Kappapedia - User contributions [en]

Theta Gamma

2021-12-22T19:30:08Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Theta Gamma
|GreekSymbol= ΘΓ
|Image= [[File:LIUP_main.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2018|12|02}}
|College= [https://liu.edu/post/ Long Island University Post]
|Location= Brookville, New York
|District= Rho
|Homepage= [https://liupost.kappa.org/ Theta Gamma Chapter Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Theta_Gamma Media related to Theta Gamma Chapter]}}

'''Long Island University Post, Brookville, New York'''

'''Founded as Theta Gamma Chapter December 2, 2018'''

'''60 total initiates (as of January 2020)'''

'''Charter members''':

'''Outstanding Theta Gamma Alumnae:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Alumna Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Theta Gamma Alumnae'''

== History of Long Island University- Post ==

From 1921 to 1951, Hillwood was the home of Post Cereal Company heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post. The estate’s lavish Tudor-revival mansion was a symbol of wealth and social prominence that embraced Long Island’s Gold Coast in the early 20th century. In 1947, Marjorie Post put her estate up for sale and Long Island University became interested in purchasing the property and transforming it into a small liberal arts college. In 1951, Long Island University purchased the 177-acre estate for $200,000. The university's Board of Trustees named the college for the great American breakfast cereal inventor Charles William Post. The Post campus now covers 307 acres and comprises 47 buildings, 10 residence halls, and three historic mansions.
With a wonderful history also comes rumors. “‘There is one rumor that I have tried to change for years and it never seems to really go away. It’s about the former rose arbor. [The brick arches south of the formal gardens] have for years been called The Seven Gates of Hell by more students that I can count.”’ Some students were told that the rose arbor, haunted the school with ghosts at night, but of course those were just rumors to try and scare new classes. Other rumors include Marjorie Post haunting The Seven Gates of Hell every night at midnight, and the Fine Arts building as well.

Beginning in fall 2014, athletes and students began to gather at the new Bethpage Stadium, the most modern building on campus. Which will, as of Fall 2019, house outdoor Division one sports.

Sources:
http://liupostpioneer.com/this-is-our-history-liu-post/
http://www.liu.edu/CWPost/About-LIU-Post/Campus-History

== Charter and Installation: ==

In the Spring Semester of 2018 the Greek Community already established at LIU Post voted on allowing Kappa Kappa Gamma create a chapter at LIU Post in the following Fall semester. Leadership consultants visited LIU Post in the Fall to inform, interview and recruit eligible women to be charter members of Theta Gamma chapter at LIU Post.

On December 2, 2018 Theta Gamma was officially chartered at our first initiation. The initiation was conducted by Kappa President Gail Owens, Fraternity Vice President Mary Pat Brennan, and assisted by Denise Rugani, Ritual and History Director. The initiation was attended by active sisters at Yale and New York University, as well as various alumnae, consultants and specialists from the Alpha District. Based consultants Erin Cerutti and Becca Stevenson presented the 43 new members to be initiated and installed as a chapter. Theta Gamma chapter was formally installed by Fraternity president Gail Owen during our first initiation ceremony.

The founding officers were installed into their positions:
President: Katie Ginty
Vice President of Finance: Jackie Ginty
Vice President of Membership: Morgan Taboada
Continuous Open Bidding Director: Brianna Saverino
Vice President of Operations: Maddy Porteous-Nye
Risk Management Director: DeAnna Aguinaldo
Vice President of Internal Affairs: Taylor LaPorta
Member Experience Director: Angeline Carlo
Vice President of External Affairs: Bailey Lubrano
Philanthropy Director: Beth Hillman
Events Director: Holly Reddy
Public Relations Director: Courtney Scanapico
Vice President of Member Development: Briana Frandina
Member Education Director: Alex Holdridge
Standards Chairman: Julie Caputo

== Events and Highlights: ==

Fall Semester 2018 was an exciting semester for Theta Gamma, as it was the semester we were founded! Our sisters had fun getting to know each other better and learning about Kappa as we navigated the new-member experience together.

On Friday October 12th, we had our bid day. Sisters arrived in formal attire and accepted their bids before changing into bid-day shirts and casual attire for pictures and a bid-day party! The event took place in the Gold Coast Room of Winnick Student Center, and included food, music, icebreakers and a photo-booth! Members of the campus Panhellenic community, as well as Kappa Leadership Consultants and HQ Staff, attended to welcome our sisters. We had a great time getting to know Kappa and meeting everyone!

On Saturday October 13th, Formal Pledging was held with Patty Gesell, NPC Representative for KKG, presiding.

On October 25th, we had our first sisterhood event, arranged and hosted by our Based Consultants, Erin Cerutti and Becca Stevenson, where we met to paint boxes for our pins! We all got to know each other better through crafting, listening to music, and snacking!

On October 30th, we had our Panhellenic Big/Little reveal in the Tilles Center Patron’s Lounge! Sisters from the other chapters on campus volunteered to be our Panhellenic Bigs, since we did not have the opportunity to have them within the sorority! A great time was had by all, and we were so grateful to the other sisters on campus for being so welcoming to us!

From November 5th -9thth, we participated in the campus’ preliminary Greek week events, which were held in preparation for the full Greek Week in Spring Semester! On Wednesday November 7th, we joined the other Greek organizations in campus in a Peanut Butter and Jelly making contest to support local food shelters. We all had the opportunity to bond as we rushed to make as many Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches as possible, and were so happy to be able to give ou time to help the less fortunate.

On November 9th, members participated in the Medal of Honor obstacle course to support veterans. The girls had fun and others sisters enjoyed cheering them on!

On November 8th, we had our next sisterhood event, a pajama pizza party paired with the reveal of our chapter founding families! We all had fun hanging out and enjoying pizza, and tears were all around as we found out who would be in our families!

On Sunday November 18th, the brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon hosted a brunch to welcome us to the Greek community on campus! We were all so grateful to TKE for being so welcoming, and had a great time bonding with and getting to know the brothers!

November 26th began our chapter’s first Inspiration week and we were all so excited as we prepared for our initiation!

On Tuesday, November 27th we enjoyed some sweets at a “blue and blue” dessert bar. Sisters dressed in blue and blue and enjoyed deserts together! It was certainly a sweet beginning to what would be an amazing week!

On November 28th, we had “wishful Wednesday”. We wrote letters to ourselves to be opened in a year. It was a fun, relaxing opportunity to hang-out, chat and get to know each other better! We also got to snack on some delicious cupcakes!

On Thursday, November 29th, we got together for a game night! We all bonded and had a lot of laughs playing games such as Family Feud and Cards Against Humanity!
Friday, November 30th wrapped up I-Week with a movie night in the Gold Coast Cinema! We all got cozy with blankets and pillows and kicked off the holiday season by watching “Love Actually.” It was an exciting send-off for our initiation weekend, which we were all so excited for!

Spring Semester 2019 has been our first full semester together as a chapter, and we’ve been incredibly excited to establish not only our chapter’s place in Kappa, but also Kappa’s place on campus! We’ve had many successful sisterhood events that have strengthened our bond as sisters and made us proud to be Kappas!

We kicked off the semester on Saturday, January 26th, when we went to Round 1 at the Broadway Mall with the brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know the brothers while enjoying all that Round 1 had to offer, including bowling, arcade games and fried food!

On Tuesday, February 5th, we had our major event for Spring Recruitment, “Kappa Kandyland”. It was a “sweet” way to meet all of our PNMs, and the candy-especially the Trolli sour worms.

On Friday, February 9th, we had bid-day for our new members! The theme was “Kappa Blue Looks Good On You”. Clad in blue tutus, antennae, wigs and tattoos, we had a great time showing our Kappa spirit and welcoming our new sisters!

Our first sisterhood event of the semester took place on Wednesday, February 13th, when Member Engagement Director Angeline Carlo, as well as VP Internal Affairs Taylor LaPorta, planned and hosted a Kappa “Galentine’s Day”. The event was a great way to celebrate our love for our sisters, and we had a great time decorating cookies, playing with fortune tellers, taking pictures in the photo booth and drinking pink drinks.

