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|Image= [[File:Psi_Deuteron.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1883|11|24}}
|College= [httphttps://www.cornell.edu/ Cornell University]
|Location= Ithaca, NY
|Homepage= http[https://wwwcornell.kappa.org/ Psi Deuteron Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Psi_Deuteron Media related to Psi Deuteron Chapter]
}}
'''1,125 086 initiates (as of 1969 closure)'''
'''1,552 912 initiates (as of June 20122018)'''
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'''Charter members:'''
Psi Deuteron Chapter celebrated the centennial anniversary of Psi Chapter’s founding at Cornell during the 1983 homecoming weekend. Although the Psi Chapter had been inactive from 1969 until 1977, the Kappa tradition was maintained by the local group, Kappa Psi. This was a special celebration of the 100 years since the 1883 founding of Psi Chapter.
The weekend kicked off with a Friday evening banquet at Cornell’s historical Moakley House with alumna Dale Arrison Grossman as keynote speaker. She was a Cornell professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as well as Psi Chapter’s Finance Adviser. Pamela Hanna Haggin was toastmistress.
Awards and gifts made at the banquet included a women’s crew shell by Germanine Miller Gallagher to the women of the crew team, as a tribute to the ongoing sisterhood and success of Psi Chapter. This was accepted by Psi Deuteron actives and crew members Rhonda Alexis and Susan Reusswig. The presentation of a commemorative scholarship to Cornell University was made by Eloise Moore Netherton, Texas, Director of Philanthropy, and was accepted by Janice Oblack, Assistant Dean of Fraternities and Sororities. The evening ended with special recognition given to Kappas in attendance, such as Jewel Shaw, who was the eldest Psi alumna to travel to Ithaca for the celebration.
In 1988–89 a new house family arrived, Dave, Anna and (three year old) Whitney Brown. The chapter served as the Big Sister sorority for Alpha Omicron Pi, a new sorority on campus. Each of the six schools at Cornell was represented by members of Kappa Kappa Gamma this year. The chapter participated in the Greek-wide clean-up and planted crocus bulbs in front of the women’s dormitory.
==Highlights of the 1990s==
'''Housing:'''
In 1990, a window with the Kappa Kappa Gamma crest was installed in the foyer, designed and constructed by alumna Debra Yelverton. In addition, the living and dining rooms were redecorated with wall paper and curtains and the basement was repainted.
The chapter participated in fall rush for the first time, recruiting five new members to compliment the 26 women pledged in the spring. New house parents, David and Debbie Passey announced the expectation of a new baby, due in April of 1998.
==A New Millennium - Highlights of 2000-2010==
Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:
==Highlights of 2011==
During our Spring semester to Fall semester 2011, we had several events, highlights, sources of pride, and an overall enjoyable year for the members and officers of Psi Deuteron as we continued and enhanced the high quality of Cornell's Kappa Kappa Gamma. It all began after Spring semester rush 2011, where we had several sisterhood bonding activities for the new members to get to know each other and the already active members to get to know them. Later, a conference, "Emerging Leadership Experience," was held by the Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Program specifically for two representatives of each Greek organization where we learned how to be a better leader for our organization. This year the philanthropy chairs organized several events: the 4th annual Kappa Dogs to raise money for the Family Reading Partnership (a local literacy organization); Trick or Treat at Kappa; and reading with kids at the Tompkins County public library. The chapter also participated in philanthropic events held by the community, campus, and other Greek houses to raise money for various charities. These events included Relay for Life, a charity dinner at Alpha Gamma Rho, a charity dinner at Alpha Delta Phi, and Jog for Jill 5K to raise money and awareness for Ingred Nunez against lung cancer. Members participated in the College Town Clean-up and participated in "Into The Streets" where volunteers completed valuable and beneficial community work throughout Tompkins counties. Kappa Kappa Gamma was actively involved in campus Greek life at Cornell University. Additionally, Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in other Greek houses' events: Sigma Chi's Derby Days and Delta Gamma's Anchor Slam. Furthermore, Kappa participated in Greek Week, which is an event designed to raise awareness of the Greek community to freshman as well as to promote a positive image of the Greek community. Also, this year Psi Deuteron put in a lot of effort to unify the chapter and