The Delta Epsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, January 8, 1932. Grand President Alice Tillotson Barney, Minnesota, officiated at the installation services which were held in the Winter Park Women’s Club.

Delta Epsilon does not own its own house. Pugsley Hall is owned by the college and is loaned to the chapter so that all actives may live together. However, the members have the good fortune of owning a lodge behind the house, purchased by the alumnae, for all chapter functions and social gatherings.

The history of Delta Epsilon has been one of scholarship, campus leadership, and athletic achievement. During the 1930s Delta Epsilon members were honored in Libra, Mortar Board, Phil Beta Kappa, Rollins Key Society, Pi Gamma Mu, and theater and music honorary societies. In 1935–1936 and 1936–1937 Delta Epsilon won the Rollins Scholarship Cup and actively participated in several all-school fund-raising drives. Volleyball and swim trophies were brought home to begin a continuing collection of athletic awards.

The next decade brought more awards for individual members as well as for the chapter. Once again Delta Epsilon won the Scholarship Cup (1942–1943), and golf, tennis, and basketball trophies were captured. The chapter retired the golf trophy after three successive wins and went on to place first again the following year.

High scholastic standards continued during the 1950s. During 1950–1951 the Fraternity named Delta Epsilon the chapter showing the most improvement. Many members held campus offices, and many made the Dean’s List. It was also a decade that brought more athletic trophies to the chapter showcase.

In 1955–1956 Delta Epsilon captured the college Scholarship Trophy, and in 1958–1959 won the Scholarship Trophy for the sorority with the highest over-all average—an award established by Delta Epsilon that very year. In 1958–1959 chapter President Joan Abendroth (Pratt) received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan medallion, the highest individual honor awarded by the college upon graduation.

Delta Epsilon had many campus and scholastic leaders during the next decade. In 1961 the chapter hosted the Mu Province Convention which was attended by Fraternity President Mary Turner Whitney, Cincinnati, and Vice President Frances Fatout Alexander, DePauw, as well as other noted Kappas.

The Obrien Trophy, which is the overall intramural award, was captured in 1963 and, with the exception of 1965, was won every year until 1970. Another overall trophy won during that period was the Nina O. Dean Libra Leadership Trophy (1967 and 1968). The Algernon Sydney Sullivan medallion was presented to Barbara Snyder and Judith Ehle (Hruska) in 1964 and to Susan Thompson in 1968.

Delta Epsilon Kappas excelled not only in scholarship but in athletics during the 1960s, particularly in golf and tennis, with varsity teams largely composed of girls from the chapter. Wendy Overton and Mona Schallau played in the Forest Hills tennis tournament in 1969. The early 1970s continued to bring awards and honors. Many members of Delta Epsilon were on the Dean’s List and the President’s List; a number held positions of leadership in campus organizations and activities.

Among those honored for athletic achievements were Hollis Stacy, three-time U.S. Junior golf Champion (1969, 1970 and 1971) and a member of the 1972 Curtis Cup team; Cissie Collins (Catherine), named one of the outstanding athletes in America; and Beverly Buckley, a nationally ranked tennis player and doubles champion in the Women’s Satellite Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina.

It would be impossible to list all those who have contributed to the strength of Delta Epsilon, for every girl in Kappa offers something worthwhile to the school and to her sorority.

The previous information was excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, 1870-1976. The information that follows has been gleaned from available resources including Chapter History Reports, chapter meeting minutes, letters and comments from chapter members and alumnae, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Archives, and The Key. Each chapter is expected to update its history record annually. Contact Fraternity Headquarters at [email protected] with questions.

In a letter dated 1987 addressed to the chapter from the President of Rollins college stated that, during this time, the College had the dedication of the Olin Library and Cornell Hall. Time Magazine listed Rollins as one of the top nine "nifty" colleges at that time. A Delta Epsilon graduate was awarded the Nobel Prize and Rollins College celebrated its 100th anniversary, which Kappa's recognized by celebrating in their schools honor.

