HISTORY

Theta Kappa Phi was founded on June 4, 1959, becoming the first official Asian-interest sorority established at UCLA. It is one of four members in the UCLA Asian Greek Council (AGLA) and one of many organizations in the larger Southern California Asian Greek Council (SoCal AGC).

The sorority was borne in the aftermath of World War II. Despite the improving racial tensions and growing acceptance of Asians along the West Coast, as many discriminatory Asian exclusion and segregation laws were repealed or overturned, strong racial prejudice towards Asians, particularly those of Japanese descent, remained. Upon her acceptance to UCLA, Margaret Ohara, the founding mother of Theta Kappa Phi, was rewarded with a Panhellenic Scholarship after being mistaken for someone of Irish descent (O'Hara). After discovering her true Japanese-American identity, the Greek panel "regretted that the woman they chose could not be invited to join any of the Greek society."

Undeterred by the turn of events, Margaret, along with eight other young female students, continued to chase their aspirations. With the help of Mrs. Rex P. Enochs, an active Panhellenic member and organizer of the UCLA chapter of Alpha Delta Pi, the Charter Members succeeded in establishing a true sorority for themselves and others to come. The good fortune of the sorority continued when the late and distinguished Dr. Robert S. Kinsman, served as the founding faculty advisor along with his wife, Mrs. Barbara Kinsman (an honorary Theta), for 45 devoted years.