History
Kappa Alpha Theta's ritual, organizational structure, badge, and coat of arms were drawn in part upon two fraternities with which Bettie Locke had close connections: Beta Theta Pi, her father's fraternity, and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), her brother's fraternity.
Bettie had many friends in FIJI, and when the members asked her to wear their badge as a "mascot," Bettie declined. She said she could not wear it as she did not know the secrets and purposes the badge represented. The brothers of FIJI took a vote to determine whether to admit and initiate Bettie as a full member of FIJI. They decided they wished to remain an all-male fraternity, and gave Bettie a silver fruit basket instead as a symbol of their special relationship with her.
At the suggestion of her father, a professor at Indiana Asbury, Bettie investigated whether any fraternities for women existed with whom she could establish a chapter at Indiana Asbury. Discovering that only literary societies for women existed at the time, Bettie decided to begin her own Greek letter fraternity for women, and Kappa Alpha Theta was conceived.
Bettie Locke and her friend Alice Allen together wrote a constitution, planned ceremonies, designed a badge, and sought other women on campus worthy of membership. Along with Hannah Fitch and Bettie Tipton, they were initiated in secret on January 27, 1870, creating the Alpha Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta. These four founders proudly wore their kite-shaped black and gold badges for the first time in public to Asbury's chapel service on March 14, 1870.
Today, Kappa Alpha Theta values its unique history, and takes pride in their four founders, who were truly visionary. Their vision statement—Kappa Alpha Theta is the organization that provides the finest and most rewarding membership experience for women—is based on Theta's core purpose and values. The purpose is to support members to learn, grow, and excel, and the core values are personal excellence, friendship/sisterhood, scholarship, service, and leadership.
Since its founding, Theta has been a leader amongst Greek letter fraternities for women with a number of firsts:
The first women admitted to Phi Beta Kappa were Thetas. The first women's organization to use greek letters in its name. The first women's fraternity to establish a chapter in Canada was Kappa Alpha Theta. Nancy Kassebaum, Kappa/Kansas, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate who had not succeeded her husband or first been appointed to fill an unexpired term. Theta was the first women's Greek organization established at four Ivy League schools (Cornell, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard), as well as Michigan, Vanderbilt, Baylor, and Stanford universities.
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