In the year 1989, Delta Epsilon Chapter went through quite a few changes. One of the biggest accomplishments was moving from the fourth floor of a dorm to a nice new house. The chapter spent most of its time this fall making plans for redecorating. The women were quite happy in the newly decorated house, where 23 of members were housed. The first Founders Day luncheon was held in the new house as well as the celebration of the initiation of new members that same day. This turned out to be a great success!

The chapter has been quite productive with philanthropy, grade point average, and contributions to the Rollins College community. This past spring four members were able to attend the Mu Province meeting where the Chapter was awarded honorable mention in membership.

On the whole, the chapter is very well respected on campus and in the Winter Park community. Members are active in many different areas. Since the chapter has become a bit larger there is a very diverse array of interests in a diverse group of well respected women, who are all very devoted to Kappa.

Delta Epsilon held many Kappa's events on Mills Lawn, with various outdoor activities that they did as a chapter. In 1990 they had a "Kappa Fall Picnic" in which they invited faculty and staff on the Rollins campus. Chapter trends within the chapter as the years have progressed, included events such as Founders Day and the new pledge class slumber party.

Some challenges the chapter faced was having terribly over-programmed calendars, as well as issues dealing with over booking the amount of philanthropic events to the point of exhaustion. Panhellenic strived towards improving the image of Greek life on the Rollins campus and working toward enhancing relations among the different sororities and fraternities. There were not many more significantly noticeable challenges that were found in the archives during this time. The chapter women’s sense and pride in the sisterhood was an extremely important aspect that was of great importance to the women. The connection and overall outreach to the schools community, as well as the greater community of Winter Park outside of the Rollins campus, was also an obviously important aspect that they paid great attention to within the chapter.

Delta Epsilon has been quite busy and productive in 1990. The chapter has been in their new home for two years. Having a home for Kappa’s has been excellent for providing a central meeting place where activities and gatherings which have strengthened the chapter. New mw\embers were initiated on Founder’s Day. Chapter members attended the Kappa regional Founder’s Day celebration at the Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park where two women received 50 year pins. This was a reminder that Kappa lasts a lifetime. During the summer of this year the chapter president and the pledge trainer attended the Kappa Convention in Dallas, TX.

The chapter has been committed to strengthening its image on campus and within the Winter Park community. Women have been a visible force on campus attending lectures and other activities sponsored by Rollins College such as a forum on abused women. The chapter’s diversity is evident by the variety of groups and activities the women participate on campus. All members are encouraged to join at least one activity outside of Kappa. The chapter was especially excited about their new program to beautify campus by inviting various organizations to help with this effort. This helped the college and was a great opportunity for the chapter to meet people from other organizations. Other community involvement include activities such as the Winter Park Arts Festival, Florida Symphony Orchestra, Great Oaks Orphanage, Great Oaks Orphanage and the, First Congregational Church.

Delta Epsilon had another incredible year in 1991.The chapter experienced an increase in member participation in all areas of chapter and campus life. At Mu Province Meeting the chapter received awards for most improved scholarship and outstanding philanthropy. The chapter treasurer received recognition for outstanding financial management. On campus the chapter was awarded for having the highest group participation during alcohol awareness week and won the float contest during winter fest.

This is the third year in their new home. The house board made several improvements with a new rug and couch for the chapter room and a new deck on the back of the house. The chapter continues to work on improving their grade point average. This year the GPA rose to a 2.955 ranking them third out of five which was very exciting for the chapter.

The year 1995 saw Delta Epsilon continue to work on campus and community involvement by participating in activities sponsored by the college and community. The chapter has become strong and unified and enjoys spending time helping each other as well as other outside Kappa. The chapter house looks like with a fresh coat of paint and new furniture.

