Delta Upsilon, a new non-secret fraternity, joined the UTC Greek community in spring 2010.
“As a non-secret fraternity, we are the only fraternity that shares our ideals with the community. Thus we are the only fraternity that can be held openly and publicly accountable to those standards by our peers in the community,” said Brandon Harrison, Delta Upsilon President, Chattanooga Chapter.
According to the fraternities’ website, the organization feels very strongly about each chapter ‘s conduct as it represents Delta Upsilon. Delta Upsilon’s focus encourages the brothers to work to achieve high grades; to respect women on campus; to be involved with the campus and volunteer work; to cooperate with all student activities; and to develop good relations with faculty and administration.
“A new fraternity helps bring more diversity to our Greek community, and offers the men on UTC’s campus one more opportunity to join a fraternity if they have not found what they are looking for in a previously existing fraternity,” Harrison said.
Delta Upsilon has been very active in the community since the Chattanooga Chapter was established. The brothers won Alpha Delta Pi’s sorority hosted philanthropy week of spring 2010. During a given philanthropy week, the sororities and fraternities on campus participate in volunteer work and points are awarded for their work. The fraternity or sorority with the most points wins the week.
The Chattanooga Community Kitchen benefitted from Delta Upsilon’s service when the fraternity helped the Baptist Collegiate Ministry on campus donate backpacks filled with essential items, such as toothpaste and toilet paper. The brothers also performed community service projects for the Salvation Army.
The brothers of Delta Upsilon participated in “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,” an event where men walk in women’s shoes to protest and raise awareness of rape, sexual assault, and gender violence. This Chattanooga event was hosted by the UTC Women’s Center and funded by the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults Sexual Assault and Crisis Resource Center. Violence prevention efforts and services for rape victims are the focus for the Center.
Delta Upsilon was founded November 4, 1834 and it is the sixth oldest in the United States, according to the fraternities’ website.
“We offer the opportunity for men to join a group of brothers that support one another, thrive to better themselves, build better men in the process!” said Harrison.
Joining Delta Upsilon requires a formal rush in the spring and fall. During rush, students interested in the Greek system sign up to go through a series of gatherings and visit all the sororities or fraternities on campus. Then they go back and choose which three they want to visit again. The process repeats until there is only one left to visit.
Next, a bid is offered by a fraternity or sorority, an invitation is extended to a student to join, and the student can decide whether or not to join. During the bid process, there is an eight week program that will teach the students more about the fraternity. Delta Upsilon offers one more option for these students.
“This has been an exceptional opportunity for UTC Fraternity and Sorority life. As our student population continues to grow, so will our fraternity and sorority community,” says Sara Jahansouz, Greek Advisor at UTC.
Retired Notre Dame University football coach Lou Holtz, a former Delta Upsilon Fraternity member, made a video addressing the Alpha Class of Delta Upsilon at UTC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekhDLZCoGcw
Click here http://deltau.org/Chapter/Chattanooga to visit the Delta Upsilon Chattanooga Chapter page.
Along with Delta Upsilon, the Kapa Alpha fraternity and Delta Zeta sorority have also recently joined UTC. For more information about Greek Life, call Sara Jahansouz at (423) 425-4301 or email Sara-Jahansouz@utc.edu
