It all began in May 1924 with the founding at UNC of The Sigma Delta Fraternity, a local social fraternity.  Seven students who had known each other for several years conceived the idea of Sigma Delta and formal organization of the fraternity took place after three more men were invited to join.  Although twenty national fraternities were already on campus, they constituted less than twenty percent of the undergraduate men.  The Sigma Delta members were no doubt inspired by the fact that other students were also forming locals so as to petition for national affiliation.

The following year, the Sigma Delta brothers submitted a formal petition for affiliation with Delta Upsilon Fraternity, the sixth oldest college social fraternity in continuous existence, and one of the largest national fraternities not already represented on the UNC campus.  But Delta Upsilon was a cautions fraternity, and a “Northern” one, at that.  Delta Upsilon had 54 chapters throughout the US and Canada, but only one of them was below the Mason-Dixon line (the Virginia chapter, established in 1922).  For eleven years (1925-1935), Sigma Delta’s petition for a Delta Upsilon charter was denied.  During this period, it resisted overtures from other national fraternities to join them.  Eventually, the Great Depression took its toll and in 1937 Sigma Delta folded.

In 1949, a new group, known first as Beta Sigma Tau and later as The Delta Club, was born and was actively supported by the Sigma Delta alumni.  It again began the process of organizing as a local fraternity and petitioning Delta Upsilon for affiliation.  In the fall of 1952 it was successful and on April 25, 1953, thirty four men took the vows to become Brothers in Delta Upsilon Fraternity.  Since then, over one thousand men at UNC have taken the vows of membership into the North Carolina Chapter of Delta Upsilon! 

Since 1927, a consistent driving force behind the establishment of Sigma Delta and the Delta Club was Witcher McDonald Watkins, known to his contemporaries as Donald Watkins, and to successive generations of Carolina DUs as Mr. Watkins, or, affectionately, “WD.”  Brother Watkins was a man of vision who had been a Sigma Delta member (class of 1927) and was always ready with sound advice and a business acumen that was essential to the survival and prosperity of DU.  It was he who led the drive for affiliation with Delta Upsilon and who guided DU to a position of preeminence on the campus of UNC.

In September 1956, DU purchased and moved into a large home at 407 E. Rosemary Street.  Originally built in the 1920s, the “Bain House” served for the last half of the 20th. century as home away from home for countless DUs.  In 1966, again under the guidance of Mr. Watkins, the house next door, the “Dey House,” was purchased and housed an additional 15 men.  In 2001, both houses were forced to be closed by town ordinance.  A tragic fatal fraternity house fire in 1996 had caused the Town to require that all Greek houses have sprinkler systems by fall semester 2001.  At that time, our 80+ year Bain House and 175+ year old Dey House were literally dying of old age and a group of local alumni determined that it would be foolish to spend over $100,000 to bring them up to code.  Instead, it was decided to sell the Dey House, tear down the Bain house, and build a brand new home for DU at the same location.  A fund raising campaign raised over $664,000 in contributions from alumni, and with the proceeds from the Dey House sale and a substantial mortgage, a new million dollar fraternity house was built.  On November 19, 2005, the new “Watkins House” was dedicated.

In fall 2005 DU International sent a recruiter to UNC to establish a core group of young men to rebuild the Delta Upsilon brotherhood.  He succeeded in finding 14 (?) young men who accepted the challenge and became known as the “Refounders” of Delta Upsilon.  These young DUs, with the guidance and advice of local alumni, quickly brought the chapter back to its legacy of excellence and in February 2006 DU was awarded the Horace T Clark Award as best fraternity on campus.