American fraternities at Warwick
One of the first American-style fraternities, Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), has been set up in the UK at Warwick University and the University of Edinburgh.
Both Warwick and Edinburgh are being visited this week by an American representative to help the transition from ‘colony’ to ‘chapter’, from an unofficial American fraternity to an officially-recognised one.
Recruitment to DKE relies on potential members exhibiting three qualities – those of ‘the gentleman, the scholar, and the jolly good-fellow’.
There are, however, concerns surrounding the nature of the DKE fraternity brand.
The DKE fraternity at Yale University was banned for five years in May 2011 for promoting rape culture by chanting “No means yes! Yes means anal!” across campus. This has led to student concern at the University of Edinburgh, the Independent has reported.
Tomas Kolina, new member coordinator and co-founder of the Warwick fraternity, defended the concerns surrounding the DKE: “The actions of the Yale chapter’s members were independent and not sanctioned by DKE.
“DKE and our colony strongly condemn the occurrence of such incidents as they are in direct contrast with our fundamental beliefs and morality.”
Keval Amin, a third-year MORSE student, commented on the American-style fraternities coming to Warwick: “After having seen several films with fraternities, I believe being a part of one would not just help me party, but also make valuable friendships and contacts for life.”
Alexandra Eade, a Politics and Sociology finalist, also added: “They could be a really good thing, they can help establish strong social bonds and be used to make a positive impact both within the university and the surrounding area.”
Ms Eade, however, expressed some concerns that “it could lead to a negative increase in cliques and exclusionary behaviour” and that “the division of the sexes is an archaic concept”.
DKE’s alumni have included five presidents, members of the first expedition to the North Pole and the first manned moon landing.
Comments (1)
This is no surprise as it represents yet another step along the path of UK ‘elite’ universities reinventing themselves as quasi-American “colleges” with sky-high tuition fees and rapidly deteriorating curriculums. From numerous friends and acquaintances across the pond I can say that the fraternity-sorority culture leads to endless schisms in the student body, socially irresponsible behaviour, the bare-faced degradation of women and the development of ‘old boys clubs’ that block meritocracy inside and outside of university. Frankly its pathetic, the NUS should block the establishment of any more of these ‘chapters’ and ban those currently operating