promote a positive image of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Sisterhood bonding events included a coffee tab at libraries, rotational dinners, a senior-sophomore dinner, an alumni event, and Founders Day where local alumni were invited to the house. Also at every chapter, Kappa Kudos were given out to recognize women for various achievements. Women were also recognized for good grades and received "Smart Cookies" for obtaining a 4.0. The girls of Psi Deuteron promoted KKG by wearing Kappa-related clothing for "T-Shirt Tuesdays". Lastly, Kappa Kappa Gamma members had the opportunity to participate in a program, "Reflections," to raise awareness about the dangers of fat talk and the impact it has on women's self-esteem and confidence. '''PhilanthropyCampus:''' Cornell University, one of seven Ivy League institutions, was founded in 1865. Cornell is composed of seven individual colleges, with more than 13,000 undergraduates attending the university. Academic rigor is the hallmark of the University as its commitment to diversity with "Any Person, Any Study" being its creed. Thirty percent of the student population is involved in the Greek community, consisting of 12 Panhellenic organizations, 42 fraternities, and 16 Multicultural Greek Letter Council chapters. Due to these numbers, Cornell University is currently the second largest Greek system in the country. '''Chapter:''' Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to be a strong house within Cornell's Greek community. The Psi chapter was founded at Cornell University on November 24, 1883, and today consists of 111 active members.
Despite the high standing position Kappa Kappa Gamma is, there still are a few chapter challenges that can be improved. During 2011our last council meeting of the semester, we talked amongst our group to figure out a few main goals for the following year. First, we stressed the importance of improving our communication skills by having a group email for our council to achieve convenience for our officers, form clarification for clearer transmission to each member, and a cohesive council voice to all the members during chapter members participated . Next, we would like to concentrate on programming in general such as adding interesting and fun events to get more senior attendance, a better new member period program to allow the College Town Clean-up and participated in ‘Into The Streets’ where Kappas completed community work throughout Tompkins Countynew member group to quickly become as comfortable as possible.
'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''
During 2011-2012, Psi Deuteron members had the opportunity during the year to participate in a program called ‘Reflections’ which raised awareness about the dangers of fat talk and the impact it has on women’s self-esteem and confidence. In the academic year from 2012 to 2013, Katie Solomon-the chapter's past president-received the John S. Dyson Citizenship Award. The award is given annually as a part of the A.D. White Leadership Conference to a student within the Cornell University fraternity and sorority community who has exemplified exceptional leadership within the Greek community, and who has demonstrated a strong commitment to community service, philanthropy, scholarship, and citizenship. In addition, Psi Deuteron chapter also received Most Spirit During Recruitment Award. ==Highlights of 2013== This year, Psi Deuteron made great strides. We had several members of our chapter apply for Kappa scholarships and six of them were awarded aid. In addition, we were awarded the Alpha Province award for Most Spirited Recruitment for our work during recruitment week in January of 2013. We had two of our sisters elected to the Cornell Panhellenic Judicial Board, and three new members served on Cornell Junior Panhellenic Board. Our current president, Corey Matthews, participated in the Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy in October of 2013, honing her leadership and interpersonal skills in preparation for her term. Psi Deuteron took on several new philanthropic projects in support of Reading is Fundamental. These included Cornell’s first ever annual Kappa Kickball in which the chapter invited all members of the Cornell community to participate in a kickball tournament for a fee which benefited RIF; a visit from The Nomad Truck, a boutique on wheels which generously donated 10% of the proceeds from a day of shopping. We have continued to work closely with a local Ithaca elementary school, Caroline Elementary to provide day care services, to read with children and to participate in mentor and peer-to-peer programs. One of our sisters, Erica Baevsky brought her charity work for GoPink, an organization benefiting breast cancer, to Cornell and to Kappa, putting together a gala and awareness seminar, both of which were sponsored by and participated in by Psi Deuteron’s members.
