Women in the Fraternity (part A) by David Justin Editor’s Note: This is the second in a four-part series chronicling the history of women in Kappa Kappa Psi; part 1 appeared in the spring 2001 issue.
The E>BG National Convention Brothers, we must be at UCONN in ’73, for things of great importance to the fraternity will be discussed and voted. Gordon E. Maroney, III, National Member-at-Large The PODIUM, spring 1973
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he passage of Title IX threatened to redefine the most basic requirement for membership for all-male honor societies such as Kappa Kappa Psi by allowing women to join. The issue was predominant on the minds of the Grand Council as they prepared for the 1973 National Convention at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. The council strongly encouraged attendance so that all voices could be heard and so that this issue could be addressed. “To sit by the band hall and hope this shall pass from us is foolish thinking,” Maroney continued in his PODIUM letter. “We must meet, discuss all aspects affecting us and decide what must be done now.” As the chair of the National Student Advisory Committee, he invited all brothers in attendance at the National Convention to attend the meetings of the committee and to express their feelings and observations about the issue of allowing women in the fraternity. Constitutionally, the committee was chaired by the National Member-at-Large, now known as the National Vice President for Student Affairs, and consisted of the district presidents. Other members of the fraternity were allowed to sit in on this committee, but were not usually encouraged to do so. National Executive Secretary Robert Rubin also addressed the issue in his PODIUM letter. He asked very direct questions that he hoped would be answered at UCONN. “What policy must we adopt to meet the requirements of [Title IX]?” he asked. “How can we also meet the needs of those who have already challenged our current governing document on this basis?…Is there really a need for two separate societies based on sexist selectivity within one collegiate band program? Would not one coed society serve as well?” When the convention finally began, Grand President Richard “Doc” Worthington addressed the issue in his official report.
“A big challenge to the fraternity during the past biennium, at this meeting of the Grand Chapter, and in the future will be the [Education Amendments],” he said. “It has caused the ‘Rutgers’ incident in which a chapter was suspended because of ignoring the National Constitution and initiating women into their chapter in violation of this constitution. If women are to become a part of Kappa Kappa Psi, let it be done in an orderly manner with open discussion at a Grand Chapter meeting and not in open defiance to the National Constitution.” He went on to give some options that would make the fraternity compliant with Title IX. Among those suggestions was the idea of merging Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma into a single “unisex” organization. Richard Alder, a Life Member from the Nu chapter at the University of Michigan served as the chair of the jurisdiction committee at the convention. “There was no buzz on merger in 1973,” he recalled when asked about the possibility of a merger in Storrs. “The Rutgers Incident was an anomaly that I think many chapters just preferred to ignore – chapter violated rules, chapter suspended, end of discussion in many people’s minds. If you’re not prepared to break down the gender barrier on membership, then you’re nowhere near thinking merger.” However, Alder and his jurisdiction committee did discuss the possibility of changing the National Constitution. The idea was to propose an amendment that would take out the “male” reference out of the membership requirements. “I wanted to push the idea, and found the committee not totally sold on the idea,” Alder said. “J. Lee [Burke]’s suggestion was that the committee could propose an amendment ‘without prejudice’ which would put it before the membership for a vote without a recommendation either for or against from the committee.” Burke, the third Grand President, was the Fraternity’s parliamentarian for life. He constantly advised and coached the jurisdiction and was more knowledgeable about the National Constitution than anyone in the Fraternity. The committee accepted this compromise on the amendment proposal. The proposed amendment would read delete section 7.02 of the national constitution, which stated, “All members of the Fraternity shall be of the male sex.” Prior to the jurisdiction committee report, Maroney presented the report of the National Student Advisory Committee. Their recommendation on the subject was not a
The PODIUM, Fall 2001—17
