For the first time in our chapter’s history, the Iowa State DU Chapter won Delta Upsilon’s Sweepstakes Award. This is the award presented to the top overall DU chapter at the annual Leadership Institute (LI). This year’s LI took place in New Orleans. Nine undergraduates and four alums were there to accept the award on the chapter’s behalf.

In addition to the Sweepstakes Award, the chapter came home with other significant honors and recognition, including:

• Chapter President Nick Lee was elected as the Undergraduate Advisory Board Representative for DU’s Province 4
• The Chapter was named a top CEP chapter in the following areas: Academic Excellence, Associate Member Education and Operational Excellence
• The Chapter won the Innovative Member Development Award
• Chapter President Nick Lee and Vice President of Member Education Ryan Poppert were each awarded a $1,000 McQuaid Scholarship
• The Chapter was recognized as the second highest fundraising chapter for DU’s Global Service Initiative, raising nearly $3,700
• Vice President Graham Owen was named a finalist for the Distinguished Undergraduate Award, which is given to DU’s top undergraduate member
• The chapter was named a finalist for the Sweepstakes Award for the 7th straight year before winning the award

The 2020-2021 school year was very challenging for all fraternities due to COVID-19 and our chapter was no exception. Our undergraduate men did not use COVID-19 as an excuse and continued to improve the chapter in multiple areas. The chapter achieved a 3.31 chapter GPA, volunteered more than 25 hours per member and raised a significant amount of money for DU’s philanthropy, Global Service Initiative. This all led to the most successful year for our chapter since DU returned to Iowa State’s campus nearly 10 years ago. Please help us congratulate our undergraduate chapter for an extremely successful school year!

Each year, Iowa State’s office of Sorority and Fraternity Engagement (SFE Office) hold an award ceremony for all chapters of all four councils on campus. This year, our Chapter and our members earned multiple awards for their hard work throughout a challenging 2020.

To start, our Chapter earned an Excellence in Academics award for our academic programming and resources. The DU Chapter is consistently one of the top academic chapters on campus. With our strong academic review board, academic programming and tutoring reimbursement, we have built a strong academic culture and are proud to receive this award.

Nate Nebel was honored as a Senior of the Year Finalist. Nate has been a passionate member of DU during his four years at Iowa State. He has served in multiple leadership positions in the Chapter and is currently the Chapter’s Life Committee Chair. Outside of DU, Nate has maintained a 3.64 cumulative GPA while majoring in Advertising and has been a member of the Emerging Fraternal Leadership Council and Fraternal Values Society.

McKinley Paratore, the current live-in Graduate Advisor was recognized for her work with the SFE Office. McKinley has been a valuable member of our team for the past two years. She has gone above and beyond to serve the men of DU in multiple capacities: advisor, house manager, counselor and friend. We wish McKinley nothing but the best as she moves on to her next adventure.

The Chapter was awarded with the Fraternal Award of Excellence Gold Circle Award. This is given to Chapters that achieve 80-89% of the criteria that the SFE Office sets each year. This criteria is based on the five values of the Iowa State Sorority and Fraternity community: Academics, Civic Engagement, Friendship, Leadership and Social Justice.

Finally, Graham Owen was recognized as one of three Sorority and Fraternity Members of the Year. This is a huge accomplishment for Graham and reflects very well on our Chapter. Graham has gone above and beyond during his time in DU and that is no exception for this school year. In the fall semester, Graham was the head of our Standards Board. This is a group of highly respected upperclassmen that work to ensure all DU brothers are upholding DU’s four founding principles of Character, Culture, Justice and Friendship. This semester, Graham is serving on the Executive Board as the Vice President of Compliance. In this position, Graham is in charge of leading the Chapter’s service efforts and ensures the Chapter is successfully completing the DU International Chapter Excellence Plan (a set of criteria used to measure the success of each chapter). Outside of DU, Graham has maintained a 3.23 cumulative GPA in Chemical Engineering. He has also participated in the Fraternal Values Society and Investment Group. He has volunteered as a Rho Guy which is a leadership position to assist incoming freshmen during formal recruitment. Finally, he was a part of the Interfraternity Council serving as VP Leadership Development.

Congratulations to our Chapter and all our Award Winners!

