Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon (ΔΚΕ; also pronounced D K E or "Deke") is the oldest secret college men's fraternity of New England origin. Founded at Yale College by 15 men of the sophomore class who, upon hearing that some but not all of them had been invited to join the two existing societies (Alpha Delta Phi and Psi Upsilon), instead elected to form their own fraternity. These men sought to establish a fellowship "where the candidate most favored was he who combined in the most equal proportions the gentleman, the scholar, and the jolly good fellow."

Famous alumni

Presidents of the United States

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• Rutherford B. Hayes, Delta Chi (Hayes was not actually a Deke; his two sons were, and the fraternity later conferred honorary membership upon him).
• Theodore Roosevelt, Alpha
• Gerald R. Ford, Omicron
• George H. W. Bush, Phi
• George W. Bush, Phi

Vice Presidents of the United States

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• J. Danforth Quayle, Psi Phi

Sitting state governors

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• George Pataki, New York (Honorary)
• Tony Knowles, Phi, Alaska
• Don Siegelman, Psi, Alabama

Newspaper publishers and editors

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• Whitelaw Reid, Kappa, Editor-in-chief, New York Tribune
• William Randolph Hearst, Alpha, Publisher, Hearst Newspapers
• Otis Chandler, Sigma Rho, Publisher, Los Angeles Times
• Richard J. V. Johnson, Omega Chi, Publisher, Houston Chronicle
• Eugene Pulliam, Psi Phi, Publisher, Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc.
• Rance Craine, Psi Phi, Publisher, Crain Communications

Justices of the United States Supreme Court

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• John Hessin Clarke, Beta Chi
• Harold H. Burton, Theta
• Potter Stewart, Phi

Businessmen

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• John F. Akers, Phi - Past President of I.B.M.
• J. Pierpont Morgan, Alpha - financier
• Irving H. Chase, Phi - Chase Manhattan Bank
• Dean Witter, Jr., Phi - Dean Witter & Co. (Now part of Morgan Stanley)
• Edward Bausch, Beta Phi - Bausch & Lomb Opticals
• William W. Wrigley, Phi - Wrigley Company
• Howard Heinz, Phi - H. J. Heinz Company
• Howard Johnson, Phi - Howard Johnson Motor Inns
• James M. Gamble, Lambda - Procter & Gamble
• Herb Kelleher, Gamma Phi - Southwest Airlines
• Fred Smith, Phi - Federal Express
• Craig McCaw, Sigma Rho - McCaw Wireless, cellular telephones
• Evan Fawkes, Phi - Waldersteed Hotel Chain

Famous political figures

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• Henry Cabot Lodge, Alpha - Senate Majority Leader
• James G. Blaine, Theta - Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Presidential Candidate
• Dean G. Acheson, Phi - Secretary of State under Harry S. Truman
• William Simon, Rho - Secretary of the Treasury
• Mario Garcia Menocal, Delta Chi - President of the Republic of Cuba
• Yuan Schikau, Phi - Prime Minister of the Chinese Empire
• Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, Kappa - first director of the C.I.A.
• Robert Todd Lincoln, Alpha - Secretary of War, son of Abraham Lincoln
• Sargent Shriver, Phi - First Director of the Peace Corps
• Luke Vander Linden, Iota Mu - President, Brooklyn Young Republicans

Sports and entertainment

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• Cole Porter, Phi - composer
• Charles Ives, Phi - composer
• Paul Brown, Kappa - coach of Cleveland Browns and owner of the Cincinnati Bengals
• Thomas W. Landry, Omega Chi - coach of Dallas Cowboys
• Joe Paterno, Upsilon - Penn State football coach
• George Steinbrenner, Epsilon - owner of the New York Yankees
• Don Schollander, Phi - won four gold medals in swimming in the 1964 Summer Olympics
• Hugh Culverhouse, Psi - owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• A. Bartlett Giamatti, Phi - Commissioner of Major League Baseball
• Dick Clark, Phi Gamma - hosted American Bandstand
• Harry Hamlin, Theta Zeta - actor
• Jonathan Winters, Lambda - comedian and writer
• Bob Pettit, Zeta Zeta - National Basketball Association All star and hall of famer.

Other famous Dekes

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• Melvil Dewey, Sigma - devised the Dewey Decimal System
• Charles A. Ellis, Gamma Phi - designed the Golden Gate Bridge
• Robert E. Peary, Theta - first man to reach the North Pole
• Alan Bean, Omega Chi - Apollo astronaut