Delta Tau Delta Fraternity

Chapter History

The history of Beta Tau began on May 25, 1893 with a petition from eight students asking Delta Tau Delta Fraternity to establish a colony chapter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Through the efforts of these students and local alumni, Chapter Beta Tau of Delta Tau Delta was installed on April 7, 1894. On this date, the first initiation ceremony was conducted and took place at the first chapter house, located across the street from what was then the state capitol. The first eight initiates were J. Cecil Graham, W.M. Johnston, Arthur J. Weaver, J.H. Johnston, Horace Whitmore, E.C. Strode, J.C. Martin, and Carl B. Burnhane. The first pledge of Beta Tau was pledged soon after this initiation ceremony. His name was Robert Manley and his badge can still be found in the trophy case on the first floor of the Shelter. Today, an award in his name is given annually to the pledge that best lives up to the ideals of a Delt as he did back in 1894.

The chapter had grown to 15 members by February 15, 1898 and had an annual income of $578.00, expenses of $500.00, owned property worth $550.00, and had no debts. In the fall of 1909, the Delta Tau Delta Alumni Association purchased a new chapter house. This Shelter cost $12,500 and was located where the present day Lambda Chi Alpha house is. This house was the finest fraternity on campus at the time and that year the Delts pledged twelve men. During this period Memorial Stadium was also being constructed and would be ready for next year’s football games. Beta Tau alumnus Bron J. Arnold helped lay the cornerstone for the stadium.

The chapter house proved to be very small in the early 1920’s as UNL had a record 1,200 freshmen enroll for classes. In January of 1923, there were not enough members to support the Shelter, and it was sold to the members of Zeta Beta Tau. The Delts lived in a rented house at 1504 “S” Street until March of 1924 when a new house committee was formed to start the construction of a new building.

During this time, the infamous Delt / Phi Delt bell was given to the Innocents Society of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1898, two Delts and two Phi Delts “borrowed” an iron bell from a church near Seward, and until 1925, it was the object of many battles between our two fraternities, as each tried stealing it from the one another. This bell is now given as a trophy to an honor society from the winner of the Nebraska-Missouri rivalry football game each year.

The chapter moved into a new Shelter in the spring of 1926 and it proved to be an excellent structure. The membership grew and the house prospered greatly. Delts were very involved in varsity athletics, intramurals, student government, and the thespian group called the Kosmet Klub.

Some famous Beta Tau alumni at this time included Adam McMullen, chapter founder and Governor of Nebraska from 1926-29, and A.J. Weaver, also a chapter founder and Governor of Nebraska from 1929-31. The governor of Utah from 1930-32 was Beta Tau chapter founder George H. Dern. He also went on to become the Secretary of War in 1932.

Delts lived at this house until 1934 when the treasurer embezzled the mortgage money and was never seen again. To pay the bills, it was necessary to rent half of the house to another fraternity; however, this proved to be too little, too late. The house was put up for sale on June 13, 1935. After the sale of this house the chapter moved several times in the ensuing years.

During World War II, many Beta Tau Delts were part of the effort. In 1941, before the U.S. entered the war, Robert T. Smith, who was flying with a group of Americans in the Chinese Air Force, single handedly shot down four Japanese planes. Wilbur Beezley, who was flying in the South Pacific, sank a Japanese ship with one of the engines on his airplane destroyed. Sadly, Beta Tau also lost several Delts to the Chapter Eternal as a result of the war.

The chapter moved to its present location, 715 N. 16th Street, on February 20, 1950, at a cost of $115,000. The 1950’s and 1960’s proved to be another great time of growth for the fraternity. Delts were involved in almost every major sport and activity on campus, and membership grew exponentially. During the late 1960’s, it became necessary to add more capacity to the house and so the backside of second floor was built, and a third flood was added to that.

During the early 80’s, our Shelter saw many improvements including the renovation of the second floor of the original structure, the installation of the brick grill, and the creation of Dirt Pits I and II. The renovation of the second old side took place during the summers of 1982 and 1983, and we replaced the open-air dorms, which some fraternities still have, with individual rooms.

The Dirt Pits were formerly large crawlspaces filled with dirt, and the members themselves used buckets and conveyors to excavated them. Dirt Pit I was converted into a large recreation room which we now affectionately call ‘The Pit’ , and Dirt Pit II was made into a large four-man room (006). Delts took great pride in their work on these rooms, finishing them almost entirely themselves. Recent projects have increased the capacity of the Shelter to 82 men and in the past few years more renovations have taken place, including the formal living room, bathrooms, weight room, a new roof, landscaping, new windows, renovation of the academic center, and ‘The Pit’ entertainment center.

In 1994, Beta Tau celebrated its centennial, experiencing over 100 years of continued growth in which young men have started here and gone on to bigger and better things all over the world. And the future of Beta Tau continues to look bright as we strive to reflect and add to the tradition of excellence established over the past 117 years of our continuous existence on campus. We have won a record 20 Hugh Shields Awards for Chapter Excellence, more than any other Delt chapter in the world! You can find Delts involved in just about every organization on campus, many of which are officers in those groups. And we are leading the way in new and innovative chapter programming and opportunities for our members.

And to keep our position as one of the leaders of the Greek community, UNL, Nebraska, the United States, and the world, and to make our future history better and more prosperous for generations of Delts yet to be, we and the over 2,000 initiated brothers of Chapter Beta Tau of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity ask that you leave Delt an even better place than when you first arrived.

And our historic tradition of excellence will live on…