Many of us were present in 1959 at the University of Illinois when Phi Kappa and Theta Kappa Phi merged.  It was a heady time as each group, with some misgivings about the other group, were forced to come together. Come together we did under the first President of the combined Fraternity, John McClory.  We had to solve all of the consolidation issues and developed life-long friendships as a result of this merger.   I thought it might be worthwhile to put down some of the history of this consolidation for our benefit as well as those who follow us.  Particular thanks to Brother Jim Flanigan Iowa State ‘88  who has chronicled the national  history of the Fraternities.

Irish Catholics were refused admittance to campus social organizations in the 1800’s.  They were known as “oudens.”  In 1887 Sheehan, Gillrain and O’Connor and eight of their friends, joined together at Hope Hall of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Phi Kappa Sigma, standing for “The Fraternity of Catholic Students” was born.  In 1892, a Providence merchant, M. Joseph Harson, called together this fledgling organization at his home on April 29 of that year.  They decided to submit a formal proposal to the University to establish a Greek-letter Society.  As a result of his support, he was elected the first President. The Fraternity grew in size and esteem on the campus. In 1900, they found out that Phi Kappa Sigma was used by another group; the name was officially changed to Phi Kappa.

In 1912, Arthur Kiernan, a graduate of Brown and an instructor at the University of Illinois, wrote a letter to a Phi Kappa friend of his at Brown to tell of a group of men at Illinois who held similar ideals and beliefs as the Brown group.  Correspondence led to a meeting in Providence, and then a degree team was sent to Illinois.  On May 27, 1912, the Loyola Club became the second Chapter, Beta, of Phi Kappa.  

Phi Kappa grew rapidly and by 1926 it had 20 chapters.

In 1914, the Newman Club at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, decided to form a social fraternity.  Before they could finalize their organization, World War I broke out.  The war ended in 1919 and the original spark plug, August Concilio, kept the idea alive and called a meeting on October 22, 1919, the official founding date of Theta Kappa Phi.  On November 12 of that year, Theta Kappa Phi, standing for “The Catholic Fraternity,” was chosen.  After two difficult years, Lehigh gave authorization to the organization to operate as a Fraternity, but required the constitutional clause requiring members to be Roman Catholic to be dropped.  In spite of this, the group continued to be known as the Catholic Fraternity.  By 1925, Theta Kappa Phi had grown to 25 chapters.  

The Great Depression hit the nation and the Fraternity.  Even the Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa shut its doors.  During this period, many chapters of both Fraternities became dormant or stagnant.  In 1939, with Hitler’s armies on the march, Theta Kappa Phi hosted Pax Romano, an international movement of Catholic students and assisted the organization during the war years.  After the war, both Fraternities prospered as men returned to college.  By 1959, Phi Kappa had 39 chapters and 11,200 members; Theta Kappa Phi had grown to 26 chapters and 7,800 members.

Dialogue between the two organizations dated back to 1933.  By the 1950’s, there was intense competition between the two groups as they often competed for the same men on the campuses where they both wanted to expand. In 1955, a three year negotiation proceeded…each group contributed their strongest assets, essentially losing none of their identity in the process.  The new name was also a hybrid—Phi Kappa Theta.  There were four campuses where both groups existed—the University of Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State and the University of Missouri—there were ten houses owned by both organizations.  

Finally, in September of 1958, both organizations met on the campus of Ohio State University. The Phi Kappa delegates passed the motion of amalgamation quickly.  At the Theta Kappa Phi convention, debate became heated. One day of discussion led to another.   Some chapters threatened to pull out if the merger took place.  Emotions ran high.  Theta Kappa Phi President Frank Flick (Illinois ’27) called a luncheon recess.  When the convention reconvened, the vote was successful and the marriage was approved.

In the fall of 1958, Illinois Phi Kappa Brother Frank McOmber chronicled the work to bring together the two fraternities at the U of I in The Temple of Phi Kappa, the National Magazine.  Frank wrote:  “The most obvious problems we encountered were classified into three groups: governmental, social, housing.”  Frank said two members from each Fraternity formed a four-man merger committee that met weekly.  “A new chapter constitution was drawn up…and was unanimously approved by both chapters.”  Frank said that a get-acquainted procedure was used…two members of each house attended evening meals on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.  A combined Winter Formal was held that year.  “Since we have 40 men living in the house this year, and Theta Kappa Phi has 35 members, it is clear that moving into one house will create somewhat of a problem.”  Although there are still problems to be overcome, Frank concluded that  “We are all certain that Phi Kappa Theta will be ‘No. 1’ here at the fraternity capital of the world.”  

