Delta Psi

 

Delta Psi
ΔΨ
Founded	February 27, 1953 (1953-02-27)
College	Texas Tech University
Location	Lubbock, TX
Homepage	Delta Psi Homepage
Media related to Delta Psi Chapter

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Texas Tech (Formerly Texas Technological College), Lubbock, Texas, 1923

Founded March 28, 1953

3,019 initiates (as of June 2018)

Charter Members: Marjorie Ann Smith Asbill, Johneen Bice, Anita Joyce Booher, Margaret Helen Brown, Mary Katherine Brown, Sandra Lou Sadler Haynes, Marie Hlavaty, Betty Lou Hudson, Lynna Lorraine Jenkins, Sybil Ruth Jones Jones, Suzanne Ledbetter, Patricia Ann Sibson Miller, Verbie Bess Oldham, Reta Joyce McIlroy Olsen, Joy Dawn Reil, Patricia Anne Spikes, Adelin Frances Stokes, Juanelle Talbot, Barbarie Cynthia Tankersley, Elizabeth Anne Bentley Worsham.

The Early Years (Excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma: 1870-1976)

In 1923 a bill to establish a college in Lubbock was approved by the senate and house of the State of Texas. Texas Technological College opened September 30, 1925, with 1,043 students, the largest opening enrollment of any college in the nation.

When the college was less than two years old, Mary Doak, the dean of women, realized the need for social organization for women students and selected a group of outstanding girls to be the nucleus of Las Chaparritas, the first social group on campus. The club's aims, then and later, were to unite girls of a common interest, to support campus activities, and to foster happiness among its members as well as all students and groups with whom it came in contact.

When Las Chaparritas became Delta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma on March 27, 1953, it was the first Greek letter social fraternity on the Texas Tech campus, one of five social clubs and eight men's clubs to be installed as Greek letter organizations after the Texas Tech Board of Regents opened the campus to national groups in June, 1952. Others followed, and of the 13 sororities and 14 fraternities installed, none has been disbanded.

In October, 1952, members of Las Chaparrites attended a Kappa rush party at the home of Billie Bob Jones Murphy, Gamma Psi- Maryland; on November 15 a formal petition was submitted to Kappa Kappa Gamma; and on November 23 members, pledges, and alumnae attended a "get acquainted" tea given by nearby Kappa alumnae at the home of Nancy Moore Wilson.

Delta Psi Chapter was installed March 27, 1953, at the Lubbock Women's Club. President Edith Reese Crabtree, Beta Gamma- Wooster, officiated, and Executive Secretary Clara O. Pierce, Beta Nu- Ohio State, was among the national officers who attended. The installing chapter was Gamma Phi, Southern Methodist University, and assisting were active members from Beta Xi, the University of Texas at Austin; Beta Theta, the University of Oklahoma; and Gamma Beta, the University of New Mexico; as well as alumnae from Lubbock, Midland, Amarillo, and San Angelo, Texas.

The following morning 29 initiates and 42 alumnae became the first members of Delta Psi. That afternoon the first pledge service was held. That night the Midland group gave a banquet. A model meeting was conducted on March 28 in the Administration Building and the first officers were installed with Elizabeth Ann Bentley (Worsham) as president. Afterwards the Amarillo alumnae gave a reception for the new chapter.

When Delta Psi was founded there were 348 faculty members, 89 buildings, and 5,418 students including the 49 Kappas. In 1974 there were 1,351 faculty, 201 buildings, and 21,494 students. The chapter numbers more than 130.

Delta Psi has a lodge at 2414-B Broadway and a lease running to September, 1976, with an additional two year option. In 1957 a lot was purchased at 15th Street and Quaker Avenue, an area known as Greek Circle where six sororities had already built lodges. The chapter has plans to build a lodge there as soon as financing becomes available.

Kappas have taken part in campus activities including band, twirling, swimming, drama, cheerleading, intramural sports and Panhellenic; are in beauty courts, class and dormitory councils, Mortar Board, ROTC, academic societies, and President's Hostesses; and are fraternity sweethearts, "best dressed," and top scholars. Off campus they have been representatives to world affairs conferences and political rallies. The Kappa Pickers play and sing for charitable organizations.

Delta Psi has won many Kappa awards: for best progress in 1964; for efficiency in 1966; honorable mention for efficiency in 1968; for efficiency and honorable mention for chapter publications in 1970; for standards and runner-up for service by alumnae to chapter in 1972; and first runner-up for best pledge training program in 1974. The province Lois Lake Shapard Award based on overall chapter excellence was won by the chapter in both 1971 and 1973.

The chapter has progressed with the help of advisors from Delta Psi and other chapters. Each year the pledge quota is reached, and Kappa mothers are often alumnae of the chapter.

Delta Psi is proud of 21 years of chapter history as it looks to the future.

