Delta Upsilon: Pan American Chapter

The Beginning:

The Williams campus, in the rugged hills of northwestern Massachusetts, was Spartan. Men lived in barely heated halls, doing the necessary chores themselves. There were no women students on campus. Life focused on knowledge and discourse, religion and family. There were no radios or televisions; the electric light nor the phonograph had been invented. Even the telegraph Morse code transmitted by wire - was years away. There were neither trains nor paved roads; the efficient use of internal combustion and "horseless carriages" was a good 60 years in the future. The nearest "large" cities, Troy and Schenectady across the New York border, together sheltered only 20,000. The Union had about 14.5 million citizens and slaves in 24 states. Andrew Jackson was President and Abraham Lincoln was a young man of twenty five. Canada was firmly under British domination. The modern world as we know it today lay undiscovered and barely dreamed.

Consider those men who founded Delta Upsilon at Williams College, on a crisp November day in 1834. What do they have in common with you? Why has their inspiration thrived for more than 156 years? What role will their principles play in your life? What is the import of a non-secret fraternity based on the Promotion of Friendship, the Development of Character, the Diffusion of Liberal Culture and the Advancement of Justice?

A premise of fairness:

In the fall of 1834, there arose on the Williams College campus a matter of great concern to the faculty - and to many students as well. The focus of their debate fell on the two secret fraternities on campus; not on their presence, but on their activities. These two societies had conspired to make use of an advantage. Their members, like all men at Williams, wanted to fare admirably in the race for campus honors. However, by use of their secrecy, they had strayed from their earlier, legitimate mission as debating and literary societies, and had become political machines. Their goal was to place their members into high campus offices, whether qualified or not. They had done this effectively.

Faculty members frowned on this trend. It raised previously unheard-of distinctions, jealousies, and animosity where none was needed. They questioned whether the emphasis on campus politics was contrary to the fundamental purposes of the college itself. Does this sound familiar? It may be that some faculty on your campus ask whether the activities of fraternities add to or detract from your college or university. Some students felt the same way. Their sense of justice was offended; they disliked the practice of conferring honors without merit. They longed for an even playing field. They were convinced that the spoils of victory should go to men on merit, men who truly earned their rewards, and not to unqualified men who used political clout to deliver them the prize.

DU's first meeting:

So it was that 20 men from the sophomore and junior classes met to forge a plan of action. They quickly found ten of the best men from the freshman class, and called a meeting for the evening of November 4. Though we would love to know exactly what happened that evening, we cannot; a fire destroyed all the Williams records seven years later. But we know that these 30 men gathered in the Freshman Recitation Room of Old West College, a building that stands 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 its self through group action.

The secret societies ridiculed the new group, but they knew full well that the Social Fraternity would thrive. And did it ever! Because its aims matched those of the college, the Social Fraternity soon had more than half the men on campus in its ranks - and soon, the first DUs dominated the lists of campus honors. This good idea of a spirited brotherhood based on merit spread rapidly. Within four years, men of similar beliefs set up another group, at Union College in Schenectady. Our Middlebury Chapter was born in 1845; Hamilton, in 1847. More followed: Amherst, Western Reserve, Wesleyan, Vermont, Rochester and Colby. These early groups thrived, powered by their zeal in battling the abuses of secret societies. These seven chapters at the 1852 Convention of the Anti-Secret Confederation came to be known as the "Seven Stars" of the anti-secrecy fight. Thus, they are commemorated in our Coat of Arms, in the Seven Stars you see below the open helmet, for non-secrecy and friendship, and above the balanced scales, for Justice.

An early meeting of four chapters brought these anti-secret groups into an organized fraternity. It was in Troy, N.Y., in November 1847. Williams, Union, Amherst and Hamilton met in Convention, and formally established the Anti-Secret Confederation (ASC). Its Constitution paralleled that of Williams, and the Convention first adopted a member key, bearing the Greek words Ouden Adelon, "Nothing Secret." The Fraternity's colors were set as "old gold on a field of sky-blue."

While other early fraternities fiddled with secret grips and recognition signs, DU was promoting friendship and developing character. While the secret fraternities wasted energy guarding their precious secrets from others, DU fought to advance justice and spread liberal, learned culture. DU had no need for mystic principles shrouded in secret ritual. Our aims were open, honest and direct.

:: Chapter History

It was on Summer of 1998, that a young Anthony Jason Alford would come to south-Texas and study his Masters degree. A.J; a former Airforce and coast guardsman was a member of the now Inactive "Arkansas Chapter". Upon arrival A.J. noticed the painted markings of Greek Letters on old water-towers (which were used for irrigation purposes over 75 years ago before the University even existed). A.J. recognized that UT-PA (a small-town university with over an 85% Hispanic rate) has potential for a new Fraternity.

