History of Beta Kappa
A History of Beta Kappa Fraternity
The fraternity was founded as Beta Omicron Sigma Kappa Fraternity (known more commonly as simply Beta Kappa) on October 15, 1901, at a boarding house located at 1604 West Minnehaha, St. Paul, Minnesota. The principal founder, Reverend D. Paul Rader (1879-1938), Hamline's Athletic Director at the time, would later make a name for himself nationally as a populist minister - a sort of early twentieth-century Billy Grahm. Additionally, Edward T. Marlatte, Albert "Bucking Cow" Spencer, and Charles Wallace were credited as founders of the fraternity.
The idea for the fraternity was based upon an earlier organization to which Rader had belonged while in high school in Denver, Colorado. The name of that group was "BOSK," and the purpose of the organization was to gather together a congenial group of young men who shared common beliefs with high ideals. In forming Beta Kappa, the four letters B, O, S, and K were changed to their Greek equivalents and the rituals and ideals of the new fraternity were built largely around what those letters signified in the BOSK society.
Reverend Rader was a Sigma Nu during his undergraduate days, and originally he planned on establishing a chapter of that fraternity at Hamline. The Hamline administration would not allow a national fraternity to be established there at the time. So Reverend Rader settled for establishing a sub rosa (unrecognized) local fraternity. Hamline's first fraternity (The Oracles) proved enormously popular with its student body; it wasn't long before the University was forced to accept the reality and recognize the existence of Beta Kappa Fraternity.
The fraternity grew rapidly. Within 10 years it had gathered up enough economic strength for the brothers to build their own house. Right after World War I and into the 1920's fraternities and sororities sprouted like wildflowers all over the Hamline campus. During this time there were as many as 10 Greek Societies. Beta Kappa grew enormously during this period. Eventually, in 1922, the brothers decided to do what they intended to do in the first place, become part of a National Fraternity. Hamline wouldn't allow them to be part of an established National, so they decided that they would simply create one of their own.
A second chapter of Beta Kappa Fraternity (the Beta Chapter) was established at Washington State University. From then on, Hamline's chapter was known as the Alpha Chapter of Beta Kappa Fraternity. Other chapters quickly followed. A national organization was established (headquarterd in Minneapolis), and a fraternity magazine, The Journal of Beta Kappa, was published regularly. By 1925 the fraternity was accepted into the National Interfraternity Conference. Between 1922 and 1942 were 47 chapters of Beta Kappa established from coast to coast. Schools from USC, to Illinois Wesleyan to Lehigh all sported prominent Beta Kappa Chapters.
During the Great Depression years (1929-1941) fraternities were hit especially hard. Many fraternities broke up and went bankrupt for lack of funds during this time. Preversly, Beta Kappa's major problem during this time period wasn't money, it was manpower. The brothers had some reserves to keep themselves financially solvent (with some belt tightening), but few new brothers were in sight, especially with another World War looming near in the future. Thus, when Beta Kappa was approached by another National Fraternity, Theta Chi, over the possibility of a merger, it seemed the best thing to do. Both fraternities had very similar ideals. Also, Theta Chi had more manpower but needed the help of Beta Kappa's strong financial strusture. On April 14th, 1942, Beta Kappa merged with Theta Chi Fraternity. At the time it was the second largest merger of two Nationals in history. The merger brought sixteen undergraduate chapters and approximately 6,000 undergraduate and alumnus members into the ranks of Theta Chi. The Beta Kappa Chapters were installed from May through December of that year.
In honor of Hamline's chapter being the cradle of Beta Kappa, the Alpha Chapter was chartered on May 15th, 1942 as the Beta Kappa Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity.
History of the Beta Kappa Fraternity complied from information from: David "Buzz" Anderson, author History of the Beta Kappa Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity, The Manual of Theta Chi Fraternity (1954).