Highlights of the 1970’s

The chapter worked with Lubbocks Habitat for Humanity, an orgnaization dedicated to creating quality housing for the poor. A group from Delta Psi as well as other sororities on campus helped build the shell of a house. That building took place on Greek Circle and was then later moved to the actual construction location to be completed.

Highlights of the 1980’s

The Fall of 1985 started with officer’s workshops and then the chapter pledged 45 new members. The chapter hosted J.J Wales as the speaker for the Founders Day Dinner. They had a chapter goal to improve their scholarship. They did when they were 1st on campus in scholarship. They were very active in philanthropy on campus. They raised $2,000 for the Ronald McDonald House.

1986 was an outstanding year not only with the BEST pledge class at Texas Tech but having very successful philanthropy projects. They also joined the DTD fraternity and painted four houses for families that couldn’t afford to do it themselves. The House Board of the Delta Psi spent over $170,000 on remodeling the living room, dining room, chapter room, bathrooms and kitchen of the Lodge.

At the 1987 PM we were awarded the Lois Lake Shappard award given by the Dallas AA in her memory. We raised over $3,000 for Ronald McDonald House and the Rose McGill Fund.

We pledged 48 new members in 1989 and were awarded the Jane Tourner Curry Award at PM held in Waco. We felt blessed to meet Kay Larson, our Fraternity President, who came to our PM. We worked hard on scholarship and were 2nd in scholarship on campus

Highlights of the 1990s

We won the Gracious Living Award at PM in Houston in 1991. We were involved on campus with many philanthropy projects like Lubbock Children’s Home, Meals on Wheels and Ronald McDonald House Our chapter goal was to improve our philanthropy program. We accomplished our goal and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves too. We also continued our support to a 14-year-old Indian boy name, Shekar Mali by sending him money for food and clothes.

In 1994 we took 32 outstanding new members into our chapter. We continued our scholastic achievement with an overall GPA of 3.1432-2nd on Greek Circle. Our chapter challenge is Kappa’s Are Participating Philanthropically Always. We believe that we met that challenge with the many events in which we participated all over campus.

We presented our 58 new members in 1996 with a family and friend dinner at the Lubbock County Club. We held many Philanthropic events and participated with others on campus. We received the Scholarship Award at Convention as well as Honorable Mention Gracious Living Award.

We are proud of our 53 new members in our 1997 pledge class. We focused much of our energy on winning awards and proud to say we did. We also ranked second among all Greek sororities in scholarship with a 3.1098. Sisterhood is always a top priority and we set a goal of at least 80% attendance at all events and this goal was accomplished.

Our 1998 pledge class of 47 new members won first place at Derby Days. We continued our participation in many projects Children’s Miracle Network, R. McDonald House, Take a Child to the Game and others. Our focus on scholarship helped us to rank second among all Greek sororities with a 3.258. We had wonderful sisterhood dinners, Bible studies, study groups, intramural sports and sisterhood dinners.

In 1999 we are thrilled to have 59 new members who won the Sigma Chi Derby Days. Our philanthropies were successful and benefited the Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Miracle Network. We ranked second again on campus this year with an overall average of 3.122.

Highlights of 2000’s

Celebrated recruiting 46 exceptional women in 2005 who were charged to uphold and continue the proud name of Kappa on our campus. We participated in many of the campus functions.

2006 was an eventful year with outstanding community and campus philanthropic events such as Sigma Nu Skate Night for juvenile diabetes, Ronald McDonald House, Relay for Life and Race for the Cure. This year we have 187 active members. Our Golf Tournament for money for the Children’s Miracle Network was especially important this year because of all the children being treated due to Hurricane Katrina. We raised over $22,000.00. Our members do not stop with involvements on campus, but volunteer for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Volunteer as Sitting Room of Children’s Miracle Network. And although we not the highest grade point on campus we are 3.217 and are striving to always improve.

Our challenge this year was to improve chapter moral, respect and grades. We increased study hall hours at the lodge. To improve the members’ knowledge of alumnae involvement we learned about the Foundation and also ate at homes of the alumnae.

In 2008 we participated in many of the events on campus with other Greeks. We had our own event, Klassic Kappa golf tournament and were able to send $25,00.00 to Children’s Miracle Network. Our recruitment was outstanding and we got 51 new Kappas. We are one of 24 Greek organizations on our campus being the first to be chartered in 1953. Our current grade point average is 3.29 and continually strive to be the best in academics.

2009 was a very successful year with outstanding participation, leadership and sisterhood within the chapter. We set high standards and this year were very proud of our academics. out of the 24 groups we were second highest with 23 of our girls making 4.0’s. We participated in many activities on campus and also in a number of philanthropy events. On Monmouth we each brought 2 books to benefit RIF. Kappa Klassic, our large event for Children’s Miracle Network raise $14,035.11. We also had a TOMS event ordering white TOMS shoes and had a sisterhood event where we painted them. With each pair we purchased, TOMS gave a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Our chapter does not have a house but a lodge since no more than 3 people can live in one house unless they are related. Therefore, our Greek system is a small circular neighborhood made up of only sorority and fraternity lodges called the “Greek Circle”.

