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51-764: It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada and 307 alumni associations worldwide. It is sometimes referred to by its original designation, a women's fraternity, as it was founded before the term "sorority" was coined. It is a founding member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization that includes 26 American sororities. In 1869, two students at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Mary Louise Bennett and Hannah Jeannette Boyd, were dissatisfied with

102-492: A Boston meeting, with the intention to meet again in 1893. In 1902, Alpha Phi invited Pi Beta Phi , Kappa Alpha Theta , Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma , Gamma Phi Beta , Delta Delta Delta , Alpha Chi Omega , and Chi Omega to a conference in Chicago on May 24 to set standards for collegiate sororities. Alpha Chi Omega and Chi Omega were unable to attend and joined the following year. The remaining seven groups met and

153-549: A basement, where senior members of the sorority were clad in lingerie intimidating them and pranked them thinking they had to perform oral sex on fraternity members or do a line of cocaine . One senior member of the sorority allegedly stated, "they (pledges) were lucky they didn't have to do anything worse as pledges for a top-tier sorority." Bruce Ivins , the senior bio-defense researcher at United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), before allegedly being driven to suicide by allegations that he

204-480: A conference in Chicago on May 24, 1902, to set standards for collegiate sororities. This meeting resulted in the organization of the first inter-fraternity association and the first intergroup organization on college campuses. In the 1960s, G. William Domhoff , writing in Who Rules America? , listed Kappa Kappa Gamma as one of "the four or five sororities with nationwide prestige." From 1929 to 1952,

255-662: A delegate board with at least one representative from each of its 18 senior members. That year, the Congress also began plans for a centralized headquarters to coordinate and streamline interactions with the separate sororities. Shortly before its merger with the NPC, the Association of Educational Sororities (AES) was part of a larger multi-panhellenic association, the Council of Affiliated Panhellenics. Created in 1941, it included

306-555: A different badge, which is 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 initiating chapter. Kappa Kappa Gamma's national philanthropy is mental health and well-being. The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation was founded in 1989 and provides funding for Kappa museums, member scholarships, educational and leadership programming, and financial aid to sisters in need. The women's fraternity Pi Beta Phi

357-866: A drop box approximately 300 feet from a KKG storage facility at Princeton University , and only 60 feet from the KKG office. A US Government investigative panel, called the Expert Behavioral Analysis Panel, issued a report in March 2011 which detailed more of Ivins' obsession with the sorority. According to the panel's report, Ivins tormented sorority member Nancy Haigwood at the University of North Carolina. Ivins stole her notebook, which documented her research for her doctoral studies, and vandalized her residence. National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference ( NPC )

408-406: A family hazing rite after a night of heavy drinking. After being burned, the pledges were encouraged to streak across campus and to grovel for cigarettes at a fraternity house. The result was severe enough to send one of the pledges to the hospital with minor burn injuries. The disclosure of the incident caused investigations by the sorority and campus to be launched. The members who were involved with

459-447: A law enforcement investigation before their school could begin its own investigation. In 2016, collegiate members began discussing membership offers for transgender women , which was supported by some national organizations with changes to their national policies; however, some national organizations delayed membership offers for trans women due to fears about Title IX exemption status, which caused dissent in local chapters. Though

510-441: A policy explicitly open to trans and non-binary individuals, and sororities open to anyone who identifies as a woman include: Alpha Chi Omega , Alpha Delta Pi , Alpha Epsilon Phi , Alpha Sigma Tau , Chi Omega , Delta Gamma , Gamma Phi Beta , Kappa Alpha Theta , Kappa Delta , Kappa Kappa Gamma , Phi Sigma Sigma , Sigma Sigma Sigma , and Theta Phi Alpha . Sororities open to anyone who identifies and lives as

561-424: A woman include: Alpha Gamma Delta , Alpha Omicron Pi , Alpha Xi Delta , Delta Delta Delta , Pi Beta Phi , Sigma Delta Tau , and Sigma Kappa , while Zeta Tau Alpha specifies that the individual must consistently identify and live as a woman. A Panhellenic Council consists of executive board members at each university or college. Each institution holds different executive positions based on its size and

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612-765: Is a conference , not a congress , as it enacts no legislation and only regulates its own meetings. Other than basic agreements which its member groups must unanimously vote to follow, the NPC confines itself to recommendations and advice and acts as a court of final appeal in any college Panhellenic disputes. One of its services is providing advisors for sororities. Early histories of sororities contain accounts of rushing and pledging agreements or compacts among sororities on various campuses, and many stories of cooperation and mutual assistance. However, no actual Panhellenic organization existed and no uniform practices were observed. The NPC's origin can be traced to 1891, when Kappa Kappa Gamma invited all seven existing sororities to

663-768: Is a historic district in Downtown Columbus, Ohio . The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and the Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1982; the district boundaries differ between the two entries. The Snowden-Gray House , a High Victorian -style two-and-a-half-story mansion with a cupola , built in 1852, is salient in the district. It was the Kappa Kappa Gamma National Headquarters from 1952 to 2018. It housed

714-448: Is a "single-gender" organization. In the lawsuit, it states sorority members allegedly noticed her become notably sexually aroused as other sorority members were changing shirts and staring inappropriately at members. She denied this and text messages from sorority members submitted to the court supported her denial. The sorority headquarters states it “values diversity” and does not discriminate based on gender identity. The Federal lawsuit

765-530: Is an umbrella organization for 26 national and international women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada . Panhellenic ( lit.   ' all-Greek ' ) refers to the group's members being autonomous social Greek-letter societies of college women and alumnae . The National Panhellenic Conference provides guidelines and resources for its members and serves as a national voice on contemporary issues of sorority life. Founded in 1902,

816-421: Is its official mascot. The fraternity flower, the fleur-de-lis , combines the fraternity's colors of dark blue and light blue. Since the fleur-de-lis is a mythical symbol, the iris is often substituted for practical purposes. The fraternity jewel is the blue sapphire . The sapphire is recognized as a symbol of truth, sincerity, and constancy. The fraternity coat of arms combines all of the fraternity's symbols:

867-617: The Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana was suspended partially due to the blatant mistreatment of the only black member in the house. In 2023, seven members at the University of Wyoming sued the sorority headquarters to remove a transgender woman , Artemis Langford, who they felt pressured to induct into the sorority. They say the induction violates the sorority bylaws which state it

918-469: The 1940s many teachers' colleges had begun to add liberal arts programs, and vice versa, which led to difficulties in the organizations functioning separately. On November 12, 1947, at a conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado , the NPC considered and granted associate membership "with reservations" to the six AES sororities. The AES was holding its biennial meeting when it was notified of

969-631: The 2010s, sorority members and outside observers noticed a shift in sorority culture; though sororities began as feminist organizations, emphasis during the mid-1900s on social reputations and exclusionary recruitment policies (such as a refusal to recruit Jewish and African-American women) led to a reputation for following cultural hegemony and being made up of upper-class white women. Though such issues continue to persist in various ways, sorority and anti-sorority women alike observed sororities becoming more ethnically diverse and moving away from traditional power structures towards their feminist roots. In

1020-519: The 2010s, sorority members began attempts to change how sororities work from within. In November 2015, eight NPC members ( Alpha Phi , Alpha Chi Omega , Phi Mu , Alpha Gamma Delta , Sigma Delta Tau , Delta Phi Epsilon , Delta Gamma , and Gamma Phi Beta ) broke ranks from the NPC to withdraw their support for the Safe Campus Act , a controversial bill that would have required campus sexual assault victims to report to police and submit to

1071-606: The AES, NPC, and Professional Panhellenic Association as members. Members of Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha organized the Association of Pedagogical Sororities on July 10, 1915. Its members were primarily sororities located on state campuses mainly attended by women entering the educational field. In 1917, Pi Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Epsilon joined the association, followed by Theta Sigma Upsilon in 1925, Alpha Sigma Tau in 1926, and Pi Delta Theta in 1931. At

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1122-628: The Amateurs des Belles Lettres Hall, a literary society of which the women were active members, to plan their new society. They recruited three additional women, Anna Elizabeth Willits, Martha Louisa Stevenson, and Susan Burley Walker, to join in founding the fraternity. The six founders met at Willit's home to begin work on establishing the Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. They chose a golden key as their badge and had badges crafted by Bennett's family jeweler for their official debut. A formal charter for

1173-530: The Heritage Museum, displaying the history of the organization. The building now serves as an event space. The Kelton House Museum and Garden is a historic house museum in the district. This article about a property in Franklin County, Ohio on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Columbus, Ohio -related article

1224-544: The Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque was under fire for making racist comments during a Greek Life welcome event. The Vice President of Black Brothers Cultivating Knowledge alleged that the sorority girls behind him said "'Black people, get away from me" and "Black people stop wearing grills " while a black woman was speaking. In 2020, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at

1275-452: The NPC created a gender identity study group to examine potential legal consequences, they concluded that the legal precedents were "incomplete, inconclusive, and inconsistent," and did not enact official policy or recommendations. By 2021, most national organizations had released political statements on racial and social equity and inclusion, while also developing membership policies regarding gender identity. Delta Phi Epsilon developed

