Kappa Quill Fall 2022

Mission Statement

purpose of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority, Inc. shall be to promote academic achievement, to encourage community involvement through philanthropy, and to cultivate the everlasting bonds of sisterhood. We shall fortify the values of leadership,

charity, and integrity within our sisters through guidance at both the chapter and national level.

Letters from the Executive Directors

Dear Sisters,

I hope this letter finds you well, it’s hard to believe another fall semester is upon us once again. The fall season has always been my favorite. Between the fall activities, cooler weather, my birthday, and the fall holidays, fall just brings me joy (usually).

A year ago I had been struggling to find the joy in things, whether it was a coffee out, my favorite chocolate, or cozying up with a book. I was just going through the motions. It wasn’t something I picked up on right away, my friends and family probably noticed before I did that I was not happy. Once I realized that I wasn’t happy it took me longer to realize why I was; in hindsight it was way more obvious. I was working 50 hours a week in a customer service job, taking graduate classes, trying to oversee and run the sorority, and balance my personal life. Everyone wanted a piece of my attention and my time; in order to pass my classes and keep the sorority running I was up until late working on both and then I was exhausted for work the next day, which consisted of solving problems for people all day. I was stretching myself so thin that I was making myself miserable

It wasn’t until about late January that I was able to figure out what the issue was and asked for help. Recognizing and admitting that you need help in any aspect of your life can be very scary and leave you feeling vulnerable; to be honest, a big part of me did feel like a failure for not being able to do everything for everyone in my life. In truth, asking for help and knowing your limits is a sign of strength, not of weakness; I wish I would have realized that sooner. The position of Executive Director is a full time job, so trying to manage it with my professional career, school, and personal life was too much to juggle.When I finally opened up and expressed to the board how I was feeling burnt out and not able to keep up, no one judged me or called me a failure. No, instead they expressed concern for how I was feeling and how they could best fix what was causing me to feel that way. Ultimately we decided that we would return to a Co-Executive Director model, essentially splitting the position in half going forward.

In June, the board welcomed Courtney Stevens into the role of Co-Executive Director alongside me. Working alongside my best friend in this leadership role has reinvigorated my Kappa spirit. Now, between the two of us we are able to give the position the time it deserves. It has been a dream come true working alongside someone who not only inspires me but also isn’t afraid to challenge me to think in new ways or remind me from time to time that I need to rebalance my priorities. I’m truly excited for what will come next for our organization.

In Kappa, Amanda Roberge Co-Executive Director

Dearest Sisters,

My name is Courtney Stevens and this year I will be serving as CoExecutive Director of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority, alongside Amanda Roberge. I am an alumna of the Kappa Upsilon chapter at UMass Lowell. I joined Kappa in the Fall of 2013. I had always wanted to be in a sorority, but I never really knew what a huge impact it would have on me as a person and really on my life in general. I met Kappa Upsilon at Club Fair freshman year and I came to my first rush event on a complete whim, alone. I didn't join with my friends or my roommates, I made the decision purely because I loved the sisters and it was something that I truly wanted to be a part of.

During my years as an active member of Kappa Upsilon, I held a variety of positions and created 2 new positions for our chapter. I also re-founded the Kappa Upsilon Alumni Chapter and helped strengthen our relationships with older sisters from our chapter. Getting to meet the members who came before me was one of the reasons why I decided to join the National Board. Many of our alumni shared their experiences serving on the Board and I couldn’t help but feel that I had more to give Kappa.

I joined the National Board in the spring of 2018. I have sat on many different committees, but my passion was serving our chapters. I enjoyed being a chapter consultant because I got to spend time connecting with my sisters. I loved being able to support them as they worked together to overcome difficult challenges, to watch them grow into incredible leaders, and to celebrate their accomplishments, no matter how big or small they may be.

It has long been a goal of mine to become the Executive Director of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority, but I certainly did not see it coming in the same season that I started graduate school and held my first fulltime job in the social work field. I planned to wait until I was done with my graduate program and more solidly established in my career but the universe had other plans. When Amanda expressed that she wanted additional support in her role, my instinct was to step up and serve as the Executive Director alongside someone who I deeply respect and have the privilege of calling my sister and best friend. She has been an incredible support in teaching me the ropes and reminding me that I am capable of doing whatever I set my mind to. I cannot wait to see what we are able to accomplish together.

As Executive Director I hope to strengthen our bonds of sisterhood, to help us hold our traditions close to our hearts, to make sure that our members’ voices are heard, and to make sure that at the end of the day you all know that you can turn to your sisters whenever you need support. May The Spirit Never Die.

In Kappa, Courtney Stevens Co-Executive Director

Letter from the President

Good day to all!

I hope you are all adjusting to the new school year! For those of you who don’t know me, I am very excited to be the new President of our organization! I have been on the board for five years while serving on many committees and most recently being the National Secretary. This has been a great change for me, and I am looking forward to the rest of this year.

While thinking about the past few years, I truly have enjoyed the moments that have brought us together in person. While Zoom was a necessity, it has been a barrier to what makes a sorority so special: connections. As I talked a little bit at Summer Leadership Retreat, it is one of my favorite events we host because it gives you the opportunity to connect with other chapters. You spend your time realizing now that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves and our chapters.

Now that you are back in your chapters, you are spending your time making connections with new people in hopes of finding people that you can call sisters. Take your time making these connections and finding people that truly represent the values of this organization. This may take time, but it is important to remember the connections you have do not stop after four years but are for life.

It is important that you remember not only the connections around you but the connections far from you. Reach out to Alumni, Chapter Consultants, and other chapters to help you continue building the connections you need to be successful this year. We cannot wait to see all that you can do and hope that you can look to others to strengthen your chapters for the rest of the year.

