Black-sponsored Greek letter organizations on the Indiana campus might well have begun in 1903, but there were too few registrants to assure continuing organization. In that year a club was formed called Alpha Kappa Nu with the purpose of strengthening the blacks' voice at the University and in the city of Bloomington. The reason for choosing the Greek letter name is not known, but it is known that the club expired within a short time. There is no record of any similar organization at Indiana until the chartering of Kappa Alpha Nu, a forerunner of Kappa Alpha Psi, in 1911.
The Prologue of this Story relates how Byron Kenneth Armstrong formed the acquaintance of Elder Watson Diggs, both Indianians, at Howard University in 1910, and journeyed with him to the Indiana campus in the fall of that year. Their presence along with eight other black men was almost completely ignored by white students. To make matters worse, one black might be on campus for weeks without seeing another. Under these circumstances, assimilation into the life of the school was impossible. The administration maintained an attitude of indifference as blacks were slowly matriculated and swiftly forgotten. They were denied use of entertainment and recreational facilities, and only in field and track were they permitted to display their athletic prowess. Participation in contact sports was emphatically denied them. Something had to be done to alleviate this condition, and something was done. Nine young men gathered at the home of Miss Mollie Spaulding, lodging place of Byron Armstrong and Marcus Blakemore , to form an organization. Diggs presided, and Edward Irvin acted as the temporary secretary. The other participants were Paul Caine, Blakemore, Byron Armstrong, Henry T. Asher, Ezra D. Alexander, Guy L. Grant and John M. Lee. The temporary organization was given the name Alpha Omega with the purpose of holding the group together until the details of a Greek letter society could be developed.
The very thought of a fraternity provided common interest. The members of Alpha Omega sought one another's company between classes and dropped by one another's lodging place to discuss this new approach to an old problem. The depressing isolation earlier experienced was relieved as friendships solidified. Most of the men knew nothing about fraternities except the camaraderie they witnessed as waiters. To this extent, they recognized the potential worth of Greek letter organizations.
The group was again caled together on January 5, 1911, this time to effect a permanent organization. Diggs was made the permanent chairman; John Lee, the secretary; and Byron Armstrong, the sergeant at arms. These offices were later to be called Polemarch, Keeper of the Records, and Strategus.
It was made clear at the outset that the new Fraternity would not warm over principles or practices of other organizations. Nor, indeed, would or could the new Fraternity seek its members in the manner of better known Greek letter organizations-from among the sons of wealthy families, or families whose social positions were such as vicariously would give prestige. Reliance would be placed upon high Christian ideals and the purpose of achievement. The Fraternity would seek to raise the sights of black youths and stimulate them to accomplishments higher than might otherwise be realized or even imagined.
Being a perfectionist, Diggs wanted the ritual and other instruments to be unique and authentic, and himself assumed responsibility for preparing the ceremonial forms. Byron Armstrong was given the job of developing the insignia and emblems. So concerned were they about their assigned duties that one took a course in Greek heraldry and the other studied Greek mythology. By the end of the school year, they had completed sufficient material to embody the major considerations. The new Fraternity was designated Kappa Alpha Nu, perhaps as a tribute to the black students of 1903 who organized the Alpha Kappa Nu club to foster a better life on the Indiana campus.
It was planned at the outset that the new organization would be incorporated as a national fraternity. An application was accordingly filed in the state of Indiana on April 11, 1911. Because of his friendship with Lee John Hunter, a Bloomington lawyer, handled the transaction without cost to the organization. The application was filed over the signatures of Ezra D. Alexander, Bryon K. Armstrong, Henry T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Paul Caine, Elder Watson Diggs, George Edmonds, Guy L. Grant, Edward G. Irvin, John M. Lee and Frederick Mitchell. Mitchell subsequently withdrew from school and never returned, hence never became a member.
Blakemore pawned his watch to help raise the twenty-five dollar incorporation fee. The transaction was completed on May 15, 1911, and so far as is known, Kappa Alpha Nu became the first undergraduate college fraternity to be incorporated by blacks as a national body. It is a tribute to the democratic ideals of the Founders and to their faith in humanity that neither by statute nor implication was anyone barred from membership by reason of race, religion or national origin.