On Wednesday March 6th, we collaborated with the brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon and hosted a Dr. Seuss party! The event was open to all students on campus, as well as members of the community. The event was a huge success, including a book drive to support the Boys and Girls club, Dr. Seuss themed treats, cotton candy, and lots of dancing!
The week of March 17th- 23rd was our second inspiration week! We were so excited to prepare our new members for their initiation!

On Wednesday, March 20th, Member Engagement Director Angeline Carlo worked with the brothers of Theta Chi to plan and host “Kappa Coffee House”. The event was a huge success, featuring fresh-made coffee, an art showcase, raffle baskets and live music. Additionally, we also hosted our Big Little Reveal for our new members. The new members were so excited to find out who their Big Sister was.
Our Spring 2019 new member class was initiated on March 24. Attended by alumna, active members, and our leadership consultants. Theta Gamma welcomed 3 new members.

== Philanthropy: ==

Kappa Kappa Gamma is known to give back in so many ways and how we do so is through three different philanthropies, Reading is Fundamental, The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Theta Gamma’s local philanthropy - The Boys Girls Club. Education is important to us and to help others is what we strive to do. With Reading is fundamental founded In 1966, try to inspire children all around the world to become engaged with the content they provide. All children should be able to pick up a book and be given the opportunity to learn from it. RIF creates awareness and helps raise money and collects books to then hand out to those who can’t otherwise afford it. Another philanthropy Kappa follows is The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This is a kappa founded foundation. It’s a way to give back to the members of KKG. They provide educational programs, scholarships and the Rose McGill grants. All this opportunities is to help our Kappa Family grow. Our local philanthropy is the Boys Girls Club. This organization allows us to help out with events, daily and activities and however else we can try and help. kappa kappa gamma is dedicated to help the children out with whatever services they need help with such as homework, art work, and providing a comfortable setting to do their work. Kappa Kappa Gamma strives to help others and better the community by doing so.

Theta Beta

2021-12-22T19:29:04Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Theta Beta
|GreekSymbol= ΘB
|Image= [[File:ISU_main.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2018|12|01}}
|College= [https://illinoisstate.edu/ Illinois State University]
|Location= Normal, Illinois
|District= Epsilon
|Homepage= [https://illinoisstate.kappa.org/ Theta Beta Chapter Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Theta_Beta Media related to Theta Beta Chapter]}}

'''Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois'''

'''Founded as Theta Beta Chapter December 1, 2018'''

'''147 total initiates (as of January 2020)'''

'''Charter members''':

'''Outstanding Theta Beta Alumnae:'''

'''Outstanding Theta Beta Alumnae'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Alumna Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Theta Beta Alumnae'''

==Highlights of 2018==

Starting a chapter from the ground up isn't always the easiest thing. Here at Illinois State University, that is exactly what we’ve had to do. With the help of our leadership consultants the Theta Beta Chapter has successfully received our charter as of December 1st, 2018. We have 80 initiated members, and they are all strong and amazing women. We have built such a strong sisterhood and I cannot wait to watch it only grow throughout the years.

September and October started us off strong, with our first official bid day celebration. We all had an amazing time getting to know each other over s’mores, at Kamp Kappa. Following that we all celebrated Dad’s Weekend here at ISU, despite the awful weather. Creating that sisterhood bond and involving our fathers in it was such a wonderful experience.

November came around fast and we received our first ever families. Everyone was so excited to be able to share their love for Kappa with a new group of girls. Later that month we had a sisterhood event at the local trampoline park, Altitude. We jumped our little hearts out, along with sharing some pretty sweet tricks and flips. We also made a total of 13 blankets that we then took and donated to a local pediatrics hospital. This hospital gives each child a blanket when they come. It was very heartwarming for our chapter to know we were able to help the children feel more at home when they are having a very difficult time in their life. The month of November was an eye opener for a lot of Kappa women. During our Inspiration Period we shared a lot of things with each other that made us realize we are more alike than we even knew. We were able to bond over our hardest, and best times.

December rolled around and Theta Beta became official. With the help of Kappa alumnae, and the Kappa women of Illinois Wesleyan University, our chapter was initiated and our first ever executive board was installed. What most don’t know is that there is something very special about our executive board. Our president, Katie Lee, is the first ever Kappa to have already been initiated at Illinois Wesleyan. She was a Kappa there before she had transferred to Illinois State University. Katie was able to help initiate our chapter, since she was already initiated herself. We are all so grateful to be able to look up to her.

This first semester was amazing for the women of Theta Beta. We are all looking forward to informal recruitment this spring, and the future of Kappa Kappa Gamma here at Illinois State.

==Highlights of 2019==

This year, Theta Beta was fortunate enough to receive our chapter housing facility. We are now located on 904 West Hovey Avenue, Normal, Illinois. We are also the first house ran by the Fraternity Housing Corporation. We had our grand opening this fall on October 12th. Gail Owen, Beth Black, and many more headquarters representatives came to give Theta Beta their blessing and welcomed us to the FHC. Our house is full and we feel more than blessed for this opportunity to expand our own chapter as well as expand Kappa nationally.

We kicked off this year with a very successful first primary recruitment. Our VP Membership and her team worked very hard to make sure we recruited the most amazing women to help mold our chapter. We recruited more than 50 new members and celebrated with a Kappa Karnival themed Bid Day. We all rewarded ourselves for our hard work with cotton candy and snow cones.

Our member development department worked hard on promoting knowledge of mental health this semester. We participated in the EME training, Behind Happy Faces. Our chapter benefited greatly from this experience. It allowed us to all relate to each other on a different level. Our New Member Experience Director worked hard with the New Members and taught them about all the pillars in Kappa and prepared them to be initiated.

Initiation came around the corner faster than we expected. With such a large new member class we were worried about space. Our VP Internal worked very relentlessly on making sure everything went perfect. We initiated 49 new members and we are happy to call them our Beta Class.

We had some very exciting events this semester as well. We had our first ever semi-formal and formal. All of our women and their dates were so excited to dance the night away. In the spring we held a Women’s Day Brunch to honor all of the amazing women in our lives and thank them for their support. This fall, we shook things up a little and tailgated with our dudes for Dudes Day. It was so nice to see all of the support from the amazing men and women in our lives.

Throughout the semester there have been many ups and downs. Our sisterhood can fade and morale can go down. In order to boost it back up, we had plenty of sisterhood events. We went to our local Pumpkin Patch, Radar Farms, and took tons of cute pictures and sipped on some warm apple cider while enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We also went to a lake and had a nice little campfire with s’mores, games, and more. Other events we have done this semester are Kappa’s Plant, A White Elephant Gift Exchange, a movie night with Sigma Sigma Sigma, bowling with Delta Zeta, and paintballing with Sigma Pi.

We have also participated in many philanthropy events this semester. Our members supported other chapters on campus by participating in Bags for Mag and A Bootcamp for Alpha Omicron Pi, The Diamond Bowl for Alpha Delta Pi, March Madness for Chi Omega, and many more events. This year was the kick off to our annual Kappa Kupcakes event. We had cupcakes and cookies for people to come in and decorate them. It was a fun and social event for people in our community to support RIF and our local Bent Elementary School. We also participated in Walk Out of the Darkness for AFSP. Our Kappa team raised over $4,000 that was donated to AFSP. We felt very proud to be able to support so many amazing causes and help out our own community and Greek Community.

Our chapter is also going to begin to support Project Oz. Project Oz is an organization that is dedicated to helping youth and families. They reunite families, help kids stay in school. They provide counseling, education and career planning. Our chapter is very excited to begin raising funds to support this cause.

Theta Beta was fortunate enough to have the Minnie Stewart Van come and visit our chapter. All of our members were given the opportunity to tour the van and check out the virtual reality walk through of the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We were able to reflect on the amazing past that came before Theta Beta.

As our first year of being chartered comes to an end, it is interesting to think of the 150 years that Kappa is now approaching. We hope to celebrate and cherish the history that had made Kappa Kappa Gamma what it is today.

This past term was very exciting. We had a lot of fun and will cherish the events and bonds we have made in our first year. Theta Beta hopes to continue to grow and prosper here at Illinois State University.