Participation has been a big problem. To overcome this challenge, we split the chapter into Kappa Keys and Fleur-de -lis. We switch off groups who have to come to an event to receive philanthropy points. We found it to be very successful.

Highlights of 2011

This year we participated in numerous events from date parties, community service and parents weekend. 2011 was a great year for the Delta Psi Kappas. We had a total of three date parties this year. Our first date party was with Delta Delta Delta the theme was “What used to be cool.” We all dress up as old TV characters that were popular. We also did Monmouth Duo with Pi Beta Phi. It was only two days this year. The first day’s theme was Disco and the second day’s theme was Bells Beaus and Stilettos.

The most recent date party was also with Pi Beta Phi and it was a Honkey Tonk Theme. We all threw on best country clothes and cowboys boots. We also hosted a Mom’s weekend where all of our mom’s came to visit. There was a brunch Saturday Morning where our pickers preformed and a fancy dinner at the Texas Tech Club Saturday night. Also Dad’s weekend was combined with Kappa Klassic, our fund raiser for Children’s Miracle. We also participated in a Greek build for Habitat for Humanity for a family in Lubbock.

This year we also were honored with many awards and won some campus competitions. We were number one is grades in the spring of 2011 and second in grades in the fall of 2011. During homecoming we won the Float design contest and had a homecoming court nominee in the top five candidates. We also were the softball intramural champions, we won free t-shirt from Chrome a small boutique for our new members, as well as a t-shirt design competition for Kappa’s academic excellent t-shirt. The biggest awards we won this year were at Province. The awards we won were Excellence in Community, Leadership, and Scholarship. We are very proud of what we accomplished in 2011 and can’t wait to see what happens 2012.

Campus: This year Texas Tech has had a lot of changes on campus. We officially have a new Business Administration building. With the BA moving Mass Communications will be moving in to the old BA building after the next semester. We also added a new dorm because of the growing student population. The new dorm is going to be called The New Hall on Boston. Also Texas Tech is cutting upper administrative positions that will save the school $500,000 per year.

Chapter: Kappa has been very involved on campus this year. We have multiple members involved in Student Government Association, Student Alumni Board, and Freshmen Council. We also have members involved in Greekwide which is a bible study open to the entire greek community. We are also trying to show Kappa’s present on campus by offering Kappaccinos. This will give us a way to get to know and interact with the community on campus.

The biggest challenge Kappa has faced this year is our grades. In the fall of 2010 we ended up 5th in grade and the chapter as a whole was not happy. We really worked on focusing on study hall hours. Also worked on getting a support system going so older members could help younger members in the classes they had already taken. At the end of the spring of 2011 we got to number one in grades. We are currently number two in grades and we are working hard to get back to that top position.

Highlights of 2012

The Delta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a wonderful and successful year. The Delta Psi chapter attended convention this past summer of 2012 and received several great awards. These awards include Public Relations Award Winner, Honorable Mentions, New Member Programs, Standards, Philanthropy (Reading is Fundamental), Academic Excellence, Gracious Living, Chapter/Advisory Board Relations, and Advisory Board. The chapter, also, attended Texas Tech University’s Panhellenic Greek Awards. There, Delta Psi won Excellence in Community Service, Excellence in Scholarship, Excellence in Leadership, Academic Excellence Award Winner, and Most Outstanding Advisor Award (Presented to LeAnn Grantham—New Member Advisor).

Delta Psi, also, had a great year with philanthropy. On March 31st, 2012, Delta Psi held their annual Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament. This is an event held each year where Kappa dads, students, alumni, and the local community come out and play to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. There were 228 participants this year and raised a total of $21,440. Delta Psi participated in the Kappa Foundation Challenge where 35% of the chapter donated money totaling to 60 members. In September, Delta Psi helped National Travel in hosting National Gymnastics Day. 75 members of the chapter came out to help face paint, play games with kids, and participate in the day’s events. This event raised a total of $120 for the Children’s Miracle Network. In October, many members put a total of 24 hours into helping with the Murfee Autumn Festival. This included working booths, playing with the kids, face painting, cakewalks, etc.

Academics are a very big focus for the Delta Psi chapter. In spring of 2012, the chapter average GPA was a 3.293. The chapter was, also, ranked number 2 out of the 11 Panhellenic sororities for the spring. The chapter had over 20 girls get a 4.0. The academic statistics for fall 2012 were not available in time for the report.

This past year Delta Psi won the Academic Excellence T-shirt contest that was put on by Kappa Headquarters for Academic Excellence month. Also, many sisterhood events were put on such as decorating cards for the troops, a movie night, and renting out the trampoline park at Adrenaline City. Lastly, the chapter participated in a substance-free date party with Kappa Alpha Theta at the Corn Maze put on by Panhellenic.

