Delta Kappa Epsilon - Wesleyan University

The Sesquicentennial Campaign: Securing the Future of Gamma Phi THE CHALLENGES FACING GAMMA PHI A s you may know, during the fall of 2014, Wesleyan University mandated that all residential fraternities become coeducational. In late October 2014, we received clarification from the administration that it would not force DKE to coeducate, but would require the cohabitation of the house within three years. The three years would allow us time to develop and execute the best plan to meet the cohabitation edict. We received little guidance from the university. In response to the university's request for preliminary plans, the Kent Literary Club (KLC) submitted our first proposal at the start of 2015. This included women living in the house. This plan was rejected. Furthermore, in contradiction to their three-year time frame, the university denied DKE program housing status for the 2015-16 academic year. The undergraduate brothers were directly impacted by this—they couldn't live in the house. We felt that the university gave us no choice but to file a lawsuit to allow them to return to the house. On July 7, 2015, the board of directors of the KLC, in an effort to save DKE and allow the current undergraduates to live in the house, voted unanimously to accommodate cohabitation for the 2016-17 academic year. The next day, a thorough plan was submitted to Wesleyan detailing Gamma Phi's strategy to create a separate yet contiguous living space allowing equal occupancy for men and women as well as full use of the common spaces of the house. This plan met all the requirements the university had presented. The next month, Wesleyan ruled the house off limits for all undergraduates. The KLC continued to reach out to the university to work on resolving the situation. Each time we would be summarily dismissed. Filing the lawsuit was an agonizing decision, but one we felt necessary to continue the DKE tradition. In the course of litigation, the discovery process revealed the administration's true motives. On August 20, 2014, before his mandate for cohabitation of the residential fraternities was made public, Wesleyan's president, Michael Roth, wrote in an e-mail to board chairman, Joshua Boger, "If we don't close the houses with the hopes of acquiring them, then we shouldn't go down this road at all." The administration is executing its heretofore secret plan—they want the house. Hallway flooring needs subfloor repairs Eating Club needs renovations, as well as tables, chairs, and kitchen equipment Collapsing portico in need of repair

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