In Kappa,

Marysa Mitrano National President

2022RecapMeetings

Convention Recap

By Robyn Sarette, National Treasurer

Convention 2022 marked 1,098 days since our last in-person event. A very long 1,098 days for everyone in so many ways, not just Kappa-related. For so many, it was their first Convention, including our active membership, alumni, and board members. A lot of sisters did not know what to expect, but it all was a pleasant surprise.

The morning started with the return of the Chapter displays where Chapters showcase their uniqueness, philanthropic work, and school pride. While all of the Chapters do an outstanding job, the top three are given awards. Everyone looks forward to not only creating their displays but seeing and interacting with our fellow sisters’ displays.

The board meeting highlighted several things but kicked off with the announcement of the upcoming change in leadership.

During the President’s and Treasurer’s opening statements, we learned that Amanda Antaki (KX), our President at the time, and Alex Nestro (KX), our Treasurer at the time, were stepping down from their roles and from the National Board. Although they ran for a two-year term, both had made the difficult decision to resign due to personal reasons. Because their term had not yet ended, it meant the remaining voting board members would have to appoint replacements for their remaining terms.

In addition to their departure, voting board members Victoria Hogan (KAA), Marysa Mitrano (KY), Robyn Sarette (ΚΣ), and Courtney Stevens (KY) were not re-running for their positions. This left the door open for four new voting board members. We heard speeches from Rebecca Fransman (KI), Jayley Handley (KL), Andrea McKevitt (ΚΣ), and Nicole Randsen (KY). All of the candidates were voted in for their term to start at the Spring Board meeting. Also at the Spring Board meeting, Marysa Mitrano and Robyn Sarette were appointed to the openings left by Amanda Antaki and Alex Nestro. During that meeting, Voting Board Member, Christina Rose (ΚΑΓ), stepped down to participate as an associate board member, and Lily Gibbons (KAO) was voted in as her replacement.

Next, the Certificates of Merit were awarded to five sisters who were nominated by their Chapter. The award is given to a sister who goes above and beyond her call of duty. It is a way to show positive reinforcement within the chapter and National Sorority. The winners were Julianna Joseph-Whyte (KAO), Madeline McCambridge (KAN), Hannah Patrignani (KY), Alyson Ratcliffe (KAXi), and Alyssa Renaud (KO).

The presentation of Gifts of Love is one that is near and dear to our hearts. At Summer

Leadership Retreat, each chapter is assigned a different chapter to present a gift of love to at Convention. This year we saw sisterhood bonding activities, paddles, decor, and Kappa swag all dedicated to a chapter. This reminds us that we are more than our chapter, we are an organization built on sisterhood.

And last but certainly not least, Kappa Alpha Omicron chapter was presented with their charter and flag. While they officially became a chapter during the pandemic and had their announcement made over zoom, it was important that they were recognized in front of the entire organization. There were several happy tears, hugs, and congratulations to go around. We are all so proud of the work they put in to be where they are today. Congrats again, sisters!

The afternoon offered four breakout sessions for active sisters to choose to attend. The first option was to learn about the AFSP straight from our representative. Sisters discussed ways to raise awareness, fundraise, and spread resources for those in need. The next option was the alumni panel so sisters could learn about life after Kappa. Kappa leadership explained how to continue your Kappa journey with the national board or join your local or national alumni association. Another option was mindful leadership where a presentation was given on how to communicate effectively and respectfully. Lastly, members could join the strategic planning session to learn how to plan for success. This group talked about how to plan for the future and set realistic goals.

To kick off the awards ceremonies, brothers and sisters came together in our formal attire to present the ΚΔΦ and ΚΔΦ NAS Black & Gold Awards Gala. It started with dinner and drinks and ended with our highest honors being presented to both the active membership and national board. We presented our check to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for $21,000 and celebrated a renewed partnership with them. The night wrapped up with the ΚΔΦ and ΚΔΦ NAS Black & Gold Dance.

Drum Roll Please...AWARDS

By Lauren Porter, Associate Board Member

An exciting part of Convention is the opportunity to publicly acknowledge and uplift the amazing work being done by actives, chapters, and board members. One of the ways we do this is through our annual awards. It’s always difficult to select just one winner as our organization is overflowing with accomplishments, commitments, and service to the sorority and our communities. We recognize all our chapters and members who live out kindness, devotion, and pride every day.

The Yellow Rose Award is presented to the chapter president that has gone above and beyond for their chapter providing leadership and accomplishing national and chapter goals. Lauren Marble, KAN, is honored with this award for 2022 as her chapter recognized her ability to “constantly manage multiple aspects of the organization without hesitation” while being actively involved in the campus community. They “admire her hard work and commitment, and she has truly inspired [them] to become better individuals and sisters.”

The Angela K. Jacobs Scholarship is given to a sister who is able to maintain a strong GPA while going above and beyond the call of duty as an active. Cheyenne Mark, KAN, is the recipient of this award. Her chapter describes her as a “selfless and empowering woman who embodies all of the ideals of Kappa” and was quick to fill in vacant positions, raise awareness and fundraise for the national philanthropy, and promote the chapter and its mission in the community.

The Victoria E. DeMambro Leadership Award is

presented to a sister who is actively involved in her chapter and holds an executive board position, as well as involvement in other campus organizations. Kappa Lambda recognizes Courtney Wasson for her crucial role in their chapter and highlights her “great time management, leadership skills, and communication.” She is readily available to listen and support others and is what her chapter “defines as a true leader.”

The President’s Cup, awarded by the National Board to the chapter that best reflects the ideals of Kappa, Delta, and Phi in all chapter representations since the last National Convention, was presented to Kappa Sigma.