Texas Tech University has had several changes in the last year. One of the biggest accomplishments Texas Tech had this year was becoming a Tier One school. After several years of hard work this was a very rewarding achievement for the school. Texas Tech University also hired Kliff Kingsbury to be the new head football coach. The school is very excited about this change because Kingsbury previously played for Texas Tech. The Texas Tech University mascot Raider Red recently won the Capital One Mascot Challenge.

The overall nature of the Delta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is one that is welcoming, relaxed, and focused on sisterhood. It really has known to become the home away from home for the members of this chapter. The chapter has a lot of involvement in all the different sisterhood, Panahellenic, and philanthropy events, which make for great memories for the members. The nature of this chapter is very special and hard to replace.

Highlights of 2013

The Delta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was honored to have hosted Province this year on March 1st, 2013. At Province the Delta Psi Chapter received two awards Alumnae Relations Award, and Academic Excellence Award. The chapter also received awards at the Texas Tech University Greek Awards on April 11th, 2013. These awards include Excellence in Community Service, Excellence in Leadership, and Excellence in Scholarship. Delta Psi’s philanthropy also did amazing things this past year.

On April 6, 2013 Delta Psi hosted their annual Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament. This event is held each year on the same weekend as our dad’s weekend. The gold tournament lets Kappa dads, alumni, students, and the community participate in a golf tournament while also raising money for Children Miracle Network. This year we had about 260 participants and about 150 volunteers. This great turn out also brought in an amazing total of $25,500 dollars! Delta Psi also got involved in some great new things one was tours at Children’s Miracle Network, we had over ¼ of the chapter attend a tour. Another was having 75 members to sign up to read at local elementary school. We also donated books to our other philanthropy Reading is Fundamental at Monmouth. Then for the Kappa Foundation we raised over $1,000 dollars.

Academics is a main focus of the Delta Psi Chapter. In spring semester of 2013 Delta Psi was ranked 5th out of 11 on Greek circle. Our chapter GPA average was a 3.30. An amazing statistic is we had 42 members score a 4.0. In Fall 2013 Delta Psi was ranked 5th out of 11 on Greek Circle with 1st having a tie. The chapter average was a 3.22, and we had 30 girls earned a 4.0.

Delta Psi also did some fun events this last year. On April 18-20th, 2013 Kappa had our annual Monmouth Date party. In the fall our chapter attended an alcohol free concert hosted by Panhellenic. We also enjoyed a great alumnae thanksgiving dinner this year catered by Market Street.

Texas Tech started off with excitement with our new head football coach Kliff Kingsbury. Had a great start of the season and even made it to a bowl game with a victory. Sadly Tech saw Chancellor Hance resign from his position. But in that we received a new president of Tech, Duane Nellis. On campus tech began building new residents halls for age 21+. The dorms will be ready by this next fall semester in 2014. Tech’s campus all built a new engineering building.

Highlights of 2014

This past year in the Delta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been one for the books. At the Kappa Convention in June of 2014, the Delta Psi chapter was awarded Excellence in Chapter Management, as well as Honorable Mention in Advisory Board, Ritual, and Standards.

Delta Psi has had an outstanding year in philanthropic events, including both new and old traditions. In the spring, Delta Psi hosted it’s first ever Kappa Krawfish, an event hosting the Greek and local community to an afternoon of Louisiana crawfish, live music, and activities. The proceeds were gifted to our local philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network. Later in the spring, the Delta Psi Kappa’s donated a children’s book for admission into the annual Formal, Monmouth. These books benefited out national philanthropy, Reading is FUNdamental. In the fall, the Delta Psi chapter hosted its 18th Annual Kappa Klassic Gold Tournament. A total of 250 people participated in this event at the Meadowbrook Golf Course, where they golfed, mingled, auctioned, and donated to Children’s Miracle Network. The Delta Psi chapter raised over $31,000 in this event. During one of Delta Psi’s sisterhood events, Kappa sisters came together to draw and write letters of encouragement for hospitalized kids, benefitting Children’s Miracle Network.

Delta Psi has had an outstanding year academically and we hope to improve even more in the next year. Texas Tech University Panhellenic awarding the Delta Psi chapter with the Academic Excellence Award. Delta Psi closed out the Spring 2014 semester with an overall GPA of 3.2, including 65 Kappa sisters achieving and 3.5 GPA or above, and 25 sisters achieving a 4.0. The academic statistics for Fall 2014 are not available at this time, but Delta Psi is aware that our ranking and overall GPA has increased drastically.

