Kappa Sigma Kappa

Kappa Sigma Kappa is the name of three separate college fraternities, sharing a common history and traditions but disconnected by decades and a break in organizational continuity. The original incarnation of Kappa Sigma Kappa was formed at Virginia Military Institute on. Most of its active chapters merged into Phi Delta Theta in.
A larger, second incarnation sparked by the memory of the first group at the University of Virginia was formed approximately fifty years after the first merger, leading to the creation of over seventy new chapters. Many of these would later merge into Theta Xi in. Some of Kappa Sigma Kappa's chapters were unable to join in this merger due to NIC rules, leading to a third incarnation of the fraternity. In the late 's, this third edition of Kappa Sigma Kappa dissipated as a formal entity. One chapter remained active until.

First incarnation (1867–1886)

History

Kappa Sigma Kappa was founded at Virginia Military Institute on, by four cadets:

John M. Tutwiler
James Gunnell Hurst
Kenneth McDonald
David Gamble Murrell

On that night, Tutwiler invited the three other cadets to his room where the fraternity was founded. The original name selected for the fraternity was C.E.C., but it was soon changed to Kappa Sigma Kappa. The letters "C.E.C." would continue to retain ritual significance in the new fraternity. As a result of their efforts, ten chapters had been chartered by.
After the closure of several chapters, five of its remaining chapters became part of Phi Delta Theta in. One chapter merged into Sigma Nu.

Symbols and traditions

The badge was a gold Jerusalem cross in the center of which is a circular black enameled disc displaying the letters of the fraternity. The letters "C.E.C." are engraved on the back of every badge.

Chapters

These are the chapters of the first iteration of Kappa Sigma Kappa, many of which left to join Phi Delta Theta in. Inactive chapters and institutions are listed in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Gamma	–	Virginia Military Institute	Lexington, Virginia	Merged
Epsilon	–	Washington and Lee University	Lexington, Virginia	Merged
Zeta	–	Virginia A&M College	Blacksburg, Virginia	Inactive
Delta	–	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, Virginia	Inactive
Eta	–	Emory and Henry College	Emory, Virginia	Inactive
Upsilon	–	Randolph–Macon College	Ashland, Virginia	Merged
Nu	–	University of Richmond	Richmond, Virginia	Merged
Rho	–	Bethel Military Academy	Warrenton, Virginia	Inactive
Omega	–	University of North Carolina	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Merged
Alpha	–	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Withdrew

Second incarnation (1935–1962)

History

Almost fifty years after the original fraternity had dissolved, a group of four students at the University of Virginia desired to form a new social fraternity in 1935. They were attracted to the Kappa Sigma Kappa badge, so they decided to revive the former fraternity as their own. After searching the University of Virginia archives, the students found the names of three members from the old Delta chapter who were still alive, including two charter members. They then discovered that one of the founders of the original fraternity, Kenneth McDonald, was still alive and living in San Francisco, California. The students made contact with McDonald, and he assisted them in redeveloping the fraternity and learning many of the original fraternity traditions. The second incarnation of Kappa Sigma Kappa was officially established in. Seven chapters of the new Kappa Sigma Kappa were established before World War II.
After the war, the fraternity emphasized expansion. New chapters were rapidly established, and members of the fraternity felt the need to become better organized on a national level. The fraternity held its first national convention in St. Louis, Missouri in 1948. National conventions continued to be held every year, but the fraternity still lacked a strong national organization. Although the fraternity had experienced great growth in the years after the war, Kappa Sigma Kappa found itself struggling by the early 1950s. It had allowed several chapters on campuses of unaccredited schools, and as a result, Kappa Sigma Kappa was unable to obtain membership in the National Interfraternity Conference. As a result of its lack of NIC membership, lack of uniform chapter operations, and lack of a strong national organization and central office, Kappa Sigma Kappa began rapidly losing its chapters in the 1950s as it began to affiliate with other NIC fraternities.
Kappa Sigma Kappa saw a merger with Theta Xi as its opportunity to repair its rapidly deteriorating situation. Following a series of meetings, the national organization of Kappa Sigma Kappa officially merged with Theta Xi on. As a result of the merger, twenty-one chapters of Kappa Sigma Kappa located at accredited schools became chapters of Theta Xi. In addition, one further chapter of Kappa Sigma Kappa at Lawrence Technological University joined when the school was accredited. Each of the chapters was given a new Greek-letter chapter designation that was prefaced by the letter Kappa.

