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|Image= [[File:Gamma_Nu.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1925|04|09}}
|College= [httphttps://www.uark.edu/home/ University of Arkansas]
|Location= Fayetteville, AR
|Homepage= [httphttps://wwwuark.arkansaskappakappa.comorg/ Gamma Nu Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Gamma_Nu Media related to Gamma Nu Chapter]}}
'''University of Arkansas established in 1871 in Fayetteville, Arkansas'''
'''3,354 953 initiates (as of June 20132018)'''
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'''Some of Gamma Nu’s Outstanding AlumnaeCharter Members:''' Geneva Anderson, Marie Cherry, Alice Crenshaw, Dorothy Farrior, Amanda Elizabeth Harms, Hazel Hinds, Hazel Holder, Nina Holder, Lilian Kirby, Cecilia Mulrenin, Ada Phillips, Jeanne Porter, Jimmie Porter, Elizabeth Smith, Emmah Smith.
'''Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''
Deborah Oates Erwin, 2008; medical anthropologist
Cynthia Casson Morton, 2010; Director of Cytogenetics
'''Housing'''
The chapter house has had five different locations. In 1930, when the present site was purchased, remodeling began, converting a nondescript 10-room house into a structure with Colonial façade and housing 18 girls. By 1940, as the need for more space was felt, the house was enlarged to accommodate 40 members. A large three-story wing, which included a new kitchen, dining room and bedroom-bath area, was added to the original structure in 1956. This house, which had been painted gray and was fondly referred to as “Old Gray,” accommodated 75 girls, and was always filled to overflowing. Finally, it was admitted that “Old Gray” had outlived its usefulness. In 1964, the house was torn down, except for the 1956 wing. This provided space for the beautiful white colonial mansion that graces the grounds today. This three-story, traditional white brick building, trimmed with charcoal grey shutters, houses 75 91 members comfortably.
The most exciting change at the University of Arkansas is undoubtedly the addition of a brand new Kappa Kappa Gamma house. The renovation of the Gamma Nu chapter house was completed in the summer of 2013. Unveiled to members in early August, the Gamma Nu chapter house now boasts 41,000 square feet, plenty of room for our 400+ members to enjoy each other’s company, study, and hold meetings. With a chapter as large as Gamma Nu’s, it is impossible to have every member live in-house, however, the new house allows as many as 90 members to live in. The addition of our new house has allowed our chapter to flourish, we now have a chapter room large enough to host chapter meetings every Monday at our house. Members are able to bond better with one another with a general meeting area that has plenty of space for everyone to come over throughout the week. Exciting things have been happening for the Gamma Nu chapter. Our morale and spirits are very high as we look forward to the intriguing future ahead.
==Highlights of 2014==
2014 was an incredible year for Gamma Nu! Under the leadership of our president, Kelly Hudnall, and the rest of Chapter Council, plans were made to take the chapter to new heights. We really aimed to improve chapter knowledge of history and ritual, as well as improving member involvement through committee usage. In the month of February, our new members enjoyed playing games, creating dance skits, and getting to know each other better at the New Member Sleepover. We also held our annual Mom's Day brunch, planned special events throughout the weekend for moms and daughters, and our girls competed with KA and Zeta Phi Beta with a Lion King themed performance in Greek Sing.
In March, Gamma Nu hosted the first annual King of the Kourt 3 on 3 basketball tournament that the men of IFC competed in. This event kicked off the beginning of "Reading is Key" week, in which we raised money for RIF and our local philanthropies with various fundraisers. On Friday, we finished the week with our annual "Reading is Key" day at Grace Hill Elementary where members dressed up like characters, read stories to classes, and passed out three books to each child. In total in 2014, Gamma Nu donated $12,650 to our local and national philanthropies and shared hundreds of hours in the classroom with children at Washington Elementary School, our local philanthropy partner.
Also in March, members participated in the annual Sigma Chi Derby Days variety show with a Jungle themed performance, passed out free Keds to students at Washington, and celebrated our academic accomplishments with our Scholarship Banquet. At the Order of Omega awards banquet, Gamma Nu received a number of honors, including: Most Outstanding President (Kelly Hudnall), Most Outstanding Panhellenic Delegate (Ashlyn Cook), Most Outstanding Sophomore (Hannah Birch), and the Award of Excellence Gold Rating. We were thrilled to celebrate these amazing members, as well as our chapter as a whole. The chapter was able to finish out the semester with the highest sorority overall GPA of 3.509, with 118 girls receiving 4.0's. At Kappa Convention that summer, Gamma Nu also had the honor of receiving awards for Most Outstanding Recruitment, Most Outstanding House Board, and Honorable Mention for both Finance and New Member Programming.