Texas Tech University has experienced many changes on campus, including a record-breaking amount of student enrollment and a prestigious achievement for the baseball team. Texas Tech University official reported record enrollment figures for the sixth-straight year as 35,134 students were in fall classes in 2014. The difference of 2,023 students from fall 2013 represented the third-largest increase in a single year since the university opened its doors in 1925. In 2014, the Texas Tech University baseball team attended the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska for the first time in school history. Leading up to the College World Series, Texas Tech hosted the Super Regional series for the first time in school history, and both of the games against the College of Charleston attracted a record of 4,811 fans. Although the Texas Tech Red Raiders didn’t win the College World Series, this event brought more attention to the university.

The Delta Psi chapter holds its chapter meetings in a lodge that is owned by the Delta Psi House Board. The Delta Psi chapter has always had a lodge, due to a law of Lubbock County stating that no more than three females with different last names could occupy the same dwelling. However, the current lodge was not the only lodge on the campus. The current lodge was established in 1976, but previous to that, the lodge was located on Broadway Street.

Highlights of 2015

This past year in the Delta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been busy and filled with change. The Delta Psi chapter was awarded as the “Most Outstanding Panhellenic Chapter” on Texas Tech University’s campus. The chapter held philanthropic events, such as our second annual Kappa Krawfish, an event hosting the Greek and local community to an afternoon filled with Louisiana crawfish, live music, and activities. Through this event, the Delta Psi chapter raised over $5,000 for our local philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network. During the fall semester, the girls of Delta Psi read to the elementary school kids at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School multiple times a week. We also hosted a Reading is Key event at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School in the fall. Delta Psi has had a fantastic year academically and we hope to improve even more in the semesters and years to come. The chapter concluded the Spring 2015 semester as #4 in the Greek community, at a 3.374 chapter GPA, with 39 girls receiving a 4.0 and 179 girls making greater than a 3.0, which is 82% of the chapter. We have moved one up in the ranking since the Fall 2014 semester. The academic statistics for Fall 2014 are not available at this time, but Delta Psi is hopeful that our ranking on Greek Circle and overall GPA has improved.

Texas Tech University has experienced many changes on campus, mainly because the university is growing drastically. For the seventh-straight year, Texas Tech University reported another enrollment record with 35,893 students for the fall semester, a 2.1 percent growth from fall 2014. With the major growth in students, Texas Tech University has to continue to renovate and build new buildings, like the new Bayer Plant Science Building that opened in the fall of 2015. Along with educational buildings, the Greek community is also expanding. The Texas Tech University chapters of Kappa Alpha Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, and our very own Kappa Kappa Gamma are in the process of building new lodges to accommodate the growth of Greek life at Texas Tech University . Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Historically, Delta Psi has raised money for our local philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network at the University Medical Center. We have just recently started to donate hours to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

We started donating hours to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School to expand our community involvement while also supporting and dedicating ourselves to our national philanthropy, Reading is FUNdamental.

Highlights of 2016

This past year the Delta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been busy and filled with change. The Delta Psi chapter was awarded The House Board Award at the annual Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention. The Chapter held philanthropic events, such as our third annual Kappa Krawfish, an event hosting the Greek and local community to an afternoon filled with Louisiana crawfish, live music, and activities. Through this event, the Delta Psi chapter raised over $4,857 for our local philanthropy, Children's Miracle Network. Delta Psi also hosted the annual Kappa Klassic golf tournament raising $28,385 for the local philanthropy. During the fall semester, the girls of Delta Psi read to the elementary school kids at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School multiple times a week. We also hosted a Reading is Key event at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School in the fall. Delta Psi has had a fantastic year academically and we hope to improve even more in the semesters and years to come. The chapter concluded the Spring 2016 semester as #3 in the Greek community, at a 3.442 chapter GPA, with 49 girls receiving a 4.0 and 185 girls making greater than a 3.0, which is 86% of the chapter. We have moved up in the ranking since the Spring 2015 semester. The academic statistics for Fall 2016 are not available at this time, but Delta Psi is hopeful that our ranking on Greek Circle and overall GPA has improved.

Texas Tech University has experienced many changes on campus, mainly because the university is growing dramatically. For the eighth- straight year, Texas Tech University reported another enrollment record with 36,551 students for the fall semester, a 2.1 percent growth from fall 2015. With the major growth in students Texas Tech has to continue to renovate and build new buildings, like the new wing of the Rawls College of Business Administration and the new Honors Hall dorm. Along with educational buildings, the Greek community is also expanding. The Texas Tech University chapters of Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Delta Delta, and our very own Kappa Kappa Gamma are in the process of building a new lodge to accommodate the growth. As well as new lodges Texas Tech University also added a new Sorority, Alpha Xi Delta to our Greek community to accommodate the growing numbers of students involved in Greek life at Texas Tech University.

Historically, Delta Psi has raised money for our local philanthropy, Children's Miracle Network at the University Medical Center. We have donated hours and children's books to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School for the past two years.

We started donating hours to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School to expand our community involvement while also supporting and dedicating ourselves to our national philanthropy, Reading is FUNdamental.

The Delta Psi chapter is currently meeting in the Prosperity Bank convention center while our new lodge is being constructed.

