Our University of Illinois History since 1891

Kappa Sigma was the first fraternity established at the University of Illinois following the removal of anti-fraternity restrictions at the school. Its charter was granted October 15, 1891.

The Chapter, given the name of Alpha-Gamma, came into existence a month later when its first members were taken into the fraternity under the guidance of Robert Lackey, a Kappa Sig from Purdue (at left) who had come to Illinois that fall to become the University's second football coach. He accepted the position merely for the opportunity that it would present him to establish a chapter of Kappa Sigma. In his position, he was thrown into personal contact with most of the male students at Illinois. For the January 1892 issue of the Kappa Sigma Caduceus, he described the situation:

"Finding excellent material at Illinois and being thrown into personal contact with the best men in the school I soon began to talk 'fraternity' to one or two of the college leaders and found them willing and anxious to welcome the Greeks. At this time there were no fraternities there. It was not long before we had ten men who were willing to go ahead although the fraternity restrictions had not been definitely removed."
In the later years he wrote: "I soon came to know Robert Carr and recognized in him a personality of unusual ability and charm. I mentioned the question of college fraternities to him and especially talked Kappa Sigma and found he was favorable. Together we looked over the field and soon had a dozen men of the University allied with us." (According to a chapter history prepared in 1895, only nine were pledged at first.)
A petition for a chapter was prepared and nine men signed this. It was mailed to Herbert Martin, then National Secretary of Kappa Sigma, but to help matters along, because he expected they would be obliged to wait some time before it was acted upon, Lackey sent a telegram to Martin stating that the petition was on its way to him. Lackey had sent his message the morning of October 15th and it was with a great deal of surprise that he received that afternoon following lunch a telegram from Martin saying: "Go ahead and install chapter: Frank D. Arms, George H. Atherton, George P. Behrensmeyer, James D. Metcalf, William G. Miller, James Steele, and William E. Steinwedell."

As the football season was drawing to a close, Lackey knew that he would soon have to be returning to Purdue. So, he decided to initiate some of the men at once. He conceived of the idea of administering the oath and the secret signs to four of the men and then he could properly organize a chapter in due form.

It was finally decided to draw lots to determine which of the pledges would be the original four. Accordingly, a meeting was held in the room of Harless W. King one night about the first of November to decide the order of initiation. The four selected were: James David Metcalf of Gerard, Illinois; William George Miller of Chicago, Illinois; William Ernest Steinwedell of Quincy, Illinois; and George Henry Atherton of Streator, Illinois. Their initiation was held on the night of November 17, 1891 in the room of Metcalf and Atherton at 402 West Church Street in Champaign. 

About this time, the University trustees met and, as expected, removed the fraternity restrictions. It was then quietly rumored over the campus that Kappa Sigma would be installed on the campus. Lackey was informed of the trustees' actions and came from Purdue to aid in the official installation which took place December 16th, 1891. As no permanent rooms had been secured by the fraternity up to this time, the G.A.R. hall at 23 Main Street, was rented for the occasion and five more men were initiated that night.

Charter Members L to R: Needham, Behrensmeyer, Needham, Carr, King, Armstrong, Aranda, Coffman, Riley, Atherton, Arms, Miller, Cornell, Morissey, Steinwedell, Metcalf

In the fall of 1896, the chapter moved again, this time to an even newer and better house than the first. This second house was located at the Northwest corner of Clark and Elm streets and remained the chapter's quarters for several more years when it was decided to move closer to campus. This time, it was moved to 212 East Green Street (at left) when that thoroughfare was just beginning to be the center of the student district in 1904. Previous to that time, most of the students lived closer to the business district of Champaign than to the University.


It was the fall of 1911 that the chapter moved into its present house at the Northwest corner of Third and Daniel streets (at right). The house had been built especially and appropriately designed in Italian style for the fraternity the previous year. The Daily Illini reported at the time that it was indeed the most beautiful and pretentious fraternity house on campus. At that time too, the University was not yet fully developed and the location of the new house was in a newly laid out and barren district which had formerly been the location of the old Champaign fairgrounds – quite south of the rooming house area.

This history of our chapter was researched and written by Robert G. Gillman, '93, and edited by Dave "Moose" Musielewicz, '82.

Historical Significance:

The Kappa Sigma Fraternity house is [historically] significant as one of the earliest facilities exemplifying the Greek Letter Society movement which contributed much to the broader patterns of higher education on the Champaign-Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. The building was designed in 1911 by Archie H. Hubbard and was constructed by A. W. Stoolman. Integrity of design has been maintained with sympathetic extensions of the dining room and modifications made to accommodate new building code and life/safety requirements. The Kappa Sigma house is also architecturally significant as representative of the Italian Renaissance Revival style as designed by a local architect. As a part of an active fraternity on the University of Illinois campus, the [historical] significance of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity [Alpha-Gamma] chapter house continued until 1939, the arbitrary 50-year cut-off date.

The Alpha Gamma chapter at the University of Illinois has been active in University activities from its beginnings. Among its first members were two later presidents of the University's Board of Trustees, Robert Carr and James Armstrong. A later alumnus, Stewart S. Howe, was director of the University Alumni Fund and a number of members have served on the executive committee of the University Alumni Association. A number of its members have stayed with the University as faculty members including Ivan Wright, head of the division of banking; C. F. Behrensmeyer of the School of Fine Arts; and Carl Lundgren, assistant athletic director.

The chapter has always had a strong tie with University athletics, probably because it was organized by Robert Lackey, the University's first football coach. George Huff, the University's first athletic director and for whom Huff Gymnasium [Huff Hall] is named, was initiated into the chapter in 1892. At that time he was captain of the baseball team and his fraternity brother, Frank D. Arms, was captain of the track team. Arms was the originator of the intercollegiate association which became the Big Ten Conference. In its early years, most of the University's best athletes were initiates of Kappa Sigma.

* All photos courtesy University Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. See larger images in the Photo Gallery.