alpha Kappa Delta Phi was founded at the University of California, Berkeley in Fall 1989 and officially recognized by the College Panhellenic Association on February 7, 1990. The four founding sisters - Susan Kim, Fannie Pon, Jill Yoshimura, and Reina Yuan - dedicated themselves to creating an organization that would provide Asian American women with the opportunity to participate in the Greek system. They gathered together a group of women who shared their goals of sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, and Asian American awareness, establishing the ideals that would form the foundation of our purpose.
Since then, alpha Kappa Delta Phi has grown nationwide and is currently the largest Asian-American interest sorority in the nation. There are currently 44 chapters and over 2,000 sisters around the nation spanning from the East to the West coast.
The University of Pennsylvania was the first East Coast chapter of aKDPhi, recognized on March 23, 1994, and attained full chapter status on May 26, 1996. Since its establishment, the sisters of UPenn Theta Chapter have become increasingly active in the APA community, contributing widely to events both on and off campus. Sisters are actively involved in organizations such as the Asian Pacific Students Coalition, Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, and other Asian-interest groups on campus. The present chapter at UPenn represents a diverse group of women, unique in background, ethnicity, and personality, each of whom bring an array of experiences and individuality to the table.
The UPenn sisters remain a strong chapter in the Northeast region through their involvement with many chapters on the East Coast. In the Fall of 2005, the University of Pennsylvania become the host chapter to help establish the University of Maryland BC Chapter, the 40th chapter, of alpha Kappa Delta Phi. The efforts of the Theta Chapter at university, regional, and national levels were recognized at the alpha Kappa Delta Phi National Convention XIV in the summer of 2006 when the Theta Chapter was presented with the prestigious Chapter of the Year Award by the aKDPhi National Board.