The Excellence in Social Media Presence Award is given to a chapter with a prominent social media presence that promotes our philanthropy, chapter individuality, and the importance of sisterhood bonding in a tasteful manner. The 2022 award was presented to Kappa Alpha Gamma. Follow their Instagram at @ kdphinas_newpaltz and TikTok @kdphinasnewpaltz

The Outstanding Chapter Award is presented to the chapter that has collectively worked hard to achieve goals and meet expectations in recruitment, finances, and/or philanthropy. Kappa Sigma was recognized by the National Board as being hard-working and goaloriented moving from four members to 14 by the end of the year. They continued to support our national

philanthropy, set recruitment goals, and maintained the financial health of the chapter.

The Display Award is presented to the Chapter with the most outstanding display at the Convention based on creativity, originality, traditionalism, sisterhood, philanthropy, brotherhood, and awareness. Congratulations to Kappa Upsilon for first place!

The Golden Opportunity Award is presented to a chapter that has overcome difficulties and remained steadfast. Kappa Sigma is recognized for their hard work attending university events, hosting their own events, and increasing their social media presence with record-low membership at the start of the year. They improved their relationship with the university, used the tools available to them, and never gave up.

The Elizabeth Jason National Philanthropy Award is awarded to the chapter with the highest financial contribution to the National Philanthropy. Kappa Sigma set a national record with over $10,000 raised for the AFSP!

Chapter Consultant of the Year is presented to the Chapter Consultant that has gone above and beyond the call of duty for her chapter. Robyn Sarette is recognized for her service to the Kappa Sigma chapter.

Associate Board Member of the Year is presented to an associate board member that demonstrates actions that go above and beyond her call of duty through her work on the board. Nicole Ransden is recognized for her continued service on the board.

Summer Leadership Retreat

By Andrea McKevitt, Vice President of Membership

In the Spring of 2020, the unthinkable happened. The world shut down. Kappa Delta Phi NAS was forced to go virtual for two years in response to this new world. Welp, that era ended this summer with SLR 2022! We welcomed our Sisters back with OPEN ARMS! In the summer of 2022, SLR was held at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Alongside the board, our chapters were able to engage in thought-provoking conversation, and most of all team building activities. Being back in person meant going back to basics and how to manage your chapters. During our business meeting, a discussion about raising dues was held, and our budget for the 2022-2023 year was approved. In other big news, we approved a continued partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This is a huge step, and we think it’s the right fit for both organizations. During our time together, we worked hard on planning for the future. We are hoping that SLR 2023 will bring even more exciting news and information to you all. Hope to see you there!

Pie-a-Board-Member

By Amanda Roberge, Co-Executive Director

The return to an in-person Summer Leadership Retreat meant a return of the Board of Directors’ most successful fundraiser, Pie-a-Board-Member. Every year, the board commits to raising $2000 for our National Philanthropy. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is an organization that is near and dear to my heart so the fact we were able to hit the ground running and blow away our initial goal brings me so much joy.

Organizing a large-scale fundraiser takes a lot of behind-the-scenes action to pull it off! The first step was to make sure that we had enough volunteers to put their faces on the line and were willing to get pied if they “won,” which meant they had the most donations. Once we had our slate of board members willing to take one for the team, the next step was to prepare our social media for advertising the event! Direct donor campaigns rely heavily on word of mouth and asking folks directly to donate to your cause, so we worked closely with our social media team to make sure we had shareable posts! A big boost for my personal fundraising efforts was getting matching donations from both my work and mom’s work. (AFSP makes it easy to see if your workplace offers a match with their search tool!) It also helped that a lot of my friends and family were very excited for videos of me being pied (cough cough Jenn Shipp Jackson)!

The last step of setting up the fundraiser before the actual event was to pick up the supplies. I had picked up the pie tins earlier in the week, but I didn’t pick up the whipped cream until our ride down to Summer Leadership Retreat. In all honesty, it was probably the most fun I had in Walmart in a very long time: shopping with Rebecca and Jayley carrying 10 cans of whipped cream to the registers. We were on the tail end of some very funny looks. I don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. Saturday night of Summer Leadership was the big event! We had seven of our board members get pied in the face with four of us taking multiple pies.

The main point of the fundraiser is to support our National Philanthropy, but that is only part of why we participate in willingly getting whipped cream smashed into our faces. The other reason? Sisterhood! As board members, we don’t always get to see each other and enjoy each other’s company as much as we would like as many of us live in different states. It also helps us build connections with our chapter leadership. We get to let our hair down and be silly with you all and not have to worry about the day-to-day operations for a little bit. By doing Pie-a-Board-Member, we are supporting a great cause and making memories for everyone involved, so let’s keep those pies coming!

Our original goal was $1250. We quickly surpassed that, so we pushed ourselves to reach $2500. In the end, we brought in $3146: 250% of our original goal! By asking friends and family, posting on social media, and seeking out matching workplace donations, we were able to raise more than we thought possible! By my side participating in this fundraiser were Courtney and Andrea (the second and third top fundraisers!), Rebecca, Robyn, Marysa, Lilia, Jayley, Hayley, Lauren, and Nicole H. Thank you to all our participants and donors, and until next year!

Committee Updates 2022-2023

Meetings

So far the meetings team has had a great start to the year! We are currently trying to get locations selected for Summer Leadership Retreat and preparing for our Fall Board meeting! We are excited to have a full year of hosting in-person events and celebrating the joy of connecting with each other again. The hope is to continue to work on creating an inclusive committee and allowing all members to be involved.