After a great summer, members returned back to Fayetteville for work week and formal recruitment. Using the theme "Drafting the Best" to motivate us throughout the two weeks, we were able to extend 108 bids, including 48 legacies, to a great group of women. The fall semester is always an exciting time with coke dates, Owl groups, Razorback football games, and Homecoming. This year we were paired with KA and placed 2nd overall in homecoming, as well as had two representatives on court, Amy May West and Amy Moorehead.
Other fall events included: Watermelon Bust with a second place finish, Big/Little Reveal, and our annual Owl-o-ween function with Chi Omega. In November, Kappa competed in the first annual UGC Latin Ballroom dance competition, again with KA, and took home the first place trophy, and held our annual philanthropy dinner, Kappa Con Queso, with a full taco bar created by our fabulous Chef John. After "Granny" made the announcement of the date, our new members were initiated on November 9th and we were excited to officially welcome them into our sisterhood. As Gamma Nu rounded out the Fall semester, we held our semi-formal "Kappa Kissmas" before members began to prepare for finals. We again ended strong in academics with a 3.496 GPA average and a first place finish in sorority average. Overall, we accomplished a lot as a chapter in 2014 and hope to keep striving to do even more in the following years.
The University of Arkansas has been growing exponentially within the last few years, with the student enrollment reaching 26,237 this year. Constant construction on campus has brought about changes to help with the growing pains. Many new academic buildings, auditoriums, and residence halls have recently been built to help accommodate our large student population. Greek life has also been growing by leaps and bounds, with now 27% of undergrads participating in a greek organization. The Gamma Nu chapter alone has over 430 members and we continually monitor and adjust to maintain such a large chapter. Our diverse base of members are known to be very active on campus within their own colleges, in student government, and various student organizations. Arkansas Kappas have a great reputation at the U of A, as well as in the Fayetteville community. We strive to maintain an awesome relationship with our Greek Life staff and other greek councils on campus. We are also especially proud of our large focus on academics and scholarship: Gamma Nu has held either 1st or 2nd place in all-sorority average GPA for the past five semesters. Overall, Gamma Nu strives to uphold all of the ideals and principles of the Fraternity in all aspects of college life.
After our recent renovations, Gamma Nu is now able to hold chapter meetings in our new chapter room, comfortably seating all 414 active members. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to hold one meeting while fitting the entire chapter in a single space.
Gamma Nu has had five different housing locations, but purchased the property for the current location in 1930. The original house on the property was converted into a 10 bedroom colonial home, housing 18 women. In 1940, the house was enlarged to accommodate 40 members, then later in 1956 a three-story wing addition, including a new kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms, was added to the original structure. This updated house was painted gray, creating the fond nickname "Old Gray", and housed a total of 75 women. In 1964, the chapter had outgrown "Old Gray", and tore down the original structure, except for the 1956 wing. The front of the house was rotated from facing Leverette to facing Maple Street, which is now referred to as "Sorority Row". The traditional 3-story colonial mansion, with white brick and grey accented shutters, was the beloved home of Gamma Nu until 2012.
In 2008, the plans began for Gamma Nu's biggest housing project thus far, using the campaign "Our Legacy-Our Future" to raise money from alumni, active members, and their families. The house was closed after the 2012 Spring semester, torn completely down, rebuilt, and opened back up for the 2013 Fall semester. The $8 million housing renovation created a new 49,000 square foot house for the Arkansas Kappas. The current white bricked, 4-story colonial style mansion was built, complete with three entertainment rooms, a library, an archive room, over ten study rooms, a large chapter room, a wellness center, and art room, and in total houses 92 women and our house mother. The new house is able to provide adequate space for our 400+ members: you can commonly find members studying together in the basement study rooms, practicing for dance competitions in the chapter room, watching the Bachelor in the Orange Couch Room, dining with friends every week at Chicken Finger Friday, and hanging out on the front porch after class. We are truly blessed by our incredible new house and can't wait for new memories and traditions to be made in this new space.
While under renovation, Gamma Nu's created a contracting deal with a new apartment complex to offer a housing alternative for members. Even after the opening of the house, the chapter continued to work with other complexes so that Kappas not living in-house could still live together in a common location. We hope this continues to be a lasting tradition for our members.
