Stand inside the fence at 611 1/2 E. William St. in Ann Arbor for any amount of time and you're bound to field inquiries from passersby dying to know what happens inside.

"Who lives here?"

"What goes on in there?"

"What's with the gate?"

The source of their curiosity is the Shant, the traditional gathering house for members of Delta Kappa Epsilon's Omicron chapter at the University of Michigan. The Shant has been a fixture on campus since 1879 and a target of so much interest the fraternity had to build an eight-foot brick fence in 1901 to keep curious on-lookers at a distance.

The DKE fraternity has eased its exclusionary policies over the years. Once upon a time, only DKE brothers were allowed inside, not members of other Greek houses or women. But still the Shant's doors by and large remain closed to the general public. DKE granted AnnArbor.com a guided tour only after getting the OK from David K. Easlick, an Omicron from the class of 1969 who now serves as the fraternity's executive director.

Easlick was on campus in 1967 when the fraternity's house at 1912 Geddes Ave. burned down. He joined the alumni board in 1973.

Before DKE secured its current home at 1004 Olivia Ave. in 1980, the fraternity was in such bad financial shape that it almost sold the Shant - and that's after it sold the lot on Geddes across from the Arboretum.

In 1982, Easlick formed the Rampant Lion Foundation "to fund scholarships for deserving members of the fraternity, to make grants to assist in providing safer housing through installation of smoke and fire alarms, better study facilities and forth." The Rampant Lion Foundation purchased the Shant to ease the burden on Omicron's finances and to ensure the property would remain in DKE hands.

Earlier this summer, the Rampant Lion Foundation sold the Olivia home to the Sigma Group in a leaseback arrangement that will give the fraternity enough money to fund needed capital improvements and maintain control of the property. The Sigma Group exists to help Greek organizations secure and maintain private housing.

The View Inside

Aside from wood carvings bearing the name of Omicron DKEs from 1921 to 1943 - the woodwork was commissioned to give hard-on-their-luck DKEs work during the Great Depression, Will Hossain explained - the first floor is relatively unimpressive.

That's because it doubles as the fraternity's national headquarters.

To hear Hossain - an Omicron from the class of 2008 - tell it, that arrangement is a trade-off. While having the fraternity headquartered in town should protect Omicron from going inactive, as it did for a time after the 1967 fire, the average DKE has less access to the property nowadays than DKEs did 10 or 15 years ago.

Easlick disagreed: "It's not a trade-off, it's about survival."

If the Rampant Lion Foundation hadn't taken the Shant's expenses off Omicron's books, Easlick said, the chapter would have folded. Maintaining two properties is expensive for a fraternity, especially in Ann Arbor.

"We're paying $25,000 a year just in property taxes [at the Olivia home] - that's six live-ins we need just to cover our bill," he said.

The front porch is the natural next stop after seeing the first floor.

The outside patio area is adorned, right and left of the front door, with bricks bearing the names, chapters and graduating class of DKE brothers who've made major donations to the Rampant Lion Foundation. President Gerald Ford's name is on two of the bricks.

Just left of the front door is the final resting place for Abe, Omicron's onetime mascot. Back in the 1920s, in a much different time, Omicron men made a pastime of dog fighting. Abe is celebrated for having gone undefeated. Hossain said the fraternity does not condone or partake in dogfighting, and hasn't for decades.

Moving on

From the front patio, we move on to the second floor. This is the main event, the place where DKE's fabled rituals happen, and where alumni gather upon their return to Ann Arbor. Having a separate meeting house allows alums to visit with their brothers without burdening current DKEs by hanging out in the place they call home.

After climbing a tight, spiral staircase to the second floor, two dark, wooden thrones are the first thing you see.

All four walls have bookcases, some small, some large, featuring a range of reading materials - from Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" to back issues of "DKE Quarterly" from the 1900s - but mostly tending toward the ancient.

Each of the five DKE men who've served as United States presidents - Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush - are represented multiple times in the upstairs gathering area. Their pictures line the walls, their busts top bookcases, their letters to the fraternity lay behind glass, preserved for posterity. Ford is held in particularly high esteem - not only was he a DKE, he was a "Michigan Man."

Stained-glass windows boasting the fraternity's crest line the east and west walls. Another stained glass window in the south wall can be seen from the Shant's frontage on East William.

Still, for all the proud history on display in the Shant, the modest, flat-screen television in the right corner of the second floor might be the most important item in the house. Partaking in a tradition that's produced presidents and world leaders is a source of pride. But watching the Michigan Wolverines play on football Saturdays, at home and among friends - that's the stuff brotherhood is made of.

Photos by Angela Cesere, AnnArbor.com: Photo 1: The top floor of the Shant house, where DKE's fabled rituals happen, and where alumni gather upon their return to Ann Arbor. Photo 2: The Shant, on East William Street in Ann Arbor, is the traditional gathering house for members of Delta Kappa Epsilon's Omicron chapter at the University of Michigan. Photo 3: A brick donated by former President Gerald Ford sits in the ground outside the Shant.

James David Dickson reports on human interest stories for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at JamesDickson@annarbor.com, or (734) 623-2532.