Winter 2025 Delta Upsilon Quarterly

The Delta Upsilon Quarterly team sat down with Ryan Schmidt, DePauw '28, (on the left in the photograph) at the 2025 Regional Leadership Academy in Chicago. Ryan serves his chapter as Vice President of Academic Excellence.

Why did you join Delta Upsilon?

I joined DU because I think it offered me the best balance in my college life. I was really searching for a place that was going to give me a good brotherhood, a good sense of community, but also was really going to hold me accountable for my academics and me growing into becoming a better person.

What are your goals for your chapter?

I really want us to enhance the safe and positive space that we've been creating for many years. I want to give young men, and boys that are growing into men throughout college, a great space for them to study with other people and find like-minded people that believe in our Four Founding Principles just as I do. And I think with Delta Upsilon, we can give them that safe space.

What has been the most valuable part of RLA?

I definitely think it's been seeing and first-hand witnessing the community that Delta Upsilon has. I don't think I ever would've been able to meet this many people from this many universities in my own brotherhood otherwise, and I think it's an experience that's unlike any other. We're able to workshop and talk to each other. We're just given the space to work together and communicate.

How is RLA going to help you reach your goals for the chapter?

I think it's given me a great opportunity to workshop with others and gain other perspectives when it comes to improving my chapter. I think I spent a lot of time here so far talking to others from Delta Upsilon chapters, and I've learned a lot that I never really could have imagined anyone from our school coming up with those ideas. I think with those long-standing traditions that they've had, it's been really cool to learn about them and think about implementing them at our chapter.

If you could think of one word to describe DU, what would it be?

Opportunity. Our chapter is very involved within the community and very involved within the campus itself. I've found so many new things that I never even knew existed in the first place. And the opportunity to get involved was there right away.