On the morning of Friday, April 19, 2019, 12 collegiate members of Kappa Delta flew from different directions of the country to the sorority’s National Headquarters located in Memphis, Tennessee. By that evening, those same collegiate members had evolved from complete strangers to sisters.

Members pose for a picture at Kappa Delta National Headquarters.

Among them was a college athlete, an international student from South America, a woman who is deaf, a marathon runner, first-generation students and chapter leaders. Each one was specifically selected to share her individual story for the Discover Kappa Delta campaign. These young women, who had not previously met, roomed together in the upstairs suites of the Kappa Delta headquarters. To an outside observer, this might seem like an odd social experiment: asking 12 young women with diverse backgrounds to participate in the project, eat and sleep in the same space. But the differences that separated the women were no match for the commonality they shared: Kappa Delta.

Kappa Delta women chosen to participate in #DiscoverKD.

A few hours after arriving, the women became fast friends, laughing, joking and congregating in one another’s rooms to discuss how their chapters uphold Kappa Delta’s values and build confidence in members. Why was it so easy for these 12 unique women to find similarities despite their differences? Because Kappa Delta extends far beyond a single chapter, university, region or state: it’s a nationwide network of women who strive for what is honorable, beautiful and highest.

“Even though we’re all from different chapters, Kappa Delta was the one thing that brought us together,” says Taylor Shennett, an initiate of the Zeta Omega Chapter at the University of Memphis. “We were all laughing and acting as if we’ve always known each other for the past four years.”

Members enjoyed getting to know each other and sharing their stories.

This image of unconditional support and acceptance is not the picture the media paints of sorority life. Often “sorority girls” in the movies are unkind to each other and have little diversity to distinguish one from the next. It’s true, Hollywood puts its own spin on sorority life, projecting a stereotype that Kappa Delta defies. In fact, the women of Kappa Delta celebrate what makes them unique. We support our sisters, not only on their college campuses, but across the nation. “When we share our stories, we realize that our sisterhood is actually beyond borders,” says Ara Gonzalez, an initiate of Epsilon Rho Chapter at the University of Rochester from Paraguay, South America. “It’s so nice to meet other girls from different chapters and know that we all share certain things in common.”

Nothing beats coffee and confidence.

If you’re considering participating in recruitment at your university, but you’re concerned you might be too “different,” consider the 12 diverse women who became instant friends at Kappa Delta headquarters. The examples of sorority life you see in the media do not accurately depict the women of Kappa Delta.

“Doing this campaign, [I realized] not only are my chapter friends lifelong friends…but I know that these 11 girls I’ve been with all week will truly be lifelong friends,” says Mikayla Asher, a founding member of the reestablished Sigma Zeta Chapter at the University of Michigan. For a sneak peak of real sisterhood, look no further than opens in a new windowDiscover Kappa Delta.

To learn more out our joining our sisterhood, click opens in a new windowhere.