==Highlights of 2015==
2015 was another outstanding year for Gamma Nu! Under the leadership of our president, Hannah Birch, and the rest of Chapter Council, plans were made to continue to raise the bar of our chapter. This year we continued to work on chapter history and ritual knowledge, improving the accountability of members, and growing relationships with other Greek Councils. We also implemented a new Transfer Team to help our transfer sisters get accustomed to life at the University of Arkansas. In the month of February, our new members enjoyed spending time with their pledge class at the Miss PC ’14 themed sleepover. We also held our annual Mom's Day brunch on February 20th, which included planned special events throughout the weekend for moms and daughters. During this weekend, our girls competed with Fiji and Phi Beta Sigma with a 90’s themed performance in Greek Sing. In March, our sisterhood girls also planned a fun balloon-pop painting event on the lawn, and we celebrated our House Director, Mom Shanks’ birthday with a surprise party in the dining room.
In the spring semester, Gamma Nu also hosted our signature fundraising event called “Reading is Key Week,” a week filled with fundraising events that led up to our greatest day of service – Reading is Key. Our second annual King of the Kourt basketball tournament was a huge success, with over 20 IFC teams participating. A new event for Gamma Nu this year, as part of the new Reading is Key Week, was a philanthropy event called Blading for Books. Gamma Nu’s 2015 Reading is Key event was held in Rogers, Arkansas, at Grace Hill Elementary, a 91% poverty school. The theme for this year’s Reading is Key event was The Reading Railroad. Each of the 91 students were able take 3 books home that were donated by the Kappas, and new for this year, each child also received a CD recording of a Kappa reading the 3 books aloud. The events held during Reading is Key week and throughout the year helped raise $6,500 to benefit Reading is Fundamental, as well as organizations that are associated with RIF. We were also able to sponsor our community partner, Washington Elementary, in the Backpack for Kids program through the Arkansas Rice Depot. Also in March, members came in first place in the annual Sigma Chi Derby Days variety show with an American themed performance, had a fun sisterhood event at the trampoline park, and celebrated our academic accomplishments with our Scholarship Banquet. At the Order of Omega awards banquet, Gamma Nu received a number of honors, including: Academic Excellence Award, the Award of Excellence Gold Rating, and five sisters received scholarships. We were thrilled to celebrate these amazing members, as well as our chapter as a whole. The chapter was able to finish out the semester with the second highest sorority overall GPA of 3.508.
After a great summer, members returned back to Fayetteville for work week and formal recruitment. Members also welcomed our new House Director, Margie Slagle, into Gamma Nu. Using a Beyoncé theme, as well as the two goals of positivity and efficiency to motivate us throughout the two weeks, we were able to extend 132 bids, including 38 legacies, to a great group of women. This was also the pilot year of the Brunson Bump System, developed by our recruitment chair, Brittany Brunson, and her software engineer parents. This was a game-changer for Gamma Nu recruitment, and will help improve our matching techniques for years to come. The fall semester is always an exciting time with Fraternity coke dates, Owl groups, Razorback football games, and Homecoming. This year we were paired with Kappa Sigma, Farmhouse, and Kappa Alpha Psi as we “Called All Hogs Home” throughout homecoming festivities, as well as had four out of the five representatives on court: Haley Birch, Hannah Birch, Morgan Farmer, and Amy James. After "Granny" made the announcement of the date, our new members were initiated on October 11th , and we were excited to officially welcome them into our sisterhood. Other fall events included: Big/Little Reveal, Dad’s Weekend, our annual Owl-o-ween function with Chi Omega, CFF with Global Greeks, and our philanthropy dinner, Kappa Con Queso.
In November, Gamma Nu hosted its first Girls’ Academy at Owl Creek Elementary School. This event was organized by senior members Sara Bryant and Carly Krieger, and was an absolute success! Our members had a blast mentoring 5th and 6th grade girls with small group led discussions, fun activities, large group meetings, and even a visit and autograph session with Miss Arkansas 2015 Ashton Campbell. Over the weekend, the girls enjoyed choreographing dances, painting nails, and performing a service project around their school as they got to meet other girls in their class. This event was especially close to our hearts because a Gamma Nu Alum is a teacher at Owl Creek, and it was great to hear directly from her how we have impacted the girls at the school! We look forward to mentoring these girls in the years to come and adding Girls’ Academy to our annual philanthropic calendar! Also in 2015, Gamma Nu celebrated 90 years at the University of Arkansas with an Alumni Tailgate held at the chapter house. Alumni and family gathered after the Auburn game for a afternoon filled with great food, live entertainment, a silent auction, and shared stories of fun times as an Arkansas Kappa. Guests and alumni enjoyed flipping through old scrapbooks and many enjoyed seeing the house for the first time since our 2013 renovations.