We recommend Carolyn Simpson to be on the Oral History Committee.

Highlights of 2017

The Delta Psi Chapter has been busy and filled with change for the year of 2017 and sadly it is coming to an end. For the spring semester we hosted our annual Kappa Klassic event where we raised a whopping $23,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, our local philanthropy. Unfortunately we did not get to host our annual Kappa Krawfish Broil during the spring semester, however we put on Kappa Kookout during the fall semester to host the community and welcome them into our new lodge and also to raise money again for the Children’s Miracle Network. This event was a huge success for us, friends, family, and other sororities and fraternities joined us to enjoy burgers and each other’s company where we raised $4,859 for C.M.N. That same weekend we also got to host Kappa alumnae, friends, and, family members for the grand opening of our new lodge. This was also a huge success because donors that made our lodge possible got to see exactly what their money went to and we also raised $1,619 for the lodge. During the fall semester, Delta Psi read to the kids of Joan Y. Ervin elementary school multiple times a week. We also hosted our annual Reading is Key event where all the women of Delta Psi read to the kids of Ervin for a few hours after school and were able to interact and play with them. All in all this past year of philanthropic events has been one for the books, 7 hours were donated to campus service projects, 70 hours were donated to community service projects, and 200 books were collected. Our chapter has had yet another amazing academic year. Delta Psi concluded the spring semester as #3 for grades in the Greek community, at a 3.435 GPA, with 52 girls receiving a 4.0. The academic statistics for this past fall are not yet available, but we know our chapter is continually improving in this area. There has been a lot of change on the Texas Tech campus and in the Greek community for the year of 2017. Tech continues to grow every year and for this fall semester they reported that 37,010 students were enrolled, a 1.26% increase from the fall of 2016, where 30,759 are undergraduate students. To accommodate this growth Tech is continually building and renovating things on campus. Greek life is growing dramatically as well. Along with our own sorority building a new lodge Delta Delta Delta is growing closer to their new lodge being done, Alpha Delta Pi just finished their new renovation on their existing lodge, and Alpha Chi Omega just recently announced their plans to build a new lodge to accommodate the growth. There has also been talk and speculation of adding the sorority Phi Mu to Greek life, since Alpha Xi Delta was welcomed onto Greek Circle two years ago, but for now that just remains a rumor. Along with adding new sororities there has also been talk about Greek Circle #3 eventually being added behind the existing Greek Circle 1 and 2 to accommodate the growth that Texas Tech and Greek life are experiencing. Although these are just rumors as of right now and we cannot confirm anything, it is very exciting to hear about and experience all the growth that is coming our way. Our Delta Psi chapter, as stated before, is now officially moved in to our new lodge. This has been a huge change for us because we were previously meeting in Prosperity Bank for chapter and sisterhood events for the past two years. A huge challenge that we were faced with was that our lodge was not ready until the day before recruitment, it was a very hectic summer for us because we weren’t sure that our lodge would be reading to host PNM’s, but everything fell into place and the amazing builders and alumnae of Kappa came together and pulled it off. We are so thankful and grateful that we have this amazing new lodge and can’t wait to make many memories in it. Historically, Delta Psi has raised money for our local philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network at the University Medical Center. We have donated hours and books to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary school for the past three years. We started donating hours to expand our community involvement while also supporting and dedicating ourselves to our national philanthropy , Reading is FUNdamental. We recommend Carolyn Simpson to be on the Oral History Committee.

Highlights of 2018

The year of Two Thousand and Eighteen has brought great joy and growth for the Delta Psi Chapter. Our chapter grew together because of a strong chapter council that was instrumental in the chapter’s overall enthusiasm. We were very successful with all of our events including philanthropy, social and sisterhood. Such events had the incredible attendance by Delta Psi women and members of the community. Philanthropy events are always something our chapter looks forward to most with each new year. Our first event was Kappa Klassic which is the golf tournament that takes place during Dad’s Weekend. The members form teams of friends and family and we all raise money for our local philanthropy Children’s Miracle Network (C.M.N.). This tournament takes place at Texas Tech’s golf course called The Rawls. Next, the philanthropy event we host at the lodge in the fall is Kappa Kookout. This began in 2017 and since it was such a success we decided to host it again. We were overwhelmed at the amount of people that came to support C.M.N. We all enjoyed burgers and music while supporting the local philanthropy. The two events combined raised around $30,000 in total. Throughout the fall semester, the girls of Delta Psi read to the elementary school kids at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School multiple times a week. We also hosted a Reading is Key event at Joan Y. Ervin Elementary School in the fall. Reading to the students at Ervin is a terrific opportunity for our members but also brings so much gladness to the students. The chapter shows great respect for all philanthropies and recognizes it as the most important pillar of our fraternity. The women of the Delta Psi chapter worked endlessly all year to secure our place as #3 in grades during the spring semester. Our average GPA was a 3.4 with 52 members earning a 4.0. We were all very proud of the academic success we had collectively. The fall grades have not yet been determined, but the women of Delta Psi all strive for the best grades and are confident we will achieve these standards again.

