Delta Phi Epsilon (professional)
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| Delta Phi Epsilon | |
|---|---|
| ΔΦΕ | |
 | |
| Founded | January 25, 1920 Georgetown University |
| Type | Professional |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Status | Active |
| Emphasis | Foreign service |
| Scope | National |
| Motto | λατρεύω Latreuo "I Serve" |
| Colors | Black and Gold |
| Flower | Morning glory |
| Chapters | 12 active |
| Headquarters | 3401 Prospect Street, NW PO Box 25401 Washington, D.C. 20007 United States |
| Website | www |
Delta Phi Epsilon (ΔΦΕ) or Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service Council the largest national American professional foreign service fraternity and sorority. Founded on January 25, 1920, it was the first fraternity dedicated to careers in foreign diplomacy and trade.[1] Its Alpha chapter went on in the first half of the twentieth century to colonize new chapters at many other universities throughout the country. However, most chapters went defunct in the latter half of the century. In 1973, Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service Sorority was founded, with its Alpha chapter at Georgetown University. As of 2021, there remained ten active collegiate chapters, half of which were created between 2016 and 2018.
Fraternity
The fraternity was founded in the wake of World War I, at a time of heightened interest in world politics and in solving global issues through diplomacy. In 1919, Fr. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. at Georgetown University founded the School of Foreign Service (SFS) and in 1924, the Rogers Act formed the basis of the United States Foreign Service. During this time, other groups with similar missions, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, were founded, along with international bodies such as the League of Nations.
The four founders of the fraternity were Alfred O. Arseneau, Wesley O. Ash, Samuel C. Bartlett, and T. J. Patrick O'Connell. At first, three of them, all undergraduates in Georgetown's SFS living together on 10th Street, held in common only their experience in overseas military service and their interest in foreign service careers. Soon, they met the fourth, Pat O'Connell, who thought of founding a foreign service fraternity independently. They were drawn together by their common vision for a professional foreign service fraternity for future graduates of the School of Foreign Service and others in the field.
Later, these men joined with seven other interested undergraduates (future brothers Sandager, Butts, Ash, MacKenzie, Brooks, Sullivan, Scott, and Bates) and signed the Articles of Agreement. After choosing a name and nominating officers, Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service Fraternity was formally founded at the Catholic Community House at 6th and E Streets, NW, on January 25, 1920. The group was incorporated in the District of Columbia on April 20, 1920. Early expansion focused on both East and West Coast schools. The fraternity's activities and expansion ceased during World War II.[2]
After the war, the fraternity saw even greater expansion into institutions across the United States. By the 1960s, the fraternity began to see a decline in the number of its chapters.[3] During the 1970s most of the fraternity's collegiate chapters went inactive, leaving only the original Alpha. This decline is attributed to two major factors: a national decline in professional fraternities and a negative perception generally of foreign service. During the Vietnam War, foreign service was closely associated in many minds with current United States foreign policy, which was protested against at many member institutions.[3]
After some attempts during the 1990s, several of these defunct chapters were revived in the 2000s. The Alpha chapter at Georgetown University went defunct but was revived in 1990 after ten years of inactivity and revived again in 1998 after another five years of inactivity.[4] In the summer of 2003, the first reactivation of an inactive chapter, the Epsilon chapter at UC Berkeley, occurred. In 2016, the first co-ed chapter, the Delta chapter, was founded at USC by Jacob Lokshin and eleven other USC students.[5] This was soon followed by the creation of Pi, Psi, Chi, Eta, Gamma, and Mu chapters.
The Alpha chapter was the longest-lived collegiate chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon; its undergraduate officers all resigned in 2018 and suspended all chapter activities in protest of the actions of national leadership.[6] The chapter has three successive one-person initiations over the succeeding eighteen months. In late February 2020, Alpha initiated the chapter's 200th line of ten initiates, just before the fraternity's 100th Founders' Day Banquet.
