Established in 1833, Psi Upsilon is one of the oldest and most notable fraternities in the world. The Lambda Chapter of Psi Upsilon was officially founded on June 20th, 1842, constituting Psi Upsilon's seventh chapter and Columbia University's oldest fraternity. In its 160 year history, the Lambda Chapter has proven to be one of the strongest and tightest brotherhoods, both on the Columbia campus and in Psi Upsilon as a whole.

Many people approach fraternities with great suspicion, both due to their reputations and secrecy. The most distinguished alumnus of the Lambda, Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University (1902-1945) and Nobel Prize Laureate (Peace, 1931), provided these thoughts on the nature of fraternities almost 100 years ago:

“The college fraternity is nothing more nor less than a highly organized form of human contact. It offers invitation and opportunity to young men of like temperament and like tastes to live together during undergraduate days, to be in close association with each other, and through these contacts to develop each other’s mind in a hundred ways that could not be accomplished by instruction alone.

Any good instrument may be abused, and there can be no doubt that fraternities have at various times and at various places fallen short of the highest ideals. This should be a reason for their improvement but not for their discontinuance.”

Nicholas Murray Butler