The Former Delta Kappa Epsilon Chapter House at Syracuse University
I am saddened to hear of the passing of Dick Clark, Syracuse University Class of 1951 and loyal member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. The first fraternity at Syracuse University, the Phi Gamma chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon was chartered on November 17, 1871. It was one of the first chapters to have a chapter house at Syracuse.
In the late 1890s, a chapter house fund was started and plans were made to build a house. Alumni Edwin H. Gaggin, Class of 1892, and T. Walker Gaggin, Class of 1895, designed the chapter house at Walnut Avenue and University Place (pictured above). The house opened in 1903.
The 1970s were not kind to the Greek system at Syracuse University and the chapter moved to smaller quarters on Comstock Avenue. In 1974, the DKE house was sold to the University and it became the Faculty Center. In 1997, it was dedicated as the Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center, named for Alfred and Ann Goldstein.
The Dekes now reside at 703 Walnut Avenue in what had been the Phi Delta Theta house. The home next to the Chancellor’s Residence was built in 1903 and originally belonged to Horace Wilkinson. I have heard that Mr. Clark’s generosity played a role in the chapter’s new home.
