Our
Purpose
and
Mission
The purpose of alpha Kappa Delta Phi is to promote sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, and Asian-American awareness in the university and in the community, while encouraging the expression of the individual. The sorority is composed of highly motivated women with diverse backgrounds, interests, and fields of study. Each woman, however, shares a strong bond of love, friendship, and sisterhood. With a supportive network of sisters, each woman can strive to fulfill her personal, academic, and career goals.
alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, Inc. fosters the making of successful leaders by assisting and challenging our members to reach their maximum potential. We strive to maintain the highest levels of integrity and innovation in the promotion of sisterhood, philanthropy, scholastic excellence, and Asian-Awareness in the community while creating lifelong relationships.
Our
History
National History
alpha Kappa Delta Phi was established at the University of California, Berkeley in the fall of 1989. Four headstrong visionaries: Susan Kim, Fannie Pon, Jill Yoshimura, and Reina Yuan, initiated the concept of having an organization that would provide them as well as other young college women the opportunity to experience sisterhood and to promote what they felt was integral to the development of successful women. After proposing their ideas to women at the Berkeley campus, they, along with ten strong and willful fellow women, became the founding sisters of alpha Kappa Delta Phi.
Together as the charter class, they dedicated themselves to establishing a strong and lasting organization that would foster not only sisterhood, but scholarship, service, leadership, and Asian American awareness as well. The founding sisters: Betty Chu, Karin Co, Susan Kim, Nancy Lee, Sherri Leung, Annie Loo, Belinda Ma, Anita Ng, Serene Ngin, Fannie Pon, Josie Sun, Daisy Wu, Jill Yoshimura, and Reina Yuan, came together to share one another's goals for a promising union. These ideals were to later set the foundation and purpose for alpha Kappa Delta Phi.
Charter History
Cornell University has a culturally diverse student population of which 19% is Asian. Unfortunately, that percentage is not reflected in the Greek life at Cornell; in fact, less than 1% of the Greek population is Asian. The reason, perhaps, may be that no sorority or fraternity has ever specifically met the needs or concerns of the collegiate Asian community.
Finally, in the Spring of 1997, three women set out to establish the first Asian and Asian-American interest sorority at Cornell. Kelly Eng, Natalie Elizabeth Louie, and Lucie Eun Mee Shin were some of the first women who realized that their concerns were not being met at the already existing sororities. However, their desire to still participate in the Greek system led them to alpha Kappa Delta Phi, a national Asian and Asian-American interest sorority. As founders of the Charter class, they acquired the necessary information and documents to start a chapter at Cornell. Then, they began to recruit the other sisters of the Charter class who shared the same goals and visions for the first Asian-American interest sorority.
In the Spring of 1997, the other women of the Charter class now included: Janet Cheng, Quan Diep, Hellin Jang, Helen Jen, Nancy Kim, Michelle Li, Patti Li, Rosalyn Nguyen, Christine Tao and Angela Yu. Together, as sisters of the Charter class at Cornell University, they vowed to give 100% dedication to promote sisterhood, leadership, support, love, and friendship through the establishment of alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, Tau Chapter at Cornell University.
Our
5 Pillars
Sisterhood
Through joining aKDPhi, sisters can form new lifelong relationships. Each sister is different in her own special way, but together as a sisterhood we all stand as one to share our hopes, dreams, troubles, and fears.
Scholastic Excellence
College is a time to learn, be challenged, and discover oneself. aKDPhi provides a great network of support for academic endeavors and recognizes excellence of our sisters with rewards and scholarships. We hope each sister can reach her maximum potential and fulfill her goals.
Leadership
aKDPhi is dedicated to building a premier network of innovative female leaders within the community. We urge each sister to explore her leadership skills. Within the sorority, each sister is encouraged to take on several positions to help lead the sisterhood.
Asian-American Awareness
As an Asian and Asian-American Interest organization, we pride ourselves in hosting and participating in events that promote Asian culture. Each semester we host, co-host, and participate in Asian and Asian-American Awareness events on campus.
Events:
- Asia Night
- Mid-Autumn Festival
Philanthropy
The Tau Chapter at Cornell University supports aKDPhi’s national philanthropy, Breast Cancer Awareness - especially through helping our local philanthropy, Ithaca Breast Cancer Alliance. Throughout the year, we host various events and fundraisers promoting Breast Cancer Awareness and raise hundreds of dollars for breast cancer research. Additionally, every sister completes several hours of service each semester, often volunteering for local programs such as Ithaca’s own Loaves & Fishes.
Our
Motto
“Timeless friendship through sisterhood.”
