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History of Kappa-Omega Zeta |
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History of Kappa-Omega Zeta |
The Georgetown Greek system owes its founding to Joseph Judson Taylor, President of the college from 1903 to 1907. Taylor was narrowly elected by a board of trustees which was bitterly split on the future of college.
It was an era when a new religious fundamentalism was spreading through many churches
and their institutions, a reaction to secular humanism which was perceived to be sweeping
the nation's colleges and culture. The theory of evolution was a major battle front between
these two philosophies. Many "Christian liberal-arts" colleges, such as Harvard and Yale,
had cut ties with their faith heritage and were perceived by many as having been
"infested" with secular-humanism.
Fearing the same would occur at Georgetown, about half of the board of trustees were considering dropping the college's liberal-arts curriculum in favor of a "Bible-centered" program, effectively converting Georgetown to a "Bible college." The other half believed the college could continue its liberal-arts program and still maintain its Christian heritage. The "liberals" on this evenly-split board narrowly elected Taylor in 1903.
Taylor's short term as president would include several "moves" to make Georgetown look more like a liberal-arts college and less like a "Bible college." He hired a paid coach for all sports teams, which had previously functioned as clubs with little or no support from the college. He organized the first basketball teams for both men and women. He also hired a Biology professor, which may have seemed "liberal" to some, as college Biologist were seen as primary proponents of the theory of evolution (though the one Taylor hired most likely did not). Taylor also started the national fraternity system at Georgetown.
[Photo: J. J. Taylor, from online college archives]
It is safe to say that Taylor was "solely responsible" for starting the fraternity system at Georgetown, as this was a very unlikely event for the times. The college had proven itself "anti-fraternity" by twice banning the FDQ chapter which briefly existed in the 1800's. Some colleges, church-related and secular, which had allowed fraternities over the previous century were aggressively attempting to rid their campuses of the Greek system. Baptist colleges in particular were noted for their anti-fraternity stance. Had someone suggested starting fraternities at Georgetown the year before Taylor arrived, most would have considered it a joke.
At the same time it was highly unlikely that any national fraternity in existence would
have considered chartering at Georgetown. Most national fraternity offices were receiving
plenty of applications for charters in the early 1900s and were becoming highly selective
when choosing campuses to which to expand. An application from a group of students at
a small, unknown, Baptist, historically anti-fraternity campus in Kentucky would have
been immediately discarded by most. Convincing the first national fraternity to charter
is often the most difficult
However Taylor was able to pull it off. He first contacted the national office of the Kappa Alpha Order. It is not surprising that KA was the first successful fraternity at Georgetown, since Taylor himself was an alumnus of the KA chapter at his alma-mater, the University of Richmond. As a KA alumnus and the president of the college, Taylor's request for a chapter was granted in 1904. KA was a southern fraternity which limited its expansion to "below the Mason-Dixon line" at the time.
With one fraternity established, Taylor then approached PKA,
another southern fraternity, about establishing a chapter. Though he was not a "Pi Kap" alum,
with total support from the college president and the existence of a chapter of another
southern fraternity, PKA's headquarters granted a charter to
Georgetown in 1906.
With two fraternities on campus, it seems Taylor was not about to stop. At that time the usual method for getting a chapter of a national fraternity was to start a local fraternity which would "prove" its viability by operating successfully for four or more years. National fraternities naturally did not want to charter a chapter which would "fold" soon thereafter, usually upon the graduation of the local's founders. So Taylor founded a local fraternity called Lambda Mu, for which he probably intended to obtain a charter with a third national fraternity.
However Taylor's relationship with the conservative members of the board of trustees never improved. No doubt a few were upset with Taylor's new policies, including starting fraternities. So Taylor resigned as president of the college in 1907. Lambda Mu would never obtain a charter and would eventually die out, but KA and PKA would maintain the Greek system at Georgetown until it was briefly banned in 1921.
[Images: KA and PKA Coat-of-Arms taken from the Belle of the Blue]
[Editor's note: More information on this topic is obviously available elsewhere, so this is brief ]
Shortly after Taylor left the presidency of Georgetown College, a student named Warren Albert Cole matriculated at Boston University, first as a law school student, then as an undergraduate. Involved with social fraternities in high school and law school, he found it impossible to be accepted by any general fraternity at Boston.
The boom in student enrollment and the number of "rushees" lead fraternity chapters
to become so highly-selective that they often limited new members to legacies,
men whose father or older brother had been a member. First-generation students
like Cole had no elder familiy members who were college, much less fraternity, alumni.
In 1909 Cole set about starting a new national fraternity which he called Lambda Chi Alpha. At times Cole was practically the only active member for the first three years. But six chapters would be added to Boston's Alpha chapter in 1912 and early 1913. The first assembly of chapter delegates, called the Second General Assembly, occurred on March 22, 1913, and would be so significant in its work that it is celebrated annually as LCA's Founders Day.
LCA formed a Union with the QKN fraternity in 1939, the largest such merger in the history of national fraternities. QKN chapters were re-chartered as LCA chapters, including the one at Georgetown College. LCA has since grown to be one of the largest national fraternities in existence today with over 200 active chapters in the U.S. and Canada.
[Photo: Early LCA Coat of Arms, taken from the internet]
