It was 1858 at Bethany College in what is now northern West Virginia. The Neotrophian Literary Society, an organization that allowed students to practice and demonstrate their skills in poetry, public speaking and writing essays, voted to give a prize. But the members of another organization held control over the Neotrophian Society, and they fixed the vote.

Eight men were not content to be idle and let this continue. Angered by these unscrupulous tactics, they responded by forming a secret society at the college. Its initial goal was to wrestle control from the Neotrophian Society away from a group of unjust students and return it to the control of the student population, as well as to bond the student body through respect and common values. These men were drawn together by common aims and brotherly regard. They came to be known on the campus only by the Greek letters Delta Tau Delta. They founded an organization based on the principles of truth, courage, faith and power. These principles guided the Fraternity through its beginnings.

Since 1858, the Fraternity has spread to nearly 200 campuses, with more than 130 active chapters and colonies comprised of roughly 10,000 students. More than 170,000 men have joined the brotherhood of Delta Tau Delta since its founding.

Delta Tau Delta is rich in history. Founded in 1858 in what is now West Virginia, Delta Tau Delta has stood the test of time. It has survived two world wars, a Great Depression and a great recession, the boom of undergraduates brought on by the G.I. Bill, and the reduction of Fraternity membership following the Vietnam War. If you decide to join Delta Tau Delta, you can feel comfort in knowing that more than 150 years of history and tradition will be there to greet you.

In the Words of Founding Father Matt Casperite, edited by Stephen Butalla

The Florida Tech Crescent Colony of Delta Tau Delta and all of its amazing brotherhood aspects began from a much smaller brotherhood between Brice Peters, D.J. Pate, and Matt Casperite, who all met during R.A. training in the first week of August, 2008. They quickly became friends and spent a lot of time hanging out and becoming the kind of brothers that Delta Tau Delta at Florida Tech still produces today.

After about three weeks of the semester had gone by, Matt and D.J. were talking about their Christian faith and the lack of a Christian brotherhood at Florida Tech, and decided that they were going to start a Christian fraternity at Florida Tech. They immediately went to D.J’s room and started looking up Christian fraternities to start. They found one that seemed perfect; it was called Kappa Upsilon Chi which stood for “Keeping Under Christ.” They began to try to find other men like themselves to help them with this venture. The first man that came to mind was Brice, and once the three of them had agreed on their mission and goals, the serious recruiting began.

They were in touch with the KYX national president and he informed them that they would need at least 10 men to start a colony. Although 10 seemed like a lot at the time, they quickly found out that as the weeks went by 10 was not a lot at all. They were not allowed to advertise so every bit of recruiting they did had to be by word of mouth. Brice, D.J., and Matt also met with the Greek Advisor of Florida Tech, Sara Meyer, to find out what they would need to do to become a colony.

Sara informed them that the first step was a presentation to the InterFraternity Council as an “interest group” to determine whether or not the Florida Tech Greek Life would be open for expansion or not. Brice, D.J., and Matt, along with the other 10 or 15 guys they had recruited began working on the presentation and had regular weekly meetings where they would plan and discuss the presentation. Finally, the time came to give the presentation and five men were chosen to present: Brice, D.J., Matt, Adam Cox, and Sebastian Ross. The five men presented for about 20 minutes and then were questioned for the next 45 minutes and finally they were done. The IFC informed them that they would hear back with the results in a few weeks.

Since the presentation was done and there was nothing else to do with that, the “interest group” began doing what they had wanted to do all along, bible studies. By now the numbers were up to about 34 men, and at their weekly meetings, they would do praise and worship and then have a bible study.

The IFC finally got back to the “interest group” and told them that they were open for expansion, so the “interest group” would become a fraternity, but the fraternity had to be a part of the NIC – North-American Interfraternity Conference, of which KYX was not a member. The IFC told the “interest group” that they would pick 4 or 5 fraternities to come present to the “interest group” and the IFC to determine which fraternity the “interest group” would get.

Because it was around November by this time, the IFC decided the fraternities would not come until the next semester, around March. At the meetings they also began doing testimonies, which caused whichever man gave the testimony to completely lay down his pride and humble himself in front of everyone, but it was not hard to do because he knew that he would not be judged for whatever he had done. Then, the “interest group” added yet another brotherhood dimension that blew all the others away; accountability partners. The accountability partner system they came up with consisted of calling or texting your brother every day, and spending time with him for at least 30 minutes once a week to get everything off your chest and tell him about your week. These things all contributed to create the outstanding brotherhood we have today.

Finally, the time came for the fraternities to come present to the “interest group” in March. Of the fraternities that came, Delta Tau Delta was a clear favorite because of the honest and straightforward manner their presenter had. When all the fraternities were done presenting, the men of the “interest group” voted on which fraternity to become and unanimously voted Delta Tau Delta.

Since the chartering of our fraternity, it has been dynamic; constantly changing and expanding. Today, many faiths and nationalities are represented in our brotherhood. We are constantly seeking to improve ourselves, motivated by the mission statement of Delta Tau Delta: “Committed to lives of excellence.”