History
Kappa Sigma
has a rich and varied history. The spirit of Kappa Sigma dates back
to 1400. A Greek scholar named Manuel Chrysoloras at the University
of Bologna in Italy founded a society for mutual protection against
harassment and attacks by the governor of Bologna, Baldassarre Cossa.
It was with
the spirit of Chrysoloras that the five founders founded Kappa Sigma
here in America. At the University of Virginia, William Grigsby McCormick,
George Miles Arnold, Frank Courtney Nicodemus, Edmund Law Rogers,
and John Covert Boyd met in McCormick's room on the night of December
10, 1869 and founded Kappa Sigma.
Over the next
years, Kappa Sigma slowly started to grow. However, it was not until
the initiation of Stephen Alonzo Jackson that the Fraternity reached
its peak. Jackson almost single-handedly transformed the Kappa Sigma
from a small local Fraternity into a huge national one.
Because of
all his work towards the Fraternity, Jackson has become known as the
"Golden Hearted Virginian."
Today, due
in part to Jackson's efforts, Kappa Sigma has over 200 chapters all
over the world.
