Kappa Beta Gamma

Kappa Beta Gamma (ΚΒΓ) is a sorority founded at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1917.

Kappa Beta Gamma
ΚΒΓ
Founded	January 22, 1917; 108 years ago (1917-01-22) Marquette University
Type	Social
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Scope	International
Motto	Character, Culture, Courage
Colors	Deep Sapphire,   Pearl White and   Old Gold
Symbol	Five-pointed Star
Flower	Forget-me-not
Jewel	Blue Sapphire and White Pearl
Mascot	Jermain the Lion
Publication	Kappa Star
Philanthropy	Special Olympics
Chapters	32 active, 24 inactive
Colonies	2
Headquarters	540 Pearl Cove Court Atlanta, Georgia 30350 United States
Website	www.kappabetagamma.org

History

On January 22, 1917, twelve women of Marquette University founded the campus' first sorority, Kappa Beta Gamma. The founders, and first officers of this group were:

Teresa Jermain, President Myra Thewalt, Vice-President Jeannie Lee, Secretary Mary Weimar, Treasurer

Mary Kitzke Eva Johnson Patricia Hagerty Mary White

Myrtle Maas Lorraine Kress Vivienne Leichtman Felicia Knafzynska

Weimar was credited with design of the sorority pin.

The immediate aim of the Sorority expressed at its founding was: To Unite the Members in the bond of Sisterhood; to Develop Friendships among the Members During their College Days; to Improve the Members Morally, Socially and Intellectually; and to Foster the Support of College/University, Alma Mater and of God and Country. This was later revised as:

The Sisters of Kappa Beta Gamma International Sorority are an organization dedicated to improving its members morally, socially, and intellectually. As friends, we are committed to bettering our schools and communities by offering leadership opportunities during and beyond our college days. ^[1]

In 1947 the sorority established its second chapter, Alpha, at Saint Louis University; St. Louis, Missouri. The chapter at Marquette University then became known as Beta chapter.^[2] The first chapters were established at Catholic institutions, with the Sorority later expanding to other institutions.

In 2011 Kappa Beta Gamma installed its first chapter in Canada, the Upsilon chapter at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.^[3]

This sorority is not a member of the NPC, though chapters will regularly participate with campus panhellenic associations.^[4]

Symbols and traditions

The official colors are deep sapphire, pearl white and old gold. The five pointed star is the symbol, while the official flower is the forget-me-not. ΚΒΓ has 2 official jewels, the blue sapphire and white pearl. The Sorority has designated a mascot, Jermain the Lion (Jermain being the last name of the first Grand Mistress, or president).^[5]

Founder Mary Weimar designed the sorority badge, a wreath of six pearls and six sapphires encircling Kappa Beta Gamma’s Greek Letters. She also designed the membership pin, a blue shield with a gold stripe running diagonally across it.^[4]

Kappa Beta Gamma marks three annual days of remembrance, listed in the order they were established:

• January 22 - Founders Day
• May 14 - National Founders Day
• April 2 - International Founders Day

The open motto of the organization is Character, Culture, Courage.

The initiation ceremony is called Krossover.

The annual convention of the Sorority is called its Konvention, held on a rotating basis at locations in the US and Canada during the first weekend of August. An additional celebration, an International Formal Star Ball is held every fifth year to mark significant milestones.^[1]

Kappa Beta Gamma's quarterly publication is the Kappa Star.^[5]

Headquarters

At its establishment in 1947, the first National Officers were chosen, all from the Beta chapter and were elected to a two-year term.

The Sorority is governed through its international conventions. Presiding over these annual events, and responsible for the organizations' affairs in the interim between conventions, two separate, but cooperative Boards of Directors, one for the US and one for Canada, are elected to their positions indefinitely by the membership of Kappa Beta Gamma. There are no term limits of minimum term of service for these Board positions. The Board of Directors is primarily responsible for hiring and management of the International President, supporting the International Board and handling legal and business matters on behalf of the membership.

ΚΒΓ's International Headquarters are located in Georgia.

Day-to-day management of the Sorority is vested in four staff positions: the International President, a Vice-President of Compliance-Canada, a Vice President of Compliance-USA, and a Vice President of Membership Development.^[1]

United States Leadership ^[1]

Tanya Niemi: President & CEO

Lacy Dickel: Vice President & COO

Allyson Simerlein: Treasurer & CFO

Canada Leadership^[1]

Rynelle DeSouza: President & CEO

Marianna Sukhu: Vice President & CCO

Logan Paisley: Treasurer & CFO

Philanthropy

Kappa Beta Gamma's philanthropy is the Special Olympics. Along with the national philanthropy, each chapter chooses a local philanthropy to support.^[1]

Alumnae Society

Kappa Beta Gamma has an Alumnae Society, available to any alumna member. They offer an alumna initiate program.^[6]

Chapters

Chapters of Kappa Beta Gamma are as follows. Active chapters are in bold, inactive chapters are in italics: ^[7]

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	May 14, 1947–1975	Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	Withdrew	Second chapter formed. Formerly Delta Epsilon Phi (local), established in 1928.[8]	[2][9]
Beta	January 22, 1917–1970	Marquette University	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Dormant	Founding chapter	[2]
Gamma	Spring, 1948–1953	Creighton University	Omaha, Nebraska	Dormant	Formerly Kappa Zeta Kappa (local)[8]	[2]
Delta	June 1948	University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit, Michigan	Active	Oldest active chapter	[2][10]
Epsilon	Spring, 1954–2007	Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Withdrew		[2][11]
Zeta	1961–1966	Loyola University New Orleans	New Orleans, Louisiana	Dormant		[2]
Eta	1961–1983	Catholic University of America	Washington, D.C.	Dormant		[2]
Theta	1963–1970, 19xx	St. Norbert College	De Pere, Wisconsin	Active	Formerly Kappa Beta Phi (local), formed in 1958.[8]	[2]
Iota	1968–1992 ?	St. John's University	Jamaica, Queens, New York	Dormant	Formerly Iota Sigma Phi (local), formed in 1961.[8]	[2]
Kappa	August 2, 1997–March 17, 2017	Marian University	Fond du Lac, Wisconsin	Dormant
Lambda	July 13, 2002–2017	Northern Michigan University	Marquette, Michigan	Dormant
Mu	July 12, 2002–2005	University of Findlay	Findlay, Ohio	Dormant
Nu	2003–2007	Franklin & Marshall College	Lancaster, Pennsylvania	Withdrew		[12]
Xi	October 27, 2007–2013	Frostburg State University	Frostburg, Maryland	Dormant	Formerly Gamma Sigma Chi (local), formed in 2002.[8]
Omicron    See Alpha Lambda	2009–2015	Shippensburg University	Shippensburg, Pennsylvania	Dormant	Formerly Theta Kappa (local), formed in 1968.[8]
Pi	February 8, 2009–2015	Keene State College	Keene, New Hampshire	Dormant	Formerly Tau Phi Xi (local), formed in 1982.[8]
Rho	June 18, 2009	Caldwell University	Caldwell, New Jersey	Active	Formerly Delta Nu Sigma (local), previously formed.[8]
Sigma	December 4, 2010	Wake Forest University	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Active	Originally Pi Beta Phi's North Carolina Gamma chapter, formed in 1994.[8]	[13]
Tau	November 20, 2010–2016	University of Minnesota Duluth	Duluth, Minnesota	Dormant
Upsilon	April 2, 2011	University of Victoria	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	Active	Oldest Canadian chapter	[3]
Phi	January 22, 2011	Penn State Harrisburg	Middletown, Pennsylvania	Active		[14]
Chi	January 15, 2011	Brandeis University	Waltham, Massachusetts	Active		[15]
Psi	April 28, 2011–February 20, 2017	Georgia Gwinnett College	Lawrenceville, Georgia	Dormant
Omega					Reserved as a memorial for those sisters and alumnae who have passed.
Alpha Alpha	July 9, 2011–2016	Trine University	Angola, Indiana	Dormant
Alpha Beta	November 12, 2011–2019	University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	Dormant
Alpha Gamma	November 24, 2012	Simon Fraser University	Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada	Active		[16]
Alpha Delta	October 26, 2013	St. Joseph's College	Patchogue, New York	Active	Formerly Lambda Psi Iota (local), formed in 2002.[8]
Alpha Epsilon	December 7, 2013	Lawrence Technological University	Southfield, Michigan	Active
Alpha Zeta	December 6, 2014	University of Louisiana at Monroe	Monroe, Louisiana	Active
Alpha Eta	May 3, 2015	Central Methodist University	Fayette, Missouri	Active
Alpha Theta	July 31, 2015	Thompson Rivers University	Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada	Active
Alpha Iota	April 16, 2016	University of Lethbridge	Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada	Active	Formerly Kappa Pi Chi (local), formed in 2011.[8]
Alpha Kappa	August 27, 2016–2020	SUNY, Stony Brook	New York City, New York	Dormant
Alpha Lambda    See also Omicron	April 9, 2016	Shippensburg University	Shippensburg, Pennsylvania	Active
Alpha Mu	December 3, 2016	University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Active
Alpha Nu	May 6, 2017	University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	Active
Alpha Xi	April 8, 2017	University of British Columbia	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada	Active
Alpha Omicron	April 29, 2017	University of Ottawa and Area	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	Active	Formerly Zeta Theta Epsilon (local), formed in 2010.[8]
Alpha Pi	April 29, 2017	Ryerson University and Area	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Active	Formerly Delta Phi Nu Gamma Chi (local), formed previously[8]
Alpha Rho	March 24, 2018–2020	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Dormant
Alpha Sigma	April 21, 2018	Tennessee Wesleyan University	Athens, Tennessee	Active	Originally Alpha Xi Gamma (local), formed in 1979.[8]
Alpha Tau	July 14, 2018	University of Ontario Institute of Technology	Oshawa, Ontario, Canada	Active
Alpha Upsilon	May 5, 2018	Southeast Missouri State University	Cape Girardeau, Missouri	Active
Alpha Phi	2018–2019 ?	Pennsylvania State University	University Park, Pennsylvania	Dormant
Alpha Chi	May 12, 2018	St. John’s University	Staten Island, New York	Active
Alpha Psi	2018–2019 ?	University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	Dormant
Alpha Omega					Reserved
Beta Alpha	May 4, 2019 –2022	Middle Georgia State University	Cochran, Georgia	Dormant
Beta Beta	August 25, 2019	SUNY Oneonta	Oneonta, New York	Active
Beta Gamma	2019–2020 ?	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Honolulu, Hawaii	Dormant
Beta Delta	January 23, 2021	University of Guelph	Guelph, Ontario, Canada	Active
Beta Epsilon	March 27, 2021	University of Waterloo	Waterloo, Ontario, Canada	Active
Beta Eta	April 17, 2021	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Active
Beta Zeta	May 15, 2021	Mount Royal University	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Active
Beta Iota	January 9, 2022	McMaster University	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada	Active
Beta Kappa	January 9, 2022	Brock University	St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada	Active
Beta Theta	April 9, 2022	Kean University	Union, New Jersey	Active

See also

• List of social sororities and women's fraternities