Theta Chapter - History

"No Chapter of the Fraternity, not even Alpha, has had a greater impress on her history."

- Freeman Hansford Hart, The History of Pi Kappa Alpha (1934)

Facing the adventure of leaving home and starting a new stage of life in college, two young men met on a train headed for Stewart College in Clarksville, Tennessee. The year was 1877, and the world in which the two grew up was, needless to say, a very different place. Unlike students beginning their undergraduate studies in the fall of 2003, Llewellyn Price and Charles Mallard had no concept of such modern conveniences as the internet, cellular communication, or travel by airplane. For that matter, the radio and the automobile were still unknowns, and Alexander Graham Bell’s famous first telephone with his assistant had only taken place during the previous year. America was not a country of 50 states, but of 38. The Statue of Liberty had not yet adorned the New York City skyline. The miracle cure of penicillin was 50 years away. The two travelers no doubt carried matches to light candles for their studies since Thomas Edison would not patent his electric light bulb until 1879. However, in a little over a year, a common factor between this time and the present would emerge. Price and Mallard would be members of an organization of men banded together as brothers for life, known by the name Theta Chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

Price, from Vicksburg, Mississippi, and mallard, a native of New Orleans, became friends while traveling to their new home. After arriving in Clarksville and becoming acquainted with college life, they considered the social opportunities afforded by joining a Greek organization, but they were unimpressed by the one fraternity currently operating on campus. During this time of adjustment, the college changed its name to Southwestern Presbyterian University, and Price and mallard became acquainted with a fellow student named James Howerton, who had come to Clarksville from Kentucky. Howerton also expressed an interest in what Greek life had to offer, and the three friends began correspondence with students attending other institutions in order to find out the qualities and reputations of Greek Societies on those campuses.

Into the Second Decade

Now a decade into its existence, Pi Kappa Alpha was in an aggressive campaign of expansion, directed by the founding chapter, Alpha, at the University of Virginia. Many charters were discussed, and prospective establishment at Southwestern Presbyterian and at the University of Louisiana/Louisiana Medical College (Known today as Tulane University) was being pursued simultaneously. In March of 1878, Alpha initiate Henry Dickson Bruns was given permission to initiate a friend of his attending Louisiana, and the Eta name was at least preliminarily assigned to the Louisiana location; even though that chapter was not officially chartered until January 14, 1879.

Some of the five new chapters were not as successful as Alpha had hoped, and were forced to disband after being issued a charter, due to financial hardship or institutional restrictions.

In the meantime, another Alpha member named Eli Bemiss befriended the three inquisitive students at Southwestern Presbyterian, and on October 21, 1878, Alpha granted a charter to the newly christened chapter under the designation of Theta. Distance prevented any Alpha member from attending the installation in person, so the chartering documents were mailed to Clarksville and Price, Mallard and Howerton took turns in administering the oath of membership to one another. Therefore, while Theta follows Eta alphabetically, Theta is the Fraternity’s seventh chapter. Due to this situation, Alpha requested approval from the membership of Theta before allowing the name Eta for the men at Louisiana. Theta agreed, and by the end of the University’s session, Theta’s charter members would initiate seven additional men into the bonds of brotherhood. Although new to the campus and the Fraternity, the chapter made a conscious decision to remain selective and only added four members to their roster in the following semester.

Difficult Times

Just as Theta was strengthening its roots and growing its membership, prospects for the Fraternity as a while began a downward turn. By May of 1880, only Theta and the Grand Chapter remained. In the academic year that followed, Alpha only initiated three new members and communicated its discouragement to Theta by opening discussion about merging with another more established national fraternity. Theta responded by purchasing “the full initiatory regalia” which previously had not been affordable for the chapter. They consequently inducted many new members and informed Alpha of reluctance to join any other organization, and offered to serve as the Grand Chapter if Alpha was resolute in its decision.

Despite its steadfast optimism, Theta also began to lose heart by spring of 1881. Chapter minutes record debates regarding Alpha’s proposition, and neither chapter pursued new members during that semester. Following that spring, both chapters experienced successive periods of alternation strength and discouragement, and research concerning a prospective merger was begun again. A renewed interest in expansion during the 1883-84 academic year helped to dampen thoughts of extinction, and advice from the alumni of each chapter was strongly negative toward any sort of merger. Alumni response was so strong, in fact, that the option of dissolution was dropped.

