On the evening of November 4, 1834, thirty men gathered in the Freshman Recitation Room at Williams College and formed the Social Fraternity known today as Delta Upsilon.
The first thirty years proved to be a challenge for this new fraternity. The name “Anti-Secret Confederation” (ASC) was adopted once an alliance was formed with other groups from Union College, Middlebury College, and Amherst College. In 1864, the fraternity called for its first Convention. At the last minute, a representative from Rutgers arrived and completed the quorum. It was here this legislation officially adopted the name “Delta Upsilon,” which had already been in use by several of the chapters.
The Convention of 1879 had another hotly debated subject. The Fraternity had always been anti-secret, but it was here the delegates chose to adopt the principle of non-secrecy. The Fraternity chose to work in harmony with the already existing secret societies while keeping the key elements of Delta Upsilon’s founding, instead of opposing said societies.
By 1880, Delta Upsilon had grown to fifteen chapters in the northeast. In 1898, DU became an International Fraternity, with a chapter opening at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Following these strong periods of growth, the Fraternity was incorporated in the State of New York in 1909.
The chapters being established were carefully decided and consistently solid. From this strength, all chapters lasted through World War I and the Great Depression. In 1949, an alumnus of the Ohio State Chapter, Hugh E. Nesbitt, founded the Delta Upsilon Education Foundation (DUEF). DUEF was founded to provide educational scholarships to DU members. Over time, DUEF expanded to provide funding for members to attend education programs, including Leadership Institute and President’s Academy.
Throughout the late 1960s social upheaval put fraternities in the spotlight questioning their relevancy. DU strongly emphasized the personal aspect of fraternity, rather than focusing on rituals and formalities. This optimistic view was a strong argument for the beginning of many new chapters. Between 1968 and 1971, 18 chapters were chartered, rapid growth for Delta Upsilon.
In 1969, Delta Upsilon moved headquarters from New York City to Indianapolis, Indiana to service the Fraternity’s membership more efficiently. During the 1970s through the 1980s, issues such as drug use, alcohol abuse, sexism, racism, hazing, and other social issues came out into the open and were discussed, and attacked. While these problems are inevitable in our society, Delta Upsilon has attempted to combat these issues in our chapters and educational programs.
As always, the future presents new challenges which must be faced. Membership and education are a continued focus. Fraternities must also deal with social issues, rush management and loss prevention, and more diverse demographics in the ever changing college environment.
Delta Upsilon is proud to have more than 175 years of experience in the fraternity world and is planning strategies for decades to come. Delta Upsilon has always been a leader and will continue as it builds the 21st century fraternity.