Latest news with #KappaKappaGamma
New York Post
2 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Sorority girls say this Greek tradition gave them the best sleep of their lives — why it worked
You may want to rush to try this one out. With the new school year underway for colleges in the South and Midwest, #rushtok has taken over many a TikTok feed — and has some former sorority girls reminiscing about their unusual sleeping arrangements. While 'cold rooms' might not look like the most comfortable place to catch some Z's, several ex Kappas, Deltas and other letters of the Greek alphabet insist it's where they got some of the best sleep of their lives. So-called 'cold rooms' are common at sororities and fraternities at some universities. Filled with bunk beds, they look somewhat similar to hostels (pictured) — though they're kept super cold and dark at all times. skyNext – Cold rooms — also called cold dorms or sleeping porches — are rooms in frats or sorority houses that are filled with lots of bunk beds, similar to military barracks. According to House Beautiful, they're common at schools like Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Washington. Designated for sleeping only, they are typically kept dark — think blackout curtains and minimal lighting — and at super low temperatures, with the AC turned way up. They can usually be found in attics, basements or enclosed porches. 'It's basically one big room that's really cold, really dark, and filled with bunk beds,' Jade, a Kappa Kappa Gamma at Perdue, explained on TikTok. 'You were assigned a bed and you made it the coziest little spot — you make it so dark and cozy that you wanna skip all of your 7:30s and if you were me, you did.' Jamie, another Kappa Kappa Gamma, said the lights were never turned on in hers. Unsurprisingly, quite a few commenters on TikTok have been unimpressed with the photos they've seen, with one comparing them to 'orphanages you would see in movies based in the early 1900s.' 'No amount of wanting to fit in could get me to sleep in there,' wrote another, while a third chimed in: 'This sounds like pure torture.' But from those who have actually slept in them, there seems to be never-ending praise, with several calling it 'the best sleep ever' and 'the best sleep of my life.' 'Cold room was the BEST! Soundest sleep I ever had. Mine was right by the window and I loved everything about it,' wrote one. 'Man, I miss the sleeping porch,' added another. 'It was so cold in there, my bed was so snuggly, quiet naps any time of day… the best.' One woman 'would do anything to have another sleeping porch nap.' So what exactly makes the sleep so good? According to Dr. Dennis Auckley, Director of Center for Sleep Medicine for MetroHealth, there are 'definitely some upsides to this type of sleeping arrangement' — especially the cold temps and darkness. Former sorority girls say they got the best sleep ever while sleeping in cold dorms. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images 'Sleep should ideally take place in a cool environment. This is because the brain and our core body temperature need to decrease to help facilitate sleep,' he told The Post. 'Cooler environments generally enhance deep, or slow-wave, sleep, which is the most restorative state.' You also want a dark environment, he said: 'Many of these cold air dorms use blackout curtains to keep it very dark. That is good and will help facilitate sleep.' He also noted possible psychological benefits of communal sleeping, like feelings of inclusion and safety. There are, though, some downsides, like noise — from people coming and going, alarms going off, or someone snoring — or lights being turned on. 'These will fragment sleep and lead to poor overall quality of sleep, and potentially shortened sleep duration,' he said. 'In addition, if some individuals come to the cold dorm bed and stay on their phones (doing whatever), creating light distractions, this can interfere with the sleep of others. Sleep quality aside, a large number of people spending hours together in close quarters can also increase the risk of spreading respiratory infections, especially viruses like the flu. If you want to replicate the magic of a cold dorm at home — without the potential downsides — Auckley says you're in luck. These factors all contribute to a good night's sleep.