==Highlights of 2020==

This past year Theta Beta chapter, like everyone throughout the world, endured things we never expected. We had to think on the fly and make changes on how we ran chapter operations. We started holding chapter meetings, ritual reviews, initiation, sisterhood events, and more all through zoom. We attended the spring initiation ceremony initiating our four Gamma class members in April. Our panhellenic council then decided to have a virtual primary recruitment. We initiated the twenty – six members from our virtual recruitment on November 7th, 2020. Our goal as a chapter was to have a successful primary recruitment and initiation, and we definitely achieved that goal.
Sisterhood is something that Theta Beta continuously tries to improve. Our member engagement director is always trying to think of and ask for ideas of virtual sisterhoods to have. With everything being online now, zoom sisterhoods were the main way of getting sisters together. We have had Kahoot nights, Scattergories nights, and some sisters have done zoom movie nights on their own as well. Before the pandemic, we made Valentine’s day cards for our philanthropy, had a galentines movie night, and a throwback movie day where we watched Hannah Montana. Weekly, we do Kappa Kisses. This is where sisters can shoutout another sister by answering a google form and giving them a Hershey kiss.
Our events director had many ideas and fun plans for us. Unfortunately, only one plan became a reality before the pandemic. We were able to have a night at the house with fun backdrops, snacks, and dates for Valentine’s day. A women’s day event, formal, and semi-formal were all in the works until we all went virtual.
Our local philanthropy we work with is Project Oz. This is an organization that helps provide the youth with necessities that they need. They also provide various resources for children who need help at home. We have raised money for them through a Kappa Kappaccino fundraiser where we sold coffee and hot chocolate. We also raised money for the boys and girls club with Sigma Lambda Gamma. We were able to donate 100 books and $200 dollars to the boys and girls club. We also partnered up with a boutique called EverRow where they donated 10% of their profits back to us to support Reading is Fundamental.
To celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary, we learned about different history nuggets about Kappa. We used Kappapedia to teach us what other chapters were also doing. We have had ritual reviews and some of our members were able to attend headquarters’ 150th anniversary celebration.
We have now finished elections and elected a sister as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion director. She has many ideas to help educate our chapter and we can’t wait to see all she does for us!
This year has been full of ups and downs, but Theta Beta has persevered through it all. We can’t wait to see our new officers lead our chapter and continue to improve Theta Beta!

[[File:Thetabeta1.JPG|thumb|sisters]]
[[File:Thetabeta2.JPG|thumb|sisterhood]]
[[File:Thetabeta3.JPG|thumb|firelight]]

Theta Alpha

2021-12-22T19:27:42Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Theta Alpha
|GreekSymbol= ΘA
|Image= [[File:SIUE_main.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2018|11|03}}
|College= [https://www.siue.edu/ Southern University Illinois Edwardsville]
|Location= Edwardsville, Illinois
|District= Epsilon
|Homepage= [https://siue.kappa.org/ Theta Alpha Chapter Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Theta_Alpha Media related to Theta Alpha Chapter]}}

'''Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois'''
'''Founded as Theta Alpha Chapter November 3, 2018'''
'''164 total initiates (as of January 2020)'''

'''Charter members''':

'''Outstanding Theta Alpha Alumnae:'''

'''Outstanding Theta Alpha Alumnae'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Alumna Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Theta Alpha Alumnae'''

==Highlights of 2018==
Fall of 2018 was an amazing first semester for the newly installed chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Theta Alpha Chapter at Southern University Illinois Edwardsville. This fall will be remembered through monumental firsts including Kamp Kappa Bid Day, our first officer elections, and creating a sisterhood through many activities. Events such as our first powderpuff season and family reveals, along with many other memories, bonded us together. Our first activities as a chapter would begin in September when our first Bid Day was held on the 16th, where Theta Alpha’s first ever New Member class of 132 women were welcomed by the Leadership Consultants at Kamp Kappa on SIUE’s campus.

In October, as a chapter we really began to gain momentum and learn what it means to not only be a Kappa woman, but sisters. On the weekend of the 2nd we celebrated homecoming and participated in homecoming week festivities leading up to this weekend such as mechanical bull riding, chalk mural competitions and chili cook-offs. We cheered on sisters through our powderpuff season as we made it into the championship games and had a bowling sisterhood event where we gathered in Cougar Lanes for some fun. We had a Founders Day celebration with the men of Delta Chi on the 13th and supported “So You Think You Can Go Greek” event held by Sigma Tau Gamma with a dance routine put on by some of our women. On the 18th we were able to have a cookie meet and greet with Fraternity President Gail Owen, NPC Delegate Beth Black, Executive Director Kari Poole, and Director of Chapter Services Katherine Cianciotto while they visited St. Louis for the NPC annual meeting. Also following our refreshments on the 18th we were able to support our sisters Lexi Clutts and Kendra Kolb as they represented Kappa and Delta Chi in the Greek Goddess event which is hosted by Sigma Phi Epsilon to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. On the 23rd we had Family Reveal where our group preferences we submitted ended up in family placements of 4-5 girls in the original lineage. The 25th brought our New Member Retreat at Altitude trampoline park and sisterhood events on campus - we had lip synch battles, jumped to our hearts content, and made envelopes to prep for Inspiration week. At the end of the month the first ever Chapter Council was elected and we cannot wait to see all the wonderful ways they will lead Kappa Kappa Gamma, Theta Alpha Chapter! The final week of October was Inspiration Period which included many things such as painting Kappa crafts, study table events, and a Hocus Pocus movie night.

We started off November strong with our Installation and Initiation on the 2nd and 3rd in St. Louis where Theta Alpha Chapter was installed and the first ever New Member class was initiated. Our weekend in the city was a great time where we were all introduced to the years of ritual that represents our sisterhood. The rest of November contained various campus-wide events such as a Greek night basketball game with dinner provided by SIUe athletics. This month we also had a Thanksgiving potluck mixer with Sigma Tau Gamma.

We wrapped up our first semester in December with some great events. Our first Executive Board Leadership Day was on the 2nd where some of the key activities included some team building, review and covering of material, and some time to write sweet encouraging notes to our other sisters. We had our first semiformal at Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis where we danced the night away on the 3rd. We also had “Grabba Grabba Donut” which was a little morale booster for our fellow students where we set out a table of donuts to pass out for free. In our final week of school we had one last sisterhood event before we all said goodbye for the holiday where we painted ornaments and enjoyed some Christmas music.

==Highlights of 2019==
AUGUST
● Held our first work week where we all grew closer and our bonds of sisterhood were
strengthened.
● Successfully went through our first formal recruitment.
● Celebrated a Kappa-Chella themed Bid Day where we welcomed home 36 new
members.
SEPTEMBER
● Hosted our first Parents' Day, consisting of food and games to be enjoyed by the
families of KKG members.
● Participated in Continuous Open Bidding for the fall semester.
● Had a successful apple picking Sisterhood at Eckert’s Country Store and Farm.
OCTOBER
● 3 Kappa women were elected onto SIUe’s Panhellenic Council.
● We successfully initiated our Fall 2019 members.
● Nomination Committee was elected
NOVEMBER
● Had a successful first major philanthropy event on campus called the “RIF Off”
● Our new Leadership Team was elected for the 2020 term.
● Had ASTP programming that informed our chapter and our entire greek community on
the importance of alcohol safety.
DECEMBER
● Composite picture for 2019-2020 was taken.
● New officers for the 2020 term held their first chapter.
During the fall semester, SIUE welcomed a new fraternity on campus, Delta Tau Delta. Members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were able to attend the induction for the new members of Delta Tau Delta. Our chapter is busy crew, but enjoy supporting other Greek organizations. Theta Alpha is also encouraging its members to strive for academic excellence in order to bring up our overall GPA.

This chapter supports Reading is Fundamental, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and Kelsie’s Hope. The chapter supports these organizations because they give back to those that are truly in need and we want to help provide a positive future for those organizations through funding.

Theta Alpha celebrated Founders Day at a beautiful venue in Edwardsville called Crystal Gardens. We had lunch together and talked about what Kappa means to us. We also held the Founders
Day ceremony.

The Minnie Stewart van visited our SIUE campus in November to get us excited about the 150th anniversary of KKG. We are planning to host a celebration for our members and extending invitations to chapter alumnae and the St. Louis Alumnae Association.

This first semester was a huge period of growth for us as a chapter as we established ourselves within the chapter and in leadership roles. Through the highs and lows we really started to mature with our sisters and enjoy some laughs along the way. We cannot wait to see what 2020 holds as a newly established chapter, and look forward to our future dear Kappa days.

