Delta Kappa Epsilon - Notable Members

Notable Members

Delta Kappa Epsilon members have included five of forty-four Presidents of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle, became a DKE brother at DePauw University. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Chapter of DKE at Harvard and would be considered the sixth DKE brother to serve as President of the United States; however, the Harvard chapter was de-recognized by DKE International due to the chapter's stance on dual membership with other fraternities.

In the election of 1876, the Republican Party chose between two DKE members, nominating Hayes rather than rival and fellow DKE James G. Blaine. Blaine also ran unsuccessfully for President.

Many American and Canadian politicians, businessmen, sports figures, and artists have been members, including Herb Kelleher, J.P. Morgan, Jr., William Randolph Hearst, Cole Porter, Henry Cabot Lodge, Dick Clark, Tom Landry, and George Steinbrenner. DKE flags were carried to the North Pole by its discoverer, Admiral Robert Peary and to the Moon by astronaut Alan Bean.

During the Civil War, the first Union officer killed in battle was DKE member Theodore Winthrop of Phi. During the Spanish-American War, the first American officer to be killed was a DKE member, Surgeon John B. Gibbs (Rutgers). DKE member J. Frank Aldritch (DePauw University) died when the USS Maine was sunk.

Yung Wing, the first Chinese graduate from an American university in 1854, was a member of the Phi chapter of DKE. Later, his citizenship was revoked and he was denied reentry to the United States by the government of Theodore Roosevelt, another member of DKE.