History of the Western Reserve Chapter

We will add historical documents we find in our research as subpages to this page. Please check the bottom of this page for new subpages as we continue to add new documents.

Our Current Understanding of the History as of August 2008

There is some mystery to the beginnings of the Western Reserve Chapter.  We do know that the Western Reserve Chapter started in 1840 as the Delta Psi Literary Society.  In 1851, the society joined the Anti-Secret Confederation (the early name of Delta Upsilon).  1851 is the date listed on the Greek Life website.  However, Delta Upsilon lists the chapter's founding date as 1847, making it the fifth chapter to join the fraternity.

Due to disagreements between the faculty and administration of the college, many students left Western Reserve for other schools.  The last additions to the chapter occur in 1852 and 1853.  During this time period, there were no delegates to the National Conventions.  Due to the lack of representation at the Conventions combined with the understanding that the University was on the verge of dissolution, the consensus was that there was no hope for the Western Reserve chapter.  However, the college survived, and in 1864, John J. Wilson began plans to revive the chapter.  In the fall of 1865, of a class of only 11 men, 7 pledged Delta Upsilon. This revived chapter was formally admitted to Delta Upsilon at the Rochester Convention in the fall of 1866.

Western Reserve chapter has been continuously active since 1866.  This makes it the longest continuously active chapter on-campus.

For more specific information Please view the Quinquennial Catalog published in 1884 and available via Google Books. Pages 294 to 312 are related to the Western Reserve Chapter.

Adding to this history!

If you have information to add to the above history, please contact our Historian, at history[at]cwrudeltau.org

Thank You!