On April 5, 1851, the Beta Chapter became the first fraternity to be established at the University of North Carolina. The founding came after a petition was submitted to the Phi Chapter on January 10, 1851. The earliest meetings of the Beta Chapter were held in John W. Carr’s home, and everything seemed to be going well, but in 1861, after the University had experienced a drop in attendance, it was decided that the Beta Chapter would be dissolved.
The chapter remained inactive until its status was restored on March 19, 1887. That same year, at the 41st Convention in October, a discussion about the chapter name ensued. At the 1888 Convention, the title of the chapter was established as Beta.
Then, in 1913, Brother Kenneth C. Royall, the delegate from the Beta Chapter, requested that a new Charter be issued to the Chapter with its new name. This new charter would replace an older one, which still included the Chapter’s old name, Beta Alpha. After this meeting, the name was officially changed, and it has remained the same ever since.
Do you know any interesting Delta Kappa Epsilon history? Share it with us here.