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|Image= [[File:Zeta_Mu.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1985|11|16}}
|College= [httphttps://www.vt.edu/ Virginia Tech]
|Location= Blacksburg, VA
|Homepage= [httphttps://chaptersvt.kappakappagammakappa.org/zetamu/ Zeta Mu Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Mu Media related to Zeta Mu Chapter]}}
'''1,288 526 initiates (as of June 20142018)'''
The overall nature of our chapter is that of a real sisterhood. One of the aspects that our new members have told us coming in is that they decided to go Kappa because they could really see that we actually got along with each other. The Zeta Mu chapter prides itself on being diverse and taking in members from all different majors and walks of life.
==Highlights of 2014==
In the spring of 2014 the Zeta Mu Chapter welcomed 47 new members into our chapter. They were initiated on March 23, 2014. That semester we participated in XXX PHILAN and placed in XXX of them. We also held our PHILAN, Kaddy Shack in which XXX organizations participated.
During informal recruitment in the fall of 2014 we welcomed 8 new members who were initiated on November 8, 2014. During the fall we participated in XXXX PHILIAN and placed in XXX of them.
This year, with the change in the GPA requirement at Convention, we are hoping to get off of our academic focus plan. The change really helped us by being able to recruit really academically strong women.
Recently the PHC executive board at Virginia Tech decided to change the timeframe for our Formal Recruitment process. In the past Formal Recruitment has been over the weekend before classes start and then also the first weekend after classes start. PHC announced Fall 2014 that Formal Recruitment for Spring 2015 would happen the week before classes started, enabling both sisters and new members to focus and get a good start on the semester.
PHC also removed the GPA requirement for Formal Recruitment in spring of 2014 and onward. This allows all campus women the chance to participate in Formal Recruitment, but the drawback to this is the amount of girls participating with unacceptable GPAs.
Virginia Tech also offered a Legacy Report which at last check (2/13/2015) is stated to be from information collected in 2013. All subjects are listed as above average except for the conduct section marked 'violation'. This violation has since been removed for the past year and a half. This information has been made available to PNMs and there is also no specification on what the violation is or the severity which has been a bit problematic.
Over all the Zeta Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is characterized on campus as a diverse group of collegiate women who are welcoming and sisterly to all who enter our doors.
Chapter for the Spring 2014 Semester was held in Hahn Hall North, a university owned building. Fall 2014 Chapter was held in Hancock Hall, also a university owned building. We do have housing where members have the opportunity to live together. The house is university owned with 16 rooms there is space for up to 32 girls at one time.
==Highlights of 2015==
Summary:
Over the past year, Zeta Mu has done a lot. We’ve participated in a variety of philanthropies, had ourselves a new different internal philanthropy, and celebrated our chapter’s 30th anniversary. Our Academic committee did a lot of work as well, creating new programs to help the chapter, such as a group study event called Books Over Bars, and starting a team competition between varied groups of members of the chapter. Our house furthermore participated in a campus-wide competition for using the least amount of electricity during a three week period called Turn Down For Watt, and won, gaining $500 to the charity of our choice. We were also honored to have one of our members represent us on the Homecoming Court. We were also selected to participate in LEADToday by headquarters, which allowed us to not only get to know people outside of our immediate friend groups, but also really look forward and grow as a unit, something we all really enjoyed.
When our leadership consultant came to visit in November, we learned about the different ways that every chapter of Zeta Mu does and uses Oh Patt, and learned how ours is particularly quick. As I said, we also celebrated our chapter’s 30th anniversary. We had a big weekend for the alumni, culminating in a celebration at our football stadium September 26th. Something we’ve traditionally prided ourselves on our sisterhood, but that is something we’ve worked on a lot this year.
At our first chapter of the fall semester, we had a whole chapter activity where we all let people know how much we cared and respected them, and for our fall mandatory sisterhood retreat, we split up into random groups and bonded with people we maybe had never had a chance to get to really know before. Our main internal philanthropy event in April was a new one, called Hit the Fleur, in which we hosted a swing dance competition. The first day we hosted a percentage night, but then our second night we had the swing dance competition, in which we taught them the basics, and then let them at it. We also started a new bond with an organization on campus called Soma Sasa, led by a student from Tanzania which runs a library there, hosting a percentage night with him in December. Also in December, we hosted an online trunk show with Trend Tribe.
While there were not really any major changes on our campus, the overall nature of our chapter is a wide variety of types of young women who are involved all over campus in different things. Not one is a copy of another, and no one feels like they have to achieve that.
In the past we have always dedicated much of our time to the children at Prices Fork Elementary School. We host our Reading is Key event there every year, but beyond that we aim to be a point of contact any time the parents or teachers should need assistance. We have lent sisters to work at craft shows and various festivals at this school. We feel that by being so present, it’s a constant reminder that our organization cares for them and that our mission is not based solely in money.
Prices Fork is one of the most under served elementary schools in the county and is just outside of the reach of most other help from campus organizations, so we are happy to go out and do our part there.
