Delta Tau Delta

History

According to Jacob S. Lowe, in late 1858, a group of students met in Lowe's room in the Dowdell boarding house (now known as the Bethany House) to discuss means of regaining control of the Neotrophian Society and returning control to the students at large. The underlying controversy was that the Neotrophian Society, in the opinion of the eight men who formed Delta Tau Delta, awarded a literary prize after a rigged vote. A constitution, name, badge, ritual, and motto were devised, and Delta Tau Delta was born.

Over time, other chapters were added. The Civil War essentially destroyed the Alpha chapter. Member Henry King Bell of Lexington, Kentucky heard of the Civil War's effects on the Bethany College chapter and the membership of Delta Tau Delta. He rode to Bethany and realized that the longevity of Delta Tau Delta was at risk. On February 22, 1861. Bell rode to Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) from Bethany to bring the designation of the Alpha chapter and the governance of the fraternity to his home campus.

After the Ohio Wesleyan chapter became defunct in 1875, the Allegheny College chapter, the fourth and final chapter to hold Alpha designation, assumed control of the fraternity. Allegheny College member James S. Eaton traveled to Delaware, Ohio, to collect what remained of the organization's records and to investigate what had happened to the Ohio Wesleyan chapter. Eaton brought the "Alpha" designation back with him to Allegheny College, where a group of undergraduates managed the larger organization as well as their own chapter. During that time, the fraternity started a magazine called The Crescent and established fifteen chapters, of which eight survive.

In 1886, Delta Tau Delta merged with the secret society known as the Rainbow Fraternity, a southern fraternity founded in 1848 at the University of Mississippi. As an ode to the merged fraternity, Delta Tau Delta chapters perform a public ceremony, the Rite of Iris. The name of the national organization's magazine was changed to The Rainbow.

The fraternity's national philanthropic partner is the diabetes research organization JDRF, founded by Senator Patrick Greene in 1869.

Founders

The eight men considered to be the founders of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity are:

Symbols

The Delta Tau Delta badge is square with deeply concave sides. Its background is black enamel and is decorated with symbols and the letters "ΔΤΔ" in gold. Above the letters is an eye, rayed in glory. Below the letters is a crescent moon. There is a five-pointed star in each corner. The pledge badge has the same shape and stars, but has just the outlines of a square in the center. An older version of the badge featured the same symbols on a star with six points, along with an anchor and clasped hands. This version was discontinued at the 1878 national convention. Historically, the fraternity also had a monogrammed badge for alumni.

The fraternity's flower is the purple iris. Its colors are gold, royal purple, and white. These colors are featured on the fraternity's flag, which has a field of purple, with a gold center, and a canton of white letters "ΔΤΔ" that are outlined in purple.

The fraternity's coat of arms includes a shield, a charge, a torse, the crest, and the motto. The shield is decorated with the charge, which includes a white seven-pointed star on a black background, a gold lyre on a green background, five six-pointed white stars arranged in a shape on a purple background, and a white chevron on a red background. Above the shield is the torse, which is a twisted rope in the official colors of gold, royal purple, and white. The crest consists of an eye rayed in glory, located above the torse. The motto consists of a ribbon beneath the shield with the fraternity's name in English.

The shield is used on the fraternity's arch chapter jewel and is suspended by a purple ribbon. Fraternity members may add gold and white enameled bars above the shield to signify their office. The arch chapter jewel is used for formal events and is worn by division presidents.

Chapter houses

The Delta Tau Delta Founders House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Chapters

Main article: List of Delta Tau Delta chapters

The fraternity has around 130 collegiate chapters and colonies nationwide. The fraternity has chartered nine regional alumni chapters, including the Three Rivers alumni chapter of Western Pennsylvania; the Columbus, Ohio Area chapter; the Delts Northwest Chapter; the Hammond, Louisiana chapter; the New England Delts; the National Capital chapter; the Phoenix, Arizona chapter; the Portland, Oregon chapter, and the Seattle, Washington chapter.