Brothers, another Fall semester is in full swing here at Iowa State! As you know all too well, this semester isn’t like any the men of Delta Upsilon have faced before. It’s hard to believe that just six months ago we weren’t sure what our time here would look like moving forward. While we are ecstatic to be back in Ames, we understand that things look different since the last time we called this place home. Even though COVID has limited our chances to gather as brothers, it hasn’t completely halted our ability to connect. We recently held a pinning ceremony (distanced and masked up, of course!) for our newest 20 associate members at a room in the Memorial Union. It was great to see some familiar faces, and some new ones, too! This weekend marks the beginning of a series of campus cleanup events which will help keep our community looking beautiful. As the semester continues, the men of Delta Upsilon are hopeful to have more brotherhood events to stay connected.

In terms of awards, the Iowa State chapter was quite successful! I’m proud to report that we are Sweepstakes finalists again for the 6^th year in a row! It’s truly an honor to see our hard work pay off by being recognized as one of the top seven chapters of Delta Upsilon. As a part of this accomplishment, the Iowa State chapter was also top three in fundraising for our philanthropic partner, Global Service Initiative. Our chapter also received the McKeag award for greatest participation in the Oak Circle, the undergraduate giving network. A recent grad and now DU alum, Joe Stanton, was also named a finalist for undergraduate of the year.

Finally, there will soon be an opportunity to spice up the wardrobe, as an apparel fundraiser is in the works! Stay tuned for more updates to come and ways in which you can donate to our philanthropy. While this isn’t the school year any of us expected, we are certainly making the most of the time we have here in person. I know I speak on behalf of all the members when I wish you continued safety, good health, and prosperity as we navigate 2020.

Dikaia,

Zach Schwake ’21

By: Andrew Arciuch ’21, Alumni Relations Chair (Former Chapter President)

To start the calendar year, the Chapter had three participants in Delta Upsilon’s Global Service Initiative (GSI). Alex Freiberg, Alex Hauser and Josh Anderson participated in a week long service trip to Jamaica with other DU brothers from across the nation.

Once the school year kicked off, the new Iowa State Chapter Executive Board was officially sworn in at the first Chapter Meeting of the semester. They’re off to a good start under Ethan Kiehne’s Presidency. One goal is to attain more Chapter Excellence Plan (CEP) Points this semester and they’re doing a great job. CEP is a list of criteria that DU Headquarters requests chapters complete each year.

The Executive Board is also working to build on their already strong brotherhood. With that in mind, the Iowa State Chapter decided to participate in a Building Better Men Retreat, which was led by Delta Upsilon Senior Director of Education Programs, Noah Borton. The brothers got a lot out of the retreat and the Executive Board hopes to use the goals established that weekend to continue to guide the chapter in a positive direction. Furthermore, sixteen brothers decided to attend the Delta Upsilon Regional Leadership Academy in Kansas City to gain more skills and refine the direction of the chapter. This leadership development opportunity not only helped the new Executive Board collaborate with other chapters to find good ideas, but it helped seven other young DUs find a direction of what kind of leader they want to be in the future within Delta Upsilon.

With many upcoming events this spring semester, the brothers are very excited about our spring philanthropy, DU Donuts. The event is hosted at the chapter facility, and people attending are served Krispy Kreme Donuts and many other sweet treats. Greek Week at Iowa State is approaching fast and the brothers of the chapter could not be more excited to compete against other Greek Week teams while being paired with Sigma Kappa Sorority and Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity. We hope the rest of this spring semester is fun and more successful than ever.

By: Zach Schwake ’21, Vice President of External Relations

As the fall semester wraps up, the DU chapter wanted to share an update on the exciting things happening in Ames!

Dad’s Day (9/21): This fall, the men hosted a Dad’s Day. It took place on a home football Saturday, in which the Cyclones beat Louisiana Monroe. Even though it was a rainy day, the event brought in more than 30 fathers of undergraduate brothers. A cookout was held in the evening after the football game concluded.

Barbarian Meal (10/11): The temperature was mid 30 degrees and there were snow flurries, but this did not stop the men of Delta Upsilon from hosting our annual Barbarian meal. While the event normally ends in a food fight, it is a great way to get older and younger brothers together for an afternoon of bonding.

Outcome of Homecoming Activities (10/19-10/26): Delta Upsilon was very successful during Homecoming. We placed 3^rd in Yell Like Hell, 3^rd in Parade Float, and 1^st overall in Community Service! We were paired with Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Phi.

