Author name: psiupsilon

Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award Recognized

The Distinguished Alumni Service Award recognizes brothers whose service to their chapter, or the International Fraternity, is worth special commendation. Since its creation by the 155th Psi Upsilon Convention in 1998, 32 alumni have received this honor.

It is customary for a recommendation to come from an alumni association or another member of the fraternity and then is discussed by the Awards and Recognition Committee, who then recommends to the Executive Council or the Psi Upsilon Convention to consider the alum for the award.

All award winners are presented with a medallion recreated by our Director of Member Engagement, Jonathan Chaffin, Gamma Tau ’00 (Georgia Tech) and originally designed by Murray Eskenazi, Lambda ’56 (Columbia).

This summer at the 179th Psi Upsilon Convention we were able to present a former recipient with his medallion, and recognize three new award winners for their contributions:

Charles Hall, Nu Alpha ’71 (Washington & Lee) 

Robert McIntire, Omicron ’68 (Illinois)  

Jesse Scherer, Gamma Tau ’05 (Georgia Tech)  

David Hollis, Gamma Tau ’11 (Georgia Tech)

Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award at the 178th Convention in 2022: Eldred Halsey, Delta ’58 (NYU), Brad Corner, Omicron ’72 (Illinois), Dick Rasmussen, Upsilon ’72, Bob Dorigo-Jones, Epsilon Nu ’85 (Michigan State) and Gary Pan, Eta ’86 (Lehigh)

View the full list of recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

If you know of a deserving alum, and would like to recommend them for an award, please submit their information here.



179th Convention Awards

Awarded at the 179th Convention in Atlanta, GA

For a full list of criteria, past recipients, and award histories, visit our full awards page.

Garnet and Gold Award for Academic Excellence

The Garnet and Gold Award for Academic Excellence is given out to those chapters who achieve
above the campus average across multiple semesters.


Zeta, Dartmouth College
Upsilon, University of Rochester
Eta, Lehigh University
Epsilon Nu, Michigan State University
Lambda Sigma, Pepperdine University
Sigma Phi, Saint Francis University

Owl Award for Exceptional Academic Performance

The Owl Award for Exceptional Academic Achievement recognizes chapters that demonstrate
truly significant academic achievement

Zeta, Dartmouth College
Upsilon, University of Rochester
Eta, Lehigh University
Lambda Sigma, Pepperdine University
Alpha Omicron, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Clasped Hand Award for Outstanding Philanthropy & Service

The Clasped Hand Award for Outstanding Philanthropy and Service recognizes those chapters
that go above and beyond. During the 2022-23 Academic Year Psi Upsilon chapters contributed over 7,100 hours of service in their communities and raised more than $202,000 for charities.


Pi, Syracuse University
Tau, University of Pennsylvania
Lambda Sigma, Pepperdine University
Phi Nu, Christopher Newport University

Award of Distinction

The Award of Distinction was established by the 142nd Convention in 1985 to recognize Psi Upsilon chapters when they perform in an extraordinary manner. The award may be given annually to one or more chapters for any project, service, program, activity, or accomplishment performed during the year, which merits special recognition.


Pi, Syracuse University
Epsilon Nu, Michigan State University

Diamond Award for Exceptional Chapters

This award recognizes chapters that distinguish themselves by exceeding the Psi Upsilon Fraternity chapter standards and is the top award a chapter can receive.


Gamma Tau, Georgia Institute of Technology


Announcing the 2023 Summer Leadership Series

In an effort to help prepare undergraduate leaders as they return to campus this fall we’ve renewed our online Summer Leadership Series Program. Chapter Services staff identified 10 programs to focus on – each session will have specific officers and chairs invited and encourage to attend, so as to not overwhelm leaders, and offering advice specific to their roles. These sessions are focused around our new chapter management tool, Asana; event planning; recruitment (and a specific program for our chapters that are coed); new member education; marketing and more. The topics and times can be found below, you can click on a session for a better description as well as the intended audience and Zoom information, all times are Eastern:

Monday, August 14th @ 5PM
How to Use Asana

Monday, August 14th @ 6PM
Planning a Successful Event

Monday, August 14th @ 7PM
Our Ritual

Tuesday, August 15th @ 5PM
New Member Education

Tuesday, August 15th @ 6PM
Psi U Cares

Tuesday, August 15th @ 7PM
Academic Success

Wednesday, August 16th @ 5PM
Recruitment 101

Wednesday, August 16th @ 6PM
Budgeting, Dues and 990s

Wednesday, August 16th @ 7PM
Your Chapter’s Brand

Thursday, August 17th @ 5PM
Growing Coed / Gender-Inclusive Chapters

Thursday, August 17th @ 6PM
How to Use Asana (2nd session)

Since the Covid-19 Pandemic we’ve greatly redesigned our Chapter Leadership Program, some by necessity and some due to lessons learned from a remote workplace. Specifically we’ve been focused on doing a better job of measuring chapter performance and improving our online support to meet the specific needs of chapters.
These changes include:
In 2020 we improved our online education by moving to the Tightrope Risk Management Program, introduced the Inclusive Practices Cultural Competency Program for New Members, Adopted the Phired Up Recruitment Certification Program for chapters and moved our support model to increased virtual meetings and started having monthly Town Hall meetings for Chapter Archons and Alumni Presidents and Advisors to better connect these cohorts as well as first introduced programming like our Summer Leadership Series.
In 2021 our staff was able to grow in size so we were able to return to in person visits while keeping our regular virtual meetings. We also began the Psi U Cares Program to better encourage ways our chapter members could support one another’s mental wellness as well as introduced the Treasurers Academy to compliment the Archons Academy.
In 2022 we began building our Chapter Classification Program, where we improved measuring our chapters performance and providing that feedback to Alumni Presidents, Advisors and Chapter Presidents so they can better understand their chapter’s performance over time and in relation to other Psi Upsilon Chapters.
In 2023 we introduced Spring Roundtables to our virtual meetings, focused on chair positions that were sometimes being overlooked by our traditional programming and this Fall we’re excited to introduce our new Project Management tool Asana to our chapters, we feel this will help them delegate tasks and reports due to the International Office as well as within their own chapters.

