Kappa Alpha Society

The Kappa Alpha Society is a North American social fraternities|social] college fraternity. Founded in 1825, it was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad that pioneered the North American system of social fraternities.
While several fraternities claim to be the oldest, Baird's Manual states that ΚΑ has maintained a continuous existence since its foundation, making it the oldest undergraduate fraternity that exists today. As of 2022, there are five active chapters in the United States and Canada.
This organization is not to be confused with the Kappa Alpha Order, a completely separate national fraternity.

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History

In 1823, John Hart Hunter, Isaac W. Jackson, and Thomas Hun, who were students at Union College in Schenectady, New York, established an informal group called The Philosophers. That group became the Kappa Alpha Society on. Its founders were Joseph Anthony Constant, John Hart Hunter, Isaac W. Jackson, Thomas Hun, John McGeoch, Orlando Meads, and James Proudfit of the class of, and Arthur Burtis and Joseph Law of the class of.
The Kappa Alpha Society 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:
KA expanded to Williams College in 1833, with fourteen pledges led by Azariah S. Clark of the class of 1834. Other chapters were established in the 19th century at Hobart College, Princeton College, the University of Virginia, Cornell University, the University of Toronto, Lehigh University, and McGill University. Chapters were established at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Western Ontario, Wesleyan University, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and Dalhousie University in the 20th century. The Union and Wesleyan chapters were co-educational in the recent past. There are currently no co-educational chapters.

Chapters

Following is a list of the active and inactive chapters of the Kappa Alpha Society, with active chapters indicated in bold and inactive chapters in italics. Chapters are designated with an abbreviation of the institution's Latin name.

Chapter	Letters	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
New York Alpha	CC	– ;	Union College	Schenectady, New [York (state)\|New York]	Active
Massachusetts Alpha	CG	–	Williams College	Williamstown, Massachusetts	Inactive
New York Beta	CH	– ; –;	Hobart College	Geneva, New York	Active
New Jersey Alpha	CNC	– ; –	Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	Inactive
Virginia Alpha	VV	–	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, Virginia	Inactive
New York Gamma	VC	– ; –	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Inactive
Ontario Alpha	VT		University of Toronto	Toronto, Ontario	Active
Pennsylvania Alpha	VL	–	Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Quebec Alpha	VM	– ; –; –	McGill University	Montreal, Quebec	Inactive
Pennsylvania Beta	VP		University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
Ontario Beta	VOO		University of Western Ontario	London, Ontario	Active
Connecticut Alpha	VW	– ; –	Wesleyan University	Middletown, Connecticut	Inactive
Alberta Alpha	VA	–	University of Alberta	Edmonton, Alberta	Inactive
Alberta Beta	VAC	–	University of Calgary	Calgary, Alberta	Inactive
Nova Scotia Alpha	VD	–	Dalhousie University	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Inactive

Notable members

The Kappa Alpha Society has produced a substantial number of notable members in widely varied fields throughout its 200-year history.