Our Chapter History
How our chapter was formed…
1841: Beta Chapter
The History of our chapter dates back to August 9th, 1841 when the Gamma Chapter of Beta Theta Pi was founded at Western Reserve University in Hudson, Ohio. Due to the Closure of the The University of Cincinnati chapter in 1844, the Western Reserve chapter took the Beta Chapter designation as their own.
At the time university officials frowned upon fraternities, so the public acknowledgement of Beta at WRU was not made for many years. However as time progressed and fraternities grew, Beta gained acceptance on campus. In fact, University Presidents Pierce, Leutner, and Finnegan were all Betas. In 1882, WRU moved from Hudson, Ohio to the University Circle area in Cleveland. The Beta’s originally took up residence in a house on Bellflower Rd.
1905: Lambda Kappa Chapter
In 1894 a local fraternity called Lyme Kill Club was formed at the Case School of Applied Sciences. It had the expressed purpose of eventually becoming a chapter in a nationally recognized fraternity. The Lyme Kill Club petitioned to join Beta, and at the Beta Theta Pi national convention, the petition was accepted.
So, on February 22nd, 1905, Beta Theta Pi opened its doors at at the Case Institute of Applied Science, which was just across the street from Western Reserve. The Chapter chose to keep the letters LK as a reminder of the chapter’s origins–thus the Lyme Kill Club became the Lambda Kappa chapter of Beta Theta Pi. The LK house was originally at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Cornell Avenue and later relocated to Murray Hill Road.
1979: Lambda Kappa-Beta Chapter
In 1967, CIT and Western Reserve merged to form what is now Case Western Reserve University. After the merger, both the Lambda Kappa and Beta chapters chose to operate independently on the same campus for over a decade with limited interaction from one another. At the national convention of 1979 it was decided that both chapters would become one and on September 5th, 1979 the Lambda Kappa-Beta chapter was formed and is still in operation to this day.
During the mid seventies the original Beta house, where the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences now stands, burned down and the members moved to the Lambda Kappa house on Murray Hill Rd. Following the loss of that house in a fire as well, the chapter moved down the street, to a house in the Greek village at the bottom of Murray Hill.
The Rebirth
Unfortunately, the chapter fell on hard times. Member apathy, a culture of alcohol and hazing, and lack of recruitment led to only five men left in the chapter at the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester. These five men- Paul Serrin, Caleb Krouse, David Svilar, David Bartholomew, and Will Freed-Pastor, made it their goal to ensure the survival of their chapter. Reversing years of negative culture overnight, the five seniors recruited enough men to keep the chapter alive. In 2006, after the graduation of the seniors, the chapter officially declared its commitment to a positive chapter culture by formally partnering with Beta’s “Men of Principle” Initiative.
Living the Dream
The dream of these five men was not lost. The Lambda Kappa – Beta chapter has come a long way and is now arguably the strongest it has ever been. Praised by both Case Western Reserve and Beta International’s, this chapter is proving that a fraternity is most successful when supporting their brothers is the objective.
Our chapter values our history that dates back almost to the founding of the fraternity itself in 1839. We wish to keep upholding the Lambda Kappa, Beta, and LK-B alumni and traditions as our own.
Our Founders’ Paragraph
At nine o’clock on the evening of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 1839, eight earnest young men, all students at Miami University, held the first meeting of Beta Theta Pi in the Hall of the Union Literary Society, an upper room in the old college building known as ‘Old Main.’
The eight founders in the order in which their names appear in the minutes were:
John Reily Knox, 1839
Samuel Taylor Marshall, 1840
David Linton, 1839
James George Smith, 1840
Charles Henry Hardin, 1841
John Holt Duncan, 1840
Michael Clarkson Ryan, 1839
Thomas Boston Gordon, 1840
of ever honored memory.
