Colors Scarlet Flower Carnation | Symbol Kappa Alpha Key Chapters 15 (9 active) | |
Type Literary Society and Social Fraternity | ||
The Kappa Alpha Society (ΚΑ), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad. In addition, Baird's Manual states that ΚΑ, unlike other fraternities with claims to the contrary, has maintained a continuous existence since its foundation, making it the oldest undergraduate fraternity that exists today. As of 2012, there are nine active chapters in the United States and Canada.
Contents
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. In the words of founding member Arthur Burtis:
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 national fraternity.
Chapters
Chapters are designated with an abbreviation of the institution's Latin name.
Coeducation
The Union and Wesleyan chapters were co-educational (male and female members) in the recent past. The chapter at Wesleyan University, which existed from 1967 to about 1997, was at various times co-educational both as part of The Society and as a local starting in 1974. The Union Chapter was co-ed from 1991 until 2003. There are currently no co-educational chapters.
Contributing members
Notable members
Over the course of its nearly 200-year history, The Kappa Alpha Society has produced a substantial number of notable members in widely varied fields.