For most of my professional career I have had the privilege of working with gifted students, teaching for almost forty years at Harvard in the Core Curriculum and working with members of the Technology Chapter of Delta Upsilon at MIT for more than thirty years. In all those years I had never been asked to deliver the Charge. You see, at MIT we ask a recent alumnus to give the Charge, figuring that someone closer to the new members can more easily speak to them and inspire them. But, I have served as Master at a couple dozen initiations, which means that I have listened to many Charges over the years. So, my first idea was that I could easily plagiarize the best ideas from those Charges. But, I have ended up with a different plan. I have three points I want to make, and I will try to keep it simple and short (KISS).
For my first point, I turn to the initiation rite itself. Something that has always impressed me is the carefully crafted language of the rite. Let me draw your attention to two passages that you just heard:
"Justice is our guiding principle, and as justice is but truth in action, it is our deeds which testify our loyalty to the ideals of the fraternity."
"justice is but truth in action"
In the pursuit of justice, it is your actions that count.
And the second:
"In uprightness, in nobility, in consideration of others and fair dealings with them, in constant endeavor to promote truth and equity in every relation in which we may be cast - in such ways do the lessons of our fraternity bear their richest fruit."
"uprightness, nobility, consideration of others, fair dealings, promotion of truth and equity"
It would be hard for me to compose more noble sentiments than these.
But, some of these ideals may seem too abstract. How can you gauge whether your actions measure up? Let me throw out a suggestion for this. Is this action something that you could tell to your parents or maybe your grandparents with pride, with a sense of accomplishment? If you find yourself embarking on an adventure that you would be ashamed to tell them, maybe it isn't such a good idea.
One of the things about DU that appealed to me when I pledged 46 years ago was the absence of secrecy. This principle proved to be helpful as I prepared this charge, because I was able to go to the DU website and check the language of the initiation rite, which is posted there for the world to view. Maybe I could find other inspiration for my charge at the websites of some of the other fraternities. But, I gave up after checking a handful. None of them posted their initiation ritual.
For my second point, I am going to challenge you to take on full responsibility for yourselves and those you live with. It is my experience that college students desperately want to become independent, to become adults, to run their own lives. My own philosophy is to encourage and nuture this. At the MIT chapter the brothers run their own lodging house with an annual budget of more than a quarter of million dollars. As much as possible I encourage them to figure out how they want to run things, and then I rely on them to live up to the decisions they make. I don't supervise or control what they do in their daily lives. That is their responsibility. And of course, part of that responsibility is to live within the rules that society has laid down for everyone.
Sure, things are quite different here at Harvard, but your involvement in DU is an opportunity for you to decide what you want to get out of it and then to make it happen.
Which brings me to my final point. DU at MIT has a long history that dates back more than 100 years, with more than 750 alumni who have lived their undergraduate years at 526 Beacon Street. Only four years have passed since DU was re-established at Harvard. There are hardly any alumni of the chapter, and there are no time-honored traditions. Rather than viewing this as a weakness or disadvantage compared to other campuses, let me propose that it offers you the golden opportunity of establishing your own ideals and traditions for what DU should be here at Harvard. Furthermore, let me propose that this is an ideal time for the new members to reflect on what it is they want to get out of the DU experience, and to set some goals for what they will try to accomplish as DUs. When you graduate in 2006 (most of you), what should DU look like? What experiences and accomplishments will you remember most fondly and with the most pride? I won't put you on the spot by asking each of you to tell the assembled company here and now what your goal for your DU experience will be, as was done by David Brandenburger when he delivered the Charge at MIT five years ago. But, I do put it to each one of you. Think of a goal for your involvement with DU. Write it down and save it in a place you can find in three years, or next year when you initiate the next group of new members, so that you can see how well you have measured up.
Thank you for your attention.
Dave Latham, '61
2003
