Kappa Journal (Senior Kappas Edition)

100 YEARS

COVER STORY

was an impossibility. The chapter was a recognized student organization and continually in good standing with the university since its chartering. Brother Jesse A. Reed, Jr. (Iota 1935) penned an insightful article on Iota Chapter and the UChicago IFC in the August 1937 issue of NAACP publi- cation, The Crisis which further illus- trated racist motivations for the council rejection:

until we needed legal, professional or frater- nal advice.” Chicago (IL) Alumni granted the city’s two undergraduate chapters, Iota and the Lewis Institute (now Illinois Institute of Technology) Chapter, the Alpha Rho of Kappa Alpha Psi ® access to the house for chapter meetings, smaller social events, fellowship, smokers (now called informa- tional meetings), scroller meetings, and initiations. The “Kastle on Ellis” was a re- alization of a chapter goal for Iota since its chartering in 1918; a fraternity house. For a $1.00 per month for financial members of bothAlpha Rho and Iota, brothers could purchase a key to the house and have full access to the facility. Both chapters had to coordinate their house activities with Chi- cago (IL) Alumni and house rules had to be adhered to but nevertheless the house was the place to be if you were a Kappa in 1950s and 1960s Chicago. Brother James “J.P.” Malone (Iota 1958) recalled, “ we (undergraduate brothers) always re- spected the house and had to follow the rules for house set by the alumni brothers. If we broke the rules, the alumni brothers would lock us out .” Brother Brazil added one constant rule for the house: “ Clean up after yourself. If we (undergraduates) had an event at the house, no brother can leave until the house was straightened up and trash was collected. After a party, our girl- friends had to wait for us while we cleaned the house .” For Iota, the house was such a source of pride, the chapter included the photos of the house and its location in fra- ternity brochures the university published for incoming students. The House on Ellis changed Iota in two distinct areas. First, the majority of chapter activities, over time, shifted from campus to the house. In the years prior to 4752 South Ellis, Iota used campus facilities such as Reynolds Club and Ida Noles Hall to hold chapter meetings. By the end of the 1950s, the chapter had less need for campus facili- ties and correspondingly a reduced pres- ence on UChicago campus. This reduced presence would become problematic in the succeeding years.

as undergraduate chapters across Kappa Alpha Psi® experienced reduced mem- bership numbers due to eligible college aged men joining the U.S. military. After the war, the continuance of this arrange- ment worked for the fraternity as these schools may not had have sufficient num- bers to support a chapter of their own. Throughout the 1940s, chapter members from other area schools would commute to the UChicago campus where the chap- ter continued hold activities and chapter meetings. In October 1951, the Chicago (IL) Alum- ni Chapter purchased a four-story resi- dential property located in the Kenwood neighborhood approximately ten blocks north of the UChicago campus. Located at 4752 South Ellis, the chapter utilized the two top floors as rental property while the first floor and basement quickly be- came the “center of the universe” for Kappa Alpha Psi ® in Chicago. The fra- ternity house had a large bar, game room, and meeting room in the basement while the main level had rooms for smaller groups, a room with a baby grand pi- ano, and a large powder room for ladies. Brother Robert D. Brazil (Iota 1958) re- called, “ The Kappa House was divided more by card table than chapter. The Alumni played poker, with some undergraduates, and the Undergraduates played Bridge and Blackjack. The three tables were active for long hours with plenty of language that was suitable for members only. ” It was routine for undergraduate brothers to see Founder Edward G. Irvin, Grand Polemarch C. Rodger Wilson, past Grand Polemarchs, North Central Province Polemarchs, na- tional committee chairs, judges, physi- cians, attorneys, and school principals re- laxing, meeting, and fellowshipping at the House on Ellis. Brother Brazil continued: 4752 South Ellis

“ These (no residency in a fra- ternity house) were not the real grounds for rejecting the ap- plication, however. Those who

to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hansberry’s attorney in this case was the fifth Grand Polemarch Earl B. Dickerson. Dickerson’s legal team was primarily comprised of fellow University of Chicago Law School graduates and Iota in- itiates: Irvin C. Mollison (Iota 1919), Loring B. Moore (Iota 1919) and Truman K. Gibson (Iota 1930). The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Carl Hans- berry and the case set the stage for further civil rights litigation which ultimately led to the ban of restrictive housing covenant contracts and eventually opened previ- ously barred neighborhoods and housing to minority buy- ers in cities across the United States. While not a party in Hansberry vs Lee , the verdict was a significant setback for UChicago and one delivered by the alumni of its own law school. The university’s inter- ests were aligned with the neighborhood organizations that imposed the restrictive covenants. The university’s alleged strategy was to protect the campus by “buffering” surrounding neighborhoods of Woodlawn, Washington Park and Hyde Park thus restricting the growth popu- lation of African Americans in neighborhoods near its campus. Members comprising the first era of the chapter were almost exclusively UChicago students. By start of WWII, the chapter demographics changed as students from other Chicago area schools were allowed to pledge the fraternity via the Iota Chapter. The chapter even- tually morphed into a “citywide undergraduate chapter” with nearby schools such as DePaul University, Chi- cago Teachers College (now Chicago State University), George Williams College, and Chicago Musical College were all under the chapter charter. Additional schools supporting Iota was advantageous during the war years Second Era of Iota Chapter 1942-1963

voted consistently against our affiliation were afraid that members of Kappa Alpha Psi ® would attend the inter-fraternity ball and thus keep the affair from being ‘lily white.’ Unfortunately, the Iota officers were assured that the chapter would be admitted immediately if it signed away its rights and privileges. But the chapter would not do so. Between membership in I-F and signing an ignominious agreement which would haunt other Negro fraternities in other schools and be a bad precedent, both our undergraduate officers and members and national officers of the fraternity preferred remaining outside the council.” The chapter had access to campus facilities and partici- pated in campus activities such as intramural sports and social events so it is unclear what benefit IFC member- ship brought to the chapter. IFC received substantial criticism for its decision in school publications as their decision was contrary to the university’s public stance of racial equality and nondiscrimination. Discriminatory restrictive covenants and Iota would in- tersect again shortly thereafter, this time, in the halls of the United States Supreme Court. The landmark 1940 U.S. Supreme Court case of Hansberry vs. Lee chal- lenged the discriminatory housing contracts prevalent in the south side neighborhoods that surrounded the UChicago campus. Carl Hansberry, father of renown playwright Lorraine Hansberry of the famed play Raisin in the Sun , purchased a home in 1938 in the Woodlawn area of Chicago. The Hansberry family and home were subjected to hostility, vandalism, and threats from their white neighbors. Litigation challenging the restrictive covenants subsequently ensued which went all the way Hansberry vs. Lee

“Because we (undergraduate brothers) saw these famous men on a regular basis, we were not in awe and never thought about them as anything but fraternity brothers

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Publishing achievement for more than 100 years

THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 45

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