Update on Community Service: As the semester draws to a close, DU at Iowa State has had one of the most productive semesters of community service to date. To help hold us accountable, we use an app called HelperHelper. DU International has partnered with HelperHelper to assist in tracking service hours while also seeing how other chapters are doing. So far, we have completed over 1,100 hours of community service (and counting!). We hope to continue the trend in the future and find more opportunities for brothers to serve the Ames community.

Initiation (11/9): We recently had the pleasure of initiating 26 new brothers into our chapter. This ceremony was held in the Memorial Union and had many parents and visitors in attendance. Brother Jorge Romero Castro ’19 was in attendance to give the charge.

Please join the Delta Upsilon undergraduate chapter for a Homecoming Tailgate as the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday, October 26. The tailgate will begin at 10:30 AM with the game to follow at 2:30 PM. The tailgate will be located near Lot D4. Look for the DU Bus and the DU Flag. The undergrads will provide food at the tailgate. Beverages are BYOB.

Parking will be available at the DU parking lot. A few undergrads will be collecting donations for Global Service Initiative (GSI) in exchange for parking. GSI is the official philanthropy for all Delta Upsilon chapters. Additionally, the house will be open before the game if you would like to re-live some memories from 117 Ash.

We look forward to seeing you in Ames! Go Cyclones!

By: Chet Kaiser ’19, Alumni Relations Chair

It is an exciting time to be a brother of Delta Upsilon at Iowa State! Last week, the Iowa State Chapter held their first philanthropy of the year, Delta Scoopsilon, and had record breaking attendance. Nearly 500 people attended and over $3,000 was raised.

Due to the philanthropy’s date landing on September 11, the Chapter decided to donate half of the proceeds for 9/11 first responders and their families through the FealGood Foundation. The other half was donated to Global Service Initiative (GSI), Delta Upsilon’s philanthropic arm. GSI is a project in Jamaica for DUs from across the country to help local Jamaican communities through hands on work. The Chapter will continue to raise money for GSI throughout the year. If you would like to support the Chapter’s philanthropy efforts, feel free to click this link to assist with the Chapter’s GSI efforts: GSI Fundraising.

The Chapter is now at its largest size since re-chartering with 98 total members. The Chapter recently finalized the Fall Associate Member class with 28 new members. If you know of any high school seniors coming to Iowa State please contact the VP of Recruitment, Alex Freiberg, at (712) 574-7432.

DU is in high gear preparing for this year’s ISU homecoming. We are teamed up with Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Phi to compete against many other teams in the ISU Fraternity and Sorority community. Events will consist of many great traditions such as Yell Like Hell, the Ames Parade, community service events and much more. The Chapter would love to see as many alumni as possible come out to Homecoming weekend.

The 6th Annual Escape to 117 Ash is in the books! It was another great weekend with over 85 alumni and undergraduates gathering in Ames to meet old friends and to celebrate Delta Upsilon.

The weekend kicked off on Friday, July 19 with a class reunion for the classes of 1979-1985. The reunion took place at Ames Country Club as alums gathered to re-kindle old friendships and learn about the current success of the DU Chapter.

On Saturday alumni and undergraduates gathered at 117 Ash Avenue for brunch before heading out for golf and campus art tours. On Saturday evening, everyone met back at the house for drinks before enjoying a dinner of steak, baked beans and strawberry shortcake cooked by house chef Darrin Miller.

The final gathering of the weekend was a brunch at the house prior to departures. It was a great weekend with lots of fun had by all! If you have not made it back to an Escape to 117 Ash weekend, please make plans to join us next year. Escape to 117 Ash 2020 will take place on July 24-26.

A special thanks goes out to John Carson ’73 for leading the charge in organizing this event and to Nick Yeo ’19 for taking the pictures seen in the album below.

Escape to 117 Ash 2019 Album

Congratulations to Iowa State’s Delta Upsilon Chapter for being named a Sweepstakes Finalist for the 5th year in a row! This award is given out each summer at DU’s Leadership Institute to the top 7 Delta Upsilon chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Eight undergraduates and four alumni were on hand in Indianapolis to accept the award. Iowa State is one of two chapters in DU who have been named a finalist for 5 straight years. The chapter was presented this award based on these accomplishments from the 2018-2019 school year:

• Volunteered more than 17 hours per member
• Sent 23 members to DU educational events
• Raised over $5,800 for Global Service Initiative (DU International’s philanthropic arm)
• Outperformed the Iowa State All Men’s GPA both semesters

In addition to the Sweepstakes Award, Iowa State alum Kevin Guinan ’15 was presented with the Chairman’s Award for outstanding volunteer at the national level.