Merger symbolism

As part of the terms of the merger, the fraternity flower of Theta Xi was changed from the white carnation to the blue iris. The Theta Xi coat of arms was modified to replace its fleurs-de-lis with upright crescents, and the fraternity pledge manual title was changed from The Theta Xi Pledge Manual to The Quest For Theta Xi.

Chapters

Inactive chapters and institutions are noted in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Delta	–	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, Virginia	Inactive
Pi	–	Lebanon Valley College	Annville, Pennsylvania	Withdrew
Pi	–	Wofford College	Spartanburg, South Carolina	Withdrew
Beta	–	Western Reserve University	Cleveland, Ohio	Inactive
Theta	–	Texas College of Mines	El Paso, Texas	Inactive
Iota	–	Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio	Merged
Lambda	–	Waynesburg College	Waynesburg, Pennsylvania	Withdrew
Mu	–	New Mexico Highlands University	Las Vegas, New Mexico	Inactive
Nu	–	University of Illinois	Champaign, Illinois	Inactive
Kappa	–	Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College	Monticello, Arkansas	Merged
Upsilon	–	Randolph–Macon College	Ashland, Virginia	Inactive
Omicron	–	Fairmont State College	Fairmont, West Virginia	Merged
Rho	–19xx ?	University of Scranton	Scranton, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Xi	–	Concord College	Athens, West Virginia	Merged
Phi Delta	–	Fort Hays Kansas State College	Hays, Kansas	Withdrew
Sigma	–	Indiana Institute of Technology	Fort Wayne, Indiana	Merged
Tau	–	Eastern Illinois State College	Charleston, Illinois	Withdrew
Chi	–	Arizona State College	Flagstaff, Arizona	Inactive	-
Florida Alpha	–	University of Tampa	Tampa, Florida	Withdrew
Psi	–	Central Missouri State College	Warrensburg, Missouri	Withdrew
Michigan Alpha	–19xx ?	Detroit Institute of Technology	Detroit, Michigan	Inactive
West Virginia Gamma	–	Morris Harvey College	Charleston, West Virginia	Merged
West Virginia Delta	–	Glenville State College	Glenville, West Virginia	Merged
Illinois Gamma	–	Western Illinois University	Macomb, Illinois	Merged
Indiana Beta	–	Ball State College	Muncie, Indiana	Merged
Maryland Alpha	–	University of Baltimore	Baltimore, Maryland	Withdrew
British Alpha	–	Northern Polytechnic Institute	London, England	Inactive
New Zealand Alpha	–	University of Canterbury	Christchurch, New Zealand	Inactive
Tasmania Alpha	–	University of Hobart	Hobart, Tasmania	Inactive
California Alpha	–	Sacramento State College	Sacramento, California	Withdrew
Arkansas Beta	–	Henderson State Teachers College	Arkadelphia, Arkansas	Merged
Canadian Alpha	–	University of Manitoba	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Inactive
Michigan Beta	–	Lawrence Institute of Technology	Southfield, Michigan	Merged
Ohio Delta	–	University of Toledo	Toledo, Ohio	Inactive
Georgia Alpha	–19xx	Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive
Iowa Alpha	–19xx	Upper Iowa University	Fayette, Iowa	Inactive
Ohio Epsilon	–	Cedarville College	Cedarville, Ohio	Inactive
California Beta	–19xx ?	Stanford University	Stanford, California	Inactive
California Beta	1948–19xx ?	Sacromento Junior College	Sacromento, California	Inactive
California Gamma	–	Armstrong College	Berkeley, California	Inactive
California Delta	–	San Jose State College	San Jose, California	Withdrew
Lambda Mu	–19xx	Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Inactive
Illinois Delta	–19xx ?	Eureka College	Eureka, Illinois	Inactive
New York Alpha	–	University of Buffalo	Buffalo, New York	Inactive
Illinois Epsilon	–	Chicago Technical College	Chicago, Illinois	Withdrew
Virginia Beta ?	–	Old Dominion University	Richmond, Virginia	Merged
New York Beta	–	Rochester Institute of Technology	Rochester, New York	Merged
Michigan Gamma	–	Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Withdrew
Ohio Zeta	–	Defiance College	Defiance, Ohio	Merged
Michigan Delta	–	University of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan	Merged
Pennsylvania Gamma	–	Widener University	Chester, Pennsylvania	Inactive
California Iota	–19xx ?	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Inactive
California Zeta ?	?–19xx ?	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Illinois Zeta	–19xx ?, –19xx ?	Quincy College	Quincy, Illinois	Inactive
New York Gamma	–	Erie County Technical Institute	Buffalo, New York	Withdrew
North Carolina Alpha	–	Lenoir-Rhyne University	Hickory, North Carolina	Merged
Missouri Beta	–	Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	Withdrew
Michigan Epsilon	–	Wayne State University	Detroit, Michigan	Merged
Virginia Alpha	–19xx ?	College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	Inactive
Michigan Zeta	–	Hillsdale College	Hillsdale, Michigan	Withdrew
Michigan Eta	–	Ferris State University	Big Rapids, Michigan	Merged
Indiana Gamma	–, –	Trine University	Angola, Indiana	Withdrew, Withdrew
New York Delta	–	Russell Sage College	Troy, New York	Inactive
New York Epsilon	–	Alfred State College	Alfred, New York	Withdrew
Michigan Gamma	–	Kettering University	Flint, Michigan	Merged
Rhode Island Alpha	–	University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy	Providence, Rhode Island	Inactive
West Virginia Eta	–	West Virginia Wesleyan College	Buckhannon, West Virginia	Merged
New York Zeta	–	Utica College	Utica, New York	Merged
Illinois Eta	–	Northern Illinois University	DeKalb, Illinois	Inactive
North Carolina Beta	–	Western Carolina University	Cullowhee, North Carolina	Merged
New York Eta	–	Westchester Community College	Valhalla, New York	Withdrew
New York Theta	–19xx ?	Hudson Valley Community College	Troy, New York	Withdrew