==Highlights of 2020==
"Chapter Summary
January: Formal pledging and Bid Day for COB members 1/26/2020, Sisterhood for karaoke, PHC Best Dance Crew – participated, RIF reading event at Hamel Elementary school; February: Turning tragedy into progress, Kappa Kisses, Speed Dating sisterhood, RIF reading event at Hamel Elementary school; March: Book drive donations for Reading is Fundamental on 3/2/2020, Big Little reveal for COB members on 3/1/2020, Transitioned to online events and paper chapter related to COVID-19 restrictions; April: Virtual initiation 4/26/2020 for 10 new members, Virtual Netflix Party sisterhood; May: Meals for Meds fundraiser on 5/5/2020, Finals week May 4-8th; August: Virtual work week and recruitment, Virtual and socially distant/masked BID day celebration(theme Dream A While on 8/31/2020); September: Virtual programming chapter 9/20/2020 about body positivity, RIF fundraiser on 9/6/2020; October: Big Little reveal for fall 2020 members on 10/18/2020, Virtual 5K fundraiser for RIF occurred 10/10/2020, Virtual founders day celebration 10/11/2020 for Theta Alpha, and the national celebration was held 10/13/2020, Virtual initiation with the Iota and Alpha chapters with 18 new members on 10/24/2020, Virtual sisterhood using Netflix Party occurred during I-Week; November: Virtual Officer elections occurred for the 2021 calendar year, Virtual Behind Happy Faces HQ programming for the Theta Alpha Chapter. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions were put in place for our university in March. This caused the Theta Alpha chapter to finish the school year in the Spring semester of 2020 with virtual chapter. Since then, the Theta Alpha chapter learned how to provide all important Kappa experiences virtually, including chapter (both formal and informal), new member experience meetings, virtual work week and recruitment, virtual initiation, and in January of 2021 we will have virtual officer installations.

Our chapter supports Reading Is Fundamental, Kelsie’s Hope, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The chapter supports these organizations because they give back to those that are truly in need and we want to help provide a positive future for those organizations through funding.

The Theta Alpha chapter provided programming related to body positivity, as well as Behind Happy Faces training provided by headquarters. Theta Alpha also provided its members with anti-racism programming. Throughout the months, the Theta Alpha chapter has provided its members with ways to be inclusive on social media, including tagging sisters in inspirational Instagram stories. "

The Theta Alpha chapter had it’s own virtual celebration the Sunday before the 150th celebration (10/11/2020) where we played a virtual Kappa Kappa Gamma History jeopardy game. The members were also able to take the online quiz of Which Founding Member Are You and were able to learn more about the founding members. Chapter members were also encouraged to attend the national celebration virtually on October 13th.

[[File:Thetaalpha1.JPG|thumb|sisters]]
[[File:Thetaapl2.JPG|thumb|sisterhood]]
[[File:Thetaalp3.JPG|thumb|philanthropy]]

Eta Omega

2021-12-22T19:25:48Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Omega
|GreekSymbol= HΩ
|Image= [[File:Binghamton-2.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2018|04|21}}
|College= [https://www.binghamton.edu/ Binghamton University]
|Location= Binghamton, New York
|District= Alpha
|Homepage= [https://binghamton.kappa.org/ Eta Omega Chapter Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Omega Media related to Eta Omega Chapter] }}

'''Binghamton University was establishment as Triple Cities College in 1946, the school has evolved from a small liberal arts college to a large doctoral-granting institution. Presently consisting of eight colleges and schools, it is now home to more than 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Binghamton is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York (SUNY) system.'''

'''Founded on April 21, 2018,''' with 121 Charter Members.

'''129 initiates (as of July 2018)'''

----

'''Fraternity Council Members:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

==Establishment==

During the New Member period the chapter was mentored by two Kappa Leadership Consultants: Catie Ross and Meghan Agras. They were involved in the initial marketing of the Kappa Chapter that would be forming and later conducted Kappa Conversations to get to know the potential new members. The women who were interested had their questions answered during these conversations. At the end of this period there was a Bid Day to invite them to membership.

On March 11, 2018 the initial class of women pledged their name in interest to the Colony of Kappa Kappa Gamma known as Eta Omega. Pat Murphy Coulter, Ritual and History Specialist, conducted the Formal Pledging Ceremony. About 20 women from the Cornell Chapter traveled to assist with the Formal Pledging.

==Installation==

On April 20, 2018 the women of Binghamton began their membership journey with the Fireside Ceremony held at the Terra Cotta at 8pm. The ceremony was led by Fraternity Vice President Nancy Eyermann Foland. A light desert and time to visit followed the ceremony.

On April 21, 2018 at the Binghamton Club the chapter was installed by Beth Uphoff Black, Fraternity President. Assisting with the installation was Denise Rugani, Ritual and History Director and Nancy Eyermann Foland, Vice President. One Hundred and Twenty One women were initiated into the Eta Omega Chapter.

Sisters from Syracuse University, Colgate University and Marist University traveled up to 3 hours to participate in the installation and to welcome the new sisters into the Eta Omega Chapter.

The founding members of the chapter are: Heather Abraham, Claire Alston, Nida Anwar, Amulya Aramalla, Autumn Baker, Hannah Bander, Kaitlyn Bartholomew, Alaina Belrose, Daniela Benzaquen, Lindsay Blank, Alison Bowers, Julia Bradley, Anna Braz, Jamie Carroll, Jaycee Cartolano, Katherine Changtroraleke, Angelique Chatpar, Naomi Chen, Amanda Choy, Mia Cohen, Cathrena Collins, Eleanore Colton, Tyler Conzone, Kayla Cooper, Lauren Cruz, Emily Danielson, Isabel DeLuca, Lauren Duffy, Lynn Edwards, Madison Einhorn, Alexis Fassenfeld, Jessica Ferrar, Josephine Galeotafiore, Taylor Geen, Brianna Genova, Emily Gerbavsits, Ewa Gerlak, Olivia Graffeo, Mikayla Guida, Grace Hahn, Nicole Hecker, Zoe Heiderstadt, Lucy Hoffman, Nusrat Hossain, Yanah Hossain, Emily Howe, Julianne Hynes, Hope Jackman Pryor, Jamie Jacobson, Tisnue Jean-Baptiste, Erin Jedd, Erin Kagel, Mehr Kaur, Grace Kent, Gail Kheyman, Isha Kumar, Natalie Laino, Emily Lakic, Lauren Lester, Sylvana Levine, Lianna Liu, Marisa Madonna, Alanna Mahon, Meneka Makhijani, Jillian Marchese-Schmitt, Kate Maretsky, Kylie Mawn, Kelsey McCarthy, Olivia McColgan, Sophia Mele, Samantha Mizrahi, Dominique Morales, Jane Mundadan, Kaleigh Murphy, Moira Murphy, Angelika Narewski, Amanda Nelson, Christina Nonnenmacher, Wen Chi Ouyang, Samantha Palladino, Amanda Patenaude, Sarah Pender, Lyndsey Petrofsky, Victoria Pirrera, Ashra Piterman, Arianna Ramdass, Abigail Rinere, Leisa Rockelein, Alejandra Rodas, Linda Sabbagh, Alejandra Salinas, Shelby Schaefer, Samantha Scocozza, Danielle Sconzo, Justyna Seager-Parulski, Jordana Simon, Katie Smith, Emily Sobel, Gina Spigonardo, Begona Spina, Sara Stanziani, Stephany Starzyk, Mia Stewart, Jessica Storozum, Lisa Strumpf, Whitney Tam, Kayla Tarolli, Eileen Taveras, Anna Timmins, Sarah Tkatsenko, Hilal Uyanik, Kennedy VanBrunt, Leslie Velasco, Paola Velazquez, Elizabeth Voroshylo, Mia Weeks, Liana Weitzman, Meghan Whitehead, Sarah Wierzbicki, Dora Ylli, Ella Zalewski, Sarah Zolty.

