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Theta Honored at Grand Convention
July 2008
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 The sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta were honored by the international sorority at this summer’s Grand Convention when Dickinson’s chapter won several awards.
Rebecca Fassio ’09 (seen at the convention in the photo at right), president of Dickinson’s Theta chapter, accepted the awards, including runner-up for Improvement in Advisory Board, runner-up for Panhellenic Achievement, winner for Improvement in Recruitment and Membership Selection and winner for Soaring Kite. The coveted Soaring Kite award takes into consideration the progress of an individual chapter over the course of two years and is awarded to the most-improved chapter.
“When they started reading the speech for Soaring Kite, and they started talking about all the things we’d done, the realization settled in that we were winning,” says Fassio. “I was close to tears, and so was our district advisor. When they announced that we won, Karen Ledbetter jumped up and cheered for us.” Ledbetter, Theta’s Grand Council president, visited Dickinson’s Theta chapter during its 25th anniversary celebration in 2007.
“It was really nice to be recognized for all the hard work we did over the years,” says Fassio. “This shows a great level of commitment and teamwork among our members—even the smaller awards take a huge effort to win—and our enthusiasm for the ideals that we stand for.”
The Dickinson chapter has received considerable support from the local Theta alumnae chapter. Molly Banks Talley ’89, who joined Theta at Dickinson, serves as advisory board chair and assists the campus chapter president and executive committee.
“It has been such a great pleasure for me to work with these very talented women,” Talley says. “The chapter leaders have worked very hard to develop and implement a strategic plan for the chapter and, with these recent award recognitions, have earned the appreciation of the national fraternity for their dedication and success. Their achievements serve as a shining example to other Greek organizations that change is not only possible, but necessary.”
Talley believes the chapter’s strength lies in its members’ commitment to living up to the sorority’s ideals, excellent academic achievement and continued philanthropic work, particularly with the Cumberland County chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Theta’s national philanthropy.
“Being a Theta was a wonderful part of my college experience, but as an alumna I have grown to understand the deeper, more enduring value of Theta sisterhood,” says Talley. “We are all responsible for the support and development of tomorrow’s leaders—today’s collegians.”
“We’ve had fabulous support from the college and from alumnae,” says Fassio. “We have a lot of people on our side who realize we’re doing good things and, while we can do a lot, we can do even better with people rooting for us.”
In previous Grand Conventions, Dickinson Thetas won accolades for high academic achievement and for ritual appreciation, and the chapter received the rare Pennsylvania CASA Voice Award in 2007. The 2008 awards are the most the chapter has won simultaneously.
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