1326-495: The NPC decision and, at that meeting, "completed the necessary business and took formal action to dissolve the Association". The NPC admitted five other sororities at the same time: Alpha Epsilon Phi , Delta Phi Epsilon , Phi Sigma Sigma , Sigma Delta Tau , and Theta Phi Alpha . In December 1951, all 11 of these sororities became full NPC members. Since that time, three AES members have merged with other NPC groups, leaving Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Sigma Sigma Sigma as

1377-419: The NPC is one of the oldest and largest women's membership organizations, representing more than 4 million women at over 650 college and university campuses and 4,600 local alumnae chapters in the U.S. and Canada. Each year, NPC-affiliated collegians and alumnae donate more than $ 5 million to causes, provide $ 2.8 million in scholarships to women, and volunteer 500,000 hours in their communities. The organization

1428-403: The NPC's relationship with it. The basic positions at each institution are President, VP of Communications, VP of Finance, VP of Philanthropy and Community Service, VP of Programming, VP of Recruitment, VP of Scholarship, and VP of Judicial. The number of positions is based on the number of NPC sororities at each institution. Along with the delegates each being a representative from their sorority,

1479-559: The executive board includes a member from each sorority as well. Throughout its history the NPC Executive Board has been led by a chairman . In 2018 the NPC Board of Directors voted to change its governance model. As of 2021, members rotate onto the board in the order their organization joined the NPC, but the chairman is now elected. East Town Street Historic District The East Town Street Historic District

1530-414: The fact that, while men enjoyed membership in fraternities, women had few equivalent organizations for companionship, support, and advancement, and were instead limited to literary societies . Bennett and Boyd decided to create a women's fraternity and sought members "not only for literary work, but also for social development", beginning with their friend Mary Moore Stewart. Stewart, Boyd, and Bennett met in

1581-669: The first sorority at the University of Pennsylvania , an Ivy League university in Philadelphia , led by president Martha Bunting In 1891, Kappa Kappa Gamma invited the other women's fraternities to Boston for a discussion on the challenges they collectively faced, which was the precursor to the National Panhellenic Conference . However, no major movements occurred from this meeting, and none would occur for another decade when Alpha Phi invited Pi Beta Phi , Kappa Alpha Theta , Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma , Gamma Phi Beta , Delta Delta Delta , Alpha Chi Omega , and Chi Omega to

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1632-558: The floor like 'sizzling bacon'". The chapter was not reinstated until 2017, under a probationary review. In 2015, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio was suspended for initiation rituals that involved heavy consumptions of alcohol. In 2020, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana , was suspended for hazing and misconduct. One pledge reported to authorities she and about 50 other pledges were escorted to

1683-489: The formation of group-specific sororities which attempted to provide the same social and academic outlets to groups who were otherwise excluded from membership. These groups included the first Black Greek letter organizations . By 1922, the NPC (at the time named the National Panhellenic Congress) had an executive committee consisting of a chairman, secretary, and treasurer; a publicity board; and

1734-488: The fraternity was drawn up by Stewart's father, who was an attorney in the state of Illinois. On October 13, 1870, the founders publicized their intention to organize as a women's fraternity by entering the Monmouth Chapel, a public campus venue, wearing their golden key badges in their hair. Although the groundwork of the organization began as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted to recognize October 13, 1870 as

1785-501: The fraternity's oldest continuously active chapter ( Alpha was temporarily closed in 1874 but later re-established) and contributed a great deal to the organization of the fraternity in its early years. In 1882, Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first women's fraternity to publish The Key , a quarterly journal . Today, it is published triennially through Watkins Printing Company. In 1890, the Beta Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma became

1836-481: The incident or had known about it were given one-semester suspensions and social probation for their participation, and were voted by their chapter to retain membership within the chapter. In 2014, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at the main campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut , was forced to stop its operations for forcing pledges to "drink until they passed out, act like animals, and wiggle on

1887-510: The incident were not charged by the state of Indiana with criminal recklessness under the hazing statute, as had been reported. They did, however, face a possible trial for alcohol possession but due to difficulty proving who provided the alcohol, the members were given community service instead. DePauw's reaction to the hazing for the chapter was to put the chapter on social probation until Fall 1999 and cut its pledge class in half for two years. The thirteen members who had either been involved with

1938-455: The key, the Greek letters, the new-member pin, the fleur-de-lis, the owl, and the head of Minerva. Kappa Kappa Gamma used "Tradition of Leadership" as a tagline in many previous fraternity publications, but, as of June 2012, the new fraternity tagline was changed to "Aspire to Be". In June 2018, an announcement was made that a new brand would be rolled out during the 2018–2019 academic year with

1989-423: The member's specifications, sometimes including stones such as opals . They were also worn on members' lapels, foreheads or hair, whereas today, badges are uniformly worn on the left side of the chest. The badge is worn strictly as an emblem of membership by initiated members. The fraternity encourages badges to be returned to the headquarters upon a member's death. New, uninitiated members of Kappa Kappa Gamma wear

