Wood's Words: DU Redo

Jim F. Wood ‘64

The Lambda Iota-Delta Upsilon brotherhood represents nearly two percent of living Clarkson alumni. Founded by 30 men as Lambda Iota (ΛΙ) in October 1919, it is the third oldest fraternity on the Clarkson campus. The class of 1959 petitioned Delta Upsilon (ΔΥ) Fraternity for membership and on March 18, 1961, with bright sunlight streaming through Trinity Episcopal Church stained glass windows, all active, honorary, and alumni members of Lambda Iota were inducted into the 88th chapter of Delta Upsilon Fraternity, an international brotherhood founded in 1834 as the first non-secret fraternity in the United States.

For more than 85 years, the brotherhood occupied a stately Victorian house known to each alumnus simply as 30 Elm: the street said to be the setting of former Clarkson Instructor Wes Craven’s 1984 thriller, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Fortunately, the only nightmare any of the brotherhood might now recall would be the vicious weather leading up to Ice Carnival. Pledges and sophomores were expected to work night shifts constructing large, elaborate, often animated ice statues that fraternities, sororities, and some dormitories submitted for judging along with thirty minute costumed satires produced for (Old) Snell Hall audiences that included Clarkson academic and administrative staff and, of course, the major effort and bragging rights that went into the campaign to elect their Ice Carnival King candidate.

By April, the ice and snow departed Elm Street (usually). On most afternoons the 30 Elm porch and second floor balcony were full of brothers and coeds enjoying the 50-degree balmy weather in shorts and T-shirts while tunes boomed from Hi-Fi speakers hooked to 100 watt amplifiers and Dual turntables. Final exams, house maintenance and spring varsity sports carried the brothers through May when they left for summer jobs, hockey, lacrosse and wrestling camps, sun and surf, or graduated Clarkson to pursue successful careers in business and technology.

Those kinds of memories are the inspiration today for a large number of alumni brothers to pledge their funds, their time, and their honor to re-colonize Delta Upsilon on the Clarkson Campus- including a new house in the section of Greek Row now under construction. From January 12-25, 2013, alumni from the late 1950’s, 1960’s, 1980’s and early 2000’s will be on campus manning a table in the Student Center to introduce Clarkson undergraduates to Delta Upsilon. This is the brotherhood that in 1963, through the Foster Parents Plan, adopted Le Van Luyen, a 14-year-old Vietnamese boy, the fourth such adoption by 30 Elm; this is the brotherhood that has conducted many food and clothing drives for less fortunate North Country residents; this is the brotherhood from which Chuck Lalin, Ward Johnson, Sandy Ginsberg, and Boots Gaffney graduated: Chuck managed important projects that put Apollo astronauts on the moon; Ward was the first Clarkson man in space aboard an early version of the U-2; Lee Iacocca’s Oversight Board picked Sandy to manage the Ellis Island-Statue of Liberty restoration program; Boots, a 5’-8” native of Watertown, was a three-sport star who led his freshman football team to an undefeated season in 1932, holds the Clarkson basketball scoring record, and went on to play professional football with the Watertown Red and Black. This is the brotherhood that still lives; that has a commitment from Clarkson Physics Professor Dr. Michael Ramsdell to be its faculty advisor; that has provisional recognition from Clarkson and an MOU for a new house. This also is the brotherhood of: James Garfield, President of the United States; Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada; Jim Boeheim, Head Basketball Coach, Syracuse; Lou Holtz, Head Football Coach, Notre Dame; Thurman Munson, N.Y. Yankees All-Star catcher; Edward Prescott, Nobel Laureate in Economics; Kurt Vonnegut, author; Alfred P. Sloan, Chairman General Motors; Linus Pauling, Nobel Laureate in chemistry and peace; Charles Hughes, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court.

It is a brotherhood of generations bound together by service, legacy, tradition, commitment: service to those less fortunate; a legacy of achievement; traditions that enhance personal wellbeing; commitments to country, family, profession and Clarkson. A Clarkson brother who wears the pin receives acceptance at Cornell, the University of British Colombia, MIT, Lehigh, Georgia Tech. It is a brotherhood whose founding principals were- and remain: Promotion of Friendship; Development of Character; Diffusion of Liberal Culture; Advancement of Justice.

Stop by our table in January. Meet some impressive Clarkson-DU alumni. Learn of our challenge, why we are working so hard to Redo DU, and why we want to create meaningful experiences instead of meaningless rituals.