In 1907, eleven men attending the University of California formed a house club called “Los Amigos”. Herman Bergh, Harold Savage, Allen Kimball, Charles Oscar Perrine, Ludwig Rehfuess, Gail Cleland, Charles Booth, William Barnum, Leonard Herington Day, Harry Levi Osborne, and Joseph Taylor are known as the eleven founding fathers of the organization. It wasn’t until a meeting in April of 1914 that 27 Los Amigos members unanimously passed a resolution declaring themselves “the mother chapter of a non-secret, national, Greek-letter fraternity”. The Alpha Chapter of the Alethia Kai Logos (Alpha Kappa Lambda) was born. AKL was the first Fraternity to be founded west of the Rocky Mountains. Since it's inception, Alpha Kappa Lambda, and before that, Los Amigos has operated on five ideals: Judeo-Christian Principles, Scholarship, Leadership, Loyalty, and Self-support.
"When we organized Los Amigos as a house club...house clubs and fraternities were dime a dozen. They came, they lived for a few months or a few years, then they went out of existence again. But Los Amigos did not go out of existence," recalled Gail Cleland.
Cleland continues, "And seven years later...in response to the suggestion of Benjamin Ide Wheeler, the President of the University of California, we organized our house club as a national fraternity of one chapter."
Past National President William B. Herms (Alpha) described the origins of Alpha Kappa Lambda in THE LOGOS in 1925: "Distinguished scholars contributed to the building of the new Fraternity. (President Wheeler) gave advice and encouragement, Professor Charles Mills Gayley and Professor James T. Allen suggested the name 'Alpha Kappa Lambda' and the motto 'Alethia Kai Logos'."
The Oakland Examiner, in reporting the founding of Alpha Kappa Lambda, said, "Alpha Kappa Lambda was launched with a membership of forty-three and has the hearty sanction of a number of the foremost members of the faculty. The membership comprises largely the roster of Los Amigos Club, an organization which has often ranked first in scholarship standing in the annual reports of the University of California. It is considered significant that many prominent members of the faculty not only endorsed the new fraternity, but assisted in its formation."
The eleven founding members were "typical" college men in many ways, yet atypical in their desire to foster brotherhood, scholarship, and service. Their legacy lives on today in chapters across the nation.
Alethia Kai Logos
The Official Motto of The Fraternity of Alpha Kappa Lambda, Alethia Kai Logos, literally means "The Truth and The Word" in the Classic Greek language.
"The motto is a symbolic statement of our Ideals. We are seekers after Truth, the highest Truth, if you please...And the Word, which again lends itself to interpretation," explains Past National President William B Herms (Alpha).
Gail Cleland, one of the founders of Los Amigos, said, "What is the significance of our motto . . ? As Plato suggested, an Ideal is permanent thing, but as Aristotle supplemented, (an Ideal) is effective in the actual world of reality only as it becomes embodied in a concrete expression in the life of a man or an institution. As we (explained) to President Wheeler, 'We don't want to preach Christianity, we want to live it'."
During the 1914-15 school year, a committee was appointed to establish insignia for the new fraternity. Among those who served on the committee were Robert I. Daley and Bryant Hall. As Brother Hall recalls:
"We discussed the general ideas first. It was soon agreed that both Los Amigos and the new Fraternity should be represented by a design, and especially that there should be something to symbolize the place of origin, for we were much impressed by the fact that no other fraternity had ever been founded on the West Coast. Many ideas were suggested and discarded but the idea of the sun setting two 'headlands' won unanimous approval. A commercial artist familiar with the many complex rules of heraldry made many subsequent sketches, finally arriving at the accepted design."
The painted original of the Coat of Arms remains, and is one of the treasured possessions of the Fraternity. Members are encouraged to explain the heraldic symbols and insignia to non-members. We are quite proud of our Coat of Arms or "crest" as it is sometimes referred.
The Souvenir de Claudis Pernet, a "tantalizing" yellow rose serves as the Official Flower of AKL since being adopted in 1927 at the 6th National Conclave. The flower was a popular rose at the turn of the century and, although not widely grown anymore, it has many hybridized descendants.
The Fraternity's Official Badge is made of ten carat gold and is set with eleven whole pearls. The eleven pearls, among other things, represent the original founders of Los Amigos. The badge is worn by AKL members on shirts, sweaters, or suit vests over the heart. It is a symbol worn with pride.
The Pledge Pin is a diamond-shaped blue over gold insignia. The shape is similar to the of the original badge of Los Amigos and the colors are similar to those of the University of California at Berkley. Pledges of AKL should wear the pin daily when appropriate. It is worn as a symbol of pride in pledging Alpha Kappa Lambda.