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List of Delta Kappa Epsilon chapters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity has 56 active chapters and 5 active colonies. It was originally established at Yale University with the Phi chapter in 1844.[1][2]
Of a total of 56 active chapters, 49 are in the United States, while seven are in Canada – at the University of Toronto, McGill University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Manitoba, the University of Alberta, the University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University. There are five additional active colonies in North America.
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Naming confusion
Delta Kappa Epsilon, as one of the antebellum, or pre-Civil War fraternities, expanded quite early into southern schools that would temporarily, or in some cases permanently, close as a result of the war. Today's standard protocol whereby GLO chapter names were reserved for their schools of origin -- even if the chapters were dormant—had not yet gained traction as a standard rule. Hence, ΔΚΕ's early chapter names were often reassigned. This practice has been discontinued, both by ΔΚΕ and by most other national fraternities. In this table, where a chapter name was used at multiple schools for multiple years, they are listed here, and numbered. Where a name was transitory, the early name(s) are only noted in the reference notes.[a]
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Chapters
Summarize
Perspective
These are the chapters of Delta Kappa Epsilon in order of establishment. Active chapters and colonies noted in bold, inactive chapters (and inactive schools) noted in italics. Several early chapters reused names of chapters closed during the Civil War, but this practice has been discontinued.[3]
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Notes
- As an example of early naming adjustments, Harvard's Alpha chapter name was re-assigned to the chapter at Middlebury. When Harvard's chapter was re-established it took back its name while the Middlebury group was briefly assigned the name Alpha Prime; the Middlebury group was later granted Alpha Alpha to avoid confusion. In another example, the chapter at Lafayette College had been named Omega chapter for just 22 days before it received notice that, instead, it would be designated Rho. This didn't fully settle the matter, as in this case, a dying Indiana University chapter had been the first Rho chapter, thus for the clarity of this table we name Indiana's first (19th Century) iteration as Rho (1), and the Lafayette chapter as ΔΚΕ's Rho (2) chapter. Lafayette's brief iteration as an Omega chapter isn't noted in the main table as it didn't encompass a graduating class.
- Yale's fraternities were class-specific in the latter 19th Century. Deke's Phi chapter at Yale was a "Junior Year" society there until March 8, 1887, when it became open to other classes. Generally, though not always, it was the third-year societies where a man lodged his long-term fraternal affiliations; the freshman societies died out, and the sophomore societies likewise were opened to all classes. Deke alumnus Cyrus Northrop is an example of a man of this era who eagerly joined several of these chapters during his undergrad years, as discussed in the article about him.
- Deke's Gamma chapter had originally been placed at the University of Nashville from 1847, closing in 1861 during the Civil War. That school itself closed in 1909; the Gamma name was moved to nearby Vanderbilt University on October 16, 1889.
- The UNC group had originally held the name Beta chapter. At its restoration after the Civil War it was rechartered under the name Beta Alpha chapter since Columbia University had by then been chartered with the name Beta in 1874. Later, the UNC group was again granted the Beta chapter name when Columbia chapter's letters were changed to Gamma Beta.[6]
- The Middlebury chapter was originally chartered as Alpha chapter; the chapter at Harvard being closed (?) at the time. After Harvard's chapter was revived, the 1857 convention changed the name of ΔΚΕ's Middlebury College chapter to Alpha Prime. In 1887 the chapter name was changed to Alpha Alpha.[6]
- See The Dickey Club.
- For a period of less than a month, between October 29, 1855 and November 20, 1855, leaders at the ruling chapter at Yale confirmed that the new chapter at Lafayette College in Easton, PA would be called Omega chapter. This name was rescinded, with a letter in November of that year stating that the Lafayette chapter would carry the name Rho chapter, previously held by a dying chapter at Indiana University. The Lafayette group has maintained the Rho name to the present day. (This table calls this the Rho (2) chapter for clarity) --Name details from HQ convention minutes from that time. In this citation no information was provided about the pre-existing Omega chapter, Oakland College, near Rodney, Mississippi, which reportedly also died in 1861. Did that chapter die out earlier, making the Omega name available? Or was this an oversight? Meanwhile, when a chapter was finally approved for restoration at Indiana, it was given a new name, Delta Phi, also for clarity.
- An Indiana chapter was opened, briefly, between November 15, 1853 and May 5, 1855, under a different name designation, Rho (1). Members reported on the "demise of the university (!)", and in response, the Council voted they should return the charter and books, which they did. But a following letter and application was more hopeful, when the 1860 ΔΚΕ convention was presented an application for a new charter by the Indiana University group. This was not acted on, and was finally dismissed two years later in the midst of the Civil War on July 30, 1862. Subsequent applications were received in 1869 and in 1906, but these were also rejected. Finally, when the 2001 application was received, the name Rho chapter was already in long use, so Delta Psi chapter was substituted.
- Baird's Archive (a later reference than the print editions) notes that Deke's Iota chapter had been formed at the Kentucky Military Institute in 1854, ceasing operations at the onset of the Civil War. (That school would later emerge as a non-collegiate prep school, itself ceasing operations in 1971 due to financial difficulties.) It operated sub rosa until 1858, and the last of its members left college for enlistment in May 1861. After the Civil War the Iota chapter name was re-assigned to a group called Iota Beta (local) which had its origin in 1882 at Central University of Kentucky, then in Richmond. Interestingly, an earlier group from Centre College of Danville had petitioned as early as October 14, 1854 for a charter in ΔΚΕ, but that matter had been held over for several decades, and abandoned. The Iota Beta (local) at Central University was formed in 1882. ΔΚΕ installed them as the new Iota chapter on June 9, 1885 at Central. Fifteen years later, in 1901, Central University consolidated its faculty and students into Centre College. Separately, in 1906 Central Kentucky's former grounds in Richmond, Kentucky were awarded to the newly-established Eastern Kentucky State Normal School No. 1, now ECU.
