History


  • "A chilly rain splattered against the windowpanes of the little dormitory room on Professional Hall, the dormitory floor where most of the seniors lived. Saturday meant no classes, and the dreary weather that hung over Farmville was a perfect excuse for the four friends to tuck themselves away in that cozy spot and talk for hours... It was that afternoon that Kappa Delta was born - October 23, 1897 - at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia."

    -Ordinary Miracles: 100 Years of Kappa Delta Sorority

     

     

     

    The thought that over 100 years ago four young women could just sit down and create a sisterhood as enduring as Kappa Delta sometimes defies understanding. But that's exactly what they did. Kappa Delta's founders were four very different women. They ranged in age from 15 to 23, yet brought a singular sense of purpose to this particular endeavor. Their dream was to create something more lasting than a club -- a sorority! It was to be an entity that would grow beyond their own chapter at State Female Normal School. But they never dreamed that it would grown into an organization of nearly 200,000 women, over 200 chartered chapters and nearly 500 chartered alumnae associations nationwide. 

     

    Kappa Delta's early leaders were women of vision. Today's women live that dream and keep the vision alive! KD's four founding sisters were Lenora Ashmore Blackiston, Julia Gardiner Tyler Wilson, Sara Turner White and Mary Sommerville Sparks Hendrick.

     

          

  • Our Vision: 

    Kappa Delta Sorority is committed to providing opportunities and experiences that inspire women to greatness.

     

    Mission Statement:

    Kappa Delta Sorority is a national organization for women commited to:

    • Inspiring our members to reach their full potential;
    • Preparing our members for community service, active leadership and responsible citizenship;
    • Creating opportunities for lifetime involvement through innovative and responsive programs, and strategic collaborations and partnerships.
    • Fostering the development of our time-honored values within the context of friendship

     

    Kappa Delta Purpose:

    The purpose of Kappa Delta Sorority is to promote true friendship among the college girls of our country by inculcating into their hearts and lives those principles of truth, of honor, of duty, without which there can be no true friendship.

     

    Kappa Delta Creed:

    May We, Sisters in Kappa Delta, strive each day to seek more earnestly the honorable and beautiful things. May We each day through love of those within our circle, Learn to know and understand better those without our circle. May the diamond shield that guards our love find us each day Truer, Wiser, More Faithful, More Loving, and More Noble.

     

     Kappa Delta Object:

    The object of Kappa Delta Sorority is the formation and perpetuation of good fellowship, friendship and sisterly love among its members; the encouragement of literature and education; the promotion of social interest; and the furtherance of charitable and benevolent purposes.

     

    Kappa Delta Open Motto:

    Ta Kala Diokomen
    "Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest."

  • Famous Kappa Deltas:

    In Kappa Delta, we continue to share our pride in those KDs who have become successful in their respective fields. From astronaut to artist, here is a sampling of the outstanding women who have worn our Greek Letters:

    • Georgia O'Keeffe (Beta-Chatham Episcopal) Painter
    • Patricia Polito Miller (Sigma Upsilon) Vera Bradley Designs Co-Owner/President, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award
    • Ali Landry (Gamma Kappa-University of Louisiana-Lafayette) Miss U.S.A. 1996; television personality; one of People magazine's 1998 "50 Most Beautiful People"; Frito-Lay spokesperson "Doritos Girl"
    • Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar (Sigma Iota-Washington) Astronaut
    • Ellen Albertini Dow (Omega Chi-Cornell) actress, best known as the 'Rappin Granny' in The Wedding Singer
    • Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (Theta-Randolph-Macon) Novelist; Pulitzer Prize winner (1932); first American woman to win Noble Prize for Literature (1938)
    • Donna Stone (Lambda-Northwestern) Founder and President, Prevent Child Abuse America
    • Sara James (Beta Alpha-Virginia) Dateline NBC Correspondent; Today Show Correspondent
    • Claudia Kennedy (Alpha Delta-Rhodes) US Army first female three-star general and highest ranking female officer in Army history
    • Jean Carpenter Carnahan (Epsilon Alpha-Missouri/Rolla) US Senator
    • Debra Sue Maffett (Gamma Rho-Sam Houston State) Miss America 1983