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At OLA last year, I spoke to Dr. Jerry Reel (you know, our international historian and resident Ritual expert) about that "Praise King Aurthur" bullsh!t...he seemed pretty amused by the whole thing, but was not sure where or how that crap was ever started. He said he had never heard anyone ever try to make that kind of connection between Pike and King Aurthur, but assumed that maybe whoever posted that may have gotten Pi Kappa Alpha confused with KAPPA ALPHA, who as we all know, are very closely associated with knights.
We discussed how some of our symbols may have given rise to the false "secrets" - such as the shield, sword, dagger and helmet on our crest. Plus, how some of our former coat-of-arms depicted other "knightly" effects such as a castle, suit of armor, and other such things.
It was a pretty amusing and interesting conversation, but if there ever was any kind of association, Dr. Reel would be the one to know.
I will miss Palm Springs this year (I'm a chapter advisor), but my undergrad guys will definately be there...and I agree with the cost being fantastically expensive! It's almost cheaper to NOT send anyone and just take the $1000 fine!! (Not that I'm encouraging anyone to do this...International Conventions are WONDERFUL and are a great experience for all Brothers involved...hell I've been to three myself, plus two OLA's).
Good luck to everyone who's up for a SMYTHE! Hopefully my chapter will reach that level of proficiency very soon.
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