Delta Tau Delta
To a certain generation of Americans, the 1960s represents a time of great social change. The decade experienced a revolution in social norms, music, fashion, political movements and other history-making milestones.
At The University of Texas at Austin, the fraternity Delta Tau Delta was making a history of its own. The men’s fraternity was standing toe-to-toe against its Fiji counterpart, Phi Gamma Delta, vying for championships on the intramural fields and courts. The Delts dominated throughout the 60s to become the number one ranked fraternity of that period based on overall participation and points earned through the intramural point system. The record-setting points earned was achieved in 1966–67 when the Delts accumulated more than 4,600 points–the most earned by any one fraternity and the second most in UT intramural history.
The Delts also made history by losing only one water basketball game during the 60s and earning eight overall championships during that same period. Naturally, all of these achievements must be credited to the scores of individuals who made up the fraternity and there was no shortage of great players. One such individual of that time was Hall of Honor inductee, Joe Bill Watkins, ‘65, ’68, who is pictured on the Intramural Wall of Fame 13 times in nearly every sport offered. He also earned All-Intramural in basketball, volleyball, water basketball and football.
Many more “greats” of that period deserve a mention including Sam “Bubby” Lee, ’70, who managed the Delts to a first-place finish in 1968–69, and James “Buzzy” Woodworth, ’70, ’76, who managed the Delts to the all-time record in points amassed in 1966–67. Dating back to 1920–21, marking the first time the Delta Tau Delta fraternity appeared on the Intramural Wall of Fame, this organization has just over 250 teams and individuals pictured on the champion boards. Today their name lives on in the Delta Tau Delta Endowed Scholarship, created to honor the fraternity’s accomplishments and the great Delts of the 1960s by annually rewarding a deserving RecSports student staff member with this generous gift.