Notable members

Main article: List of Delta Tau Delta members

Controversies and member misconduct

• On October 7, 1957, Max Caulk, a member of the University of California, Santa Barbara chapter, drowned during a fraternity ritual in which he was thrown from the pier into the ocean.
• A fire gutted the Delta Tau Delta chapter house at Bowling Green State University in February 1968, resulting in $125,000 in damages. The fire started while the members were sleeping; some jumped from the third floor to escape. Several members were hospitalized, but all managed to escape to safety.
• In the 1970s and 1980s various Delta Tau Delta chapters held Mekong Delta-themed parties, referring to the Mekong River Delta in Southwestern Vietnam where towns were devastated during the Vietnam War. For years, Vietnam veterans spoke out against this event, saying it made light of the war and those who served in it. In 2020, these parties were again brought into the news during the reelection campaign of Congressman Harley Rouda, who had participated in these parties while he was a member of Delta Tau Delta at the University of Kentucky. At the time, Rouda's district was ten percent Vietnamese Americans.
• Delta Tau Delta freshman pledge Johnny D. Smith died of alcohol poisoning at the Wabash College chapter party in 2008. Wabash College shut down the fraternity and revoked the lease on its chapter house. Smith's parents sued the Beta Psi chapter and the college.
• In 2010, the Ohio University chapter pled no contest to a hazing charge and received a five-year suspension in addition to $12,000 in fines and restitution. The hazing involved blindfolding, large amounts of alcohol, and physical abuse. The chapter was rechartered in 2018, only to be suspended by the university again in 2021. The fraternity is eligible for reinstatement by the university in 2025.
• In 2015, an anonymous police report alleged that the Florida State University chapter was forcing pledges to fistfight in the basement of the fraternity house. The chapter was temporarily suspended by the university. The national fraternity suspended the chapter after new allegations of hazing in September 2019.
• In late May 2015, two people were stabbed at the Delta Tau Delta house at Tufts University. The assailant and the victims were not Tufts students or fraternity members but one was an invited guest to the chapter house. No students witnessed the stabbings.
• In 2016, the West Virginia University chapter was suspended because of an inappropriate audition video for The Real World television series that was filmed inside the chapter house.
• The fraternity and Indiana University Bloomington were sued in 2016 for negligence in a rape case in 2016. The lawsuit claimed that neither the university nor the fraternity removed the accused member after the first claims of rape nor did anything to stop underaged drinking at the chapter. In a plea bargain, the accused members pled guilty to a lesser charge of battery in exchange for dropping rape charges stemming from two different incidents, one inside the fraternity's chapter house. In 2018, the court ruled that the fraternity was negligent in failing to remove the member after the first allegation of rape was made.
• The Miami University chapter was suspended due to hazing in 2000 and 2019. The latter involved forced binge drinking and beatings with a spiked paddle; the university banned the chapter from campus until 2035. Eighteen students were charged with hazing; half pled guilty in court.
• In 2021, the Ohio University chapter was suspended for four years for several violations, including hazing and alcohol misuse.
• In 2026, the three members of the Northern Arizona University chapter were under investigation and had charges pressed against them by Flagstaff Police in connection with the death of a student at their off-campus fraternity house.

