“A month after the Zeta Chapter has been established in the “granite hills” of Dartmouth College, the seventh Chapter of Psi Upsilon was born. With the Beta (Yale), Sigma (Brown) and Gamma (Amherst) chapters firmly planted in New England, the scene retuned to the state of our Fraternity’s nativity. Columbia College, which had been founded in 1754 as King’s College, was soon to become the seat of the famous Lambda of Psi Uplsion.” From “The Annals of Psi Upsilon”

The inception of the Lambda Chapter was first recorded in the minutes of our NYU neighbor, the Delta. The minutes of a meeting of the Delta on May 16th, 1842, include this petition from several Columbia students:

"At a meeting held at Columbia College, we the undersigned desirous of organizing ourselves as a chapter of the Psi Upsilon Society, respectfully offer ourselves as members of the same and solicit from the Chapter of said Society connected with the N.Y. University information as to the necessary introductory steps"
Signed,
T.C.T. Buckley
O. Everett Roberts
Robert Jaffray
John Sym
William McCune
W.S. Kernochan
W.H. Parmly
Watson M. Smith
G.P. Quakenbos

The Delta then wrote the following letter that was forwarded to the rest of the chapters:

“These men are the flower of their Institution and such as would honor our Society. Nearly all of them are personally and intimately known to one of more members of our Chapter, and they are spoken of as men of the highest more worth, of fine talents, and of warm hearts. We regard their request most favorably, and cannot but hope that our fellow chapters will do the same. The Institution, as you know, is one of the oldest in the country, and was the Alma Mater of many of revolutionary worthies. The Establishment of a chapter of our Fraternity in such an Institution, a chapter too composed of such men, we should hail as a bright omen in the increasing prosperity of our Brotherhood… “

All the chapters quickly reached a favorable consensus. In the minutes of the May 30th Delta meeting a resolution was made to initiate the Lambda chapter at the very next Delta meeting.

The annals of Psi Upsilon speak of three "ages" in the history of the Lambda. As the University faced numerous transformations due to its changing socio-economic makeup, scholastic focus and reputation, and the many locations it has occupied in its history, the Lambda was transformed with it, if not more drastically. The first period of the Lambda was during a time when Columbia University was regarded as a local Episcopal institution, with a reputable teaching staff and attracting the offspring of “old New Yorkers.” In the undergraduate population the Lambda stood out for its level of scholarship. “The honormen of the Chapter are twice as numerous as those of all the other societies combined.” This period produced many notable lawyers and bankers, architects and ministers. Benjamin B Odell, class of 1877, became Governor of New York.

The second period of the Lambda came about as the City and the University expanded. Around 1870 a new trend took hold in the world of “Old New Yorkers.” It was now fashionable to send children away for an education, and the face of Columbia moved from aristocratic to cosmopolitan. In this period the School of Mines (later to be known as the School of Engineering) and the School of Architecture were founded. The majority of the alumni of the Lambda of this period went on to become outstanding engineers and scientists. Yet the single most distinguished Lambda from this, as well as any other period, is Nicholas Murray Butler. As President of Columbia University, the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 and the President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he is the shining beacon of the Lambda.

The third and current age of the Lambda came with Columbia’s relocation to Morningside Heights. Columbia was transformed into a university of the more traditional sense, and the Lambda for the first time had a house. The first house of the Lambda was located at 627 West 115th Street, built in 1901, and occupied by the Lambda until the 1950s. Currently we occupy 542 West 114th Street. The distinguished alumni of this period are from all professions and walks of life. They provide a generous support network for the undergraduates, both as valuable advisors and great contacts in the world at large. The Annals of Psi Upsilon concludes our chapter’s history with these remarks:

“It is not in any way a criticism of the Lambda of Psi Upsilon or the Columbia chapters of other fraternities of national reputation to say that during the post-war years fraternities have played relatively less important part in the life of the institution, and conversely prominence on the campus has become less important a factor in fraternity membership. Athletes and other campus personalities, actual of potential, are as always welcome ingredients in the chapter membership, as are men outstanding in scholarship, but chapter success if becoming measured more and more in terms of a congenial group of men who understand and appreciate the possibilities of fraternity life and associations in a metropolitan university.”

The fraternity needs to evolve with the changing face of the University. We need to have a clear understanding of how we fit into the social fabric of Columbia, and from that find a definition for ourselves. A congenial group of (young) men we are, and in such an association we will greet the future, whatever it holds.