Kappa Sigma Fraternity
was orignially founded as a secret society of students at the
University of Bologna in the year 1400. The group was founded by
Manuel Chrysoloras, a Greek Scholar, who taught at the University.
In that day of city-states, the group's initial purpose was mutual
protection of
its members against physical attack and robbery by the
unscrupulous governor of the city, Baldassare Cossa. In 1400,
Chrysoloras and his five disciples formed a society for mutual
protection which inspired the Ritual and beliefs of modern day
Kappa Sigma.
Kappa Sigma in America was founded one chilly evening in the
fall of 1869, as five students attending the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville gathered in
William Grigsby McCormick's
room at 46 East Lawn and planted the seed of Brotherbood. For many weeks
the bonds of friendship had drawn these five together; now the need became
clear for a formal structure to contain their feelings. Thus, not
only did the Founders of formalize their friendship, but they also
created a fraternity steeped in the traditions of the past and
dedicated to the Pursuit of Learning. The new brothers recorded
their bond in a Constitution and in an Oath which set forth the
ideals and principles to all Kappa Sigmas today.
Today, Kappa Sigma comprises 218 chapters and 5 colonies, along with 105
alumni chapters, in both the United States and Canada, joining over
200,000 men to the ideals set forth by our founders. We are the sixth
largest fraternity and have approximately 153,000 brothers in North
America. We are also blessed with an outstanding staff and a solid and
dedicated core of alumni Brothers.
William Grigsby McCormick
Edmund Law Rogers 
John Covert Boyd
Frank Courtney Nicodemus
George Miles Arnold
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