==Highlight 2016==
This year we accomplished many things as a campus organization and as a sisterhood. We held a very successful new philanthropy event, held extra sisterhood events and continually worked towards contributing to the Virginia Tech community. With each day and the new challenges it brought each and every sister stepped up to improve themselves and our chapter as a whole.
From the beginning of the semester we had a strong focus on sisterhood and wanted to offer additional ways for stronger connections to form. We held a Super Bowl potluck, a “singles awareness day” brunch, a Halloween movie night and a Thanksgiving potluck, all optional in addition to our mandatory sisterhood event each semester. The house has facilitated much growth in sisterhood and as a place for all sisters to come and enjoy each other’s company.
Virginia Tech will be gaining a sorority this coming spring, Kappa Alpha Theta. Many of our sisters are working to be Theta ambassadors and our Panhellenic delegate is working with Panhellenic council to help Theta’s recruitment following formal recruitment go smoothly.
We participated in many external philanthropy events and enjoyed supporting so many great causes. In April we held a concert and cookout one night and a kickball tournament for our spring philanthropy event benefiting RIF. It was a great way to raise money and enjoy each other’s company; all the organizations that participated enjoyed the events. In the fall we held our reading is key event at the Blacksburg Children’s Museum, this change in venue from a school allowed us to reach a larger number of children and offer different activities.
== Highlights of 2017 ==
The chapter participated in many community service events outside of our own philanthropy, such as Shackathon, Relay for Life, and The Big Event. Many of our sisters are heavily involved in these events, and have leadership positions within them which incentivized other sisters to participate. Shackathon was in support of Habitat for Humanity and we paired with another fraternity on campus. Through joint efforts and a bake sale at the shack, we were able to help raise money for Habitat as well as build a stronger relationship with another organization in Greek life. The chapter also participated in many other greek organizations philanthropies, even winning ATO's philanthropy supporting the Women's Resource Center of the NRV. This past year the chapter has been very focused on improving PR around campus so many booths and photoshoots were held to help get our name around to people. We celebrated the chapter by having two date parties, formals and semi-formals where sisters got the chance to spend time with each other in a different setting than usual.
[[File:Zeta Mu 2017.jpg|thumb|The members of Zeta Mu chapter in 2017.]]
This past spring Virginia Tech added its thirteenth sorority to campus, Kappa Alpha Theta. We welcomed them with open arms considering our long history and this fall had our first Kite and Key event! The event was a joint bowling event where both chapters had a great time. Overall our chapter has improved greatly while trying to improve PR. We have participated in many philanthropies, attend more events and increased our awareness on campus.
This past year we held many donation booths on campus to raise money for Reading is Fundamental, Reading is Key and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This year, our signature fundraising event was "Kappa Kickball" to support Reading is Fundamental. We hosted a cookout at the Kappa house where funds were raised through admission and a raffle, as well as a kickball tournament where each team dressed to a theme and funds were raised by admission. A portion of the money raised was given as a prize to the top 3 organizations who won the events based on a point system. The Reading is Key event was held at the Blacksburg children's museum, and involved activities such as drawing with the children in attendance, reading with them, and decorating snacks and cookies. Our sisters were eager to help and happy to interact with all of the kids that had showed up.
We decided to focus mainly on RIF and Reading is Key this year since it is our internal philanthropy which we hold closer to our heart. We did chose to participate in other philanthropies supporting varied causes such as The Ronald Mcdonald House, Womens Resource Center, and GI Veterans.
== Highlights of 2018 ==
Over the past year, the Zeta Mu Chapter has participated in different organizations philanthropies such as Relay for Life, The Big Event as well as other Greek organization’s philanthropies. We have many sisters that have a leadership role in either the Big Event or Relay for Life which has helped more sisters get involved in these specific events. One of the chapters goals this last year was improving our PR around campus. In order to do this, we had a variety of booths and photoshoots to get our name out to different organizations as well as to potential new members joining the chapter in the Spring. Some special events we had includes two date parties, semi-formal and formals where sisters were able to get dressed up and have fun with each other in a different setting. This past summer, the Zeta Mu chapter had the opportunity to send 6 sisters to the convention in Colorado where they learned new information through different speakers and breakout sessions and brought it back to improve the chapter.
[[File:ZetaMu2018.jpeg|thumb|Zeta Mu 2018]]
There were no new changes to our campus. However, within the Zeta Mu chapter, over this last year we have put a stronger emphasis on our involvement with other sororities and fraternities so that we can make a stronger impact on campus. Overall, our chapter is improving on our PR and is becoming more aware to others on campus.
In the spring, we had Kappa Kickball to support Reading is Fundamental. Different kickball teams wore different outfits. For example, one team wore Hawaiian shirts. We also had different donation booths to try and raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Over this least year, we had fundraisers at places such as Sweet Frog and Panda Express to help raise more money for our philanthropy. In the fall, we had a Reading is Key event at the Radford Adventure Center. It involved drawing and reading to children. Earlier in the fall, we had the opportunity to go to a men’s soccer game at Virginia tech and win money towards our philanthropy since we had the most people show up from a Greek organization. It was a fun way to bond with sisters while also winning money for RIF and Reading is Key.
