(April 1, 2017) 50 years ago, 34 young men were brought to Harrison Hall and initiated into the Bonds of Brotherhood of Kappa Sigma and thus began the Theta-Upsilon Chapter at Miami University of Ohio.
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| Above: A selection from the article about Miami's Installation published in The Caduceus in 1968. Click here to see the full article. |
The journey to bring Kappa Sigma to Miami University actually began in 1906 but it wasn't until 1964 when a transfer student and Kappa Sigma pledge from Butler University named Timothy R. Chase ’67 came to Miami that the idea became a reality. Chase and four other men including Alan Higgins ‘67, Robert Coons ‘67, and Martin Walker ‘67 (Hall of Fame inductee 2012), who had pledged other fraternities at Miami but who had found them lacking, formed a new group for camaraderie. Soon the group had grown to 18 and helped by the dean of men at Miami, Dean William Hollingsworth, a Kappa Sigma Alumnus from Mississippi State) the group formed the Star & Crescent Fraternity and petitioned the Supreme Executive Committee to become an official colony of Kappa Sigma and quickly gained official status with IFC. (Click on the Chapter History tag to see more posts on the chapter history.)
50 years later the Theta-Upsilon Chapter has 1045 living alumni contributing in 100's of professions and local communities, spread throughout the US and the world.
More than 120 alumni will be returning to Oxford on April 28-30 to celebrate the anniversary and remember what the Kappa Sigma experience brought to their lives. To commemorate the founding, the Kappa Sigma Theta-Upsilon Alumni Association has collected dues and donations to donate an ornamental tree (with Miami and Kappa Sigma colors) and plaque which will be installed near the location of the current chapter house.
But in contrast to previous celebrations, alumni will find a vacant chapter house and no active chapter to welcome them back. The charter was removed by the SEC in 2016 after a decade of conduct problems and two membership reviews were unable to return the chapter to acceptable operations. (See past issues of the Fricker Report for more details.)
Theta-Upsilon had been the only chapter of Kappa Sigma in Ohio to have never been closed. Now on the its golden anniversary, the Chapter's alumni will have an opportunity to hear more about the situation and voice their thoughts about whether or not the Chapter will be restarted and the legacy of a Friend and Brother continued at Miami University.
A.E.K.D.B.
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