Chairs: Marysa Mitrano, Nicole Ransden

Committee Members: Robyn Sarette, Nicole Hallahan

Merchandise

The Merchandise Committee was hard at work this summer. We were able to open up our pop-up store after the spring semester ended and were thrilled to get some Kappa swag out to many of you. This fall, we have been working on a more permanent online store solution so that hopefully in the future you will be able to order gear on demand! In the meantime, we plan to open up the pop-up store again soon so that you’ll be able to get some shopping done for the holidays. As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any ideas or suggestions for any future merch you’d like to see!

Chairs: Christina Rose, Nicole Ransden

Committee Members: Chrissy Ryan, Angelica Masser, Allesyn Wesner

Internal Materials

The internal materials committee is getting ready to take a deep dive into our National documents. This year, our focus is updating our documents, ensuring our language matches throughout, and updating everything to align with current standards.

Chair: Rebecca Fransman

Committee Members: Marysa Mitrano, Courtney Stevens, Amanda Roberge, Nicole Ransden

Women's Issues

This year, the Women’s issues committee is excited to bring awareness to social issues, as well as collaborate with other committees in an effort to support women and highlight their contributions to the world around them. One example of this can be seen on social media, where we have dedicated posts to women who have dedicated their lives to making a difference. Going forward this year, we hope to continue to use social media to highlight women’s issues. We also hope to collaborate with other committees, such as the philanthropy committee, to broaden the reach of the women’s issues committee to make a greater impact. Overall, we have a great team volunteering on this committee and we are excited to see where the year takes us!

Chairs: Nicole Hallahan, Lily Gibbons

Committee Members: Karlee Paradis, Robyn Sarette, Haley Sullivan, Lauren Porter, Isabella Murphy

Awards

We are excited to be revamping some of the descriptions of our awards this year! We want to make sure all awards are achievable by our chapters and want to encourage that they can apply for them all. We also want to make sure we are working on getting all chapters to apply for awards! The committee is also planning on adding a new award that will honor sisters for their individual philanthropy hours!

Chairs: Marysa Mitrano

Committee Members: Chrissy Ryan, Angelica Masser, Karlee Paradis, Robyn Sarette, Haley Sullivan, Isabella Murphy, Jayley Handley

Media and Marketing

The Media and Marketing committee is compromised of the chairperson, webmaster, social media coordinator, the Kappa Quill, and several members. We are essentially the face of our organization. We strive to create content

that is relevant to our membership by working with other committees and the executive board.

Our website welcomes potential new members and advises parents about our organization. We highlight awards, the National Board, and our history. It is also a great source of information for our active membership and alumnae. Our webmaster keeps the site updated and modern.

Our social media coordinator works with other committees to highlight any upcoming events, featured programs, and raises awareness for causes. We also love to repost what our chapters have been up to and showcase their hard work or fun outings.

The Kappa Quill is a bi-annual publication that is available to all! Our team of content developers, editors, and designers make this wonderful magazine come to life. A hard copy edition is handed out at our annual convention in the spring.

The Media and Marketing committee could not function without all hands on deck! The support of all members of this committee is highly valued.

Chair: Robyn Sarette

Webmaster: Allesyn Wesner

Social Media: Robyn Sarette, Rebecca Fransman

Kappa Quill: Lauren Porter, Christina Rose, Nicole Hallahan

Committee Member: Angelica Masser

respective campuses and the nonprofit and its mission is of utmost importance. We are supporting more chapters in hosting It’s Real: College Mental Health on their campuses with the training, speaker, food, and merchandise all funded by our AFSP chapter. We have a goal of getting five chapters to host this as an annual event on their campuses. We have two chapters planning Campus Walks on their campuses and many others joined a local Community Walk this fall. Our goal is to have every chapter involved in one of these two opportunities annually. Behind the scenes, we have rolled out new service hour parameters to help us better track and measure the impact of our organization, monitor growth within and between chapters, and introduce a new individual service hour award. We continue to support chapters in utilizing GreekTrack for service hour tracking and helping them plan service events when they need support or ideas. We have done a complete roll-out of utilizing AFSP’s DonorDrive fundraising platform to better align with best practices in philanthropy and support the utilization of social media fundraisers that will be tied back to our organization. We’ve offered a philanthropy chair orientation providing training on service hours, DonorDrive, resources available from the AFSP, and ideas for both service and fundraising events.

The National Alumnae Association Relations chair serves as the point of contact for matters related to NAA collaboration, fields concerns and recommendations, and serves as a National Board representative at their annual meeting. There are no formal updates for this committee. The NAA meeting was held on Saturday, November 5, 2022, in Portland, Maine.

Chair: Courtney Stevens

National Philanthropy

The philanthropy committee has been working hard at developing and making progress on short-term and longterm goals. With the vote for a continued partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, strategic thinking about how to best maximize this partnership for the benefit of our membership and

The philanthropy committee also leads the board in annual fundraising of $2,000 for the AFSP. We’ve already surpassed that with just our first fundraiser, Pie-a-Board-Member, at SLR. We are also committed to promoting mental health and supporting suicide prevention. We primarily do this through collaboration with our Media & Marketing committee in the form of blogs and social media posts. We hope to roll out mental health coffee chats where we can provide actives a space to share what’s going on, check in with other members for support, and have discussions. We are encouraging actives to take advantage of all the resources they have available to them from the philanthropy committee and our AFSP chapter. This includes funding for mental health events and fundraisers, AFSP supplies and merchandise, free trainings with facilitators, support in planning events, promoting the mental health of your chapters, and reinvesting resources into suicide prevention on your campuses.

Chair: Lauren Porter

Committee: Karlee Paradis, Isabella Murphy, Courtney Stevens, Amanda Roberge

National Alumnae Association Relations

Philanthropy Updates

By Lauren Porter, National Philanthropy Chair

AFSP Volunteering

Did you know that you can volunteer with your local AFSP branch? Opportunities include planning walks, serving on planning boards, leading workshops and training programs, fundraising, community outreach, participating in public policy, assisting with social media, and more! They also have multiple internships available every year. To find out more about volunteering and submit your application, find your local chapter and click on volunteer!

