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Rick Hoffman's Lambda Sigma Kappa Fraternity Pin
Lambda Sigma Kappa Fraternity Pin: “All For One – One For All,” Motto
Lambda Sigma Kappa Fraternity Pin: “All For One – One For All,” Motto
Donor: Rick Hoffman, Class of 1969, Tom Jones, Class of 1963
Lambda Sigma Kappa years: 1923-1976
Author: Amy Thompson Leigh, Class of 1982
Web Page Designer: Brayden Moeves, Class of 2024
Lambda Sigma Kappa was a social fraternity for Highlands boys but was not a school-sanctioned club.
The fraternity consisted only of Highlands boys who were extended an invitation for membership (usually during freshman year) by upperclassmen who were members.
Once a boy became a pledge, he had to undergo weeks of pledging, including some hazing (usually from September to November). Each pledge was required to wear a white dress shirt to school daily, with a Lambda Sigma Kappa black tie and pledge pin. To the right, is a photo of pledge Tom Jones, Class of 1963, wearing his pledge tie and a fireman's hat bearing the Lambda Sigma Chi letters (1960). Pledges had to wear these fireman's hats (which had a blinking light on top) to football games, so actives could easily find them to attend to their needs.
Pledge Tom Jones, Class of 1963
The pledges had to memorize certain scripts that had to be recited to active members whenever requested. One such script was when an active member asked a pledge, “What time is it?” In response, the pledge had to respond with an answer that went something like this, “Sir, I am deeply embarrassed and greatly humiliated that due to unforeseen circumstances over which I have no control, due to the inner workings and the hidden mechanisms of my chronometer, I can only guess the time is 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.” (Obviously, the approximate time stated varied according to the actual time).
Pledging ended with “Hell Night” which included pledges being dropped off alone in a remote location in NKY to be picked up sometime later by the actives. Initiation followed, which led to full membership in the fraternity.
Lambda Sigma Kappa was one of many fraternities the Highlands boys joined in the 1920’s- 1960’s. The advertisement sections of each yearbook show other fraternities: Omega Phi Delta, and Chi Sigma Chi. However, the “Lambdas” were the first fraternity established locally and had maintained their charter the longest. Below, is a sponsorship ad from the 1956 yearbook.
The Lambda Sigma Kappas had a clubhouse in Highland Hills Park at the very end of the park at the end of Mayfield Avenue. They held meetings in the clubhouse, with the main purpose being social plans and teenage shenanigans, such as toilet papering a house or egging a target of some sort. Below, is an article from the 1957 Highlander Yearbook about the new Lambda Sigma Kappa Fraternity House.
Yearbook ad from 1956 for Lamda Sigma Kappa
1957 Highlander article about the Lambda Sigma Kappa fraternity house
Lambda Sigma Kappa, fraternity, Class of 1969
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