Fraternity Origin
In the 18th and 19th centuries, college extracurricular activities were primarily intellectual exercises in the form of literary debates, readings, and oratorical contests. These societies were too large to allow for close friendships to develop among all their members. The societies were heavily influenced by the colleges' faculties. Out of this stifling atmosphere came fraternities, where students were able to exercise their intellectual freedom. At Union College in Schenectady, New York, with a student body of 232, there were few extracurricular activities, and so it is no wonder that more fraternities were founded at Union than any other school. The Delphian Society was started in 1819 and was more secretive and close knit than the other societies at Union. In 1833, five sophomore and two freshman members had become close friends. Their names were Robert Barnard, Samuel Goodale, Sterling Goodale Hadley, Charles Washington Harvey, Merwin Henry Stewart, Edward Martindale, and George Washington Tuttle. They began to meet regularly to read poetry and exchange essays, and soon it became tradition to meet once every week. The seven men realized they had something special, and wanted a way to make it permanent, and so they decided to found Psi Upsilon. Psi Upsilon was founded on the evening of November 24, 1833. The first Constitution was adopted on January 10, 1834.
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