KKG claims the two women were ousted for speaking to the media about the ongoing legal battle without authorization, among other policy violations.
Kappa Kappa Gamma national headquarters kicked out two prominent alumni last week over alleged policy violations related to their advocacy on behalf of six female University of Wyoming students who sued the sorority after a man was admitted into their chapter.
The organization terminated the membership of former Kappa Kappa Gamma national foundation president Patsy Levang and long-time member and active contributor Cheryl Tuck-Smith on October 29, the two women told National Review in an exclusive provided by the Independent Women’s Forum and the Independent Women’s Law Center.
KKG accused the women of violating a host of policies by using the organization’s contact list to fundraise for the female students’ legal defense and by disparaging the sorority’s decision to admit a male student in various media interviews.
After joining the sorority in 1969, Levang was a Kappa volunteer in good standing from 1979-2012, serving at the regional, national, and provincial levels. First, she was the province director of chapters, then a member of the regional program team, then a member of the board of the national foundation, and then president of the national foundation.
Tuck-Smith joined University of Wyoming Laramie KKG chapter in 1970. Besides helping to start an alumni association in California, she served as an adviser to the historian of the chapter from 2015-2019.
After the six plaintiffs launched their legal battle in March, Levang and Tuck-Smith spread the word by talking to the media and advertising a fundraiser for the women’s legal defense. The Independent Women’s Forum has handled the female students’ media relations.
In August, a judge dismissed the female members’ case, forcing them to keep Artemis Langford, a transgender-identifying male and Laramie sophomore, in their sisterhood. Langford was inducted through an informal, unorthodox process. Departing from protocol, the chapter conducted the vote without all active members participating and relied on a Google form to record the vote in a way that did not ensure confidentiality of members, violating sorority rules, National Review first reported in October 2022.
Asked for comment, Kappa national responded, “We cannot share information about our internal processes.”
“Regarding the case you referenced, a federal judge carefully examined every aspect of the plaintiffs’ allegations and ruled to dismiss this case – affirming a private organization’s right to choose their members,” the organization said.
In letters obtained by National Review, KKG fraternity standards director Jessica Coffield informed Levang and Tuck-Smith of their potential “dismissal,” pending review and a vote by the fraternity council, which is composed of six members plus the executive director and one ex officio member.
Coffield gave Levang and Tuck-Smith the opportunity to submit a response if they wanted it “considered by Council in its deliberations.” The pair both sent responses asking for clarification on the allegations.
KKG executive director Kari Kittrell Poole followed up to confirm that the council had voted to oust them. “The Fraternity regrets the necessity of this action,” she wrote.
The organization claimed that it received complaints from KKG alumni who were “solicited” by the pair to donate money to the plaintiffs’ page on the crowdfunding site, GiveSendGo. Coffield said Levang sent an email in August to KKG’s alumnae association presidents entitled “Case for Gamma Omicron KKG Lawsuit” requesting money to support the litigation.
“Your use of member contact information to solicit donations to fund litigation against Kappa is a clear violation of Kappa’s policy,” Coffield argued.
KKG said that member contact information on the Kappa website could only be used by alumni in conducting KKG business.
“Fraternity Standards slapped my hands and said, ‘No, no, you can’t do that because you’re not dealing with fraternity business,’” Tuck-Smith said. “And I thought, ‘That’s nonsense, this IS fraternity business. We’re dealing with our bylaws, violations of our bylaws by the leadership, and our members need to know that.”
In their case, the plaintiffs argued that KKG unilaterally redefined “woman” without going through the proper channels to change their bylaws to reflect that new definition, enabling them to rubberstamp Langford’s membership.
After sending out emails to roughly 125 alumni, Tuck-Smith received an overwhelmingly positive response, she said.
KKG headquarters also cited the pair’s decision to give interviews to local, regional, and national media outlets without KKG approval. The organization accused them of speaking to the media “about the ongoing litigation in a manner that is injurious to the organization and perpetuates harmful stereotypes and false information.”
Levang allegedly spoke for the sorority by making statements to the media in which she directly referenced her former role with KKG.
“This could be construed as an attempt to lend the impression that you have the authority to speak on behalf of the organization, which you do not,” an email from Coffield to Levang read.
“Neither of us were spokespeople,” Tuck-Smith said. “We were just giving our independent opinions and trying to educate other Kappas on what was happening in our beloved organization for sisters. It was just a personal opinion to alumna.”
“What we found out is that so many did not have a clue what was going on,” Levang said. “They have not been very transparent in this whole process.”
Other press features that KKG deemed inappropriate were Levang’s various op-eds, including one in National Review, as well as TV appearances, in which she allegedly claimed association with KKG “without approval.”
Upon his acceptance into Kappa last fall, Langford spoke on behalf of the sorority to the Branding Iron, Laramie’s campus newspaper, technically a local news outlet, where he was a staff writer. Langford did not obtain approval from Kappa, nor was he reprimanded for his misconduct after the fact, one female plaintiff told National Review at the time.
The final strike against Levang and Tuck-Smith was their alleged infringement of Kappa’s “Human Dignity policy.” KKG accused them of showing “discriminatory treatment of a transgender member and the validity and right to existence of transgender people in general” in statements to the media.
Section 5 of national Kappa Kappa Gamma bylaws state that an associate or alumni member may be dismissed for violating the “purposes and standards of the Fraternity.”
“The idea that these women are violating the purposes of the Fraternity when all they’re trying to do is fight for the existence of the Fraternity as defined by its own bylaws is crazy,” May Mailman, a senior law fellow at the Independent Women’s Law Center who is working with the plaintiffs in Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma, told National Review. “Under their reasoning, they should dismiss themselves before they dismiss Patsy or Cheryl.”
KKG headquarters has not just sanctioned the admission of men into local chapters. In 2020, it installed Tracy Nadzieja, formerly known as “Tom” in college, into its senior leadership as a District Director. Nadzieja has appeared in at least one press interview since representing KKG.