Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon
ΔΚΕ
Founded	June 22, 1844 (1844-06-22) No. 12 Old South Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Type	Social
Scope	International
Motto	Κηροϑεν Φιλοι ἀει (Kērothen Philoi Aei; "Friends From The Heart, Forever")
Colors	Azure (Blue/Navy)      Gold      Gules (Crimson)
Symbol	Rampant Lion
Flag
Publication	The Deke Quarterly
Philanthropy	Rampant Lion Foundation
Chapters	56
Nicknames	DKE, Deke
Headquarters	P.O. Box 8360 Ann Arbor, Michigan America
Website	http://www.dke.org

Delta Kappa Epsilon (ΔΚΕ), commonly known as DKE or Deke, is one of the oldest North American fraternities, with 56 active chapters across America and Canada. The fraternity was founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 sophomores who were disaffected by the existing houses on campus. They established a fellowship "where the candidate most favored was he who combined in the most equal proportions the gentleman, the scholar, and the jolly good fellow."

The private gentleman's club the DKE Club of New York was founded in 1885 and is currently in residence at the Yale Club of New York City.

Founding

The fraternity was founded June 22, 1844,^[1] in room number 12 Old South Hall, Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut. At this meeting, the Fraternity's secret and open Greek mottos were devised, as were the pin and secret handshake. The open motto is "Kerothen Philoi Aei" ("Friends from the Heart, Forever").

The fifteen founders were:^[1] William Woodruff Atwater, Dr. Edward Griffin Bartlett, Frederic Peter Bellinger, Jr., Henry Case, Colonel George Foote Chester, John Butler Conyngham, Thomas Isaac Franklin, William Walter Horton, The Honorable William Boyd Jacobs, Professor Edward VanSchoonhoven Kinsley, Chester Newell Righter, Dr. Elisha Bacon Shapleigh, Thomas DuBois Sherwood, Albert Everett Stetson, and Orson William Stow. This first chapter was denoted Phi chapter.

The Objectives of Delta Kappa Epsilon are:

The Cultivation of General Literature and Social Culture, the Advancement and Encouragement of Intellectual Excellence, the Promotion of Honorable Friendship and Useful Citizenship, the Development of a Spirit of Tolerance and Respect for the Rights and Views of Others, the Maintenance of Gentlemanly Dignity, Self-Respect, and Morality in All Circumstances, and the Union of Stout Hearts and Kindred Interests to Secure to Merit its Due Reward.^[2]

The pin of Delta Kappa Epsilon shows the Greek letters ΔΚΕ on a white scroll upon a black diamond with gold rope trim and a star in each corner. DKE's heraldic colours are azure (blue), or (gold), and gules (crimson). Its flag is a triband of those colours with a dexter rampant lion in the middle.

Chapters

The Yale Club's main entrance on Vanderbilt Avenue, home of The Delta Kappa Epsilon Club of New York

Within three years of the founding at Yale, chapters were founded at Bowdoin, Princeton University, Colby College, and Amherst College. DKE has grown to 56 chapters and has initiated over 85,000 members across North America.

Traditionally an Eastern Seaboard fraternity, DKE's Yale chapter had an early reputation as a Southerner's fraternity. Two of the original founders were from the South and 13 out of 38 members of 1845 and 1846 were from the South. Although Vanderbilt University claims DKE's first chapter in the South (Gamma chapter, founded in 1847), Vanderbilt University was not founded until 1873. Psi chapter at the University of Alabama was founded in 1847.

Syracuse University's chapter house was used as a safe harbor by Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and William Still during passage into Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Delta Kappa Epsilon's first West Coast chapter was founded at the University of California, Berkeley on Halloween night, 1876. The DKE chapter at Colgate University (Hamilton, NY) is one of the only DKE chapters having a Temple building, one which only can be entered by Mu DKE members. The Lambda Chapter at Kenyon College in 1854 built the first fraternity lodge in America. The Delta Kappa Epsilon Club of New York was founded in 1885 and is currently in residence at the Yale Club of New York City.^[3] Delta Kappa Epsilon became an international fraternity with the addition of the Alpha Phi chapter in 1898 at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Delta Kappa Epsilon experimented with expansion to the United Kingdom, but this was not successful, and chapters are located in only the United States and Canada.

Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House, DePauw University

As of July 2018, Delta Kappa Epsilon has 15 colonies, including Harvard University, Cornell University. RPI, University of Colorado - Boulder, University of Texas, University of Western Ontario, North Carolina State, Simon Fraser University, Ithaca College, University of Tennessee, and the University of Illinois - Springfield. However, Ithaca College does not recognize fraternities.

Notable members

President Theodore Roosevelt

Delta Kappa Epsilon members have included five of forty-five Presidents of the United States.

Purpose of Chapters

The Cornell chapter house is a National and Ithaca Historic Landmark

One of Delta Kappa Epsilon's focuses within each Chapter is on community service in addition to the social aspect that goes along with most collegiate academic Greek fraternities.

Each Chapter competes for a number of awards that include leadership, chapter improvements, and community service.^[6] Each of these areas is used in awarding the overall award called the Lion Trophy.

The 2011 Lion Trophy winner was Psi chapter at the University of Alabama.^[7] The chapter won this award in the wake of sponsoring a food drive to help give relief to the Tuscaloosa community devastated by tornadoes.^[8] The 2012 winner of the Lion Trophy was the University of British Columbia, and 2013's Lion Trophy went to both the Psi chapter and the Iota chapter at Centre College. The 2016 Lion Trophy was awarded to the Rho chapter at Lafayette College.

Controversy

On June 6, 1892, a pledge was led blindfolded through the street during his fraternity initiation towards Moriarty's Cafe, a popular student hang-out. He was told to run and did so at top speed. He ran into a sharp carriage pole, injuring himself. He was rendered unconscious, but the injury was not thought to be serious at the time. He suffered an intestinal rupture and died five days later of peritonitis.^{[9][10][11][12]}

In 1967, The New York Times reported on "frat-branding", the alleged use of a hot branding iron to make a "D" shaped scar on new fraternity members. The fraternity's then-president George W. Bush stated that they were "only cigarette burns."^[13]

In 1983, Yale University banned DKE activities allowing them to return a year later but off-campus.^[14]

In 1989, Colgate University banned all DKE activities after the officials found members guilty of hazing, blackballing and other violations of university regulations.^[15] In 2005 Colgate University barred DKE from campus for refusing to sell its house to the school and join a new student-residence initiative. DKE filed a lawsuit charging that the school violated its right to free association as well as antitrust laws by monopolizing the student housing market.^[16] In 2006 the Supreme Court of Madison County found that the fraternity had failed to state a cause of action and that its claim was "time-barred."^[17][18]

In December, 2008, the University of California, Berkeley, suspended recognition of the local DKE chapter for alcohol, hazing and fire safety misconduct.^[19] The chapter never closed, and continued without affiliation or oversight by UC Berkeley. The national office and the alumni association maintained their association with the local chapter. Four years later, the chapter opted not to reapply for recognition by the university and continued as an independent fraternity.^[20] In May 2012, during a routine patrol of the campus, the chapter was visited by the County Vice Enforcement Team. Several citations were issued for under-age drinking.^[21]

In October 2010, Yale's DKE chapter came under fire after its members shouted inflammatory and misogynistic chants at an Old Campus pledge ritual.^[22] The chapter's president, Jordan Forney, apologized for the fraternity's conduct, characterizing it as a "lapse in judgment."^[23] but Yale's feminist magazine Broad Recognition called for administrative action against the leadership of DKE. By October 24, 2010, Dean Mary Miller of Yale College had strongly recommended to the DKE National Executive Director, Dr. Douglas Lanpher, that the chapter at Yale be put on probation indefinitely.^[24] Instead, on May 17, 2011, the chapter was suspended for five years.^[25] The order barred DKE from conducting any activities on the Yale campus during that time.^[26]

In January 2011, the DKE chapter at the University of Alberta had its student group status suspended for five years after hazing video surfaced of pledges being confined in a plywood box, forced to eat vomit, and deprived of sleep, by other fraternity members.^[27]

In November 2014, a DKE colony in Edinburgh, since closed, had the minutes leaked from a meeting in March 2014 by the University of Edinburgh student newspaper, The Student. The minutes allegedly made reference to comments that joked about rape, sexual harassment, transphobia and hazing.^[28] The story gained traction in both national and international media, being picked up by The Independent, The Huffington Post, and Time magazine.

See also

• List of Delta Kappa Epsilon brothers
• List of Delta Kappa Epsilon chapters
• List of social fraternities and sororities

References

External links

• DKE Organization Home Page including DKE history
• The DKE Club of New York
• GoDeke.org Dekes in the News