Today, February 26, is the date on which Sigma Pi was founded in 1897. It was interesting to read this on the Sigma Pi website, “On January 26, 1897, Miss Charlotte N. Malotte, the professor of Latin and French, spoke to a student group at the chapel hour. She spoke on the subject of ‘College Fraternities’ which sparked the interest of several students. Then, on the afternoon of February 26, a new fraternity had its first meeting. When, after a long session, the meeting adjourned, a literary society had been born, though it was yet unnamed.”
The founders of the organization they first called Tau Phi Delta were all cadets at Vincennes University, a two year institution in southwestern Indiana. There were three seniors – William Raper Kennedy, James Thompson Kingsbury, and George Martin Patterson – and a freshman, Rolin Rosco James.
The Founders of Sigma Pi
Tau Phi Delta was, according to the organization’s website, “a combination of the fraternity idea and the old style literary society, the like of which flourished in almost every college in the United States in the 19th century. However, in all its outward aspects, Tau Phi Delta possessed the characteristics of a fraternity chapter. It was strictly secret and possessed a password and a grip and included an initiation ritual. Its badge was a simple black shield, with a border of gold, upon which were displayed the Greek letters ΤΦΔ. The colors were black and gold, and the red clover was the official flower.”
On February 11, 1907, the members last assembled as Tau Phi Delta and assumed the name of Sigma Pi Fraternity of the United States. In 1984, the Fraternity again changed its name to reflect it first Canadian chapter. It is today known as the Sigma Pi Fraternity, International.
But what about Miss Malotte, the Latin teacher? Why would she talk to men about college fraternities? How did she know about them? Was she herself a fraternity woman? These were the questions I was asking myself as I read the Sigma Pi history. So I started looking.
Charlotte Northcraft Malotte was born in Indiana. She studied at Indiana University where she joined the Beta chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta. She worked at Vincennes University for three years as a Professor of French and Latin. In 1899, she took a job at Washington A and M College (now Washington State University). Her salary was $1,000 a year. There she met William Carl Kruegel and they were married in 1909. They had two children.
According to Noraleen Young, Theta’s Archivist, Kruegel was active in the Theta alumnae group in Pullman. She was also present at the establishment of the Theta chapter at Washington State University. Another Theta alumna added, “She is also the reason a small group of women at Washington State College (now WSU) chose to ultimately become the Alpha Sigma chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta in 1913. What an inspiring person!”
This appeared in a WSU Library publication after her death in 1965:
The death of Mrs. William C. Kruegel in Spokane this past winter has caused a sense not only of personal loss to her family and friends, but also the awareness of the passing of an era of WSU’s development, to which both she and her husband, who died a number of years ago, had devoted practically all of their adult lives. Mrs. Kruegel (Charlotte Malotte) came to WSU as Latin Instructor in 1899 and was Professor and Head of the Latin Department in 1909 when she married Mr. Kruegel, WSU Bursar.
For the rest of her life in Pullman, Mrs. Kruegel was a leader of a large proportion of university and community civic or cultural organizations. After the death of Marian Kruegel, who had been active in Little Theater groups, Mrs. Kruegel each year gave funds for the purchase of current Broadway plays as an FOL memorial to her daughter. In addition to her personal support of the organization, she represented to many generations of WSU students and friends the stability and growth of the institution as a whole as epitomized in the Library.
