THE
HISTORY OF THE
DELTA
PI CHAPTER
May
17, 1969:
Delta Pi chapter of
Delta Kappa Epsilon reactivated
from
The Deke Quarterly, October, 1969
Delta
Pi of DKE was reactivated at the University of Illinois May 17, 1969,
when eight pledges were initiated in the first installation for the
chapter since 1964. The chapter, founded in 1904, became inactive
in 1964 when it could no longer support the house it had occupied.
The charter had been retained by the local alumni in the hope that the
chapter could be revived. The May ceremony was the culmination of
much work on the part of many dedicated Delta Pi alumni.
The
initiates were:
Arthur
Alderson '71, an electrical engineering
major from Wheaton, Ill. He is the business manager of the
engineering magazine and treasurer of the new chapter.
John
Amstadter '70, an English major from
Flossmoor, Ill., who is external vice president of the Men's Independent
Association and the new IFC representative for the chapter.
William
E. Bryant '72, a freshman in
agriculture from Havana, Ill., and the corresponding secretary of the
group.
Lynn
A. Davenport, Jr. '71, an agriculture
engineering major from Pawnee, Ill., and new vice president of the
chapter.
C.
Daniel Eaton, III, assistant director
of the University of Illinois Foundation and the faculty advisor for the
chapter.
Robert
A Jensen '71, a sophomore in the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and chairman of the Illinois State
Young Republicans.
Alan
C. Parsons '70, a history major from
Joseph, Ore., who is president of the chapter, president of the Student
Committee on Racism in Residence Halls, Faculty-Student Speakers Bureau
member, on the steering committee for Krannert Center for the Performing
Arts, internal vice president for the Men's Residence Halls Association,
and vice president of his student dorm.
Roger
Westerhold '71, a veterinary medicine
major from Dawson, Ill., and recording secretary for the chapter.
The
new members were initiated by a team of alumni headed by Deke Council
Vice President Trevor Holland, Tau Alpha/McGill '32, and Council
Assistant Secretary Grant D. Burnyeat, Phi Alpha/British Columbia '68,
who cooperated with local Delta Pi alumni to carry out the ceremonies.
The new members were quick to thank Brothers Gary Devine, Tom Disz,
Clyde L. Eaton, Harry McCollough, Terry Meade, Beverely Smith, and Bill
Ward, for their efforts and also thanked Zach Moss, a transfer from the
Psi Phi chapter at DePauw for the many long hours he put in as pledge
trainer for the group.
New
Brothers Westerhold and Alderson would seem to have enjoyed the
proceedings the most and Brother Holland later spent much time going
over the initiation with them as well as with the other brothers who
gathered at the initiation banquet later that night.
The
guest of honor was Bev Smith, who had worked so long to see the chapter
revived. His words on the value of brotherhood and the place of
the fraternity on our campuses reflected the many years of devotion he
had given to the Fraternity and the enjoyment he has always received in
return.
The
"new" chapter does not plan to purchase housing and so will
not have to compete with the other houses on campus for large
memberships. Rather, the new brothers will attempt to build a
stronger bond between a small chapter and a carefully selected pledge
class and will attempt to attract new members on the basis of this
concept. In many ways, this revives the pattern for fraternities
which was prevalent during the last century.
Delta
Pi plans to set up a social lodge to serve to keep the chapter
together socially without requiring large investments of time and money
to keep the housing part of the operation in the black. The lodge
also will be used to welcome back alumni. The new brothers are
already planning so that closer alumni-undergraduate ties can again be
made. This is an experiment in a concept which goes against the
trend for fraternities to have ever increasing memberships and larger
physical plants. The new brothers feel that it is a concept which
will grow increasingly more attractive at large colleges and
universities where students continue to feel that "dorm-like"
living in fraternity houses is less attractive than the other housing
options that are opening to them.
__________
After
this story was written in The Deke Quarterly,
the "lodge" concept discussed here was abandoned, and the
chapter leased a series of at least two traditional fraternity houses on
the University of Illinois campus. Delta Pi continued successfully for 17
years after the 1969 recolonization. The chapter folded in
1986 and remains closed today.