As Gamma Nu rounded out the Fall semester, we held our semi-formal "Kappa Kissmas" before members began to prepare for finals. We again ended strong in academics with a 3.443 GPA average for the Fall 2015 semester and a first place finish in all-sorority average. Overall, we accomplished a lot as a chapter in 2015 and hope to keep striving to do even more in the following years.
The University of Arkansas continues to grow and expand with 26,754 students enrolled on campus. This year we saw the addition of new buildings on campus, including Champions Hall and the Fred W. Smith Football Center. The University also experienced a change in administration after Chancellor G. David Gearhart retired in July after holding the position for twenty years. Former Chancellor Dr. Dan Ferritor stepped in as interim Chancellor for the Fall 2015 semester. Along with the University, Greek life has also been growing by leaps and bounds, with now 26% of undergrads participating in a Greek organization. With this growth, the Panhellenic Council has also discussed plans for bringing new chapters to campus and we expect to see the addition of new organizations within the next few years. The Gamma Nu chapter is the largest chapter on campus with over 430 members and we continually adjust to maintain such a large chapter. Our diverse members are known to be very active on campus within their own colleges, in student government, and various student organizations. Arkansas Kappa’s have a great reputation at the U of A, as well as in the Fayetteville community. We strive to maintain a strong relationship with our Greek Life staff and other Greek councils on campus. We continue to hold pride in our large focus on academics and scholarship: Gamma Nu has held either 1st or 2nd place in all-sorority average GPA for the past seven semesters. Overall, Gamma Nu strives to uphold the ideals and principles of the Fraternity in all aspects of college life.
==Highlights of 2016==
The ladies of Gamma Nu were very involved and active in many areas of Greek life and registered student organizations during the 2016 school year. This year, Kappa participated in the Greek Life homecoming, which consisted of a large lawn decoration and a Greek life parade. Kappa participated in Carol of the Greeks, the philanthropy event put on by Phi Gamma Delta, and won! They practiced hard to put on a holiday show. At the Miss University of Arkansas pageant, member Bethany Miller represented us beautifully. Two members of Gamma Nu, Madison Cole and our president, Nancy Smith, represented us on homecoming court. Gamma Nu collected 16,000 cans for Lambda Chi Alpha's annual Watermelon Bust, which goes to Lifesource food pantry. Gamma Nu had a very successful recruitment through which we initiated 115 members.
At the annual Order of Omega award ceremony Kappa was beyond honored to receive so many awards and honorable mentions. The ceremony was led by the president of Order of Omega, Gamma Nu Sara Bryant. The new president of Order of Omega was announced, which was Gamma Nu Madison Cole. Gamma Nu won many awards, including the Academic Excellence award and the Award of Excellence. Gamma Nu Hannah Birch won Outstanding Chapter President, Gamma Nu Josie Dubois won Model Initiate, and Gamma Nu Sara Bryant won Outstanding Senior. It was a great night for Kappa to be honored by the Greek Life community.
This fall, Delta Gamma came to the University of Arkansas. Gamma Nu volunteered to allow their new members to use our lawn on their Bid Day, which held place in September. This was a great opportunity for Kappa to be able to give back to the Panhellenic community and welcome a new chapter to campus. We also held a luncheon at our weekly "Chicken Finger Friday" for the international students who are on campus this year. They came and ate with our members and were given tours by some of the Gamma Nus.
This spring, we had 106 members receive 4.0s. It was an incredible feat because many of our members are in challenging majors, as well as being involved all over campus.
This year, homecoming was completely different for University of Arkansas greek life. In the past each sorority was combined with a fraternity, and the pairing worked to create lawn decorations, a float for the parade, and competed for the most amount of people to donate to the blood drive, to dance in the step show, and to play in the intermural football game. This year, Panhellenic and IFC voted as a whole to not participate in any of these activities as a competition, but the whole group would create a lawn decoration, a float, and the donations would not be a competition.
In years past, there were five women on homecoming court. This year, there were women girls on homecoming court, as well as seven men. We were proud to see Kappa represented on the court.
Overall, our chapter holds ourselves to the highest standards. We are known on campus for being "Kappa ladies", which means that we are consistently pushing ourselves to be better and to do the right thing. We are a sorority that is very proud of our sisterhood, our morals, and our accomplishments.
Kappa's philanthropy chair hosts our annual event at Grace Hill elementary school in which we donate three books to each student in Kindergarten at the school. Gamma Nu continues our weekly philanthropy of donating our time at Washington Elementary School, in which we assist teachers, students, and the school as a whole.
Gamma Nu chose Grace Hill because it is an underprivileged school in our community. It has a lot of students below the poverty level whom may not have the opportunity to own their own books to read at home. Students who have their own books to read at home learn to read faster and are more likely to develop a lifetime habit of reading. Many of these students do not own any books of their own, and through our philanthropy, we were able to aide these students.
