PURPOSE
To assist female college students in the pre-medical process; to encourage the development in leadership and communication skills; to provide support academically, socially and emotionally; and to promote individuality, unity, and diversity.
HISTORY KGD established itself as the first pre-medical sorority at UC Davis in 1994. The sorority was formed with the intention to provide help and support for female college students through the pre-medical process. It has also become a means for developing leaddership and communication skills, while promoting indivisuality, unity, and diversity. In Spring 2002, Kappa Gamma Delta was established at UC Berkeley by 23 founding mothers.
KGD is foremost an academic sorority. A strong emphasis is placed on the academic well-being of all its members by requiring mandatory study hours and encouraging student-instructor interactions. We strive to keep members informed about the broad range of opportunities for women in the field of health, from social service to brain surgery.
Keeping true to our motto, we involve ourselves in community service projects, from "Habitat for Humanity" and "Bay to Breakers" to the "March of Dimes." Additionally, KGD sponsors yearly events, such as a MCAT prep course panel and a "Women in Medicine" symposium, to help educate our futures.
While the sorority has expanded to include other pre-health students of all majors (and even a few who are non-pre-health), its purpose has remained the same: service to each other and service to humanity.
Currently, other chapters of KGD exist at UC Davis (alpha chapter) and California State University, Sacramento (beta chapter). By convention, we may not use any of our sorority letters in our chapter name, hence we are the epsilon chapter.
WHAT WE DO Since "Service to Humanity" is our motto, we also have many long-term volunteer commitments with Children's Hospital Oakland, Doctor's Medical Center in San Pablo, UC Berkeley Student Learning Center, Tzu-Chi Compassion Relief Medical Team, Long Life Medical Center in Berkeley, El Camino Surgery Center in Mountain View, and many more local community organizations. Each semester, we also hold a professor dinner for the sisters to establish better relations with their faculty in a non-academic environment. Furthermore, we cosponsor many events with the UC Berkeley Career Center, Kaplan, and Princeton Review, all of which offer benefits to our members. We are currently in the process of helping our brother fraternity, Sgma Mu Delta, establish itself on the UC Berkeley campus. We are ASUC sponsored and a registered OSL student organization. We are also sponsored by Kaplan and Princeton Review.
The University of California, Berkeley is well known for being highly competitive: academically and socially. Several female students on campus felt the need for a support group that provided a positive working environment contributing to their academic success and better preparing them for their future endeavors. Inspired by the sisters of Kappa Gamma Delta (KGD) at the University of California, Davis, together we vowed to uphold the values of sisterhood and of "Service to Humanity."
In addition to our annual spring symposium, we also have monthly professional development workshops for our sisters. The Spring 2003 workshops included "The Art of Networking," "Night Safety," and "Etiquette." Fall 2003 workshops include "MCAT Prep," "Medical School Interviews," and "Resume." During Fall 2002, we compiled over 30 holiday packages of books, toys, and toiletries to send to underprivileged children in Africa. In Spring 2003, Kappa Gamma Delta spearheaded the Yellow Ribbon Project on the UC Berkeley campus, in support of the troops. That semester, we also helped coordinate the first ever American Cancer Society Relay for Life event on a college campus by raising over $500 towards cancer research and running a team at the event.