The Kappa Pi Kappa Society (Pi-Kap) was founded at Dartmouth College on July 13, 1842 as Kappa Kappa Kappa (Tri-Kap) by students Harrison Hobart, Stephen Gordon Nash, and John Dudley Philbrick. The founders, who had split from the now defunct United Fraternity, “Fraters”,

strove to create the first truly Dartmouth fraternity pledged to its founding principles: democracy, equality of opportunity, loyalty to Dartmouth, and service. In 1905 the Society became a social organization while retaining its commitment to these historic ideals.

The Society was the first Greek organization at Dartmouth to build its own meeting space, “The Hall,” located at the present site of the Hopkins Center for the Arts from 1860 to 1894. The Society then moved to Parker House, located at the present site of Silsby Hall, in 1894. The Society made its final move to its present home at 1 Webster Avenue, the had of Fraternity Row, with the construction of the current Hall in 1923 which was expanded and modernized in 2016.

For almost two centuries, the Society’s members have positively impacted the Dartmouth community and beyond. The Society’s alumni include war heroes; business, cultural and political legends; and thousands of loyal Dartmouth sons making exceptional contributions around the world.

In 2022, the Society’s members chose to change the letters from Kappa Kappa Kappa to Kappa Pi Kappa. The three Kappas bore an unfortunate similarity with a hate organization founded 25 years after the Society, a group whose beliefs have always been diametrically opposed to the Society’s founding principles. Throughout its history, the Society’s commitment to democracy and equality of opportunity have created and diverse and inclusive brotherhood.