Washington Elementary school is a weekly tradition that our philanthropy chair coordinates. Through this, Gamma Nus sign up for a classroom to visit once a week for a semester. They go and assist the teacher in whatever way he/she needs. This can include making copies, running errands, reading to the children, testing the children with flashcards, making crafts, keeping the children from misbehaving, and many more activities. This has proved to be a wonderful program. The principal of Washington, Mrs. Ashley McLarty, was a Kappa. She has told us time and time again how much the school benefits from Gamma Nus going and helping the school.
Our chapter meets in our chapter room that is in the basement of our house. It can hold the entire chapter, which has 431 members.
==Highlights of 2017==
[[File:Gamma Nu Bid Day 2017.jpg|thumb|Gamma Nu Bid Day 2017]]
Our members of Gamma Nu have had such a great year, and it truly has showed with many different accomplishments and involvements around campus. This year, we were awarded the Intramural Cup among all the other sororities. Kappa participated in a Greek Life Gives Back Day, which we placed first. Our chapter's involvement included donating cans and participating in a community service project. Our members spent a day picking up trash around the streets of our campus. Gamma Nu participated in Carol of the Greeks, which is a philanthropy event put on by Phi Gamma Delta. Our members practiced for numerous weeks, and they placed 2nd. In addition, we have been extremely excited for all of our girls that have participated in recent pageants. This year we were honored to follow our very own, Former Miss America, Savvy Shields on her journey with the crown. She is truly someone that embodies all the qualities of a Kappa woman. Also, we have recently had a member, Lauren Weaver become Miss Arkansas USA. She will be competing in Miss USA next year. Three of our members, Landri McGregor, Ali Ezell, and Natalie Counce represented Kappa on the homecoming court. At the Order of Omega
Ceremony, Kappa was represented with great honor. Kappa was honored to receive Outstanding Service Award and Panhellenic Award of Excellence. Karen Thompson received Advisor of the Year, and Madison Cole received Most Outstanding Senior. Also, Kate Truitt was awarded the Most Outstanding Freshman New Greek Council. Kappa had the highest GPA on campus at a 3.506 with 114 4.0s among our members. Gamma Nu was so thankful to have such an incredible recruitment where we initiated 126 wonderful new members. Our very Own President of Gamma Nu, Landri McGregor, received the 2017 Presidential Scholar award last semester. This prestigious award is given to one student from each college annually by the Provost. This year our campus was led by two Gamma Nus on ASG Exec, Natalie Counce as Vice President and Macarena Arce Vega as Secretary. It was amazing to watch how every member supported them throughout this whole year. Kappa paired with Beta and Phi Gamma Delta to put on a self-defense class for any girl on campus. This allowed for the whole campus to come together and be united for a wonderful cause. This class opened the eyes of many girls around campus above the need for safety and awareness on any college campus.
The most recent change that played a major part on our new campus dynamic was adding a new sorority to our greek life system. Delta Gamma was welcomed with open arms onto our campus. It was so amazing to watch how the greek life system went above and beyond to reenact a very memorable Arkansas Bid Day. Kappa was selected to be the location for all the celebrations that took place after. The lawn was full of support, smiles, and excitement. However, the support that was shown to this chapter was here far after their first few months. Our campus has exceeded all expectations to make Delta Gamma feel right at home. In addition, Kappa has gone above and beyond to show these girls what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself. This year we have continued to show them love by having them join in some of our Chicken Finger Fridays. In addition, we helped them this year for preparing for recruitment. Also, just a couple weeks ago, we were working with them for homecoming. We were able to build bonds with them while helping the members learn to enjoy the fun hours of pomping. These moments are the times that truly displays Gamma Nu’s character. This sorority is full of girls going above and beyond to make others feel confident, loved, and valued on this campus.
'''Philanthropy'''
Kappa has done numerous events to build a better community. Our philanthropy chairs lead our annual Reading is Key week. During this week, we not only donate books but have members go to Grace Hill Elementary. Members are able to read stories to the classes, and help participate in crafts. Also, Kappa continues to spend time at Washington Elementary School to help assist the teachers and students. In addition, we try to motivate 5th and 6th grade girls to be confident in who they are by participating in Girl’s Academy. We have the weekend retreat at Owl Creek Elementary School. It is amazing to see how one weekend can make such an impact in these girls’ lives.
