History
Since it was formed in 1921, Kappa Phi Omega has been an important part of Otterbein life for many women.
One thing is certain. The college did not want us around! To be more specific, Otterbein presidents, faculties and trustees did not want sororities of any sort on campus. It was nothing personal; they just believed that the four literary societies available to all students provided adequately for campus social needs. Three of these literary groups had been doing the job at Otterbein since before the Civil War.
Shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century, college authorities discovered that a group of male students had gone underground and joined to form a social organization known as Phi Beta Sigma (Annex). Two short years later they discovered that there were females lurking underground as well and that all the Owls (Sigma Alpha Tau) were not in the trees.
When President Clippinger (1909-1939) discovered the subterranean activity on Otterbein’s campus he was enraged. His predecessor, President Henry A. Garst (1886-1889) had actually written an entire chapter in his 1907 history of the college about the danger fraught by the existence of sororities and fraternities on college campuses. President Garst then gloated over the fact that Otterbein had no such potentially dangerous groups. It is easy to imagine the frustration that led to President Clippinger’s anger.
Not wishing to be the one to open Otterbein’s doors to such questionable and dangerous social organizations, President Clippinger ordered the existing groups to disband at once. Faculty members and trustees agreed with his stand and offered him their support. However by 1921, the social groups on campus had become too obvious to be ignored and the faculty admitted their existence. Kappa Phi Omega (Onyx) was one of those social groups.
What were President Clippinger’s complaints against the greatly dreaded social groups? Well, he described them as advocates of dancing, playing cards, smoking, and wasting time. In his day these were some of the worst sins imaginable for supposedly sober and work oriented college students. He was determined to develop the nation’s leaders and he simply couldn’t equate that job with what he believed sororities and their brother fraternities would do to the school’s students.
Other social groups for females recognized in 1921 were Epsilon Kappa Tau (Arbutus), Rho Kappa Delta (Arcady), Theta Nu (Greenwich), Sigma Alpha Tau (Owls), Phi Theta Pi (Phoenix), Tau Epsilon Mu (Talisman)
and Tau Delta (Tomo-Dachi or TD). In 1930 a subcommittee of college trustees proposed the following: “we recognize the social groups as an established and integral part of the student life.” (Hancock, Harold, History of Otterbein College). In the wake of their proposal, the faculty finally gave approval in 1931 for the use of Greek letters to identify and distinguish the social groups then in existence. Ironically, however, they still refused to admit that “sororities” existed
on Otterbein’s campus.A real test of Kappa and all the other “social clubs” came during the depression. For most families it was extremely difficult to raise enough money to pay college tuition and room and board, much
less to have any money left over for sorority dues or other activities that might be considered frivolous. For many female students dropping out of sororities was an economic necessity. That was true
of those in Kappa as well. Frugality and sheer determination saw them through the lean years and Kappa survived. Not all of our sister sororities were so fortunate. Tau Delta disbanded in 1938 and
it was a number of years before they were able to reorganize themselves.
World War II came all too soon after the depression. With so many of the college’s young men being called up for war service, female students had the campus pretty much to themselves in the early 1940’s. Kappa flourished as did the other sororities. The normal distractions were fewer and the women became more focused on Greek life. As ever greater numbers of ships and planes rolled off of assembly lines and farmers were pressed into providing more and more food to feed a nation where shortages and rationing had become common place there was more economic stability and women were better able to afford participation in Greek organizations. While men’s groups struggled in the late `40s and `50s to reorganize themselves, few sororities had such problems. Seven of the eight sororities on Otterbein’s campus survived the years of turmoil with only Arcady (Rho Kappa Delta) going on hiatus during the period.
For the “golden girls” of Kappa, it was a time of relative peace and tranquility. Campus life returned to a consistent and normal routine. Unlike some of their older sisters who were actually rushed for sororities before they ever set foot on campus and came already equipped with pledge pins as freshmen, rushing and pledging became an integral part of the freshman ritual. Every precaution against “dirty rushing” was taken under the careful scrutiny of the Pan-Hellenic Council. Rounds of open houses and theme parties were a highlight of the year. Eventually the big afternoon arrived when invitations to pledge were secretly prepared and then passed out to anxiously waiting freshmen and other prospective pledges. Big sisters were assigned to the lowly pledges and preparation for a new class of Kappas would begin. Pledge paddles miraculously began to appear with careful dedications to the actives for which they were intended. Bright shining K pledge pins were a requirement and were the perfect compliment to the freshman beanies most of the pledges were still wearing. Greek (Hell) Week came and went. Pledges became actives as well as sisters and friends unto the end.
After a quarter of a century traditions had begun to develop and one more was waiting in the wings. Former sisters had left their mark on the sorority by establishing our black, gold and royal blue colors. The informal name of “Onyx” was still in vogue from the “social group” era when Greek letters were forbidden. The sparkling black onyx stone had become synonymous with Kappa. Our annual newsletter for actives and alumni was called “The Blackstone”.
