The Varlet of Kappa Alpha Order
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The VaThe rlet VaOF KAPPA rletALPHA ORDER OF KAPPA ALPHA ORDER THE VARLET OF KAPPA ALPHA ORDER 13TH EDITION EDITORS JESSE S. LYONS (Delta Alpha-Western Carolina 1998) BRENT W. FELLOWS (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1998) Published by Kappa Alpha Order National Administrative Office at Mulberry Hill P.O. Box 1865, 115 Liberty Hall Road, Lexington, Virginia 24450 ii The Varlet of Kappa Alpha Order 13th Edition, 2015 Edited by: Jesse S. Lyons (Delta Alpha-Western Carolina 1998) and Brent W. Fellows (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1998) © Copyright, 2015, Kappa Alpha Order, Lexington, Virginia Printed by Good Printers, Inc., Bridgewater, Virginia Previous Editions: 12th Edition, 2010 Edited by: Matt V. Bonner (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1996) and Brent W. Fellows (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1998) Reprint, 2012; Edited by: Jesse S. Lyons (Delta Alpha-Western Carolina 1998) and Brent W. Fellows (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1998) 11th Edition, 2003 Edited by: Todd Shelton (Delta Lambda-Middle Tennessee State 1991) Reprint, 2006; Edited by: Scott Rowson (Alpha Kappa-Missouri 1996) Reprint, 2008; Edited by: Matt V. Bonner (Epsilon Theta-Western Kentucky 1996) 10th Edition, 1997 Edited by: Darron E. Franta (Gamma Tau-Sam Houston State 1990) 9th Edition, 1990* Edited by: Steven C. Russell (Delta Upsilon-Tennessee-Martin 1985) 8th Edition, 1988 Edited by: G. Allen Brown Jr. (Phi-Birmingham-Southern 1982), J. D. Carico (Epsilon-Emory 1984) and W. E. Garner (Alpha Upsilon-Mississippi 1981) 7th Edition, 1986 Edited by: Benjamin T. Bailey (Alpha Upsilon-Mississippi 1981) 6th Edition, 1976 Edited by: Richard A. Barnes (Delta Lambda-Middle Tennessee State 1969) 5th Edition, 1972* Edited by: Richard A. Barnes (Delta Lambda-Middle Tennessee State 1969) 4th Edition, 1957 Edited by: William E. Forester (Gamma Gamma-Memphis 1949) 3rd Edition, 1946* Edited by: Ransom H. Bassett (Beta Delta-Georgetown 1913) 2nd Edition, 1937 Edited by: C. W. May (Beta Nu-Oglethorpe 1921) 1st Edition, 1926 Edited by: William B. Crawford (Alpha-Washington & Lee 1902) * indicates re-print The Varlet (published in 2015, 2010, 2003, 1997, 1990, 1988, 1986 and 1976) was preceded by Pledge Education For Initiation into Kappa Alpha Order (published in 1972) and the Kappa Alpha Pledge Manual (published in 1957, 1946, 1937 and 1926). iii Dedication SESQUICENTENNIAL TOAST On the cold afternoon of December 21st, eighteen hundred sixty-five, a band of young men, called by the leadership of James Ward Wood, our Chief Founder, gathered near the handsome, columned buildings on the campus of Washington College in Lexington, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. On that December day those students founded a fraternity they would call KA, and swore their bonds of brotherhood. James Ward Wood, William Archibald Walsh, William Nelson Scott, and Stanhope McClelland Scott, our Founders, thus began the splendid one and a half centuries of a fraternity that within two years was transformed into an Order of Knights by another member, the gifted, cultured and profound thinker, our Practical Founder, Samuel Zenas Ammen. These knights had the great fortune to be influenced by living in the daily presence of the president of the College, that towering figure of a chivalrous gentleman, great leader, military hero, educator, and both a Southern and an American patriot, Kappa Alpha Order's Spiritual Founder, Robert Edward Lee. The lofty influences motivating these men, particularly Samuel Zenas Ammen, resulted in Ammen’s brilliant concept of modern knighthood, revealed in the matchless, deeply moving and inspirational initiation ceremony. In this experience a young man is given a rich guide to mental and spiritual growth, is challenged to become a leader of men, to be all that he can be, for himself and for others and for God and country. It is asked of the initiate that when his earthly journey ends he has made a positive difference, that he has lived, and lived well. The six Founders, in those early, harsh years of the 1860’s, could not truly have envisioned that what they accomplished, the difference that they would make to the more than 160,000 knights who have been inspired by the philosophy of Ammen’s magnificent drama. Nor could they truly have envisioned that the Kappa Alpha Order would expand from the South to the North, from the Atlantic shores to the waters of the Pacific as a national Order, and that it would become an acknowledged leader of the splendid, uniquely American, college fraternity system. 