We have been challenged by new changes to the Cornell guidelines for new member education and are working hard to make sure that our chapter abides by both the standards of the University and of the Fraternity. We are also working hard to improve our leadership, working closely with Leadership Consultants and Kappa Trainers in addition to instituting extensive committees. In addition to providing services to the chapter, these committees have also served to educate and train members to take on new positions. As a chapter we have also been working to improve our recognition of exemplary members who contribute to our Cornell, Panhellenic and Kappa communities, instituting several award and incentive programs including the “President’s Key,” in which we recognize members of our chapter council who have gone above and beyond their duties to improve out chapter.
Recently, Cornell has been working very hard to make greek life as safe and positive as possible for all students. This has included a re-working of new member guidelines to include a shorter new member period as well as a dry period that closely resembles the Kappa program, in which new members are asked not to be in the presence of alcohol. This has been an excellent contribution to greek life, making the new member education period a safer and more comfortable experience for all greek chapters at Cornell. We were also very pleased by Cornell’s recent dedication to eliminate hazing on campus. Psi Deuteron has been working very closely with greek advisers to make sure that our commitment to anti-hazing is upheld and that it inspires other chapters to be vigilant about reporting and eliminating hazing. Our chapter is happy to be more integrated with the rest of the greek community, instituting women’s social and educational events, and co-sponsoring philanthropic events.
Psi Deuteron’s greatest strength, however, has always been our genuine relationships with one another and our overwhelmingly strong sisterhood. We firmly believe that, despite whatever challenges we face as a group, our dedication to one another will make us successful. Most members of Psi Deuteron would agree that our Sisterhood Dinners are the best events of our semester, where we invite all members to come out to dinner together at a local restaurant. Having all of our members in one place at one time in an informal setting is a wonderful experience and reflects our deep bond.
During our last Founder’s Day, our school was on break. While we could not all be together, we emphasized the importance of Kappa’s history and the day through messages to the chapter, and in person once we were all together.
==Highlights of 2020:==
Our chapter was able to conduct major events, such as initiation and recruitment, before COVID-19. Nevertheless, the pandemic impacted our chapter’s experience tremendously. Without being able to meet in person, chapters looked a lot different. Women in our chapter took to planning events virtually (we will be conducting virtual recruitment early next semester). While we were virtual, Psi Deuteron was still able to conduct some of our typical events. For instance, we held virtual fundraisers on social media for our philanthropy. Most importantly, the women of our chapter were still connected, even though we were physically separated.
In response to the events of summer 2020, our chapter examined our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. While we took small-scale measures to address issues of equity, such as posting on social media, our chapter wanted to implement more long term, meaningful changes. Through formal and informal conversations, our chapter emphasized the importance of being an inclusive chapter. We even brought the wider Cornell community into our conversations to see what we could do better. While these conversations were difficult to have, they serve as a small step in the right direction. We will continue to have these discussions, and in the coming years, they will mobilize into more direct action. Our chapter is looking forward to trainings and other events that will make us more conscientious members of our community.
While we were apart because of COVID-19, we were still able to reflect on the importance of Kappa’s 150th anniversary. These past few years, the Psi Deuteron chapter has taken the initiative to truly value our traditions. On this anniversary, we all took the time to reflect on the significance of this day and what Kappa means to us.
During the past year our chapter has really focused on getting more organized. We worked on meeting with our advisor, Liz Wong, consistently and even had her come speak to the chapter about how both active members and the chapter council are responsible for the successes of our chapter. We were also lucky enough to have a donation of $500,000 for 10 years. This means that two women in our chapter will be able to receive a scholarship of $25,000 each, annually, in honor of Nancy Nichol McLamore. Because of COVID-19, and Cornell protocol, it was difficult to host philanthropy events, but we were able to participate in some which are detailed in our philanthropy section. Overall, we were able to keep the Psi Deuteron Chapter lively and tight knit, despite the pandemic, and worked hard to make our chapter a more inclusive, welcoming and organized place.
Cornell University supported Reading Is Fundamental during the indicated time frame, and recently switched its philanthropy focus to Mental Health Awareness. During Reading Is Fundamental, Kappa sisters at Cornell visited local elementary schools and read to students. We recognized the importance of literacy and acknowledged that our sisters could encourage young students to read, making our interactions exciting for the students. Additionally, we recognized that we may be viewed as role models to these children and that reading to them may result in motivation to learn and read on their own.