Join us in April to celebrate BDE’s 50th anniversary
From a local fraternity, a long legacy
Fifty years ago in January of 1966, there were six fraternities and six sororities at Marietta College.
But in the previous semester, the College administration had decided there was room for — and interest in — a seventh fraternity. Marietta College Dean of Men Walter Hobba, who oversaw the fraternities, was in charge of creating the College’s seventh fraternity.
Dean Hobba had three national fraternities in mind to plant their flag at Marietta: Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. But instead of picking one of the three, the game plan was to create a local fraternity, with the goal of it joining a national fraternity within a couple of years.
So Dean Hobba put the call out in January of 1966 for unaffiliated men at Marietta who were interested in starting a new fraternity to come forward. Together, they created the Beta Delta Epsilon local fraternity, with the name being derived from one letter from each of the three national fraternities the College was courting.
On March 7, 1966, Beta Delta Epsilon came into existence with an initiation ceremony presided over by Marietta College President Frank Duddy.
Representatives from the three national fraternities met with the men of BDE, but no offer of affiliation came. So BDE turned to Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity for a possible affiliation.
And by spring of 1967, BDE ceased to be and became the Delta Tau Delta Crescent Colony at Marietta College. And in November of 1968, it became the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.
Though it only existed for a year, BDE had members, a house, a motto (“That All May be One”), colors (blue and white) and a flower (carnation). The men who formed it guided it to become part of Delta Tau Delta. And all but four members who initiated into BDE went on to join Delta Tau Delta.
For too long, Beta Delta Epsilon’s role in the history of Epsilon Upsilon Chapter has been consigned to a couple of sentences in the local history section of the pledge education program.
Now, 50 years later, this changes.
The Marietta Delt Alumni Association, in partnership with the Undergraduate Chapter, will be shining a spotlight on Beta Delta Epsilon during the Marietta Delt Spring Weekend in April by celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the creation of BDE.
“As the 50th Anniversary of the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter in November of 2018 approaches, it is important for us to stop and honor Beta Delta Epsilon. For without Beta Delta Epsilon, there would be no Epsilon Upsilon Chapter at Marietta College. None of us would be Delts. None of us would have had the Delt experience during our Undergraduate years,” said Jon Hartshorn ’89, president of the Marietta Delt Alumni Association.
The Marietta Delt Alumni Spring Weekend is April 14-17, 2016.
Highlights of the weekend, which celebrates BDE, will be a re-lettering of the Delt House with BDE letters, a 1960s dance party and a dinner cruise on the Valley Gem sternwheeler.
The signature event, however, will be a public re-enactment of the Beta Delta Epsilon Ritual.
This will be the first time it has been performed since 1967, and the first time it has ever been performed publicly.
The ritual will be presided over by current Marietta College President Joseph Bruno and other special guests. Undergraduate Delts will represent the original men who initiated into BDE in March of 1966.
“We are very excited to be taking part in this once-in-a-lifetime event. Being able to re-create the BDE initiation and spend time with the men who founded our Chapter will be something that we will always remember,” said Westyn Bennington ’17, president of the Undergraduate Chapter.
All but two of the events of the weekend are open to spouses, guests and friends of the Marietta Delts.