THE FOUNDING OF DELTA KAPPA ALPHA FRATERNITY
By
W. George Gaines
Founder and First President

The story of how our Fraternity came into being has never been fully told until now. As a Founding Father, I am probably in the best position to offer my recollections as to how these events unfolded. Because God has blessed me with a good memory, I believe this is how it actually took place.
Conditions at PJC

I transferred from The University of Alabama to PJC for the spring semester of 1961.  At PJC that spring, Al Shams and I were invited to pledge the local Phi Delta Sigma. After about three weeks of pledging, Al and I realized that their agenda was not the same as ours. With no disrespect to members of that group (many of whom I still consider friends), I have to say that they lacked maturity and seriousness of purpose. They were known for physical abuse of pledges, weak scholarship, and excessive drinking. Al and I organized the pledges and reported our concerns to the actives. Although many were sympathetic to the issues we raised, there was a hard core group who were not. Thus, Al and I chose to resign.

Later that summer, Phi Delta Sigma sponsored a dance that spiraled out of control. Law enforcement had to be called, and there were several arrests, including leaders of the fraternity. This was reported on the front page of the Pensacola News-Journal and caused great embarrassment to the College community.

When classes resumed in the fall of 1961, the mood on campus was somber. The administration, as well as the Student Government Association, was openly suspicious of, if not hostile toward, any Greek organization. And, who could blame them?

This was the environment at PJC. The Student Senate had passed a resolution requiring any new organization to seek its approval before being allowed on campus. The Student Government was dominated by members of the Baptist Student Union, all fine people, but none of whom were Greeks. Fortunately for us, Al Shams was Vice President of the Student Body and exerted considerable influence within the SGA. I had been appointed Chaplain of the Senate, so I had a first-hand view of the politics involved.

The Fraternity Begins to Form
During the early fall of 1961, Les McLean spoke with several of us about starting a new fraternity on campus. Les, who was an initiate of Pi Kappa Alpha and several years older than most of us, was highly supportive and encouraged our efforts. There were many discussions of a new fraternity, usually held in the Student Center. Al Shams, Lee Jones, and I took part in several but not all of these meetings.

I have since come to learn that George Wilkinson, who later became the fourth President of DKA, first suggested the three Greek letters--Delta, Kappa, and Alpha. In George's own words,

"I was looking at Les' Pike pin.... I sketched it out on a napkin... I remember noting that the K and the A were angled letters and in balance inside the diamond shape....and the Pi had no angles to it and seemed 'out of balance' to me. For me, the letter didn't matter, so long as it was symmetrical to the other shapes. There were few Greek letters I even knew then, but Delta was one of them.... it could be done with the exact angles of the Alpha, so I drew that in there..... Everyone liked it... we talked excitedly a little longer and everyone went to class."
Sunday Night, October 8, 1961

On a rainy Sunday night, October 8, 1961, the three of us--Alfred Maurice Shams, Ira Lee Jones, and William George Gaines--met secretly in a small conference room on the second floor of the PJC Library. We had discussed the fraternity's name and some of the ritualistic elements prior to that evening, so this meeting gave final affirmation to these elements. In fact, I recall that we settled on the name early in the meeting because we went through a Greek dictionary searching for words to give meaning to Delta, Kappa, and Alpha. At last, we settled on the three words to be hidden behind the Greek letters, Delta Kappa Alpha.

The Four Virtues of a Brother were also determined at that meeting. We all agreed the first virtue. I suggested the second virtue out of respect for our mission as students in search of knowledge. I'm not positive who suggested the third, but I feel certain it was Lee. It was Al who insisted that we add the fourth virtue. This was to assure that the Fraternity would never belittle or mistreat a pledge, or anyone else for that matter.

Selection of the 13 Charter Members

There was a core group of Brothers that was smaller than the original 13. The core consisted of the three founders--myself, Al, and Lee--as well as Les McLean, Steve Van Wezel, and Roger Eaton. For example, I remember it was Roger Eaton who asked that Tony Webb and Dexter Traxler be included. Les brought along Bob Hannah. I remember reaching out to my good friend, Elton Johnson, who immediately embraced the idea. How the remainder of the 13 came into Charter Membership, I don't remember. I only know I'm glad each one of them did!

What puzzles me to this day is why George Wilkinson was not included in the original group, but invited later. The only explanation is that it was an oversight on our part. There was never any question within Chapter as to whether George should become a Brother. In fact, if you happen to examine Lee's original notes from our first meeting, you'll see that George's name was first among those to be invited to pledgeship, followed by Wayne Etheredge and Bud Garrett.

The First Chapter Meeting
I vividly remember the first meeting of the 13 original Brothers, only a few days later on Wednesday night, October 11. The Chapter Room was dark, illuminated only by candlelight. The first opening ritual began, prefiguring what we have today. The recitation of the Four Virtues. The traditional salute. The grip. The knock at the door. It was all there at the beginning. We had an election of officers. I was elected President, Elton as Vice-President, Lee as Secretary, Dexter as Treasurer. Steve Van Wezel accepted the responsibility of Pledgemaster and, I believe, Bob Hannah became our Master-at-Arms.

Other than the formation of the Brotherhood itself, perhaps the most important outcome of our early meetings was the approval of the Fraternity's Constitution and By-Laws. This effort was spearheaded by Al Shams and Elton Johnson. At the time, Al was Vice President of the Student Body and Elton was a Sophomore Senator.
The Politics of Approval

We faced an uphill struggle getting the Fraternity approved by the Student Government and the Administration, so we took the battle directly to our opposition rather than remain underground. We met privately with members of the Administration and the Student Government to discuss the new Fraternity. At best, the reception was chilly.

Perhaps the key breakthrough occurred when Mr. James (Jim) Rogers agreed to be our sponsor. Jim was a respected member of the Administration and actively involved in the powerful Baptist Student Union. Al and I met with Jim on several occasions, and after repeated invitations to become our sponsor, he finally gave up and accepted.

So, armed with Jim Rogers as sponsor and Constitution and By-Laws in hand, I presented our case before the Student Senate. The debate was tough. Dale Price, President of the Student Body, insisted that the sponsor have "full veto power" over any decision made by the fraternity. Al Shams, as President of the Senate, challenged Dale's argument. Al deemed it unacceptable, and a compromise was proposed: "the sponsor must approve our social events." A vote was taken, far from unanimous, but nonetheless a majority in favor of officially recognizing Delta Kappa Alpha as a campus organization. The victory was ours!

The photograph below was taken immediately following that meeting of the Senate. Needless to say, the photographer didn't have to remind us to smile!
Epilogue

I'm sure that there is much more I might have written about the Founding of our Fraternity, but these are my clearest and fondest memories. It's important that we share such things because they are important. Such are important not only to the First Brothers, but to the Brothers who came after--to know who we are, what we stand for, and to take pride in the way in which it all began.

Ten of the Original Brothers,
Mr. Rogers, and Sue, our Sweetheart