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Kappa Alpha Order founded at Washington College

When
1865–1868
Where
Washington College; Virginia Military Institute
Episodes
3

Kappa Alpha Order was founded at Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, on December 21, 1865, initially as Phi Kappa Chi. The group changed its name to Kappa Alpha by April 1866 due to similarities with another fraternity. The organization modeled itself as a Christian knighthood, emphasizing virtues such as honor and integrity, and established its first chapter at Washington College before expanding to nearby institutions.

Episodes

  1. 1865-12-21 · Washington CollegeFounding at Washington College

    Kappa Alpha Order was founded as Phi Kappa Chi on December 21, 1865, at Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, by founders including Wood.

  2. 1866-04 · Washington CollegeName Change to Kappa Alpha

    The name Phi Kappa Chi was changed to Kappa Alpha by April 1866 due to a protest from the Phi Kappa Psi chapter.

  3. 1868 · Virginia Military InstituteEstablishment of Beta Chapter

    A second chapter, Beta, was established at the Virginia Military Institute in 1868, adjacent to Washington College.

Background and detail

Founding. The order was founded on December 21, 1865, as Phi Kappa Chi. The name was changed to Kappa Alpha by April 1866 following a protest from the Washington College chapter of Phi Kappa Psi regarding the similarity of names. The new ritual and constitution modeled the organization as a Christian knighthood, focusing on character, honor, and duty. The founding members enrolled at Washington College in the spring semester of 1866.

Early Expansion. The Alpha chapter at Washington College governed the fraternity until 1870. A second chapter, Beta, was established at the adjacent Virginia Military Institute in 1868. Additional chapters were founded at Wofford College, Emory University, and Randolph–Macon College in 1869. The order initially spread in the Southern United States, with membership growing significantly by the end of the nineteenth century.

Sources

  1. Kappa Alpha Order Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.