Kappa Alpha Psi

**Kappa Alpha Psi** isa collegiate Greek-letter social fraternity, having been founded on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the third-oldest active Greek-letter organization established and incorporated by African American college students. The fraternity is a member of the North-American Inter-fraternity Conference, and a founding member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Kappa Alpha Psi has over 150,000 members with 721 undergraduate and alumni chapters across 46 states of the United States, and seven countries internationally

## Leadership

Grand Chapter officers were elected on August 16, 2019, at the 83rd Grand Chapter Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

## Provinces

The fraternity is sub-divided into distinct administrative regions, which improve the efficiency of decision-making and communication for its chapters and members.

* Northern Province has jurisdiction over Michigan, western New York, the northwestern section of Ohio, and northern Wisconsin.
* Eastern Province has jurisdiction over Maryland, most of Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Bermuda.
* Southern Province has jurisdiction over Alabama, Florida, the Bahamas, the Republic of Panama, and the United States Virgin Islands.
* Western Province has jurisdiction over the western-most states domestically and Asia. The regions covered include Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Japan, and South Korea.
* North Central Province has jurisdiction over Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and southern Wisconsin.
* East Central Province has jurisdiction over Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and most of West Virginia.
* South Central Province has jurisdiction over Kentucky, the northern part of Mississippi, and Tennessee.
* Southwestern Province has jurisdiction over Arizona, most of Arkansas, Louisiana, most of Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas.
* Southeastern Province has jurisdiction over Georgia, South Carolina, and the Republic of South Africa.
* Middle Eastern Province has jurisdiction over North Carolina, the western section of Virginia, and the southern section of West Virginia.
* **Northeastern Province** has jurisdiction over the northern-most states domestically and two countries internationally. The regions covered include Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
* Middle Western Province has jurisdiction over the northeast section of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma.

## Historical Influences

The climate for establishing a black fraternity on a predominantly-white campus was influenced by the modern fraternity movement and the black collegiate movement, which coincided in 1911.

### Fraternity False Starts

rise in African American enrollments at institutions of higher learning at the turn of the 20th century was met with resistance. Members of the student body, faculty, and university staff routinely denied housing to black students. They also limited dining options and enacted prohibitions on the manner in which black students were permitted to socialize. To address those concerns, many black students banded together, some organizing social clubs that mimicked the existing fraternities on campus. The following were some of the early attempts at the formation of social fraternities:

* Alpha Kappa Nu was established in 1903 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, making it the first documented African-American collegiate fraternal organization in the United States. It's membership numbered 10, which comprised the entirety of the black population at the school. Newspaper accounts identified the organization as a Greek-lettered fraternity, with elected officers, a constitution, and plans of establishing branches at leading negro institutions. But the club was never incorporated, and it disappeared after being in existence for only 14 months.

* Pi Gamma Omicron was established in 1905 at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Little is known about the organization other than it having 12 members. An article about the organization in the *Chicago Defender* is said to have taken the interest of Alpha Phi Alpha founder Robert H. Ogle, who was inspired to transform his literary society into a Greek letter social fraternity.
* Gamma Phi was established in 1905 at Wilberforce University in Ohio. Its three founders Gustave Williams, D. R. Lackley, and Edward Clark established colors for the organization, blue and white, and designated the white carnation as its official flower. According to the *Forcean* yearbook of 1923, the fraternity "was for a time merely local, but had grown to at least three chapters." The last known documentation of this organization suggests it operated until 1947.

### Early Influences

* Alpha Phi Alpha was founded in 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is generally recognized as the first black Greek-letter fraternity. By 1907, the fraternity had established its beta at Howard University in Washington, DC. Within another year, the fraternity had established two more chapters, at Virginia Union and the University of Toronto, prompting them to host a general convention in 1908 on the campus of Howard University.
* Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, DC. One of the sorority's 13 founders, Lucy Diggs Slowe, was the cousin of Elder Watson Diggs, who founded Kappa Alpha Psi. Ms. Diggs drafted the sorority's constitution and served as its first basileus (president). After graduating in 1908, she remained in nearby Baltimore, Maryland, where she taught English at the high school level.

