About Kappa Delta
The Kappa Delta National Sorority was founded by four young women at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood College) in Farmville, Virginia, on October 23, 1897. On that day, (clockwise from top left) Lenora Ashmore, Mary Sommerville Sparks Hendrick, Julia Gardiner Tyler Wilson, and Sara Turner White solidified the ties of friendship with the birth of Kappa Delta. Their original ideals of friendship, fellowship, and sisterly love have remained constant and strong for more than 100 years, and their sisterhood has today grown into an association of over 200 chartered chapters and over 175,000 initiated sisters nationwide. Their original ideals are reflected in the Kappa Delta open motto, Ta Kala Diokomen, meaning "Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful, and highest."
Omega Chi Chapter History
Elna Johnson, Class of 1919, a member of the Eta Chapter of Kappa Delta at Hunter College in New York City, transferred to Cornell University in the Fall of 1916. She roomed in Sage College on Central Campus (now the Johnson Graduate School of Management) where she interested a group of her friends in forming a local chapter of Kappa Delta. The Omega Chi chapter of Kappa Delta received its charter on May 5, 1917, becoming the 30th chartered chapter of the national sorority. The chapter first rented space in a house on Wait Avenue, since demolished to make room for Balch Hall. Our current residence at 109 Triphammer Road was purchased in 1923, when North Campus was little more than farmland. The house was expanded several times to make room for growing membership. Kappa Delta is proud to be one of three Cornell sororities that still own their original properties.
The KD House
KD Symbols
- Colors: olive green and pearl white
- Jewels: diamond, emerald and pearl
- Flower: white rose
- Mascot: teddy bear
- Symbols: nautilus shell, dagger and katydid
Famous Kappa Deltas
Ellen Albertini Dow (Omega Chi sister!- the "rapping granny" in The Wedding Singer)
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (novelist, Pulitzer Prize winner)
Georgia O'Keefe (painter)
Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar (astronaut)
Nancy Thies Marshall (network telivision broadcaster, Olympic gymnast)
Dr. Cynthia Clark Wedel (social psychologist, author)
Kathleen Babineau Blanco (Lieutenant Governor, state of LA)
Christine O'Grady Gregoire (Attorney General, state of WA)
Trischa Zorn (Paralympic swimmer)
Donna Stone (founder, Prevent Child Abuse America)
Suzy Spafford (artist, creator "Suzy's Zoo")
Janet Marie Smith (architect of Camden Yards and Olympic Stadium ballparks)
Ali Landry (Miss U.S.A. 1996, television personality)
Debra Sue Maffett (Miss America 1983)
Joan Lowery Nixon (author of mystery novels)
Ruth Johnson Colvin (founder, president, Literacy Volunteers of America)
Claudia Kennedy (highest ranking female officer in U.S. Army - three-star general)
Jean Carpenter Carnahan (U.S. Senator)
Patricia Polito Miller (co-owner, president of Vera Bradley Designs)