Since being established in 1869 at the University of Virginia, Kappa Sigma has become the largest college social fraternity in the world, with over 17,000 undergraduates and 300 chapters and colonies through the United States and Canada.
Although brought to the United States in 1869, Kappa Sigma was first established in the year 1400 at the University of Bologna by Greek scholar and professor Manuel Chrysoloras. Chrysoloras and his disciples formed the secret society for mutual protection against physical attack and robbery from the tyrant governor of the city of Bologna. The members of this society were brought together through secret signs, ritual, and brotherhood that has lasted to the current day. Through the Renaissance, Kappa Sigma spread throughout other great universities of Europe, and by the 1800s, the organization spread to America.
On a cold December night, December 10th, 1869, five friends and brothers met at 46 East Lawn to draft a constitution and founded the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at the University of Virginia, and established the Zeta chapter. The five friends: William Grigbsy McCormick, Frank Courtney Nicodemus, Edmund Law Rogers Jr, John Covert Boyd, and George Miles Arnold, understood the need for formal structure of their brotherhood to pursue their ultimate goal of the Pursuit of Learning.These five friends took an oath to preserve their secret work and the original traditions through ritual. This ritual is still practiced today by all members of Kappa Sigma, and bonds those involved through brotherhood.
Stephan Alonzo Jackson and Expansion Known as “The Golden Hearted Virginian,” Jackson expanded Kappa Sigma beyond the University of Virginia, and established chapters at smaller colleges throughout the South. The fraternity first expanded to seven other colleges: Duke University, Washington and Lee College, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Emory and Henry College, University of Maryland, and Mercer University. Jackson was the Grand Master of the Zeta chapter at the University of Virginia, and then called for a “Grand Convention,” in Baltimore of 1876. During this convention, which was later called the “Grand Conclave,” Jackson was named the “Permanent Worthy Grand Master,” of the Supreme Executive Committee and oversaw the Fraternity as a whole.
On December 6th, 2008 Kappa Sigma was officially established at Colorado State University by the original Pi-Xi Executive Committee: Ray Daniel, Marcus Coldiron, Jeff Elliot, Cody Chacon, and Ben Lythgoe. Pi-Xi became the 330th Chapter to be chartered in the Fraternity and the original letter sent by the Supreme Executive Committee is still available for viewing at the current chapter house. By 2009, the chapter grew to 30+ members, and continued to grow, currently the chapter has over 120 active undergraduate members. In 2017, the first official chapter house was established at 801 S Shields Street. In 2023, the chapter house was moved to the current house, at 406 W Laurel St.