Alpha Kappa was originally chartered at Hillsdale College in 1883, the same year that Hillsdale College moved its location from Spring Arbor to Hillsdale. The charter was originally sought on account of a disagreement between two fraternities that started in a literary society on Hillsdale’s campus. In Sigma Chi’s initial three years on campus, all of the brothers were well loved and won many academic awards. However, evidence arose of misbehavior by two brothers that took place in rooms in the Flatiron Block of downtown. The administration responded to this evidence by expelling the two.

Other college students were associated with the happenings downtown, and other brothers in Alpha Kappa demanded that the administration conduct an investigation in order to bring the other participating students to justice. Strangely, the administration not only refused to investigate these claims, but also threatened the demanding brothers with expulsion. The relationship between Alpha Kappa and the Hillsdale College administration became so strained that the Sigma Chi national headquarters was contacted. Instead of discussing the issue, the general fraternity regrettably and hastily revoked Alpha Kappa’s charter in June of 1886. Upset by their dismissal, the former brothers of Sigma Chi decided to form an Alpha Tau Omega chapter, a southern fraternity that gladly took the opportunity to charter a northern school because of its goal to reduce sectional bitterness.

Nearly one-hundred years later in 1979, eleven men desired to create a fraternity that would be superior to other fraternities on Hillsdale’s campus, wishing to establish requirements that were above the requirements of the other fraternities. Seven of them, Pat Donovan, Dennis Ellis, Mike Harner, Jerry Jones, Bill Nolan, John Perez, and Harry Pokrandt, were Delta Tau Delta pledges who had become frustrated with their pledgeship. Another, Brad Vite, had been an active in Delta Tau Delta, but had recently lost an election for president of the chapter to someone he deemed to have bad character. In addition to Vite, three independent friends, Dave Bowen from Galloway dorm, and George Daranyl and Dennis DeLapp from Simpson dorm, joined the former pledges in their endeavor to form a new fraternity. Near Thanksgiving in 1978, the entire group met to vote on whether or not they still wished to proceed with the idea. The eleven men were each to write “yes” or “no” on a small piece of paper. The papers were collected in a hat and then tallied. The result was eleven papers that read “yes.” The group formed the local fraternity Sigma Chi Kappa soon thereafter and began taking steps to obtain a national charter from the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Over the Christmas vacation of 1978-1979, they visited the Sigma Chi national headquarters, seeking the re-founding of Sigma Chi at Hillsdale College. They were soon contacted by Rich Martin of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, who responded favorably to their request. After several months of correspondence with representatives of Sigma Chi, the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees approved the re-founding in March of 1979. Soon thereafter, the group was contacted by the brothers of the Alpha Pi Chapter at Albion College.

Dr. Charles Vear was asked to be the chapter advisor and accepted the position. Additionally, two member of the Hillsdale College faculty, Dr. Dan Goldsmith and Dr. John Wilson, both brothers in the Sigma Chi Fraternity, offered their assistance in getting the chapter reinstated. A House Corp was formed and the search for a chapter house began. After enough organizational work was completed over the next year, the local fraternity of Sigma Chi Kappa was officially re-chartered as the Alpha Kappa Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity on August 30, 1980. The men of Sigma Chi Kappa received their Sigma Chi charter in only 18 months, despite the fact that it usually takes three years. They still hold the record for obtaining their charter more quickly than any other chapter in Sigma Chi history. Today the Alpha Kappa Chapter is composed of nearly 350 alumni and active members.

Compiled by Andrew Clark, 2006
Edited by Ryan Alexander, 2006