University of Oregon’s Delta Upsilon is participating in its first formal recruitment this fall in hopes of finding enough quality men to be able to charter in the winter.

Delta Upsilon is UO’s newest fraternity out of the 17 total on campus. It’s a non-secret, non-hazing house that was first introduced on campus in the winter of 2014 and is hoping to recruit enough members to earn an official charter by winter 2015.

“We need to be above the all-men’s average of 60 members in order to charter,” Kyle Wizner, one of Delta Upsilon’s rush chairs, said.

When DU first came to campus, local members had the help of alumni from various colleges, referred to as ‘expansion consultants.’ With their help, the fraternity was able to achieve over 50 new members in the winter of 2014. As of now, Delta Upsilon has 46 active members and looks to successfully recruit the rest of its needed members through this year’s fall rush events and next winter’s rush events.

Men looking to join a fraternity may be interested in rushing Delta Upsilon because of the organization’s uniqueness and transparency. DU is unlike traditional fraternities in that it has open chapters and does not practice hazing rituals. That means anyone (including women) is allowed to attend chapter meetings, rituals are also not kept secret like traditional fraternities. In addition to that, all members that accept bids from Delta Upsilon from now until winter will be a founding father of the fraternity.

“It’s a very unique opportunity to be able to help start something and really be able to put my mark on the fraternity, and not just join something that has already been established,” Wizner said. The incentive to be a founding father is what pushed many current members to join DU, Wizner said. Being a founding father requires more dedication, he added, but men seeking this rare opportunity are encouraged to look at Delta Upsilon as a potential fraternity.

Delta Upsilon is willing to give about 20-25 bids to men who meet the high standards of the fraternity.

“The type of DU we’re looking for is someone who has a minimum 3.0 GPA, guys who have leadership experience and guys that we could see going into an executive position,” Hayden Rahn, Delta Upsilon’s vice president of recruitment, said.

Recruiting men by such high standards may seem like a difficult task, but DU is up for the challenge.

“We’ve had a lot of success so far and gotten a good amount of guys, but what’s even more important is that we feel like they’re a group of guys who will really make a difference in the fraternity going forward,” Michael Long, vice president of external relations, said.

Delta Upsilon is willing to postpone chartering if they feel they cannot gain enough quality men by winter 2015. Men looking to rush Delta Upsilon are encouraged to attend their chapter meetings to get a feel for what it might be like to be a part of the organization. Community members that would like more information about the fraternity are also welcome to join chapter meetings.

Anyone looking to get more information about Delta Upsilon should contact Hayden Rahn at hrahn@uoregon.edu.