Knights of The Order: A History of Kappa Alpha Order at The Citadel 1883-2013

By Thomas Dewey Wise, Author

This is the history of Theta chapter of Kappa Alpha Order that was established at The Citadel in 1883. It operated sub rosa, initiating cadets quietly for 7 years until banned completely in 1890. Later in the 1920-1924 time period, a small group of men were initiated making a total of 62 in all. It turned out that these 62 men were a very accomplished group in later life to include, college presidents, generals, legislators, bankers, judges and lawyers. In 2008, Kappa Alpha Order established Theta Commission at The Citadel. As a commission, as opposed to a chapter, it initiates only graduates. From five members in 2008 to nearly 400 in 2014, Theta Commission has grown dramatically. Theta Commission counts as members two former presidents of The Citadel, several three star generals, several members of the school’s Board of Visitors, former Congressmen, retired Bishops and parish priests. It is a highly distinguished group. The book explores fraternity life inside a military environment through reports of the chapter secretary addressed to the Kappa Alpha Journal. It describes the battles between the Greeks(fraternity men) and the Barbarians( non-fraternity men) for leadership of school committees and social events. There were a total of five fraternities existing in a sub rosa environment at The Citadel during this period. The narrative points out the obvious incompatibility of fraternities with a military environment. Fraternity activity at The Citadel is a little known footnote in the rich history of the South Carolina Military Academy.

 

PRAISE FOR “KNIGHTS OF THE ORDER”  — Reviews

“Only rarely in Kappa Alpha Order does a chapter or commission undertake the effort needed to document its history. New chapters or commissions are properly focused on growth and success, not their early history. Chapters or commissions of long standing have a significant period of years to recall, document, and distill into a final written history. Theta Commission is both new as a Commission and older as the former Theta Second Chapter. The current leadership under Dewey Wise has afforded the time and resources and been immensely successful in documenting Theta’s past and present, no small task. Having served as Executive Director for 18 years, I can count on one hand the chapters that have this kind of documented history today.

Brother Wise has superbly blended the history of Kappa Alpha Order, The Citadel, our early Theta Second Chapter, and our beginnings and present Theta Commission into an intriguing tale for all KAs—not just those from The Citadel or Charleston. The Order is most proud of Dewey’s work and we appreciate his extraordinary effort to place this history into the hands of our newest brothers and graduates of The Citadel, so that they may write their own history and continue to enrich this tale for future generations.”

— Larry S. Wiese, Executive Director, Kappa Alpha Order 

“Thomas Dewey Wise’s history of Kappa Alpha Order at The Citadel captures perfectly the facts of the long association and also the moral connection of the two institutions’ missions. KAO’s founding values include “Excelsior” meaning the constant striving for improvement and higher values. The Citadel’s mission since 1842 has been “achieving excellence in the education and development of principled leaders”. The compatibility of these goals is a constant exhortation in Wise’s excellent work and gives comfort that traditional values are not forgotten in our contemporary society.”

— Major General John Grinalds, 18^th President, The Citadel

“This is a wonderful book, impressively researched and superbly written, as it documents a piece of significant history of two major southern organizations, the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity and the Citadel (The Military College of South Carolina).”

— Major General Roger Cliff Poole, Interim President, Professor Emeritus, The Citadel

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