100 YEARS
THE MU CHAPTER CENTENNIAL
The 34 th Grand Polemarch Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq. (Mu 1974) was captain of the KU Basketball team. Dur- ing Grand Polemarch Shelton’s time on KU’s Basketball team, three other Kappa men were on the team, including Danny Knight, Rick Suttle, and Tommy Smith, all Mu 1973 initiates.
Activism and Mu
Activism was a part of the DNA of Mu Chapter, as reflected in this protest for equality led by Brother Mike Shinn and Gayle Sayers in the 1960s. While known for his legendary athletic prowess and celebrity status at KU, Chamberlain did, unfortunately, experience discrimination and racism when he ventured off campus and into the city of Lawrence, KS. The college town of Lawrence, KS in the 1950s was a segregated community with many off-campus establishments such as movie theaters and restaurants refusing to accept African American patrons. In protest, Chamberlain, along with fellow KU athletes and Mu Chapter brothers, football star Homer Floyd, track stars Charles Tidwell and Ernest Shelby met with then-KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy to voice their issues with the Lawrence, KS business community. The star athletes threatened to jointly leave KU if the situation did not change quickly. Consequently, Chancellor
1964 - Gale Sayers joining other KU Students in a civil rights protest in Lawrence, KS.
Murphy met with numerous Lawrence establishments and threatened to ban all KU students from patronizing their businesses if they did not remove their discriminatory policies.
primed for a meaningful future.” Topp, a member of the Kansas City (MO) Alumni Chapter, personally interacted with numerous Mu charter brothers and his father Virgil Topp (Mu 1925) . “An alumni brother asked me why KU brothers love the school so much. I told him he was mistaken. What he saw as love for KU was actually the fact the Mu Brothers sincerely love their chap- ter. The Bond we feel is generations deep, river wide, and nearly impossible to explain to others. As Mu brothers,
Mu Reflections
As many Brothers reflected on their time at Mu Chapter, Kenneth Topp (Mu 1962) stated the following, “… the common thread that connects all Mu Chapter Brothers is simple. We are defined by our illustrious history and
14 | FALL-WINTER 2020 ♦ THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 105 years
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