duck or Distinguished Duck has never been made the official mascot of the fraternity. Many chapters have claimed that their chapter alumni gave birth to the Duck being the representative mascot of the International Fraternity. Events such as the "Mallard Ball" formal, "Ducks in Tux" formal, or "Dance-off at the Duck Pond" philanthropy event, only go to further support that claim by dating as far back as the 1920s and 1930s. Although there is no official record of who actually brought the Duck into Delta Upsilon, almost all chapters use the Duck as their official chapter mascot.
^[2]

Partner Charity

Delta Upsilon is known for running philanthropic events in many communities internationally. The main organization they provide support to are the Boys and Girls Clubs of the United States and Canada

Chapters

Main articles: List of Delta Upsilon Chapters

Notable DUs

Main articles: List of Delta Upsilon alumni

Politics and Government

★ James Abram Garfield, Williams 1856, The second fraternity man to become President of the United States

★ Justin Smith Morrill, Middlebury 1860, United States Senator - Vermont; author of the Morrill Act

★ Charles Evans Hughes, Colgate and Brown 1881, Governor of New York, Secretary of State, and Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

★ Joseph P. Kennedy, Harvard 1912, Ambassador to Great Britain, father of two Senators and a President

★ Lester B. Pearson, Toronto 1919, Prime Minister of Canada and President of the United Nations General Assembly; Nobel Prize winner for Peace

★ Tommy Franks, Texas 1967, Commander in Chief of US Central Command, General in the US Army

Sports

★ Sam Barry, Iowa 1926, Founder New York Knicks, NBA Hall of Fame coach

★ Dr. Robert Cade, Florida 1945, Inventor of Gatorade

★ Lou Holtz, Kent State 1958, Head football coach, University of South Carolina, NCAA Football National Champion as Coach of Notre Dame in 1988

★ Peter V. Ueberroth, San Jose 1959, Organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics and Commissioner of Major League Baseball

★ Craig Kelly, Washington 1987, Professional Snowboarder, Four Time World Champion, Three Time US Champion, Godfather of Freeriding

★ Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 1966, Syracuse Basketball Coach 1976 - Present.

Education

★ David Starr Jordan, Cornell 1872, First President of Stanford University

★ Harry Emerson Fosdick, Colgate 1900, Theologian, author, educator

★ Selamawi Asgedom, Harvard 1999, Noted motivational speaker and author

★ Edward C. Prescott, Swarthmore College, 1962, American Economist, Winner of Nobel Prize in Economics 2004, Professor at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business

Entertainment

★ Harry Carey, New York 1902, Early western movie actor

★ Edgar Bergen, Northwestern 1927, Ventriloquist and entertainer

★ Noel Stookey, Michigan State 1955, Folk singer and composer, "Paul" of Peter, Paul and Mary

★ Alan Thicke, Western Ontario 1967, Actor and songwriter

★ Jonathan Buss, Bradley 1994, Emmy Award Winning Director for an HBO Short Film

★ Jason Lewis, San Diego State 1993, Actor, Model, starred in Sex and the City as Smith Jerrod

★ Pete Yorn, Syracuse 1996, Singer, Songwriter

Literature and Publishing

★ Stephen Crane, Lafayette and Syracuse 1894, Journalist and author; Red Badge of Courage

★ Hedley W. Donovan, Minnesota 1934, Editor-in chief of TIME Magazine

★ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Cornell 1944, Editorialist and author

Business

★ Alfred P. Sloan, MIT 1892, long-time President of General Motors

★ William A. Mather, McGill 1908, President of Canadian Pacific Railroad

★ James Smith McDonnell, MIT 1925, Co-founder of McDonnell Douglas

★ Thomas Perkins, MIT 1953, prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist and founding partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers

★ Maurice Mandel, Chicago 1955, Investment Banker and former Financial Manager of the Delta Upsilon Education Fund

★ James McQuaid, Chicago 1960, President of Delta Upsilon International from 1994-2000 and successful businessman

★ Michael D. Eisner, Denison 1964, Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Co.

★ Michael R. Hallman, Michigan 1967, Past President and Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, past President & CIO of Boeing Computer Services, past Vice President of Field Operations for IBM. Mr. Hallman currently serves on the boards of directors of Intuit, InFocus Corporation, Network Appliance Corporation, and two wholly owned subsidiaries of Fujitsu Ltd.

Science and Technology

★ Charles F. Kettering, Ohio State 1904, Inventor and philanthopist

★ Linus C. Pauling, Oregon State 1922, Winner of two Nobel Prizes ; chemistry and peace

★ Dr. Christian B. Anfinsen, Swarthmore 1937, Nobel Prize winner for chemistry.

Philanthropy

Two Delta Upsilon fraternity members - Alfred P. Sloan and Charles F. Kettering joined together in 1945 to found the Sloan-Kettering Institute, which is now part of the world's oldest and largest private cancer research facility, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

External links

★ Official Website

★ Delta Upsilon Educational Foundation

References

1. Delta Upsilon Website[1]
2. Delta Upsilon Fraternity Website Ask Brother Sowell
3. Library of Congress Brady-Handy photograph collection[2]
4. Library of Congress[3]
5. U.S. Central Command
6. Library of Congress[4]