By: Stephanie Wright/ Assistant Editor

     The proverbial bad girls, sorority members get an awful rap. Anything and everything from drinking and partying to backstabbing and gossiping, it all falls under the realm of the rights of passage for sorority girls, or so it seems. It is no wonder then that any organization labeled a “sorority” has such a negative connotation carried with it.
      Jennifer McClure, a junior from Decatur, always knew she wanted to be in a sorority. That’s when she found Alpha Delta Kappa.
     “ADK wasn’t started to be like normal sororities, it was meant to be different,” McClure said. “It was just a group of girls serving God with the title of a sorority.”
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary hails a sorority as “ a women’s student organization formed chiefly for social purposes.” ADK, however, was founded “to promote Christian sisterhood through service, and in doing so to make [their] action a witness for Christ.”
      Not only does it have a Christian purpose, but AKD was also founded on Biblical principles. The verse for ADK is Galations 6:9-10 which reads: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if do good to all people, especially to those belonging to the family of Christ.”
      ADK takes that role of servant hood seriously as they participate in numerous service projects such as baby-sitting for faculty and staff, collecting teddy bears to pass out at nursing homes, visiting children from the Date Street Projects and many more.
      Recently ADK had a new group of fledglings who endured five weeks of pledging or “growth season.” While they all had different reasons for joining, most look forward to the service projects as well as the new friends they meet.
     “I was in a service organization in high school and I wanted to find something here and ADK was a way to do that and to find very good friends that are sisters.” Jessica Thornton, a freshman from Muleshoe said.
      During the growth season, initiates would greet their sister with first and last name and sometimes with song as well as carrying around a notebook and a flashy umbrella with them at all times.
     “The worst part was one time in the cafeteria I had to go hug someone so I ran and I left my umbrella and my binder at the table and when I got back they had stolen it and they said I had to do something to get it back.” Sarah Dillon, a sophomore from Houston said. “They made me stand up on the chair and spin around three times with my umbrella open saying “I love ADK, I love AKD!”
      Current members look back and know that through pledging and everything else, it was all worth it.
     “What do I get out of ADK — I get a sisterhood that I know loves Christ, I get family and I get memories and I get to serve God — it’s so much. It’s not just one thing it’s a lot of things.” Melanie Vasquez, a junior from Hobbs, New Mexico said.
Freshman Susie Gunther from O’Donnell admits she loves the sister hood that she gets through ADK.
     “My first reason to come here to Wayland was family. And my brother’s about to leave so I’ll have no family and, well, now [ADK] is my family.”
This year nine girls were inducted into the sisterhood of service that is ADK to carry on the glorious tradition of pledge classes in the past.
     “With the group that we just inducted, I’m really excited,” Sarah Medley, a senior from Spearman said. “I just see a lot of potential and a lot of leadership there and I know that all of us that are graduating this year, we know that we are leaving ADK in good hands.”