Ulenna Gonzales

Professor Shuv Rana Bhat

Introductory Composition: Writing as Inquiry

20 September 2023

Kappa Delta as my Discourse Community

It was just last week that I received a text message from an unknown number. It was a

message from a soon-to-be friend who was a part of the Kappa Delta sorority. Her name was

Sera Giles, and she was interested in getting to know me, giving me more information about the

sorority, and seeing if Kappa Delta was a great fit for me. In the back of my mind, I was nervous

because being in a sorority was something that I never thought of being a part of. Of course,

there were stereotypes about what sororities people join but I did not care. I decided to take the

opportunity. Little did I know that would be one of the best decisions I could make for myself. I

had decided to take this opportunity. The next day I had a meeting with Sera. I found myself
engulfed in the information and excited for my future. I could sense the passion and sincerity that

the leaders of Kappa Delta had for their organization and that made me want to take the next

step.

Now that I have decided to be a part of a new sisterhood, I have learned what it means to

be a Kappa Delta. Many may believe that joining a sorority is scary and that may be true for

some people but what I have come to know is that it is a community of women who are a support

system for each other. Many people think that being a Panhellenic member means that it is all

about the parties and dressing up cute. That is not true. Kappa Delta has common goals that we

all strive for. Those goals include instilling learning, establishing and growing confidence,

friendship, and service. One thing that I have always desired is to always learn. Learning from

my mistakes, having understanding, overcoming obstacles, and having an open mind are all ways

that I can instill learning into my life. The second goal is confidence. Confidence is a goal that I

still struggle with daily. My freshman year of college was the first time that I embodied what

confidence is. I am proud to say that I have established confidence within myself, but I still have

a lot of growing to do! The next goal is friendship. As I have grown up, I have been able to make

some of my very best friends. Kappa Delta is big on creating new relationships that will last a

lifetime! The last goal is service. This is the goal that attracted me the most. Kappa Delta

supports the organization “Preventing Child Abuse” and the Girl Scouts. There are so many

service opportunities and events to be a part of that count as community service hours and

leadership roles which is what I am most interested in. Having these goals that all the sisters

strive for pushes us to be better versions of ourselves every day! Whether you are a Kappa Delta

at TCU or another campus you can always expect the same values among its members!
 With all the events, volunteering, banquets, formals, and philanthropy there are forms of

intercommunication that help keep everyone on track and prepared for what is to come. Flare is

the main app that we use to communicate with each other whether it is the leaders trying to

communicate to the chapter or it is used for the girls to communicate with each other. There also

is a calendar on the Flare app that shows us all the scheduled events along with the information

we need to know about the event whether that is what to wear or how to prepare for the event.

Our profile is also visible in the Flare app so that we can see our friends, the number of events

that are scheduled, and the groups and chats that we are a part of. This is by far my favorite way

of communicating with such a large group. The next form of intercommunication that we have is

GroupMe. It is very similar to Flare, but it just contains other important chats and collaborations

with other sororities. Finally, there is text message. We use text messages for more personal

conversations such as reaching out to our twin dates and scheduling times to go get coffee or

other extracurricular activities.

Kappa Delta is a new sorority to the TCU campus. We must go through trial and error to

figure out what works best for the group and ourselves. As a new group, we are having to

establish new leaders and new ideas so feedback is a must because it lets the leaders know what

is working and what is not. An example of the feedback provided would be the most recent

parent meeting where someone mentioned having a dad's weekend. I can give feedback about

our interests regarding new events, philanthropy, and council members. There is not much

feedback that I receive or give because we are just starting but there is a lot of information about

schedules, scholarship opportunities, and leadership roles.

Genres for this discourse community were a little hard for me to recognize. I would say

that one of the genres would be tabeling. An example of tabeling is when a member sets up a
table and we get to write letters to our friends with cards that are provided. Our leaders did this

today and yesterday and they also handed out pins. It is a fun thing to do to get our name out

there and to also have an impact on someone’s day. Tabeling is not specific to Kappa Delta.

Many other organizations do this, and you can see this all around campus! Another Genre that

also has to do with our intercommunication is Flare. Flare is used as a genre because it is a big

way that the sorority connects. Lastly, I said Facebook. Facebook is a genre that appeals more to

parents for obvious reasons.

There are a few forms of lexis that can be found in this discourse community. One of the

lexes would be the Greek letters or the Greek alphabet. Our motto is Greek. Ta Kala Diokomen.

This means “Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful, and highest.” Another form of

lexis would be the hand signs. Sororities have hand signs that they do which lets us know what

sorority they are! It is used more as a symbol than a language. Lastly, our crest can also be a

form of lexes. Those who are not Panhellenic members may not be familiar with what a crest is

at least I was not. It shows our colors, and it is the emblem that represents Kappa Delta!

Kappa Delta is a discourse community because it has six categories that are listed by

Swales. Being a part of this discourse community was not something that I had ever imagined

myself being a part of. Now that I have joined, I have no regrets. Being surrounded by

empowered and confident women who are working on their growth is part of what pushes me to

better myself every day. I was trying my best to understand Swales’ description of genre and was

somewhat challenged with trying to figure it out. Throughout the process of identifying why

Kappa Delta is a discourse community, it has made me excited for the sisterhood I have joined

and what it will bring me in the future.