A Kappa Royal, a Miss Teen USA, a Presidential Painting, and an Exhibit

Have you heard that Britian’s Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle, a Kappa Kappa Gamma? Odds are that her royal title will be Duchess of Sussex. Markle is an initiate of the Kappa chapter at Northwestern University. My Alpha Gam friend Nann reminded me of this book (she is, after all, a retired librarian). Princess Margaret was not a Kappa Kappa Gamma, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma will likely not be a Princess, but she might be a Dutchess.

A Southern Belle Primer: Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma was published in 1991.

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The new Miss Teen USA, Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff, is a member of  Pi Beta Phi at the University of Kansas. The list of sorority women competing for the Miss USA 2018 title grows longer. Miss Arkansas USA and former Miss America Savvy Shields are members the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at the University of Arkansas and were Big and Little Sisters. The newly crowned Miss Tennessee USA and her mother both share the same title and are also Kappa Delta sisters.

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Last year, Gatlinburg, Tennessee was engulfed in flames. This year, the exhibit on display at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is Art from the Ashes. The exhibit was
conceived by Frances Fox and Kelly Hider. It is an exhibition by local artists whose lives and careers were  impacted by fire. Frances Fox, a weaver herself, is an expert on the weaving done by those who wove for Arrowcraft, a cottage industry created in the 1920s by Pi Beta Phi through its Settlement School in Gatlinburg. Her collection of vintage Arrowcraft items was lost to the fires. About a decade ago, at a convention, she became a Pi Phi. If you find yourself in Gatlinburg, I encourage you to visit the exhibit.

This fiber piece was made by Frances Fox.

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The Kappa Alpha Theta chapter house at Southern Methodist University is likely the only sorority house with  a painting by a former U.S. president on display. The Beta Sigma Chapter recently built a $9.5 million house on the site of its former home. Laura Welch Bush is an initiate of the chapter and the library in the new house is named for her. On display in the library is a painting by her husband, President George W. Bush.

Thetas Laurie Connor and Avery Hinson in front of the painting by President George W. Bush.

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