==Higlights of 2019==
There were no new changes to our campus. However, within Zeta Mu chapter over this past year we have worked hard to redefine our sisterhood as one that is supportive and respectful to each other as well as holding each other accountable. We have worked hard to encourage active sisters that we all joined this organization because of its values the sisters shared such as genuineness and kindness. We have been working to recruit new members and welcome them into a positive and impactful membership experience as a Kappa.
Over the past year, Zeta Mu chapter has taken part in different organization's philanthropies such as Relay for Life, The Big Event, Homecoming Board, as well as Panhellenic. We have an active sister as President of Panhellenic here at Virginia Tech. We had a successful Spring and Fall recruitment this year. We are super excited to have 8 sisters in the role of Rho Gamma for recruitment this year. Some special events we had this year were date parties, semi-formal, and formals where sisters could get dressed up to have fun with their sisters and their dates. We had the great honor of winning Best Risk Management and completed over 100 hours of community service as a chapter.
Philanthropy: In the Spring, we had Kappa Kickball to support Reading is Fundamental. Different organizations made teams and competed against each other to help us support RIF. We had donation booths set up around campus to try and raise money for RIF. WE had a Moe's percentage night as well as set up Crowd Change pages to share on social media to raise money. In the fall, we had an event to support Reading is Key at the Christiansburg Adventure Club. We got to spend time reading with kids as well as coloring pictures with them. We also decided to support a new local organization this fall called the Children's Health Improvement Partnership CHIP of the New River Valley. We had Kappa Kaddyshack which was a mini golf tournament at a local driving range. We also had a Chipotle percentage night as well as a coupon code through Campus Cookies to raise money for CHIP. We also had a percentage night to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation at a local restaurant called Mezeh.
Why did the chapter choose this organization? We chose to support Reading is Fundamental, Reading is Key as well as the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation because they are our internal philanthropies. We chose to support CHIP so that we could help a local organization so they can continue helping people in our area. We also participated in other Greek philanthropies that supported causes such as victims of domestic abuse, the Jimmy V Foundation as well as many more.
Founders Day: To celebrate Founder's Day this year we had fun celebrated at the chapter. We started with our Founder's Day ceremony. Then we had cute balloons set up for a picture station as well as lots of food to enjoy each other. We also played some games in teams where we worked together to answer Kappa history questions. The winning teams won special prizes such as shirts, water bottles, and stickers.
Sesquicentennial Celebration: We are so excited to celebrate 150 years of Kappa next year. We plan to have a big celebration to talk about all the historical events that took place leading to Kappa's founding. We will also be following and keeping in touch with Karen Burholder Nichols, a Zeta Mu sister who will be traveling on the Minnie Stewart Van.
==Highlights of 2020s==
Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, this year was different than most years. We worked very hard to ensure that we did everything we could to stay connected virtually. This year we made it especially important to have special sisterhood events through zoom, so that our members still felt a part of
something. We had movie nights where we could share our screen with other members to watch a movie together, we had workout classes taught by girls in the chapter such as yoga and pilates, and with the holiday season we had baking events where sisters shared a cookie recipe and we were able to bake cookies at home but together on Zoom. We also focused a lot on mental health and education because the switch to fully virtual lives is difficult and exhausting mentally for some. We wanted to ensure that sisters had resources in the chapter and tips for how to manage our virtual education.
At Virginia Tech, most classes moved online during the Fall semester. Because of the rules of the school and state guidelines, the way we function as an organization was altered immensely. We were unable to have chapter, ritual events, or philanthropic events in person because the number of people exceeded the state regulations. Our chapter worked hard to keep in touch with members and ensure that everyone was being safe and following rules to keep themselves as well as others safe. Even though a lot of things changed for us because of the pandemic, we wanted to be sure that we did everything we could to help our new members get plugged in and help them feel a part of something.
=Chapter Philanthropy= Philanthropy for our chapter and other organizations on campus were vastly different than they usually are. Things were moved on line and we were unable to conduct in person events. We participated in different philanthropic events for Delta Chi and Alpha Chi Omega this semester. For our own philanthropy we raised money for the Children'''Housing:''' s Health Improvement Partnership CHIP of the New River Valley. We set up CrowdChange pages to raise money virtually as well as had a percentage night at Chipotle. We chose to support CHIP so that we could help a local organization so they can continue helping people in our area. We also participated in other Greek philanthropies that supported causes such a victims of domestic violence and the Jimmy V foundation.
==Highlights of 2021==
Chapter Philanthropy
NAMI and The JED foundation which were voted on by our chapter. The chapter voted on
these organizations to support in our philanthropy efforts because of the resources that they
provide, focusing on an age-group that we all are a part of.
Philanthropy for our chapter and other organizations on campus were vastly different than
they usually are. Things were moved online and we were unable to conduct in person events.
We held our fall philanthropy, Kappa Kaddyshack, for the JED foundation at a mini golf course
near our campus. This was a fun opportunity for the sisters to bond together while
supporting our cause.
[[File:Zeta Mu 2021 (1).png|thumb|chapter]]
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We utilized our DEI chair position and they created a series of presentations to give to the chapter on
subjects ranging from gender identity to creating a safe environment for all of our members.