Delta Epsilon (fraternity)

Delta Epsilon (ΔΕ) was a college fraternity for men, founded in 1862 at Roanoke College, Virginia. Two of its three chapters went defunct due to the tumult of the Civil War, while the third became in 1868 the restoration of an early chapter of Beta Theta Pi which then remained viable for 140 years.

Delta Epsilon Fraternity
ΔΕ
Founded1862 (1862)
Roanoke College
TypeSocial
ScopeVirginia only
Chapters3 installed; 0 survived

History

Delta Epsilon was founded in 1862 at Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia. The Founders' intention was to limit the fraternity entirely to Virginia colleges.[1]

The first edition of Baird's manual suggests that all three chapters "were weak", ostensibly due to their formation in the tumultuous days leading up to the Civil War. [2]

After establishing three chapters, Delta Epsilon became defunct, with one of these becoming a unit of Beta Theta Pi at Hampden–Sydney College in 1868, post-war. Baird's 2nd edition describes the Zeta chapter of Beta Theta Pi as having been "killed by the War", but notes that it was revived with the adoption of Delta Epsilon's sole remaining chapter.[3][4][5]

Chapters
Name Chartered Institution Location Status Notes Reference
Alpha 1862 Roanoke College Salem, VA Disbanded No post-Civil War activity [1]
Beta? 186x school? [6] City?, VA Disbanded No post-Civil War activity [1]
Gamma? 186x Hampden–Sydney College Hampden Sydney, VA Merged Became Zeta chapter of ΒΘΠ [7]

References
  1. Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. VIII-6. ISBN 978-0963715906.
  2. American College Fraternities. J.B. Lippincott. 1890. p. 165.
  3. Clarification of the outcome of this particular fraternity is made more difficult by the lack of reference materials that survived the wartime period. Yearbook publishing hadn't yet come into vogue, and campus records are thin.
  4. American College Fraternities. J.B. Lippincott. 1883. p. 47.
  5. William Raimond Baird (1912). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. p. 628.
  6. There is a narrow list of eight possible schools this could be: William and Mary, Washington and Lee, UVA, Randolph-Macon, U of Richmond, Emory and Henry, VCU, and VMI. None of the other Virginia institutions would fit what is known about this group.
  7. This chapter became the Zeta chapter of Beta Theta Pi in 1868, after Beta's earlier attempt "was killed off" during the Civil War. It was viable for 140 years, but in 2012, this chapter was declared inactive, subject to revival by ΒΘΠ.


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