Delta Epsilon () was a college

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...

for men, founded in 1862 at Roanoke College, Virginia. Two of its three chapters went defunct due to the tumult of the Civil War, while the third became, in 1868, the restoration of an early chapter of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Un ...

which then remained viable for 140 years.

History

Delta Epsilon was founded in 1862 at

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional p ...

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

. The Founders' intention was to limit the fraternity entirely to Virginia colleges. The first edition of Baird's manual suggests that all three chapters "were weak", ostensibly due to their formation in the tumultuous days leading up to the Civil War. After establishing three chapters, Delta Epsilon became defunct, with one of these becoming a unit of

Hampden–Sydney College gr, Ye Shall Know the Truth , established = , type = Private liberal arts men's college , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church (USA) , endowment = $258 million (2021) , president = Larry Stimpert , city = Hampden Sydney, Virginia , c ...

in 1868, post-war. Baird's 2nd edition describes the ''Zeta chapter'' of Beta Theta Pi as having been "killed by the War", but notes that it was revived with the adoption of Delta Epsilon's sole remaining chapter.Clarification of the outcome of this particular fraternity is made more difficult by the lack of reference materials that survived the wartime period. Yearbook publishing hadn't yet come into vogue, and campus records are thin. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

Chapters

References

Defunct fraternities and sororities Fraternities and sororities in the United States 1862 establishments in Virginia Student organizations established in 1862 {{frat-stub