and Jeff Meletio came to American to establish a chapter. Nearly eighteen months later, after an
untold amount of hardwork and joy, the Kappa Upsilon Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha was installed.
The long road began with Williams and Meletio convincing the school and the Inter-Fraternity
Council to allow Pi Kappa Alpha the chance to begin a colony. With these two gentlemen at the
helm, there was little doubt that they would be successful—and successful they were. Shad and
Jeff hand picked the Alpha class of American University colony, and the colonization process
began. Under the leadership of SMC Mark Egan, things went well for the Colony although over the
summer they lost several members. There is no fall rush for freshmen at American, but they came
back strong taking a small—but superlative—fall pledge class of four, including former Vice
President Jeff Polyak.
The colony pushed on, knowing that they key to establishing themselves as a presence on
campus was the spring rush. Under the orchestration of Phillip Cook, Pike’s spring rush took an
unprecedented nineteen gentlemen—beating every other fraternity in not only size, but quality.
The Gamma class of the colony provided the necessary life blood and vitality that the colony
needed to move forward towards inspection.
The big day came on a Saturday morning in April. There to inspect the colony were Russell
Alexander, Founder’s Region President, Jeff Meletio from the national office, and brothers from
Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University. After a long and stressful six hours, the
verdict came back—American University colony had passed inspection, they would charter in the
fall!
Over the summer, the colony kept in close touch with the help of Jim Krustapentus, Chair of
Internal Communication (Brotherhood). Phillip Cook, who later served as President, and John
Glazier began preparations for the chartering ball and celebration. The fall semester started off
on the right foot, with the induction of the Delta class. Another strong fall rush of five, the Delta
class members underwent a superb pledge program ran by Pledge Educator Michael Miller. The
colony also welcomed back from London Brian Crandall as their new Vice President.
The chartering and installation began on Friday, October 17 with the initiation of all four classes
of the colony. On hand to initiate the colony were brothers from George Washington University,
Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University. Ritual continued on Saturday with part
two of initiation and the installation of the chapter. There to perform the installation were Russell
Alexander and Andy Morse, the immediate past Internation President of the Fraternity.
The ball was held that Saturday evening at the Doubletree Park Terrace in Washington, DC. The
newly installed Kappa Upsilon Chapter celebrated this great moment with dinner and dancing.
There again to deliver the keynote speech was Brother Morse, with additional speeches given by
Brother Alexander and Brother Cook, Kappa Upsilon’s founding President.
In a nine years since the chartering, the Fraternity has grown by leaps and bounds to become
one of the most prominent forces on the campus of American University. In that time, Kappa
Upsilon has won awards for public relations, rush, finance management, scholarship, pledge
education, and was deemed The Most Outstanding Chapter In The Region. In addition, there
have been ten successful pledge classes bringing the chapter close to 75 new brothers.
Kappa Upsilon also has begun to gain an active group of alumni, as most of the Founding Fathers
have gone on to "the real world". While pursuing successful careers, these fine men still take the
time to come back and attend not only the social events, but assist in pledge education as well. In
May 2002, the alumni formed their own association recognized by the national fraternity, which
can be reached by clicking here. Aiding the progress of both active brothers and alumni alike is
the chapter advisor, Steve Broderick. Elected in the Spring 2000 semester, Steve has helped to
make the chapter better than ever before, as well as helping it to achieve national Pike
recognition. Long into the future, there will be men on AU’s campus sewing the meaning of phi phi
kappa alpha into all aspects of life at American.
History of the International Fraternity
Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity is a Greek letter, secret, college, social fraternity. It is
composed of men who share similar ideals of friendship, truth, honor, and loyalty. The Fraternity's
ideals are expressed in the written words and symbols of a secret ritual. These ideals and
members' ability to maintain the visions of the Fraternity's founders are the great moral legacy of
Pi Kappa Alpha.
Pi Kappa Alpha was founded at the University of Virginia on March 1, 1868. At the time, the
University of Virginia was the fifth largest school in the United States. Only Harvard, Yale, Cornell
and Michigan were bigger. The University of Virginia is considered the first truly American state
university because it was the first to be established totally free from religious control.
It all started in Room 47 West Range when Frederick Southgate Taylor turned to Littleton Waller
Tazewell, his cousin and roommate, for help in starting a new fraternity. Also present was James
Benjamin Sclater, Jr., a schoolmate of Tazewell, and Sclater's roommate Robertson Howard.
Those four men voted to add a fifth to their group and chose Julian Edward Wood. Although
history is unclear, William Alexander, probably a friend of Sclater, Jr., was proposed for
membership and was admitted as a founder. The first initiate was Augustus Washington Knox.
The essence of the Founders' vision for Pi Kappa Alpha can be found in its Preamble. A
committee was first suggested by Brother William Alexander "to draw up a statement of the origin
and the organization of the Fraternity." The committee was composed of brothers Robertson
Howard and Littleton Waller Tazewell. The resulting statement is now referred to as the Preamble.
"For the establishment of friendship on a firmer and more lasting basis,
for the promotion of brotherly love and kind feeling;
for the mutual benefit and advancement of the interests of those
with whom we sympathize and deem worthy of our regard;
we have resolved to form a fraternity,
believing that thus we can most successfully accomplish our object."
-Robertson Howard
-Julian Edward Wood
-James Benjamin Sclater, Jr.
-Frederick Southgate Taylor
-Littleton Waller Tazewell (Bradford)
-William Alexander
The years after the Civil War found a proliferation of American college fraternities being
organized, particularly in the South. Pi Kappa Alpha's founding in 1868 was soon followed by the
founding of Kappa Sigma and Sigma Nu. These fraternities, along with Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa
Alpha Order, and Sigma Phi Epsilon, are known as the "Virginia Circle".
Before the end of Spring 1868, the brothers had decided that they wanted more than a Virginia
society. They wanted to become a national fraternity. The following 21 years would prove to be
some of the most troublesome times, nearly shattering the dreams of these young men. With
universities making it nearly impossible for fraternities to exist by placing bans on the presence of
secret societies, the Fraternity was still able to expand. The second chapter, Beta (Davidson
College), had even voted to dispand saying in a letter to the president of the college, "we have
disbanded our chapter and we do not intend to carry it on unless we can do it openly and above
board, as we regard its ties too sacred for other procedure."
Nearly two years later, the third chapter, Gamma (William & Mary), was established. During the
years that followed until 1889, there would be a total of ten charters granted; however, only five
remained active. This was the year of a most important convention. The Hampden-Sydney
Convention brought the likes of Theron Hall Rice, a transfer to Virginia from Southwestern, who
represented Alpha; Howard Bell Arbuckle, a recent graduate and then a teaching fellow at
Hampden-Sydney, who represented Iota; and John Shaw Foster, a delegate from Theta Chapter
at Southwestern (now Rhodes College). Lambda at the Citadel was to have been represented by
Robert Adger Smythe, but a telegram from Charleston explained, "no holiday given us. Impossible
to come. Act for us in everything." This convention is of major importance, as it is considered the
rebirth of the Fraternity. Together, Theron Rice, Howard Arbuckle, Robert Smythe, and John
Foster came to be known as the Junior Founders.
Another pivotal event in the Fraternity's history is the 1933 Troutdale Convention. At this meeting,
the national organization was restructured. Former national officer titles were replaced with simple
ones, the number of national officers was increased, and the Fraternity established the executive
secretary (later executive director, now executive vice president) as a paid professional
administrator. The year marked the end of direct regular service by two junior founders, Arbuckle
and Smythe. The period of the Junior Founders had passed and Pi Kappa Alpha looked forward
to a new generation of leaders.