Individual Service Award

The philanthropy and award committees have developed a three-year plan for the rollout of a tiered individual service award. This year, all actives who complete 50 hours in accordance with the new service hour parameters will receive a certificate of recognition. Ensure that your GreekTrack entries are accurate and up-to-date! Need help? Email the National Philanthropy Chair or reach out to your Chapter Consultant.

DonorDrive

You may have noticed that we have moved a majority of our fundraising into the DonorDrive fundraising platform! This has a variety of benefits, including better donor relations, connection to social media fundraisers, matching donations, incentives, and ongoing tracking. You can invite actives, alumnae, and friends to join your chapter team page as part of our organization. If you create any Facebook or Instagram fundraisers, make sure you start them from your DonorDrive portal so it posts to your page! Need to join a team? Find your chapter until the Kappa Delta Phi NAS 2022-23 event page.

It’s Real: College Students and Mental Health

Would you consider hosting a college mental health night on your campus? Knowing that up to 50% of students will experience a mental health disorder during their time in college, the AFSP has developed training to support students, open up the conversation about mental health, and engage in suicide prevention initiatives on campus. It includes a video and facilitator to guide the discussion. The AFSP will provide the training, facilitator, marketing materials, and food and drinks to make your event successful! Reach out to the National Philanthropy Chair if you’re interested.

Have an Honest Conversation

From American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

If you think someone is thinking about suicide, assume you are the only one who will reach out.

Here’s how to talk to someone who may be struggling with their mental health:

• Talk to them in private, and tell them you care

• Listen to their story

• Avoid debating the value of life, minimizing their problems or giving advice

• It’s okay to ask directly about suicide

• Encourage them to seek help or to contact their doctor or therapist

If a person says they are considering suicide:

• Take the person seriously

• Stay with them

• Help them remove lethal means

Suicide Prevention Resources

From American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Visit Your Primary Care Provider Mental Health Professional Walk-in Clinic Emergency Department Urgent Care Center Find a Mental Health Provider findtreatment.samhsa.gov mentalhealthamerica.net/finding-help

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Veterans: Press 1

Text TALK to 741741

Text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7

Call 911 for Emergencies

Out of Darkness Walks 2022

By Lauren Porter, National Philanthropy Chair

Community Walks Highlight

Community and campus walks are the biggest fundraisers for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Over 400 community walks take place all around the country typically in September and October. They are a core part of the Out of the Darkness movement spanning back to 2004. These walks raise crucial funds for the AFSP mission, provide space to talk about healing and loss, open up conversations around mental health, and bring the community together. Five of our chapters participated in local community walks to start the year off strong with a commitment to suicide prevention and promoting mental health. These five walks alone collectively raised nearly $300,000 with other 2500 participants across 263 teams.

Kappa Alpha Xi kicked things off first in the Utica, NY, walk on September 25. October kicked off with two walks during the first weekend. Kappa Omicron participated in the Pittsfield walk on October 1. The next day, Kappa Lambda attended and volunteered with the walk committee in Bangor, ME. (They’re now partnering to continue with other AFSP volunteer opportunities in the community, such as co-hosting the annual International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day in November!) Wrapping up community walk season, two of our New York chapters participate during the second weekend of October: Kappa Alpha Gamma in Highland, NY, and Kappa Alpha Omicron, in Liverpool, NY, on October 8 and 9.

The National Philanthropy Committee and our AFSP partner have a goal of getting every chapter involved in a campus or community walk! We’re at 50% so far! We hope that you will consider participating in a walk near you next Out of the Darkness season (or host your own like Kappa Sigma!)

Kappa Sigma Highlight

Kappa Sigma at Plymouth State University was the first Kappa chapter to take the initiative and plan on AFSP Community Walk on their campus! In just two short weeks, actives Corinne Cloutier, Kasey Arnold, and Darby Dwyer put together a walk attended by dozens of campus and city community members on April 23, 2022. They secured high-level sponsorships from businesses and university departments, recruited speakers and performers, engaged other student groups in planning and participating, and raised over $10,000! This resulted in them being honored with the Elizabeth Jason National Philanthropy Award at Convention 2022 and far surpassing the record fundraising in our organization’s entire history.

Seeing how successful the event was and how the community came together for this cause, Kappa Sigma committed to planning another walk this fall. The same three stellar planners took the lead again, collaborated with our AFSP chapter, and motivated individuals, Kappa and non-Kappas alike, to come together. October 23, 2022, was a day filled with energy, hope, support, open conversations, moments of silence, and reminders of why we continue this fight. The walk raised nearly $9000! This is the fundraiser that officially put Kappa Delta Phi NAS over the $100,000 mark for the total amount raised for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention! Amazing work, Kappa Sigma! Thank you for taking on this initiative and showing us how much power we have to make a difference!

We have the power to prevent suicide, save lives, change the culture around mental health, and bring hope. Any student group can host an AFSP walk on their campus. From planning guides to marketing materials to food and water to day-of attendance, you will have the full support of the AFSP and Kappa National Board. Email philanthropy@kappadeltaphinas.org if you’d like to consider hosting your own walk!

Chapter Reports

Fall 2022

Kappa Lambda

Husson University, Bangor, Maine

Kappa Lambda is having an amazing fall semester so far! We welcomed two girls in the spring through a Greek garden-themed rush! We're loving our new sisters, and we’re so excited for our Disney Princessthemed rush this fall! We had an amazing turnout at our most recent club fair getting the word out about our sorority, and we're expecting a large incoming class this fall! The sisters have been working so hard on redesigning our education program to promote more sister bonding and team-building activities!

