Delta Kappa

Delta Kappa Fraternity (ΔΚ) was an American national fraternity that existed from 1920 to 1964.

Founding and early growth
The fraternity was founded in 1920 as Kappa Kappa Kappa at the State Normal School (now Buffalo State College) as a fraternity for students majoring in education. Its founders were James Finley, Albert Meinhold, Albert Stalk, Fred Weyler, and Arthur S. Bellfield. It assumed the name Kappa Kappa Kappa (ΚΚΚ) to represent the tri-Kappa symbolism of Korufaios, Kathapos, and Kosmos.

In 1925, it became a national fraternity with the chartering of its second chapter at SUNY Cortland. Its headquarters were in Buffalo, New York. The organization was first incorporated in New York in 1930.

At its 1936 convention, the fraternity voted to change its name to Delta Kappa to avoid being confused with the Ku Klux Klan. It was incorporated for a second time under the new name in 1937. At the same time, the fraternity changed its emphasis from professional to social and allowed any bachelor's degree-granting institution to host a chapter.

The fraternity went inactive from 1944 to 1946 during World War II. Delta Kappa quickly reactivated seven chapters by the end of 1948. The organization then began expanding outside of the state of New York by adding chapters in six other states. This growth was hastened when the fraternity decided to drop the requirement that at least half the members of any petitioning fraternal group be working toward a degree in the teaching profession.

Loss of chapters
Delta Kappa grew until a 1953 edict by the SUNY Board of Trustees forced the abandonment of all chapters affiliated with national societies in state-supported schools. This impacted seven of the fraternity's eighteen chapters. Delta Kappa, along with several other Greek Letter organizations, fought this edict in court under the case name Webb vs. State University of New York where they argued for the benefits of national affiliation and showed the lack of discriminatory clauses in their constitutions. Unfortunately for Delta Kappa, the courts sided with the SUNY Board of Trustees in 1954 by ruling that the trustees were acting in their supervisory powers.

The decision cost the fraternity eight chapters in New York State. In a later petition, the fraternity claimed that the edict also caused the closing of two other chapters (ΔΡ and ΗΦ). With the loss of the court case, the chapters at SUNY institutions became independent local fraternities after 1953.

The loss of chapters and know-how threw the Delta Kappa national leadership into a tailspin. The Delta Chi and Kappa chapters left the fraternity and affiliated with other organizations.

Reorganization in Wisconsin
Within the space of a year, Delta Kappa went from having nineteen chapters to seven. With most of the active chapters now in Wisconsin, a meeting was called in 1954 where it was decided that there should be an attempt to save the fraternity. In 1956, the fraternity was incorporated for the third time in the state of Wisconsin, and the national offices were moved to Milwaukee.

Delta Kappa added two chapters between 1954 and 1963, but Phi, Chi Delta, and Sigma Phi chaptes disaffiliated to join other organizations. By 1963, there were only six chapters left in the fraternity.

Merger
In an attempt to save the remaining chapters and preserve some unity, the fraternity began looking at other organizations for a merger. Fraternities with active chapters at the six schools where Delta Kappa was active were not considered. Of the remaining organizations, Sigma Pi Fraternity was chosen since it was considered best at fulfilling the goals of its members.

With the approval of the Delta Kappa convention in July 1964 and the Sigma Pi convention in September, the two fraternities completed the merger in late 1964. Of the six chapters, four (Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Stout, Milton, and Western State College of Colorado) became Sigma Pi chapters. The chapter at Wisconsin-Oshkosh decided to go its own way and affiliate with Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. The chapter at Ithaca College (which is not a SUNY institution) became a local fraternity.

With the merger, Sigma Pi gave the joining Delta Kappa chapters designations starting with Delta to help maintain their sense of history; this was out of order since its new chapters were then being named in the Gamma series. Sigma Pi also initiated any Delta Kappa alumni who wished to attend their initiation ceremonies.

After the merger, Sigma Pi made an effort to reach out to Delta Kappa alumni in Wisconsin by colonizing at schools that once had DK chapters or where alumni were nearby. Between 1966 and 1971, five chapters were chartered at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Platteville, and Wisconsin-LaCrosse. When the SUNY ban on national fraternities was lifted in 1976, Sigma Pi contacted the surviving chapters of Delta Kappa in New York state but there was little interest in joining a national organization again.

