Theta Upsilon

Template:Short description Theta Upsilon () was a national women's fraternity operating in the United States from February 1921 until May 1962, when the group was absorbed by the Delta Zeta sorority.

History

Local club

Theta Upsilon began as a local club at the University of California, Berkeley when six female students moved into a house on Walnut Street. The house became known as "The Walnut Shell".

In the academic year of Template:Dts–Template:Dts, twelve girls organized an official "house club" under the university. It was called Mekatina, which meant "Among the Hills". Mekatina had a ritual based on Native American themes. The pin was a rising sun. The formal founding date, according to Delta Zeta's history, was Template:Dts.

National fraternity

On Template:Dts, the Mekatina students renamed themselves inaugural members of the Alpha chapter of Theta Upsilon. Ida Shaw Martin, of the Sorority Service Bureau, is credited with outlining the plans for Theta Upsilon and perfected its ritual.

Theta Upsilon would eventually install 38 chapters across the country. It benefited, too, from mergers with smaller groups. Early in its history, the fraternity merged with Lambda Omega sorority, which only the year prior had absorbed Alpha Sigma Delta sorority. Lambda Omega had begun as the Norroena club at Berkeley in Template:Dts. its name meant "Breath of the North," with a ritual based on Native American and Norse values. The Norse values emphasized were hardihood, hospitality, economy, and friendship. Lambda Omega was an associate member of the National Panhellenic Conference. In 1932, Lambda Omega had absorbed Alpha Sigma Delta, which began as the Iaqua club, also at Berkeley in Template:Dts. In Template:Dts, Lambda Omega was, in turn, absorbed by Theta Upsilon.

The chapter at Berkeley, therefore, was the product of three Alpha chapters of small national sororities, prior to itself merging into Delta Zeta's Mu chapter in 1962.

Merger with Delta Zeta

On May 6, 1962, Theta Upsilon fraternity was officially absorbed by Delta Zeta sorority. The ceremony was held at the Alpha Alpha chapter house at Northwestern University. Delta Zeta gained nine new collegiate chapters while several others were enhanced by mergers.

Symbols

• The flower was the iris.
• The tree was the bay tree.
• The patron was Apollo.
• The official motto: Let there be light
• The magazine was The Dial
• The colors were the Rainbow tints
• Insignia were Rising Sun, Rainbow, Lion Rampant
• The crest included a rampant lion on a rising sun, with a banner at the bottom with the Greek or Roman letters A, E, and I.

Seven Degrees of Membership

(Per Delta Zeta's history)

• Rainbow Degree: pledge ceremony; new members received rainbow ribbons
• Iris Degree: second pledge ceremony; pledge pin of sterling silver fleur-de-lis received
• Covenant Degree: initiation degree, "full lifetime membership"; received official badge of "a pearled superimposed upon "
• Temple Degree: awarded to alumnae at national convention; distinguished those who "supported and cooperated with the national fraternity"
• Laurel Degree: awarded to Temple degree members who showed "outstanding service"; given at National Convention
• Mother/Patroness Degree: awarded to mothers of initiates, patronesses of college chapters, and housemothers.
• Honorary Patron: awarded by college chapters to any man who made an outstanding contribution to the fraternity; approved by National Council

Creed

"As a daughter of light, I believe in loyalty to God, the Light of all our being; in loyalty to our country, the land of opportunity and freedom, where all women have important roles to play; in loyalty to our fellowmen with whom I shall seek constantly understanding and true love.

"I believe in love, learning, and labor, bearing in mind that each is incomplete without the other- true love expressed through intelligence, service, learning acquired as a result of loving interest in others, and labor inspired by love and guided by intelligence.

"I believe in Theta Upsilon, its purposes, its ideals, and its aspirations. I pledge my heart, my head, and my hand to be a good citizen on the campus and in the community, to cooperate in all endeavors, to maintain high ideals in social life, to uphold a worthy standard in harmony with my sisters in Theta Upsilon, that together we may work to further the divine plan for all mankind."
-- Beatrice Card Fuller.