- While the chapter was active, Centenary College was located in Jackson, Louisiana. The college was moved to Shreveport in 1908.
- Deke's Zeta Zeta chapter was originally established at Centenary College of Louisiana in 1858, where it lasted until 1861 with the suspension of the school during the Civil War. Nominally, the chapter closed in 1864. It did not re-open with the resumption of classes in 1865. Zeta Zetas chapter name was re-assigned to nearby Louisiana State University in 1923 when the fraternity absorbed The Friars Club, which had originated in 1892 and had petitioned for 14 years to become part of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Chapter records state that the Friars knew of the original Centenary College chapter, learning that all its members died in the Civil War, and from the beginning in 1892 sought to move the original chapter name to LSU. For almost a Century, members were initiated into both Deke and the Friars Club, as sort of an alter-ego fraternity. In recognition of this, brothers of this chapter were allowed to wear both the Delta Kappa Epsilon badge and Friars Club pins.[12] Approximately 100 years later, on January 2019 the LSU chapter was "permanently revoked" by Deke's national office over issues of hazing and a resultant coverup. Concurring with this action, LSU's final closure order and ban until the Fall of 2029 was dated August 15, 2019. As part of the stipulation, the Friars were permanently banned.
- Deke at Northwestern University has carried two chapter names. The first chapter originated from the Star & Scroll (local) which had formed in 1947. At installation in 1948 into ΔΚΕ it took the name Delta Epsilon chapter; this group died out in 1959. It was revived briefly in 1970 with the absorption of a group called the Lions (local), re-chartering on November 21, 1970, again as Delta Epsilon chapter. The chapter again went dormant in 1973. In 2000 a third Northwestern group, Chi Delta Chi (local), formed after leaving its previous national in 1992, accepted a ΔΚΕ charter. Baird's Archive, accessed 26 Jun 2022, notes this group took on a previously-used name to become the Alpha Delta chapter, coincidently the name of a chapter that had died out during the Civil War at what was then-called Jefferson College. However the impetus for this name choice came from their origination as the Northwestern chapter of Alpha Delta Phi which had split from that national when it began installing co-ed chapters seven years earlier. Members wished to honor their heritage in some fashion, reflecting the name "Alpha Delt". This third iteration of a Northwestern chapter went dormant in 2001. To complete the record, prior to becoming an ΑΔΦ chapter that group had its origin as the Wranglers Club (local) in 1903. Thus the Wranglers became a chapter of ΑΔΦ, then reverted to a local named Chi Delta Chi, and later became a ΔΚΕ chapter.
- The campus of now-defunct Troy University (New York) was immediately adjacent to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Yet Troy's Kappa Phi chapter closed at least two years prior to the formation of Psi Omega chapter at Rensselaer. There does not seem to be a connection between the two chapters.
- This chapter name was reused. Baird's reports a short-lived original chapter at Union University, which ceased in 1862 at the beginning of the Civil War. Early chapter records of the Union group indicate several applications had been rejected in 1855 and 1856, and eventually prevailed on December 18, 1860. Only eleven brothers were initiated when the students left for war. In the post-war period, three schools would amalgamate into a revived Union University, but the Deke chapter there was not revived. The later established chapter at Sewanee originated as Gamma Theta (local) in 1950 and was granted the transferred charter at installation on February 22, 1970. The two schools are about 3.5 hours apart.
- Originated as the founding and first Wand chapter of the Mystical Seven in 1837. The Mystical Seven reorganized on that campus in 1889, but its second iteration joined ΒΘΠ the following year.
- This chapter had its origin at Western Reserve in 1941 as the Gamma chapter of Beta Theta Pi, which had formed earlier that year as the Boanergian Society (local). It left ΒΘΠ to join Deke approximately 40 years prior to the formation of the NIC, which would later prohibit "poaching" of chapters among its national fraternities. ΒΘΠ would later re-colonize as that fraternity's Beta (2) chapter, eventually merging with ΒΘΠ's Lambda Kappa chapter at Case University in 1979, after those two schools had merged, and is now called the Lambda Kappa Beta chapter.
- The Chicago chapter had its origin in the Deltas (local), which originated in 1865. Entering ΔΚΕ, they first chartered under the name Delta chapter during the time that the University of South Carolina's chapter was inactive, later taking on the Delta Delta name.[6]
- The Syracuse chapter had its origin as the Scroll & Pen chapter of the Mystical Seven, which formed in 1853. It was the first chapter of any fraternity located at Syracuse University.
- The Columbia chapter had its origin in Psi Phi (local), which formed in 1865. The group was granted the name Beta chapter by ΔΚΕ during the time that the chapter at the University of North Carolina was inactive. Columbia's designation was changed to Gamma Beta at some point after Beta at University of North Carolina was revived.[6]
- The Berkeley chapter had its origin as the CA Alpha chapter of Phi Delta Theta, established in 1873. It left to join Deke soon thereafter.
- Chapter moved to Centre College when the two colleges consolidated in 1901.
- The Minnesota chapter had its origin as the MN Alpha chapter of Phi Delta Theta, established on October 12, 1881. It left ΦΔΘ to join Deke prior to or during early 1889. By 1891, ΦΔΘ would re-colonize at the school. All this occurred approximately 20 years prior to the formation of the NIC, which would immediately prohibit "poaching" of chapters among its national fraternities.
- This chapter had its origin as a chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1961. It left that national fraternity in ~1994 prior to joining ΔΚΕ.
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References
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