History of Missouri Kappa-Chi

Missouri Kappa-Chi began as an interest group in January of 2005 with principal founder Paul Tran and his two suitemates Zach Smith and Matt Watson.  The three initial founders did not believe in the typical “frat” but were interested in the brotherhood and self-development that true fraternities offered.  Finding that none of the other fraternities on campus fit their needs, the three began the search for creating a new organization that would embody the values and ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, service, and moral righteousness.

After looking into multiple fraternities, the founders came upon Sigma Alpha Epsilon and The True Gentleman.  The True Gentleman creed (upon which ΣAE is based) serves as the central pillar upon which Missouri Kappa-Chi was born.  Captivated by the all-encompassing ideals that ΣAE strives to instill into its members, the original three opened a dialogue with ΣAE’s national office.  Michael Corelli, the Fraternity’s Director of Chapter Development, met their inquiry with excitement, and thus the process of colonization began.  Sparked by the sudden feasibility of starting a fraternity chapter from the ground up, the three original members recruited what would become the Phoenix class of Missouri Kappa-Chi.  Nine additional members were recruited that first semester, and after months of developing the infrastructure of the fraternity, Missouri Kappa-Chi was colonized on April 22, 2005.

Over the course of the next year, the members of Missouri Kappa-Chi worked diligently towards the ultimate goal of their charter.  After their first semester on campus, ΣAE achieved the highest term GPA of any other fraternity.  Encouraged by their early success and the support given them by alumni volunteers and the national office, the colony ‘s motivation for success mushroomed. 

Over the course of that first full year, Missouri Kappa-Chi raised over $2,000 for local charities, collected nearly 1,000 lbs of clothes and goods for Hurricane Katrina victims along with a Kenyan orphanage, and donated hundreds of hours of service to bettering the community.  In addition to service, Missouri Kappa-Chi excelled in the classroom, achieving the highest cumulative GPA out of all fraternities with a 3.355. 

The success extended over into student life as well with brother Brian Gettinger being named Courtwarming King that first year and principal founder and Eminent Archon Paul Tran being named UMKC’s Emerging Leader by the Student Government Association.  By the end of 2005, Missouri Kappa-Chi also had recruited an additional 19 members to join in helping build the foundation for the fraternity.  The culmination of all the hard work and effort put into the fraternity was made worthwhile with two awards. 

ΣAE was named Best Fraternity by the Student Government Association and also was the recipient of the Bunting Award for Most Outstanding Colony for the 2005-2006 academic year-the single highest award given by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity to recognize the one colony that most exemplifies the ideals of the fraternity.

After nearly two years, and what seemed like a lifetime of work, the Missouri Kappa-Chi colony became a chapter on November 4th, 2006!  The “Big Brother” chapter to our colony, Kansas Alpha at the University of Kansas, hosted the initiation.