After having a formal dinner and talk with University executives, A.J. quickly turned to members of the SGA (student Government Association) and received 4 members from that organization. After that, the group began recruiting students who were active in campus life and in less than 2 months the Interest Group had grown16 members. A.J. Alford allowed the new members to wear the Greek DU letters in exchange for hard work and dedication which was the first and only time Pan American or Arkansas Fraternities ever dared to do allow non-chapter members or pledges to wear them. In an effort to promote DU, the Interest group entered the "Midnight Madness" competition in September of 1998 and defeated all other student organizations, particularly in the pushup event. The group was also the first to display school pride by regularly attending the University Basketball games including on the road (a tradition that still stands today).

The Backgrounds:

The old DU saying "A DU in Everything and Everything in DU" was a fact at UT-PA with this new group of Friends: Of the Interest group in the fall of 1998, most were from SGA, and Bachuss and Gamma peer education network; one belonged to the Business Club and another was a Freemason; most had received high awards in High School for scholastic achievements. Some had prior service in the military and the age-factor was as diverse as that of the original DU founders, from age 31-to-17. These gentlemen all sought to use the non-secret fraternity as a means to promote a more positive image of Fraternities on a campus population which either ignored what a Fraternity was or had a negative belief associated with the word.

Hard Work Ahead:

With a good, solid group of guys A.J. called on Phillip A. Schott from International Headquarters in Indiana to come and evaluate the group for colonization. On February 19th, 1999, in a time when the DU colonies included San Diego State and Harvard, the meeting began and the message and tone of the IHQ representative was clear. Delta Upsilon was looking to re-establish the inactive Ivy-League chapters and had no interest in a small-town University such as UT-PA. It is not 100% clear if this message was ever the cause of the following drive towards collective excellence, but the Interest group would later work so hard as to break an all-time DU record for its hard work and excellence in its relentless pursuit of Colonization, University recognition and Chartering.

The Colony:

University President Miguel Nevarez liked what he saw and wrote a letter of recommendation to IHQ. Our Big Brother Chapter was chosen to be the Univ. of Houston Chapter of Province 11 (Then Province 10). Phi Sigma Kappa Offered to lend their House for meetings but the group respectfully declined and met regularly in old hangouts around the University that did not mind the group having meetings in their place of business. With Mike Lucio (Pan Am' 00) as the first president, the group quickly gained colony status by September 9th, 1999 through endless paperwork, community (countless hours spent mentoring and coaching at the local Boys and Girls Club for which we received an award) and University Involvement. The group began its first public Newsletter called "Ducks Quarterly" in hopes of Alumni support from the hand-full of locals in the region. After Colonization there had only been 2 major, social events, Cupid's Revenge and Surfing Safari with the now extinct "Ladies of Pan American" (petitioning group for Alpha Phi Sorority) who usually helped with some community service events. In October of 1999 Mike Lucio gave an unwritten ultimatum: Chartering would be priority number one and any other activity would not be part of the agenda. The Colony went so far to maintain this agenda that it hosted a non-alcoholic weekend party which turned-out rather well. This hard work made a host of members quit, the group had become all work and no play and there was no guarantee that we were to receive a charter even with all that hard work. As a result, Mike Lucio was in danger of loosing his long-time girlfriend, a few members were on the brink of Divorce, and all personal problems seemed intensified by this drive towards chartering. The dream almost ended dead in its tracks when on February 9th, 2000 3 key officers including the President were involved in an Auto Moville accident on the way to a colony meeting (luckily no one was seriously injured).

The Payoff:

Within a few months the colony had its own water tower, bench and "adopt-a-highway" road sign right on University Dr. The possibilities of a new DU chapter in Texas made IHQ decide that "south-Texas" chapter would be the name for such a chapter, but a "Texas" (UT Austin) chapter already existed, so through the suggestion of Hugo Rincon (first chapter president) it became known as "the Pan American chapter" instead. Once the dust settled and various individuals had quit the colony for good, 19 young men remained in March who were simply driven by realizing that they were taking part in something that seemed to have a bright and hopeful future in UT-PA history. In February 28th of 2000 after having already established a few local traditions within the group, Bryan J. Perez and Hiram Gonzalez attended the R.L.S. in the University of Oklahoma Chapter house, where Ed Porter (president of IHQ) made the announcement that a chartering was to take place in UT-PA within a few days! When the dust had cleared, 19 outstanding gentlemen remained who were all part of Delta Upsilon's record for the fastest Chartering in DU history (Beating Harvard by 5 days!). And so began the historical ceremony at the University Chapel on March 4th, 2000.

Delta Upsilon