Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated was founded Jan. 5, 1911 on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. was chartered and incorporated originally under the laws of the state of Indiana as Kappa Alpha Nu on May 15, 1911. The name was changed to Kappa Alpha Psi on a resolution offered and adopted at the 4th Grand Chapter in December 1914. This change became effective April 15, 1915, on a proclamation by the then Grand Polemarch, the late Revered Founder Elder Watson Diggs. Thus, the name acquired a distinctive Greek letter symbol and Kappa Alpha Psi became a Greek letter Fraternity in every sense of the designation.
From its inception, every endeavor was directed toward establishing the Fraternity upon a strong foundation before embarking on plans of expansion. By the end of the first year, working together, Diggs and Byron Kenneth Armstrong had completed the ritual and had commenced work on the coat of arms. Work on the latter was completed during the following summer by Diggs, Armstrong and John Milton Lee while they were pursuing employment at a hotel in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In selecting a suitable motto, Diggs, Armstrong, and Lee solicited the aid of a Professor of Greek Art at Indiana Technical College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Having adopted a motto which mutually suited them, they carried a sketch of the coat of arms to a commercial engraver in Fort Wayne, from which he made the first metal plate.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, relatively early, envisioned the modified attitudes of college administrators and administrations regarding certain frivolous activities previously identified with Greek letter organizations; and it initiated appropriate changes. Among the early changes brought about was the banning of paddling and other forms of physical abuse and the introduction of constructive endeavors during pledgeship and probation. To date, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity is organizationally and administratively mature. It moves steadily toward a tomorrow of promise, productivity, and influence.
