The former members of the Kappa Alpha Order gathered outside of 3004 SMU Blvd. one last time on Monday. Men posed for pictures in front of the stately brick house in blazers, highlighter-pink hats, sorority buttons and even outfits of all plaid. Onlookers would never have known that the group had just been dismissed from campus; the men were all smiles.

“This was just one last chance for us to all get together,” said Will Fletcher, a senior finance and Spanish major.

Fletcher, who joined KA his freshman year, found more than friendship in the fraternity; he found a support system.

“My dad died before I came to SMU,” said Fletcher. “These guys all really helped me through it.”

The former KA housemother Terence Vaughan, better known as Mama T, stood in the center of the men during the photo shoot. Though the smiling men surrounded her, she couldn’t hold back her tears. When they began to flow, there was instantly an arm patting her back or swooping her into a hug.

“My heart is broken. I will miss them very, very much,” said Vaughan. “It’s just a sad ending to our beautiful relationship that I’ve had with them for all these years.”

It has been 12 years, in fact.

“I can’t speak for them, but I know I’ve had a pit in the bottom of my stomach [since I found out],” Vaughan said.

As of Monday, no former fraternity members live in the Kappa Alpha house. The door codes have been changed.

“Now I’ll just go on, graduate, get a job,” said Fletcher.