The emphasis of scholarship within the chapter was very strong this year with an emphasis on the criteria within the Challenge of Excellence. The chapter grade point average continues to improve placing them in the top third of all sororities this year.

One chapter member, Stacy Moss was ranked number one nationally in women’s singles in tennis. The chapter has worked hard this year to continue to have a strong philanthropy program, as well as strengthening the standards program.

Delta Epsilon had a busy and productive year in 1997. The chapter continued to work hard to strengthen relations with the campus and community.

The housing committee completed the task of redecorating the chapter house and it was beautiful! With the help of alumnae, the chapter lodge that has been closed for ten years was cleaned out and was then used for formal meetings. Founders Day was celebrated with area alumnae at the Interlachen Country Club with a wonderful luncheon.

The scholarship committee organized a study skills program, a scholarship workshop and weekly study halls. The chapter held its first scholarship banquet where more than 70 awards were presented to deserving members. The Risk Management Chairman arranged programs that informed the chapter about current issues such as rape and drunk driving.

Through great teamwork and spirit, the chapter won Greek Week. The chapter president was selected as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society. Three of the chapter women played on the highly acclaimed Rollins varsity tennis team. Seventeen new members were initiated making a great addition to the chapter.

A traveling consultant visited Delta Epsilon and shared valuable advice on how to set and meet chapter goals. These included raising the chapter GPA above the all-sorority average, increasing risk management through the Keep Safe program and strengthening philanthropic efforts.

The chapter participated in fundraisers to raise money for charity for different causes related to AIDS, providing child care at a local elementary school during its open house, working booths at a local church’s children’s fair and worked with Habitat for Humanity.

1999 was another incredible and busy year for Delta Epsilon. The chapter continued to strengthen its relations with the campus and community with involvement in many activities. The chapter participated in Halloween Howl where the chapter women dressed and treated kids with candy. Money was raised for educational purposes with the activity Pig in the Park. During sexual assault week the chapter, along with another organization, showed a video to the student body increasing sexual assault awareness.

A traveling consultant visited the chapter to guide them in continued progress towards its goals which include raising the GPA and strengthening membership. Through hard work the chapter GPA increased considerably and the women compiled the most philanthropy hours in chapter history.

The Delta Epsilon chapter has made significant strides this year. The fall 2005 semester began with many challenges in front of us. After the review of the chapter in October 2005, the Fraternity voted to place Delta Epsilon on Probation with a review in January 2007. With the help of a driven president and supportive chapter council the chapter made improvements. The president's strong communication with the Fraternity allowed us to work together and begin the reorganization efforts. With all these accomplishments our chapter as a whole had a significant amount of pride with all of our successes.

Implementing a functioning standards committee, including an active committee with weekly meetings. A highlight of this committee is implementing positive probation and strong support from our adviser. Many officers have been working with the standards committee to get help with watching members grades, making attendance an important issue with chapter commitment and being successful with collecting all dues from active members.

The chapter has organized several committees for our officers to work with and accomplish events and tasks to be done. Along with this organized committees our master calender has been done for the 2005-2006 year.

Members have hosted several visitors from the Fraternity in the house which have all been very pleased with the chapter.

In November the chapter held the first annual grade banquet to honor sisters with exceptional grades. And also have gave incentives in chapter meetings for good grades by the "Smart Cookie A of the Week Award". Seven members also were invited to join Phi Eta Sigma in 2005 and one was invited to join the Order of Omega for her 4.0 GPA.

The fall semester of 2005 started with ritual reviews and learning how important ritual is to our membership.

Many social events have were a success with a formal for the New Members in the spring of 2005, Winter Formal, a Halloween party. Prior to these formals and parties we had a Risk Management workshop and presentation that was extremely educational.

The chapter had a highly successful recruitment week with a New Member class of 27 girls. Our Membership chairmen worked hard at reorganizing our recruitment and led us in a workshop that led us to our success during formal recruitment.