In the fall of 1954, it was decided that the group needed a mascot. Extensive discussion was held as the choice was made. Given the black onyx stone and black in our sorority colors it seemed only natural to choose a black mascot as well. Kappas could have been Crows or something less appealing, but Virginia Ford suggested the Scottie dog and that was happily designated the Kappa mascot.
Each year Kappa chose candidates for both Fall and Winter Homecoming Queen and May Day Princess Publicizing their candidacy became major projects for the year. Members of the sorority participated in serenades and built floats for campus parades. Kappas joined in the May Pole Dance held in Alum Creek Park each May Day Saturday. There were the usual philanthropic activities each year depending on the special needs of the time.
Professor Marion Chase, former instructor in the Theatre Department became Dean of Students. In 1965 he was charged with studying the sororities and fraternities on campus and making recommendations to improve them. His survey was a rather ambitious one. For the women on campus the Dean recommended that when the next new dormitory for women was constructed, larger sorority rooms be included in the building. By that time a majority of Otterbein’s female population was involved in one sorority or another. In lieu of larger sorority rooms, in 1971 the board of trustees approved the use of sorority houses and a whole new era of Kappa life began.
The Sorority House
When time permitted the first sisters to be together, they met in any place that was mutually convenient. The years went on and Kappa Phi Omega’s activities and those of their sister sororities became more accepted as an important part of life on the Otterbein campus. Each active sorority was assigned one room in Cochran Hall dormitory to be especially identified with and used by their members. For a number of years, the Kappa (Onyx) sorority room was located on the west side of the third floor of Cochran Hall.
Two members of each sorority were permitted to live in their sorority’s room. The two Onyx members living in the KÏ room became Kappa’s hostesses and keepers of the sorority’s sanctuary. Since the rooms were designed to be more of a living space than a bedroom, the girls living there slept on two hide-a-beds as they were called then. Each evening they were required to open and ready their beds and each morning it was necessary for them to make and close their beds so that the room was in constant readiness for sorority sisters to visit. At the south end of the room, each of the Kappa sisters living in the room had a small curtained area for storing personal belongings.
In the years when membership in Kappa was large, every inch of floor space and every seating space in the room were filled to overflowing. The incentive to arrive early for meetings was greatly influenced by the lack of space. Magically, sorority room hostesses were expected to store and oversee all of the sorority’s records and other belongings. As one considers the size of today’s dorm rooms, it is easy to understand why Onyx/Kappa was a rather Spartan group. It also makes it easier to understand why many of Kappa’s records and belongings found their way into the homes of sisters in the Westerville and Columbus area for storage. Charter Kappa member Ellen Jones (class of 1923) for many years the owner of Otterbein College’s bookstore, was the repository for most of Onyx’s historical documents and belongings. Until her death all searches for the answer to any sorority questions or records began with Ellen.
A half century after Kappa Phi Omega came into existence its first sorority house was secured. When other sororities began to make the move into houses instead of rooms in 1971, Kappa joined them. The first Kappa house was located on Home Street opposite the parking lot of the Campus Center. That house would later give way to other groups and the current sorority house, home to a dozen or more Kappa sisters is located at 76 West Main Street in Westerville.
Traditions of the sorority are maintained carefully by today’s actives and pledges. Entire walls of the sorority house are dedicated to the display of current actives’ elaborately designed pledge paddles. Black, gold and blue (or the turquoise used today), are still the colors that identify the group. Onyx, selected very early in the history of the sisterhood continues to be the group’s identifying stone and informal name. The black Scottie mascot, first selected in 1954 still faithfully wags its tail at all Kappa events and around the sorority house. In recognition of the loveable Kappa mascot, the sisters sometimes identify themselves as Scotties. In recent years they have added the tradition of the Highland Fling dance to sorority activities. Kappa sisters are well known on both the campus and around town for their performances of the traditional Scots dance.
Most important of all is the tradition of lovingly chosen sisters, faithfully supporting each other and Otterbein College. Eighty-five years of Kappa Phi Omega’s members and all those yet to come may truly be recognized as “Sisters and Friends Unto the End”
When Kappa Phi Omega’s original 16 members joined together in 1921 they were bent on creating a company of friends that shared common interests and concerns at Otterbein. The first members to sign the original pledge book were:
- Nola Barnhard
- Marguerite Gould Barnhart
- Margaret Frazier Conley
- Kathleen White Dempke
- Ethel Urlich Hitchcock
- Ellen Jones
- Margaret Norris Kemp
- Mary Meyer
- Wray Richardson Mills
- Helen Palmer
- Helen Rau
- Kathryn McKinney Stewart
- Hilda Gibson Stone
- Pauline Lambert Warsel
- Lucille Lambert Webner
- Ann Jackson Wilson