2040-459: The next decade, with Alpha Xi Delta in 1904, Alpha Omicron Pi and Sigma Kappa in 1905, Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Gamma Delta and Zeta Tau Alpha in 1909, Delta Zeta in 1910, Phi Mu in 1911, and Kappa Delta in 1912. No new members were admitted for the next few decades. Throughout its early years, NPC members were often racially and religiously segregated and rarely admitted Jewish , Catholic , or ethnic minority members, which led to

2091-512: The nonprofit's bylaws; [hence,] this Judge may not invade Kappa Kappa Gamma's freedom of expressive association." This ruling effectively places any resolution back with the national and local organization to resolve internally. In his decision, which used female pronouns, some of the sorority's arguments were called "plainly inaccurate" stating that any appeal should not be a "copy and paste" as its arguments were weak. The national sorority later expelled two long-serving alumnae volunteers who had used

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2142-563: The official Founders Day since no earlier charter date could be determined. In 1871, the fraternity chartered its Beta chapter at nearby St. Mary's School in Knoxville . The next year, the fraternity opened its Gamma chapter at Smithson College and Delta chapter at Indiana University . Though the Beta and Gamma chapters failed to survive more than a few years, the Delta chapter became

2193-609: The organization was headquartered in the Law and Finance Building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio . In 1952, Kappa Kappa Gamma purchased its first headquarters at 530 East Town Street, now part of the East Town Street Historic District . On January 2, 2018, Kappa Kappa Gamma moved from the building to 6640 Riverside Drive in Dublin, Ohio . Kappa Kappa Gamma's official colors are light blue and dark blue. The owl

2244-496: The remaining former AES members. From the 1940s to the 1960s, various smaller organizations merged into larger ones. On some campuses with two different chapters from merged sororities, a third sorority would organize on the campus to absorb the smaller sorority's former chapter. By the end of the 1960s and the civil rights movement , NPC sororities eliminated official policies that prevented minority members from joining, although diversity in Greek life remained an issue. As of

2295-425: The session resulted in the organization of the first interfraternity association and the first intergroup organization on college campuses. The first few meetings resulted in several mutual agreements, especially regarding pledging. Up to this time, no guidelines had been set, and women could be pledged to groups before enrolling in college and belong to more than one group. Many of the current members joined through

2346-678: The sorority's member database to solicit donations to help pay for the Wyoming lawsuit. In 1997, the television show 20/20 featured an exposé on hazing in the sorority system that included a hazing by three members of Kappa Kappa Gamma at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana , and a local sorority Lambda Delta Sigma at Concordia College in Saint Paul, Minnesota . The three members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, on November 6, 1997, were accused of branding three pledges with cigarettes in

2397-494: The tag line "Dream Boldly, Live Fully". The badge of membership is the golden key. The standard badge is one inch in length and is sometimes jeweled with sapphires , pearls or diamonds . On the front of the key are the Greek letters ΚΚΓ on the stem and ΑΩΟ on the ward in enamal. Often the initials and initiation date of the member to whom the badge belongs are inscribed on the back of the badge. The original keys were larger and were not standardized; many were specially made to

2448-466: The third biennial conference, the name of the association was changed to the Association of Educational Sororities. Later, the word Educational was changed to Education . From 1915 through 1926, the NPC and AES operated chapters in the same colleges and universities. In 1926, the NPC and AES made an agreement "defining fields of activities of each panhellenic". There was competition between NPC and AES sororities, and dual memberships were often held. By

2499-485: Was dismissed without prejudice on 25 August 2023, citing that "The University of Wyoming chapter voted to admit - and, more broadly, a sorority of hundreds of thousands approved - [the admission of transgender individual, Artemis] Langford. With its inquiry beginning and ending there, the Court will not define ‘woman’ today. The delegate [~chapter] of a private, voluntary organization interpreted ‘woman’, otherwise undefined in

2550-469: Was founded as I.C. Sorosis at Monmouth College in 1867. Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded at the college in 1870, and in 1888 I.C. Sorosis adopted Greek letters and changed its name to Pi Beta Phi. Because both fraternities have their origins at the same college within three years of one another, they are often called "The Monmouth Duo". On campuses with Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters, the groups often hold joint social and philanthropic events. In 2018,

2601-453: Was the "sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks ", reportedly had a "long and strange obsession" with Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as with other sororities such as Chi Omega . Ivins reportedly became obsessed with Kappa when he was rebuffed by a woman in the sorority during his days as a student at the University of Cincinnati. The letters containing anthrax spores (which eventually killed 5 people and injured dozens more) were mailed from

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