Kappa Beta Pi

Kappa Beta Pi
ΚΒΠ
Founded	Autumn December 15, 1908 (1908-12-15) Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois
Type	Professional
Affiliation	PFA (former)
Emphasis	law
Scope	International United States Canada United Kingdom France China
Colors	Turquoise blue and   Old gold
Flower	Yellow Tea Rose
Publication	Kappa Beta Pi Quarterly (former)
Headquarters	Silver Spring, MD United States

Kappa Beta Pi (ΚΒΠ) is a Legal Association which was formerly a professional law sorority in the United States.

History

Kappa Beta Pi was founded at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois on December 15, 1908. Its Founders were:

Mrs. Alice Craig Edgerton Mary A. Sellers Claire L. Gleason

Phyllis M. Kelley Nettie Rothblum Charlotte Doolittle White Mrs. Alice A. Prince

Anna Marie Knabjohann Buck Sue M. Brown Mrs. Katharine S. Clark

The sorority was incorporated in Illinois on December 15, 1908. This date is celebrated by chapters as Founders' Day. The organization was the first legal sorority in the U.S., that is, the first such group designed in the support of the legal profession.

Since 1925, admission of new chapters has been limited to American schools that met the requirements for membership in the Association of American Law Schools, or to schools on the approved list of the American Bar Association, along with those foreign law schools meeting equivalent requirements.

In 1927 its first international chapter was formed, Omicron chapter, in Paris, France. This was later followed by chapters in London, England, in West Germany, in Shanghai, China, several in Canada, and one in the US Territory of Puerto Rico.

During the first half of the 20th century, the Sorority published lists of law firms that would hire women, and those which resisted. It also published catalogs of female judges and lawyers serving in the field.

At the 1973 convention, the name was changed to Kappa Beta Pi Legal Association International, and from this juncture is now properly referred to as a legal association, not a sorority.

At the May 1976 convention in Columbus Ohio, all references believed to indicate a restriction of membership to women were removed.

Kappa Beta Pi had been a chartering member of the Professional Panhellenic Association, and thus became a member of the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) when the PPA merged with the Professional Interfraternity Association. Later, Kappa Beta Pi resigned from the PFA.

Some records of the organization's headquarters were provided to the Denver Public Library, which reports 17 boxes of materials spanning from 1930 to 1979.

The last known address for this Legal Association was either in Silver Spring, MD (per Baird's) or in Omaha, NE (Guidestar). As of November 2021, Guidestar reports "no activity for some time". The organization may be defunct.

Traditions and Insignia

The badge is a monogram with the Κ jeweled and superimposed over the letters Β and Π, which are embellished with scroll work. The pledge pin is an irregularly shaped shield enameled in Turquoise and old gold.

The coat of arms places a field of Turquoise blue in the upper left, while the lower right field is white. Devices, the Open Book, and Scales are rendered in gold. The Knight's Helmet is shown proper, that is, in the natural color, shown full face with the visor open and is of steel with silver ornaments. The helmet symbolizes the protection of the law, and inspires chivalrous conduct.

The flower is the Yellow Tea Rose.

The colors are turquoise blue and old gold.

The official song, To Kappa Beta Pi was written in 1941 by Alice Craig Edgerton.

The organization publishes a quarterly, called The Kappa Beta Pi Quarterly, one edition annually in an esoteric form, called The Secret Bulletin.

A fifty-year history was also written by Ms. Edgerton, who served as its first Grand Dean, or president, and published by the organization.

