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Delta Kappa Epsilon

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Delta Kappa Epsilon (ΔΚΕ; also pronounced D K E or "Deke") is the oldest secret college men's fraternity of New England origin. ΔΚΕ was founded at Yale College by 15 men of the sophomore class who, upon hearing that some but not all of them had been invited to join the two existing societies (Alpha Delta Phi and Psi Upsilon), instead elected to form their own fraternity. These men sought to establish 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."

Contents

Founding and history

Original version of the ΔΚΕ coat of arms
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Original version of the ΔΚΕ coat of arms

The society was founded June 22, 1844, in number 12 Old South Hall, Yale College. At this meeting, the Fraternity's secret and open Greek mottos were devised. The open motto is "Kerothen Philoi Aei" ("Friends from the Heart, Forever"). The pin and secret handshake was also devised. The DKE pin shows ΔΚΕ on a scroll, upon a diamond with a star in each corner. DKE's heraldic colours are azure (blue), or (gold), and gules (crimson) and its flag is a triband of those colours with a left-facing rampant lion in the middle.

Within three years of the founding at Yale, chapters were founded at Bowdoin, Princeton University, Colby College, and Amherst College. Since that time, DKE has grown to over 64 chapters and has initiated over 85,000 members across North America. It became an international fraternity on November 17, 1889 with the founding of the Alpha Phi chapter at the University of Toronto, Canada.

DKE is inextricably linked to the history of the United States of America, as its members have included five of forty-three Presidents of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Another way to look at this impact, is that this is five of the most recent 25 US Presidents (20%), at the time of George W. Bush's election.

Some might argue that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be the 6th US President that was a DKE. FDR was a member, however, of a DKE Chapter (Alpha at Harvard) while also a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. FDR was thrown out for his dual membership in the 1890s.

During the Civil War, the first Union officer killed in battle was a Deke, Theodore Winthrop of Phi. Six weeks after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Philip Spence of Zeta commanded Confederate troops in their last organized battle of the war.

In the election of 1876, the Republican Party chose between two Dekes, nominating Hayes rather than rival and fellow DKE James G. Blaine, who later served two administrations as Secretary of State and who authored the Fourteenth Amendment; Blaine also ran unsuccessfully for President.

Flag of ΔΚΕ
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Flag of ΔΚΕ

During the Spanish-American War, the first American officer to be killed was a Deke, Surgeon John B. Gibbs (Rutgers), and his brother in DKE J. Frank Aldritch (DePauw) died when the USS Maine was sunk. In this same war, Deke Theodore Roosevelt distinguishes himself and starts on his path to the Presidency.

The fraternity's membership has also included dozens of American and Canadian politicians, businessmen, sports figures, and artists who have achieved iconic status, including among many others J.P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Cole Porter, Henry Cabot Lodge, Dick Clark, Tom Landry, and George Steinbrenner. Deke flags have been carried to the North Pole by its discoverer, Admiral Robert Peary (Theta), and to the Moon by astronaut Alan Bean (Omega Chi).

Pin of ΔΚΕ
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Pin of ΔΚΕ

Delta Kappa Epsilon administers a charitable organization called the Rampant Lion Foundation. As well, Deke has championed an organization call ROAR, which stands for Restore Our Associational Rights. ROAR campaigns for the freedom of fraternities and Greek organizations in general to operate without interference and discrimination from university administrations or others.

During the presidency of George W. Bush, questions were raised as to whether DKE initiates were branded with a small Δ on their buttocks in an act of hazing. Though apparently some dekes (the number ranges from 2-5 between sources) were branded, it was entirely voluntary and was not part of any initiation rite; in fact those who were branded had already been members for several years.

Traditionally a New England fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon's first West Coast chapter was founded at the University of California, Berkeley on Halloween night, 1876. DKE is the fourth fraternity at the prestigious institution. Their rival, Stanford University, followed suit in 1901. Currently, they are joined by UCLA and Davis as the only active chapters of Delta Kappa Epsilon on the West Coast.

The DKE Chapter at Kenyon College was founded in 1852; the first fraternity lodge in America was built by the actives about a mile from campus shortly thereafter.

The Sigma Chi Fraternity was founded in 1855 when members of the Miami chapter split over a debate on the office of Poet in the Erodelphian Literary Society.

Famous alumni

Presidents of the United States Vice Presidents of the United States Sitting state governors Newspaper publishers and editors Justices of the United States Supreme Court Agency Heads Businessmen Famous political figures Sports and entertainment Other famous Dekes

Active chapters

1) Phi - Yale

2) Zeta[link] - Princeton

3) Sigma - Amherst

4) Gamma[link] - Vanderbilt

5) Psi - Alabama

6) Chi - Mississippi

7) Beta - UNC-CH

8) Kappa - Miami

9) Lambda[link] - Kenyon

10) Eta[link] - Virginia

11) Alpha Alpha - Middlebury

12) Omicron[link] - Michigan

13) Rho[link] - Lafayette

14) Tau - Hamilton

15) Mu - Colgate

17) Beta Phi[link] - Rochester

18) Zeta Zeta - LSU

19) Phi Chi - Rutgers

20) Gamma Phi[link] - Wesleyan

21) Beta Chi[link] - Case Western

22) Delta Chi[link] - Cornell

23) Delta Delta[link] - Chicago

24) Phi Gamma[link] - Syracuse

25) Theta Zeta - Berkeley

26) Phi Epsilon[link] - Minnesota

27) Sigma Tau - MIT

28) Theta Chi[link] - Union College

29) Tau Lambda - Tulane

30) Alpha Phi[link] - Toronto

31) Delta Kappa - Pennsylvania

32) Sigma Rho[link] - Stanford

33) Rho Delta - Wisconsin

34) Kappa Epsilon - Washington

35) Omega Chi[link] - Texas

36) Alpha Tau[link] - Manitoba

37) Theta Rho[link] - UCLA

38) Delta Phi[link] - Alberta

39) Phi Alpha[link] - British Columbia

40) Tau Delta - Sewanee

41) Psi Delta[link] - Wake Forest University

42) Sigma Alpha[link] - Virginia Tech

43) Phi Delta[link] - Western Ontario

44) Alpha Mu - Rowan

45) Epsilon Rho[link] - Duke

46) Nu Zeta[link] - Pace

47) Zeta Upsilon[link] - UC, Davis

48) Phi Sigma - Bryant

49) Phi Rho[link] - Penn State

50) Chi Rho[link] - Bloomsburg

51) Zeta Chi[link] - Bentley

52) Sigma Beta - UC, Santa Barbara

53) Beta Gamma[link] - NYU

54) Alpha Beta - DePaul

55) Sigma Kappa - Michigan State

56) Delta Tau - Ohio State

57) Delta Psi[link] - Indiana

58) Mu Chi - Maryville

59) Upsilon Omega - South Alabama

60) Kappa Omega - Lake Forest

61) Rho Beta[link] - Richmond

63) Phi Beta - Stephen F. Austin

For a complete list of all historical chapters, see [DKE's Chapter Website].

External links and references


Fraternity Leadership Association
Delta Kappa Epsilon | Kappa Sigma | Phi Sigma Kappa | Sigma Alpha Epsilon | Sigma Lambda Beta | Sigma Pi

North-American Interfraternity Conference
Acacia | Alpha Chi Rho | Alpha Delta Gamma | Alpha Delta Phi | Alpha Epsilon Pi | Alpha Gamma Rho | Alpha Gamma Sigma | Alpha Kappa Lambda | Alpha Phi Alpha | Alpha Phi Delta | Alpha Sigma Phi | Alpha Tau Omega | Beta Chi Theta | Beta Sigma Psi | Beta Theta Pi | Chi Phi | Chi Psi | Delta Chi | Delta Phi | Delta Psi | Delta Sigma Phi | Delta Tau Delta | Delta Upsilon | FarmHouse | Iota Phi Theta | Kappa Alpha Order | Kappa Alpha Psi | Kappa Alpha Society | Kappa Delta Phi | Kappa Delta Rho | Lambda Chi Alpha | Lambda Phi Epsilon | Lambda Sigma Upsilon | Lambda Theta Phi | Order of Omega | Phi Gamma Delta | Phi Iota Alpha | Phi Kappa Psi | Phi Kappa Sigma | Phi Kappa Tau | Phi Kappa Theta | Phi Lambda Chi | Phi Mu Delta | Phi Sigma Phi | Pi Kappa Alpha | Pi Kappa Phi | Pi Lambda Phi | Psi Upsilon | Sigma Alpha Mu | Sigma Chi | Sigma Nu | Sigma Phi Delta | Sigma Phi Epsilon | Sigma Phi Society | Sigma Tau Gamma | Tau Delta Phi | Tau Epsilon Phi | Tau Kappa Epsilon | Theta Chi | Theta Delta Chi | Theta Xi | Triangle | Zeta Beta Tau | Zeta Psi

 

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