CHAPTER NEWS
“DURING THE EARLY 1980S, THE FRATERNITY STARTED SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION IN NEW ENGLAND THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF THETA IOTA AND THE BOSTON (MA) AND HARTFORD (CT) ALUMNI CHAPTERS. ”
students, Frederick Thomp- son and Bernard Robinson, took the preliminary steps. They traveled to Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, to meet with Earl A. Morris, the 3rd Executive Secretary of Kappa Alpha Psi, who provided them with the necessary information, pro- cedures, and application for an undergraduate chapter of the fraternity. The interest group then met with the Boston (MA) Alumni Chapter in March 1974 to obtain its approval and instructions for start- ing a new chapter. To share ideas and gather additional information on the pro- cedures for establishing a chapter, the interest group met with the Chi Chapter in April 1974. With the assistance and support of Dean Mary O. Hope, MIT’s Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the time, the uni- versity granted the group permission to establish a chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. on campus. The Fraternity’s Grand Board of Directors approved the group’s petition for the chapter on June 23, 1974. Upon returning to school in September 1974, the interest group, guided by Boston Alumni, began final planning for a new chapter
at MIT. Boston Alumni members Jackson W. Camp- bell (Chi, 1947), Eugene E. Grant (Chi, 1951), and Oswald L. Jordan (Chi, 1939) played key roles in establish- ing the new chapter. Chi Chapter inducted the eight men, known as the Elegant Eight, into the Scroller Club on October 9, 1974. Under the guidance of their Dean of Pledges, Chi Chapter Polemarch Presley Randolph Reed, Jr. (Chi, 1973), and Chi Chapter members, the Elegant Eight were initiated into the Chi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi on February 1, 1975. The Grand Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi approved a resolution to establish a chapter at MIT on Febru- ary 16, 1975. On October 11, 1975, the Grand Chap- ter issued the charter for the Theta Iota Chapter. The following spring, Chi Chapter pledged four men known as the Mothership
Connection, including Harold Sparrow, a student at Tufts University and the first official Theta Iota initiate. UNDERGRADUATE CHAPTER EXPANSION During the early 1980s, the Fraternity started significant expansion in New England through the efforts of Theta Iota and the Boston (MA) and Hartford (CT) Alumni Chapters. One of the archi- tects of the expansion was Samuel C. Hamilton, past Hartford Alumni Pole- march, 20th Northeastern Province Polemarch, 30th Grand Polemarch, and 75th Laurel Wreath Laureate. In the spring of 1982, the first Harvard students were initiated into Theta Iota. Over the decade, four expansion colonies were started at Brown University (Chi 1981),
University of Connecticut at Storrs (Theta Iota 1981), Dartmouth College (Theta Iota 1982), and the Uni- versity of Massachusetts at Amherst (Theta Iota 1984). This expansion led to the chartering of four Kappa chapters: Brown (Lambda Xi, 1983), Dart- mouth (Mu Chi, 1987), UMass (Nu Tau, 1989), and UConn (Nu Psi 1990). This marked the formal expansion of Kappa Alpha Psi to six undergraduate chapters in four of the six New England States. As of the 50th Anniversary in 2025, Theta Iota had initiated over 225 Kappas in Massachusetts, Con- necticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island from 22 New England campuses. Often called “TI,” the “Jewel of the North,” and the “Glorious Theta Iota,” the chapter’s growth and geographic scope are unique in the fraternity.
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