(LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL) —Kappa Delta Sorority’s 61st Biennial National Convention opened June 27, 2015 at the Walt Disney World® Swan and Dolphin Resort with more than 1,000 attendees, the most of any Kappa Delta convention.

At the Opening Session, National President Beth Martin Langford welcomed members to her home state of Florida, and Executive Director Pamela Nix Elms shared the State of the Sorority. Watch the video recap here.

The Order of the Emerald recipients are:

• Rebecca Mullin Armour, Epsilon-Louisiana State
• Donna Green Barsotti, Beta Lambda-Georgetown
• Vicki Robinson Cooper, Delta Omega-Mississippi State
• Teresa Zontok Finley, Kappa Alpha-Florida State
• Elizabeth Windom Kenemer, Delta Chi-LaGrange
• Janna Fredregill McKale, Sigma Sigma-Iowa State
• Sandra Mahaffey McLeod, Pi-Nebraska
• Andrea Heisler Melcher, Beta Psi-Arizona State
• Cindy Deiters Mize, Epsilon Iota-Missouri
• Susan Downs Mull, Sigma Phi-Georgia
• Virginia Cowan Pierson, Mu-Millsaps
• Nancy Eastwood Pityk, Xi-Pittsburgh
• Sylvia Skouby Strackeljahn, Epsilon Alpha-Missouri S&T
• Becky Duvall Weingardt, Beta Sigma-Southern Mississippi
• Leslie Neely Rupp, Jeri Kemp Hunter, Crystle Johnson May; Kappa Alpha-Florida State

The Order of the Pearl recipients are:

• Sally Stienecker Andreoni, Beta Mu-Bowling Green State
• Kristy Green McCorkle, Delta Upsilon-Tennessee Tech
• Betty Ann Weekley Campbell, Alpha Xi-Louisville
• Summer Schock, Sigma Epsilon-Texas
• Ginger Graham Niemann, Epsilon-Louisiana State
• Misty Bolton-Samuels, Zeta Gamma-Arkansas
• Patricia Anderson Tooke, Sigma Lambda-Auburn
• Sandy Etz Wysocki, Epsilon Iota-Missouri
• Isabel McCants Yates, Beta Zeta-South Carolina

The Corre Anding Stegall Collegiate Leadership Award recipients are:

• Danielle Boutwell, Beta Upsilon-Susquehanna
• Cadi Duncan, Mu-Millsaps
• Emily Durocher, Eta Lambda-Franklin & Marshall
• Carol Feng, Lambda-Northwestern
• Stephanie Guang, Theta Gamma-Brown
• Brooke Heller, Gamma Chi-Lenoir/Rhyne
• Allanah Jackson, Beta Tau-Vanderbilt
• Melanie Kaderabek, Delta Beta-Eastern Illinois
• Brittany Lok, Gamma Beta-North Texas
• Morgan May, Delta Zeta-Louisiana/Monroe
• Caitlin McCarthy, Eta Epsilon-South/Sewanee
• Cara Mund, Theta Gamma-Brown
• Kate Ricart, Zeta Chi-Idaho
• Savannah Strayer, Kappa Alpha-Florida State

The Mileage Award was given to Alpha Iota-California/Los Angelos. The chapter traveled the most combined miles to National Convention.

Kappa Delta Sorority is a national organization for women with more than 230,000 members, 159 active collegiate chapters and more than 500 chartered alumnae chapters nationwide. In 2009, the sorority created the Confidence Coalition, an alliance of organizations and companies committed to promoting confidence in girls and women. In 2010, Kappa Delta established International Girls Day to empower girls to reach their potential. It also created International Women’s Friendship Month for women everywhere. Kappa Delta is active in a number of philanthropic endeavors, including the prevention of child abuse and confidence-building programming with the Girl Scouts of the USA. Kappa Delta’s national headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information, visit www.kappadelta.org.