New sorority Kappa Delta recruits 41 new members

Kappa Delta, which joined the University of Richmond’s Greek community, has already recruited 41 new pledge members and recently celebrated its Bid Day.

“Bid Day was a whirlwind,” said Farrah Coltrain, senior leadership development consultant for Kappa Delta, “and we were so excited with the support we got from the Greek community. We had about 300 women and men there to welcome our chapter.”

The celebration took place Sunday, Sept. 27, and was composed of an hour-long open house for friends and the rest of the Greek community to meet the Alpha members and see the Kappa Delta cottage open for the first time, according an op-ed published last week.

“I am from Texas and Greek life is a huge deal back home,” junior Katie Sanders said. “A lot of my high school friends joined sororities, and both my mom and her twin were in sororities, so now that I am a junior, I was ready to add Greek life into my experience at Richmond.”

Meg Pevarski, assistant director for Greek life, said that on Bid Day the entire Greek community was focused on Kappa Delta’s chapter.

There are 41 new women bringing in fresh vision and excitement, in addition to Hannah Ranowiecki and Farrah Coltrain’s professional and undergraduate experience from other campuses, Pevarski said.

Ranowiecki and Coltrain, who coordinate the leadership duties and have planned big events for Kappa Delta, ranging from Bid Day, recruitment weekend, social events and the chapter council, guide the chapter, Coltrain said.

The national president of Kappa Delta will be flying in for initiation and installation on Nov. 8, and then the chapter will be preparing for formal recruitment in January, Coltrain said.

Ranowiecki and Coltrain’s responsibility is to instruct the chapter council, which will be elected during the fifth week of the new member program, and help the council establish itself on campus, Coltrain said. From then, they will serve as go-to mentors for the council rather then guiding the chapter, she said.

Before Bid Day, there was a recruitment process, which consisted of three days starting Friday, Sept. 25 to Sunday, Sept. 27, and the advertising period in Tyler Haynes Commons, which started starting the first day of classes this.

“We tabled and were seeking referrals from the community,” Coltrain said. “We were trying any way to get our name out on campus, meet with women, answer their questions and encourage them to participate in recruitment weekend.”

Over the recruitment weekend, a team of national volunteers flew in to help make membership decisions and establish the chapter’s vision, Coltrain said.

“The recruitment process went really fast,” junior Olivia Healy said. “There were a lot of interviews, but during those three days the Kappa Delta women kept reiterating the fact that this sorority wants to recruit women who could be leaders.”

Kappa Delta stresses the importance of not only philanthropic participation with Prevent Child Abuse America and The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., but also the confidence coalition.

“It’s our national platform,” Coltrain said, “and everything we do as Kappa Deltas tie back to that coalition. We want to make sure that we are instilling confidence in women, not only within our chapter, but also in the community as well, so that includes Panhellenic women and non-Greek women on campus and people in the Richmond community.”

The chapter’s goal is to take ownership of both that platform and its philanthropies, and create something for itself, Coltrain said.

Pevarski said it was great for the community to see how many women were interested in this experience.

Formal recruitment for sororities will be held in the beginning of the spring semester. 

Note: Olivia Healy is a sports assistant and social media manager with The Collegian

Contact reporter Catherine McTiernan at catherine.mctiernan@richmond.edu.