For many of us, DKE was an important part of our Kenyon experience. Whatever your key takeaways from your time at Kenyon, I think we can all agree on this: DKE’s impact extends far beyond our brief time at the chapter house.

Here are 6 reasons DKE still matters after you graduate, according to your fellow alumni brothers.

Jim Irwin ‘69

“That’s easy, making the friends of a lifetime. I note for the record that at our 50th Reunion, Lambda DKE had the largest turnout of any Kenyon fraternity.”

Jeff Leisa Zoller ‘69

“The benefits of fellowship with a group of quality individuals diverse in background.”

Calvin Frost ‘63

“The value of friendships that will last a lifetime. Relationships that grow and mature. I have many Kenyon friends, one is even on our Board.”

Stewart Brown ‘62

“Learning how to lead and manage a group of peers. Our pledge class was 21 freshmen. There were maybe 10 seniors and 10 middle classmen active chapter members.  Our class dominated voting and managed chapter affairs. 4 of us ran the fraternity for 3 years. I was 1 of the 4. The other 3 have all passed away.”

Peter Bianchi ‘78

“Our tradition of DKE Brotherhood, "Friends from the Heart Forever" really rings true as I am in close touch with many of my brothers on a weekly or monthly basis, sometimes daily. These are truly strong bonds of friendship honed over 45 years of friendship. In pre-pandemic days I would often travel on business and I was lucky enough to see many brothers on a regular basis, including my little brother, Dave Hooker, Jim Pierce, Bishop Jim Logan and others. Any flimsy excuse to get together is all we need. Aj House's Mom lived five minutes away until recently, so I would see him frequently as well as John Merritt when he is in his Northern home.”

Jeff Spear ‘78

"My favorite part of being a Deke was the friendships made, but it goes deeper than just having buddies. Our chapter was a well oiled machine in respect to traditions, ritual, and recruitment or rush. I have always maintained that if one served as an office in the Lambda Chapter, he had a leg up in the corporate world. We could organize anything! It took an entire team to make the fraternity work, and it was fun to either help organize or to just be part of the team. So the leadership opportunities learned at the feet of upper class brothers about how to organize rituals was the most important thing I took away from my involvement with DKE. And the brothers with whom I served arm in arm 40 plus years ago still remain in touch. Our late 1970s group has tried to remain in touch with visits to Gambier or brother House’s farm in Illinois. Almost daily emails espousing very divergent political views keep all of us in touch with a level of respect for opposing views that this country so needs today."

Do you have your own DKE story to share? Visit the Submit an Update page to send it in and we’ll include it in our next e-letter.