08.14.2023 – Summer Leadership Series: Our Ritual

Join us on Monday, August 14th at 7 PM Eastern, for a discussion about Psi Upsilon’s Ritual: The Gold Book, where our Ritual comes from and how to ensure your members and new members are getting the most from their experience. We’ll share best practices, how best to perform our ceremonies, and ways to discuss the ritual with our members.

Given the topic this session will be closed to only initiated members of Psi Upsilon.

Our target audience includes All Officers of the chapter and any Ritual Chairs.

Zoom info:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84263216456?pwd=RWQ1dUlQelBieE1Wa0FMblhheWxqdz09

08.15.2023 – Summer Leadership Series: Psi U Cares

Join us on Tuesday, August 15th at 6 PM Eastern, for a discussion about the Psi U Cares Program and how we can best support our member’s mental wellness. We’ll talk about where the program comes from, specific tasks we ask all chapters to take and why they are important, and some of the best ways to get involved on your campus and in your community to create an environment that is supportive of all brothers. We’ll share what a Health and Wellness Chair position can look like and how to best find resources on your campus to partner with.

Our target audience includes the 1st Angelos of every chapter, Health and Wellness Chairs, Service and Philanthropy Chairs and any undergraduate who would like to get more involved.

Zoom info:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84263216456?pwd=RWQ1dUlQelBieE1Wa0FMblhheWxqdz09

08.16.2023 – Summer Leadership Series: Budgeting, Dues and 990s

Join us on Wednesday, August 16th at 6 PM Eastern, for an overview of the role of the chapter treasurer: how to create a budget, best practices for collecting chapter dues, the role of fundraising in a chapter and some requirements that chapters may or may not be aware of. We’ll also review the fees and taxes to the International Fraternity, how they are assessed, and what they go towards.

Our target audience includes Chapter Treasurers or anyone who aspires to be in that role.

Zoom info:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84263216456?pwd=RWQ1dUlQelBieE1Wa0FMblhheWxqdz09

2023-24 Certified Recruiter Program launches!

Psi Upsilon Fraternity is continuing to partner with Phired Up to train members of our chapters to become a Certified Recruiter. This 2-hour program will help teach brothers how to improve their recruitment efforts and drive both the quality and quantity of new members. Every member who is dedicated to helping your chapter attract, select, and secure the right members should become Certified Phired Up Recruiter. Also, upon completion be sure to share this certification on your LinkedIN Profile!

Each lesson is packed with videos and resources to help brothers learn:

  • The Fundamentals: Dynamic Recruitment Principles and the Fraternity Recruitment Funnel
  • How to maximize your recruitment efforts with technology
  • How to market your chapter (including a sample marketing plan)
  • How to grow your names list and fill your prospect funnel
  • The art of Social Excellence™ and how to make authentic connections with Potential New Members
  • How to use values-based selection to find the right members
  • How to give a bid the right way
  • How to systematize recruitment for the future (including an example of a successful recruitment plan!)

Chapter Alumni and Advisors who would like to ‘refresh’ their own recruitment skills are also encouraged to take part in the program and become certified.

Phired Up is the premiere organization to help fraternity and sorority chapters grow, and Psi Upsilon is excited to partner with them and become one of the first fraternities to offer their digital classrooms to all of it’s members and give brothers the opportunity to become a certified Phired Up Recruiter!

If you would like to participate in a Digital Classroom please download instructions here.

To access the course you can go here (you will need to download the instructions above first to properly login).

For more information about our Certified Recruiter Program, our recruitment assistance, please contact our Director of Growth, Travis Smith.

2023 Griffin Award for Seniors Announced

In 2005 the 162nd Psi U Convention created the Griffin Award for Senior Excellence to recognize members of the senior class who have shown exceptional dedication and commitment to Psi U in their final year of classes as an undergraduate. The purpose of this award is to maintain and encourage involvement by undergraduate brothers in their final academic year and to stimulate involvement with the chapter.

Each chapter votes on who should receive this award and reports it to the International Office.

We would like to congratulate and thank the following brothers for their dedication to our beloved fraternity:

2023 Outstanding Juniors Announced

The Psi Upsilon Outstanding Junior is a long standing tradition in the fraternity recognizing rising seniors who best exemplify the values of Psi Upsilon Fraternity: Lifelong Friendship, Moral Leadership, Intellectual Engagement, Responsible Social Conduct, and Service to Society.

Each chapter votes on who should receive this award and reports it to the International Office.

Many chapters began recognizing members in the Junior Class dating back to the early 1900s with this form of recognition, and would award them with “Alumni Keys”, a special version of the Psi Upsilon Badge that had a key to wind a pocket watch. In the 1980s the award was formalized by the Psi Upsilon Executive Council and Foundation and now Outstanding Juniors are recognized by the International Fraternity and receive the Alumni Key in the Fall or at the Awards Banquet as a part of the Psi Upsilon Convention.

We would like to congratulate and thank the following brothers for their dedication to our beloved fraternity:

09.23.2023 – Phi (Michigan) Homecoming

Save the date as The University of Michigan will be hosting Rutgers on Saturday, September 23rd for Homecoming. We’ll post details of any chapter events as they become available.

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