Several chapters were noted by the Archive as forming post-merger with the support of the remaining chapters of ΚΣΚ. This was the "third iteration" of the fraternity. These are listed separately, below.

Third incarnation (1962–1992)

Seven active chapters of the former Kappa Sigma Kappa fraternity were not accepted by Theta Xi in the 1962 merger because they were located at unaccredited schools. Although their national organization had merged and was now a part of Theta Xi, these seven chapters formed a new national structure and continued to use the Kappa Sigma Kappa name. In turn, they began approving new chapters of Kappa Sigma Kappa on more campuses, often at community colleges. During the late 1970s, the national organization dissolved but the Pennsylvania Alpha chapter remained active until 1992.

Chapters

Chapters held over into the third iteration of the Kappa Sigma Kappa or created after the merger, include the following. Inactive institutions and chapters are in italics.

Chapter	Date	College or University	Location	Status	Notes
Maryland Alpha	– ?	University of Baltimore	Baltimore, Maryland	Inactive
Illinois Epsilon	–	Chicago Technical College	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
New York Gamma	–	Erie County Technical Institute	Buffalo, New York	Inactive
Illinois Zeta ?	–19xx ?, –19xx ?	Quincy College	Quincy, Illinois	Inactive
Indiana Gamma	–	Tri-State University (now Trine University)	Angola, Indiana	Withdrew
New York Eta	–	Westchester Community College	Valhalla, New York	Inactive
New York Theta	–19xx ?	Hudson Valley Community College	Troy, New York	Inactive
New Jersey Alpha	–197x ?	Mercer County Community College	Trenton, New Jersey	Inactive
Pennsylvania Alpha	–	Spring Garden College	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Missouri Alpha	–197x ?	Finlay Engineering College	Kansas City, Missouri	Inactive
Texas Alpha	–197x ?	University of Corpus Christi	Corpus Christi, Texas	Inactive
Maryland Beta	196x–	Baltimore College of Commerce	Baltimore, Maryland	Consolidated
New York Kappa Colony	1994–197x ?	State University of New York, Brockport	Brockport, New York	Inactive

There may have been up to 30 chapters in this third iteration of the fraternity. While not listed in Baird's Archive, the Quincy College Gyrfalcon yearbook of notes re-establishment of ΚΣΚ on that campus that year, occurring post-merger as part of the third iteration of the fraternity. That same reference notes there being 30 chapters of the fraternity at that time. Thus some chapters may be missing from this third chapter list.