Zeta Gamma Chapter of Kappa Delta Sorority Celebrates 25 Years On Campus

The Zeta Gamma Chapter of Kappa Delta Sorority will celebrate its 25th anniversary through various events beginning Friday, Oct. 10, and continue to Saturday, Oct. 11.

“This is a time to show how far the organization has come in the last 25 years,” said Rhonda Jones Rouse, a charter member who is on the twenty-five year anniversary committee. “Today the chapter is more than 400 members strong which makes us the largest Kappa Delta chapter in the country. That, to me, is quite an accomplishment and has taken every single member to make it happen over the years.”

Friday, the Kappa Delta will provide house tours from noon to 5 p.m., and will celebrate at Sassafras Springs Vineyard from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. This will be followed by a tailgate from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Kappa Delta House Saturday.

John White, former University of Arkansas chancellor, will be the guest of honor, and Corre Stegall, who was the national president of Kappa Delta in the 1980s, will be the national Kappa Delta guest of honor.

The effort to bring the Kappa Delta chapter to the University of Arkansas was spearheaded by Corre Stegall in 1989.

“Having grown up in Louisiana and also having lived in Texas for awhile, I know well the prestige and great Greek atmosphere at Arkansas, and I always felt Kappa Delta would be successful there,” Stegall said.  “In the last months of my tenure as National President, we received the invitation to colonize at Arkansas — a great cause for celebration for our national organization and for the alumnae in the state of Arkansas —they, too, had long hoped for a chapter at the University of Arkansas.”

Stegall was heavily involved in the colonization and in the activities surrounding the chapter’s new home.  Stegall now serves as a member of Kappa Delta’s delegation to the National Panhellenic Conference and as President of the Kappa Delta Private Foundation.

The growth of Kappa Delta at the U of A exemplifies one of White’s goals, when he was the chancellor at the U of A, which was to create a Greek system that would be a model for the nation.  He has been pleased with the success of Zeta Gamma Chapter where his granddaughter is a member and his wife is a Kappa Delta alumna and active in the alumnae association.

“One of the highlights of our time at the U of A was when my wife participated in the initiation ceremony of our granddaughter [into Kappa Delta],” he said.  “We have been most impressed with the growth and development of our granddaughter, as well as the qualities exhibited by her sorority sisters.”

Thousands of other students at the U of A have benefitted from Kappa Delta throughout the last twenty-five years.

“Kappa Delta has given me the opportunity to become the woman and leader I am today,” said Taylor Dunn, current chapter member and Kappa Delta’s vice president of public relations.”  Kappa Delta has made me raise my standards in all aspects of my life including academically, socially and morally.”