Mission

Delta Upsilon Fraternity
Northern Illinois University

Our Mission


Delta Upsilon's mission is Building Better Men.

We will accomplish this by:

Focusing on our non-secret heritage and Four Founding Principles:

The Promotion of Friendship      The Diffusion of Liberal Culture
The Development of Character   The Advancement of Justice

Abiding by our Strategic Guidelines in the following mission-critical areas:

Chapter Growth Communications
Membership Recruitment Alumni Relations
Membership Development Staffing
Chapter Development Loss Prevention
Standards of Excellence


Delta Upsilon is an International men's social fraternity founded in 1834. It is committed to "Building Better Men" through our Founding Principles: Friendship, Character, Culture, and Justice. It challenges our brothers to expect being "nothing less than the Best Men they can be." Our mission is constantly reconfirmed during recruitment as we acquire those recruits who are best qualified to meet our mutual expectations of the major university experience at Northern Illinois University.

The Delta Upsilon experience is a lifestyle that not only includes doing well in studies, but also balances other areas of college activities such as social, athletic, charitable, and brotherhood relationships. Growth in each of these areas is desirable and expected. However, growth in the Four Principles plus some degree of consistent academic performance, kindness, and interest in others, and a pleasant personality are virtually a hallmark of the Northern Illinois "DU man."

Delta Upsilon adheres to its mission by encouraging a proclivity for leadership among its members. The chapter has a long heritage of consistently demonstrating campus involvement and leadership outside of its own organization. A testament to this involvement and leadership is the accumulation of an incredible number of leadership-related awards, positions, scholarships, and honors by the chapter and its members: an accumulation disproportionately significant among campus organizations. The trait of leadership is engrained in the brothers of Delta Upsilon and is reflected in their postgraduate achievements and contributions to society.

Our mission demands a member who is the type of man who knows who he is and is comfortable, productive, and at times, loving. He loves his family and fraternity and is often deeply concerned about others. He desires to present an image that his parents, relatives, friends, and most importantly himself can be proud of.

The Delta Upsilon mission embraces men of all ages. Many worthy young men are never given the opportunity to experience an environment like Delta Upsilon's because they or others might consider them too old. Delta Upsilon is not only for men in their early years. We recognize the importance of upper classmen, transfer students from junior colleges and other universities, former military men, and graduate students. The formation of our colony in 2007 included all of these types of students because they all recognized the value of the Delta Upsilon mission.