Facebook: Kappa Delta Phi NAS-Kappa Lambda Chapter

Instagram: @kdpnas_hu TikTok: @kdpnas_hu

For philanthropy, we're happy to announce we have received many donations for American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, and we’re still taking donations to reach our goal! This month, we held a shoe drive and collected over 100 pairs of shoes to donate to “Gotsneakers?” We also had a fundraiser selling popcorn and half of our proceeds are going toward our philanthropy! On October 2nd, our chapter participated in the Out of the Darkness walk. We volunteered handing out honor beads to the participants and a few of our sisters walked the 5K to support suicide prevention. We also held a coin drive on campus to raise money for our chapter and the AFSP.

Earlier this fall, we were so excited to help bring back the tradition of hosting Greek Week on campus. It was the first time since 2017 that we got to do this, and it was so rewarding to have so many people participate with us at all of our events!

During Greek Week, our Greek Life hosted a coffee social, a lip sync battle, Greek games, and a tailgate. We wrapped up the week with a banquet for all of the Greek Life members on campus. We were thrilled to host an ice cream bar for our potential new members this semester. We held a PJ and Dunkin social where we all wore pajamas and got to enjoy some coffee and donuts. We're so excited to do more sister bonding and socials next semester!

May the Spirit Never Die.

"Kappa Lambda has been working hard to promote more sisterhood bonding this semester and has begun implementing more sister bonding activities into their routine. They are about to begin education and looking forward to taking a new class!

I love working with Kappa Lambda, this is my third year with them. They have also been doing great fundraising for AFSP, and they are always actively working on philanthropy projects."

Haley Sullivan Chapter Consultant

Congratulations to Courtney Wasson for winning the 2022 Victoria E. DeMambro Leadership Award!

Kappa Sigma

Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire

Over the summer, many of our sisters stayed near our Plymouth University campus and remained connected all summer long. Some of our best sisterhood bonding moments over the summer were tie-dyeing, a beach day, and going to the drive-in movie theater! Another great highlight of the summer for some of our sisters was the Summer Leadership Retreat. Our chapter was so excited to make connections with others and we learned so much while we were there. We are very grateful to UMass Lowell for hosting.

Facebook: Kappa Delta Phi N.A.S Kappa Sigma Chapter

Instagram: @kappa plymouthstate

Now that the Fall semester has started back up, we are all so happy to be back in Plymouth together and welcoming back those that were gone for the summer. We jumped right into the semester by making time to hang out together to do some art with chalk and then a mixer with our brothers of Kappa Delta Phi on campus. Two of our sisters were able to table at the beginning of the year activities fair where all the clubs and organizations have the opportunity to meet students and socialize with new people. Our table invited people to share their positive and negative experiences in starting a new school year. We gave people the opportunity to write their “negative” on a plate and then break them to get rid of them. We made paper hearts with our positives and hung them in the Hartman Student Union Building.

Rush Week started off with a meeting of all the Greeks on campus. Our chapter held activities that included Golden Greeks, PJs and Pancakes, and Mission Kappa Sig. We ended our last rush with our traditional Classy Girls Rush with our brothers of Kappa Delta Phi. We welcomed a class of seven girls this fall and are excited for our new member's education to finish!

We are currently planning our 2nd Annual “Out of Darkness Walk” on Oct 23rd. Last year, we raised over $10,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and are hoping to surpass that number this year. We Kappa sisters are looking forward to being involved in more volunteer, campus, and community events this semester. Our sisterhood bonding events planned for this semester are movie nights, ice skating, Kappa Thanksgiving, and Secret Sister.

"Coming off of a very successful 2021-2022 school year, Kappa Sigma shows no signs of slowing down. They have scheduled their fall and spring Out of the Darkness walks, kept up with sister dates, and other local volunteer activities. I am excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for these highly dedicated sisters!"

-Robyn Sarette, Chapter Consultant

Congratulations to Kappa Sigma for winning the 2022 President’s Cup, Outstanding Chapter, Golden Opportunity, and Elizabeth Jason National Philanthropy Awards!

Kappa Omicron

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts

This past semester, Kappa Omicron has been lucky to begin getting involved with more in-person philanthropy events, most recently the Out of Darkness walk for the AFSP. We have continued our volunteer hour contests to add a little bit of friendly competition between the sisters. We are very excited to table for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at school and make those resources even more available to our peers. We were able to attend Convention and Summer Leadership Retreat in person this year and meet so many different kappas and learn so much about the philanthropy that we do and the impact that it makes.

Our chapter has been working incredibly hard to come up with new and improved fundraisers that can be sustainably run throughout the year by sisters to gain more money for our chapter and the AFSP. We have been looking forward to our regular fundraisers such as pizza bagels as well as introducing some new fundraisers like Kappa Krispies!

"I am so incredibly lucky to be working with Kappa Omicron this year. While they are a small group, they are full of passion. They have sought out a more positive relationship with their school and are dedicated to making their Kappa experience the best it can be. Actives, I am so proud of you and cannot wait to see all of the great things you’ve set up fall into place this year. I am always here to support you! MTSND"

-Nicole Ransden, Chapter Consultant

Kappa Upsilon

University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts

The sisters of the Kappa Upsilon chapter are ecstatic to be back on campus this fall semester. We started the semester off with our storminspired recruitment theme, “KY Strikes Again” and actively recruited potential new members under the leadership of our Recruitment Chair, Emelia Mulligan. The chapter has hosted a wide variety of recruitment events that included a philanthropy event for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention run by Vice President Emily Parr, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion event run by our Diversity Chair, Sofia Viviani. We recruited four potential new members into the interview process and are looking forward to welcoming those who got bids into the New Member Process guided by New Member Educators, Emily Parr, and Sofia Viviani.

