Chi’s Living Quarters

Kenyon College differs from most of the institutions at which Delta Tau Delta is represented in that all its students are required to live in the college dormitories. Hence, there is no need of fraternity housing. However, the custom of assigning a particular division of a dormitory to each fraternity chapter insures to the members of different fraternities the opportunity of living with a congenial group while preserving the unity of the college as a whole. It seems appropriate to interrupt the account of Chi’s history at this point in order to tell of the various places where Chi men have lived during the successive years of its existence.

During the first days of Chi, most of its men lived in North Ascension Hall. From the time of Henry Eberth until the fall of 1896, most of the actives lived on the first and second floors of the Middle Division of Old Kenyon, then moved to the upper two floors of the East Division. When Hanna Hall was completed in 1903, the fraternity that had occupied the first floor of the Middle Kenyon moved to that building. Chi then took over the first floor of East Division and used the two front rooms (on the right as one entered) as a parlor. This arrangement continued from the spring of 1904 until the fall of 1924. There was one brief interruption while Old Kenyon was being renovated in 1907 and 1908. The chapter and alumni contributed toward having the parlor provided with a fireplace and other improvements when the alterations were being made. While the work was being done, the chapter lived in the building across the Path from where Harcourt Place School stood, [Where Lewis and Norton Halls now stand. W.C.S.] known as the French House. It was during this occupancy that this building burned with the loss of much personal property. Fortunately, most of the chapter records were saved. When Leonard Hall was built, the Middle Division was constructed and furnished according to plans made by the chapter, including the present fine parlor on the top floor. For this, the actives and alumni raised a sum of nearly $15,000. The parlor was first used in the fall of 1925.

It is also of interest to recall that for many years previous to the fall of 1912, Chi, like the other chapter at Kenyon, ran its own “boarding club.” Arrangements were made with some Gambier matron to prepare the meals of the chapter and to provide accommodations for serving them in her home. The responsibilities of management and service were shared by two men of the chapter – a steward and a waiter.

The practice of meeting three times a day around the chapter board and of joining in fraternity and college songs afterwards contributed notably to the promotion of fraternity spirit, the training of the neophytes and the cementing of the bonds of Chi fellowship. Since the establishment of the college Commons in 1912, these particular advantages – commonplace to most fraternity chapters – have been largely lost.