Atlantic
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
What It Means to Be a Mystic Girl
When I was little, I asked God for straight hair. I begged him to persuade my ballet instructor to let me dance en pointe instead of holding me back to give my ankles another year to strengthen. And I prayed that my parents would send me to Camp Mystic. These are the kinds of things girls think about and talk about with one another, and with God. I grew up in Austin, Texas, and every third girl I knew went to Mystic, the Christian girls' camp that was devastated by flooding last week. Every year a camper goes, she gets a letter made of felt to bring home, representing one of the camp's two 'tribes'— T for Tonkawa or K for Kiowa. I had one of my first tastes of jealousy in seeing the string of red letters grow, summer after summer, on my childhood best friend's bulletin board. When I got to the University of Texas, my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, was full of women who had gone to Mystic. The Mystic Girls always said they have an unbreakable bond, one that lasts through life. Many campers dreamed that someday, their own daughters would attend; mothers would put their daughters on the Mystic waiting list right after the babies were born. My friends' mothers and aunts spoke of the 99-year-old camp with the same reverence they usually reserved for Jesus: His glory. His presence. The Almighty. Mystic. 'It's hard not to feel like you are surrounded by a higher power when you're down there, because it's just so beautiful,' my friend Olivia Marrus told me. Olivia went to Mystic for 10 summers—nine as a camper and one as a counselor. And it's true that Mystic had the best kind of Texas landscape: old cypress, live oak, and pecan trees; soft grasses; the cool Guadalupe River running through what is known as 'Flash Flood Alley.' Elizabeth Bruenig: An inhospitable land Most nights, campers take turns leading a devotional. 'You're asking things out loud, and you're not afraid to work through problems together,' Olivia recalled when I spoke to her this week. 'If God is real, why did this boy say something mean to me?' 'If God is real, why didn't I get Head Belle on the Highland Park Belles team?' If God is real, why were at least 27 campers and counselors at Mystic swept into the Guadalupe and killed? Many people don't understand what summer camp means to Texans. It is not just a way to keep kids occupied when school is out of session and the heat makes you feel like you can't breathe. It's a way of life. And Mystic is one of the oldest and most prestigious camps in the Texas Hill Country. Former First Lady Laura Bush was a counselor. President Lyndon B. Johnson's daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters attended. Campers have included the daughters of three Texas governors. My parents, transplants from the Northeast, didn't understand why a summer camp was so expensive. Mystic might sound stuffy, but my friends often say it was the place in the world where they felt the most free, the most uninhibited—a place where faces were freckled and untouched by makeup. There were no electronics. No boys. No parents. The camp offered archery, riflery, horseback riding, basketball, and competitive canoeing. The refrain I've heard repeated in texts, Instagram posts, and prayers since the July 4 flood is 'Mystic is love.' Olivia told me that campers sang all the time, everywhere. They sang even in the back of a school bus last week— 'That's how it is with God's love (praise God!) / Once you've experienced it / You spread his love to everyone / You want to pass it on'—as they were evacuated out of the destruction. Mystic knew that campers would come back summer after summer, so the same group of girls always shared a cabin, with names such as Bubble Inn and Giggle Box. The oldest campers were called aides; a year later, many of those girls returned as counselors. Counselors who came for three years were rewarded with the ultimate keepsake: a Mystic ring, a gold, cursive CM forever branding the owner a Mystic Girl. Like every self-contained world, Mystic has its own vernacular, its own logic. People understandably want to search for blame after a tragedy, to find a reason for the catastrophe. Some have asked if Mystic could have been better prepared for this disaster. Why, people have wondered, were the cabins of the youngest campers so close to the river? It's easy to say now that they shouldn't have been, but the cabins were close to the river for reasons both symbolic and rational. Little girls stayed on the 'flats' and worked their way up the hill as they aged. The cabins on the flats were closest to the nurse's office, where campers could go if they were ill or just homesick. A small creek separated the senior commons from the rest of camp. During really big rains, the creek could flood, and the bridge that crossed it could become impassable. But Mystic was prepared for that. Girls could access a shed of food in the senior commons until they could get back to the rest of camp. In her 10 years, Olivia never experienced a rain big enough to flood the creek, let alone the river. 'Nobody ever talked about the Guadalupe flooding,' she said. 