DKE Alumni Begin Renovations on Temple

First-years have called the former Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) chapter house home for weeks now. However, construction on the DKE temple continues.

The construction at the temple several weeks ago set up an independent electric line for the building. Originally, the temple received its power from the DKE chapter house, but after the acquisition of the property by Colgate, the Colgate University branch of DKE alumni, the Mu of DKE Foundation, decided to renovate the temple to make it usable in its current state.

Plans are also in the works for the installation of a security system as well as a fence around the temple.  

“It’s unfortunate, but the temple has been vandalized every year,” Vice Chairman of the Mu of DKE Foundation Sean Devlin said.

The new first-year inhabitants of 110 Broad Street contributed to concerns for the temple’s security.

“With no DKE [members] living in the house, there is no one watching over the temple, which was the reason for the temple being moved in the first place,” Devlin said.

The temple was moved from its original location behind 94 Broad Street to its current location in the early 1990s. When asked about the old chapter house’s first-year inhabitants, Devlin said, “I think it is great freshmen are living in the house. They’re going to take care of the house that DKE [members] love so much.”

The presence of DKE alumni on the property is not uncommon, according to Devlin.  

“There has always been activity at the temple, alumni feel like its home,” Devlin said. “We like to not be noticed so we kept activity subtle over the years.”

The increased visibility of alumni DKE members at Colgate is evidence that the administration is patching up its relationship with DKE alumni.

The sale of the old DKE chapter house at 110 Broad Street was seen as a way of moving beyond the strained relationship between the DKE Alumni and the university administration.

“Our relationship has not always been the best,” Vice President for Finance and Administration David Hale said, “but we’re working at it. It’s unfortunate but there needed to be some trust building and some work on communication in order to rebuild the relationship between [Colgate] and the DKE Alumni.”

Devlin also had similar remarks, “[The relationship] is good. DKE cares a lot about Colgate and many of the trustees and sponsors of the buildings on campus have been DKE.”

The reestablishment of a functional relationship between the Colgate administration and the Mu of DKE Foundation as well as the renovations being done to the temple bring up the question of what is in store for the future of Colgate-DKE relations.

“Ultimately our hope is for DKE to be able to come back to [the Colgate] campus,” Devlin said.