## Early History

### Founders

The ten founders of Kappa Alpha Psi were Elder Watson Diggs, Ezra D. Alexander, Byron Kenneth Armstrong, Henry Tourner Asher, Marcus Peter Blakemore, Paul Waymond Caine, George Wesley Edmonds, Guy Levis Grant, Edward Giles Irvin, and John Milton Lee.

### Pathway to Indiana

Elder Watson Diggs, a native of Kentucky earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 1908 and enrolled at Howard University a year later to pursue graduate studies in education. His choice of institution may have been Howard's education program, coupled with his cousin, Lucy Diggs Slowe, a recent graduate, who remained in close proximity. In his second year, Diggs met Byron K. Armstrong, a native of Westfield, Indiana, who was pursuing a bachelor's degree. In spring 1910, Armstrong's cousin, Irven, had visited him from Indiana University. He and recruited his cousin to return home the following fall, which he did and Diggs followed suit.

Diggs' decision to move was likely inspired by better prospects for teaching jobs in Indiana if he graduated from a school in state. Three years before he had arrived, the Indiana state legislature had authorized its board of education to establish a normal (primary) school system throughout the state. In 1908, Indiana University established its school of education, to which Diggs enrolled as a transfer student. He earned a masters degree in 1916 and holds the distinction of being the first African American to earn a degree from the graduate school.

Upon arriving in the fall of 1910, Diggs rented a room at a local black-owned boarding house. His housing choices were limited since African-American students were not permitted to live on campus. Housing was just one of the many barriers meant to discourage African-Americans from attending college. Black students were also routinely denied the use of entertainment and recreational facilities. Their sparse numbers led to social isolation.

Recognizing that fraternities, acting as separately incorporated entities, could circumvent some of the university's restrictions, Diggs organized the other ten black students enrolled to consider creating a formal organization. At a meeting in fall of 1910, the ten students enrolled at Indiana University formed Alpha Omega, until the necessary details of structuring a Greek-letter fraternity could be finalized. It is not known on what date Alpha Omega was founded or how much time elapsed before its members met again to solidify and permanently name their newly founded organization. However, records show that the members of Alpha Omega frequently spent time together and that “the depressing isolation earlier experienced was relieved as friendships solidified” among member.

### Establishing the Fraternity

On January 5, 1911, the members of Alpha Omega founded the fraternity under the name Kappa Alpha Nu. It is widely suspected that name selected was a tribute to Alpha Kappa Nu, although there is no definitive evidence. At this meeting, three officers were chosen: Elder Watson Diggs was designated the permanent chairman, John Milton Lee was named secretary, and Byron Kenneth Armstrong was named sergeant-at-arms. Frederick Mitchell, who had been a member of Alpha Omega, did not enroll the spring 1911 semester however, his name was included in the application for incorporation on the hopes that he might return. An additional student who was not a member of Alpha Omega, George W. Edmonds, was present at this January 1911 meeting, bringing the total of founders back to ten. The fraternity was officially incorporated and chartered under the laws of the State of Indiana on May 15, 1911.

### Running the Fraternity

One of the first tasks of the fraternity was securing housing for members, which was accomplished with the rental of a house on Hunter Avenue in Bloomington, Indiana.

From the outset, however, the members of the new fraternity were adamant about distinguishing Kappa Alpha Nu from other fraternities. They sought principles and practices that reflected Christian ideals and adopted achievement as its fundamental purpose. Diggs created the ritual and ceremonial forms for the fraternity, while Armstrong focused on developing the insignia and emblems. They both took their tasks seriously and pursued classes in Greek heraldry and Greek mythology to ensure that they collected enough information to “embody the major considerations.” The name chosen for the new fraternity was Kappa Alpha Nu.

## Contacts

Kappa Alpha Psi maintains a public presence on the web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have an update to this page, please send an email to the Nupepedia Project Team.