"My past two years working with KY as a chapter consultant has been nothing short of amazing. I am always so happy to watch them grow, improve their processes and above all, advocate for each other and what they need in the supportive space they've created. They will never stop making sure each other feel included and cared for which is the thing I want them to never forget, I've never seen a chapter like that. This year I hope they focus on going back to their roots, working really hard on fundraising efforts, and finding impactful events/initiatives that fit the character of their chapter. Good luck ladies!"

-Chrissy Ryan, Chapter Consultant

Kappa Upsilon is highly focused on philanthropy this semester. The chapter is closely involved with UML for St. Jude, a fundraising organization on campus for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. President Makayla Hoffman and Sister Alyssa Heath even sit on the e-board for UML for St. Jude and have helped Kappa Upsilon become more involved in their events. Kappa Upsilon will be attending their recurring No More Cancer Rally fundraising events and the annual UML for St. Jude philanthropy event. Our Philanthropy Chair, Makayla Hoffman, is also bringing in new philanthropy ideas for our chapter to participate in this semester.

Diversity Chair, Sofia Viviani has been hosting many insightful and educating diversity, equity, and inclusion events for our chapter. She has been educating us on the many different facets that diversify us such as race, socioeconomic class, and neurodivergence to name a few. The chapter looks at these different dimensions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in not only society but also the chapter as a sisterhood. Sisterhood Chair, Emelia Mulligan is planning a dual sisterhood and diversity, equity, and inclusion event with Sofia to reinforce the strength of our sisterhood by understanding each other’s differences. The chapter is also looking to get involved with diversity events on campus. We are going to be attending campus events run by UMass Lowell’s Office of Multicultural Affairs to learn more about diversity on our campus. This semester is going to be very productive and exciting for Kappa Upsilon.

Kappa Chi

Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire

With the first month of school under our belt, we have already done so much. We have taken place in campuswide events, such as a block party, involvement fair, glow casino and so much more. We have just completed our recruitment period, which was filled with events like self-care nights, game nights, canvas painting and so much more. These events have allowed us to grow our bonds internally and externally.

We have finished recruitment and have six amazing girls who will be going through the education process with us. The week before we start education starts, we will be participating in Greek Week games along with all the other orgs on campus and their new members. We will be doing things like banner wars, kickball, watching the keynote for hazing prevention, taking part in a walk for domestic violence awareness, and other fun interactive games. And to conclude this amazing week we have homecoming weekend. This weekend is filled with a street fair that has things like inflatables, food trucks, painting pumpkins and so much more for our alums, and families to experience with us. On the Saturday night of Homecoming, the Inter-Greek Council is hosting Greek Night where alums from all orgs from SNHU will be in attendance and we will get to have an amazing time with them.

We have so much gone on when it comes to events, but we have also done things to help spread awareness for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. One thing we did was a tabling event where students from our campus could come up and write an insecurity on a sticky note and throw it away and embrace self-love. We also did an online cookie dough fundraiser where a portion of what we people go to the foundation. After all these amazing events we have continued to grow as a sisterhood and break the barriers around Greek Life. The Kappa Chi chapter is so special, and we are happy to continue growing.

"As I am starting my first semester as Kappa Chi’s Chapter consultant I have had the pleasure of learning about the unique functioning of this chapter along with the unique qualities it brings to our national sorority. Kappa Chi is a chapter of driven, passionate, and resilient individuals. I am so proud of the progress they have made in the first part of this year. I am so excited to watch the successes and growth I know Kappa Chi will have this year!"

-Jayley Handley, Chapter Consultant

Facebook: Kappa Chi Chapter

Instagram: @kappa_chi TikTok: @kappa_chi

Kappa Alpha Gamma

State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York

This semester has been so wonderful so far being back with our sisters again! We all had amazing summers doing things we love, and everyone brought this exciting energy into the semester. Last Spring, we welcomed a large class of nine people, and we could not be any luckier to have these new amazing sisters! We had a really fun recruitment theme this Fall which was Rock and Roll with Kappa! Our Recruitment Chair, Barbara Watterson, and committee members Heather Ricci, Jaclynn Orobello, Nicole Lembo, and Alyssa Eustace have put on really fun events for us all including karaoke, board games, and tear up a T-shirt where we had many laughs together! After such an exciting recruitment period, we are very optimistic for new member education and can’t wait to welcome new sisters.

Instagram: @kdphinas_ newpaltz

TikTok: @kdphinas newpaltz

Beyond recruitment, we have been busy with community service! Many of our sisters volunteered at a village festival baking apple pies and then setting up and cleaning up the festival. It was a wonderful experience, and we really got to bond while helping the community! We also had a Diversity and Inclusion Night where we learned about the traditions and history of farming in our community in the Mid-Hudson Valley. We learned so much from our Diversity and Inclusion Chairs, Nayise Gonzalez and Emelia Moran! We are so excited for all the upcoming events this semester!

This semester we have a large number of sisters who will be student teaching next semester who we will be so sad to not have as close by anymore but that we know will be inspiring others and doing a wonderful job in their classrooms. We are so proud of and excited for Sisters Barbara Watterson, Dana Coffey, Kileen Forte, Noelle Forte, Melissa Iannucci, and Drew Zuckerman. Our Sister Emelia Moran plans to study abroad in Besançon, France next semester, we can’t wait to hear her stories and see her pictures! Finally, we are so proud of Sister Kristen Maniaci who will be graduating this semester! She has done amazing things in college and will continue to do so after.

"Getting to work with a new group of young women who value sisterhood has been a huge impact on my life. Kappa Alpha Gamma puts that above everything, and it's something every sister needs a reminder for. I can't wait to see all of the great things they get to accomplish this year because I know how much effort goes into it."

