Kappa Alpha, an Organization With Ties to the Old South, Plans to Build a New Fraternity House in a Black Neighborhood of Athens, Georgia

The Kappa Alpha fraternity chapter at the University of Georgia is building a new three-story, 18-bedroom mansion on a six-acre lot off campus. The new fraternity house is located in the predominantly black Hancock neighborhood of Athens.

But black residents of the area are not happy about having the fraternity as a neighbor. Until 2000 the Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Georgia flew the Confederate battle flag outside its fraternity house. Until this year the fraternity held its annual Old South parade with fraternity members dressed in Confederate outfits.

Kappa Alpha chapters at other universities have been suspended for racist behavior. Despite the record of bad publicity in the late 1990s, there have been no race-related incidents involving Kappa Alpha chapters over the past five years.

The fraternity was founded in 1865 at what is now Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.