History

Delta Tau Delta

An extensive history of our national fraternity may be found here.

Gamma Beta

Like many other fraternities, the Gamma Beta Chapter of Delta Tau Delta began as a group of students that had something in common and wanted to add to that experience. In this case, it was the Consonant Club of the Armour Institute of Technology.

The club was started on April 16, 1900 by six students. By March 15, 1901, the club submitted a petition to the Arch Chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity to be chartered as a new chapter. The club was well backed by letters from the faculty of the Armour Institute and the Chicago Alumni Association of Delta Tau Delta.

On Friday, May 10, 1901, the Consonant Club was formally initiated into the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity as the Gamma Beta Chapter. Twenty members made up the new chapter and a banquet was held in honor of the occasion.

The first shelter of Gamma Beta was located on Armour Avenue. In 1904, the members of Gamma Beta moved to a new location at 3142 Michigan Avenue. The shelter would move four more times but remained within the 3200 block of Michigan Avenue. The moving around was brought about by the two wars when the Navy requested the use of the shelters for barracks. Finally, in Spring of 1959, the construction of the present shelter, at 3349 South Wabash Avenue, was begun. The $175,000 structure was completed on September 17th and a formal dedication was held. A crowd of more than 200 alumni, parents, friends, and school officials attended the event.

Since its initiation, Gamma Beta was viewed as a leader on campus. The chapter often received trophies from the Institute for athletic and academic excellence. With the beginning of the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Delts held many of the leading offices within the organization.

Outside of the campus, Gamma Beta was also honored by receiving 16 Hugh Shields Awards, the national fraternity's highest honor given annually to the top 10 chapters nationwide. Also many awards were given to Gamma Beta for academic and committee excellence, in all areas of the Fraternity.

Gamma Beta has a distinguished history spanning almost 100 years. Many alumni that shared in this history have gone on to live distinguished lives, helped along by the Delt experience. Included in this list was the Fraternities International President from 1980-1982, Kenneth N. Folgers, ’58.