Southwest District History

Home to the founding chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma as well as National Headquarters, the Southwest District is the physical and spiritual home of the world’s largest honorary organizations for college band members.

The roots of the SWD begin at the 1941 National Convention, when Kappa Kappa Psi revamped its district structure. In this reorganization, the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas were grouped together as District VI. However, World War II put a halt to almost all fraternal activity soon after this structure was adopted, and district activity did not begin again until the 1949 National Convention. There, district officers were appointed by the National Councils of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, which had adopted the same district structure. District conventions soon returned to the organizational calendar as well, and the election of district officers by active members returned with them.

As district work became an important part of organizational operations, the regional identities of each district grew stronger. In District VI, this identity was expressed through things like the district publication The ALTO (originally begun as two separate publications in 1966, but combined in 1972), Kappa Kappa Psi’s Spirit Drum (begun by the Alpha Omicron chapter in 1973), and the biennial district convention schedule, which District VI did not abandon until 1986, the last district to do so.

At the 1985 National Convention, delegates requested a study of district organization, which resulted in the proposal of a new district structure. This plan recommended dissolving District III (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and adding the eastern two-thirds of New Mexico into the existing District VI, the first alteration of either district’s boundaries since 1941. This plan was adopted at the 1987 National Convention and originally called the new grouping the Southwestern District; however, a change made later at that convention shortened the name to simply the Southwest District.

As there was only one active chapter in New Mexico at the time of realignment, steps were quickly taken to incorporate the state into the dynamics that had existed in District VI, most visibly by changing The ALTO to The New ALTO. In 1991, a further alteration of district boundaries brought the rest of New Mexico into the district.

Since then, the Southwest District has continued to grow as a community of service. It is the largest district within both Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, with the highest numbers of members and chapters. It is a district of diversity, with chapters housed at institutions of different sizes, missions, cultures, and demographics. It is a district that strives for excellence, garnering more organizational chapter leadership awards from the greatest number of schools and the most individual organizational awards for student leadership of any district. Our members are proud, passionate, and committed, and do their utmost to prove that “The Best are in the Southwest.”