Kappa Alpha Theta

Kappa Alpha Theta
ΚΑΘ
File:Coatofarms3.jpg
Founded	January 27, 1870 (1870-01-27) DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, United States
Type	Social
Scope	International
Motto	Leading Women
Colors	Black   Gold
Symbol	Kite and Twin Stars
Flower	Black and Gold Pansy
Publication	The Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine
Philanthropy	Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation
Chapters	135+ collegiate, 190+ alumnae
Members	250,000+ collegiate
Headquarters	8740 Founders Road Indianapolis, Indiana United States
Website	http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/

Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ), also known simply as Theta, is an international sorority for women founded on Jan. 27, 1870 at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. Kappa Alpha Theta was the first Greek-letter women's college fraternity. The organization currently has more than 135 chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada with a total initiated membership of more than 250,000, and more than 195 alumnae chapters and circles worldwide. Kappa Alpha Theta is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC).

Founders

Kappa Alpha Theta was founded in 1870 to give women a support group in the then mostly male college world at Indiana Asbury, now DePauw University. Indiana Asbury officially opened its doors to women in 1867, thirty years after the college was first established. Four women, Elizabeth McReynolds Locke Hamilton (Bettie Locke), Alice Olive Allen Brant (Alice Allen), Elizabeth Tipton Lindsey (Bettie Tipton), and Hannah Virginia Fitch Shaw (Hannah Fitch), sought to create an organization for women that would provide the encouragement and support to draw women to coeducational colleges.

History

Kappa Alpha Theta's ritual, organizational structure, badge, and coat of arms were drawn in part upon two fraternities with which Bettie Locke had close connections: Beta Theta Pi, her father's fraternity, and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), her brother's fraternity.

Locke had many friends in FIJI, and when the members asked her to wear their badge she asked if it meant she was a member of their fraternity. They informed her, "no" it would be simply as a "mascot" or token of her friendship. Locke declined. She said she could not wear it as she did not know the secrets and purposes the badge represented. The brothers of FIJI took a vote to determine whether to admit and initiate Locke as a full member of FIJI. They decided they wished to remain an all-male fraternity, and gave Locke a silver fruit basket instead as a symbol of their special relationship with her.

At the suggestion of her father, a professor at Indiana Asbury, Locke investigated whether any fraternities for women existed with whom she could establish a chapter at Indiana Asbury. Discovering that only literary societies for women existed at the time, Locke decided to begin her own Greek letter fraternity for women, and Kappa Alpha Theta was conceived.

Locke and her friend Alice Allen together wrote a constitution, planned ceremonies, designed a badge, and sought other women on campus worthy of membership. Along with Hannah Fitch and Bettie Tipton, they were initiated in secret on Jan. 27, 1870, creating the Alpha Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta.

In 1887, Theta became an international organization with the establishment of the Sigma Chapter at The University of Toronto. This became the first Canadian women's fraternity.

Since its founding, the organization has been associated with a number of firsts:

The first women admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa Society were Thetas. Kappa Alpha Theta was the first women's organization to use Greek letters in its name. Nancy Kassebaum, who was a member, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate who had not succeeded her husband or first been appointed to fill an unexpired term.

According to G. William Domhoff, in Who Rules America? (Seventh edition, p. 57), upper-class college women "joined one of the four or five sororities with nationwide social prestige (e.g. Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Pi Beta Phi, and Delta Delta Delta)."

Symbols

Kappa Alpha Theta's colors are black and gold. The official symbols are both the kite and twin stars, while the official flower is the black and gold pansy. KAΘ does not have an official stone.

Chapters

Kappa Alpha Theta has more than 135 active college chapters and more than 180 alumnae chapters across the United States and Canada. Alumnae chapters are alumnae groups that have been granted charters from Grand Council. The following is a list of the chapters of Kappa Alpha Theta:

