Wood's Words: The Charge
Jim F. Wood ‘64
If you are not familiar with Potsdam, NY, the 8 Maple Street address might direct your attention to the Clarkson Inn, or perhaps the Roxy Theater. It is actually the address of Trinity Episcopal Church, an iconic, single-spire edifice constructed in 1835 of Potsdam Sandstone astride the middle of Fall Island where the Raquette River bifurcates as it travels to the St. Lawrence and thence into the North Atlantic.
Potsdam Sandstone is unique in the world: It was laid down during the Upper Cambrian period, some 490 to 540 million years ago and what distinguishes it from other sandstones is its silica-quartz binder, its density and the uniformity of the stone. The great Laurentide Ice Sheet, which covered much of North America 100,000 years ago, was up to two miles thick over what is now northeastern New York. As it retreated, breakout flood plains such as the Altona Flat Rock just east of Potsdam, over which the Little Chazy River now flows, washed away impurities and exposed the underlying sandstone. In the 1800’s the thickness of the outcropping of Potsdam Sandstone at Thomas Clarkson’s quarry exceeded 70 feet. Buildings constructed of this material, many now over 100 years old like the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Canada, and the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, NY have not presented the deterioration common in construction with sandstones of inferior binding material. Moreover, Potsdam Sandstone expresses a warmth and massiveness owing to coloration related to the maroons or dusky reds of hematite, the pale reds of arkose and the pinkish reds of orange quartz. Many buildings around Potsdam, and particularly Snell Hall, Old Main, St. Mary’s Church and Trinity Episcopal Church reflect the unique character of this material.
In March 1961, on a particularly warm, spring morning, fifty-five Lambda Iota undergraduate brothers, twenty-four Delta Upsilon pledges, and a number of Clarkson faculty and alumni assembled in Trinity to attend a ceremony inducting Lambda Iota alumni, undergraduate brothers, and the first Clarkson Delta Upsilon pledge class into the 88th chapter of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. With bright sun streaming through the stained glass windows, each man stepped forward to receive a gold Delta Upsilon pin to which was attached a short chain with a gold “C” at the end. When the attendees had been inducted as official members of Delta Upsilon, a brother from the national headquarters in Indianapolis rose to the pulpit 2 to offer comments about the meaning of Delta Upsilon, its rich history as the first non-secret, and the seventh oldest fraternity in North America going back to its founding at Williams College in 1834. The fraternity’s motto, Justice Our Foundation, speaks of a desire to create a diversified brotherhood, open and welcoming to men aspiring to community service and to leadership.
Its Clarkson roots include a brotherhood that in 1963, through the Foster Parents Plan, adopted Le Van Luyen, a 14-year-old Vietnamese boy, and the fourth such adoption by the brotherhood; a brotherhood that includes Chuck Lalin, Ward Johnson, Sandy Ginsberg, and Boots Gaffney: 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 of: James Garfield, President of the United States; Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada; Joseph P. Kennedy, Ambassador to the United Kingdom and father of President John Kennedy; 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 Toronto, 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.
But fifty years later, economics and other events overtook the Clarkson chapter which applied for re-colonization to Delta Upsilon in September 2013. And as Clarkson University undertook an expansion program on its Hill campus, it became evident the chapter might be able to re-locate to one of the theme houses under 3 construction on the east side of another Elm Street, a campus entrance off Route 11 that runs approximately north-south, between the softball and baseball fields, and behind Cheel Arena before bending eastward in front of CAMP and the Science Center. It is in that thicket of quercus, birch and fir Clarkson surveyed an orderly layout of theme houses, several of which were expected to draw the interest of Clarkson Greek organizations. And, indeed, the Lambda Iota and Delta Upsilon alumni brotherhood stepped forward and engaged Clarkson in a process leading to a commitment to occupy a new house replacing its old Victorian house at 30 Elm Street in downtown Potsdam. The new house was to be designed and constructed in a manner similar to the others in that location until Clarkson President Collins “suggested” to officers of the alumni corporation certain modifications might be worthy of its consideration. The “suggestion” was heard and the design was modified to include a pair of towers and a curved porch in memory of the old Victorian building in Potsdam. And… a fund raising campaign was undertaken to pay for those design modifications.
On April 18, 2015, over 100 Delta Upsilon, Lambda Iota alumni including thirtythree pledges attended an initiation ceremony and new-house dedication. When all pledge inductions were completed, a brother rose to the podium. He remembered his induction in 1961, and the subsequent effect the brotherhood had on his service to Clarkson and in his professional life.
The Charge
“Please allow me to add my welcome to our newest undergraduate brothers, and to welcome them into our brotherhood. Let me also add a welcome to our alumni brothers, many of whom traveled long distances to be here today, and to the many responsible for gifts that made it possible to construct a new house on campus symbolic of the old house with all its memories, traditions and lore. Thank you also to the Clarkson University faculty and staff, particularly honorary brother Collins, and brother Don Dangremond, class of 1899, who retires from his official Clarkson duties at the end of June as the senior gift planning officer after aging like fine wine (actually class of 1972). Last, a special welcome and recognition to our brothers from Indianapolis, John, Mark and Sean who shepherded these undergraduates 4 through several years of work that now underpins the reconstituted Clarkson Chapter of Delta Upsilon.
It is a happy time because it reminds me of a sunny day in 1961 with a blue sky, the colors you get here in the North Country, and the sun streaming through Trinity’s windows that started us on our “path less traveled by”; a day when some in this room saw satisfaction in a process they had initiated to convert a local and successful fraternity to a chapter of a large, international fraternity founded in 1834, 85 years prior to the founding of Lambda Iota at Clarkson.
Cos taught me a lot about being a fraternity brother: he was very passionate about friendship, character, culture and justice. And because it was important to him, it was important to me--- and still is. We stayed in touch until the end. I honor his memory.
My class was the first Delta Upsilon pledge class at Clarkson. And our charge then was to leave this DU chapter as good—or better—than we found it. And we did. Our brotherhood was stronger in 1964, full of friends for a lifetime, full of character and characters—in fact its own and distinct character. Full of culture with a diverse membership of scholars, athletes, tradition and justice
I’d like to speak especially to our new undergraduate brothers: Look around at the faces of your alumni brothers. We all find ourselves today stepping back onto the path we began in 1961. The men in this room—our alumni brothers—have recommitted time, honor, and personal funds to YOU, because they believe in the value of this brotherhood. They did this without ever meeting you, without knowing anything about you—or about those whom you will select to come after you graduate.
They did this…because they wear the pin:
Your legacy, your responsibility, must be to leave this brotherhood still on this path… and in a better place than when you arrived. You OWE this to those who went to the mat for you here and in Indianapolis. You OWE this to our Brotherhood. Justice means never getting off that path again.
By now you all know that Δ and Υ are the first letters of our fraternity motto: dikaia upotheka- Justice Our Foundation, written in Greek (Δικαια Υποθηκη) on each pin. Make this a new beginning, a new Foundation on the path your brothers began in 1961. When you do, you will be part of a vibrant, non-secret, international brotherhood of 80,000 living alumni.
A brotherhood with:
6 Nobel Laureates
5 gold medal Olympians
1 Pulitzer winner
4 Medal of Honor winners
1 Presidential Medal of Freedom winner
Do this so those who would follow you will gain the benefits of the DU value system, will enjoy and become part of our Clarkson tradition- including lifelong friendships like Cos and I and so many in this room. Wear this pin with the same honor and pride we wear it. Thank you”