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Delta
Kappa Epsilon
| In 1854, Horace
Holmes Thomas '57 transferred to Middlebury from Colby College
(known as Waterville College at the time) in Maine. Thomas was
a loyal Delta Kappa Epsilon (DEKE) member and helped to found
the fraternity's chapter at Middlebury (Stameshkin, 175). Along
with five other founding members, Thomas wrote a charter and
attended DEKE's national convention at Dartmouth. Despite strong
opposition from faculty, Thomas was diligent in his efforts
to establish DEKE as an important part of Middlebury's student
life. By 1861 Middlebury's chapter of DEKE had recruited 22
members. For the first few decades, the Middlebury chapter of
DEKE was a secret society. It was not until 1880, that DEKE
was recognized as a legitimate social group on campus. After
its formal establishment as a student organization, DEKE became
extremely influential in Middlbury's larger social and political
life. |
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Invitation to
DEKE banquet, 1902.
(Bain, The
College on the Hill, 206)
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| The DEKE Alumni
house as it stands today on Middlebury's campus. |
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