Kappa Kappa Gamma

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Kappa Kappa Gamma
(ΚΚΓ)
Image:Kappa crest.gif
Founded October 13, 1870 (1870-10-13) (age 137)
Monmouth College, (Monmouth, Illinois)
Type Social
Scope International
Colors dark blue and light blue
Symbol Key, Fleur-de-Lis, Owl
Flower Fleur-de-Lis
Jewel Sapphire
Publication The Key
Philanthropy Reading Is Fundamental
Chapters 134
Members 220,000+ currently
lifetime
Headquarters 530 East Town Street P.O. Box 38
Columbus, Ohio, USA
Homepage http://www.kappakappagamma.org/

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 America. 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 134. 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 usually referred to as a sorority. Kappa Kappa Gamma is also referred to as "KKG" and "Kappa."

Contents

[edit] History

Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded October 13, 1870, at Monmouth College, Illinois. The founding members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were Hannah Jeannette Boyd, Mary Moore Stewart (Nelson, Field), Anna Elizabeth Willits (Pattee), Mary Louise Bennett (Boyd), Martha Louisa Stevenson (Miller), Susan Burley Walker (Vincent). As collegiate at Monmouth College, they were determined to form a Greek letter organization for women. Founders Minnie Stewart, Jeannette Boyd, and Louise Bennett first met around 1869-1870 in the Amateurs des Belles Lettres Hall, a literary society of which the women were active members when they first decided to form a new society.[1] They determined that nothing short of a Greek letter fraternity, equal to men’s fraternities, would satisfy them. Since chapel exercises were required for all students, the founding members announced the formation of the new group by wearing golden keys in their hair to the Chapel service on October, 13, 1870; hanging back so that they would have to sit in front after the other students were seated.

[edit] Symbols

The membership badge is represented by the Golden Key.

The key was adopted as the sorority's symbol at its founding. The original keys were larger than the modern key. The current badge is a one-inch gold key, sometimes jeweled. On the front of the key are the Greek letters ΚΚΓ (on the stem) and ΑΩΟ (on the ward). The badge is worn strictly as an emblem of membership and only by initiated members.

New member pin
New member pin

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 Iris, or fleur-de-lis combines the fraternity's colors of dark blue and light blue.

The fraternity jewel is the sapphire. The colors of the Fraternity are light blue and dark blue, which have been described as those shades which in light and dark tones reproduce the “soft velvety blue approaching the cornflower in shade,” which is also a description of the sapphire, the Fraternity jewel. The sapphire is recognized as a symbol of truth, sincerity and constancy. The fraternity Coat-of-Arms combines all the elements of Kappa Kappa Gamma: the key, the Greek letters, the new-member pin, the fleur-de-lis, the owl and the two blues.

[edit] 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 principles. (The mission statement was drafted and adopted by the 1984-1986 Fraternity Council.)

[edit] 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 individual and social excellence. (The Preamble remains much as it was written in 1892.)

[edit] Hazing

Hazing is prohibited by Kappa Kappa Gamma. Hazing is defined as any activity or action taken with or without consent of the individual involved that produces mental, emotional, or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule. Any activity that is demeaning, embarrassing, or mentally or physically injurious to an individual or group is considered hazing and is not permitted. Though hazing is prohibited, it has occurred within the Kappa Kappa Gamma community.

In 1997 the television show 20/20 featured an expose on hazing in the sorority system[2] that included a hazing by three members of Kappa Kappa Gamma at DePauw University, as well as an incident of hazing at Delta Sigma Theta and a local sorority Lambda Delta Sigma at Concordia College. The three members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, on November 6, 1997, were accused of branding 3 pledges[3] with cigarettes in a family ritual 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.[4] The result was severe enough to send one of the pledges to the hospital with minor burn injuries.[5]

The discovery of the incident caused investigations by the sorority and campus to be launched. The members who were involved with the ritual were not charged by the state of Indiana with criminal recklessness under the hazing statute, as had been reported.[4] 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.[4] DePauw's reaction to the hazing for the chapter was to put the chapter on social probation until Fall 1999 and cut it's pledge class in half for two years. The thirteen members who had been either been involved with the ritual 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.[4]

[edit] Kappa Timeline

  • 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 precursor 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 1965, University of Pittsburgh Kappas were the first to share a house with another sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta.
  • 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.
  • In 2004 The Leadership Academy began offering undergraduate and alumna members intensive leadership development in a beautiful outdoor setting. Programming for the Leadership Academy has been developed in partnership with The Tompeters! Company and Bradford Woods, an outdoor education facility in Indiana.

[edit] Notable Kappas

For a full list of notable Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae please visit here. [1]
Notable members are listed by name, and chapter.

Entertainment

Lo Bosworth- actress from Laguna Beach and The Hills

Government

Literature

Science

  • Edith Clarke (Eta) - First woman to earn electrical engineering degree from MIT; first women elected fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers[13]
  • Mareta West (Beta Theta) - First woman astrogeologist; determined the crucial site for the first landing on the moon[7]

Sports

Media

Miscellaneous

Fictional

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ William Urban et al, Monmouth College, a history through its fifth quarter century. Monmouth College, 1979
  2. ^ "20/20 Transcript" (May 3, 1999).
  3. ^ DePauw sorority faces hazing allegations. The Michigan Daily (November 12, 1997). Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
  4. ^ a b c d Nuwer, Hank (1999). Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking. Indiana University Press, pp. 159 - 165. ISBN 0-253-21498-X. 
  5. ^ Hazing burns sorority pledge. The Daily Illini (December 11, 1997). Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
  6. ^ a b About Us. USC Kappa Kappa Gamma. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Notable Kappas. Kappa Kappa Gamma. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  8. ^ Robinson, Ben (April 5, 2007), From Rebel to Wrestling, The DM Online, <http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2007/04/05/ArtsEntertainment/From-Rebel.To.Wrestling-2825452.shtml>. Retrieved on 24 January 2008 
  9. ^ a b c d Sister, Sister; Does The Sorority Stereotype Hold True?. Women's Wear Daily (April 15, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  10. ^ Jenn, Tanaka (December 18, 2005). The “characters” from“Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County”. Coast Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  11. ^ Olin, Dirk (2007). "Climbing the Hill". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Nov./Dec., 2007. p. 47.
  12. ^ Cain, Paul (2007). "Ann Bannon." Leading the parade: Conversations with America's most influential lesbians and gay men. Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 155–163. ISBN 0810859130
  13. ^ Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Achievement Award. Kappa Kappa Gamma. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
  14. ^ Glenn, Rhonda (February 11, 2005), Patty 'Dynamite' Berg Leaves Mark On Golf And Life, United States Golf Association, <http://www.usga.org/news/2005/february/berg.html>. Retrieved on 27 January 2008 
  15. ^ Beta Eta History. Kappa Kappa Gamma - Beta Eta. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.

[edit] External links

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