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| Manuel Crysoloras |
International History
Kappa Sigma is based on over 600 years of tradition and history. Our international founding is based in Bologna, Italy. At the University of Bologna, a teacher began to form a strong bond with five of his full-time students. This man was Manuel Chrysoloras. After a while of learning together, they formed a close bond of protection and trust. One of the “disciples” of Chrysoloras has written, “Community with this most illustrious Chrysoloras, a man distinguished by old virtues and discipline, created among us a sort of bond … we accepted as one accepts being born from the parents into a family.”
At this time, Baldassarre Cossa, the governor of Bologna, was intimidating and committing violent acts toward the people of his city. This persecution of the people greatly angered Chrysoloras and in 1400, at the University of Bologna, he and his disciples formed a society for mutual protection. To remain secretive , they developed special signs, words and forms – a ritual. Their work inspired the Ritual and the modern-day Fraternity of Kappa Sigma.
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| Plaque above the door to 46 East Lawn, where Kappa Sigma was founded in the United States |
National History
Kappa Sigma had its American founding more than 125 years ago. On December 10, 1869, William Grigsby McCormick and four friends (Frank Courtney Nicodemus, Edmund Law Rodgers, John Covert Boyd, and George Miles Arnold) occupied the room at 46 East Lawn at the University of Virginia and founded Kappa Sigma Fraternity. These five friends bound themselves together by taking an oath, and preserved their union with secret work. It was this Ritual that brought them together as Brothers.
In 1872, a man named Stephen Alonzo Jackson came to UVA. After much debate, it was decided to let him join the fraternity. Jackson led this fraternity on its way to becoming the great Brotherhood we are now, and helped to establish the first satellite chapter at Trinity College, which is now Duke University. From there, Kappa Sigma has expanded to 198 chapters and 8 colonies internationally. Today, we strive to rise to the challenge that Stephen Alonzo Jackson put forth in his “Apples of Gold” speech to the 1878 Grand Conclave: “May we not rest contentedly until the Star and Crescent is the pride of every college and university in the land!”
Colony History
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| Kappa Sigma house at Washburn University, one of the few structures to survive the 1966 tornado |
Founded in 1909 at Washburn University, the Gamma-Nu Chapter of Kappa Sigma was the oldest fraternity on campus, until their charter was lost in the spring of 2008. The Kappa Sigma house was one of the few buildings to be left standing after the 1966 tornado destroyed almost all the buildings on Washburn’s campus. After losing their charter in 2008, a few incoming freshman saw their opportunity to make the most of their college experience. Meetings started in a small group study room in Mabee Library, and eventually grew to move to the Blair Room in the Living Learning Center. What started as Five Friends has come far enough to gain Colony status once again. The history of the Gamma-Nu colony is still being written, as we quickly approach our chartering date in April of 2011.
