Каппа Альфа Тета: История и деятельность женского студенческого содружества.

North American collegiate sorority

Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ), commonly referred to simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. It was the first Greek letter fraternity established for women. The fraternity (the term "sorority" had not yet been invented) was founded by four female students, Bettie Locke Hamilton, Alice Allen Brant, Bettie Tipton Lindsey, and Hannah Fitch Shaw. The organization has 147 chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization was the first women's fraternity to establish a chapter in Canada. Theta's total living initiated membership, as of 2020, was more than 250,000. In 1887, Theta became an international organization with the establishment of the Sigma chapter at the University of Toronto. This became the first Canadian women's fraternity. G. William Domhoff, writing in Who Rules America?, listed Kappa Alpha Theta as one of "the four or five sororities with nationwide prestige" in the mid 1960s.

Kappa Alpha Theta's colors are black and gold. The official symbols are both the kite and twin stars, while the official flower is the black and gold pansy. The fraternity does not recognize an official stone.

Kappa Alpha Theta has more than 143 active college chapters and more than 212 alumnae chapters across the United States and Canada. Alumnae chapters are alumnae groups that have been granted charters from Grand Council. The following is a list of the chapters of Kappa Alpha Theta:

The Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation was founded in 1960 and is the philanthropic arm of the organization. The Theta Foundation awards annual undergraduate and graduate scholarships to its members, awarding more than $1.1 million per year. In addition to scholarships, the Theta Foundation also supports the sorority's educational programs as well as its international philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA's) are community volunteers who serve as the voice for abused and neglected foster care children who are going through the court system. CASA's are appointed by a judge and their purpose is to ensure all legal actions made are in the child's best interest. In order to directly volunteer at CASA you must be 21 years of age or older.

Some notable alumni of Kappa Alpha Theta include Agnes de Mille, Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Jenna Bush, Tory Burch, Melinda French Gates, Amy Holmes, Sheryl Crow, Gretchen Whitmer, Kerri Strug, Rue McClanahan, Amy Grant, and Jennifer Cook O'Toole. Laura Bush was a member of the Beta Sigma chapter at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. Her daughters Barbara and Jenna Bush were members at Yale University and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. Tory Burch, an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia. Amy Holmes, an American journalist and political commentator, was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta at Princeton University. Sheryl Crow was a member at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan's current governor, was a Theta at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Amy Grant, an American singer, was a member of the Alpha Eta chapter at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2000, the chapter at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida was shut down after a drinking party sent newly pledged members to the hospital. One member passed out and was placed on a respirator that night. In 2008, the chapter at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York was suspended for four years after an alcohol hazing related incident. In 2014, the chapter at Columbia University in New York City was under national scrutiny after hosting a racially and ethnically insensitive event that went viral. Some of the costumes worn by sorority members were based on stereotypes meant to represent Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands, Ireland, Jamaica, and other countries. The sorority publicly apologized for the event. In 2016, the 137 year old chapter at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan was suspended by the university for underage drinking and hazing. The chapter was disbanded by the national organization a few weeks later for violating the suspension. In 2018, chapters at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi and Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina were closed for failure to meet quota. There was a great deal of opposition, since members felt they were being unfairly punished, simply for being less popular than other National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities on campus, and not for risk management or academic issues. In February 2022, the members of the Eta Mu chapter at Occidental College in Los Angeles voted to disband the chapter following a controversy with a member, who reportedly sent anti Asian and anti Black messages in a private group chat among friends in a December 2020 incident that did not surface until two years later.