Chapters

Following is the chapter roll of Kappa Beta Pi Legal Association. Chapters and institutions in italics are inactive. Chapters in bold are active. Those unknown are in plain text.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Status	References
Alpha	1908	Chicago-Kent College of Law
Beta	1915	Northwestern University	Inactive
Gamma	1916	DePaul University
Delta	1916	Chicago	Inactive
Epsilon	1916	American University
Zeta	1916	John Marshall Law, Chicago	Inactive
Eta	1916	University of Texas Law	Inactive
Theta	1917	Kansas City
Iota	1917–1945, 1946	University of California, Berkeley
Kappa	1920–1929	Yale University	Inactive
Lambda	1920	Detroit
Mu	1920–1939, 1959	Detroit Law
Nu	1920	George Washington University
Xi	1920	Michigan
Omicron	1921	National Law	Inactive
Pi	1921	Washington (MO)	Inactive
Rho	1921	Iowa	Inactive
Sigma	1921–1939	Cornell	Inactive
Tau	1921	Boston	Inactive
Upsilon	1921	Syracuse	Inactive
Phi	1921	Illinois	Inactive
Chi	1921	Oregon	Inactive
Psi	1921	Wisconsin, Madison	Inactive
Omega	1923–1949	University of Southern California	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	1923	John Marshall Law, Cleveland	Inactive
Alpha Beta	1923–1958	Minnesota	Inactive
Alpha Gamma	1924	Southwestern, Los Angeles	Inactive
Alpha Delta	1924	University at Buffalo
Alpha Epsilon	1924–1935	Chicago-Kent Law	Inactive
Alpha Zeta	1924	Marquette University	Inactive
Alpha Eta	1924–1957	Hastings Law	Inactive
Alpha Theta	1924	Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Alpha Iota	1925	St. Louis	Inactive
Alpha Kappa	1925	Creighton University	Inactive
Alpha Lambda	1925–1942, 1951	University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Alpha Mu	1925	Osgoode Hall Law School Toronto, Canada
Alpha Nu	1926	Ohio State University
Alpha Xi	1926	University of Oklahoma
Alpha Omicron	1927	Paris, France
Alpha Pi	1930	Tulane	Inactive
Alpha Rho	1931	Alabama	Inactive
Alpha Sigma	1931	Denver
Alpha Tau	1931	University of North Dakota	Inactive
Alpha Upsilon	1932	West Virginia University	Inactive
Alpha Phi	1932	University of Arizona
Alpha Chi	1934–1938, 1957	Columbia University
Alpha Psi	1940	Southern Methodist University
Alpha Omega	1940	Drake University
Beta Alpha	1940	London, England
Beta Beta	1946–1950, 1951	Missouri
Beta Gamma	1946	Columbus Law (DC)
Beta Delta	1946	San Francisco	Inactive
Beta Epsilon			Unassigned ?
Beta Zeta	1947	Shanghai (China)	Inactive
Beta Eta	1948	South Dakota
Beta Theta	1949	Miami (FL)
Beta Iota	1949–1952, 1953	Emory
Beta Kappa	1950	University of Virginia School of Law	Inactive
Beta Lambda	1952	St. Mary's University School of Law
Beta Mu	1953	Georgetown University Law Center
Beta Nu	1954	West Germany
Beta Xi	1955	Houston
Beta Omicron	1956	Toledo
Beta Pi	1958	Boston Law	Inactive
Beta Rho	1960	Kentucky	Inactive
Beta Sigma	1962	Seton Hall
Beta Tau	1962–1970	Rutgers University	Inactive
Beta Upsilon	1963–1974	Howard University	Inactive
Beta Phi	1963–1979	Fordham University	Inactive
Beta Chi	1963–1971	University of Kentucky	Inactive
Beta Psi	1964–1973	Puerto Rico	Inactive
Beta Omega	1966	Ohio Northern University
Gamma Alpha	1966–1972	Colorado	Inactive
Gamma Beta	1967–1973	Franklin (OH)	Inactive
Gamma Gamma	1967	University of Arkansas
Gamma Delta	1967	Arkansas, Little Rock
Gamma Epsilon	1968–1973	New Brunswick, Canada	Inactive
Gamma Zeta	1970	University of Mississippi
Gamma Eta	1971	Texas Tech
Gamma Theta	1972–1973	University of Pittsburgh	Inactive
Gamma Iota	1972–1973	Duquesne University	Inactive
Gamma Kappa	1973	Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Gamma Lambda	1974	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada