Texas Delts Newsletters

Fall 2023

In the fall of 2008 Gamma Iota launched its alumni relations program and the alumni publication, the Texas Delts newsletter. The newsletter is published every fall and spring semester.
Click the links below to view each issue.

Notable Articles from recent Texas Delts newsletters

ΔΤΔ: A DOMINANT FORCE IN INTRAMURALS 

TEAMMATES BRIEFLY, FRIENDS FOR LIFE
 

This timeless statement is on a brick at the entrance of Gregory Gym. The Delts have always been a dominant force in intramurals. The Wall of Fame inside Gregory featuring pictures of each year’s champions contains literally hundreds of Delt teams and individuals from every era of Delta Tau Delta at the University of Texas.  

 At the 100th Year of RecSports Celebration a few years ago, Delta Tau Delta was the only fraternity inducted into the inaugural Hall of Honor. Several Delts were members of another group inducted, The Legal Eagles, the celebrated football team from UT law school.  

 And I was one of the individuals inducted (as chairman of the leadership team, they had to let me in. Also, I am on the Wall of Fame a bunch of times, mainly because I learned an important lesson early at the Shelter: surround yourself with people more talented than yourself and good things happen).  

 Some of the many notable Delts on the Wall of Fame are Matthew McConaughey ’92, Roy Spence Jr. ’17, and Federal Judge Sam Sparks ’61 

 Into the second century of UT intramurals, we can proudly proclaim: Delts and intramural success—the tradition continues! And the many Delts who have been “teammates briefly” will remain friends and brothers for life. 

 Fraternally,
Joe Bill Watkins ’65 

Remembering Meredith Long ’50  

We’re sad to share that Meredith Long ’50 entered Chapter Eternal on June 3, 2020, with his loving family by his side. Gamma Iota gave Meredith the skillset to have an incredibly successful career and personal life.  

“Both the house and the Delts who lived there, many of them older than me, provided a warm place to work my way through the University,” Meredith said in the spring 2017 edition of Texas Delts, which can be found at texasdeltalumni.com/meredith-long-50. “Gamma Iota provided a homing nest for many of the undergraduates during my time, and continues to do so today. I became a more confident, social, and successful person because of the men I was surrounded by in Delta Tau Delta.” 

In 1957, he founded Meredith Long & Co., which was one of the first art galleries in the U.S. to rejuvenate interest in 19th and early 20th century American art. Meredith and his wife, Cornelia, have contributed more than 100 significant works of art to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. President George W. Bush appointed Meredith to serve as a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee for the U.S. State Department in 2003. 

Along with being a devoted Delt, Meredith was a member of the National Intercollegiate Debate Team, Texas Cowboys, University of Texas Friar Society, and ROTC as an undergraduate at UT-Austin. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force. It was during his time on leave abroad that he decided to pursue a career in the arts. 

Meredith and Cornelia shared their love for the arts with their seven children. Philanthropy was also one of Meredith’s greatest passions. He served as the chairman of the Alley Theatre Board of Directors and Texas Heart Institute. Meredith also served on the boards for the Archives of American Art, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the College of Fine Arts Advisory Council at UT-Austin. 

Meredith was an avid outdoorsman, often spending his down time hunting and fishing. He financed the Gulf Coast Conservation Association, the Kleberg Institute for Quail Research, and several grants for stream restoration in the Frying Pan River in Colorado. His many accomplishments include being inducted into the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation Hall of Fame in 2010.