Frat inspired by Robert E. Lee bans Rebel uniforms

More awareness of history being erased

"A college fraternity inspired by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has banned members around the country from wearing Confederate uniforms to "Old South" parties and parades after years of complaints that the tradition was racially insensitive.

The Virginia-based Kappa Alpha Order issued new rules to chapters earlier this year saying members aren't allowed to wear Rebel uniforms to parties or during their parades, which are a staple on campuses across the South.

The decision, announced in an internal memo posted on the group's website, followed a flap last year at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where a black sorority complained after a KA parade stopped in front of its house on campus. KA members were dressed in the gray uniforms of Confederate officers, and young women wore hoop skirts.

The KA chapter at Alabama has canceled this year's Old South parade, which was set for this week. Still, a large Confederate national flag covers the front of its house on campus.

Other KA chapters quit donning Confederate uniforms or holding parades with Old South themes in recent years as criticism grew.

Kappa Alpha was founded in 1865 at Washington & Lee University — a school partly named for the Confederate general, and the group calls Lee its "spiritual founder." It has about 130 chapters nationwide.

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