History

Kappa Sigma is the largest college social fraternity in the world with more than 200,000 living members, including over 17,000 undergraduates and 300 chapters and colonies located throughout the United States and Canada. With a long national history marked by leadership, service and achievement, its alumni include presidential candidates, senators, representatives, entertainers, musicians, military officers and influential figures across many fields.

With origins tracing back to the year 1400 in Bologna, Italy, the fraternity has welcomed thousands of brothers since its origination. The first American chapter was founded on December 10th, 1869, at the University of Virginia by the “Five Friends and Brothers”. They included William Grigsby McCormick, George Miles Arnold, Edmund Law Rogers Jr., Frank Courtney Nicodemus, and John Covert Boyd. Kappa Sigma International Headquarters is based in Charlottesville, Virgina.  More information about our national story can be found through our headquarters site.

Chapter History

The Shamrock Club (Shamrocks) originated at the Kansas State Agricultural College in November 1915. After four years of petitioning, they won the unanimous approval of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity’s Supreme Executive Council to become a new chapter, Gamma-Chi, on June 7, 1919.

On the morning of June 7, the men from the Gamma-Nu Chapter, Washburn College, Topeka, oversaw the installation of the 33 Shamrocks into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. At nine o’clock, the first man, Mark Upson, president of the chapter, was initiated and at four-thirty the last Shamrock, Dale Schwartz, was made a Kappa Sigma. With that, Kappa Sigma became the seventh fraternity at Kansas State.

Over 1,757 young men have been initiated into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity since that day in 1919. With this strong base of initiates and a strong base of accomplished alumni, our chapter offers meaningful networking opportunities in nearly every professional field. Gamma-Chi’s long history and continued excellence have shaped a legacy that current members proudly uphold.