Kappa Kappa Gamma
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Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ) is a college women's fraternity, founded on October 13, 1870 at Monmouth College, Illinois.
Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the largest fraternities for women in the nation. Currently, there are chapters in both the United States and Canada. The most recent chapter brought the total number of Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters at higher learning institutions to 131. There are also 300+ alumnae associations around the world. Since its founding in 1870, more than 220,000 members have been initiated into Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Kappa Kappa Gamma is a women's fraternity, because it was founded before the term 'sorority' came into use. However, because it admits only women, it is often referred to as a sorority. Kappa Kappa Gamma is also referred to as "KKG" and "Kappa."
Symbols
The membership badge, worn only by initiated members, is represented by the Golden Key.The key was adopted as the sorority's symbol when the six founders marched into a chapel at Monmouth wearing gold keys in their hair. The current badge is a one-inch gold key, sometimes jeweled. On the front of the key are the Greek letters KKG (on the stem) and Alpha Omega Omicron (on the ward), representing the year Kappa was founded. The badge is worn strictly as an emblem of membership and only by initiated members.
New Members of Kappa Kappa Gamma wear a different badge, a Sigma within a Delta enameled on silver in the two colors of the Fraternity, dark blue and light blue. The new member pin is only worn during the new member period, after which it is returned to the chapter.
The owl is the official mascot of Kappa Kappa Gamma. As the official flower, the fleur-de-lis combines the fraternity's colors of dark blue and light blue. The fraternity jewel is the sapphire. The fraternity Coat-of-Arms combines all the elements of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Mission statement
Kappa Kappa Gamma is an organization of women which seeks for every member throughout her life bonds of friendship, mutual support, opportunities for self growth, respect for intellectual development, and an understanding of and allegiance to positive ethical princples. (The mission statement was drafted and adopted by the 1984-1986 Fraternity Council.)Preamble
We, believing a closer union in the bonds of friendship to be for our mutual benefit, appreciating the advantages to be derived from a secret fraternity, and feeling that in union there is strength, hereby form ourselves into an association for the development of nobler qualities of the mind and finer feelings of the heart, and for mutual helpfulness in the attainment of indivdual and social exellence. (The Preamble remains much as it was written in 1892.)Kappa Firsts
- In 1881 Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first women's fraternity to publish a quarterly magazine – The Key.
- In 1891 Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first to call a meeting of all the other women's fraternities – thus the pre-cursor to the National Panhellenic Conference.
- In 1942 Kappa was the first women’s fraternity to set up Service Women’s Centers during World War II.
- In 1952 Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first to purchase a Headquarters building, and base their operations permanently in Columbus, Ohio.
- In 1980 The Heritage Museum was established, and Kappa became the first fraternity to own a Museum.
- In 1989 The Minnie Stewart Foundation purchased the Stewart family home, which was then merged into the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation in 2000.
- Kappa is the first and only women’s Fraternity to own the home of a Founder AND operate two historic house museums.
- In 2000 Kappa Kappa Gamma launched Pathways – Kappa’s Continuous Education Experience, leading men’s and women’s fraternities into new frontiers of education and training.
- In 2002 Kappa Kappa Gamma released The Voyage of Discovery, a virtual tour through women’s history.
Other Facts
- Angela (DeAngelis) Atwood, member of the Symbionese Liberation Army that kidnapped Patty Hearst, was a Kappa and a sorority sister of Jane Pauley at the University of Indiana.
- In 1997, DePauw Kappa actives were found to have hazed pledges by burning them with cigarettes and forcing them to consume alcoholic beverages.
- In 1981, photostatic copies of the deciphered KKG Book of Ritual, along with the cipher itself, were sent to the public by an individual indentifying herself as Carla Sander.
Notable Kappas
For a full list of notable Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae please visit here. [link]
- Patty Berg Χ, Minnesota, 1939 - Golf champion
- Jane Blalock ΔΕ, Rollins, 1965 - Golf champion
- Sophia Bush University of Southern California, actress
- Gretchen Carlson ΒΗ(Δ), Stanford, 1985- Miss America, 1989
- Barbara Feldon ΔΞ, Carnegie-Mellon, 1953- Actress; most famous for her role as Agent 99 in the television series, Get Smart
- Dorothy Canfield Fisher ΒΝ, Ohio State, 1896 - Author and philanthropist
- Neta Lohnes Frazier ΓΓ, Whitman, 1929 - Children's author
- Jane Froman Θ, Missouri,1927- Singer; television actress
- Doris Hart ΔΚ, Miami (Florida),1947 - Third Kappa to win U.S. Women's Open Championship Tennis
- Margaret Hillis Δ, Indiana, 1941 - Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Choir
- Julia Ward Howe Φ, Boston (honorary member), 1884 - Lecturer & reformer; author of Battle Hymn of the Republic
- Kate Jackson Δ Ρ, Mississippi, 1967- Actress; portrayed Sabrina Duncan on the television series, Charlie's Angels
- Ashley Judd ΒΧ, Kentucky, 1987- Actress; credits include A Time to Kill, 1996, Kiss the Girls, 1997, and Double Jeopardy, 1999
- Nancy Olson Livingston Η, Wisconsin,1947- Stage and screen star; starred in Disney's Pollyanna
- Connie LeGrand ΕΜ, Clemson, 1985- Co-anchor of SPEED Channel Speed News.
- Michelle Lombardo University of Connecticut, 2001 - Model; won Sports Illustrated's Fresh Faces Contest of 2004.
- Alice Duer Miller ΒΕ, Barnard College, 1897 -Author & poet; wrote many columns on the Women's suffrage movement for the New York Tribune
- Erin Moriarty ΒΝ, Ohio State, 1971 - CBS News; correspondent for 48 Hours
- Nancy Humphries O'Dell ΕΜ, Clemson, 1985- Co-Anchor of Access Hollywood
- Orcillia 'Strilli' Lasch Oppenheimer ΓΞ, UCLA, 1967 - Philanthropist, horticulturalist, and wife of DeBeers CEO Nicky Oppenheimer
- Jane Pauley Δ, Indiana, 1969 - Former anchorwoman for "Today Show," NBC
- Jo Ann Pflug ΔΚ, Miami (FL), 1959 - Actress; played Lt. Maria "'Dish" Schneiderstar in the movie version of M*A*S*H, 1970; star of Candid Camera
- Betty Robinson Schwartz Υ, Northwestern, 1931 - Olympic gold medalist, 1928; member of the Track & Field Hall of Fame
- Jann Carl Sears Θ, Missouri, 1979- Anchor for Entertainment Tonight
- Kate Shelly Ο, Simpson, 1882 - Heroine; saved many lives from near train disaster in 1881.
- Katherine Brosnahan Spade - Ω, Kansas, 1982 - Fashion Designer; co-founder of "Kate Spade brands"
- Hollis Stacy ΔΕ, Rollins College, 1973 - Winner of 1978 Women's Open Golf Tournament
- Jane Swift ΖΘ, Trinity, 1985 - First woman governor of Massachusetts
- Mareta West ΒΘ, Oklahoma 1936 - First woman astrogeologist; determined the crucial site for the first landing on the moon.
- Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Π(Δ), UC Berkeley, 1910 - Tennis champion; founder of Wightman Tennis matches
- Helen Wills Roarke Π(Δ), UC Berkeley, 1924 - Tennis champion
See also
[Kappa Kappa Gamma Website]
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