Sorority
In the 1950s, some members suggested that the fraternity accept women.[4] Gregory Creutz (Alpha 1921), national general secretary, led the way to a compromise.[4] In 1956 the National Board of Directors of the fraternity created the Delta Phi Epsilon International Society of Business and Foreign Affairs which was to be open to both men and women.[7][4] However, that society failed to develop,[8]
Another movement to make the fraternity coed emerged in the late 1960s.[4] During the 1972 National Convention, members voted to amend the bylaws to admit female members.[4] However, the amendment ultimately failed because the members did not approve it a second time at either of the next two conventions.[4]
In June 1972, the Alpha chapter at Georgetown changed to include both a fraternity and a sorority of the Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service.[4] The two groups operated separately when it came to recruiting and initiating members.[4] However, the two groups worked together for professional and social programs.[4]
The Alpha chapter of the sorority held its first initiation on February 24, 1973.[9] A second chapter of the sorority, the Epsilon chapter, was founded at UC Berkeley in 2003.
In January 2021, the American University chapter withdrew from the national organization, saying that the national board "was unrepresentative of its values."[10] The group continued as the local organization Sisterhood for International Engagement.[10]
Co-educational
In 2016, the fraternity's National Convention endorsed a proposal for joint fraternity-sorority projects, including publishing a peer-reviewed Delta Phi Epsilon Journal of Foreign Affairs, operating a scholarship competition for students who had been initiated into Delta Phi Epsilon, and holding an annual symposium promoting alumni and student international relations research. This project developed into the Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Affairs Council, incorporated and recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization in 2016.[11] The council originally selected its leaders from Delta Phi Epsilon members to support international relations education, promote public engagement in foreign policy, and provide career development tools to Delta Phi Epsilon brothers and sisters.[12]
In 2016, the first co-ed chapter, the Delta chapter, was founded at the University of Southern California by Jacob Lokshin and eleven other USC students.[5] The Gamma chapter also merged the sorority and fraternity into a single co-ed chapter in 2016.[13] However, some of the national fraternity's leadership continue to oppose the admission of women.[14]
Symbols
Delta Phi Epsilon's motto is λατρεύω or "I Serve". Its colors are black and gold. Its flower is the morning glory.
Chapter house
The fraternity purchased the former Seymour House in Georgetown as a chapter house for $27,500 in 1940.[1] Constructed in 1869 by merchant William E. Seymour, 3401 Prospect Street Northwest was home to the Alpha chapter until 2020.[1] The three-story brick chapter house had fifteen rooms.[1] It is a contributing property to the Georgetown Historic District and became a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967. For decades, the Alpha chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon was the only fraternal organization at Georgetown University with its own house. It was used for keg parties and social events.[1]
During the February 2020 annual meeting of Delta Phi Epsilon, its members voted to sell 3401 Prospect Street for as much money as possible. The Alpha chapter's historic house purportedly had to be sold because it was believed that Georgetown University implemented a rule requiring undergraduates to live on campus for four years. A new house might be purchased by the foundation, not the fraternity or the Delta Phi Epsilon corporation. It would be based on a clubhouse model and would be owned by the foundation. It would not be a boarding house and would not be owned by the Delta Phi Epsilon corporation, which had owned 3401 Prospect Street.
Membership
The fraternity initiates Line Brothers, those who pledge when they are students, and National Brothers, mostly those already out of school who only go through the required final initiation ritualistic ceremonies.
Organizational structure
Several distinct and separate corporations use the name Delta Phi Epsilon. Delta Phi Epsilon, Incorporated is a 501(c)(7) nonprofit corporation. This corporation is a member-based nonprofit corporation. Its board is self-appointed, with sitting board members selecting replacements as seats become vacant. The Delta Phi Epsilon Foundation for Foreign Service Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1960.[1] Its purpose is to give scholarships to students.[1]
Chapters
Notable members
Following are some of the notable members of Delta Phi Epsilon.