After our days as a collegian, it can be easy to lose your connection to Kappa Alpha Theta. It can be easy to say, "I was a Theta at..." It can be easy to forget what exactly the Fraternity stands for; why those four young women founded the Fraternity 142 years ago last Friday.

And as crazy as it sounds, even I (an alumnae chapter, Life Loyal, and Fraternity staff member) can lose sight of the importance this organization has played in my life and the lives of more than 210,000 women throughout history.

Sometimes you just need something, or somewhere, to remind you.

On Saturday, I attended a Founders Day service at Gamma/Butler, which happens to be my chapter of initiation. It was great to see the place I called home for three years. It was funny to see my picture in the composite hanging on the wall—to think Gamma Chapter women must pass it on a daily basis and wonder where I, and the rest of the women on the wall, might be now.

Before the service, I sat with current collegians and members of the Indianapolis Alumnae Chapter, hailing from Gamma Tau/Tulsa and Alpha Mu/Missouri and initiation years from 1943 to 2008. I began to think about how remarkable it is that our sisterhood spans so many years and miles and how it will surely continue to do so for the next 142 years.

As the collegians recited the Founders Day Service, tears came to my eyes as I thought about how courageous these four pioneers—mere girls—were to start something so revolutionary. They were the only ones who could understand what each other was experiencing. The Fraternity was their only support system, and where would they have been without it?

Where would all of us have been without it?

I hope you had a wonderful Founders Day, and that it reminded you, too, of what it truly means to be a Kappa Alpha Theta.

Did you attend (or are you planning to attend) a Founders Day event this year?

Laura Kassenbrock Stelsel, Gamma/Butler, is an associate editor at Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity.

The exact origins of Founders Day are shrouded by the mists of time, but the archival record provides these interesting clues:

• The 1880 minutes of Alpha Chapter (Indiana Asbury, now DePauw) reflect that the chapter was planning a very special celebration of the Fraternity's 10th anniversary by having an oyster dinner at a local restaurant or at a member's home.

• A decade later, in late fall of 1889, Alpha Chapter's minutes again reflect that the chapter was planning "an entertainment" event scheduled for sometime the end of January, 1890, with a dining committee, a committee on invitations (the girls of Beta/Indiana were being invited), and a committee on favors all hard at work on arrangements, including the rental of omnibuses for 25 cents to transport the Beta members to Greencastle. On January 25, 1890, the minutes record that Alpha Chapter sent a telegram to Bettie Locke Hamilton.


• The first recorded mention of an event called "Founders Day" held on January 27 is in the 1894 minutes of the Alpha Beta Chapter (Swarthmore, outside Philadelphia). The Alpha Betas gave a tea for "alumni girls and all other Thetas we could find in the neighborhood," which included Grand President Miss Margaret Smith, who happened to be in town, as well as three alums from Iota, one from Mu, and one from Alpha. The girls read a letter that they had received from Bettie Locke Hamilton in honor of the occasion. The chapter minutes state, "It was good to have the stranger sisters with us and it was good to see our own old girls again. We were cheered and encouraged by their interest in us and by their pleasure in our wellbeing."


• At the 1903 Convention, a Founders Day committee gave its report on "uniform methods for the observance of Founders Day."


• At the 1909 Convention, a new ritual for the observance of Founders Day was established as "a reunion of all Thetas," which included reading a list of the early chapters of the Fraternity, sending a note of congratulations to each of the original founders who were still living, and wearing Theta colors.
  

As we gather to celebrate 142 years of Theta sisterhood on Founders Day this January 27, 2012, our own "reunion of all Thetas" remains so meaningful to all of us!

Lisa Edelmann McLaughlin, Beta Rho/Duke, is the archivist/heritage committee chairman.

Sisters helping sisters is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Friendship Fund and how it impacts our members. I am reminded daily of how generous our members are and the level of care and concern we show for each other. I get excited putting the check in the mail knowing the response it will exhibit when opened in a couple of days. I picture utter surprise, disbelief, tears, a huge smile, relief, thankfulness, wonder, etc. In fact, it makes me dream about being Oprah (or a bagillionaire of some sort!) and being able to give away money all the time. The secrecy and anonymity of the requests make the situation even better. I can't imagine the feeling of not knowing how Theta knew you were in need and thankful someone took it upon herself to want to help. What a humbling experience.

The Friendship Fund provides a tangible way for each of us to reaffirm our ritual promise and show that Kappa Alpha Theta is so much larger than ourselves. Giving to one another through this fund can come full circle during a time of need. We all come from different chapters and backgrounds, and no one ever expects to need assistance, but be assured that your generous donations are helping members in dire need every day.

Thank you for making a contribution during your Founders Day celebration this year, and know that you may send a donation to the Fraternity for the Friendship Fund at any time. Actually, I highly recommend it!

