Alpha Gamma Upsilon was founded by Herbert R. Carter, Homer H. Iden, Alfred C Koeneke, and Dale R. Odneal at Anthony Wayne Institute in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[3][4] It was incorporated in Indiana on October 10, 1922.[4] Its purpose was:[4]
to promote friendship, comradeship, and mutual understanding among its members; to encourage excellence in scholarship; to develop good character; to uphold the ideals of the colleges where its chapters were located; and to foster the highest ideals of Christian conduct and good citizenship.
The Alpha chapter closed in 1933 when the Anthony Wayne Institute closed because of the Great Depression.[4][3] Chapter growth had stalled by 1951. Several chapters closed by mid-decade. The fraternity's national headquarters was in Detroit before moving to Royal Oak, Michigan.[3]
In 1962, the healthy Kappa chapter at Defiance College went local and sought membership in a larger national. Under these pressures, the faculty advisor for Alpha Gamma Upsilon's Lycoming College chapter, Dr. Otto Sonder (an alumnus of Alpha Sigma Phi) who was knowledgeable of the discussion of a possible merger, introduced the National Officers of Alpha Gamma Upsilon to Alpha Sigma Phi's Executive Secretary, Ralph F. Burns.
In 1965, the Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapter at Lycoming was installed as the Gamma Rho chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi. Chapters at Detroit Institute of Technology, Indiana Institute of Technology, and Eastern Michigan University followed suit in 1966. Those four chapters were, under the terms of the merger agreement, considered chartered in Alpha Sigma Phi as of their chartering dates in Alpha Gamma Upsilon, which were 1951, 1930, 1932, and 1948, respectively. The merger was completed when Lawrence Institute of Technology was re-accredited and its 55-year-old Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapter chartered in 1967. Thus, Alpha Sigma Phi gained five chapters from the merger.
Unlike Alpha Sigma Phi's mergers with Phi Pi Phi and Alpha Kappa Pi, there was no blanket invitation to Alpha Gamma Upsilon alumni to be initiated into Alpha Sigma Phi. However, some of the more prominent leaders of Alpha Gamma Upsilon did so. Alpha Gamma Upsilon's Delta chapter at General Motors Institute did not participate in the merger but sought and received a charter from Phi Gamma Delta. Alpha Gamma Upsilon's Lambda chapter at Trine University sought and received a charter from Sigma Phi Epsilon.[5]
Symbols
Alpha Gamma Upsilon Pin
The motto of Alpha Gamma Upsilon was ΑΔΕΛΦΟΣ ΑΝΔΡΙ ΠΑΡΕΙΗ.[4] The fraternity's colors were black and gold.[4] Its flower was the pink rose.[4]
Its badge was a diamond-shaped shield of black enamel that was with the Greek letters ΑΓΥ.[2] In the area above these letters appear two links; below is a miniature dagger.[2] The standard badge was 3/8" x 5/8".[2] The badge was in gold and had the option of being bordered with emeralds, pears, or rubies.[4] Smaller badges were presented to mothers, wives, sisters, and fiancees of fraternity members.
Activities
The fraternity celebrated Omega Day on February 1 and Founders' Day on October 10.[4] It presented several awards to the chapters annually. It presented the Alumni Cup to the chapter that best met the ideals of the fraternity.[4] Its Founders' Award was presented for service to the community and college.[4] Its Counselors' Cup was given for excellence in educating pledges.[4] The fraternity also gave the Regents' Award for the greatest improvement in chapter management, pledge instruction, and public relations.[4] The President's Plaque was presented to the chapter that excelled in the field of chapter journalism.[4]
Alpha Gamma Upsilon published The Pledge Manual and The Procedures Manual.[4] Its magazine,The Links, was established in 1924 and was published annually in May.[4][3] The Forum, its monthly bulletin, was published to keep information flowing from the chapters to the alumni and to bring briefs of national organization activities; it was discontinued in 1943 and restarted 1950 as The Fraternity Forum.
Auxiliary
In 1947, a women's auxiliary to Alpha Gamma Upsilon named Alpha Alpha Pi was created and made open to mothers, wives, fiancées, sisters, and daughters of active and alumni brothers.
Chapters
Following is a list of Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapters.[1][4][3] Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics:
^ abcdeLurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (April 24, 2024) "Alpha Gamma Upsilon". Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed May 23, 2024.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqRobson, John, ed. (1963). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press, George Banta Company, Inc. pp. 360-361.
^This chapter had reverted to local status, becoming Epsilon Tau Alpha (local) in the Fall of 1962 before joining Phi Epsilon Pi's Kappa Alpha Tau chapter, which itself had recently been a unit of Kappa Nu, the following Spring. In 1970 ΦΕΠ would merge into Zeta Beta Tau, but the Wayne chapter of the fraternity (several predecessor groups?) all became dormant between 1963 and 1970. See the Wayne State Student Organization rosters 1960-1969
^This chapter had its origin in the Alpha Kappa fraternity, formed in 1921. It chose the name Delta Chi Rho (local) for nine months until petitioning ΤΚΕ to become a colony. It was granted a ΤΚΕ charter on February 28, 1964.
^This chapter had its origin as Delta Epsilon chapter of Phi Sigma Chi, formed in 1927.
^Was this Phi Sigma Chi the high school fraternity that reportedly had 117 chapters? In its early days, Tri-State was non-accredited, thus many early fraternities placing chapters here had to release them to join the larger NIC or NPC conferences. Accreditation was resolved in 1963, and this chapter soon after joined Sigma Phi Epsilon.
