This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ithaca chapter.
Year: Mixed!
Major: Mixed!
Hometown: Mixed!
Activities: Philanthropy, charity, fundraising
Relationship Status: Mixed!
This week our campus cutie is not just one amazing person but a great group of guys: the brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon. DKE is a fraternity that is not affiliated or recognized by Ithaca College but one that strives to reach out to the IC community as well as Ithaca’s community. Their goal is to “leave this world a better place than when [they] found it.”
These guys are adamant on creating and becoming the “new face of fraternities.” In the past year fraternities around the country have been a cause of controversy; a negative stigma and bad taste left in everyone’s mouth when mentioning the word “greek,” but the brothers of DKE what to change this view.
“The big thing is that we want to be different, and that is key, that is exactly what we want to do. How we’re going to do that is through philanthropy, charity and fundraising and reaching out to new people that don’t usually get seen or heard. We really want to send a message that this is the new way,” said president of DKE Michael Morra.
The brothers of DKE do not fit the average fraternity mold. Werner Vivier, social chair of DKE was surprised when he met all the brothers. “I’ve lived in three different continents, and have been exposed to different cultures and stereotypes, as well as ideas of how things ‘really are’. Coming into DKE has been incredible because I was very surprised because of the stereotypes that were in the back of my mind. But from meeting all the brothers and being a part of the brotherhood I was very taken aback by how welcoming they were and how everyone has different backgrounds, which is really nice and one of the main reasons that I joined and wanted to work with them.”
“We’re all so different, but those differences bring us so much closer,” added Morra.
DKE wishes to be able to host more events for IC, to promote school spirit as well as a tight knit community, but feel that without school reconnection these kinds of events are hard to achieve. Vice President Brandon Velez emphasizes that an affiliation with Ithaca College would enable them to organize things like activities fairs, maybe even blood drives, but they are limited in that sense because of the lack of recognition.
It is safe to say this down-to-earth group of guys want to change the ‘Greek way’ for the better, all while being professional, social and charismatic. Keep doing you guys! And keep looking great while doing it.