History
Colby College in Waterville, Maine, was the first college in New England to admit women on an equal basis with male students. The first woman student was admitted in 1871, and for two years Mary Caffrey Low was the only woman student at Colby College. In 1873, four more young women from Maine, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Fuller, Frances Mann, and Louise Helen Coburn were admitted to Colby and the five young women found themselves frequently together. During the school year of 1873-74, the five young women decided to form a literary and social society. They were told by the college administration that they needed to present a constitution and bylaws with a petition requesting permission to form Sigma Kappa Sorority. They began work during that year with an eager glow of enthusiasm. Their purpose at the outset was that the sorority should become what it is now, a national organization of college women. On November 9, 1874, the five young women received a letter from the faculty approving their petition. Thus, this date has since been considered our Founders' Day.
The Zeta Kappa Chapter established at Angelo State University in 1977. Since that time, the ladies of the Zeta Kappa chapter gave grown together and have spread the sisterhood of Sigma Kappa for over thirty years.
Sigma Kappa Symbols and Insignia
Colors
Louise Helen Coburn's early reminiscences give us her memory of white as the color favored in the early days of Sigma Kappa. She said that lavender and maroon, as our colors, occur in the minutes of June 1891. They were being used then and apparently had been approved earlier. A note in the minutes of 1904 speaks of a committee appointed to "write down the true significance" of our colors which is revealed in the ceremony of initiation.
Flower
Violets were loved by all Sigma Kappas from the beginning. The delicate flowers grew wild along the banks of the Messalonskee River where the founders sat and dreamed of Sigma Kappa. In June 1892, the violet was adopted as our official flower. The flower was thought to belong to the days of promise as is Sigma Kappa.
Jewel
The Pearl was adopted as the national jewel of Sigma Kappa at the 1915 Convention.
Symbols
The dove was accepted as an official symbol of Sigma Kappa at the 1984 Convention and the heart was adopted at the 1998 Convention. Both symbols signify the love felt by members across the country.
For more information on Sigma Kappa Sorority,
please visit the official website