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Kappa Delta
ΚΔ
Founded	October 23, 1897; 127 years ago (1897-10-23) State Female Normal School (now Longwood University)
Type	Social
Affiliation	NPC
Status	Active
Scope	National
Motto	Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest
Member badge
Colors	Olive green   Pearl white
Symbol	Nautilus shell and Dagger
Flower	White rose
Jewel	Diamond, Emerald, and Pearl
Mascot	Teddy bear
Publication	The Angelos
Philanthropy	Girl Scouts of the USA, Prevent Child Abuse America, Orthopedic Research Awards, and [[Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU |Children's Hospital of Richmond Virginia]]
Chapters	167 active collegiate 510 alumni chartered
Members	274,000 lifetime
Headquarters	3205 Players Lane Memphis, Tennessee 38125 United States
Website	www.kappadelta.org

Kappa Delta (ΚΔ, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority 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, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Zeta Tau Alpha. 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 168 active collegiate chapters. Kappa Delta also has more than 200 chartered alumnae chapters. It is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

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 Gardiner Tyler 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.

Philanthropies

Kappa Delta Sorority's official philanthropies are the Girl Scouts of the USA and Prevent Child Abuse America.

Kappa Delta's historical philanthropies are the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU and Orthopedic 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 U.S.

Symbols

The official symbols of ΚΔ are the nautilus shell and the dagger, while the mascots are the teddy bear and the katydid. The official colors are olive green and pearl white. The official flower is the white rose. ΚΔ has three official jewels: the diamond, the emerald, and the pearl. The badge worn by Kappa Delta sisters consists of a white gold or yellow diamond shaped with a dagger symbol along with the Greek letters K, Δ, and AOT.

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.

Notable Local chapter or member behavior

In 2022, Betty Jane Cadle, former treasurer of the sorority chapter at Mississippi State University, 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 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 – including Kappa Delta, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Phi Mu, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Chi Omega – 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

See also

• List of Kappa Delta chapters
• List of social sororities and women's fraternities

References

1. Ph.D, Fran Becque (2016-10-04). "Longwood University, Home of the Farmville Four, to Host Veep Debate". Fraternity History & More. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
2. ^ Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) . Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. IV-46–49. ISBN 978-0963715906.
3. ^ "Who We Are | Kappa Delta Sorority". Kappa Delta. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
4. "Join an Alumnae Chapter".
5. ^ William Raimond Baird; Carroll Lurding (eds.). "Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities (Baird's Manual Online Archive), with page listing Kappa Delta". Student Life and Culture Archives. University of Illinois: University of Illinois Archives. Retrieved 23 Oct 2021. The main archive URL is The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.
6. ^ National staff. "Meet our Four Founders". kappadelta.org. Kappa Delta. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
7. "Genealogy of John Tyler and his Descendants". Retrieved October 21, 2014.
8. "Initiatives - Kappa Delta". Kappa Delta. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
9. ^ "Kappa Delta Official Website - Fast Facts". Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
10. "Kappa Delta Symbols." Kappa Delta Norman Shield. Memphis: Kappa Delta Sorority, 2013. 28. Web. 03 November 2014.
11. "Our Leadership". Kappa Delta Sorority. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
12. "Collegiate Chapter Directory". Kappadelta.org. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
13. "Former Mississippi State sorority treasurer pleads guilty to embezzlement". 12 September 2022.
14. "4-Year Sentence, $2.9 Million Payback in Sorority Theft". US News. Starkville, MS. AP. September 18, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
15. Webley Adler, Kayla (2014-08-06). "Revolution on Sorority Row". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
16. Gladu, Alex (2013-11-13). "The Truth About Racism at Southern Sororities". Her Campus. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
17. "Rhodes College Alumna Amy Coney Barrett '94 on Shortlist for Supreme Court". Rhodes College News. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
18. "Kathleen Blanco's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
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20. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Jean Carpenter Carnahan". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
21. "Meet Miss Alabama". Miss Alabama. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
22. "Board & Advisors". Grandma's Gifts. Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
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24. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Bonnie Dunbar". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
25. Blasey Ford is notable for offering unsubstantiated testimony as an alleged sexual assault survivor during the hotly-politicized confirmation hearings for Justice Kavanaugh of the US Supreme Court.
26. Thomas, Ralph. "Gubernatorial candidate Gregoire faced racial dilemma in college". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
27. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Claudia Kennedy". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
28. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Ali Landry". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
29. "Notable KDs". Kappa Delta. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
30. "Cara Mund". Linkedin.com. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
31. Moniuszko, Sara M. (September 10, 2017). "Miss America 2018: Miss North Dakota Cara Mund takes the crown". USA TODAY.
32. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Joan Lowery Nixon". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
33. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Georgia O'Keeffe". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
34. "Miss America Is Now a Scientist! Camille Schrier of Virginia Wins Crown After On-Stage Experiment". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
35. "Kappa Delta Sorority Hosts Open House to Showcase Renovated National Headquarters and Museum". Kappa Delta. October 13, 2016. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
36. "Prevent Child Abuse America". Kappa Delta. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
37. "The Blind Side (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
38. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Debbie Maffett Wilson". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
39. "Notable Kappa Deltas - Trischa Zorn". Kappa Delta. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-25.

External links

• Kappa Delta Website

• Kappa Delta
• 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
• Women's organizations based in the United States
• Fraternities and sororities in the United States
• Sororities