'That was just so not something that was even plausible to anyone. Why would you even think that? Big rain was just a rainy day: Stay in your cabins. Hang out with your friends. Play cards.' Although Texas seems to be perpetually in a drought, storms aren't abnormal. I have gotten more flash-flood alerts during my life in Central Texas than I can count. My brother and I used to cheer when the roads flooded enough for us to go 'puddling'—driving through the deepest ditches so water would splash all the way up onto the car's roof. (As our mom would point out, this isn't safe.) So I wasn't immediately alarmed when I heard the first reports of flooding near Mystic. Neither was Olivia. The realization that this was not just another big rain hit her when she saw a video of a cabin from a nearby boys' camp floating down the Guadalupe. I began to understand only when I was told that a girl I once babysat was missing. Olivia's phone exploded with text messages from former and current campers and counselors: I feel like I'm gonna throw up. I'm sick to my stomach. What the fuck is going on? 'We were taught to deal with most situations,' Olivia said. 'Are you taught to deal with a hundred-year flood? No, because how do you teach anyone to deal with that?' Olivia imagined what it must have been like to be there when the water rose, in the place that had been her reprieve from every bad thing that had ever happened to her, the place that had helped her believe in God. 'You can see yourself being the counselor who's terrified, trying to get her girls to safety. You can feel yourself being a 9-year-old, four days into camp, being terrified. You can put yourself in the shoes of any person that was there,' Olivia said. She 'could have been you.' People want to find the villains responsible for the tragedy at Mystic—state or federal agencies, the camp, the government, the world—because they want to hold someone accountable, to make sure such a disaster never happens again. But also, they don't want to confront the idea that, maybe, God permits such unimaginable cruelty. More than 160 people are still missing from the floods across Central Texas, some of them Mystic campers. Early in the week, families and friends were posting photos of the girls they were looking for on Instagram. Now they are posting tributes to their memories. As each day passes, the likelihood that there will be no more survivors settles across the region. 'This thing that happened is so unprecedented and unbelievable,' Olivia said. 'I never felt anything but so safe and cared for at camp.' Mystic, she went on, 'gave me my best friends. It gave me the happiest memories. It gave me a lifetime of lessons.' For nearly a century, Mystic has taught girls to be brave, confident, intelligent, fun, and kind. It taught them that God is everywhere and that friendship is everything. They need those lessons now more than ever. Maybe we all do.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cal Poly student's death ruled a suicide, SLO County coroner's report says
Editor's note: This story mentions suicide. The death of third-year Cal Poly student and sorority member Christina DeChalk has been ruled a suicide, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's-Coroner's Office said Friday. According to a coroner's report provided to The Tribune on Friday morning, an autopsy confirmed she died from an overdose of medications. According to the report, DeChalk's roommates called 911 on Jan. 26 after finding her unresponsive. When the Sheriff-Coroner's Office arrived, Deputy B. Geremia found she was dead with no signs of foul play, according to the report. Her family was notified soon after the Sheriff-Coroner's Office arrived on the scene. DeChalk was the fifth Cal Poly student to die within a year, The Tribune reported in January. She was also the second member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority to die within that same year, after Sofia Padoan, who was the president of the sorority, died from a brain aneurysm in February 2024. DeChalk was remembered by the sorority on Instagram as an incredible friend. A vigil was held on Feb. 4. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988. You can also call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607 for 24-7 assistance. To learn the warning signs of suicide, visit
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kobe Bryant's daughter Natalia graduates college 5 years after dad's death
honored her late father, Kobe Bryant, while graduating from the University of Southern California (USC) this weekend. Five years after the NBA legend was killed in a helicopter crash, his eldest child, 22, found a special way to keep him close. The model paid tribute to her dad by wearing the Black Mamba symbol over her heart. The sheath logo was embroidered above the words School of Cinematic Arts, USC, and the university's rallying cry, Fight On!, on her red and gold graduation stole. Her sash also featured the name of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, along with Class of 2025 and her impressive level of academic distinction. Natalia earned the honor of cum laude, which goes to studious undergraduates that achieve a GPA between 3.50 to 3.74. Her mother, Vanessa Bryant, shared a close-up of the stole on Instagram along with a caption, which read: '4 ever.' Natalia's achievement was met with love from friends and fans alike, including congratulations from celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Storm Reid and Ciara. 