The Kappa Alpha Society () is a North American social college fraternity. Founded in 1825, it was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest continuously active national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad (along with Sigma Phi and Delta Phi) that pioneered the North American system of social fraternities.
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 2026, there are five active chapters, three in the United States and two in Canada.Baird,
This organization is not to be confused with the Kappa Alpha Order, a completely separate national fraternity founded in 1865.
History In 1823, John Hart Hunter, Isaac Wilber Jackson, and Thomas Hun, who were students at Union College in Schenectady, New York, established an informal group called The Philosophers. That group became the Kappa Alpha Society on . Besides those listed above, its founders were Joseph Anthony Constant, John McGeoch, Orlando Meads, and James Proudfit of the class of , and Arthur Burtis and Joseph Law of the class of .
The Kappa Alpha Society 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:
On June 23, 1827, the society decided to adopted a membership emblem which takes the form of a medal.
Kappa Alpha unsuccessfully attempted to expand to Hamilton College in fall 1830. That same year, they published their first catalog. KA later successfully expanded to Williams College in 1833, led by Azariah S. Clark of the class of 1834. Clark and Alexander Hyde had traveled to Union College to obtain a charter for Phi Beta Kappa, and instead returned with one for Kappa Alpha.
In 1925, a gate was dedicated at Union College's Jackson Gardens, named after Kappa Alpha co-founder Isaac W. Jackson, Class of 1826, to commemorate the fraternity's 100th anniversary.
In 2000, the fraternity agreed to restore the Kappa Alpha gate at Union College.
In September 2025, the 200th anniversary of the fraternity was celebrated at Union College in New York.
Chapters Following is a list of the active and inactive chapters of the Kappa Alpha Society, with active chapters indicated in bold and inactive chapters in italics. Chapters are designated with an abbreviation of the institution's Latin name.
Chapter Letters Charter date and range Institution Location Status New York Alpha CC – ; Union College Schenectady, New York Active Massachusetts Alpha CG – Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts Inactive New York Beta CH – ; –; Hobart College Geneva, New York Active New Jersey Alpha CNC – ; – Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey Inactive Virginia Alpha VV – University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia Inactive New York Gamma VC – ; – Cornell University Ithaca, New York Inactive Ontario Alpha VT University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario Active Pennsylvania Alpha VL – Lehigh University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Inactive Quebec Alpha VM – ; –; – McGill University Montreal, Quebec Inactive Pennsylvania Beta VP University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Active Ontario Beta VOO University of Western Ontario London, Ontario Active Connecticut Alpha VW – ; – Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut Inactive Alberta Alpha VA – University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Inactive Alberta Beta VAC – University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Inactive Nova Scotia Alpha VD – Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia Inactive
Notes
Membership
The Kappa Alpha Society has produced a substantial number of notable members in widely varied fields throughout its 200-year history.
A catolog of members was published in 1892 and published under the name Kappa Alpha Record in 1925 and 1941.
The Union and Wesleyan chapters were co-educational, that is, having male and female members in the recent past. There are currently no co-educational chapters.
See also List of social fraternities and sororities Triad (fraternities)
Further reading Kappa Alpha Society. (1881). A biographical record of the Kappa Alpha Society in Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.: From its foundation to the present time. 1831-1881. New York, NY: S. W. Green's Son. Kappa Alpha Society. (2002). A directory of Kappa Alpha 2002: 175th anniversary edition. Purchase, NY: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company. Tarleton, Robert S. (1993). The Spirit of Kappa Alpha: The oldest Greek-letter social fraternity in prose, poetry and picture. New York, NY: John Hart Hunter Press. The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1950). Directory of the Kappa Alpha Society 1950. St. Albans, VT: The North Country Press. The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1960). Kappa Alpha Record 1825-1960. Utica, NY: Thomas J. Griffiths Sons. The Executive Council of The Kappa Alpha Society. (1976). Kappa Alpha Record 1825-1976: Sesquicentennial edition. Ithaca, NY: Art Craft Printers.
References