Cavanaugh Honored as Distinguished Delta Chi

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 14, 2015) — Professor Carey Cavanaugh, director of the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, was recently designated as one of two “Distinguished Delta Chis” for 2015. 

Cavanaugh became a member of Delta Chi while an undergraduate at the University of Florida where he studied Russian language and literature.

The award will be presented before the Sept. 19 UK-University of Florida football game by 12 Delta Chi Florida Chapter alumni who will travel to Lexington for the presentation. A formal ceremony will also take place at Delta Chi Fraternity’s 2016 convention in Louisville.

Cavanaugh’s selection for this honor was based upon his outstanding civic service in higher education and his past and continuing engagement to help promote peace efforts around the world. Cavanaugh was an ambassador and peace mediator at the U.S. Department of State before coming to UK to lead the Patterson School. 

While there is no active Delta Chi chapter at UK, Cavanaugh remains involved in fraternity matters. He currently serves on a presidential commission for the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) that is tasked with addressing the issue of fraternity hazing on college and university campuses in the United States and Canada.  That commission is working in tandem with separate presidential commissions focused on sexual assault and alcohol abuse. When their work is completed next year, these commissions’ reports and recommendations will impact more than 5,500 fraternity chapters on over 800 university and college campuses (including UK) with approximately 350,000 members.

Delta Chi was founded as a law fraternity at Cornell University in 1890. Today, it is headquartered in Iowa City, operating 120 chapters and colonies in the U.S. and Canada with more than 120,000 alumni. Delta Chi maintained an active chapter at the University of Kentucky from 1913-1981 and a colony briefly from 2004-2006.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gail Hairston, 859-257-3302; gail.hairston@uky.edu