DKE house honors memory of former president

Inside the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house, Courtland Smith is still alive.

His fraternity brothers keep reminders of him close — a picture in the foyer, a banner honoring his leadership, constant stories of times passed with their friend.

“You walk through the house and you think, man, Courtland’s around here,” said Harrison McCaskill, DKE’s vice president of administrative affairs.

One year removed from Smith’s death — and the University examination of the Greek system that followed — the fraternity launched a campaign to improve its image.

Members said they think about him each day and have honored his memory with a closer examination of their own organization and role within the community.

“Facing a tragedy like that, you start looking at yourself, you do more introspection, and start figuring out who you are and what your purpose is,” current DKE President Davis Willingham said. “You start realizing you can help each other out.”

One year ago, Smith, then the fraternity’s president, was shot dead by a police officer near Greensboro. Smith had been driving drunk and called 911, asking for help. Police believed Smith was armed with a 9 mm handgun when they shot him.

In the aftermath of the Smith’s death, fraternity members said the judicial board has gained more legitimacy. Smith founded the board as president of DKE, and members have honored that legacy by giving more respect to the board’s authority enforcing conduct inside the house.

Members added that the fraternity has embraced the system-wide changes, including dry rush.

“When you’re faced with a situation like that you have to move your grief in a positive direction,” Willingham said.

And they did.

“With his memory and his legacy, we’re not going to let the chapter do the wrong thing,” McCaskill said. “It’s not something we’ll ever forget. It’ll always be there pushing us.”

Of more than 50 chapters nationwide, the fraternity won the Lion Trophy — the fraternity’s highest award nationally. The trophy, awarded in July, followed a number of community-oriented projects and an improved relationship with alumni.

The Courtland Smith Habitat for Humanity house — what Willingham calls DKE’s “crowning achievement” — took about $75,000 and 1,500 hours of work to build. DKE, with help from the Greek community and friends of Smith, started construction in January. Soon, the house will be a home for two UNC employees. Fund-raisers and a partnership with Bank of America allowed DKE to raise more than $102,000 for the project, providing a surplus members plan to use to fund a playground at the UNC Habitat for Humanity community at Gracie Circle.

“Courtland would laugh if he knew the group of guys he couldn’t even get into a chapter meeting built a house for him,” McCaskill said.

They also began involvement with the Gordie Foundation to help raise awareness among college students about alcohol-related deaths. In the spring, the fraternity placed flags in the quad signifying the number of alcohol-related teen deaths. In the fall, they’ll host a video showing for Greeks about the dangers of alcohol.

An investigation into the DKE house party Smith attended the evening he died contributed to DKE being placed on a year of social probation, and UNC began re-evaluating its Greek system shortly thereafter. But the University maintains that its evaluation of Greeks was not solely because of Smith’s death.

“It’s not like there was something in Greek life that resulted in Courtland doing what he did,” said Winston Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs.

“But the fact that Courtland was a high-profile Greek student certainly raised a lot of awareness about Greek life and a number of things people paid more attention to.”

Despite that legacy, DKE members said they plan to continue honoring Smith’s life by improving the lives of others.

“It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by, every day takes you a little further away but you still don’t feel any better about it,” Willingham said. “But he’s going to be with us all throughout the school year and I have no doubts about that.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.