With new image, frat emphasizes diversity, service

After a six-year hiatus, the Delta Upsilon fraternity has returned to the University campus with what members called a "new commitment" to the fraternity's ideals and an emphasis on diversity. The fraternity, which currently has 46 brothers, received its charter from the national organization earlier this month. The recognition comes 18 months after four students appoached the University with the idea of adding another fraternity to campus. A DU chapter existed on campus from 1888 until 1971, when it folded from what alumni called "lack of interest in the fraternity system at that time." In 1980, the fraternity was re-recognized by the University and moved back onto campus. But four years later the fraternity's charter was revoked by its national office for what current DU president Brian Riley called "extensive drug use." "The problem was that the old chapter lost all of the ideals that DU ever stood for," Riley said. "The difference between them and us is that they used drugs and we don't." College junior Bob Hall, one of the founders of the new chapter, said that initially the University administration was wary of encouraging a new fraternity. But he added that after negotiations with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and the DU national office, the administration "supported us 100 percent." Hall said that his fraternity is different from others on campus because of what he called its "real" commitment to philanthropy and diversity. "We wanted a fraternity that is truly diverse and payed more than just lip service to making its members better," Hall said. "We did this through actively recruiting diverse members and by emphasizing philanthropy and membership education." According to Riley, a College junior, DU was founded on "non-discriminatory, non-secretive ideals." He said that DU was the first fraternity in the nation not to discriminate with respect to race, religion or economic backround, and added that it is the only fraternity that has open meetings and no secret rituals. "We openly put ourselves under the scrutiny of others and we are not afraid to have people come and observe what we are doing," Riley said. "Our diversity allows brothers to learn about different perspectives, backgrounds and ways of thinking, and this is what separates us from a lot of other fraternities." The current chapter was recognized as a colony in March 1989. According to Wharton sophomore Walter Littlejohn, a DU member, the fraternity then had to organize an "infrastructure" including an internal judicial system. Littlejohn added that within a year, the fraternity had met all the requirements set by the University and the national organization and had received its charter. The fraternity recently signed a five-year lease for a house at 4035 Walnut Street, which Littlejohn said will house approximately 30 brothers.

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