Kappa Alpha Theta
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Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 27, 1870 at DePauw University. The organization currently has 124 chapters at colleges and universities across the United States and Canada with a total initiated membership of 170,000. Currently, it is one of the top five largest sororities.
History
Kappa Alpha Theta, also known as Theta, was the first Greek letter organization founded for college women.
Kappa Alpha Theta was founded as a fraternity for women in 1870 and was established to give women a support group in the then mostly-male college world at what is now DePauw University. Indiana Asbury, as the university was known then, officially opened its doors to women in 1867, thirty years after the college was first established. Four women, Bettie Locke (Hamilton), Alice Allen (Brant), Bettie Tipton (Lindsay) and Hannah Fitch (Shaw), sought to create an organization for women that would provide the encouragement and support that would draw women to coeducational colleges and help them attain a degree. It was with these ideals in mind that the four women founded Kappa Alpha Theta, and believed in the Fraternity's strength through its members' lasting loyalty to each other and to the Fraternity ideals.
Kappa Alpha Theta, the first Greek-letter organization known among women, was based in part on two Fraternities with which Bettie Locke had contact; Beta Theta Pi, her father's fraternity, and Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), her brother's fraternity. Bettie had many friends in Fiji, and when one asked her to wear his badge as a token of friendship, Bettie declined; because she did not know the secrets and purposes which the letters represented, she said, she could not wear them. Though there was some talk of initiating Bettie into the fraternity, they instead presented her with a silver fruit basket engraved with their letters. This ideal has been integrated into the current practices of Kappa Alpha Theta, as only initiated members of the Fraternity (who know the meaning of these letters) may wear Theta's letters.
Impressed with the fraternity ideals, Bettie searched for a women's counterpart. Finding none, she followed her father's suggestion to begin her own. And so Kappa Alpha Theta was conceived. Bettie and her friend Alice Allen together wrote a constitution, planned ceremonies, designed a badge, and sought other women on campus worthy of membership. The four founding members initiated themselves on January 27 1870, becoming the first Greek-letter fraternity known among women.
These four women proudly wore their black and gold badges to Asbury's chapel service on March 14. The Alpha Chapter at Asbury grew to 22 sisters. Soon Kappa Alpha Theta spread to other colleges with Bettie's establishment of the Beta Chapter at Indiana University in May of the same year.
Through the years, Kappa Alpha Theta has grown to its current size of 124 college chapters, 282 alumnae groups, and more than 170,000 members.
Some symbols of Kappa Alpha Theta are twin stars, a black and gold pansy, and the kite, which all represent the fraternity ideals of sisterhood.
The Founders of Kappa Alpha Theta
| File:Bettie Lock Hamilton.jpg Bettie Locke Hamilton | File:Alice allen brant.jpg Alice Allen Brant |
| File:Bettie tipton lindsey.jpg Bettie Tipton Lindsey | File:Hannah fitch shaw.jpg Hannah Fitch Shaw |
Mission statement
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, Kappa Alpha Theta exists to nurture each member throughout her college and alumnae experience and to offer a lifelong opportunity for intellectual and moral growth as she meets the higher and broader demands of mature life
Educational foundation
The Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, founded in 1960, is the philanthropic arm of the organization. It supports the Fraternity's educational programs as well as the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Theta's international philanthropy. The Foundation annually awards more than $400,000 in graduate and undergraduate scholarships to its members. Theta is among the top of the Greek community in supplying scholarship awards to collegiate members.
Notable Thetas
For a full list of notable Kappa Alpha Theta alumnae please visit here. [1]
Academics
- Mary Ritter Beard (Alpha) - Noted historian, Campaigner for Women's Suffrage
- Dian Fossey (Gamma Xi) - Zoologist, first female Primatologist, wrote 'Gorillas in the Mist'
- Margaret Floy Washburn (Iota) - the 1st woman to receive a Ph.D. in Psychology
Arts and Entertainment
- Sheryl Crow (Alpha Mu) - Grammy award winning singer.
- Joan Ganz Cooney (Beta Delta) - founder of the Children’s Television Workshop and creator of Sesame Street.
- Sarah Clarke (Beta) - Actress, 24
- Agnes de Mille (Beta Xi) - Broadway choreographer.
- Amy Grant (Alpha Eta) - Singer, Grammy Award Winner
- Jennifer Jones (Tau) - Academy Award-winning American actress.
- Rue McClanahan (Gamma Tau) - Actress, The Golden Girls
- Ann-Margret (Tau) - Actress, State Fair, Viva Las Vegas Grumpy Old Men
- Mary Kay Place (Gamma Tau) - Actress, Being John Malkovitch, The Rainmaker
- Marlo Thomas (Omicron) - actress.
- Jenna Von Oy (Omicron) - actress.
- Maurine Dallas Watkins (Gamma) - Playwright, Chicago (1926)
Politics
- Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (Alpha) - influential abolitionist and suffragist.
- Tillie Fowler (Delta Zeta) - United States Representative from Florida
- Barbara Hackman Franklin (Beta Phi) - Previously the 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, now CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises
- Nancy Hanks (Beta Rho) - 1st woman to serve as the Chairman of the United States National Endowment for the Arts.
- Nancy Kassebaum Baker (Kappa) - former United States Senator.
- Andrea Bozek
Sports
- Kerri Strug (Beta Xi) - Olympic Gymnast
- Melissa Stark (Delta Chi) - Newsreporter, Monday Night Football
- Pauline Betz (Gamma Gamma) - American female tennis player.
- JoAnne Carner (Delta Epsilon) - American professional golfer.
- Helen Hull Jacobs (Omega) - American female tennis player.
Miscellaneous
- Laura Bush (Beta Sigma) - Wife of President George W. Bush
- Lynne Cheney (Beta Omega) - Wife of Vice President Dick Cheney
- Julia Morgan (Omega) - architect
Media
- Kate Lehrer (Gamma Psi) - American author.
- Mary Margaret McBride (Alpha Mu) - Widely followed radio commentator, journalist, author (1935-1955)
- Kate Millett (Upsilon) - American feminist and author.
- Judith Miller (Alpha Gamma) - American journalist.
- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Psi) - Author The Yearling