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Alpha Delta Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega
ATΩ
center|120px|The official crest of Alpha Tau Omega
Founded1879 - 2011
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
TypeSocial
EmphasisSocial and Leadership
Mission statementEstablish a rewarding relationship with students, parents, community members, and alumni.
Mottoπι εψιλον πι
Colors Azure and  Old Gold
SymbolHeraldic Cross pattée
FlowerWhite Tea Rose
Members66 collegiate
Headquarters303 East Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
United States
Websitehttp://www.atounc.org/
[1][2]

The Alpha Delta Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega (its members colloquially known as Alpha Delta's) is a social fraternity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chartered in 1879, the Alpha Delta Chapter has kept its active status for 129 years and graduated over 2,000 brothers. The chapter house is known around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the "castle."

History[edit]

The national fraternity Alpha Tau Omega was founded in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall, and Erskine Mayo Ross. Their intentions were to unite the North and South after the Civil War. After a period of decline, a man named Joseph R. Anderson turned the fraternity around and focused on adding more chapters to the fraternity. This initiative led to many of the Alpha Tau Omega chapters to be formed including the Alpha Delta chapter at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Alpha Delta Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega was the second fraternity to open on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus after the Civil War. The first fraternity to reopen and intent on going against the fraternity ban on campus was Phi Kappa Sigma. In order to build Alpha Tau Omega up to compete with Phi Kappa Sigma, Hanover graduates John Camm Winston and Thomas Dudley Stokes recruited Donnell Gilliam and Tom Ratcliff in order to start a chapter at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The chapter then slowly began to increase in size thanks to feeder schools like Bingham. Later Kappa Alpha was established at UNC and with the combination of effort with the three fraternities, the university lifted the ban on fraternities. The first chapter house was a two room brick building intended to be a law office. Later the chapter house would move thanks to fund raising and a gift from brother R.S. McRae of three lots on franklin street. The second house would later be destroyed in order to build the house that now represents the home of the Alpha Delta's, which now has an estimated value of $2 million. The house however was not always home to the Alpha Delta's, during World War II when a majority of the men were at war, the house was occupied by the Delta Delta Delta sorority. After the war, the men returned to the house and within a couple of years of returning, dug out a basement in the house. The basement still exists today and is used for storage. The fraternity has now reached its all time high in number of brothers with 64 brothers. The recent pledge class with 100% retention rate had 18 individuals which was one of the largest the fraternity has seen in many years.[3]

Awards[edit]

The Alpha Delta Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega has received multiple awards since 2000. These awards include the Dr. Henry T. Clark, Jr. Award for Outstanding IFC Fraternity, the Upper Alpha Award, the ATO National True Merit Award, the ATO National Excellence in Pledge Education Award, ATO National Excellence in Ritual Award, ATO National Excellence in Campus Involvement/Leadership Development Award, the ATO Excellence in Scholarship Award, the Good Samaritan Community Awareness Award, and the ATO Excellence in Communication Award. All of these awards were given to the fraternity either by the National Alpha Tau Omega or the UNC Inter-fraternity Council. Year after year the fraternity has increased its ranks within the ATO organization in terms of money raised, GPA, and community hours served. The Alpha Delta chapter is now 10th in terms of GPA out of all the Alpha Tau Omega chapters across the United States.[4]

The chapter now holds the second highest GPA on campus behind the Chi Psi fraternity.


See also[edit]

References[edit]