Alpha Delta Phi History
History of Alpha Delta Phi in Minnesota
1892-1997, 2001-
In the spring of 1890, a movement was first made by a small group of students at the University to obtain a charter for a chapter of the Fraternity. They presented a petition at its next convention, which was referred to the Johns Hopkins Chapter to investigate and report, but little or nothing was done.
As a result, however, the local alumni residing in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, at the request of this group, took the matter up and made a thorough investigation of all the men who desired to become charter members and selected from their number five (5), who organized themselves as a local society under the name Alpha Delta Epsilon for the purpose of holding together until a charter could be obtained. At this time William Watts Folwell, Geneva Chapter, 1857, and President of the University of Minnesota, became interested and it was largely through his sponsorship that the Minnesota Chapter was later formed.
A petition was formulated and signed by leading alumni in the Northwest and presented for the consideration of the convention held in Baltimore during May 1891.
On November 24, 1891, the Executive Council ordered the Charter to be issued. Five charter members were initiated at this time under the auspices of the local alumni of the Twin Cities on February 22, 1892. This Chapter had also been endorsed by many of the alumni associations, including those of Omaha, Chicago, Buffalo, and Cleveland, and at the initiation there were present forty-three members representing sixteen different Chapters, whose members resided not only in the Northwest, but also in Omaha, Chicago and New York.
Owing to the fact that most of the leading fraternities had been represented in the University for several years prior to our Chapter' installation and had built up a strong local body of young alumni in the Twin Cities, extra effort has been required to maintain the high standing of Alpha Delta Phi. However, by keeping before it as its watchword "quality and not numbers," the Chapter has been able to maintain its position on the campus.
The Chapter has been fortunate in having its own Chapter House during all but the earlier part of its history. In 1925, the old house was razed and the present fine structure erected on the same ground opposite the campus.
World War II started its drain on the active brothers in 1940. In 1942, when this efflux was at its peak, the house was leased through the University to the US Navy. Many fraternities on the campus, finding themselves in similar circumstances, suspended their activities, but not Alpha Delta Phi. In spite of the depleted membership and lack of a meeting place, the Chapter pursued its normal functions during this trying period. Meetings were held in the Union for a time and later a vacated fraternity house was leased.
The post-war reconversion was heralded by the return of the house in 1945, and the gradually growing ranks due to returning veterans. Much credit must be given to the men who so well kept alive the spirit, ideals and activities of Alpha Delta Phi on the Minnesota campus during the war, and the job of the veterans, who returned from the war, threw themselves into the job of getting the fraternity speedily back to normal conditions. Thanks to their combined efforts, the Chapter attained top standing on the campus which the intervening and present membership may proudly say they have maintained.
Two Alumni organizations exist in the Twin Cities for the promotion of Alpha Delta Phi. The one, the Northwest Alumni Association, furnishes and opportunity for the Alumni from all chapters to preserve their connection with the Fraternity. The other, the Minnesota Alumni Association, was established for those primarily interested in the direct and active support of the local chapter.
ABOVE: 1725 University Ave SE (Original Chapter House-Construction Date Unknown)
BELOW: 1725 University Ave SE (Current Chapter House-Built in 1925)
History of the Minnesota Affiliate
Written in 2003
Three years ago, one of our alumni made it his personal task to get the Minnesota Chapter back on its feet. Brian Bergson dedicated months of his personal time and finances to rebuild this house. In the few years before Brother Bergson began rebuilding, the house had been rented out to the Delta Upsilon fraternity on campus. When Delta Upsilon was kicked out, the house was left in poor condition. At once, Brother Bergson began repairing all of the damage done to the house, while recruiting new members who he thought apt for rebuilding this chapter.
He was successful at recruiting the first members by offering them an affordable place to live. This was just a cover for what Brother Bergson had in store for them. After convincing them to join the fraternity, they all completed their initiation. With their newfound brotherhood, the original group began recruiting new members. As they found new potential brothers, they repainted all of the rooms and repaired all of the major damage that had been done to the house.
At the beginning of the second year, Brother Bergson asked a young Alpha Delt alumnus, named Andrew Burton, to be the housefather for the year. Brother Burton took on the task. Using his experience from the Kenyon Chapter, he molded the new brothers into fine Alpha Delts. He taught the Fall Semester of 2001 associate member class. He showed all of us the true meaning of brotherhood and what it meant to be an Alpha Delt, ironically by not allowing us to use brotherhood as a reason for why any of us wanted to join Alpha Delta Phi.
For the Spring Semester, Brother Burton was still the housefather, but he distanced himself from the actual process of the next class. This gave us the opportunity to try to run all of the operations on our own. He would give us advice when we wanted it, but never took over. By the end of that semester, we had almost twenty members.
With all of the new members, we were able to accomplish one of our main goals-fill all of the rooms in the house with brothers only. At the beginning of this school year, our house was full with only brothers. It was looking good for the Minnesota Affiliate of Alpha Delta Phi for this current school year.
This is an excerpt from the:
The Charter Presentation
Of
The Minnesota Affiliate
Of
The Alpha Delta Phi
-The University of Minnesota-
Presented, this seventh day of August, in the year two thousand and three, before the Board of Governors of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity.
