Perhaps you’ve heard something about Kappa Delta (KD), a new sorority on campus, or maybe you’ve yet to hear anything of the sort. You might have received one of our “Caught Being Confident” cards, seen our letters being worn around campus, or maybe you’ve noticed we started selling Girl Scout cookies in Sykes.
If you haven’t heard of us yet, don’t worry—we will make sure you do soon enough.
The sorority just celebrated its first semester at West Chester University in the fall of 2016, having been officially chartered on Nov. 13, 2016. On this day, it officially became the 164th chapter of KD nationwide, establishing the Theta Omicron chapter here at WCU.
Let me rewind a bit to give you a better picture of our conception. A condensed recruitment weekend was held in September where over 200 girls came out in the hopes of pledging WCU’s newest sorority. Girls from KD at Penn State, Towson and the College of New Jersey came to support us and help pick the newest recruits, as did the national Kappa Delta vice president and other KD staff.
After all was said and done, about 100 girls were chosen to experience the founding of the sorority from scratch. I was lucky enough to be one of those people, and I continue to be so happy about my decision to join this brand new sorority. Bear in mind, this is coming from somebody who never thought she would touch a sorority with a 10-foot pole.
Speaking for myself, I had always been intrigued by the concept of sororities, but something just always kept me away.
I had in mind the misconception that sororities didn’t have much more to offer other than an increased social life and a bunch of girls that call you their sister. I have a sister already and it’s really not always all it’s cracked up to be, so why would I pay $100 to have more? Beyond that, I always fancied myself as somebody who’s more independent, and I felt joining a sorority would be conceding some part of that, not to mention who I was.
I finally reached a new point at the beginning of this year, where I realized if I wanted to do it, why shouldn’t I? If my fear was preserving my image as someone who’s more independent and thinks differently, I would be failing to live up to that by not letting myself do what I wanted.
Then Kappa Delta came into my life. They had tables set up around campus and information sessions, and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t interested. I did the unthinkable for myself and set up a coffee date with one of the national members who was helping to establish the newest KD chapter.
I learned more about them, and all of a sudden it made sense why I had never rushed or joined a sorority—this was the one I wanted. I love everything Kappa Delta stands for, and I knew that’s where I wanted to be.
This, I think, is one of the wonderful things about KD: a vast majority of the girls have never rushed before.
A sister told me that KD is for “all the girls who were interested in sororities but who never actually went through the hassle of rush. It’s just a bunch of super chill girls who love what KD stands for.”
Our philanthropy, our pledge to inspire confidence and our commitment to attract a diversity of personalities and people makes me so proud to be part of KD.
The Alpha Class is home to freshmen and seniors alike, and all those in between. It truly is a wonderful collection of girls, and I’m so happy I get to be a part of it. More than that, I love that I get to help create this chapter however my sisters and I want. It’s a completely different experience than rushing an already established sorority, but I would never change it.
We certainly face a lot of obstacles, of course. Being new, we have to work twice as hard to uphold our image and get our name out there as opposed to our fellow sororities.
We’ve faced some criticism: that we simply took everybody who couldn’t get bids during formal recruitment, and other negatives to diminish our image. I would take all that any day, though, to know I get to help establish what Kappa Delta at WCU is all about; I even get to help create our philanthropy event from scratch.
In fact, our philanthropy is one of my favorite things about KD and one of the original things that attracted me. We have two historical philanthropies, the Children’s Hospital at Richmond and the Orthopedic Research Awards, and two main philanthropies, Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and the Girl Scouts of the USA.
We care deeply for the well-being of children, and we strive to build confidence and inspire action in young girls everywhere. To aid in that, we also have something called the Confidence Coalition. The name is pretty self-explanatory.
There is much to look forward to with the Theta Omicron chapter of Kappa Delta. Chapters across the nation hold annual Shamrock events to benefit PCAA, and we get to create that here at WCU.
We partner with Girl Scout troops for different things, one of which is selling Girl Scout cookies. The sale is going on in the Sykes Student Union every Tuesday from now until March 7 from 4 to 7 p.m., as well as on March 8. Make sure to stop by and stock up on delicious cookies while you can. Plus, you can come get to know KD.
Our chapter has come a very long way since the beginning back in September, and I am so incredibly proud of it.
We’ve overcome our difficulties, but I know that none of my sisters would change anything for the experiences we’ve gained.
Lauren Detweiler is a third-year student majoring in English with a minor in web technology. She can be reached at LD838069@wcupa.edu.