Texas Tech University has experienced many changes on campus, mainly because the university is growing dramatically. The university reported 38,209 students enrolled in 2018. The campus offers 150 undergraduate degrees, 100 graduate degrees and 50 doctoral degrees. There have been new additions to campus including a new Honors dorm and renovations to the performing arts center and much more on campus. Along with educational buildings, the Greek community is also changing. The Texas Tech University chapter of Alpha Chi Omega is in the process of building a new lodge to accommodate the growth. The Sorority and Fraternity council recently voted on adding a chapter of Phi Mu to Greek circle. The vote was not in their favor due to a more recent sororities needing time to thrive.

It has been a year and a half since our lodge opened and we have used it to its full potential. Our chapter has enjoyed our sisterhood events, successful recruitment and study time in the lodge. One of the most memorable things we did in the lodge this year was pledge class mixers. The mixers were full of sisterly love and shared happiness. We had a roller skating mixer, Taco Tuesday dinner and picnic on the front lawn. These mixers allowed our members to better their relationships with different pledge classes. The laughs and memories we have made in the lodge will last forever. This is in thanks to the continued support and devotion of our loyally alumni. Historically, Delta Psi has raised money for our local philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network at the University Medical Center. We have donated hours and books to Joan Y. Ervin Elementary school for the past four years. We started donating hours to expand our community involvement while also supporting and dedicating ourselves to our national philanthropy , Reading is FUNdamental.

Highlights of 2019

The Previous Calendar Year was packed with events and items for the chapter to attend. From Mom's and Dad's weekend in the Spring to Recruitment and Initiation in the Fall and everything in between. We are incredibly proud of our members for being involved and striving to make the chapter better. This Fall during Recruitment we welcomed in a wonderful class of new members who go above and beyond to serve the Delta Psi chapter already. They are eager to help and spend more time together than we have seen in the past. They look to include everyone and truly were excited for whatever the chapter council held for them from new member meetings to initiation, everything was something to look forward to. This year in Philanthropy the chapter went above and beyond the goal at Kappa Klassic which is an annual golf tournament we host of Dad's Weekend. This allowed us to give back in larger ways. With every academic year and season there comes challenges; but this year we as a chapter council focused on how to involve middle members. We used committees very well and assigned each person an actual role that they signed off on so they knew they were being held accountable. We also allowed members to help with announcements, setting up for events, and other tasks so that it was a chapter as a whole contributing. This year seemed to make the chapter closer and feel more like a family than before. This year, there were not many major events that happened on campus for us to contribute to. We as a chapter try to help in any way possible. This year two other Panhellenic women were diagnosed with cancer and fundraisers were held for them around campus. As a chapter we took up a donation as well as encouraged chapter members to attend the givebacks held by their respective chapters.

Campus at Texas Tech seems to always be changing and growing. The main changes with Campus are the arrival of new buildings and expansion of the university. The overall nature of the chapter is not changed by the Campus construction but rather people enjoy being at the lodge more often! The Delta Psi chapter may be different than others in that we do not live in the house, but we make up for it and strengthen the chapter in many other ways. We encourage women to spend time together outside of chapter meetings and I feel as this Year the chapter council did a wonderful job of spacing out events so that there was always something to do. From sisterhood, philanthropic, to formals and chapter dinners it seems there was always a way to get involved.

The Delta Psi Chapter supports Children's Miracle Network here in Lubbock and has for years. We are absolutely passionate about making a difference in the community and love giving back in as many ways as possible. Through Reading is Fundamental we have chosen a local elementary school called Ervin to give back to and support. Every week women from the chapter get to sit and read with kids and help make their day just that much brighter.Our Philanthropy chair even created her own website to help run the Kappa Klassic fundraising and this truly helped make the process easier, more time efficient, and excelled the amount of attention and support it brought in for the event. Children's Miracle network has allowed us the opportunity to give back locally and see the impact first hand in the hospital through tours of the NICU. Ervin elementary was chosen as it is a lower income school but through serving these kids we have gotten to see first hand the potential that each and every one of these kids have. They may not be provided all the resources but truly do use what they have to excel and be great. They come in so overjoyed to see us and are extremely grateful for the gift of time and books. The chapter celebrated Founders day with an Annual dinner that was held at the McKenzie Merket Alumni Center on campus here at Texas Tech. It was a formal sit down dinner with a notable Guest Speaker. The Mayor of Amarillo came to speak to our chapter and truly encouraged them to chase their dreams, believe it themselves, and not let the fact that you are a woman stop you from what you want in life. Academic awards were presented at this banquet as well as recognizing the President for all she has done to selflessly serve the chapter. We closed the banquet by holding a Memorial lead by all Alumna for the Kappas lost over the year.