==Highlights of 2018 ==

This was our first year as a chapter, it was wonderful and we became very involved on
campus. We attended all Panhellenic philanthropy events and held our first one¨ The
Very Hungry Kappapillar¨ supporting Reading is fundamental. Our chapter also took
part in Sigma Chi Derby Days. Some of our sisters were involved in both the Claudia
Tenney and Anthony Brindisi congressional campaigns. One of our sister’s¨ Amanda
Nelson¨ was sworn into the National Guard this year.
Being added to the Panhellenic community this past year has been a change on campus.
We have a positive and accepting nature and I personally as well as all my sisters feel
proud to wear their letters. We’ve become much closer this semester and feel like a real
family.

==Highlights of 2019 ==

In February we participated in formal recruitment for the first time. We were so excited to receive our Alpha new member class on Bid Day! We were even happier to initiate 48 women into our chapter in April.

This fall brought many sisterhood events, with activities like group fitness events, apple picking, tie-dying and a "Secret-Santa" gift-exchange. While we didn't welcome a new member class this semester, we are grateful for these activities that helped us grow together as a chapter. We were also proud to volunteer in the greater Binghamton community throughout the year.

We had sisters complete hours by volunteering in a non-profit coffee shop, soup kitchen, participating in Dance Marathon and much more. Each of our sisters completes 10 hours of community service per semester. On October 9 we had our Reading Is Key event. Our sisters went to Horace Mann Elementary School and painted pumpkins, read books and made sure every student who participated went home with a book.

For our 149th Founders Day, we celebrated the history of Kappa. We did this by playing Kahoot to test Kappa Knowledge and by having our chapter members give speeches about what Kappa has meant to them. We also purchased cupcakes and cookies that were blue, to represent Kappas colors. Members were also given the option to purchase Founder's Day t-shirts, which was another way for our members to show their Kappa pride.

In November, we formed a nomination committee and installed our new Chapter Council on November 24th.

The chapter support The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, because one of our sisters suffered from cancer and wasn't able to be at Binghamton for the 2018-2019 school year. This was our way of letting her know that we support her and were thinking of her all last year. We were so happy to have her back this semester and were grateful to be able to show our support this way.

== Highlights of 2020 ==

Our chapter started off strong this year. Many sisters came back to campus early in order to shoot footage for our recruitment video. As a part of this, our recruitment chair organized a collaboration with Canon, the camera company, where we had fun playing with polaroid cameras and took pictures that ended up in our recruitment room.

Recruitment in the spring gave us 52 members of our Beta class. At first, we had in person new member meetings and had a “paint-n-sip” new member retreat. Our VPS had a bunch of fun sisterhood events planned for the semester, from fitness events to crafting. One that did take place was Cocoa and Crafting!

However, we would be forced to go online on March 11th, and most members returned home. Although most organizations on the Binghamton campus were forced to initiate in person during the three-day period following the announcement, we were thankfully able to perform an online initiation. Doing so allowed us to protect the health and wellbeing of our members, which this pandemic has proven to be more precious than ever. Instead, we held a virtual initiation with the Ritual and History Director on May 3rd. We were so happy to finally welcome the Beta class into the chapter after months of uncertainty.

At Convention this year, we had honorable mentions for finance and academic excellence and also won the panhellenic award.

When we came back in the Fall, we decided to hold almost all our meetings and events over zoom. This means that we have held all of our chapter meetings over zoom. As a chapter, we have one meeting every Sunday, with about 2 formal chapter meetings a month. One of the only events we held in person was one of our recruitment events, where we tie-dyed masks with potential new members. The event was a success and all COVID guidelines were followed.

Other recruitment activities were held online, like a pajama party, meet the E-board and a game night. From this, we were able to welcome 10 amazing Gammas into our class. All new member education meetings would take place over zoom. We would initiate these women into our chapter on October 24th. We were so happy to welcome them into the chapter over zoom, and with the entire chapter in attendance.

Although we were largely over zoom, we were able to hold several successful sisterhood events. We had a Virtual Jackbox Games event where lineages were able to compete for gift cards to local restaurants. Another event was doing Halloween Crafts and even having a costume contest with fun prizes. Although we went online in March, we did see our sisters hard work in school pay off. Our chapter GPA improved by .17 from Fall 2019 to Spring 2020! In November, we held elections and swore our 2021 Chapter Council in on Nov 15th.

Philanthropy

We support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, because one of our founding members was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and is thankfully in remission. Choosing this organization was one of the ways we let her know that she was always in our thoughts and she had our continuous support.

Organizing philanthropy events was difficult this year due to the lack of in person events, but our philanthropy chairman organized a successful Chipotle fundraiser in October that to safely raised $288.52. In order to support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, we had a Blaze Pizza Fundraiser. We also held a Charleston Wrap fundraiser to support Reading is Fundamental. Thanks to the hard work of our philanthropy chairman, we were able to support all three of the organizations we fundraise for.

Diversity and inclusion

Our chapter was able to incorporate several initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion in the chapter. The most notable and important step was nominating a DEI Chairman to the chapter council. She actively provides the chapter with resources to be antiracist, provides educational programming to the entire chapter and serves to make the chapter more welcoming to sisters of all ethnicities, races, religions and sexual orientations. She also serves on the standards committee in order to deal with these sensitive topics in a confidential manner. However, this was not the only DEI initiative we took this year.

Over the summer as we watched Black Lives Matter protests across the nation, we decided to hold Netflix parties where we would watch important documentaries, like 13th, to help make sisters more understanding and knowledgeable about systemic racism in America. These would be followed by productive zoom discussions. One other step that is not explicitly a DEI initiative, was our VPAE started a chapter book club this semester. The first book they are reading is “How to Be Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi. One thing this chapter has taken to heart is that it is not enough to simply not be racist, instead we are all learning and taking the steps necessary to be anti-racist. In doing so we become better allies to our sisters.

Sesquicentennial

For our 150th Anniversary, we held events over zoom. As a chapter we held speeches over zoom. At least someone from every initiated pledge class spoke about what Kappa means to them. The speeches were so thoughtful and well-spoken. We also had a little trivia battle over zoom and Kahoot, testing member’s Kappa Knowledge. We also had a “This or That” social media post, which members could post to let everyone know their favorite parts of Kappa. Under normal circumstances, we would have been able to have more of a celebration, complete with a banner and snacks.

Eta Psi

2021-12-22T19:24:21Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Psi
|GreekSymbol= HΨ
|Image= [[File:Pfeiffer_Eta_Psi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2017|11|18}}
|College= [https://www.pfeiffer.edu/ Pfeiffer University]
|Location= Misenheimer, North Carolina
|District= Lambda
|Homepage= [https://pfeiffer.kappa.org/ Eta Psi Chapter Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Psi Media related to Eta Psi Chapter] }}

<table><tr><td>

'''Pfeiffer University founded 1885'''

'''Chapter Founded: November 18, 2017'''

'''Charter members initiated: 21 '''

'''38 active initiates (as of December 2018)'''

-----------------------------

'''Some of Eta Psi’s Outstanding Alumnae:'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

--------------------------------

Pfeiffer University is a private university located in Misenheimer, North Carolina. Pfeiffer is affiliated with the Methodist Church. It was established in 1885 by a woman named Emily Pruden. The school was first began its operation on the edge of Hudson, North Carolina and was called Oberlin School, and was later endowed by Mrs. Mary P. Mitchell and was named in her honor as the Mitchell School. A fire destroyed the original school in 1907, and it was then moved to Lenoir, North Carolina. The new location proved to be inadequate and was relocated in 1910, to Misenheimer, North Carolina. The Mitchell School began awarding high school diplomas in 1913, and began offering junior college classes in 1928. In 1934, the Pfeiffer family of New York City, New York, gave several generous financial gifts to the school. The school changed its name to Pfeiffer Junior College, after it was accredited the same year. In the 1950s, the school began offering senior level college courses, and was then accredited as a four-year college in 1960. In 1996, the college received university status, as Pfeiffer University.

==Presentation and Establishment:==
Kappa Kappa Gamma was presented to Pfeiffer University during the fall of 2017. Sena Griffith, and other women from Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters, began making visits to Pfeiffer, in order to promote the colonization of Kappa Kappa Gamma within the university. Women who were interested in the organization, attended recruitment events to learn more about Kappa Kappa Gamma, and what it has to offer for the women who decide to join. These recruitment events were then followed by a successful bid day.

On, September twenty-ninth, 2017, twenty-one women pledged their name in interest to the colonization of Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter, Eta Psi. The pledging was led by leadership consultant, Sena Griffith.

Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first Greek-letter organization to establish a chapter at Pfeiffer.

During the New Member period the chapter was mentored by their chapter consultant, Sena Griffith (UC Merced). She was joined by Field Representatives and members of the extension team, and held meetings with campus organizations, as well as information sessions for interested students. At the end of this period, there was a Bid Day to invite them into membership.

==Installation:==
On November eighteenth, 2017, the first initiation ceremony installed twenty-one women from Pfeiffer University. Initiation was performed at North Carolina State University. Elizabeth Bailey, Fraternity Vice President, led the FS service, which was followed by light desert and time to visit. Two more members were initiated during the spring semester, on March thirtieth, 2018.

The chapter was installed by Beth Uphoff Black, Fraternity President, on November 18, 2017. She was assisted by Denise Rugani, Ritual and History Director, and Elizabeth Bailey, Fraternity Vice President. Forty-two women were initiated into Eta Psi Chapter.

Sisters of Eta Chi chapter participated in the initiation, as well as many alumnae.

The founding members of the chapter are: Kortni Adams, Kara Adcock, Regan Allen
Nijay Armstrong, Mara Beck, Ashleigh Bost, Danielle Boza, Cortney Brown, Aisha Gardner, Kayla Greene, B Griffin, Grayson Harris, Cassidy Hooper, Katie Hovater, Tori Jackson, ChyAnn Ketchum, Angel Koon, Courtney Laughlin, Michelle Lee, Kara Luck, Athena Maravelas, Dallas Mooneyham, Maddie Moose, Mckinzie Morgan, Abby Neal, Madison Riddle, Sam Smith, Mackenzie Swetnam, Mo Taylor, Abby Waggoner, ShaNisha White, Allison Wike.

==Highlights of 2017:==

Eta Psi was installed as a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma on November 18, 2017. Eta Psi is the first greek organization on campus. Changes seen are individuals of different sports teams now intermingling due to Kappa being our thing in common.

During the 2017-2018 academic year, Eta Psi's members donated three hours of time to Reading is Fundamental, five hours of time donated to various campus service projects, and five hours donated to various community service projects. $150 was donated to Reading is Fundamental, along with 130 books that were collected by the chapter for donation. Eta Psi also donated $50 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation.

Our chapter had a bake sale, and stormed the dorms, when we went to the student dorms to ask for extra change. Locally, we have chosen to support GHA Autism Supports, which provides a unique environment for individuals on the spectrum. Various outdoors activities, opportunities, and more are provided allowing them to contribute to the community.

Our work during this period was mainly sisterhood events, and selecting officer structure all helped by Sena Griffith, our chapter consultant. We meet in a classroom in the Student Center on campus.

==Highlights of 2018:==
On September fifth, 2018, the women of chapter Eta Psi, began fall recruitment in attempt to expand the growth of their chapter on the Pfeiffer Campus. Seventeen women were recruited and pledged their name in interest. On November tenth, 2018, those seventeen women were initiated on the Pfeiffer Campus, which was led by Jenna Patton.

Highlights of 2019

In the Spring of 2018 there was an abrupt change of officers due to a couple of transfers. However, in the spring we were able to raise money for GHA. We also volunteered at local elementary school to read books, and make crafts with students there. It was Eta Psi's goal make sure that every child left with a book. Our chapter goal is to be more involved in our community and raise chapter morale. As a council we would like our members to be more active. The words "what you get out of Kappa, is what you put into her." The more work you put into Kappa the more your love grows for her.

This year our campus received a new president. In November we just completed officer elections. The new chapter council's main goal is to boost chapter morale. With it being our first year without a based leadership consultant we have seen many downs. Many girls feel that Kappa does not give them the sisterhood that was promised in recruitment. With a change in officers we plan to see a world's difference in morale and attendance. Eta Psi will get through this and flourish just as the fleur-de-lis do in the beautiful gardens of Kappa

Chapter Philanthropy: GHA Autism Supports. This organization is established in our county that offers services to people of our community who have a disorder under the Autistic spectrum and we fund raise donations for them.

Founders Day: On Founders Day the chapter and advisors gathered outside for some finger food and congregation. It was a lovely day outside to celebrate our founding ladies.

Sesquicentennial Celebration: Our chapter plans to host its first ever Spirit Week. The chapter will be split into two teams; the owls and the keys. Kappa Spirit Week will kick off with ritual and history jeopardy. Throughout the week the best Kappa costumes will earn points for their team. Categories like the most Kappas at a campus event, and other small acts will earn points for each team. In the middle of the week there will be a sisterhood event planned by standards. To end the week Kappa will be hosting a color run to raise money for either GHA or RIF.

Eta Chi

2021-12-22T19:23:04Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Chi
|GreekSymbol= HX
|Image= [[File:Kappakappagamma walter-250.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2016|11|12}}
|College= [https://www.ncsu.edu/ NC State University]
|Location= Raleigh, North Carolina
|District=
|Homepage= [https://ncstate.kappa.org/ Eta Chi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Chi Media related to Eta Chi Chapter]}}

<table><tr><td>

'''NC State University founded 1887'''

'''Chapter Founded: November 12, 2016'''

'''Charter members initiated: 109 '''

'''164 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

-----------------------------

'''Some of Eta Chi’s Outstanding Alumnae:'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

--------------------------------

==History of the University==

==Presentation and Establishment:==
After presenting to establish in 2012 and being selected to join the Pack in fall 2016, Kappa Kappa Gamma had been waiting many years to come to NC State. In 2015, S.E. Spencer (North Carolina) was selected as the Chapter Consultant and began making visits to NC State along with Lisa Thomson and others from Fraternity Headquarters. Throughout the 2015-2016 school year, Kappa representatives began to learn about NC State’s campus and Fraternity and Sorority Life culture. In the spring of 2016 Kappa Kappa Gamma was presented with the opportunity to rent a chapter facility from NC State. The property at 3501 Avent Ferry Road was approved to be the first home of Kappa at NC State.

Starting in late September of 2016 Leadership Consultants and Kappa Headquarters staff began the process for establishing the Eta Chi chapter. S.E. led a team of four Leadership Consultants, Hannah Bingham (Oklahoma State), Claire Kozel (Santa Clara), Maddy Poletis (Missouri), and Lindsay Webb (South Carolina) in a marketing blitz across NC State’s campus. After the consultant team distributed hundreds of lollipops, flyers, buttons, and bookmarks over nearly a week of tabling, more Headquarters staff and countless local Kappa alumnae descended on the Talley Student Center at NC State to interview potential charter members for Eta Chi. Nearly 200 fantastic women interviewed to be the first Kappas at NC State. On October 1, 2016, invitations to the final party and Bid Day were extended.

Bid Day arrived on October 2nd. The day began with the Formal Pledging Service, which was conducted by the Colonization Chairman, Suzanne Mahoney, and assisted by several women from the Delta Beta chapter of Duke University and the Epsilon Gamma chapter of UNC-Chapel Hill. Following the service, the charter class of 127 women were escorted through the house to receive their bid day bags and Kappa t-shirts. It was a fun filled day of face painting, photo snapping, and great socialization with established sisters and new friends. It was truly an unforgettable experience and set the stage for the beginning of a great first year.

On October 15th the charter class gathered for our first New Member Retreat. The day consisted of ice breaker activities, pumpkin painting, and hilarious team building games in the backyard. It was a great day for meeting new girls within our charter class and having a fun time goofing off together.

In mid-October, the Eta Chi chapter participated in Southern SMASH on NC State’s campus. Southern SMASH is a non-profit event created by fellow Kappa, McCall Dempsey, to raise eating disorder awareness and promote positive body image by physically destroying weight scales. During the event, students were encouraged to visit booths hosted by the Counseling Center, an eating disorder treatment center, and several other hosts, that promoted diversity and healthy eating. After visiting these booths, students were able to write positive messages on cards for them to keep to promote self-love; as well as “tombstones” to write a message to the scale before they smashed them. Students then took sledgehammers and smashed the scales along with their tombstones. All sororities were invited to participate in the event, but Eta Chi had the most participants and volunteers by far and were able to spend time talking to McCall and showing support for their fellow Kappa. McCall also hosted a talk later that day to share her experience battling and defeating her eating disorder, which many members of Eta Chi attended as well. The event allowed Eta Chi to remind themselves of their own self-worth, as well as share body positivity and raise eating disorder awareness on our campus.