Chapters

Theta Upsilon had installed a total of 38 chapters by the time of the merger, counting its own and those it absorbed from Lambda Omega.

In Template:Dts there were four "overlaps" in chapters at California, Miami, Illinois, and Temple universities. These merged into existing Delta Zeta chapters on their respective campuses. Fairly early, a chapter at Ripon College reverted to its local name. Thirty years later it would become an Alpha Phi chapter. A chapter at Utah State University reverted to its local name, briefly, before becoming a Delta Delta Delta chapter.

Chapters active at the time of the merger are those in bold, those which were inactive are noted in italics.

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Merged	Merged into Mu chapter of	Template:EfnTemplate:Efn
Beta	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Brenau University	Gainesville, Georgia	Inactive
Gamma	Template:Dts–Template:Dts, 1946–Template:Dts	University of Illinois	Champaign, Illinois	Merged	Merged into Alpha Beta chapter of
Delta	Template:Dts–Template:Dts, Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive		Template:Efn
Epsilon	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Inactive		Template:Efn
Zeta	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Ohio Wesleyan University	Delaware, Ohio	Inactive		Template:Efn
Eta	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Allegheny College	Meadville, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Theta	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	Inactive
Iota	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Simpson College	Indianola, Iowa	Merged	Became Theta Alpha chapter of	Template:Efn
Kappa	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Ohio University	Athens, Ohio	Inactive		Template:Efn
Lambda	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Florida State University	Tallahassee, Florida	Inactive
Mu	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	Merged	Merged into Alpha chapter of	Template:Efn
Nu	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Ripon College	Ripon, Wisconsin	Withdrew	Reverted to Delta Delta Beta (local) Later, became	Template:Efn
Xi	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Birmingham–Southern College	Birmingham, Alabama	Merged	Became Theta Beta chapter of	Template:Efn
Omicron	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Inactive		Template:Efn
Pi	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Lombard College Template:Efn	Galesburg, Illinois	Inactive
Rho	Template:Dts–Template:Dts, Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	Inactive		Template:Efn
Sigma	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Utah State University	Logan, Utah	Withdrew	Reverted to Zeta Chi (local) Later, became	Template:Efn
Tau	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	Merged	Became Theta Gamma chapter of	Template:Efn
Upsilon	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Westminster College	New Wilmington, Pennsylvania	Merged	Became Theta Delta chapter of	Template:Efn
Phi	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, Nebraska	Inactive		Template:Efn
Chi	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive		Template:Efn
Psi	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Louisiana Tech	Ruston, Louisiana	Merged	Became Theta Epsilon chapter of	Template:Efn
Alpha Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Inactive		Template:Efn
Beta Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	New York University	New York City, New York	Inactive		Template:Efn
Gamma Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Millikin University	Decatur, Illinois	Inactive		Template:Efn
Delta Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged	Merged into Delta Tau chapter of	Template:Efn
Epsilon Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois	Inactive		Template:Efn
Zeta Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	Inactive		Template:Efn
Eta Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	Inactive		Template:Efn
Theta Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Colby College	Waterville, Maine	Inactive		Template:EfnTemplate:Efn
Iota Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Auburn University	Auburn, Alabama	Inactive
Kappa Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	Merged	Became Theta Zeta chapter of	Template:Efn
Lambda Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	University of Colorado	Boulder, Colorado	Inactive
Mu Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Creighton University	Omaha, Nebraska	Merged	Became Theta Eta chapter of	Template:Efn
Nu Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Inactive		Template:Efn
Xi Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	DePaul University (Chicago)	Chicago, Illinois	Merged	Became Theta Theta chapter of	Template:Efn
Omicron Alpha	Template:Dts–Template:Dts	Western Carolina College	Cullowhee, North Carolina	Merged	Became Theta Iota chapter of	Template:Efn

See also

• List of social sororities and women's fraternities
• Delta Zeta
• Lambda Omega

References

• Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (multiple volumes)