Kappa Alpha Theta 

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, Kappa Alpha Theta exists to nurture each member throughout her college and alumnae experience and to offer a lifelong opportunity for social, intellectual, and moral growth as she meets the higher and broader demands of mature life. The intellectual ambition of the Fraternity shall be the attainment of highest scholarship. The social aim of the Fraternity shall be to exercise the widest influence for good. The moral aim of the Fraternity shall be the standard of love.

As the first Greek fraternity known among women, Kappa Alpha Theta celebrates a long and rich history. Theta was founded on January 27, 1870 at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) by Betty Locke Hamilton, Alice Allen Brant, Bettie Tipton Lindsey, and Hannah Fitch Shaw (shown below, starting at the top left, clockwise).

Betty Locke's idea to start a women's fraternity was based on ideas from her father (alumnus of Beta Theta Pi) and brother (alumnus of Phi Gamma Delta). Members of her brother's fraternity offered to let her wear their badge, but she declined, saying that she would not wear it without knowing the secrets the letters represented. Her father then suggested that she start her own fraternity for women, and the idea of Kappa Alpha Theta was born. Locke and her friend Alice Allen came together, and after 3 years of planning and campaigning, the four original members initiated themselves, becoming official Thetas and sparking the legacy that we continue today. Today, there are 125 chapters in the United States and Canada with over 170,000 active members.