-Nicole Hallahan, Chapter Consultant

Congratulations to Kappa Alpha Gamma for winning the 2022 Excellence in Social Media Award!

Kappa Alpha Iota

Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

During the fall semester, we had a sticker sale making around $150 dollars for our national philanthropy. We also raised money for the AFSP through a successful food night, selling chicken tenders, tater tots, and mozzarella sticks. We are planning to have another food night in the future. We had a very successful bake sale benefiting our local philanthropy, the American Diabetes Association. We made $131.00! We sold various baked goods, including cupcakes, cookies, and brownies. We held a pie-a-kappa event to raise money for the chapter. We raised $143.22!

We plan to have a temporary tattoo fundraiser in the future. We are also planning to go to a pumpkin patch as a sisterhood/ brotherhood with our local Kappa Delta Phi chapter. We will have a spa night/movie night, a paint night, cookie decorating, a photo scavenger hunt, tie-dye, and an escape room in the future. We cannot wait to have fun and get closer as a sisterhood!

"This is my first year working with KAI, and it has been an absolute pleasure! Having met them for the first time in person at the Summer Leadership Retreat, they were very welcoming to me as their chapter consultant right away. They have set themselves up for a great year, and have set goals I know they will be able to work hard to achieve, such as increasing money raised for philanthropy as well as study hours. I am excited to continue to work with KAI, and I know we will have a successful year!"

-Lily Gibbons, Chapter Consultant

Kappa Alpha Xi

Utica College, Utica, New York

The sisters of Kappa Alpha Xi are the most hardworking, dedicated, and supportive girls anyone could ask for. To start off the semester, a few of our sisters volunteered as orientation mentors and helped first-year students on move-in day. In addition, we participated in the annual “Out of the Darkness Walk” to support our national philanthropy the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Rain or shine, Kappa Alpha Xi still shows their love and support in the walk to fight suicide. At our university’s campus, Kappa Alpha Xi is heavily involved in Greek Life. We volunteered to work at our homecoming weekend, participated in a hazing prevention event, and collaborated with multiple Greek organizations to promote Greek Life. We are currently planning our biggest fundraising event of the semester: Pizza Taste Off, as well as a pumpkin fundraiser to coincide with our Fall Fest event. We are so excited to see what this semester will bring to us and cannot wait to reunite with our other chapters at Convention!

MTSND Kappa Alpha Xi

"I’m so excited to be working with KAXi again! Their kindness and generosity know no bounds. I’m excited to watch them grow and add more sisters to their family."

-Angelica Masser, Chapter Consultant

Kappa Alpha Omicron

State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, New York

-Allesyn

Our semester so far has been crazy busy! As one of the first “back to normal” semesters, we’ve been seeing a rise in the number of people on campus, thus a rise in interactions we’re making on campus. Despite the challenges we’ve faced semester, we’ve always been able to come out the other side! One of the biggest challenges we faced this semester was having our first-ever informal recruitment. Our NPC recruitment was entirely COB (continuous open bidding). Our recruitment chair worked tirelessly to prepare us for formal recruitment like we had been doing in previous fall semesters but quickly had to adapt to the new format. She did an excellent job doing so and we got to welcome 3 amazing new members this fall! We were still able to have a bid day, where the theme was “twinflame”! Our new members are currently in their education process right now and we can’t wait to see all the amazing things they’ll accomplish once they are officially sisters!

So far we’ve been able to host two fundraising events, a karaoke fundraiser like we’ve done in past semesters and we were also able to host a pizza fundraising event with a local pizza shop! Coming up on November 6th we have our biggest fundraiser, our bowl-a-thon, which we did for the first time last semester as were able to bring in over $1,000 for our chapter! Coming up we also have our “Zoo-Boo” service event at the end of October as well as a community service clean-up event with two other organizations on campus!

On October 8th, we were able to walk in Syracuse at the Out of Darkness in support of our philanthropy. We hosted a bake sale before the walk and were able to raise just over $100 to go toward AFSP! As a chapter we’ve set a fundraising goal for the year of $2,000, increasing our goal from last year of $1,000!

Congratulations to Kappa Alpha Omicron who received their charter in person at Convention 2022! While they were able to receive it virtually in 2021, the National Board was so happy to give them an in-person experience to celebrate their accomplishment!

"This is my first year as a chapter consultant and I am so excited to see what's in store for Kappa Alpha Omicron! These ladies are hard at work planning new events and are eager to grow together as a chapter. I’m looking forward to getting to know them all more and what they will accomplish!"

Wesner, Chapter Consultant

Kappa Alpha Nu

University of Albany, Albany, New York

Instagram: @kappa_ ualbany

TikTok: @ualbany kdphinas

Tumblr: @kappadeltaphi

"KAN has been working hard this semester on working out the kinks that always come along with new leadership. At this time, they have been responding to all requests and are working towards educating a class. We are excited to see where KAN goes from here. They currently have 36 sisters and they show no signs of stopping there."

Haley Sullivan & Andrea McKevitt, Chapter Consultants

Kappa Alpha Pi Emerging Chapter

Union College, Schenectady, New York

"KAPi has been working hard throughout the year. Since joining in 2019, they have been met with different challenges. Joining during a pandemic is hard enough, but joining at a college that has a trimester system might be even more of a struggle. I commend their dedication to their studies and can’t wait to see what they accomplish in the future."

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Congratulations to Lauren Marble for winning the Yellow Rose Award and Cheyenne Mark for winning the Angela K. Jacobs Scholarship!

Kappa Delta Phi NAS, Union College

Instagram: @union_kappa

Andrea McKevitt, Chapter Consultant