'I am beyond proud of you beautiful @nataliabryant Vanessa I saw the love that you poured into your daughter ❤️❤️❤️You did a great job❤️,' Beyonce's mother, Tina Knowles, commented. Jessica Alba commented: '❤️❤️❤️ congrats!!!! @nataliabryant -wow!' Khloé Kardashian also raved: 'Congratulations! This is such a huge accomplishment!' Michael B Jordan commented under Natalia's Instagram: 'Congratulations!! World is yours!!' Natalia graduated from Sage Hill High School in June 2021, just a few months after she committed to the University of Southern California. She went on to sign with IMG Models in 2021 and is currently pursuing a career as a film director with a focus on 'girlhood and coming-of-age stories.' Natalia previously revealed that her father winning an Oscar has inspired her to also pursue an Academy Award. 'In 10 years. I want to win an Oscar. I'm not sure for what, or for what Oscar category, but that's on my list,' she said in 2021 interview. 'I want to make a film where I can incorporate fashion and those fashion aspects, and I think combining my two passions, that's just amazing. I want to be able to do that.' Kobe won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for his 2017 film Dear Basketball, which was an animated telling of his poem of the The NBA star wrote and executive produced the film and lent his voice to the Oscar-winning film as well.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kobe Bryant's daughter Natalia earns praise from Jennifer Garner and Kate Hudson on college graduation
proudly honored her late father, Kobe Bryant, while graduating from the University of Southern California (USC) this weekend. Five years after the NBA legend was tragically killed in a helicopter crash, his eldest child, 22, found a special way to keep him close on her special media. The model, who has already walked for brands like Versace and BOSS, paid tribute to her dad by wearing the 'Black Mamba' symbol over her heart. The sheath logo was embroidered above the words 'School of Cinematic Arts,' 'USC,' and the university's rallying cry, 'Fight On!', on her red and gold graduation stole. Her sash also featured the name of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, along with 'Class of 2025' and her impressive level of academic distinction. Natalia earned the honor of cum laude, which goes to studious undergraduates that achieve a GPA between 3.50 to 3.74. Her mother, Vanessa Bryant, shared a close-up of the stole on Instagram along with a sweet caption, which read: '4 ever.' Natalia's achievement was met with love and support from friends and fans alike, including heartfelt congratulations from celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Storm Reid and Ciara. 'I am beyond proud of you beautiful @nataliabryant Vanessa I saw the love that you poured into your daughter ❤️❤️❤️You did a great job❤️,' Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, commented. Jessica Alba commented: '❤️❤️❤️ congrats!!!! @nataliabryant -wow!' Khloé Kardashian also raved: 'Congratulations! This is such a huge accomplishment!' Michael B. Jordan sweetly commented under Natalia's Instagram: 'Congratulations!! World is yours!!' Natalia graduated from Sage Hill High School in June 2021, just a few months after she committed to the University of Southern California. She went on to sign with IMG Models in 2021 and is currently pursuing a career as a film director with a focus on 'girlhood and coming-of-age stories.' The model, who has already walked for brands like Versace and BOSS, paid tribute to her dad by wearing the 'Black Mamba' symbol over her heart Natalia previously revealed that her father winning an Oscar has inspired her to also pursue an Academy Award. 'In 10 years. I want to win an Oscar. I'm not sure for what, or for what Oscar category, but that's on my list,' she said in 2021 interview. 'I want to make a film where I can incorporate fashion and those fashion aspects, and I think combining my two passions, that's just amazing. I want to be able to do that.' Her father was just starting to dabble in film himself before his untimely passing in 2020, alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. Kobe won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for his 2017 film Dear Basketball, which was an animated telling of his poem of the same name. Natalia's achievement was met with love and support from friends and fans alike, including heartfelt congratulations from celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Storm Reid and Ciara The NBA star wrote and executive produced the film and lent his voice to the Oscar-winning film as well. In addition to pursuing her degree, Natalia has spent the past few years making a name for herself in the fashion industry. This includes making her runway debut in September 2023 at the Versace show during Milan Fashion Week. She was also an intern to Beyoncé for the Renaissance World Tour. In February 2024, she graced the cover of Town & Country and spoke about her love for film and modeling. 'I think it's fun to have my foot in both worlds,' she told the outlet. 'They're both collaborative, and you meet so many different people.' While speaking about her mindset and professional goals, Natalia explained she knows she has 'to keep learning' because 'there's no finish line.'