Theta

Collegiate Chapter	University	State/Province	Charter
Alpha	DePauw University	Indiana	1870
Beta	Indiana University	Indiana	1870
-	Millersburg College	Kentucky	1871-1872
Indiana Gamma	Moore's Hill	Indiana	1871-1874
Gamma	Butler University	Indiana	1874-1886, reorganized 1906
Delta	University of Illinois	Illinois	1895
Delta 1	Illinois Wesleyan University	Illinois	1875-1895
Epsilon	College of Wooster	Ohio	1875-1913
Zeta	Ohio University	Ohio	1876-1886
Eta	University of Michigan	Michigan	1879-1886, reorganized 1893-2016
Eta Omega	Saint Louis University	Missouri	2011-Present
Simpson College	Iowa	1880-1891
Iota	Cornell University	New York	1881-1965, reorganized 1980
Kappa	University of Kansas	Kansas	1881
Lambda	University of Vermont	Vermont	1881-2005, reorganized 2010
Gamma deuteron	Ohio Wesleyan University	Ohio	1881-1882, reorganized 1924
Mu	Allegheny College	Pennsylvania	1876-?, reorganized 1881
Nu	Hanover College	Indiana	1882-1899, reorganized 1959
Xi	Wesleyan University	Connecticut	1883-1887, reorganized 1989-2004
Omicron	University of Southern California	California	1870-1895, reorganized 1917
Pi	Albion College	Michigan	1887-1908, reorganized 1955
Rho	University of Nebraska	Nebraska	1887-1889, reorganized 1896
Sigma	University of Toronto	Ontario	1887-1889, reorganized 1905-1941
Tau	Northwestern University	Illinois	1887
Upsilon	University of Minnesota	Minnesota	1889-1891, reorganized 1892
Phi	University of the Pacific	California	1889-1892, reorganized 1959
Chi	Syracuse University	New York	1889
Psi	University of Wisconsin	Wisconsin	1890
Omega	University of California, Berkeley	California	1890
Alpha Beta	Swarthmore College	Pennsylvania	1891-1934, reorganized 2013
Alpha Gamma	Ohio State University	Ohio	1892
Alpha Delta	Goucher College	Maryland	1896-1950
Alpha Epsilon	Brown University	Rhode Island	1897-1912, reorganized 1984
Alpha Zeta	Barnard College	New York	1898-1915
Alpha Eta	Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	1904
Alpha Theta	University of Texas at Austin	Texas	1904
Alpha Iota	Washington University in St. Louis	Missouri	1906-1973, reorganized 1987-2000
Alpha Kappa	Adelphi University	New York	1907-1951
Alpha Lambda	University of Washington	Washington	1908
Alpha Mu	University of Missouri	Missouri	1909
Alpha Nu	University of Montana	Montana	1909
Alpha Xi	University of Oregon	Oregon	1909-1997, reorganized 2011
Alpha Omicron	University of Oklahoma	Oklahoma	1909
Alpha Pi	University of North Dakota	North Dakota	1911
Alpha Rho	University of South Dakota	South Dakota	1912
Alpha Sigma	Washington State University	Washington	1913
Alpha Tau	University of Cincinnati	Ohio	1913
Alpha Upsilon	Washburn University	Kansas	1914
Alpha Phi	Tulane University	Louisiana	1914
Alpha Chi	Purdue University	Indiana	1915
Alpha Psi	Lawrence University	Wisconsin	1915
Alpha Omega	University of Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	1915-1999
Beta Beta	Randolph-Macon College	Virginia	1916-1960
Beta Gamma	Colorado State University	Colorado	1917-2006, reorganized 2014
Beta Delta	University of Arizona	Arizona	1917
Beta Epsilon	Oregon State University	Oregon	1917
Beta Zeta	Oklahoma State University	Oklahoma	1919
Beta Eta	University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	1919-1979, reorganized 1988
Beta Theta	University of Idaho	Idaho	1920-1986, reorganized 2001
Beta Iota	University of Colorado	Colorado	1921
Beta Kappa	Drake University	Iowa	1921
Beta Lambda	The College of William & Mary	Virginia	1922
Beta Mu	University of Nevada, Reno	Nevada	1922
Beta Nu	Florida State University	Florida	1924
Beta Xi	University of California, Los Angeles	California	1925
Beta Omicron	University of Iowa	Iowa	1925
Beta Pi	Michigan State University	Michigan	1926
Beta Rho	Duke University	North Carolina	1928
Beta Sigma	Southern Methodist University	Texas	1929
Beta Tau	Denison University	Ohio	1929
Beta Upsilon	University of British Columbia	British Columbia	1930-1980, reorganized 2003
Beta Phi	Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania	1931
Beta Chi	University of Alberta	Alberta	1931
Beta Psi	McGill University	Quebec	1932
Beta Omega	Colorado College	Colorado	1932
Gamma Gamma	Rollins College	Florida	1933-2000
Gamma Delta	University of Georgia	Georgia	1937
Gamma Epsilon	University of Western Ontario	Ontario	1937
Gamma Zeta	University of Connecticut	Connecticut	1942-1971, reorganized 1979
Gamma Eta	University of Massachusetts	Massachusetts	1943-1979
Gamma Theta	Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	1944
Gamma Iota	University of Kentucky	Kentucky	1945
Gamma Kappa	George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	1946-1975
Gamma Lambda	Beloit College	Wisconsin	1947-1970
Gamma Mu	University of Maryland	Maryland	1947
Gamma Nu	North Dakota State University	North Dakota	1947
Gamma Xi	San Jose State University	California	1948-1975
Gamma Omicron	University of New Mexico	New Mexico	1948-1978
Gamma Pi	Iowa State University	Iowa	1948
Gamma Rho	University of California, Santa Barbara	California	1950
