The transition from high school to college is just as overwhelming, if not more, for the parents than the student. The freedom that you have worked so hard to prepare him for is finally being granted to him. Making new friends, academic success, extracurricular involvement, career preparations are but only a few of the many concerns on a parent’s mind.

Fraternities fit into the equation as a proven support network for your son as he begins a new chapter of his life. A Fraternity can help positively influence a young man scholastically, financially and even more so in terms of personal development.

Expectations of college males are constantly growing and as a Fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon is ready to help our son meet and exceed those expectations to become a successful, contributing and productive member in society. Delta Kappa Epsilon provides a wide array of online, written and live programming as well as a set of enforced standards for all Delta Kappa Epsilon members, or “Dekes” to ensure that all of our Brothers and prospective members have a quality Fraternity experience.

Questions concerning Fraternity life are only natural among parents, and we have prepared answers here for some of the most frequently asked questions that come up. Please don’t hesitate to contact Delta Kappa Epsilon International if you have any addition questions or concerns.

What are fraternities?

Fraternities are a body of people grouped bonded into one large organization who live out the values established by their founders, their creed and their governing body. As one of these values based organizations, Delta Kappa Epsilon prides itself on searching for and creating a membership that reflects our core qualities: the gentleman, the scholar and the jolly good fellow. In summary, Delta Kappa Epsilon feels that the best man is not only one who excels in one aspect of life, but rather one who combines a balance of all ideal qualities in a man.

Academics

The Fraternity will become another resource for your son’s academic pursuits. An officer (the scholarship chairman) is elected and is given the responsibility of fostering an environment within the chapter that is conducive towards scholastic excellence. Also required of this officer is the creation of educational programming such as tutoring and study sessions. In addition to this, new members of a DKE chapter will most likely “paired” up in a sense with an older brother in the similar or same major in a constant stream of knowledge transfer. Like most Greek organizations, Delta Kappa Epsilon requires progressive GPA requirements for its members to retain membership, live in the chapter house or to hold office. Attaining a degree should be a student’s ultimate goal at College and Delta Kappa Epsilon in full support of this goal.

Financial Responsibility

Parts of the obligations to joining a Fraternity are financial. Delta Kappa Epsilon has a membership/initiation fee in addition to local dues that are assessed on a campus-to-campus basis. Sitting down and thinking about these costs as well as living costs (whether they are in the chapter house or not) will go a long way to establishing good financial management down the road.

Networking 

There is no quicker way of meeting new people on campus than through the Fraternity. In addition to building lifelong bonds with your Deke brothers, a new member is also opening himself up to campus involvement opportunities, community involvement opportunities and more importantly, career networking opportunities. Delta Kappa Epsilon consistently offers alumni networking events at numerous metropolitan areas. These events are usually tailored towards a specific discipline or industry to encourage our undergraduates currently enrolled in the major in question to participate.

Personal Development

Nearly every interaction that your son will have as a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon will be one that helps him grow in some way. Whether its through the hundreds of alumni that he will be meeting and connecting with, the campus and community professionals that he will be working with or the philanthropic organizations that he will be doing charitable work for, every bit will help him grow into a better man.

In Summary

Joining a Fraternity will open up doors for your son that he may never even have had the chance to find for himself! The support system and second family that your son will find within a Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter on campus will be something you may even find yourself getting involved in! Many of our chapter’s have regular parent’s events and some have gotten enough interest to establish mothers and fathers clubs! Contact Delta Kappa Epsilon International staff to find out how you can get involved!

More Questions

Will my son’s academics suffer as a consequence of joining a Fraternity?

Joining a Fraternity can in fact improve your son’s academics! Schools everywhere constantly report a higher average GPA among those in Greek organizations compared to the all-student average. In addition to this, those in Greek organizations are much more likely to graduate than those who don’t. It is up to your son to make use of the many scholastic resources available to him upon joining. We at DKE International, on the other hand, will work hard to ensure he is being made aware of them.

What is the time commitment of a Fraternity?

Joining Delta Kappa Epsilon is an investment. Like any other investment, it is one that requires time. The most basic time commitment of a Fraternity is its weekly meeting. All of our members, upon discovering the satisfaction that they get out of DKE, find that they want to contribute more time, get more involved as time goes on. Most college research has actually shown that involved college students are more likely to graduate and they report a greater satisfaction with their college experience. Delta Kappa Epsilon can play a vital role in teaching your son one of the ultimate lessons of college in time management through the balance of academics, work, campus, community and social involvements.

What is it going to cost my son to be a member?

Delta Kappa Epsilon financial commitments can be divided into membership, dues, risk management, a pledge fee and one-time initiation fee upon initiation. Membership dues are those paid each term per active member. These funds are returned to members through Chapter Consultant visits, International Conventions, electronic and written programming materials, access to online resources and personal resources at Delta Kappa Epsilon International among the many other resources counted in the operational costs of the Fraternity. Dues at the local level are those that maintain the chapter’s budget at the campus level. These often go towards events, generally those within the brotherhood or related to the chapter. Risk management fees are those assessed per member each year. This insurance covers a variety of activities associated to all undergraduate Brothers and pledges but are not designed to supplement personal health insurance. The insurance paid for protects the member, the chapter and the entire Fraternity. These fees also cover the cost of Risk Management educational programs developed by the Fraternity. The small pledge fee charged is representative of a prospective member’s commitment to beginning his pledge program at DKE. It goes towards covering the cost of all educational materials needed during his pledgeship. The one-time initiation fee is assessed prior to initiation into active membership. The fee covers the administrative costs of creating a members unique pin and scroll in addition to enrolling a Deke into lifetime membership in Delta Kappa Epsilon.

What about my concerns over hazing?

Membership in Delta Kappa Epsilon is a privilege and every man who has or will take the oath of membership is bound by our code of conduct, part of which includes a strict ban against hazing. Hazing is illegal and Delta Kappa Epsilon has an absolute zero tolerance policy on it. The Fraternity takes any actions that put any member or any pledge in danger extremely seriously. DKE International has been working hard to drastically decrease the number of these incidents to ensure that our undergraduates have a positive experience as a Deke.

Does my son have to live in the Chapter House?

This depends on the chapter in question. If the chapter does have a house, it is likely that your son would like to live in the house to take advantage of the opportunities that being in close proximity to the house presents. Local chapter presidents are more than happy to give parents tours of the house to dispel any myths (he will do laundry somewhere!) that they may have. We encourage you to talk to the current active members that live in the house to really see life will be like for your son if he moves in. Many Dekes look back on their years as ex-tenants of the DKE house and regard those as some of best years of their lives.

Note: this page and its contents have been borrowed from the ∆KE International website.