On April 2, 1959, a Consolidation Banquet was held with speeches by Dean of Students Fred Turner, Fr. Edward J. Duncan of St. John’s Catholic Church.  Frank Flick, Chairman of the Board of Phi Kappa Theta, presented the Phi Kappa Theta Charter to the new Chapter.  The new officers were presented:  President, John McClory; Executive Vice President, Harold Hayward; Vice President, Ted Johnson; Secretary, John Weides; Treasurer, Robert Evans; Social Chairman, Thomas Keefer.  

The Charter Membership of Illinois Beta Delta of Phi Kappa Theta included:  Joseph Able, Thomas Amberg, Richard Bickhaus, Neil Brown, Richard Brown, Robert Busher, Jerry Caruso, Alfred Davis, James Dean, Theodore DeRousse, Charles Detweiler, Paul Dittmer, Walter Dudek, Richard Eberhardy, Robert Evans, Charles Foster, Rodney Fraher, Vince Giamalva,  Karl Grieter, Horst Hamann, Gerald Hankes, Harold Hayward, Wes Hocking, Theodore Johnson, Donald Kaiser, Thomas Keefer, Thomas Killian, Thomas Kinniry, Bruce Knudson, Daniel Korbas, Charles Kowzan, Kenneth Kozy, David Laufer, Gregory Liptak, Robert Loftus, Thomas Lorenz, Frank Lupi, Lawrence Luther, William Marshall, John McClory, Frank McOmber, Karl Miklas, Michael Pinney, Gerald Podlin, William Puskac, Donald Ramey, Robert Rzonca, Charles Schmidt, Lawrence Sennello, Richard Shubert, Paul Straka, Ronald Szymanski, Alan Trojnar, Francis VanHooreweghe, Frank Walsh, John Weides, John Woods, and Ronald Zachary.

 

 

 

Intense rivalry between the two groups had to be overcome.  Over 25 chapters were chartered.  With the Second Vatican Council, discussion intensified on ecumenical issues.  Finally, in 1969, at its Convention, the Fraternity dropped the Catholic clause.  From then on, membership would be open to anyone who understood  and accepted the Fraternity’s religious heritage.

The decade was one of consolidation and retrenchment.  Antiestablishment attitudes because of the Vietnam War along with the proliferation of marijuana and drugs placed stress on membership.  

This decade was a period of steady growth in the number of Phi Kappa Theta members, chapters, and active alumni services.  The National Offices were relocated to Indianapolis.  The term “pledge” was replaced with “associate member.”
In 1989, the 100th Anniversary of the Fraternity was celebrated in Hope Hall in Providence, the birthplace of Phi Kappa in 1889.

In the mid-1980’s, the Champaign Fire Department cited the house at 310 Chalmers with numerous violations.  The Alumni Board realized that it would be financially impossible to correct them; consequently, they sold the property and purchased a new house at 1106 S. Third Street.  For Brothers who return to campus, you will be disappointed at the Chalmers area.  Gone are the beautiful fraternity houses and manicured lawns replaced with ugly, box like apartment houses and parking lots.  

In the 1990’s and the 2000’s, declining membership and questions as to the future vitality of fraternities are hot topics.  In the mid-90’s, membership declined at Illinois Beta Delta.  The Alumni Board and the National Fraternity worked jointly on a plan to recruit new members to no avail.  The decision was made to let the active chapter cease to exist and to concentrate on the financial situation.  The goal was to keep the Chapter House and to eventually recolonize.  In about 1997, a Latino fraternity, Omega Delta, leased the Third Street property.  We are all indebted to the work of Brother Eric Redd ’92 who serves as President/Treasurer of our Illinois Beta Delta Alumni Board.  His e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   Eric says the Omega Delta group is great to work with.  The annual rental is $85K, and all the money goes to pay off a new mortgage taken out to put in all new windows, doors, and flooring in the second and third floor living areas.  A new front porch and a required sprinkler system are being installed to meet Champaign Fire Codes.   Eric says that there are still several major projects that need to be done.   He said they approached Omega Delta about incorporating them into PKT several years ago but they declined.  The current lease expires on July 31, 2008 and renewal discussions will begin in mid-2007.  Perhaps the subject of joining PKT can again be discussed.  Certainly one goal of our alumni group would be to reactivate our beloved Illinois Beta Delta.  Don Ramey has volunteered to help with the recolonization efforts.  Don helped colonize a Chapter of PKT at the University of Washington five years ago.

It is hard to know exactly what James Gillrain and August Concilio envisioned for Phi Kappa and Theta Kappa Phi nearly 120 years ago, but they knew they were making a commitment that would bond them for the rest of their lives.  We owe it to them, and to the Phi Kaps of the future, to keep the vision alive and the Fraternity honored.  May we all continue to “Give, Expecting Nothing Thereof,” and remember that Phi Kappa Theta is for life.

                                    April 2007