During the last week of October, the Eta Chi chapter was given the task of partnering with Alpha Sigma Phi for Homecoming Week; NC State Wolfpack vs Boston College Eagles. Some of the events during the week were a Lip Sync Battle, a Craziest Fan competition, a float contest, Kupcakes for Kay, and many more. For the Lip Sync battle, we had the theme of NSYNC Y2K. Our songs were Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas, Please Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna, Down by Jay Sean, and Jumpin Jumpin by Destiny's Child. A few Kappa girls and a few Alpha Sig guys got together and performed a Mashup. For our float, it took a lot of hands to build. We constructed a large sculpture of the NC State logo, made from old t-shirts, chicken wire, and wood. The theme of our float was “Hang’m out to dry”, with another sculpture of a paper mache eagle centered in a birdcage. We also sold 100 cupcakes during the cupcake competition and raised $120 to be donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Overall, it was a very successful homecoming week and we did a great job with all of the competitions. Everyone had a blast and it was a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about who we are as a chapter.

On October 30th, after the hard work and thoughtful review by our Nominating Committee, slates were presented to the chapter for our first ever Chapter Council of Eta Chi. Also that evening, we shared our family reveals. Elections took place the following weekend, on November 6th, where 19 women were elected officer positions within the chapter.

In early November, the Eta Chi chapter was approached by Beta Theta Pi fraternity to work together to make lunches for over 100 volunteers at Habitat for Humanity's and NC State's Build-A-Block project. Build-A-Block is an ongoing effort to build 11 affordable and sustainable town-homes near the university's campus. The builders there were very appreciative and gracious, and invited both fraternities to come and help build over the following two semesters. Any left over lunch supplies were donated; fresh fruit and sandwiches were taken to local homeless shelters, and non-perishable items were kept by Habitat for Humanity for the following weekend's project.

==Installation:==
Installation weekend finally arrived on November 11, 2016. The evening began with a pizza dinner at the chapter house and then the charter class departed for the McKimmon Conference and Training Center. The Fireside service was held and graciously assisted by the Delta Beta and Epsilon Gamma chapters as the sponsoring chapters. A dessert reception was enjoyed following the service. During the reception, the District Director for the Lambda district, Katy Stovall (Drake University), shared some inspiring words with the founding class. She also presented gifts given from Alumnae Associations, Fraternity Council and Specialist Teams, and other chapters, to the Eta Chi Chapter Council and fellow sisters.

The following morning of November 12th, the day began with a delicious continental breakfast before gathering to begin the Installation service. The Installation service was conducted by Beth Black and assisted by the Epsilon Gamma chapter of UNC-Chapel Hill and Delta Beta chapter of Duke University, who are the official big sisters of the Eta Chi chapter. After the service, everyone returned to the chapter house for lunch and photos before returning to the McKimmon Center for an official Model Chapter Meeting. The meeting was lead by Beth Black, with the assistance of the newly elected Chapter President, Peyton Hartis; Recording Secretary, Mary Dare Martin; and Marshal, Megan Darle Huber. The remainder of the Chapter Council Officers were sworn into duty during the Model Chapter Meeting as well. Overall, the weekend was undeniably memorable, enlightening, and a special experience. '''109 new sisters were initiated that day.'''

Establishing Kappa on NC State's campus has been such a special privilege. We are so excited to be able to contribute to State's campus and Greek community. Our chapter is comprised of 109 outstanding young women, of all grade levels, with a wide variety of academic pursuits. We are finding our way as a chapter and how we fit within our campus and community, but overall the chapter is beginning in a positive and welcoming manner. Many of us chose to join Kappa because we each sought to be a part of something new and saw the opportunity of being a founding sister as a great way to better connect with our school and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Over the course of this semester, our chapter bonded instantaneously and many of us have created relationships with our sisters that we know will last a lifetime.

“I wanted to join Kappa to help better other women and Greek Life. It turns out it has bettered me. I’m so thankful for the support system I’ve been given and the family I feel like I’ve joined.”

“I wanted to join Kappa because I never thought I’d join a sorority, but when I met with Kappas during colonization I knew I had found people just like me and this is where I belonged.”

“I joined Kappa to start something new and leave a legacy here at NC State.”

“Joining Kappa has been my best decision yet and I am so happy I took the leap and tried it! Being in Kappa has given me the motivation to try my best in school because I don’t want to leave this beautiful sisterhood.”

“I joined Kappa because I saw it as a once in a lifetime experience and it was an organization with values I agreed with and had a passion for. I am so happy and touched to be part of this sisterhood.”

“I wanted to join Kappa because I have been searching for a supportive community at NC State. I have found some, but I knew I was missing out on having a large group of people who are always there for you. Kappa had that and Kappa shared so many of my values.”

“I joined Kappa because it wasn’t like any other sorority.”

“I joined Kappa because I knew from the beginning it was the right house for me – the values, philanthropy, and the alumnae. They are my role models and I aspire to be just like them and our Founders."

== Remainder of 2016==

On December 7th, our chapter held our first annual Sisterhood Christmas Party; the theme was ugly/festive Christmas sweaters. The date fell in the middle of the first week of final exams, so it was a great escape from a hectic schedule of studying and long hours in the library. The day consisted of Christmas themed snacks and hot chocolate, a gingerbread house decorating competition, and snapping photos on Santa's lap (S.E. Spencer hilariously took on this role). Afterwards, a large group of sisters exchanged Secret Santa gifts. The event was so much fun and a great way to finish off the semester and spend time with each other before leaving for winter break.

Finally, on December 10th, several members from our chapter spent four hours wrapping gifts for a law firm named Murgitroyd. The firm is located in Durham, NC and specializes in Intellectual Property Law. Murgitroyd reached out to Eta Chi because they needed help wrapping books to give out as holiday gifts for their clients. In exchange for the time spent helping this company accomplish their goal of wrapping these gifts, Murgitroyd gave a donation of $700 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Eta Chi is proud that four hours of our time was spent for a great cause; raising money for the Kappa Foundation.

'''Philanthropy:'''
In mid-October, the Eta Chi chapter participated in Southern SMASH on NC State’s campus. Southern SMASH is a non-profit event created by fellow Kappa, McCall Dempsey, to raise eating disorder awareness and promote positive body image by physically destroying weight scales. During the event, students were encouraged to visit booths hosted by the Counseling Center, an eating disorder treatment center, and several other hosts, that promoted diversity and healthy eating. After visiting these booths, students were able to write positive messages on cards for them to keep to promote self-love; as well as “tombstones” to write a message to the scale before they smashed them. Students then took sledgehammers and smashed the scales along with their tombstones. All sororities were invited to participate in the event, but Eta Chi had the most participants and volunteers by far and were able to spend time talking to McCall and showing support for their fellow Kappa. McCall also hosted a talk later that day to share her experience battling and defeating her eating disorder, which many members of Eta Chi attended as well. The event allowed Eta Chi to remind themselves of their own self-worth, as well as share body positivity and raise eating disorder awareness on our campus.

In early November, the Eta Chi chapter was approached by Beta Theta Pi fraternity to work together to make lunches for over 100 volunteers at Habitat for Humanity's and NC State's Build-A-Block project. Build-A-Block is an ongoing effort to build 11 affordable and sustainable town-homes near the university's campus. The builders there were very appreciative and gracious, and invited both fraternities to come and help build over the following two semesters. Any left over lunch supplies were donated; fresh fruit and sandwiches were taken to local homeless shelters, and non-perishable items were kept by Habitat for Humanity for the following weekend's project.

The week after Installation, Kappa t-shirts were sold at the chapter house to members for $1 each. The total proceeds, which amounted to $133, were donated towards the Kappa Foundation.

On December 10th, several members from our chapter spent four hours wrapping gifts for a law firm named Murgitroyd. The firm is located in Durham, NC and specializes in Intellectual Property Law. Murgitroyd reached out to Eta Chi because they needed help wrapping books to give out as holiday gifts for their clients. In exchange for the time spent helping this company accomplish their goal of wrapping these gifts, Murgitroyd gave a donation of $700 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Eta Chi is proud that four hours of our time was spent for a great cause; raising money for the Kappa Foundation.

