The Beginnings of Beta Gamma

One year following the establishment of the New Orleans Alumni Chapter on the campus of Dillard, an undergraduate chapter was formed, the Beta Gamma of Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity. Chartered April 16, 1937, Beta Gamma became the first chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi for undergraduate students in the Greater New Orleans Area and the second Greek-lettered fraternity on the campus of Dillard University.

Initiated on April 16, 1937, charter members of the Beta Gamma chapter include: Polemarch Herman J. Saul, Ramsey A. Bridges, Fredrick A. Hamilton, Leonard I. Keller, and Ernest P. Robinson. Other early members were: Milton J. Becnel (11/25/1937), Victor J. Jones (11/25/1937), Robert E. Brown (5/11/1938), Walter P. Jase (5/11/1938), James B. Knighten (5/11/1938), Isaac Nettles, Jr. (5/11/1938), Arthur C. Johnson, Jr. (11/29/1938), and Julian Robinson (5/11/1939), Alton O. Wilson, Andrew Douglas, Victor Vavasseur (12/18/1954), Jesse J. Bell (12/18/1954), Fredrick W. Willis (12/14/1956), Eddie J. Triggs (12/14/1956), Joseph V. Wynne (12/13/1957), and, Past Polemarch of New Orleans Alumni: Philip M. Baptiste (12/18/1954), Prince H. Washington (12/12/1955). 

Dean Horace Mann Bond and Professor Sagamon Dorsey of Dillard University, and the New Orleans Alumni Chapter were pivotal in establishing and chartering the Beta Gamma Chapter. Several alumni members lived in campus housing and assured the early success of Beta Gamma. Members living on campus included: Horace Bond, John R. Parnell (Pi, 12/5/1950), Professor S.H. Dorsey, William E. Pullin, and Emmett W. Sims.