Kappa Pi Kappa



Kappa Pi Kappa (ΚΠΚ), also known as Pi Kap and formerly known as Tri-Kap, Kappa Chi Kappa, and Kappa Kappa Kappa, is a local men's fraternity at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fraternity was founded in 1842 and is the second-oldest fraternity at Dartmouth College. Pi Kap is the oldest local fraternity in the United States. It is located at 1 Webster Avenue, Hanover, New Hampshire.

History
Kappa Kappa Kappa, using from inception the Greek letter Κ repeated three times, was founded on July 13, 1842, by Harrison Carroll Hobart and two of his closest companions, Stephen Gordon Nash, and John Dudley Philbrick, all Class of 1842. The society was based on the principles of democracy, loyalty to Dartmouth, and equality of opportunity. Originally a literary and debate society, Pi Kap officially became a social society in 1905 and has remained so ever since, making it the oldest extant local fraternity in the country.

Pi Kap was the first student society at Dartmouth with its own meeting place, a building called The Hall, which was originally where the Hopkins Center for the Arts is today. Opened on July 28, 1860, the Hall served as Tri-Kap's home until the society moved into the Parker House in 1894. Parker House was where the modern-day Silsby Hall is. In 1923, the society moved into 1 Webster Avenue, where it resides to this day.

Over the years, Tri-Kap's name remained problematic, due to name-only similarity to the Ku Klux Klan, an unaffiliated racist organization that uses similar, but English letters. Thus, in April 1992, Kappa Kappa Kappa changed its name to Kappa Chi Kappa (ΚΧΚ). On October 23, 1995, the group changed their name back to Kappa Kappa Kappa.

The issue persisted, and after a period of consensus-building, on May 18, 2022, Kappa Kappa Kappa again changed its name to Kappa Pi Kappa (ΚΠΚ).

Notable members

 * Walter Sydney Adams, (1898) American Astronomer, Director Mount Wilson Observatory
 * Alex M. Azar (1988), Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
 * Henry Moore Baker (1864), U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
 * John Barrett (1889), American Diplomat, First Director General of the Bureau of American Republics (predecessor to Organization of American States)
 * Charles Henry Bell (1844), U.S. Senator and Governor of New Hampshire
 * Lewis Boss (1870) American Astronomer, Director of Dudley Observatory
 * Henry Eben Burnham (1865), U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
 * Sherman Everett Burroughs (1894), U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
 * Charles Carroll Colby (1847), Canadian Politician, President Privy Council (1889-1891)
 * Channing H. Cox (1901), Governor of Massachusetts
 * John Franklin Crowell (1883) American Educator, President (1887-1894) Trinity College (predecessor Duke University)
 * Irving Webster Drew (1870), U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
 * Samuel D. Felker (1882), Governor of New Hampshire
 * Michael Fisch (1983), Chair of Board of Trustees Princeton Theological Seminary and Founder Private Equity Firm American Securities
 * Winfield Scott Hammond (1884), Governor of Minnesota
 * Frank A. Haskell (1854), Colonel 36th Wisconsin Volunteers, author of famous first-hand account of the Battle of Gettysburg
 * Nick Lowery (1978), National Football League player and Three-time Pro Bowl kicker
 * Samuel Walker McCall (1874), Governor of Massachusetts
 * Paul Donnelly Paganucci (1953), professor at the Tuck School
 * John Henry Patterson (1867) Industrialist, Founder in 1884 of National Cash Register, now NCR Corporation
 * Nitya Pibulsonggram (1962), Foreign Minister of Thailand and former Thai Ambassador to the United States
 * Ambrose A. Ranney (1844), U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
 * Peter Robinson (1979), White House speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan
 * David Rosenbaum (1963), New York Times journalist
 * "Dr. Bob" Smith (1902), co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
 * Douglas Walgren (1963), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania

Honorary alumni

 * Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator, and presidential nominee
 * Rufus Choate (1819), U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
 * Daniel Clark (1834), U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
 * Benjamin Franklin Flanders (1842), Governor of Louisiana
 * Daniel Webster (1801), U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Congressman, Ambassador to France, and Secretary of State
 * Levi Woodbury (1809), Governor of New Hampshire, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice