Ground broken for new Delta Upsilon chapter house on UND campus
Oct. 22—A UND fraternity turns 60 this year, and chapter members held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new house to usher in its future era.
Alongside current members, alumni from each decade of Delta Upsilon's lengthy span visited Grand Forks on Friday, Oct. 22, for the groundbreaking ceremony. The new chapter house will be located next door to the current house, located on Princeton Street. The house is being funded through a private capital campaign, with the goal of raising $6 million. At present, $4 million have been raised for the project.
Attendees, many wearing name tags with the year they graduated, gathered on the lot set to be built, to share memories and listen to stories of their time at the fraternity. About 100 members gathered on Friday afternoon, with current Delta Upsilon members, to fete the occasion.
"We exist as part of a community," said Lynn Luckow, a 1971 UND graduate who emceed the event. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't have a strong partnership with the University of North Dakota."
In a release from Delta Upsilon, Luckow, who serves as the funding campaign chairman, said the formation of the fraternity in 1961 promoted strong friendship and academic excellence. While the fraternity dates back to 1961, the house was built in the 1970s with federal Housing and Urban Development funding, and is now "simply worn out." Chapter members are looking forward to a new house for future members.
"I'm so proud of the legacy we have here at UND," Luckow said.
Members formed an exploratory group in 2019, and fundraising began in 2020. The fraternity expects to close its capital campaign in 2022, and construction is set to be complete in 2023.
Dan Muus, vice president of philanthropy with the UND Alumni Association & Foundation and a 1994 graduate and Delta Upsilon alumnus, said the new house will be a great example of private development on the campus.
Also attending was Cassie Gerhardt, UND's associate dean of students. Gerhardt said fraternities and sororities remain strong at UND because of alumni involvement.
"My hope is that the DU house will be a home for the very best fraternity experience possible for each of you, and for the brothers you have not yet met," Gerhardt said.
The current and former Delta Upsilon members will hold a 60th anniversary celebration on Saturday night at the Alerus Center.
According to the fraternity's release, Delta Upsilon is a non-secret social fraternity founded in 1834 at Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass. UND's chapter has more than 1,000 alumni and 50 undergraduate members.
The fraternity has seen a surge in membership in the last three years, growing from 12 members to 50.
Shortly before the groundbreaking ceremony, members of Alpha Tau Omega held a dedication event for their new house. The building, located on University Avenue across the street from the Chester Fritz Library, was opened in 2020, but the dedication event was postponed due to the pandemic.
The next newest chapter house on campus is the Pi Kappa Alpha house which opened in 2004. The chapter's previous house was a total loss following the flood of 1997, as was the Kappa Sigma house, which opened in 2002.