150 years of growth and adapting to changing times, while never departing from the Order’s timeless philosophy. In this Sesquicentennial Year Kappa Alpha Order, and all KAs, may take boundless pride. Brothers, Knights of the Kappa Alpha Order, please rise. Brothers, let us lift our glasses of pristine water and salute, honor and proudly proclaim our gratitude to our Founders: Chief Founder James Ward Wood, William Nelson Scott, William Archibald Walsh, and Stanhope McCelland Scott. To our Practical Founder, the brilliant Samuel Zenas Ammen. To our Spiritual Founder, the insurmountable Robert Edward Lee. To all those brother knights who, over one and a half centuries, have carried forward to charge to aim for excellence in our Order. And, to our beloved Kappa Alpha Order. Brothers, drink. – written by Former Knight Commander Dr. Idris R. Traylor, Jr. (Gamma Chi-Texas Tech 1970) iv The Varlet of Kappa Alpha Order TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................vi The Mission of Kappa Alpha Order .............38 The Grand Old Man of KA ....................39 Induction Ceremony ........................ ix Province .................................39 Individual Record ..........................x Mulberry Hill and Robert E. Lee ...............40 History Timeline ..........................39 SECTION A: New Member Memorials and Historic Sites .................46 Lexington ............................................................. 46 CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS FRATERNITY? ........ 14 Founders’ Graves .................................................49 The Greek Movement .......................17 Washington, DC & Arlington National Cemetery .50 The Impetus-Phi Beta Kappa ...............................17 Additional ............................................................ 51 Growth of the System ...........................................18 Finding our Niche ................................................ 19 CHAPTER THREE: RESPONSIBILITIES The Greek Community ......................20 OF MEMBERSHIP ........................52 Greek ................................................................... 20 Brotherhood ..............................52 Women’s Organizations .......................................20 Responsibility ...................................................... 52 Other Greek Letter Societies ................................ 21 The Chapter Charter ........................55 African-American Organizations .........................21 2.7 Grade Point Average Requirement ..........55 The North-American Interfraternity Conference .. 22 The Interfraternity Council .................................22 Academic Performance .....................55 The Greek Advisor ...............................................22 Personal Finance ..........................56 Ambassadors ....................................................... 23 Budget ................................................................. 56 Insignia ................................23 Reconcile Your Accounts ......................................56 The Badges ..........................................................23 Credit Cards and Debt .........................................56 Flags .................................................................... 24 Fraternity Dues ....................................................56 Colors .................................................................. 24 Creating a Personal Budget ..................56 Flowers ...............................................................24 Participation .............................57 Coat of Arms ....................................................... 24 Join Another Student Organization? ...........57 Components making up Why Do Intelligent Students Kappa Alpha Order’s coat of arms ............25 Sometimes Fail in College ..................57 CHAPTER TWO: OUR KAPPA ALPHA HERITAGE .. 26 Effective Time Management and Organization .........................50 Robert E. Lee: College President ..............26 Extracurricular Activity = Job? ...............58 The Founders of Kappa Alpha Order ............29 Recruitment .............................58 James Ward Wood .............................................. 29 How Do I Recruit New Members? ........................59 William Nelson Scott ........................................... 31 William Archibald Walsh .....................................31 Alcohol-Free Recruitment ...................59 Stanhope McClelland Scott ..................................32 Risk Management .........................60 Who is Samuel Zenas Ammen ................30 The Kappa Alpha Order Risk Management Policy .................................60 What is a “Mason?” ........................31 Alcohol and Drugs ...............................................61 Beginning ...............................32 Hazing ................................................................. 61 “Mutual Pledge of Faith and Loyalty” ................. 33 Sexual Abuse ......................................................