We are celebrating our newest milestone: our 7,000th member of Theta Life Loyal! Since 2010, Theta Life Loyal has been a special way for alumnae and collegians to stay connected to the Fraternity.
Our 7,000th Life Loyal member is Susie Costanzo, Rho/Nebraska. We asked her why she joined Life Loyal and how it’s important to her membership in Theta:
How did you hear about Life Loyal?
"I heard about Life Loyal mainly from the Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine...but I have also received emails and we have discussed Life Loyal membership at alumnae meetings."
What encouraged you to sign up?
"I decided to sign up as an expression of my love for Kappa Alpha Theta. It is my way of supporting the organization’s ideals."
How do you see being Life Loyal as benefiting your membership in Kappa Alpha Theta?
"My mom (Pauline Snoke Jackson) was initiated at Beta Chapter at Indiana University, following in the footsteps of her older sister (Margaret Snoke Matthews Adams). So, I heard about Theta from infancy. It was the Theta alumnae chapter in Omaha that showed up at our home when our family moved to Nebraska from Wisconsin. Our mom, like most young moms in the ‘50s, did not have a car, had two young children aged 3 and 1 ½, with another on the way, and had not met friends in our new city. The Kappa Alpha Theta group forwarded her information to Omaha, and they showed up to help unpack and get settled. Theta ladies were her first friends in Omaha.
"[These Thetas] remained her core group of friends throughout her life through alumnae meetings, bridge groups, and sewing groups. Thetas were entwined in our family. It was natural that I hoped to become a Theta one day. I was initiated in 1970 into Rho Chapter at the University of Nebraska. My sister (Betsy Jackson Klemme) also pledged Theta in the fall of 1972, and later her daughter, my niece (Rachel Klemme), pledged in 1999. Maybe one day a granddaughter will carry on our sisterhood!
"[These Theta alumnae also] had a bridal shower for me when I graduated and joined the Omaha Alumnae Chapter. I have always loved Theta and my Theta sisters...those I pledged with and stay in contact with today as well as those I have met in alumnae groups in the cities where we have lived; Omaha, Lincoln, and Sun City, Arizona."
What would you say to alumnae who have not joined Life Loyal yet?
"I see becoming Life Loyal as a testimony to my love of Theta. It will help me stay connected through the magazine and digital correspondence. Everyone has seasons of their life where staying connected in person is very difficult—jobs, post-graduate education, new babies and young children, illnesses, etc. For me, right now, life can become busy with travel or other adventures that can get in the way of being available or able to attend alumnae meetings. It is also a great way to support the group of women with whom I have been lucky to do life.
"With Life Loyal we all have an opportunity to support our Fraternity whether we are attending a local group or merely staying connected from afar. We owe it to Theta to keep this sisterhood strong, current, and pertinent. It would be wonderful to see more numbers of women committing to Theta financially in Life Loyal membership, displaying the bond eternal we have to our sisters."
As a Life Loyal member, these 7,000+ members received benefits such as:
- A lifetime subscription to the Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine, which includes all printed issues;
- Alumnae Fraternity per capita dues payments for life ($31 annually – does not include annual alumnae chapter dues that vary by chapter);
- A welcome packet that includes a beautiful lapel pin, personalized wallet card, and a limited-edition Life Loyal gift; and
- Personal recognition in the Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine.
If you have been thinking of joining, now is the perfect time to join thousands of your sisters! Already a Life Loyal member? Give the gift of a membership to a dear friend and sister!