Alpha Gamma Upsilon () was a social fraternity founded in 1922 at

Anthony Wayne Institute Anthony Wayne Institute was a commercial college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. Its students included men and women. The school closed in 1933 because of the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression. History The ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. In May 1965, it was absorbed in part by

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Founded in 1845 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, it is the tenth oldest social fraternity in the United Sta ...

().History of Alpha Gamma chapter at General Motors Institute
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History

Alpha Gamma Upsilon was founded by Herbert R. Carter, Homer H. Iden, Alfred C Koeneke, and Dale R. Odneal at

.Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (April 24, 2024)
Alpha Gamma Upsilon
. ''Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities''. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed May 23, 2024.Robson, John, ed. (1963). ''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'' (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press, George Banta Company, Inc. pp. 360-361. It was incorporated in Indiana on October 10, 1922. Its purpose was:

to promote friendship, comradeship, and mutual understanding among its members; to encourage excellence in scholarship; to develop good character; to uphold the ideals of the colleges where its chapters were located; and to foster the highest ideals of Christian conduct and good citizenship.

The ''Alpha chapter'' closed in 1933 when the Anthony Wayne Institute closed because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Chapter growth had stalled by 1951. Several chapters closed by mid-decade. The fraternity's national headquarters was in Detroit before moving to Royal Oak, Michigan. In 1962, the healthy ''Kappa chapter'' at Defiance College went local and sought membership in a larger national. Under these pressures, the faculty advisor for Alpha Gamma Upsilon's ''Lycoming College chapter'', Dr. Otto Sonder (an alumnus of Alpha Sigma Phi) who was knowledgeable of the discussion of a possible merger, introduced the National Officers of Alpha Gamma Upsilon to Alpha Sigma Phi's Executive Secretary, Ralph F. Burns. In 1965, the Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapter at Lycoming was installed as the ''Gamma Rho chapter'' of

. Chapters at

Detroit Institute of Technology The Detroit Institute of Technology was a private four-year technical college in Detroit, Michigan that closed operations in 1981. History First called the Association Institute, the private school was founded in 1891 as a YMCA evening schoo ...

Indiana Institute of Technology Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) is a private university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was founded in 1930 as Indiana Technical College by John A. Kalbfleisch, who was also the school's first president. The university today is organi ...

, and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

followed suit in 1966. Those four chapters were, under the terms of the merger agreement, considered chartered in Alpha Sigma Phi as of their chartering dates in Alpha Gamma Upsilon, which were 1951, 1930, 1932, and 1948, respectively. The merger was completed when Lawrence Institute of Technology was re-accredited and its 55-year-old Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapter chartered in 1967. Thus, Alpha Sigma Phi gained five chapters from the merger. Unlike Alpha Sigma Phi's mergers with Phi Pi Phi and Alpha Kappa Pi, there was no blanket invitation to Alpha Gamma Upsilon alumni to be initiated into Alpha Sigma Phi. However, some of the more prominent leaders of Alpha Gamma Upsilon did so. Alpha Gamma Upsilon's ''Delta chapter'' at

General Motors Institute Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers Bachelor of Science, bachelor of science and master's degree, master’s degrees in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM (science, technology, engineer ...

did not participate in the merger but sought and received a charter from

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

. Alpha Gamma Upsilon's ''Lambda chapter'' at

Trine University Trine University is a private university in Angola, Indiana, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, with education centers in Detroit, Phoenix and Reston, Virginia. It was founded in 1884 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. History "Tri-S ...

sought and received a charter from

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

.Alpha Sigma Phi 1941-1970
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Symbols

The motto of Alpha Gamma Upsilon was . The fraternity's colors were

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and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Its flower was the pink rose. Its badge was a diamond-shaped shield of black enamel that was with the Greek letters . In the area above these letters appear two links; below is a miniature dagger. The standard badge was 3/8" x 5/8". The badge was in gold and had the option of being bordered with emeralds, pears, or rubies. Smaller badges were presented to mothers, wives, sisters, and fiancees of fraternity members.

Activities

The fraternity celebrated Omega Day on February 1 and Founders' Day on October 10. It presented several awards to the chapters annually. It presented the Alumni Cup to the chapter that best met the ideals of the fraternity. Its Founders' Award was presented for service to the community and college. Its Counselors' Cup was given for excellence in educating pledges. The fraternity also gave the Regents' Award for the greatest improvement in chapter management, pledge instruction, and public relations. The President's Plaque was presented to the chapter that excelled in the field of chapter journalism. Alpha Gamma Upsilon published ''The Pledge Manual and The Procedures Manual.'' Its magazine,''The Links,'' was established in 1924 and was published annually in May.'' The Forum,'' its monthly bulletin, was published to keep information flowing from the chapters to the alumni and to bring briefs of national organization activities; it was discontinued in 1943 and restarted 1950 as ''The Fraternity Forum.''

Auxiliary

In 1947, a women's auxiliary to Alpha Gamma Upsilon named Alpha Alpha Pi was created and made open to mothers, wives, fiancées, sisters, and daughters of active and alumni brothers.

Chapters

Following is a list of Alpha Gamma Upsilon chapters. Inactive chapters and institutions are in ''italics'':

References