Who We Are
We are the alumni association of the Kappa Chi and Theta Chi Fraternities at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo. The association is made up of more than 600 alumni of Kappa Chi and Theta Chi fraternities. Our goal is to maintain the ties of brotherhood we cherished during our years as active members of the fraternity.

History
In the late 50’s Cal Poly’s enrollment was less than 5000 students. Women had just been re-admitted into the university in 1956. The campus lacked a social and fraternal atmosphere that molds college students into leaders. Two students, Don Budai and Charles Weber, understood this problem and began looking for a means to improve the social aspect of Cal Poly. Their efforts resulted in the founding of Kappa Chi Fraternity in 1957.

Many of the early KX’s were members of the Cal Poly Collegians dance band. From this small core the fraternity grew to include a wide variety of brothers from different places studying many different majors.    The Collegians

Included in this group of early brothers was Rod Baughn, a member of the 1960 Cal Poly football team. Brother Baughn died along with 15 others in the crash of the team airplane in Toledo, Ohio on Halloween night 1960 after a game with Bowling Green University. In his memory an award is given every year at the April alumni function recognizing a current brother that embodies the qualities of an athlete, a sportsman and gentleman that Brother Baughn demonstrated during his life. A memorial to all the victims of the plane crash exists next to Mustang Stadium on the Cal Poly campus.

In 1958 the fraternity moved into the house at 844 Upham Street. Kappa Chi flourished in the 60’s becoming a leader of the Greek community at Cal Poly.

In 1968, recognizing the benefits a nationally affiliated fraternity might bring, the brothers of Kappa Chi led by then president Bill Wessel began to look at different national fraternities to determine if any were a good match for the values that had made Kappa Chi successful for more than a decade. The summer of 1968 saw Wessel and a few other KXs drive across the United States visiting the headquarters of several national fraternities. After careful consideration the brothers of Kappa Chi chose to join forces with Theta Chi Fraternity.
 
Theta Chi was a highly regarded and popular national fraternity founded in 1856. The commonality of beliefs in brotherhood, scholarship, athletics, service to the community and in the code of the “helping hand” made the choice to join Theta Chi obvious.  

In 1969, the active members and many alumni of Kappa Chi were initiated into Theta Chi and the fraternity became the Zeta Phi Chapter of Theta Chi. As Theta Chi the fraternity continued to be a campus leader both within the Greek community and the scholastic and social fabric of Cal Poly. The Kappa Chi name was retired but it’s history and legacy remained a strong part of the Theta Chi chapter.

In 1993 disagreements with the Theta Chi national organization regarding the continued use of traditional fraternity practices by the chapter resulted in the house on Upham Street returning it’s charter and resurrecting the Kappa Chi name and rituals.

In the late 1990’s Theta Chi was re-formed at Cal Poly. Theta Chi national chose to give the new house the same Zeta Phi chapter name as was used by the first Theta Chi at Cal Poly rather than a new name to represent a totally different fraternity. The Kappa Chi and Theta Chi fraternities co-existed separately at Cal Poly for several years.

In December 2008 the Kappa Chi fraternity, having been reduced to a small handful of brothers, was barred from participation in IFC by the university. The Kappa Chi-Theta Chi Alumni Association approached the new Zeta Phi chapter about the possibility of joining the two groups. The merger provided the opportunity to form one strong active chapter with a large alumni base and a chapter house.

In March of 2009 the two organizations agreed to merge into one. The alumni association organized to repair and restore the house in preparation for the return of Theta Chi. Almost $50K in cash, material and in kind donations were raised. The summer saw many groups of alumni return to work on the house during twice monthly weekend work functions. The new Theta Chi fraternity moved onto the house for fall quarter of 2009.

In the spring of 2010 the house, while under Theta Chi’s care, was badly damaged by a fire resulting from improperly stored chemicals. Work has been ongoing to reach a settlement with insurance companies and rebuild the structure. The goal is to complete repairs by the end of Summer, 2012.

Joining the new Theta Chi with the old Kappa Chi/Theta Chi demonstrated how difficult is to combine two groups founded on very different principles. Resolving those differences proved to be impossible at this point in time and each group went their separate ways in February 2011.

The Kappa Chi-Theta Chi Alumni Association is focusing it’s efforts on reconstruction of the house on Upham Street and evaluating options to preserve our brotherhood and serve the university and community. We will also continue to record our history as well as document and preserve the collection of pictures, paddles, plaques and documents owned by the fraternity.