Kappa Alpha Society
The Kappa Alpha Society (), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad. While several fraternities claim to be the oldest, Baird's Manual states that has maintained a continuous existence since its foundation, making it the oldest undergraduate fraternity that exists today. As of 2022, there are five active chapters in the United States and Canada. History. According to Baird's Manual , nine undergraduates at Union College in Schenectady, New York—John Hart Hunter, John McGeoch, Isaac W. Jackson, Thomas Hun, Orlando Meads, James Proudfit, and Joseph Anthony Constant of the class of , and Arthur Burtis and Joseph Law of the Class of —established the Society on from an informal group calling itself The Philosophers, which was established by Hunter, Jackson, and Hun in 1823. The organization represents the middle link between secret societies, literary societies, and Greek-letter organizations like Phi Beta Kappa. In the words of founding member Arthur Burtis: The first expansion of the Society took place in at  Williams College at the request of fourteen students led by Azariah S. Clark of the class of 1834. The Kappa Alpha Society, emulated by Sigma Phi (est. ) and Delta Phi (est. ), constitute the Union Triad, the pioneers of the North American system of social fraternities. This organization is not to be confused with the Kappa Alpha Order, a completely separate national fraternity. Chapters. Chapters are designated with an abbreviation of the institution's Latin name. Active groups indicated in bold, inactive groups indicated by "italics". ! No. ! Designation ! Installation Dates and Active Years ! Chapter ! Institution ! Location ! Status ! References Kappa Alpha Society