Kappa Kappa Gamma

Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States. As of 2024, it has nearly 260,000 members and 140 collegiate chapters. It is sometimes referred to by its original designation, a women's fraternity, as it was founded before the term "sorority" was coined. Kappa Kappa Gamma is a founding member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization that includes 26 American sororities.

History

In 1869, two students at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Mary Louise Bennett and Hannah Jeannette Boyd, were dissatisfied with 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.[1] Stewart, Boyd, and Bennett met in the Amateurs des Belles Lettres Hall, a literary society of which the women were active members, to plan their new society.[2] They recruited three additional women, Anna Elizabeth Willits, Martha Louisa Stevenson, and Susan Burley Walker, to join in founding the fraternity.[3]

Member misconduct and controversies

Racism

In 2018, 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.[18]

In 2020, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at the Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana was suspended partially due to the mistreatment of the only black member in the house.[19]

University of Wyoming transgender lawsuit

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 is a "single-gender" organization. The lawsuit 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.[20] The sorority headquarters states it “values diversity” and does not discriminate based on gender identity.[21]

The Federal lawsuit 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 a 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 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 organizations to resolve internally.[22] 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.[20] The national sorority later expelled two long-serving alumnae volunteers who had used the sorority's member database to solicit donations to help pay for the Wyoming lawsuit.[23]

In June 2025, the United States Department of Education issued a ruling prompted in part by the Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity case. It stated, "A sorority that admits male students is no longer a sorority by definition and thus loses the Title IX statutory exemption for a sorority’s single-sex membership practices."[24]

Hazing

In 1997, the television show 20/20 featured an exposé on hazing in the sorority system[25] 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[26] with cigarettes in a family hazing rite after a night of heavy drinking. After being burned, the pledges were encouraged to streak across campus and 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.[27] The disclosure of the incident caused investigations by the sorority and campus to be launched. The members who were involved in 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 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.

Bruce Ivins

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 was the "sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks",[33] reportedly had a "long and strange obsession" with Kappa Kappa Gamma,[34] as well as with other sororities such as Chi Omega.[35][36] 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.[37] The letters containing anthrax spores (which eventually killed 5 people and injured dozens more) were mailed from a drop box approximately 300 feet from a KKG storage facility at Princeton University,[38]

letters	ΚΚΓ
crest	Kappa_Kappa_Gamma_crest.gif
founded	October 13, 1870
birthplace	Monmouth College
status	Active
affiliation	NPC
type	Social sorority
scope	North America
motto	"Aspire to Be"
slogan	"Dream Boldly. Live Fully"
member badge	Kappa Kappa Gamma badge.png
colors	Dark Blue Light Blue
symbol	Key
flower	Fleur-de-Lis
jewel	Sapphire
mascot	Owl
patron roman deity	Minerva
publication	The Key
philanthropy	Mental Health Awareness
chapters	140
lifetime	260,000
address	6640 Riverside Drive Suite 200
city	Dublin
state	Ohio
zip code	43017
country	United States
homepage	kappa.org

History

National Panhellenic

20th century to present day

Symbols

Chapters

Philanthropy

Monmouth Duo

Notable members

Member misconduct and controversies

Racism

University of Wyoming transgender lawsuit

Hazing

Bruce Ivins

See also

External links

References