We have begun to show pictures from the beginning of the Delta Psi chapter here in Lubbock, Texas but also the beginning of Kappa. The 150th anniversary is an incredible year to celebrate. We are celebrating 150 years of women who have helped shape the world and Kappa to be a foundational organization that impacts the lives of college women to be the best they absolutely can be. We shared a small tad bit during Founders Day about the 150th anniversary and will continue to recognize the incredible monuments that have happen in the past, this upcoming year.

Highlights of 2020

Our calendar year was very much affected by COVID-19, we did not have any philanthropy events or social events since the mid spring when COVID first hit. We have been doing meeting virtually, and encouraging women especially our New Members to reach out to each other to get to know one another. Our recruitment was also held virtually, and any other chapter business was virtual. Our chapter advisor was awarded advisor of the year among Greek life.

Chapter Philanthropy

We support Reading is Fundamental, and Children's Miracle Network. We chose this because it allows us to connect locally to the underprivileged schools that surround Texas Tech University. This gives us a great opportunity to give back to the city and impact those that possibly could end up at Texas Tech.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We implemented a DEI officer this year, and also provided many resources that girls could use to educate themselves, and train.

Sesquicentennial Celebration

We were able to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary with a virtual Founders Day. We are able to set up meals for each girl in a drive through at the lodge to still give them the free meal they would've received if we were in person.

Highlights of 2021

Chapter Summary The Delta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a year of fantastic memories that will last forever. Beginning in January of 2021, we were still adjusting to accommodate the crazy that was COVID-19. As guidelines were slowly being lifted, we took every chance to get the members of our chapter together. On February 12th, Kappa held a Valentine’s day themed date party called Kappa Krush. The event was covered in hearts, pink, red, and was a hit. Throughout the semester, we were able to hold socially-distanced chapter meetings, committee meetings at the homes of chapter council members, and were able to see each other’s faces more often. The spring consisted of some of our favorite events like mom’s weekend, dad’s weekend, Monmouth, and Kappa Klassic. This year, at Kappa Klassic our members raised over $29,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The members of our chapter dispersed around the world for the summer. We had members studying from Seville, Spain all the way to California here in the USA. As we gathered back in Lubbock for recruitment we were nothing but excited for the what the semester could hold. We had a work week of festivities including a plethora of food trucks, song practices, a dodge ball tournament, and even two inflatable water slides. We had an exciting recruitment week as we closed it off by bringing 73 eager new members home on bid day. The members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were on “Kloud Nine” welcoming the new members into our chapter. We got the semester kicked off the right way with the first chapter meeting. The beginning of the semester was full of educational meetings for the new members as they learned about the new member experience and what it would take to be an official member of KKG. In October, we held our annual Kappa Kookout to raise money for our local philanthropy, The Jed Foundation. We ate burgers, had a fun bouncy house, and enjoyed the event with friends and family from all around. Additionally, we held a semi-formal event at the local Spirit Ranch venue where members of our chapter dressed up in country attire and enjoyed dinner and dancing. During the inspiration week period, our active members celebrated the welcoming of our new members as they got closer to being initiated. We had a week of reflecting on why we are all Kappa’s and the importance of our traditions. Our new members were officially initiated on October 16th, in the presence of actives and alumni. As the semester ended, the new chapter council was slated and elected. The members of delta psi had an eventful 2021 of juggling a pandemic and constantly changing the way things had to be done, nonetheless we made the most of it. As we enter a new stage of life, we know that no matter what the circumstances Kappa is a place that will remain constant.

Chapter Philanthropy Kappa Kappa Gamma had a transitioning of philanthropies in the year of 2021. In the fall semester, Delta Psi voted to support The Jed Foundation as our philanthropy in support of mental health. 2020 and 2021 were difficult years for everyone around the world, and we as members of Kappa Kappa Gamma found that supporting mental health was a necessity.

The Delta Psi chapter supported the philanthropies of Kappa Kappa Gamma through two main events, Kappa Klassic and Kappa Kookout. Our Kappa Klassic golf tournament was immensely successful as we raised over $29,000. Additionally, we were able to raise money at our Kappa Kookout event where a local catering service supplies us with burgers and treats and we enjoy an afternoon while raising money.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Delta Psi chapter implemented a DEI officer in the year of 2021. This officer was in charge of regulating all diversity and inclusion education as necessary. The chapter was educated through PowerPoints and trainings during chapter meetings. As well, we implemented an awareness campaign on our social media.

Operating in a Pandemic At the beginning of 2021, the city of Lubbock was still strictly regulating social gatherings. We were able to hold socially-distanced chapter meetings. As well, our events such as Kappa Krush were held in shifts and masks were required. During recruitment we were able to return back to normal life as we remained for the rest of the fall semester. Our members were grateful for any opportunity we were given to gather as a chapter.