Delta Tau Delta exists to help you make yourself all that you are capable of. This is the pupose of Delta Tau Delta; where men learn how to live together, with the give and take of conflicting interests and varying temperaments; where men learn to yield personal wish or advantages to the greater good of the group, to fortify another's weakness with their own strength to give of their abundance to a brother's need; where they discover tht we are all our brother's keeper and have a real responsibility for what our brothers do, just as we are under deep obligation to do nothing which will injure the group or make life more difficult for any man. For this is the meaning of our fraternity. We can summarize the purpose of Delta Tau Delta in these words: to make your college life as rich and valuable to you, so as it will be continuing force throughout your life.

The Creed of Delta Tau Delta is the foundation for what we live by and the backbone of our Brotherhood;

I believe in Delta Tau Delta for the education of youth and the inspiration of maturity so that I may better learn and live the truth.

I believe in Delta Tau Delta as a shrine of international brotherhood: her cornerstone friendship, her foundation conscience, her columns aspiration, her girders self restraint, her doorway opportunity,her windows understanding, her buttresses loyalty, her strength the Everlasting Arms

I believe in Delta Tau Delta as an abiding influence to help me do my work, fulfill my obligations, maintain my self respect, and bring about the happy life wherein I may more truly love my fellow men, serve my country, and obey my God.

Our Mission: Committed to Lives of Excellence

Delta Tau Delta is a Value Driven Fraternity:
Truth, Courage, Faith and Power Are Our Foundation
Integrity is Essential
Accountability is Fundamental to All Commitments
Life Long Learning and Growth Are Vital
Strengthening Community is Essential to Our Vitality
Brotherhood Sustains Us

Long Term Accomplishments
We Create Opportunities For Our Members to Learn and Live Lives of Excellence
Our Chapters' Operations and Programs Reflect Our Commitment to Excellence
We Are a Growing Organization
Our Membership is Committed to Life Long Involvement in the Fraternity
We Are an Academic Leader in the Fraternity World
We Are a Financially Vital Organization
We Are a Seamless Organization

1858 Delta Tau Delta is founded at Bethany College. Eight undergraduates, angered by a fixed vote for a prize in oratory to be given at the Neotrophian Literary Society the only real forum for students to practice and demonstrate skills in poetry, public speaking, and writing essays respond by forming a secret society. The purpose of the new society, known only by the Greek letters Delta Tau Delta, is to see that the Neotrophian is returned to popular control, and delivered from the hands of the group of students who seized it.
The Fraternity was founded to right an unjust situation; Delta Tau Delta was born of the knowledge that integrity is essential. Its eight founders' outraged that one group of students would and could choose in advance the candidate they favored, then join together to swing enough votes for that man to win, regardless of his actual performance in the contest, presented the first opportunity for Delts to realize the importance of accountability.
1859 Bethany Chapter grants charters to three chapters; West Liberty, West Virginia University, and Jefferson. To establish membership, the new chapters are given a Constitution and Ritual, membership badges, and are taught the Fraternity's mottoes and purposes all of which had been devised by the eight founders shortly after the group's initial formation. Whether the founders realized it at the time or not, brotherhood truly did sustain the Fraternity. Had they not had the foresight to extend welcoming arms to other young men interested in becoming Delts, the organization would have dissolved.
1861 Jefferson Chapter assumes Fraternity control and Alpha designation. Henry Bell, a founder and alumnus, comes from his home in Kentucky to search for a way to preserve the Fraternity after the last remaining Bethany members leave for the armed forces. In Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at Jefferson College, he find Rhodes Sutton and Samuel Brown and persuades them to come to Bethany to be initiated. The two men brave a snowstorm and nearly impassible mountain roads on horseback to be initiated at Bethany on February 22. Sutton and Brown return to Canonsburg the following morning and that day initiate two more men at Jefferson.
Henry Bell knew his responsibility to keep Delta Tau Delta alive and flourishing; he was accountable to his brothers and to future members of the Fraternity. A man of integrity, he knew to look for other men of integrity Rhodes Sutton and Samuel Brown to entrust with the future of the organization.
1866 First General Convention is held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with five chapters represented; Allegheny, Ohio University, Washington and Jefferson, Monmouth, and Pittsburgh.
Early leaders of the Fraternity showed foresight yet again; by creating a means of communication between the rapidly growing number of chapters, they prepared the organization for growth.
Our present manner of government remains remarkably similar to this early structure, so accurate were early members in determining the Fraternity's administrative needs. The Executive Council's name became the Arch Chapter, and the General Convention became the Karnea, but the relationship has remained the same. Undergraduate delegates control the Karnea; the Karnea determines all Fraternity policy; the Arch Chapter carries out orders given at Karnea.
1886 The Fraternity merges with the Rainbow Fraternity, an old and respected southern fraternity founded in 1848 at the University of Mississippi.
Reaching out once again to invite others to join, the men of Delta Tau Delta provided themselves additional strength as well. Responding to a weak geographical area, the south, our Delt forefathers took decisive action to fortify the organization.
1889 A new Fraternity Constitution establishes the position of chapter advisor and changes the name of the Executive Council to Arch Chapter.
Members in this era acknowledged the need for active alumni involvement in the lives of undergraduate Delts. Accountability, brotherhood, and lifelong learning and growth are all evidenced in this action.