Theta Kappa Nu

Theta Kappa Nu
ΘΚΝ

Founded	June 9, 1924
Type	Social Fraternity
Scope	National
Motto	Vir Quisque Vir Est (Every man a man)
Colors	Argent Sable Crimson
Symbol	Syriac numeral eleven
Flower	White Tudor Rose
Chapters	55
Members	<1,000 collegiate ~7,000 lifetime
Union	Merged in 1939 with Lambda Chi Alpha
Headquarters	422 Engineers' Building Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Homepage	http://www.lambdachi.org

Theta Kappa Nu (ΘΚΝ) Fraternity was founded on June 9, 1924 when delegates from eleven local fraternities in nine different states united to form the new fraternity. The meeting took place in Springfield, Missouri. Theta Kappa Nu became the fastest growing fraternity ever, chartering forty chapters with almost 2,500 initiates by the close of 1926.^[1]

Most of Theta Kappa Nu’s chapters had been previously established at small, private colleges as local fraternities. The fraternity placed great emphasis on academics, offering graduate scholarships throughout its history, even during dire financial crises.

The Great Depression hit small colleges, and thus Theta Kappa Nu, very hard. Expansion nearly ceased and chapters began closing in the early 1930s. By the end of the decade fraternity leaders realized that a merger with another fraternity was needed to continue.

Throughout its lifetime, leaders of Theta Kappa Nu had established numerous friendships with those of Lambda Chi Alpha, which had preferred chapters at larger institutions. Initial informal talks quickly led to a formal merger committee. In 1939, Lambda Chi Alpha merged with the Theta Kappa Nu Fraternity in what was regarded as the largest fraternity merger. The ceremony was held at the Howard College, now Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, chapter of Theta Kappa Nu, where the documents were signed.

The union of Lambda Chi Alpha and Theta Kappa Nu was the largest ever in fraternity history, resulting in 105 active chapters and over 27,000 initiates. Theta Kappa Nu’s heritage entered that of the united fraternity with additions to the coat of arms, the white tudor rose as the fraternity flower, a new pledge pin design, a new pledge ceremony (a condensed version of Theta Kappa Nu’s ritual), and the Latin open motto Vir Quisque Vir, or “Every man a man.” It also brought talented leadership to Lambda Chi Alpha that helped steer the united fraternity through the very end of the Depression Era and World War II.

Chapters

The following chapter list is taken from VIR QUISQUE VIR EST (1936/37), the pledge manual of Theta Kappa Nu. It is augmented with the chapter designation assigned by Lambda Chi Alpha at the time of the union in 1939. Where chapters of both fraternities had been chartered at a single institution, the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter designation was retained by the merged chapter and the Theta Kappa Nu designation was reserved in honor of the former chapter. Added to the 1937 list is the Mississippi State chapter, chartered at the last Grand Chapter one day before the merger with Lambda Chi Alpha took effect.

