To the Editor:
Your article concerning Bill Asher ("At Dartmouth, porn king alumnus led 'ridiculous life,' April 2) contained an error. You stated that Dartmouth's Kappa Sigma fraternity (located at 7 Webster Avenue) is now defunct. On the contrary, the over 70-year-old fraternity formerly named Kappa Sigma is alive and well and now known as Chi Gam.
We were forced to change the name in the late 1980s when the Kappa Sigma national fraternity sued Dartmouth's Kappa Sigma for trademark infringement. The Court, in its wisdom, ruled that the national had rights to the ancient Greek letters kappa and sigma, and that the Dartmouth fraternity could no longer use either. Thus we turned to the name "Chi Gam."
Founded in the 1930s, Dartmouth's Kappa Sigma fraternity had broken with the Virginia-based national fraternity in the early 1980s because there seemed to be no advantage to being a member of the national and the brothers were sending dues out of state that could be put to better use at Seven Webster Avenue (e.g. running the "Kappa Sigma Barley and Hops Research Institute and Beer Brothel" for the betterment and enjoyment of the larger Dartmouth community). The national pleaded with us for several years to rejoin, then threatened, and finally sued. I believe the Class of 1983 was the last class to technically join the national.
In sum, while the name has changed, all else remains the same at Kappa Sigma/Chi Gam and its seven-decade legacy lives on.