Note: The Fraternity accepts donations to and awards gifts from the Friendship Fund (since July 1, 2011). Gifts made to the Fraternity, a 501(c)(7) organization, are not tax-deductible but enable the Friendship Fund to support a greater diversity of needs without requiring extensive financial detail. Please contact Angela Merk with any questions regarding donations to or gifts from the Friendship Fund.

Angela Chamness Merk, Gamma/Butler, is executive assistant at Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity headquarters, and is responsible for managing the Friendship Fund.

I am one of those fortunate people who can say, with absolute sincerity, that I love my job. I've worked at Kappa Alpha Theta headquarters for 17 years, most recently as the assistant director of finance. Throughout my tenure at Theta, I've worked in virtually every department and have enjoyed learning the various aspects of the operations of the Fraternity. I have always appreciated the high standards to which our staff members are held. Recently I was able to put this knowledge and experience to use by taking-on the role of director of administration. I am thrilled to be in this newly-created position!

Historically, the role of director of administration has been combined with the director of finance position. Recently, this position also became responsible for the housing arm of the organization, and with its continual growth, it became tougher and tougher to devote the time needed for all three of these important areas. The decision was therefore made this past fall to create a new position to strictly oversee administration.

I have been in this role for almost a month now and am enjoying learning the ins and outs of my new position. The administration department is responsible for human resources, technology, data procurement and analysis, facility management, event planning, and archives. If you tally up the total number of years the people in this department have been Fraternity staff members, it's greater than 70! We're quite the mix, and undoubtedly play a fundamental role within the Fraternity, both in a broad sense and with the day-to-day operations.

It's difficult to express how excited I am to be involved at this level with the Fraternity, and especially during this time of change. It's an exciting time at Kappa Alpha Theta! I look forward to this opportunity to grow alongside my department and take on new challenges at this organization that is so dear to all of us. Really, having the opportunity to work for an organization whose mission is in line with your personal beliefs and core values is the chance of a lifetime.

Mindy Young Marshall, Gamma/Butler, is the director of administration at Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity headquarters and is a charter Life Loyal member.

Any of these tag lines could aptly describe the focus of the college chapter budget committee.

Nicole Frank, college chapter budget committee chair, kicked off 2012 activity with a lively conference call with her 14-member budget committee on January 5. The diverse group of committee members learned that time-consuming activity (such as processing of inactivity requests, financial terminations, and late fee removal) have been streamlined between the chapter chief financial officers and Theta headquarters, leaving more time for the budget district directors (formerly known as finance district directors) to focus on - you knew it was coming! - budgets.

The budget district directors will work with local chapters to establish chapter budgets by early spring and maintain the budget throughout the year. Though the budget is obviously an important and critical financial tool for local chapters, it is also, as Nicole noted "...a window for the entire Fraternity into how chapters are investing their financial resources to support the ideals of Theta and college women."

Creating the budget is an annual milestone. Understanding how the budgeted funds are actually applied and how financial resources benefit Theta college women and the Fraternity is an ongoing adventure.

Next steps include connecting committee members with their assigned districts, working with the chapters to complete their 2012-2013 budgets, implementing a strong and consistent budget variance review approach, and supporting the important changes in communications channels.

Kieran Reavis Major, Gamma Tau/Tulsa, is the budget district director for District VII and a member of the college chapter budget committee. She is also a charter Life Loyal member.

The arrival of the mail always brings the potential for a "wow" day here in the archives. Today is one of those days!

The badge of Josephine Spear, Alpha/DePauw, arrived as a donation to the archives. It is a Dyer badge (an elegant version of our badge with elongated points), with a crown of pearls and either a ruby or garnet at each point. A special treat is that it came in its original Charles B. Dyer jewelry box!

Charles B. Dyer was a jeweler in the Indianapolis area, and his wife, Blanche Brown Dyer, was a member of Beta/Indiana. What few realize is that Dyer badges were never an official badge design. For as much as we can determine, the Dyer Company bought Theta badges and placed them in the setting that many of us love. Among the archives files is correspondence from the 1920s to the 1940s between the Dyer Company and the Fraternity asking them to stop producing these badges, as the Fraternity had a contract with then official jeweler, Balfour.

In the archives, we have Dyer badges with very plain settings, chased settings, and jeweled settings that range from pearls to diamonds. This new addition is unique to our collection and we are glad to have it.

But what is even more exciting is that we know much about the badge's owner, Josephine Spear. She was an English teacher, first in Indiana high schools, then at the University School at Indiana University (IU), and finally with the School of Education at IU. She retired in 1983 as chair of English Education at the School of Education. Spear even authored several literature textbooks.

On her online obituary, there are condolence notes from former students, some from the 1950s, reflecting on her impact as a teacher on their lives.

So here in the archives these badges are more than artifacts; each piece has a person and a story behind it.

For more information about what to do with your badge or additional history about our badge, visit the Our Badge section on the Kappa Alpha Theta website.

Noraleen DuVall Young, Alpha Chi/Purdue, is staff archivist at Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity and is a charter Life Loyal member.