Gamma Sigma	San Diego State University	California	1951-2011, reorganized 2016
Gamma Tau	University of Tulsa	Oklahoma	1951
Gamma Upsilon	Miami University	Ohio	1951
Gamma Phi	Texas Tech University	Texas	1953
Gamma Chi	Fresno State University	California	1953
Gamma Psi	Texas Christian University	Texas	1955
Gamma Omega	Auburn University	Alabama	1957-2000, reorganized 2009
Delta Delta	Whitman College	Washington	1957
Delta Epsilon	Arizona State University	Arizona	1959
Delta Zeta	Emory University	Georgia	1959
Delta Eta	Kansas State University	Kansas	1961
Delta Theta	University of Florida	Florida	1962
Delta Iota	University of Puget Sound	Washington	1963
Delta Kappa	Louisiana State University	Louisiana	1963
Delta Lambda	University of Utah	Utah	1965-1988
Delta Mu	University of Rhode Island	Rhode Island	1965-?
Delta Nu	University of Arkansas	Arkansas	1966-1989
Delta Xi	University of North Carolina	North Carolina	1966-1991
Delta Omicron	University of Alabama	Alabama	1967
Delta Pi	University of Tennessee	Tennessee	1969-1985
Delta Rho	University of South Florida	Florida	1969-1980
Delta Sigma	Ball State University	Indiana	1970-2008
Delta Tau	Montana State University	Montana	1971-1983
Cincinnati Wesleyan	Ohio Wesleyan Female College	Ohio	1870-1871
Delta Upsilon	Eastern Kentucky University	Kentucky	1972
Delta Phi	Clemson University	South Carolina	1972
Delta Chi	University of Virginia	Virginia	1976
Delta Psi	University of California, Riverside	California	1976-1998
Delta Omega	Texas A&M University	Texas	1976
Epsilon Epsilon	Baylor University	Texas	1976
Phi deuteron	Stanford University	California	1892-1944, reorganized 1978
Epsilon Zeta	University of Mississippi	Mississippi	1979
Epsilon Eta	Centre College	Kentucky	1980
Epsilon Theta	Stetson University	Florida	1981-1993, reorganized 2016
Epsilon Iota	Westminster College	Missouri	1982
Epsilon Kappa	Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	1982-1992
Epsilon Lambda	Dickinson College	Pennsylvania	1982
Epsilon Mu	Princeton University	New Jersey	1983
Epsilon Nu	Virginia Tech	Virginia	1983-2003, reorganization TBA
Epsilon Xi	Villanova University	Pennsylvania	1983-1994
Epsilon Omicron	Randolph-Macon College	Virginia	1984
Epsilon Pi	Bucknell University	Pennsylvania	1984
Epsilon Rho	Lehigh University	Pennsylvania	1984
Epsilon Sigma	University of California, Irvine	California	1985
Epsilon Tau	Yale University	Connecticut	1986
Epsilon Upsilon	Columbia University	New York	1986
Epsilon Phi	University of Chicago	Illinois	1986
Epsilon Chi	Guelph University	Ontario	1987-1998
Epsilon Psi	University of Richmond	Virginia	1987
Epsilon Omega	Washington & Jefferson College	Pennsylvania	1988
Zeta Zeta	Colgate University	New York	1988-2008
Zeta Eta	Wofford College	South Carolina	1989
Zeta Theta	California Polytechnic State University	California	1989
Zeta Iota	Washington & Lee University	Virginia	1989
Zeta Kappa	University of South Carolina	South Carolina	1990-2001
Zeta Lambda	College of Charleston	South Carolina	1990
Zeta Mu	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	1991
Zeta Nu	University of California, Davis	California	1992
Zeta Xi	Harvard University	Massachusetts	1993
Zeta Omicron	Wake Forest University	North Carolina	1993-2002, reorganized 2013
Zeta Pi	Furman University	South Carolina	1994-1996
Zeta Rho	University of California, San Diego	California	1994
Zeta Sigma	Ohio Northern University	Ohio	1994
Zeta Tau	University of Delaware	Delaware	1995
Zeta Upsilon	University of Texas at Dallas	Texas	1996
Zeta Phi	Pepperdine University	California	1997
Zeta Chi	Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	1997-2009, reorganized 2013
Zeta Psi	University of Southern Mississippi	Mississippi	1998-2008
Zeta Omega	Loyola Marymount University	California	2000
Eta Eta	College of Idaho	Idaho	2000
Eta Theta	University of Central Florida	Florida	2000
Eta Iota	University of San Diego	California	2001
Eta Kappa	John Carroll University	Ohio	2001
Eta Lambda	Santa Clara University	California	2003
Eta Mu	Occidental College	California	2004
Eta Nu	Lake Forest College	Illinois	2004
Eta Xi	Quinnipiac University	Connecticut	2006
Eta Omicron	University of North Florida	Florida	2007
Eta Pi	Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	2007
Eta Rho	James Madison University	Virginia	2007
Eta Sigma	Chapman University	California	2008
Eta Tau	University of Tampa	Florida	2010
Eta Upsilon	University of San Francisco	California	2011
Eta Phi	Belmont University	Tennessee	2011
Eta Chi	Boston University	Massachusetts	2012
Eta Psi	Tufts University	Massachusetts	2013
Eta Omega	Saint Louis University	Missouri	2013
Theta Theta	North Carolina State University	North Carolina	2013
Theta Iota	Georgetown University	Washington, D.C.	2014
Theta Kappa	University of Louisville	Louisville, KY	2014
Theta Lambda	University of Rochester	Rochester, NY	2015
Theta Mu	Colorado School of Mines	Golden, CO	2016
Theta Nu	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, GA	2016

