Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, which includes

Alpha Sigma Alpha Alpha Sigma Alpha () is a United States National Panhellenic sorority founded on November 15, 1901, at the Virginia State Female Normal School (later known as Longwood College and now known as Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Once a sor ...

Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority. Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...

, and

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its International Office is located in Carmel, Indiana. It ...

. A clock tower at the university campus with a clock face representing each sorority is dedicated to the four. Each sorority in the "Farmville Four" is also a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, which governs the 26 national social sororities. Kappa Delta has over 274,000 initiated members and 167 active collegiate chapters. Kappa Delta also has more than 200 chartered alumnae chapters. It is headquartered in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

History

Kappa Delta was founded by four college students at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. The Founders were: * Lenora Ashmore Blackiston * Mary Sommerville Sparks Hendrick * Julia Tyler Gardiner Wilson * Sara Turner White Blackiston first suggested forming a sorority. She went on to attend Randolph-Macon Woman's College. At 23 years of age in 1897, Hendrick was the oldest founder and stayed at State Normal until 1902, longer than any of the other founders. Wilson was the chief illustrator of the school's yearbook and designed the Kappa Delta badge. White would frequently host Founders Day festivities at her home later in life. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

Philanthropies

Kappa Delta Sorority's official philanthropies are the Girls Scouts of the USA an
Prevent Child Abuse America
Kappa Delta's historical philanthropies are the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU and Orthopaedic Research Awards. Collegiate and alumnae chapters host confidence-building programs, educational events, campus tours and other activities with Girl Scouts in their communities. Sorority members serve as mentors and volunteers. Sorority members host Shamrock events every year to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse America and local child abuse prevention efforts. To date, Kappa Delta has donated more than $23 million to prevent child abuse in the US.

Symbols

The official symbols of ΚΔ are the nautilus shell and the

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, while the mascots are the

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and the katydid. The official colors are olive green and

pearl white Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. She began her career on the stage at the age of six, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serials. Dubbed the "Queen of ...

. The official flower is the white

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

. ΚΔ has three official jewels: the

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

, the emerald, and the

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

. Kappa Delta's coat of arms (often called the crest) is a white Norman shield, surmounted by a lamp of ancient design, against a background of ornamental scroll. A ribbon underneath the shield bears the date of the sorority's founding. Kappa Delta's tagline is "Building Confidence. Inspiring Action."

Membership

National leadership

* President- Susan Stockton * Vice President- Emily Ulmer Feinstein * VP Membership- Courtney Hicks Dickey * VP Collegians- Laura Beth Hanson McKew * VP Alumnae- Tove Bichel Thomas * VP Finance- Sarah Smith Dubbert * NPC Delegate- Julie Landgren Johnson * Executive Director - Maggie Waples

Chapters

Kappa Delta has 166 collegiate chapters across North America.

Local chapter or member misconduct

In 2022, Betty Jane Cadle, former treasurer of the sorority chapter at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, was convicted of stealing $2.9 million from the sorority. As a result of Cadle's wrongdoing, the sorority chapter struggled financially. According to court documents, Cadle began to intentionally divert funds from the sorority’s bank accounts in 2012. She used handwritten checks to transfer large sums of money into her personal bank account and into the account of Belles and Beaus, a downtown

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

children’s clothing store owned by Cadle and her daughter, Cathy Lowe. Prosecutors say the fraud continued until late 2019. Cadle will serve four years in prison and was ordered to pay $2.9 million in restitution back to the sorority chapter. In 2013 and 2014, sorority women from multiple sorority chapters at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

– including Kappa Delta,

Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...

, Alpha Omicron Pi,

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same y ...

Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across the United States, and the fraternity counts ...

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University by Sarah Ida Shaw, Eleanor Dorcas Pond, Isabel Morgan Breed, and Florence Isabelle Stewart. Tri Delta part ...

, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chap ...

– alleged that either active members or some alumnae had prevented them from offering membership to black candidates because of their race. Students, including Kappa Delta members, held a campus march to integrate Greek life on campus, and following media and national outcry, the university held a second round of recruitment in hopes of offering membership to more women.

Notable members

References

External links

Kappa Delta Website
{{Fraternities and Sororities , collapsed Student organizations established in 1897 National Panhellenic Conference Student societies in the United States 1897 establishments in Virginia Longwood University Organizations based in Memphis, Tennessee Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery