This Day in DKE History: December 23, 1846 The first Convention of the Fraternity was held at Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut. There were members from Phi, Theta, Xi and Sigma Chapters in attendance. The provision in the Constitution limiting the membership of a Chapter to 22 members was removed from the Constitution. The limitation on numbers flowed from the limitations which were in effect at Yale relating to the selection of members to the existing Junior Societies, being 14 at the time that Delta Kappa Epsilon was founded and 18 later. In October 1845, Mother Phi had agreed to a change in the Constitution to increase the limit to 22 members. In the 1887 Constitution, Article V (section 5) provided: “The number of active members in each Chapter may be limited by its own bylaws”. . The Minutes of the first Convention indicated that: “The Initiation Ritual was enlarged and improved.” Initially, the initiation procedure was set out in the Constitution of the Fraternity so that the preservation of the secrecy surrounding the Constitution was paramount. The delegates to the 1860 Convention passed the following motion: That a Committee … be appointed to report at a next convention some plans for which the most secret portions of our provisions may be transmitted to Chapters so that they shall never be transcribed. And furthermore that we request all Chapters to leave Section 4, Article V blank until the proposed amendment shall have been ratified. And also that the report of the proceedings of this Convention be transmitted to different Chapters by express and that the Chapters be requested to destroy these reports after transcribing all except the aforesaid section which is recommended to be transcribed in the heads and hearts of the members. At the 1863 Convention held in New York City, a resolution was passed that the Fraternity have “three degrees into which every member shall be eligible”. The first degree would be available upon initiation, the second degree would be conferred by a three-quarters vote of a chapter on its members who shall have “specifically distinguished themselves for scholarship, literary excellence in their respect classes or college societies, and who shall have gained honor or prizes at any Public College exhibitions”, and the third degree would be conferred by a three-quarter vote of the Convention on such graduate members of the second degree “who shall have attained public honor, distinctions in their respective professions, or otherwise reflect a particular credit on the Fraternity”. The 1864 Convention passed a motion that “the whole matter of degrees be dropped” and the motion passed. The Minutes of the 21st Convention held in New York City contained an amendment to the Fraternity “Grip” and also the further notation that a committee be appointed “… with full power to change signification of the letters Delta Kappa Epsilon rendered necessary by the fact that the Psi Upsilon Fraternity have obtained a copy of our Constitution …”. At the 1868 Convention, the motto of the Fraternity was changed with a new motto as the secret motto and the former motto becoming the public motto. The 1874 Minutes of the Convention reflect a report from the Committee relating to “secret sign of recognition” and each delegate was instructed to advise the members of his Chapter regarding the new secret sign of recognition. Although the secret sign of recognition is known, it is now rarely used. For more about this week in DKE History, visit: dke.org/this-week-in-dke-history/
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:11:44 +0000
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