On October 16, there was a Founders Day celebration with the UCF chapter sharing our sisterhood between the chapters and enjoying some Kappa Bingo and lunch.

Philanthropy

On October 1, the chapter joined the Winter Park community in a Breast Cancer walk, helped the Boy Scouts in our community and helped pack and load trucks for a can drive they were having. Before Winter Vacation books were donated to a local elementary school in Orlando, Florida and during formal recruitment bookmarks were made for the books on Philanthropy night.

In October the chapter hosted a tea with the professors with a great turn out from both the active members and the professors on campus. The Public Relations chairman had also been busy with a press release of a new newsletter, "The Hoot" and making many new T-shirts for the chapter morale.

Panhellenic has been busy all over Rollins campus with sponsored car washes for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, a Meet the Greeks BBQ and a great turn-out for the Greek Week games.

The chapter members were busy this year and we could only look forward to the rest of the spring semester . Spirits were high and we were ready to continue working hard at the achievements that can be reached.

The chapter had 62 active members in February 2006. The women were extremely united especially between each recruitment class. There are weekly meetings and monthly formal meetings that include announcements, workshops, Fraternity visitors and speakers. Along with meetings, there have been done banquets, brunches, social events and philanthropy events. This past year Delta Epsilon celebrated its 75th birthday! There was a cake and celebration commemorating the event.

The chapter also hosted several philanthropic events such as carwashes, book drives, clothing drives, and events at Lilly Pulitzer. The women raised their GPA significantly and won an award at Province for their improvements as well as an award for being the most improved in standards. The chapter hosted a Professor's Tea for professors and prominent figures on campus. The Delta Epsilon women attended and hostessed several sorority events with other sororities on campus and Kappa Kappa Gamma of UCF. As usual the chapter celebrated Founders Day and had a Parent's Weekend Brunch.

Delta Epsilon chapter has been making huge strides this year. The chapter is eagerly looking forward to the Fraternity review in January 2007 with the hopes to regain good standing with the Fraternity.

As in every year the chapter hosted several philanthropic events as well as participated in others philanthropic events. The chapter voted to increase the Chapter GPA from a 2.67 to a 2.7. Recruitment skits were changed entirely this year so the chapter could focus more on sisterhood, academics, and philanthropy.

A Kappa leadership consultant come to visit with the chapter on October 28 through November 2, 2007. Her visit was extremely helpful to the officers, specifically because she sat down with each officer and helped them better understand what was expected.

The year 2011 could be summed up by the word “progressive.” As a chapter, there had been successful growth in the terms of philanthropic achievements, as well as communication and interactions with the community of Rollins College. In chapter council meetings, members have become much more efficient and effective in the use of our time to plan and organize events and commitments that take place on and off campus.

Some noteworthy highlights that have occurred during the past year has been the most recent addition of 25 new members after our outstanding recruitment process. The girls recruited demonstrate the genuine characteristics and standards that Kappa's have upheld in the past. Philanthropic events have also been extremely successful. The RIF (Reading is Fundamental) event at Grande Ave last semester was extremely successful, as well as "Kappa Kotoure" that took place this fall. The chapter also holds small events on campus to raise money, which is donate to our philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. There was a bake sale this fall which exceeded our expectations, called "Kappa Kupcakes". Finally, house events have really stepped up over the past year in ways that we haven't seen before. Each house event is different in the sense that they revolve around different themes, such as values, religion, health and wellness, or holiday fun! Speakers and trainers come in and talk to the chapter, or engage the women in activities, that could be well used in every day life, such as self defense and sexual harassment awareness.

Delta Epsilon has continued to show honorable characteristics such as pride, intelligence, leadership, and sincerity not only to members within the chapter, but to every individual on campus, whether that is a student, professor, or member of the school board. As a chapter, there has been tremendous growth in the aspects of productivity and overall success within the chapter. As a whole, the chapter’s well-being and involvement has grown tremendously over the past calendar year.