The Ghosts of DKE's Past

1/4/11 5:14 PMThe Ghosts of DKE's Past - Maroon News - Commentary

Page 1 of 3http://www.maroon-news.com/commentary/the-ghosts-of-dke-s-past-1.1551598

Rebecca FriendlandRemoving the Brand: Now that the old DKEhouse is a first-year residence hall, themystery surrounding the banned fraternity isfading. Though the sale of the house wasamicable, older students are nostalgic forthe tradition the boarded-up propertyrepresented and the curiosity it inspired.

The Ghosts of DKE's PastBy Elizabeth Stein

Published: Thursday, September 2, 2010Updated: Monday, September 13, 2010 15:09

What makes tradition or prestige special? Colgate hasmuch of both and I will save that for another Maroon-Newsissue, but combine them with secrecy and rumors and the"unknown" and you get a pretty intriguing picture. (Which iswhy I used it as my introduction of course.)

I don't claim to know many of the details surrounding theUniversity's acquisition of the old Delta Kappa Epsilon(DKE) house, but I can say I was more than sad when I didfind out it had finally happened.

I can still remember one of my first days at Colgate as afreshman, walking to town with my newly-formed pre-orientation friends, heatedly debating which Broad Streethouses were best. Yes, DU's columns were impressive, Gamma Phi's flowered wallpaper seenthrough the windows was pretty enough and Beta was rumored to be having this thing called BetaBeach (I claimed instant bragging rights for having been already invited on Facebook via asenior), but nothing in my mind could shake the unexplainable aura of a boarded up near-frat-mansion that came with a mysterious history.

It had all of the drama and passion of a good story: the good versus evil motif of the steadfastGreeks holding out as long as possible in the losing battle against the big bad administration'sattempt to buy all of the houses. I was proud of the DKE members it seemed like just the rightthing for which I myself would fight. After all, my libertarian values at my core tell me freedom andindependence are, in a heartbeat, worth it (it hasn't been only once that I was accused of being anusurper of a power-wielding body). And even if you're not as fired up about basic human rights asI am, who doesn't love a good rivalry?

It was gut-wrenching to read the Class of 2014's Facebook threads about living in 110 Broad



Street now the LOFT house for first-years for a number of reasons.

First, their concerns were aimed at how far away from the rest of campus they were so far fromthe other new freshmen, from their classes, from Frank. My response: Please. If Gate House canget over it, you can too.

Second, as I mention in my tours of campus to prospective students, we have a reverse hierarchy,in a way, of living arrangements: first-years live up the hill, and as you get older, you move downthe hill. It's a sign of independence, in the Admission Department's eyes, to gradually get yourown bathroom, then get your own kitchen, then be allowed to live off-campus (and so on). But Isee it as a rite of passage of getting older to live down the hill. Being older always has a certaincachet you have taken more classes, know more people and have been to more parties.

Doesn't the random placing of first-years on Broad Street undermine both of these impressions?

Third, not only are they living in 110 Broad, they are living in the old DKE house. Wait, let me sayit again: They are living in the old DKE house. Whether it is rumors about Phi Tau brothers in thefifties digging a tunnel to the temple or today's infamous DKE "Apple Pie" or even the nationalorganization's ties to the also-much-talked-about Skull and Bones Society, it is the rumors thatare the most fun to feed on. Didn't some part of you last year want to know what items the DKEbrothers wanted returned so badly they would take out an ad in this very newspaper stating asmuch? It is this very discussion that is at the heart of all things beyond our knowledge.

I speculate that it is just the fact that we don't know that is the reason we have the feelings we do at the very least curiosity about such things; what fuels gossip but hearsay, opinions and thetopic we enjoy best: other people. So what kind of people are the DKEs to prefer their houseclosed up and standing empty, impressively solitary, to giving up what they believe in?

Just as my high school senior self found a way to sneak up to our school's "forbidden third floor,"my college self would have loved nothing better than to find a way to do the same here (all hell,high water and ghosts to be found inside guaranteed). Upon saying as much when returning tocampus this year, my father suggested I go inside now that it's open. He even said he wouldpretend to be an old DKE alum as a good cover.

But it's the fact that I wasn't allowed inside in the first place that made me want to do it. And morethan that: going in now would ruin my imagined romanticized view of what I would see.

So while the first years need a place to live (for now), I believe the DKE brothers should beallowed to maintain possession at least of that imagined view, that gossip, that mystique.



Especially as sophomore recruitment approaches, Greek energy runs high. I would have beenproud now that I, too, as a sorority sister, am a part of this community to continue calling theold DKE residence one of the Greek houses today if even only to give them respect due formaking their, as my roommate terms it, "creepy [expletive] temple" seem glamorous.

Documents

The Ghosts of DKE's Past