Founding of Kappa Alpha Theta
Fijis at the Lambda chapter at Indiana Asbury University (now known as DePauw University) played an important role in the founding of Kappa Alpha Theta women's fraternity. Bettie Locke, the sister of George W. Locke (DePauw, 1871), was one of the first women enrolled at DePauw. Bettie had many Fiji friends and one of them asked her to wear his badge. She contended that she would do so only if she knew the secrets behind the letters. The Fijis, after considerable debate, declined to initiate her. So, upon suggestion of her father, Dr. John Wesley Locke, a Beta Theta Pi, she formed Kappa Alpha Theta with Alice Allen, Bettie Tipton and Hannah Fitch; four of just a handful of women enrolled at DePauw at the time. Kappa Alpha Theta made its debut on January 27, 1870. The Fijis, in a spirit of friendship and appreciation, later presented Bettie Locke with an engraved silver cake basket.
Read more about this topic: How Phi Gamma Delta Is Organized
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