100 YEARS
100 YEARS
COVER STORY
COVER STORY
October and concluded with initia- tions the following May and June de- pending on the school. Brother Ned Dunbar (Iota 1956), “schools had dif- ferent rules concerning initiations. For example, scrollers from University of Chicago had to be initiated before the end of the school term per the school whereas other schools did not have that requirement.” For fourth and final time, to date, Iota co-hosted a Grand Chapter meeting when the Conclave returned to Chi- cago in 1953 after a 20-year absence. Held in December of that year, del- egates to the 43 rd Grand Chapter Meeting reelected Dr. William H. “Stud” Greene (Xi 1922) as the frater- nity’s 15 th Grand Polemarch. At the previous Conclave in 1952, Brother J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. (Iota 1938) re- 1953 Conclave
Chicago’ at the annual Washington Promenade formal on the University campus.”
article where he summarized the chapter history, identi- fied some of the prominent Iota initiates, and recapped current chapter activities and chapter officers. Hender- son wrote about the chapter’s relationship with Chicago (IL) Alumni: “Throughout all these activities and achieve- ments, both individuals and collective, we felt the experienced guiding hands of Chicago Alumni Chapter advisors, C. Rodger Wilson, Frederick Ford, and Dr. Roscoe Singleton. We are proud and honored that such an understanding rela- tionship exists between our Chicagoland under- graduate and alumni chapters.” The public meeting for this Grand Chapter Meeting was held on December 27, 1953 at Mandel Hall on the UChicago campus and the keynote speaker was Univer- sity of Chicago Chancellor Dr. Lawrence A. Kimpton. To a capacity-filled concert hall, Dr. Kimpton utilized the occasion to address race relations, specifically in Chicago, the change in demographics of the neighbor- hoods surrounding the campus and its impact on the university, and the role and future of the university. The university at the time received substantial criti- cism and protest of its plans for Hyde Park, Washington Park, and Woodlawn neighborhoods and its impact on African Americans living on the south side of Chicago. From a university perspective, Dr. Kimpton’s speech is considered historic and widely referenced in books and publications that document the history of the university and its relationship with the south side neighborhoods of Chicago.
Iota-Alpha Rho Relationship
Chicagoland Hellenic Athletic Conference (CHAC)
Second, Iota’s relationship with its neighbor- ing undergraduate chapter Alpha Rho trans- formed due to the house. In the years prior to the “Kastle on Ellis,”, both chapters fairly operated independently and autonomously from one another. With both now sharing ac- cess to the house, the relationship between the two evolved into “two chapters essen- tially operating as one.” Both chapters had separate officers and some separate meetings however they coordinated on virtually all ac- tivities. Eventually, the differences between the two, at times, became blurred and indis- tinguishable. Brother Brazil remembered “… joint meetings between Iota and Alpha Rho took place on Sundays, and individual chapter meetings happened when there was something that referenced an Iota vote or Alpha Rho vote. It was difficult to separate brothers by chapter, because we did everything as a joint venture .”
Formed in 1949 by Brother Charles Bouyer (Iota 1927) and later led by Brother George “Dodo” Maxfield (Alpha Rho 1935), the Chicagoland Hellenic Athletic Confer- ence was interfraternal sports league comprised of Chi- cago teams of the Divine Nine fraternities and others. Iota men, such as Joe Bertrand (Iota 1953) and Ben Blu- itt (Iota 1950), participated heavily in the Kappa teams in the league. Both alumni and undergraduates played on fraternity teams in different sports, such as basket- ball, golf, and softball, played for trophies and bragging rights. The Kappas were softball champions four con- secutive years (1949-1952) and runner up to the Ome- gas in 1953. Besides winning trophies, “friendly” side wagers in those days included the losing fraternity team had to sponsor a party at their fraternity house in honor of the winning team and the losing team had to bring “liquid libations” to the fraternity house of the winning team. There was a time in the fraternity prior to twirling and stepping with a cane, prior to brothers strolling at a party or picnic, prior to brothers throwing the yo sign when the great social fellowship exercise for Kappas was singing. The singing of fraternity songs has been a foundational activity since fraternity’s earliest days and Iota was no exception. Since the early 20 th century, one of the great campus tra- ditions at UChicago began, the IFC Sing. Held every June, fraternities would march to Hutchinson Court at the center of the UChicago Quadrangle and sing their fraternity songs in front of huge crowds regardless of the weather. Fraternities, including Kappa Alpha Psi®, competed for cups awarded to the fraternity with the best singing, best spirit, and best participation of its membership. Dr. Romeo Phillips (Iota 1947) recalled about the IFC Sing: “We wanted to win the IFC Sing. We rehearsed each Sunday during and after chapter meetings and away from campus two weeks prior to the competition. We were fortunate that brothers who could carry a tune made the rehearsals and were ‘ready’. Before the Kappa Kane, the Yo, Strolling IFC Sing
signed after six years as the Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer as well as Brother David Von Curtis (Iota 1948) and Iota charter line member, Dr. G. Cecil Lewis, then of Springfield (IL) Alumni Chapter, left their re- spective positions as undergraduate and alumni repre- sentatives on the Grand Board of Directors. In preparation for the Grand Chapter Meeting, Iota, along with Theta, Alpha Rho, Chicago (IL) Alumni and Gary (IN) Alumni chapters, each wrote articles on their
Joint ventures included sponsoring social events such as entertaining sororities at the house. They jointly sponsored the annual Thanksgiving Weekend dance at the historic Parkway Ballroom and in later years at the historic Sherman House hotel in downtown Chicago. Events held at the Sherman House hotel was a source of pride for the undergraduate brothers of the era. Brother George Stanton (Iota 1963) recalled, “We (Iota and Alpha Rho) had outgrown the Parkway Ballroom and other places on the south side. The crowds for our events were too big for those venues so we moved downtown. Kappa Al- pha Psi® was the first black organization to go downtown. Downtown establishments like ho- tels back in those day was previously off-limits to black folks so this was a big deal.” Concerning membership intake, Iota and Alpha Rho were the only two undergraduate chapters in Chicago at the time, as a result the chapters divided up the numer- ous universities and colleges. By the mid-1950s, both chapters held one combined smoker at the house and in- terested men from colleges and universities all over Chi- cago attended. The chapters decided which men made the single scroller line for Iota and Alpha Rho. Member- ship paperwork, however, was separately completed for each chapter and forwarded to North Central Province for review and approval. Scroller lines commenced in
r e s p e c t i v e chapters for the Decem- ber 1953 Conclave is- sue of the Kappa Alpha Psi Journal . UCh i c a g o ’s Mandel Hall appeared on the cover of this Journal issue. Broth- er Marcellus Henderson Jr. (Iota 1953), the chapter h i s t o r i a n , composed an
Activities
Reminiscent of the previous era, Iota provided the below chapter update in a 1953 Journal :
“Not only did Iota Chapter have the highest academic average of the nine fraternities of the University of Chicago campus, but almost single handedly had accounted for the crowning of the Queen of Pan-Hellenic Basketball Tournament. The chapter also initiated a pledge program which has elicited praise from all who know and saw it operating.”
A year later, Iota reported:
“Kappas at the University of Chicago added an- other ‘first’ to their record of outstanding achieve- ment in February (1954) when Iota’s Sweetheart, Janice Porter, was crowned ‘Miss University of
46 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 47
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