Chapter Housing
The Kappa Delta Chapter House - Your “Home Away from Home”
Shared living accommodations and group living are among the cornerstones of the collegiate experience. Whether it be dedicated residential halls or the traditional sorority houses, Kappa Delta provides its members with a safe, secure and collegial environment in which to learn and grow.
Why Live in the Kappa Delta Chapter House?
1. Its fun! Just think of all the friends close by.
2. It’s safe! Nearly half of all Kappa Delta
facilities have fire sprinklers and all have smoke detectors. We have a
“no open flame policy” and “no smoking policy”—two of the leading
causes of residential fires.
3. It’s convenient! Most Kappa Delta facilities are
on campus or a short walk to campus. You can come home from class, eat
lunch and go back to class.
4. It’s fun! Just think of all the things to share.
5. It’s secure! All facilities are locked 24/7 and many have security systems.
6. It’s clean! Most Kappa Delta facilities have a full time cleaning staff to clean the common areas.
7. It’s fun! You’ll find friendship and sisterhood everywhere.
8. It’s nutritious! Most Kappa Delta facilities
have a full-time professional cooking staff to prepare all your meals.
That means no grocery shopping!
9. It’s legal! No drugs, firearms or alcohol, anytime, anywhere, period.
10. It’s fun! There is always someone to talk to or hang out with.
11. It’s smart! Dedicated study areas, study
groups, sharing class notes, internet wiring, computer availability,
quiet hours—all contribute to a positive environment in which to study.
12. It’s affordable! Sorority housing is often less
expensive than dorm living and even less expensive than off-campus
living when you consider utilities, gas, furniture, pots and pans,
groceries, parking fees.
13. It’s fun! You’ll make memories to last a
lifetime. Your fondest memories of Kappa Delta will occur in the
chapter house…you don’t want to miss out!
What People Are Saying About Chapter Housing
When my daughter moved into the
Kappa Delta house, I knew she would have good hot meals, a clean and
safe environment, and most of all be surrounded by people who care
about her. As a parent, that is a great feeling when your daughter is
away at college. If she can’t be living with me, I am glad she is
living with Kappa Deltas!
Janice Birsinger, mother of Julie
Epsilon Iota-Missouri
I was hesitant to live in the Kappa Delta house as a senior, but,
looking back, it was a great decision. I will never again have the
opportunity to live with 30 of my closest friends. They were my family
away from home.
Jennifer Hitt
Delta Omega-Mississippi State
The sorority living experience is not only a wonderful
opportunity for fun and community, it is likely the safest living
environment available on campus. Kappa Delta is constantly researching
new ways to make their facilities safer. The policies and the chapter’s
ability to enforce those policies create a living environment that
would reassure any parents concerned about their daughter’s well-being.
Sara Sterley, Director of Communications/Account Manager
MJ Insurance, Inc.
There's always someone to talk to... I love it because it feels like home, and I get to live with all my sisters!
Kendall Sweeney
Alpha Kappa-Oregon State
A Kappa Delta house is much more than a dormitory. As house
corporation president, my role is to make sure collegians have a safe,
comfortable, and attractive place to call home. Having lived in the KD
house during my college years, I take pride in ensuring that the house
exceeds the expectations of its residents, year after year.
Lisa Durrenberger, house corporation president
Phi Epsilon-Colorado State
What a privilege and joy to be a Kappa Delta housemother! This is
not a job; it is a life with extremely wonderful rewards of working
with young people who are striving for excellence in their studies,
personal growth, and daily activities. The benefits also include
working with a board of true aestheticians and professional
businesswomen who are devoted to this house. They set the standards of
excellence for the house, themselves and the young KD women.
Kitty Raney, retired house director
Alpha Mu-Mississippi
Fun Facts About Campus Housing
1. Kappa Delta chapter housing aggregates in excess of 750,000 square feet of living space, nearly the size of two Astrodomes.
2. The largest KD house is at Indiana University and is in excess of 24,000 square feet.
3. Houses can sleep anywhere from 8 members to 92 members.
4. Some house corporations pay close to $50,000 in real property taxes.
5. Some house corporations have house staffs of 8-10 people, full and part time.
(reprinted from Ordinary Miracles from the 1919 convention, a keynote speech given by a collegian from Theta Sigma chapter at the University of Southern California)
Perhaps the most evident advantage is that of the discipline in
social and business affairs which is gained through the active
participation in the maintenance of a chapter house. No girl who has
taken part in the apportionment of a state chapter income for rent,
food, heat, light and entertainment or who has been entrusted with the
collection of chapter dues, can ever be so innocent of business methods
as the young bride who endorsed her first check, "Lovingly yours, Mary
Elizabeth Brown."Never can you know a girl thoroughly until you
have seen her with her face dabbed with cold cream, her hair skinned
back and done up in curl papers.........If you acquaintance can bear
such close scrutiny as that, you may be sure it is a friendship based
upon the firm foundation of personal worth and not upon the shifting
sands of mere outward appearance. It is only within the walls of a
chapter house that such close personal contact is possible. The informality of chapter house life affords many
opportunities for mutual helpfulness. In its homelike atmosphere it is
easy to tell one of your younger sisters how much better she would look
if she wore her skirts a bit longer, and to listen patiently to a
budding English teacher when she asks you not to say, "It's me!" or
when it is a case of a more serious nature, to draw several of the
girls down on the lounge beside you and talk it all over in a quiet,
natural manner without offending anyone. Then, too, not only are the member drawn closer together under
the chapter house roof, but the alumnae retain their interest in the
chapter.
In Baird's Manual of Greek Letter Societies, we find the
following statement: "It is a fact common in human experience that
people are more deeply interested in things upon which they have spent
time, effort or money, than in the things which they have acquired
without either, and the alumni have never been so fully aroused and
maintained by any feature of fraternity life as by the efforts which
have been made to build chapter lodges and houses. The creation of
building funds, the frequent consultations as to plans and the
consideration of ways and means have intensified the interest of alumni
in a way that nothing else has done. all this has resulted in direct
benefit to the colleges, and the wiser among college officials are
encouraging the development of this feature of fraternity life in every
way possible."
.....The chapter house cannot be called a luxury when its
existence is justified by such results; nor can it be called a
necessity either, for its is entirely possible for a chapter to
flourish without one. However, when so much more can be accomplished
with one than without, a chapter house becomes such a valuable adjunct
that it is almost a necessity......................