Gamma Nu chose to take part in facilitating Girls Academy at Owl Creek because it is an underprivileged school in our community. It has many students who are struggling financially whom may not have this amazing opportunity. Gamma Nu decided to take part in philanthropy events helping Washington Elementary, Owl Creek, and Grace Hill because they are underprivileged schools in our community. For Grace Hill, numerous of these students are living in poverty. Some of the children may not even have books of their own. By giving the children books it allows for them to not only progress in learning, but to get to escape from reality. We all have those childhood books that take us into this whole new magical place. We are able to provide for these kids more than just a book, but something that will be cherished a lifetime. Washington Elementary is a weekly opportunity for girls to help in the classroom. The members will sign up early in the school year to pick which classroom they would like to be through that semester. Members are able to help with not only doing tasks for the teachers , but also get to interact with the students. This has been such a successful event that continues to happen every year.
[[File:Gamma Nu Chapter Room.jpg|thumb|Gamma Nu's chapter room]]
Our chapter meets in our chapter room, which is in the basement of our house. We are able to have enough room for all 444 girls to have a seat.
[[File:Gamma Nu Archives Room.jpg|thumb|Gamma Nu Archives Room]]
==Highlights of 2018==
The Gamma Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has had a successful and eventful year as
shown through the level of accomplishments and involvement on campus as well as within
the community. This year at convention, Gamma Nu was honored to receive several awards.
Our Chapter Council members graciously received the Philanthropy Award and Heritage
Award. We also received Honorable Mentions in Risk Management, Academic Excellence, and
Panhellenic. Our chapter was the most proud to be recognized as a Top 5 Finalist for the Most
Outstanding Chapter. Winning these awards at convention was incredible, but being
surrounded by our fellow Kappa chapters and sisters was inspiring, encouraging, and
worthwhile. Gamma Nu was also recognized heavily through Order of Omega in which our
chapter received the Award of Excellence. One of our members, Layne Winn, was recognized
as an Outstanding Executive Board Member for her commitment to Panhellenic Exec. Order of
Omega also recognized Landri McGregor as the Outstanding Chapter President for her
leadership of Gamma Nu. In Spring 2017, KKG received Academic Excellence for the highest
GPA on campus. Grace Wewers was also recognized as Outstanding Junior by Order of Omega.
Kappa was also fortunate to have our very own, Lydia Fielder, serve as the 2018 Homecoming
Queen for the whole university. Gamma Nu holds the Intramural Cup Champs award for our
athletic teams. We also won Derby Days, a dance competition between all sororities. KKG also
placed first in Carol of the Greeks, which is a singing competition between all sororities. SOOIE,
a registered student organization on campus, recognized KKG as the 2018 Student
Involvement Academic Award winner. Overall, Gamma Nu came together to have a very
successful year. Although awards are not the sole reason we set high goals for our members,
their hard work has paid off with these recognitions.
Gamma Nu is very fortunate to have a beautiful house in which members can meet and spend
time. This year, many sororities were in the process of rebuilding their houses. Therefore,
there was not a meeting place for their sorority members during the rebuilding process.
Therefore, Gamma Nu decided to welcome them into our house! We invited Alpha Chi Omega
members to a Chicken Finger Friday meal at our house. It was great to offer them a place to
share a meal and to get to know members from a different sorority in a casual setting! We also
hosted the ladies of Tri Delta to eat a meal at our house, when they were unable to provide
meals for them one week during the finishing reconstruction of their house! Being able to help
our fellow University of Arkansas sororities is something that our chapter loves to do. There is
a special sense of unity and community among Panhellenic members at Arkansas and Gamma
Nu does an especially good job of fostering this!
Gamma Nu took part in philanthropy events helping Washington Elementary and Owl Creek
because they are underprivileged schools in our community. Through Girls Academy and
weekly tutoring in the classroom, our members are able to make a difference in the lives of
these children by helping them learn to read, but more importantly instilling a new sense of
confidence in them. It is unifying for the chapter to come together in support of these
worthwhile organizations!
Our chapter meets in our chapter room which is in the basement of our house. We are able to have enough room for all members as there are around 500 seats available.
Savvy Shields was a Gamma Nu and served as Miss America 2017. She represented our chapter so well
on a national platform. Chelsey Churchill serves as the Chapter Council Advisor and was the president of the chapter when she was an active member. Landri McGregor was the Gamma Nu president last year and currently works for Nestle in Cleveland, OH.
==Highlights of 2019==
The Gamma Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has soared to new heights in the 2019
calendar year. The Spring semester was filled with philanthropic events, special activities,
and multiple honors given to the exceptional women that make up our chapter. Reading is
Key week was held in March this past year and Emily Kohring, Gamma Nu’s philanthropy
chairman, managed to raise over $1000 in support of Reading is Fundamental. Our
members volunteered their time during that week at local elementary schools and
throughout campus to raise awareness for children’s literacy.