Symbols
The fraternity's colors were white and maroon. Its flower was the red rose.  Its jewels were the pearl and the ruby. The Delta Kappa motto was "True leadership is possible only through honorable and upright living."

The fraternity's badge was a triangle with a black center with the Greek letters Δ and Κ in gold. The Greek letter of the chapter name was attached to the badge and served as a guard. The Delta Kappa recognition pin featured the letters Δ and Κ joined at the middle.



Publications

 * The Delta Kappa Pledge Manual was last published in 1959.
 * The Kappan was a yearbook that was published every year.
 * The Deltan was a newsletter that was published at the discretion of the national officers, starting in 1958.
 * The Operational Handbook was an aid for chapter officers.

Membership
Membership in Delta Kappa, like most fraternities, was limited to males. The 1959 Pledge Manual stated that "membership is open to any male who believes in a supreme being." According to the 1963 edition of Baird's Manual, there were no membership restrictions. Baird's also stated that the organization had 1,200 members in 1963.

Grand Chapter
The Grand Chapter of Delta Kappa met in the spring during the National Convention and was composed of the Board of Directors and delegates from each chapter and alumni club. The Board of Directors was composed of six national officers: president, vice president, corresponding secretary, recording secretary, treasurer, and librarian. Each chapter could send two voting delegates to the Grand Chapter, while alumni clubs received one voting delegate. A two-thirds vote was needed for the Grand Chapter to pass by-laws or to suspend chapters. The National Convention was held annually with a different chapter hosting each convention and arranging the accommodations.

Two awards were given during the National Convention. A Scholarship Award was given to the chapter with the highest Grade Point Average. A Distance Travelled Award was given to the chapter that traveled the farthest to attend the conference.

A Fall Business Meeting could also be called at the discretion of the National President. Attendance was not compulsory.

Board of directors
The Board of Directors governed the fraternity when the Grand Chapter was not in session. Board members were elected to one-year terms at each meeting of the Grand Chapter. The president was the executive of the fraternity, while the vice president oversaw the ritual and was the director of expansion. The corresponding secretary kept meeting minutes and oversaw correspondence, and the recording secretary kept membership records. The treasurer kept the fraternity's finances, and the Llbrarian acted as the historian and publisher of The Kappan.

Each chapter was inspected yearly by at least one member of the Board of Directors during a chapter visitation.

NIC
Delta Kappa was not a member of the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC). Between 1954 and 1964, the fraternity lost three chapters to NIC member fraternities. This did not violate the NIC anti-pirating rule since it only applies to member fraternity chapters.

Expansion Plan
Delta Kappa's expansion plan called for contacting local fraternities with at least ten members at accredited four-year colleges. Petitioning groups paid installation fees but had their first-year chapter dues waived.

Chapters
Following is a list of the undergraduate chapters of Delta Kappa.

Alumni chapters
Alumni chapters were usually given the name of the local college chapter with the Greek letter Pi added before the local chapter name. Alumni chapters could be recognized if they had five or more men who had graduated or left school in good standing. Known alumni chapters are:
 * Pi Alpha – Buffalo, New York
 * Pi Beta – Cortland, New York
 * Pi Kappa – Evansville, Indiana
 * Pi Chi Delta – Whitewater, Wisconsin
 * Pi Omicron – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 * Pi Sigma Phi – Frostburg, Maryland
 * Pi Chi Gamma – Milton, Wisconsin
 * Pi Epsilon – Ithaca, New York
 * Pi Phi – Clarion, Pennsylvania

Hail Men of Delta Kappa
Words by Bill Fyfe, Music by Sam Forcucci Hail Men of Delta Kappa Keep your honor ever high.

Raise your heads fling out your banner

Let the colors never die.

We are brothers all DK men,

With a trust that men hold high.

It's a pledge we call good fellowship,

Let our emblem fill the sky.

Sing out with voice proclaiming,

Let our song be ever known.

We are proud to be DK men,

With an emblem all our own.

We are brothers pledged together

That our faith be ever true.

In the pledge we call good fellowship,

Men of DK here's to you.

Notable members
This section includes alumni of the local Delta Kappa chapters in New York.