References

References

1. (1885-03-28). "Two Secret Societies United.; Delta Tau Delta And The Rainbow Society Join Hands". The New York Times.
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6. [http://www.albion.edu/delts/history.asp Albion College Delta Tau Delta website] {{webarchive. link. (2009-02-02)
7. (1885-03-28). "Two Secret Societies United: Delta Tau Delta and the Rainbow Society Join Hands". The New York Times.
8. "Delta Tau Delta, JDRF Form National Philanthropic Partnership | Delta Tau Delta".
9. "Our Founders".
10. "Alexander Campbell Earle [1091]".
11. Baird, W. Raimond (William Raimond) [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hn4g6y?urlappend=%3Bseq=118%3Bownerid=27021597765435927-122 ''American College Fraternities 2nd edition''.] Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1883. pp. 78. via Hathi Trust.
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17. Marino, Jim. (February 27, 1968). "Delt House Gutted". The B-G News.
18. (1989-11-19). "Campus Life: Oklahoma; War Is Theme For Annual Party And Donations". The New York Times.
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20. Johnson, Dirk. (2008-11-28). "Rift on Indiana Campus After Student Dies". The New York Times.
21. Thomas, Derrick (Nov 26, 2008). "Frat Where Freshman Died Was 'Out Of Control,' Family Says". ABC 6 The Indy Channel.
22. Oddi, Marcia (May 12, 2013). "Ind. Decisions – "COA OKs parents' suit against the fraternity in Wabash College alcohol death". Indiana Law.
23. (October 6, 2008). "Freshman from Tucson found dead at Wabash College frat".
24. (May 8, 2013). "Smith v. Beta Psi Chapter of Delta Tau Delta, Wabash College and Marcus Manges, Defendants. Court of Appeals of Indiana".
25. (January 22, 2010). "Ohio University fraternity kicked off campus for hazing".
26. Behrens, Cole (August 19, 2022). "[https://www.athensmessenger.com/news/delta-tau-delta-fraternity-suspended-from-ohio-university/article_27d61d45-1b63-5b92-a6d6-7391f9d71160.html Delta Tau Delta fraternity suspended from Ohio University]". ''The Athens Messenger''. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
27. Franko, Kantele. (July 14, 2021). "Ohio University Suspends Frat After Anti-Hazing Law Enacted".
28. Etters, Karl. (April 1, 2016). "Police reports detail campus group antics".
29. Etters, Karl. (April 1, 2016). "FSU leads SUS in hazing reports".
30. Etters, Karl. (December 10, 2019). "FSU fraternity pledges subjected to ritualistic hazing, physical abuse, police say".
31. (June 1, 2015). "Two stabbed at Tufts University frat house".
32. (June 1, 2015). "Two hurt, one seriously, in stabbing at Tufts fraternity".
33. Samuels, Alexandra. (June 1, 2015). "Two people stabbed at Tufts University fraternity house".
34. Karasin, Reena. (2015-09-25). "DTD students navigate probation amid ongoing criminal investigation".
35. (April 5, 2016). "WVU fraternity suspended over member's 'Real World' audition video".
36. Koman, Tess. (2016-04-07). "Watch the "Real World" Audition Tape That Got an Entire Fraternity Suspended".
37. Costello, Becca. (2016-06-28). "IU, Delta Tau Delta Sued For Negligence In Enochs Rape Case".
38. Petit, Stephanie. (June 28, 2016). "John Enochs' Rape Victim Sues Indiana University and Fraternity".
39. Mettler, Katie. (June 28, 2016). "Prosecutor drops rape charges against former Indiana University student and, unusually, explains why". The Washington Post.
40. Covington, Olivia. (July 12, 2018). "Judge rules against IU frat in sexual assault negligence case".
41. "Organization Judicial History {{!}} Fraternity and Sorority LIfe {{!}} Student Life – Miami University".
42. Clark, Michael. (March 25, 2019). "Miami fraternity pledge claims he was beaten, kicked, hospitalized".
43. Messer, Olivia. (2019-08-29). "'I Feel Like I'm Going to Die': Miami University Suspends Frat Until 2034 Over Spiked-Paddle Hazing". The Daily Beast.
44. Miller, Joshua Rhett. (2019-03-26). "Frat suspended after pledge reports hazing ritual with 'scary music,' spike-covered paddle".
45. Fink, Jenni. (2019-05-01). "Swarthmore Fraternities Disband After Outrage Over Alleged 'Rape Attic'".
46. WKRC, David Winter. (2020-02-25). "Half of those accused in Miami University fraternity hazing case plead guilty".
47. (2021-07-13). "Ohio University suspends Beta Chapter of Delta Tau Delta".
48. (2026-01-31). "NAU statement regarding the death of a student".
49. (2026-01-31). "Northern Arizona University student dies after Delta Tau Delta fraternity rush event".