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Kappa Alpha Psi, a college Fraternity, now comprised of functioning undergraduate and alumni chapters on major campuses and in the cities throughout the country, is the cyrstalization of a dream. It is the beautiful realization of a vision shared commonly by the late Revered Founder Elder Watson Diggs ("The Dreamer"), John Miltoln Lee, Byron K. Armstrong, Guy L. Grant, Ezra D. Alexander, Henry T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Paul Caine, Edward G. Irvin and George W. Edmunds. It was the vision of these astute men which enabled them in the school year 1910-11, more specifically on the night of January 5, 1911, on the campus of Indiana University at Bloomingtonm Indiana, to sow the seed of a fraternal tree whose fruit is available to, and now enjoyed by, college men everywhere, regardless of their color, religion or national origin. It is a fact of which Kappa Alpha Psi is justly proud that the Constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin. The Constitution of Kappa Alpha Psi is predicated upon , and dedicated to, the principles of achievement through a truly democratic Fraternity.
Chatrered and incorporated originally under the laws of the State of Indiana as Kappa Alpha Nu on April 15, 1911, the name was changed to Kappa Alpha Psi on a resolution offered and adopted at the Fourth Grand Chapter in December 1914. This change became effective April 15, 1915, on a proclamation by the then Grand Polemarch, Elder Watson Diggs. Thus, the acquired a distinctive Greek-letter symbol and Kappa Alpha Psi thereby became a Greek-letter Fraternity in every sense of the designation.
From its inception, and for the next siv years, Brother Diggs served as the Grand Polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi. Through his leadership and indefatigable application, augemented by the efforts of B. K. Armstrong, and John M. Lee, who comprised the remainder of the original Grand Board of Directors, the infant Fraternity was guided throught the most perilous years of its life. Accordingly, much of the credit for the organization's survival through this period is shared by those three men.
From its inception, every endeavor was directed toward establishing the Fraternity upon a strong foundation before embarking on plans of expansion. By the end of the first year, working togeher, Diggs and Armstrong had completed the ritual and had commenced work on the coat-of-arms. Work on the latter was completed during the following summer by Diggs, Armstrong, and Lee while they were pursuing employment at a hotel in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In selecting a subtle motto, Diggs, Armstrong, and Lee solicited the aid of a Professor of Greek Art at Indiana University and a Professor of Greek at Concordia University, now Indiana Technical College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Having adopted a motto which mutually suited them, they carried a sketch of the coat-of-arms to a commercial rngraver in Fort Wayne, from which he made the first metal plate.
For years, in rder to safeguard the ritualistic secrets of the Fraternity, Diggs laboriously typed and bound the rituals. It was not until he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he met an old German printer in whom he had confidence, that he entrusted the esoteric materials of the Fraternity to a commercial printer.
In the spring of 1912 Diggs wrote in a little blue examination book the first Constitution, which was aspoted in 1920 and with but few revisions. This edition remained in use until 1926 when it was supplanted by the codified edition jointly written bu Diggs, J. Ernest Wilkins, and W. Ellis Stewart. In 1957 the Constitution again underwent major revisions.
Now substantially established and provided with a Constitution, Ritual coat-of-arms, motto, and the guiding hand of a dynamic Grand Chapter, the Fraternity was ready for expansion. In the summer of 1912 Diggs visited the University of Illinois at Urnana, Illinois, where he met Earl B. Dickerson, President of the old "Illini Club." This club constituted th enucleus of the University of Illinois Chapter, the Beta, which was chartered on February 8, 1913. Gamma CHapter (later changed to Indianapolis ALumni Chapter) was established on December 29, 1913, followed by the establishment of Delta Chapter at the University of Iowa, on March 7, 1914. The latter was subsequently changed to Gamma Chapter, and the designation of Delta assigned to the Wilberforce University Chapter at Wilberforce, Ohio. Epsilon Chapter, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, was established December 4, 1915, as the first chapter in the East. Elder W. DIggs journeyed from Indiana to give this chapter his personal and official installation, recognition and blessing.
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