Gamma Nu's academic achievements are evident in the vast number of senior members
that were recognized in April. Josie Dubois, Emma Buckner, Gracie Engelkes, Lydia Fielder,
Fallon Freeman, Madeline Mays, Alex Otwell, Sophia Vincent and Abigail Walker all
received the Seniors of Significance award. These women were selected by the University
based on academic achievement, leadership skills, and community outreach. Emma
Buckner and Lydia Fielder also received the title of Razorback Classics for the impact they
made on fellow students during their time at the University. As a chapter Gamma Nu
received multiple awards from Order of Omega. They included Academic Excellence,
Outstanding Junior: Katherine Gilbrech, and Model Initiate: Lindsey Jetton. Overall, Gamma
Nu came together to have a very successful semester. Although awards are not the sole
reason, we set high goals for our members, their hard work has paid off and is shows through these
recognitions.
Gamma Nu's excellence continued into the Fall semester. Panhellenic Recruitment was
held at the beginning of August and we welcomed 118 new members into our home on
August 24, 2019. In October, Gamma Nu celebrated Founders Day to kick off the year long
celebration of Kappa's sesquicentennial. The pledge class of 1969 all returned to Gamma
Nu to receive their 50-year pins and bestow their wisdom upon the active members. Our
annual Scholarship Banquet was held in November and 147 members were recognized for
maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Initiation was held on November 16, 2019 and 117 members were
initiated. This past year has brought Gamma Nu great success and we look forward to
another remarkable year
Gamma Nu is fortunate to have a beautiful house in which its members can gather for
fellowship. Construction on our fellow Panhellenic sister’s homes finally came to a
completion and Maple Street has never looked more beautiful.
This year Gamma Nu focused on improving the sisterhood nature within our chapter. Our
grand size of over 400 members makes it that much harder for women to meet and form
genuine relationships. Gamma Nu aids in cultivating these friendships by putting on
sisterhood events. Sisterhood events held this past year included trips to trampoline parks,
movie nights, roller skating, and watercolor painting.
Gamma Nu takes part in philanthropic events for Reading is Fundamental, Washington
Elementary, SOAR and Girl's Academy. Gamma Nu takes part in philanthropic events helping Washington Elementary and Owl Creek because they are underprivileged schools in our community. Through Girls Academy and weekly tutoring in the classroom, our
members are able to make a difference in the lives of these children by helping them learn
to read, but more importantly instilling a new sense of confidence in them. It is unifying for
our chapter to come together in support of these worthwhile organizations! This past year
Gamma Nu officially added a new organization to its chapter’s philanthropy. SOAR is an
after school program that provides a safe and affordable place for kids to learn, build
healthy relationships with peers and practice leadership skills they will need for future
success. This new addition provides more opportunities for members to make a difference
in our local community!
Founders Day was bigger and better than ever this year at Gamma Nu. Our chapter held its annual Founders
Day dinner and ceremony, but this year we had a special group of women join us. The
Pledge Class of 1969 all returned to participate in the festivities and received their 50 year
pins.
Gamma Nu is excited to head a year long celebration in anticipation of Kappa's sesquicentinnial! This year we kicked off the party
with Founders Day and have since been visited by the Minnie Stewart Van. The van was a
hit among the members of Gamma Nu. Sisters were lined up outside waiting for a chance
to see the archives and this mobile museum brought all the way from Headquarters! In 2020, our executive board
will travel to Convention to continue the celebration. The women of Gamma Nu are excited
and looking forward to celebrating 150 years of Kappa Kappa Gamma all year long!
==Highlights of 2020s:==
Gamma Nu used social media as a platform to reach out and spread awareness for racial injustice as well as encouraging others during the pandemic to ‘mask up.’
We celebrated the 150th Anniversary by hosting a virtual celebration after chapter meeting showing the significant events throughout Kappa’s history.