With varying degree of success, Alpha and Theta attempted to plant chapters at other institutions. Theta continued to send annual dues to the Grand Chapter, and encouraged the adoption of official colors in order to establish a distinctive personality in the fraternity world. The expansion effort, while heartfelt, was met with many obstacles, and the two chapters began to quarrel. Neither could decide which one was making the greatest effort of cooperation with full enthusiasm. Theta then began negotiations with another fraternity, going so far as to write a proposal and present it to Alpha, but Alpha did not agree. The question of a merger was present through the summer, but new initiates in fall of 1884 brought a strong new class to Theta, giving it more hope for a future. Another national fraternity began lobbying to take of the chapters as it struggled, but Theta’s minutes recorded that the membership voted to “stick to dear old Pi Kappa Alpha like a leech.” In the wake of the proposed takeover, Theta and Alpha agreed to put aside their differences and work together to the best of their abilities in order to keep the Fraternity alive.

Staying the Course

Early after beginning the 1885-86 sessions at Southwestern Presbyterian, Theta again profited from an encouraging class of new initiates and decided to no longer consider the possibility of merging with another organization. From that point on, Theta would be a chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha or else its members would voluntarily leave Greek life entirely. The stand would prove to be a bold one, considering the events that lay ahead. Much later, Theron Hall Rice would write about Theta during this period that there was an “unwritten law among the men of that chapter never to ask a man to join them who had not been asked by all the other clubs on the campus.” The aim of Theta was clear, however uncertain its future.

In the fall of 1885, Alpha responded to Theta’s request to expand the Fraternity to new schools by sending a supply of blank charters to be used by Theta as it saw fit. Thus, Theta then assumed the responsibilities of the Grand Chapter. Also that fall, Theta initiate Richard Markus Kennedy had left the chapter to pursuer a degree from Union Theological Seminary at Hampden-Sydney, Virginia. Kennedy’s genial personality extended to the undergraduate population of neighboring Hampden-Sydney College, and he quickly worked to establish a new chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha on that campus. Serving as Grand Chapter, Theta granted a charter to Hampden-Sydney, and Iota Chapter initiated its first members on November 14, 1885.

Theta extended its new administrative duties by organizing a convention in Louisville and reviving Zeta Chapter, although Zeta only survived through the ongoing academic term and again went silent. The convention in Louisville proved to be both a time of bonding for Theta and Iota, as well as a time for political struggle. Alpha and Theta vied for dominance in decision-making and Iota was caught in the middle as the newest chapter, while still having strong ties to Theta. During this convention, Iota exhibited leadership in proposing that the Fraternity should be accepting of expansion across the nation. The desire for a regular schedule of conventions was also expressed.

The establishment of Iota at Hampden-Sydney proved to be providential, for it was on that campus that the convention known as the “re-founding” of Pi Kappa Alpha occurred in 1889. Theron Hall Rice, who transferred to Virginia from Theta, and John Shaw Foster, Theta’s own delegate, were present, and became two of the four Junior Founders as they are known today (along with Howard Bell Arbuckle representing Iota and Robert Adger Smythe from Lambda at the Citadel). At the re-founding, a council was set up to replace the authority of a “Grand Chapter,” and geographic limitations concerning expansion were again debated. Consensus on the design of the badge and regalia were also discussed, as was the need for a formal publication.

In the fall of 1889, only one man, John Shaw Foster, returned to Southwestern Presbyterian as a member of Theta Chapter. Vigorous alumni, however, came to the aid of Theta and helped Foster initiate new men, keeping Theta alive.

Moving Ahead

Flash forward about a hundred years Theta continued to hold ground on a small four-year liberal arts college in the south. In the intervening time, the college had experienced a move from Clarksville to Memphis along with a name change with its move in 1925 to Southwestern at Memphis. In 1984 the college again changed its name to Rhodes College. As with most national fraternities the chapter experienced periods of growth followed by periods of difficulty. A lean membership during the early 80s gave way to an upsurge in new initiates as the decade wore on, and Pi Kappa Alpha because a domination presence on the Rhodes campus by 1989. Today, Theta’s biggest hardship is wrangling a pledge class that is as large as its active membership – an enviable, yet daunting position. At a college of only 1,600 students and a fall rush pool of a little over 150 men, Theta pledged its largest class on record – 36 men.

At a reception coinciding with the College’s homecoming weekend in October 2003, Theta observed its 125^th anniversary as Pi Kappa Alpha’s oldest continually existing chapter. The actives attribute the chapter’s longevity to one quality that has held fast throughout existence – it cannot be defined by a single characteristic. The membership consists of Athletes, of scholars, of gentlemen, of a combination of the three or some indescribable other. Despite any differences, they continue to grow through interaction as a group of “men banded together as brothers for life,” teaching each brother in turn a lesson he might learn and assimilate, in order to become a more complete person. This is a testament to the great name of Pi Kappa Alpha.

"No Chapter of the Fraternity, not even Alpha, has had a greater impress on her history."

Into the Second Decade

Difficult Times

Staying the Course

Moving Ahead

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