Some of the members of the Kappa Alpha Theta women’s fraternity said they gained new opportunities after joining this fall.
"Not every campus is as welcoming and supportive to a new group as USC has been and so we're just feeling really confident in joining this community," Associate Executive Director of Kappa Alpha Theta Katharine Murphy said.
The Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity was originally established on the USC campus from 1990 to 2001.
When USC announced in Spring 2024 that they were open to welcoming a new sorority, Theta applied to reestablish on campus. Although Theta's official title as an organization is a fraternity, it can also be called a sorority interchangeably, according to Murphy.
A number of sororities applied to become apart of the USC community. Upon review, the extension committee chose three organizations they wanted to further consider joining the USC campus, including Theta.
Each organization did a formal presentation in April 2024 to the extension committee and women from other Panhellenic organizations on campus, which led to Theta being voted to make their return to USC, Murphy said.
Theta chose to leave USC in 2001 because there were a few factors at the time that hindered the chapter's ability to grow like other groups on campus. These factors included the difference in support the chapter at USC received from Theta and the discussion of what organizations were going to build in USC's Greek Village.
Murphy said Kappa Alpha Theta felt that returning to USC was an obvious choice. Theta shares many values with the institution and felt support and excitement throughout the reestablishment process.
Kappa Alpha Theta welcomed 121 new members to its first member class after reestablishing at USC on Sept. 21, marking the Zeta Kappa chapter’s official reestablishment on campus. Zeta Kappa is the title of the chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta at USC.
“The mission of (Kappa Alpha Theta) is to nurture each member throughout her lifetime, offering opportunities for intellectual and personal growth," Murphy said.
Theta gained potential new member interest by presenting to other clubs and organizations, tabling around campus and through their alumni base in Columbia, according to Murphy.
Kappa Alpha Theta held its own recruitment separate from the Formal Panhellenic Recruitment this fall to recruit their first member class after being reestablished at USC.
Theta’s entire recruitment lasted about three to four weeks and included open houses with trendy crafts, food and sweet treats for the potential new members to enjoy while they were conversing with each other Murphy said. Anyone interested in Theta could go to these open houses, according to second-year hospitality management student Hanna Griffith.
While the open houses were geared towards introducing potential new members to Theta, the fraternity also had more formalized events during their recruitment. These events included a philanthropy, sisterhood and preference event.
Throughout Theta's entire recruitment, potential new members got to have conversations with and be recruited by Theta representatives and women from nearby colleges that are also in Kappa Alpha Theta.
Second-year biological sciences student Chloe Newport said there were certain aspects of Theta that drew her to the organization.
“I felt like Theta’s philanthropy and sisterhood was something that I was really looking forward to, as well as just the opportunity in general, to be able to be the founding members of this chapter’s reestablishment," Newport said.
Theta’s national philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates, supports children that are abused and neglected in the foster care system. Theta's philanthropy recruitment event allowed potential new members to color cards for kids supported by the CASA organization.
“It’s something that’s really important to Kappa Alpha Theta, and the Theta chapter at USC will support the Richland County CASA organization,” Murphy said.
The founding members were officially welcomed by receiving their bids on bid day, Sept. 21, from other women apart of the USC Panhellenic community. Members in other sororities on campus came to Theta's bid day to welcome the new members home to Theta.
“It was just a really good experience to be able to see how much support the Panhellenic community has for one another … and it was just really heartwarming to see as an introduction into the community,” Newport said.
Theta celebrated their bid day at The Laundry event venue in Columbia after the new members received their bids. Their bid day theme was “Happy Bid Day.”
Activities for the new members at the event venue included a cupcake decorating bar, soda truck, get-to-know-you activities and a visit from Cocky. The venue also had birthday decorations set up to correlate with the “Happy Bid Day” theme.
Griffith said she thinks it's cool to be a part of this new organization from the beginning.
“Everyone right now is a founding member, so that’s really cool, and we can make it our own. And I’m just really excited to see where it goes in the future … I’m excited to see it grow,” Griffith said.
Starting with the first member class of Theta after being reestablished at USC, the members will get to experience the big little process. Theta's big little reveal will take place this year in early November.
"It's such a special part of the experience for so many people, we love getting to include that from the very beginning," Murphy said.
The newest members of Theta will also already have the opportunity to participate in functions and events this year planned by the chapter's social committee.
"We want to start building up a very normal chapter calendar for our members ... That relationship building and that fun is such an important part of the experience," Murphy said.
Each member will pay regular dues to fund these future functions and events, Murphy said.
As of right now, Theta is making use of various venues and spaces on and around campus to hold their meetings and gatherings, because they do not have a house on campus. Theta's need for a house will continue to be assessed as the chapter continues to grow.
"We just don't want to get ahead of ourselves and create a housing situation that isn't what our members are looking for ... any housing conversation we would want the USC members to be a part of," Murphy said.
Although Kappa Alpha Theta did not participate in Formal Panhellenic Recruitment this fall, they will be participating in it in years to come. Theta aims to share and spread the organization in the future, participating in Panhellenic recruitment in spring 2026 Murphy said.
"The charter class really gets to create the legacy at USC, and we're just really hopeful that that will be a long lasting legacy," Murphy said.