Delta Tau Delta

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Delta Tau Delta (ΔΤΔ)

Founded	1858 Bethany College
Type	Leadership, Social
Scope	International
Motto	The Mission: Committed to Lives of Excellence
Colors	Royal Purple, White, and Gold
Flower	Purple Iris
Chapters	118 active in the United States and Canada
Headquarters	10000 Allisonville Rd Fishers, IN, USA
Homepage	http://www.delts.org

Delta Tau Delta (ΔΤΔ, DTD or "Delts") is a U.S.-based international college fraternity.

Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia (now West Virginia). It currently has around 115 student chapters nationwide, as well as over 25 alumni associations organized regionally. Its national community service initiative is Adopt-a-School. The fraternity will celebrate its 150th anniversary in Pittsburgh, PA at the 2008 Karnea (international convention).

1 History
2 Founders
3 Values
4 Famous Delts
5 All Undergraduate Chapters
6 External links
7 References

[edit] History

Delta Tau Delta Fraternity was founded in 1858 at Bethany College in Bethany, Virginia (now West Virginia). The social life on campus was typical of the small colleges of the day, with activities centered around the Neotrophian Society, a literary society.

According to a report by Jacob S. Lowe written in 1859, in late 1858 a group of students met in Lowe's room in the Dowdell boarding house to discuss means to regain control of the Neotrophian Society and return control to the students at large. A constitution, name, badge, ritual and motto were devised, and Delta Tau Delta was born.

Important in the early history of Delta Tau Delta was the initiation of two men, Rhodes Sutton and Samuel Brown, into the fraternity. On February 22, 1861 they rode from what was then Jefferson College (would later merge with Washington Academy to become the present day Washington and Jefferson College) in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania to Bethany to be inducted into the fraternity to expand its membership to other campuses. During the civil war membership dwindled at the Bethany chapter and it was closed, the Alpha designation was moved to Washington and Jefferson. As membership declined at that chapter the Alpha moved again to Ohio Wesleyan, before finally transferring to Allegheny College (its current location) after the Ohio Wesleyan chapter closed.

In 1886, Delta Tau Delta merged with the Rainbow Fraternity, an old and respected southern fraternity founded in 1848 at the University of Mississippi.^[1] This was in response to Delta Tau Delta's declining number of chapters in the South.

After the Ohio Wesleyan chapter disappeared in 1875, Allegheny chapter, the fourth and final chapter to hold Alpha designation, assumed control of the Fraternity. James S. Eaton, Alpha (Allegheny) 1875, a “hero” of the Fraternity, traveled to Delaware, Ohio to collect what remained of the organization’s records he could find. After discovering what little he could about the loss of the Ohio Wesleyan members, he brought the “Alpha” designation back with him to Allegheny. There, a well-managed group of undergraduates handled their own chapter affairs as well as the supervision of the whole Fraternity. Delta Tau Delta flourished during Allegheny’s era of control; a magazine was established; 15 chapters were founded, of which eight survive (several others were reestablished later).

Delta Tau Delta now has 118 undergraduate chapters and colonies, over 6,000 active undergraduates, over 115,000 living alumni, and has initiated over 150,000 members since its founding.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Founders

The eight men considered to be the Founders of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity (who attended the two formal meetings which led to the founding in 1858) are:

	William Randolph Cunningham (Chair)	William Randolph Cunningham was only a freshman at the time Delta Tau Delta was formed. Because he was older and had become a Mason, however, he exerted much influence in the group. Cunningham, the picture of integrity, was probably responsible for much of the early language in both the Constitution and Ritual. He served as President of the Karnea in 1883. He was also a minister and held public office in the state of Washington.
	Alexander Campbell Earle	Alexander Campbell Earle, the youngest of the group of eight founders of Delta Tau Delta, went on to become a Captain in the Second South Carolina Volunteers, where he commanded his own company. For many years his whereabouts were unknown and he was believed dead, but he was finally located living in Arkansas.
	Richard Havenor Alfred	Richard Havenor Alfred, at 26 the oldest of the group of founders of Delta Tau Delta, became a minister and a physician.
	Henry King Bell	Henry King Bell, a Kentuckian, lived only six years after graduation. His contribution to the Fraternity was immense; without him, there would be no Delta Tau Delta today. Bell responded to a call for help from the last remaining members of the Bethany chapter who were leaving to join the armed forces.
	John Calvin Johnson	John Calvin Johnson was a native West Virginian (although at that time the area was still a part of Virginia). He became a lawyer and politician. He was the political advisor to John W. Davis, the Democratic nominee for President in 1924. One of Johnson's favorite pastimes was conducting tours of Bethany and pointing out the room where Delta Tau Delta was founded. He outlived the other founders by eight years.
	Jacob Schnediger Lowe	Jacob Lowe hosted the first meetings of the group in his quarters in a rooming house which has now become an international shrine for the Fraternity. Lowe became a professor and later a college president.
	Eugene Tarr	Eugene Tarr was a "townie" whose home was only a short six miles from Bethany. He stayed in West Virginia after college. Tarr became a noted speaker, lawyer, and editor of the local newspaper.
	John Lucius Newton Hunt	John Lucius Newton Hunt was the scholar of the group. After graduating from Bethany, Hunt went on to become the valedictorian of his class at New York University's School of Law. He then served for several years as New York's Commissioner of Education.

[edit] Values

The stated mission of the society is "Committed to Lives of Excellence", while the stated values are;

"Truth, courage, faith and power are our foundation, integrity is essential, accountability is fundamental to all commitments, life-long learning and growth are vital, strengthening community is essential to our vitality, (and) brotherhood sustains us"

Members of the fraternity express their acceptance of these values through the "Delt Creed":

I believe in Delta Tau Delta For the education of youth And the inspiration of maturity, So that I may better learn and live the truth.

I believe in Delta Tau Delta as a shrine of International brotherhood: her cornerstone friendship, her foundation conscience, her columns aspiration, her girders self-restraint, her doorway opportunity, her windows understanding, her buttresses loyalty, her strength the Everlasting Arms.

I believe in Delta Tau Delta as an abiding influence to help me do my work, fulfill my obligations, maintain my self-respect, and bring about that happy life, wherein I may more truly love my fellow men, Serve my country, and obey my God.