Beta Kappa
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Beta Kappa () was an American social fraternity founded at
Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...
in 1901. It merged with
Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North A ...
in 1942.


History

Beta Kappa was formed at Hamline University in
Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
on with the name The Knights of Beta Omicron Sigma Kappa. Eventually, this somewhat unwieldy name was colloquially shortened to Beta Kappa (date?), maturing into a local fraternity that continued for twenty-one years before beginning a period of rapid expansion. Founders honored by the fraternity were Edward T. Marlatte, Daniel Paul Rader, Albert T. Spencer, and Charles H. Wallace. In 1922, the ''Beta chapter'' at the University of Washington was formed, and in quick succession, it established over 40 chapters with a total membership of over 5,000. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
During the height of WWII, the fraternity merged with Theta Chi, on with three exceptions released to join other national groups. The mother chapter at Hamline University was granted the chapter name, ''Beta Kappa chapter'' to honor its rank as a former ''Alpha chapter''. The merger added seventeen new chapters to Theta Chi, and two Beta Kappa chapters were merged into existing chapters. The fraternity became a Junior Member of the
NIC Nic is a gender-neutral given name, often short for Nicole, Nicholas, Nicola, or Dominic. It is also a component of Irish-language female surnames. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Nic Dalton (born 1964), Australian musician * Nic En ...
in , and a full member in . It continued as a member until the merger with Theta Chi in .


Symbols and traditions

The fraternity's colors were Purple and Gold. Its flower was the Red Templar Rose. Its badge was shaped like a diamond in black enamel, longer from top to bottom, with 24 pearls on its perimeter. It held a small, white circular disk in the center, a coiled serpent above a lamp, and below were two crossed swords. On the sides of the disk were the Greek letters and . The fraternity's magazine was ''The Journal of Beta Kappa''


Chapters

The chapters of Beta Kappa were as follows. Chapters noted in bold were active at the time of the merger, with dormant chapters in ''italics''. A few chapters that were active but did not merge (with ) are also in bold:


Notable members

* Daniel Paul RaderBilly Graham Center -Ephemera of Daniel Paul Rader - Collection 38
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See also

*
Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North A ...
*
List of social fraternities Social, collegiate, or general fraternities in the North American fraternity system are those that do not promote a particular profession, as professional fraternities do, or discipline, such as service fraternities. Instead, their primary purp ...


References

{{North American Interfraternity Conference Defunct former members of the North American Interfraternity Conference Theta Chi Student organizations established in 1901 1901 establishments in Minnesota Merged fraternities and sororities