Number	Name	Institution	City	Chartered	Became Inactive	L.C.A Designation	Merged With
	Alabama Alpha	Howard College	Birmingham	Founder		Theta-Alpha
	Florida Alpha	Rollins College	Winter Park	Founder		Theta-Gamma
	Florida Beta	University of Florida	Gainesville	Founder		Theta-Epsilon	Epsilon-Mu
	Indiana Alpha	Hanover College	Hanover	Founder		Theta-Zeta
	Iowa Alpha	Iowa Wesleyan College	Mount Pleasant	Founder		Theta-Iota
	Iowa Beta	Simpson College	Indianola	Founder		Theta-Lambda
	Kansas Alpha	Baker University	Baldwin City	Founder	1932	Theta-Beta
	Missouri Alpha	Drury College	Springfield	Founder		Theta-Sigma
	North Carolina Alpha	North Carolina State College	Raleigh	Founder		Theta-Phi	Gamma-Upsilon
	Oklahoma Alpha	Oklahoma City College	Oklahoma City	Founder		Theta-Delta
	Pennsylvania Alpha	Gettysburg College	Gettysburg	Founder		Theta-Pi
12	Missouri Beta	Westminster College	Fulton	1924	1931	Theta-Omicron
13	Alabama Beta	Birmingham-Southern College	Birmingham	1924		Theta-Mu
14	North Carolina Beta	Wake Forest College	Wake Forest	1924		Theta-Tau
15	Mississippi Alpha	Millsaps College	Jackson	1924		Theta-Eta
16	Massachusetts Alpha	Clark University	Worcester	1925		Theta-Theta
17	New York Alpha	Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn	Brooklyn	1925		Theta-Upsilon
18	Pennsylvania Beta	Thiel College	Greenville	1925		Theta-Xi
19	Illinois Alpha	Eureka College	Eureka	1925		Theta-Chi
20	Indiana Beta	DePauw University	Greencastle	1925	1935	Theta-Omega	Xi
21	Indiana Gamma	Rose Polytechnic Institute	Terre Haute	1925		Theta-Kappa
22	Louisiana Alpha	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge	1925		Theta-Nu	Upsilon
23	Louisiana Beta	Centenary College	Shreveport	1925		Theta-Rho
24	Louisiana Gamma	Louisiana Polytechnic Institute	Ruston	1925		Theta-Psi
25	Ohio Alpha	Marietta College	Marietta	1925		Kappa-Alpha
26	Indiana Delta	Franklin College	Franklin	1925	1932	Kappa-Gamma
27	North Carolina Gamma	University of North Carolina	Chapel Hill	1925		Kappa-Epsilon	Gamma-Nu
28	Pennsylvania Gamma	Washington & Jefferson College	Washington	1925	1931	Kappa-Zeta	Gamma-Zeta
29	Minnesota Alpha	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	1925	1933	Kappa-Iota	Gamma-Omega
30	Michigan Alpha	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor	1925	1933	Kappa-Lambda	Sigma
31	Georgia Alpha	Oglethorpe University	Atlanta	1925	1934	Kappa-Beta
32	New York Beta	Alfred University	Alfred	1925		Kappa-Sigma
33	Ohio Beta	Baldwin-Wallace College	Berea	1926		Kappa-Phi
34	Illinois Beta	University of Illinois	Champaign	1926		Kappa-Delta	Chi
35	Alabama Gamma	Auburn University	Auburn	1926		Kappa-Pi	Omega
36	South Carolina Alpha	Wofford College	Spartanburg	1926		Kappa-Omicron
37	Missouri Gamma	Culver-Stockton College	Canton	1926		Kappa-Mu
38	Virginia Alpha	Randolph-Macon College	Ashland	1926		Kappa-Tau
39	Virginia Beta	Hampden-Sydney College	Hampden Sydney	1926		Kappa-Eta
40	Arkansas Alpha	University of Arkansas	Fayetteville	1926		Kappa-Theta	Gamma-Chi
41	Illinois Gamma	Bradley Polytechnic Institute	Peoria, Illinois	1927		Kappa-Upsilon
42	Pennsylvania Delta	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	1927	1931	Kappa-Xi	Gamma-Epsilon
43	California Alpha	University of California	Berkeley	1928		Kappa-Chi	Mu
44	Kentucky Alpha	Georgetown College	Georgetown	1928		Kappa-Omega
45	Maine Alpha	Colby College	Waterville	1929		Kappa-Kappa	Alpha-Rho
46	Oregon Alpha	Oregon State University	Corvallis	1930		Kappa-Nu	Alpha-Lambda
47	Michigan Beta	Michigan State	East Lansing	1930		Kappa-Rho	Gamma-Omicron
48	Idaho Alpha	College of Idaho	Caldwell	1930		Kappa-Psi
49	Wisconsin Alpha	University of Wisconsin	Madison	1931	1934	Nu-Alpha	Alpha-Beta
50	New York Gamma	Cornell University	Ithaca	1931		Nu-Gamma	Omicron
51	Pennsylvania Epsilon	Muhlenberg College	Allentown	1931		Nu-Epsilon
52	Ohio Gamma	Wittenberg University	Springfield	1932		Nu-Zeta
53	Texas Alpha	Southern Methodist University	Dallas	1932		Nu-Iota	Gamma-Sigma
54	Maryland Alpha	Washington College	Chestertown	1935		Nu-Lambda	Epsilon-Theta[*]
55	Mississippi Beta	Mississippi State College	Starkville	1939		Nu-Beta	Epsilon-Chi

- The Washington College chapter was not allowed by the college administration to merge with the local Lambda Chi Alpha chapter. Instead, it briefly reverted to local status and chartered as the Beta-Eta chapter of Theta Chi fraternity in 1940.^[2]

References

↑ Peyser, Charles (1992). The History of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Indianapolis, IN: The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. p. 45.
↑ Peyser, Charles (1992). The History of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Indianapolis, IN: Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. p. 54.

External links

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