Wofford College's Alpha-Nu Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity was founded in 1894, making it among the oldest fraternities on campus. Brothers adhere to a strong belief in fellowship, leadership, scholarship and service to the Wofford community. Nationally, Kappa Sigma leads all other fraternities with 245,000 brothers stemming from over 281 active chapters. Our chapter annually consists of approximately 80 Brothers, all of whom succeed in every aspect of the undergraduate experience.
For Kappa Sigmas, Bologna, Italy holds special meaning. For it was here, in "The City of Letters," that our Fraternity had its beginnings. In 1400, at the University of Bologna, Manuel Chrysoloras and his disciples formed a society for mutual protection. Their work inspired the ritual and beliefs of a modern-day Greek-letter Fraternity Kappa Sigma.
In the year 1400, The University of Bologna was the center of learning in Europe. At the time of Kappa Sigma's founding in America, the University of Virginia was a centerpiece of education in the United States. On December 10, 1869, William Grigsby McCormick occupied the room at 46 East Lawn. On this cold evening he, with four friends founded the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and planted the seed of Brotherhood.
Not only did the Founders formalize their friendship, but they also created a fraternity steeped in the traditions of the past and dedicated to the Pursuit of Learning. The new brothers recorded their bond in a Constitution and in an Oath, which set forth the ideals and principles to all Kappa Sigmas today.
Stephen Alonzo Jackson is regarded as possibly the most important man in Kappa Sigma's history. Through his efforts a struggling local fraternity became a strong national organization. He was the architect of our Ritual, writer of our Constitution, and was our first Worthy Grand Master. The following is an excerpt from the Bononia Docet, our pledge manual:
"Gentle as a woman, firm as a rock - a perfect bundle of nervous energy. His love of the Fraternity knew no bounds, and his enthusiasm was so contagious that it influenced everybody who came within his reach. His one ambition was to make Kappa Sigma the leading college fraternity of the world, and to that end he thought and worked by day and night, until the end of his busy life."
During the Fraternity's second Grand Conclave in 1878 in Richmond, Virginia, Jackson was reelected as Worthy Grand Master. In his speech, he expressed his ideal and goal of an enduring and expanding brotherhood as he addressed the Order:
"Why not, my Brothers, since we of today live and cherish the principles of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, throw such a halo around those principles that they may be handed down as a precious heirloom to ages yet unborn? Why nor put our apples of gold in pictures of silver? May we not rest contentedly until the Star and Crescent is the pride of every college and university in the land!"
Jackson died on March 4, 1892. His legacy to the Fraternity included its Ritual, a revised Constitution, a precedent-setting Grand Conclave, the first southern Fraternity to extend a chapter to the north, and above all else, a spirit for expansion.
Today, Kappa Sigma comprises over 250 chapters and colonies in both the United States and Canada, with over 200,000 men. Kappa Sigma is the sixth largest fraternity and has approximately 150,000 brothers in North America.
The Alpha-Nu Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity was founded on January 27, 1894 at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. At that time, Wofford was an all-male liberal arts college with about 500 students. We proudly hold the oldest original charter of any chapter in the state of South Carolina. The Charter members of the Chapter are Fred Anson Cummings, John Caswell Roper, Thomas McTyeire Raysor, Nathaniel Moss Salley, and Benjamin Wofford Wait. The Alpha-Nu Chapter is the 50th of nearly 300 Kappa Sigma chapters and has never gone inactive throughout its prestigious history.
Learn more at the Kappa Sigma national website.