Kappa Alpha Society

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Kappa Alpha Society - ΚA
Image:Kapkeycolour.gif
Founded	November 26 1825 (1825-11-26) (age 184) Union College
Type	Literary Society and Social Fraternity
Scope	International
Symbol	Kappa Alpha Key
Flower	Carnation
Chapters	14 (7 active)
Headquarters	PO Box 876 Ithaca, New York, USA
Homepage	http://www.ka.org

The Kappa Alpha Society (ΚΑ), founded in 1825, is the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. This is most clearly evidenced by its being first in the fraternities that compose the Union Triad. In addition, Baird's Manual (amongst other sources) states that KA, unlike other fraternities with claims to the contrary, has maintained a continuous existence since it's foundation, making it the oldest undergraduate fraternity that exists today. As of 2007, there were seven active chapters in the United States and Canada.

1 History
2 Chapters
3 Coeducation
4 Contributing Members
5 Notable Members
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] History

According to Baird's Manual, nine undergraduates at Union College in Schenectady, New York—John Hart Hunter, John McGeoch, Isaac W. Jackson, Thomas Hun, Orlando Meads, James Proudfit, and Joseph Anthony Constant of the class of 1826, and Arthur Burtis and Joseph Law of the Class of 1827—established the Society on November 26, 1825 from an informal group calling itself The Philosophers, which was established by Hunter, Jackson, and Hun in 1823. The organization represents the middle link between secret societies, literary societies, and Greek-letter organizations like Phi Beta Kappa. Still keeping true to its roots, Kappa Alpha still has a structure identical to that of its founding in 1825 as a secret society.

The first expansion of the Society took place in 1833 at Williams College at the request of fourteen students led by Azariah S. Clark of the class of 1834.

The Kappa Alpha Society, emulated by Sigma Phi (est. 1827) and Delta Phi (est. 1827), constitute the Union Triad, the pioneers of the North American system of social fraternities. This organization is not to be confused with the Kappa Alpha Order, a completely separate fraternity that operates primarily at schools in the South and border states.

The Kappa Alpha Society was distinguished by a highly selective process of chapter formation, averaging a steady pace of one a decade for the society's first 150 years.^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Chapters

Chapters are designated with an abbreviation of the institution's Latin name.

No.	Dates	Chapter	College or University	Location	Status
1.	Nov. 26, 1825-2003	New York Alpha (CC)	Union College	Schenectedy, New York	Dormant ...
2.	Oct. 29, 1833-1983	Massachusettes Alpha (CG)	Williams College	Williamstown, Massachusetts	Dormant
3.	(As local 1842) Nov. 26, 1844-1854, 1879-present	New York Beta (CH)	Hobart College	Geneva, New York	Active
4.	Oct. 21, 1852-1855, 1983-1998	New Jersey Alpha (CNC)	Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	Dormant
5.	Jan. 8, 1857-1861	Virginia Alpha (VV)	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, Virginia	Dormant
6.	Nov. 12, 1868-1990, 2007-present	New York Gamma (VC)	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Active
7.	Feb. 19, 1892-present	Ontario Alpha (VT)	University of Toronto	Toronto, Ontario	Active
8.	Jan. 2, 1894-present	Pennsylvania Alpha (VL)	Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Active
9.	Apr. 21, 1899-1971, 1987-2006	Quebec Alpha (VM)	McGill University	Montreal, Quebec	Dormant
10.	(As local Apr. 1909) Apr. 26, 1913-present	Pennsylvania Beta (VP)	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
11.	Feb. 14, 1948-present	Ontario Beta (VOO)	University of Western Ontario	London, Ontario	Active
12.	(This was a Delta Upsilon and then a Delta Sigma chapter.) Mar. 18, 1967-1980, 1997	Connecticut Alpha (VW)	Wesleyan University	Middletown, Connecticut	Dormant
13.	Nov. 5, 1988-present	Alberta Alpha (VA)	University of Alberta	Edmonton, Alberta	Active
14.	Nov. 23, 1991-1999	Alberta Beta (VAC)	University of Calgary	Calgary, Alberta	Dormant

[edit] Coeducation

Several chapters have been co-educated (male and female members) in the past, such as the chapter at Wesleyan University, which existed from 1967 to about 1980, (there was a small co-ed group of Wesleyan initiates in 1997 but who never met as a chapter). Other chapters were co-ed as well, on a home-rule basis. The refusal of the Williams chapter to co-educate led to the termination of that chapter. Kappa Alpha may now prohibit coeducated chapters. Kappa Alpha will not be able to re-enter those colleges, (Williams and Wesleyan) without co-educating, and is likely effectively proscribed from returning to others for the same reason.

[edit] Contributing Members

John Hart Hunter, Union College, 1824. Founder.
Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Union College, 1856. Song writer, author and editor.

[edit] Notable Members

In 200 years Kappa Alpha has produced some notable members. See the Kappa_Alpha_Society_Trivia page for a list.

[edit] References

Kappa Alpha Society. (1881). A biographical record of the Kappa Alpha Society in Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.: From its foundation to the present time. 1831-1881. New York, NY: S. W. Green's Son.
Kappa Alpha Society. (2002). A directory of Kappa Alpha 2002: 175th anniversary edition. Purchase, NY: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company.
Tarleton, Robert S. (1993). The Spirit of Kappa Alpha: The oldest Greek-letter social fraternity in prose, poetry and picture. New York, NY: John Hart Hunter Press.
The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1941). Kappa Alpha Record: 1825-1940. Clinton, MA: The Colonial Press.
The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1950). Directory of the Kappa Alpha Society 1950. St. Albans, VT: The North Country Press.
The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1960). Kappa Alpha Record 1825-1960. Utica, NY: Thomas J. Griffiths Sons.
The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1976). Kappa Alpha Record 1825-1976: Sesquicentennial edition. Ithaca, NY: Art Craft Printers.