“My big fat Greek renovation: DKE fraternity house undergoes major renovations” by Ian Morse ‘17 appears in this week’s edition of The Lafayette. The topic is the planned renovation of the DKE House, which is one part of the plans to commemorate DKE’s 160th Anniversary at Lafayette College along with endowing a scholarship and faculty award.
This project reflects the significant commitment of Lafayette College to DKE, and vice versa. Together we are breathing new life into one of the most effective living learning laboratories on Lafayette’s campus – the DKE House.
“The interior of the 1st thru [sic] 3rd floors will be completely demolished and replaced with all new construction, including finishes, mechanical, electrical, fire protection and plumbing fixtures,” Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Mary Wilford-Hunt wrote in an email.
Renovations will cost over $4 million, according to Wilford-Hunt. The college will pay the base cost of the entire renovation and trust that DKE contribution quotas will be filled, according the Rho DKE 160th Anniversary Campaign’s website.
DKE could not ask for better partners at the College. We’ve worked with all levels of the administration, members of the faculty, trustees, and of course our students. The outpouring of support from folks at the College as well as the brothers, families, and friends of DKE has been tremendous.
In addition to covering the thoughts of Rho Deke alumni, the article also highlights our collegian brothers’ perspective:
“We’ve been working with our alumni advisor and the other alumni, as well as with the undergraduates to help raise money…to fund the project as best as possible,” DKE President Brett Lederer ’15 said. Members of the fraternity have held “phone-athons” whereby they inform alumni since the Class of 1960 of the chapter’s plans.
The administration is presenting this project to the Board of Trustees for their review and approval at the upcoming meeting (May 23-24). Pending that approval, we will host a ground breaking ceremony at the DKE House on June 7th at 2PM with President Byerly. This is during reunion, so register today!
Please post any questions or comments.
Last week’s edition of The Lafayette contains an editorial “The Greek Crossroads: Board of Trustees needs to pick a path” by Editor in Chief Michael A. Kowaleski ‘14. Mr. Kowaleski calls for the Board of Trustees to make a decision with regards to the future of fraternities and sororities at Lafayette College.
I consider myself neutral in the Greek life debate. I have friends in Greek life and I’ve seen its advantages (confirmed social scene, connections, etc.), but I understand the problems that can stem from Greek culture (Alabama sororities, fraternity hazing, etc.). Instead of arguing for either side, I’m asking for something simpler: Board of Trustees, just make a decision already.
Although we’re a bit late highlighting this editorial, several alumni commented on the newspaper’s website including Brother Ames.
I heard often from my dad (Temple U. ’41) that the things one learned in college were not always learned in a classroom or library. I learned about budgets and payroll taxes, employee relations and social interactions as a 17-year-old because that was part-and-parcel of being a fraternity member. We had to make the plans and decisions and live with the results of our decisions.
It will certainly be interesting to the results of the upcoming Board of Trustees’ meeting (May 23-24).
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post listed the incorrect title of Mr. Kowaleski’s editorial. It is “The Greek Crossroads: Board of Trustees needs to pick a path” not “IAGGL is landing: Report on Greek life will be released later this month” which is an article written by Amelie Yeager ‘16 earlier this year.
Join President Byerly and your brothers in Delta Kappa Epsilon at the DKE House on Saturday June 7th for the ground breaking ceremony of the DKE House renovation, subject to Board approval, to commemorate the 160th Anniversary of the Rho
Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon.
Please register today for reunion so we can get an accurate headcount. When you register, select “Delta Kappa Epsilon” as your headquarters for the Campus Crawl. Festivities at the DKE House will continue following the ceremony.
This is your last chance to enjoy the DKE House as it was before the renovation to commemorate the 160th Anniversary of the Rho Chapter.
Add your name to the list of Rho Dekes who will join us at reunion:
1974 Mark Damiano
1979 Gerald Leitz
1983 JB Reilly
1989 Robert Almeida
1991 Mark Fedorov (Maybe)
1993 Jay Mehr
1994 Christopher Pollina
1994 John Terembula
1994 Brian Waerig
1995 David Kiefer
1995 Bayard Smith
1996 Alex Dippel (Maybe)
1996 William Forbes
1998 Praveen Reddy (Maybe)
2002 Peter Carlson
2002 Jason Monico
2002 Scott Reynolds
2002 Brian Schranz
2003 Michael De Lisi
2003 Gabriel Fernandez-Obregon (Maybe)
2003 Michael Gentile
2004 Daniel Carreno
2004 Jonathan Cohn
2004 Stefano Derasmo
2004 Anthony Hawthorne
2004 James Madigan
2004 David Weston
2004 John Troup
2006 Jared Yelen
2008 Dominic Cimorelli
2009 John Crerand
2009 Matthew Zamore
2010 Ryan Simmons
Rho DKE 160th Anniversary Campaign
Undergraduate news- DKE Summer Series – Jeff Michelson July 31, 2015 Nicholas Gates
- DKE Summer Series 2014 – Will Garson September 3, 2014 Michael Morgan
- DKE Summer Series 2014 – Nicholas DiNino August 15, 2014 Michael Morgan
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