Philanthropy

Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, founded in 1960, is the philanthropic arm of the organization. Theta Foundation works to award annual undergraduate and graduate scholarships to its members, awarding more than $1.1 million per year. In addition to scholarships, Theta Foundation also supports the Fraternity's educational programs as well as the Fraternity's international philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). CASA are community volunteers who serve as the voice for abused and neglected children in court. Their purpose is to ensure all legal actions made are in the child's best interest.

The Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine

Theta's Grand Convention voted to establish a magazine in 1885 and place its editorship with Kappa Chapter at Kansas. In the intervening years, Kappa Alpha Theta's magazine has undergone a change of title (from The Journal to The Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine), and a change of publication schedule (from monthly to quarterly). Today, The Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine is published in April, June, September, and December of each year.

Controversies

In 2000, the chapter at the University of Cincinnati was temporarily suspended for hazing. The pledges were forced to endure several demeaning tasks, one of which included crawling up the steps of a fraternity house.

In 2000, the chapter at Rollins College was shut down after a drinking party sent newly pledged members to the hospital. One sorority member passed out and was placed on a respirator that night.

In 2008, the chapter at Colgate University was suspended for four years after an alcohol-hazing related incident.

In 2014, the chapter at Columbia University was under national scrutiny after hosting a racially and ethnically insensitive event that went viral. They went to a male fraternity that threw a "Beer Olympics" party. Some of the costumes worn by sorority members were based on stereotypes meant to represent Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands, Ireland, Jamaica and other countries. The sorority publicly apologized for the event.

Notable alumnae

Main article: List of Kappa Alpha Theta sisters

External links

• Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity
• Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation
• Kappa Alpha Theta Heritage