This year has been full of exciting events for Gamma Nu. We started chapter operations at the beginning of the academic semester on January 11th, 2021. Our chapter meetings were held over Zoom, but we continued programming, announcements, and events virtually. Also, in January we had our all-officer leadership day, where all members holding a position attending a leadership workshop in preparation for their term serving the chapter. In February we continued with virtual chapter meetings and started to have more chapter events. The Recruitment team began holding rush practices, we elected members for our DEI committee, and we held a galantines sisterhood event called Kappa Kupid. In addition, February was the first of our monthly all-officer meetings, where all positions met and discussed our goals and plans for the coming year. In March, it was announced 5 Gamma Nus had been selected as Seniors of Significance for the University. These women were selected for their academic achievements, extracurricular involvement, and leadership on campus. We also held a fun sisterhood event called “Bagels and Bracelets“ in March. In April we celebrated our members with 4.0s with a 4.0 dinner. There were 147 members with a 4.0 from the previous semester. There was also a philanthropy event called Kappaccino in April, where our proceeds were donated to RIF. We were also approved for an in-person Moms‘ Weekend celebration, with fun activities planned around Fayetteville for our members. To wrap up the semester, we had a mock recruitment practice, a New Member retreat, and our Girls Academy Philanthropy event. Throughout the summer, our recruitment team prepared for recruitment through social media outreach, creating videos, and organizing for the coming weeks. Recruitment at the University of Arkansas saw the highest number of potential new members we have ever seen with 1981 women registering for recruitment. We successfully navigated the virtual and in person rounds of recruitment, giving out 163 bids to new members. The fall semester presented many more opportunities for in-person events. We started the semester on August 23rd with in person chapter. The new members had their first chapter meeting and formal pledging on August 24th. We received our grades report from the Spring 2021 semester, where Kappa had gone from 5th in grades to 3rd. Our average GPA for the spring was 3.629 and we had 157 members with 4.0s. In September we held our first in person formal chapter meeting and had our first social function in over a year. We held multiple programming events this month, had multiple percentage days, and participated in National Hazing Prevention Week. In September, our VPO Peyton Jobe was selected as Greek Woman of the month. In October, I began holding Initiation practices, Big/Little reveal happened, Leadership Applications were due, we had a Halloween function, and Gamma Nu celebrated Founder‘s Day. Founder‘s Day was particularly special as we had local alumnae receive their 50-year, 30-year, and 25-year pins during our ceremony. All 163 of our new pledge class got initiated on October 30th, which was a fun and successful event. In addition to Initiation, we held our philanthropy event Kappa Karnival in October at the Kappa house. We also had a painting pumpkins sisterhood event and Homecoming for the University. Following Initiation, we had formal chapter and a Ritual review for our new members. In November we held our combined 4.0 Dinner and Scholarship Banquet for girls who received a 4.0 in the Spring semester, where professors could be invited to attend dinner and a ceremony honoring our members. Slate calls were held November 28th and elections for new officers will be held on December 6th. We had a fantastic year at Gamma Nu and I am proud of the way our members have handled the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of maintaining our community‘s safety. I am looking forward to the coming year and seeing all that Gamma Nu will accomplish.
Gamma Nu supports SOAR, an after-school program dedicated to providing a safe and encouraging environment to the children that attend. SOAR has allowed our members to reach our local community in such an important way. A Gamma Nu alumnae connected our chapter with this organization and our members have built meaningful relationships with the kids at SOAR. We have also found that SOAR is relevant to both our previous Philanthropy of RIF and our current philanthropy of Mental Health Awareness. Through our partnership with SOAR we have seen growth in the children and community by providing a consistent source of support and engagement to the children attending this after school program.
Our chapter added a DEI officer for this term as well as created a DEI committee. This officer attended multiple roundtables with other Panhellenic DEI officers and ran programing presentations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This included presentations on heritage months, cultural appropriation, and the importance of DEI in a sorority on a college campus. Gamma Nu‘s public relations officer has also shared multiple resources to our Instagram page for members and followers to see. I believe our chapter is receptive to these initiatives and that we are all excited to continue learning and growing as a chapter.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented the need for many chapter operations to be altered. This year we have adapted many of our typical events to ensure our members were safe throughout this time. In the Spring semester, all our chapter meetings were held online. In addition, our programming was held virtually through Zoom. For events that were held in person, we had members participate in shifts so that the number of people present allowed for social distancing. Our recruitment was permitted to be in person, as were many of our fall events due to a low number of cases in the community. However, Gamma Nu required masks inside the house and held many outside events throughout recruitment. We had Kappa Karnival during work week, where members could get cotton candy, popcorn, and play on a blow-up slide. We also held a sisterhood event at the Drive-In movie theater. The first round of recruitment was held virtually, and all other rounds were in person. However, all members and potential new members had the option to participate online. Initiation was also permitted to be held in person. During Inspiration week we held sisterhood events outside. For example, we had a bonfire at a local house where members could make s'mores and tell stories about their Kappa memories to the new members. For Initiation we also held multiple ceremonies to limit the number of people in the Fireside service and White Room. We had two fireside services and three combined Red Room and White Room ceremonies. I believe our chapter has done a great job navigating this difficult year. We provide a virtual option for our members to attend events like functions and require mask wearing when events are in doors.