We chose to donate our time and volunteer at the Southern SMASH to show our support for a fellow Kappa. No matter where each of our paths takes us, we are all united by the bonds we share through our sisterhood. We were more than happy to assist and support a fellow sister, especially when the event promotes women empowerment and destroying unrealistic standards that many women feel the need to uphold and silently struggle with.

We chose to donate our time and work with Beta for the Habitat for Humanity project because it was a great way to give back to our local community and help those families in need; every person deserves a roof over their head and a meal at least once a day. We look forward to working with Habitat for Humanity again in the following semesters.

We chose to donate to the Kappa Foundation because, as fellow sisters, we believe in supporting the development of women and preserving our heritage; what better way than to honor the organization that gives us our reason to come together and be a family.

'''Chapter Facility''':
Our Chapter meets in our beautiful, newly renovated house on Avent Ferry Rd in Raleigh, NC. The lower level of the house is where our Chapter meeting room is located, as well as our dining hall, kitchen, and a study/lounge space. The second floor of the house is where the main entrance is, consisting of an elegant foyer which opens up to our formal living room and a smaller study space; another private living room and bedrooms are also located on this floor. The third floor of the house consists of another private living room and the remainder of the bedrooms.

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== Highlights of 2017 ==

Kappa kicked off the spring semester and COB by Tabling in the brickyard! At this tabling event we sold donuts for one dollar each, with all proceeds supporting RIF. Sisters walked around campus spreading awareness of philanthropic causes and to help spread the Kappa name to potential new members. The event was a great way to meet our potential new members as well as inform the campus of the philanthropy that we support as an organization.

On January 16, 2017, Eta Chi held a potential new member interest event at Build a Bear Workshop in Crabtree Valley mall. Each new member made and decorated a bear to send to a local children's hospital. This was a fun way to both meet our potential new members as well as help out others in our community and it allowed our potential new members to be a part of our efforts to give back.

On January 19, 2017 Eta Chi hosted a potential new member interest dinner at the Kappa House. Spaghetti was served, as a myriad of new members came to enjoy the house and the company of prospective sisters. We were able to show our potential new members our beautiful house as well as interact with them in a comfortable and laid back setting.

In late January Potential New Members met with initiated members for a night of board and card games and snacks, allowing for all girls to mingle and get to know each other better in a fun environment. By attending this event we were able to meet even more potential new members and have fun conversations with them over friendly competition.

On January 24, 2017, the Kappa's went on two-on-one dates with potential new members. Each new member was paired with two sisters who took her on a "date" to a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, etc, to get her excited to join Kappa. These two-on-one dates allowed our sisters to get to know our potential new members on a more personal level. They were able to connect in a stronger way than some of the other events allowed.

Sisters participated in a craft night together on February 1st, 2017. Sisters could either paint bricks as door stops or canvases for their rooms. Sisters enjoyed each other’s company, music, and snacks while painting in the kitchen of the house. It was a great way for sisters to talk, hang out, and get creative.

Potential New Members were given a bid to be a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma on February 4, 2017, and were invited to the Kappa house for a super bowl themed bid day. Each new member was accompanied by a founding family to make this bid day the best day. There was food, dancing, games, and lots of photos taken. This day was a great and fun way for us to welcome our new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On February 10th, sisters and their dates joined together for a fun filled night at Defy Gravity. This was our first date function, titled “Kappa Krush”, where we enjoyed an evening jumping around a trampoline park and competing against each other in various games and obstacle courses at the venue. It was a great night for sisters and friends to engage in some friendly competition and have a lot of fun together!

During the weekend of February 17 and 18, 2017, a new member retreat and movie night was held for our new members. A movie was shown and snacks were provided as our new members partook in fellowship and fun sisterhood memories. This event allowed our new members to bond with each other and begin to learn what sisterhood is all about.

Kappa kicked off the spring semester and COB by Tabling in the brickyard! At this tabling event we sold donuts for one dollar each, with all proceeds supporting RIF. Sisters walked around campus spreading awareness of philanthropic causes and to help spread the Kappa name to potential new members. The event was a great way to meet our potential new members as well as inform the campus of the philanthropy that we support as an organization.

On January 16, 2017, Eta Chi held a potential new member interest event at Build a Bear Workshop in Crabtree Valley mall. Each new member made and decorated a bear to send to a local children's hospital. This was a fun way to both meet our potential new members as well as help out others in our community and it allowed our potential new members to be a part of our efforts to give back.

On January 19, 2017 Eta Chi hosted a potential new member interest dinner at the Kappa House. Spaghetti was served, as a myriad of new members came to enjoy the house and the company of prospective sisters. We were able to show our potential new members our beautiful house as well as interact with them in a comfortable and laid back setting.

In late January Potential New Members met with initiated members for a night of board and card games and snacks, allowing for all girls to mingle and get to know each other better in a fun environment. By attending this event we were able to meet even more potential new members and have fun conversations with them over friendly competition.

On January 24, 2017, the Kappa's went on two-on-one dates with potential new members. Each new member was paired with two sisters who took her on a "date" to a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, etc, to get her excited to join Kappa. These two-on-one dates allowed our sisters to get to know our potential new members on a more personal level. They were able to connect in a stronger way than some of the other events allowed.

Sisters participated in a craft night together on February 1st, 2017. Sisters could either paint bricks as door stops or canvases for their rooms. Sisters enjoyed each other’s company, music, and snacks while painting in the kitchen of the house. It was a great way for sisters to talk, hang out, and get creative.

Potential New Members were given a bid to be a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma on February 4, 2017, and were invited to the Kappa house for a super bowl themed bid day. Each new member was accompanied by a founding family to make this bid day the best day. There was food, dancing, games, and lots of photos taken. This day was a great and fun way for us to welcome our new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On February 10th, sisters and their dates joined together for a fun filled night at Defy Gravity. This was our first date function, titled “Kappa Krush”, where we enjoyed an evening jumping around a trampoline park and competing against each other in various games and obstacle courses at the venue. It was a great night for sisters and friends to engage in some friendly competition and have a lot of fun together!

During the weekend of February 17 and 18, 2017, a new member retreat and movie night was held for our new members. A movie was shown and snacks were provided as our new members partook in fellowship and fun sisterhood memories. This event allowed our new members to bond with each other and begin to learn what sisterhood is all about.

On February 19th, we held our first ever composite photoshoot! Sisters styled themselves beautifully as they each took photos for Eta Chi’s first composite. The composite now hangs on our wall in the parlor for all sisters and guests to see when they enter our home.

[[File:Eta Chi Academic Tea 2.jpg|thumb|Members who achieved a GPA of 3.75 or higher for at least one semester the previous year were celebrated at a an Academic Excellence Tea held during Kappa's Academic Excellence Month. During the ceremony, members who achieved a 4.0 GPA received a pearl dangle to attach to their key.]]

A new tradition started to celebrate members obtaining GPAs of 3.75 and above at least one semester the previous year. This tradition is the Academic Excellence Tea held during Kappa's Academic Excellence Month. At the event on February 26, 2017 a Kappa alumni, Eileen Taylor, spoke to the attendees about how her educational experiences shaped her life. During the ceremony members who achieved a 4.0 GPA received a pearl dangle to attach to their key. Lunch and tea was served courtesy of our chef. Each attendee was able to take home their own Kappa mug. The event is meant to reward members for all the hard work they put into their classes. The tea will become an annual event encouraging members to do well in their academics endeavors in order to be invited to this lovely event!

On February 26th, Eta Chi held its first Big/Little Reveal! Our spring class of nine girls were given a pair of colorfully designed socks; their big sisters wore a matching pair to each little sister. Big sisters stood behind a bed linen used as a makeshift divider, while the little sisters found their matching sock pair; they aligned themselves along the other side of the linen, across from their matches. Once all the sisters were matched to their Big’s, the sheet dropped and revealed their Big/Little pairs! It was a great event all around and even sweeter sight to see our newly initiated members embracing their new Big sisters!

The Spring class of 2017 was initiated on March 25th by the Charter class of Fall 2016. On the 24th, the initiates took a part in the Fireside ceremony after dinner that was held for them by the chapter. They then spent the night in the house and learned more about Kappa Kappa Gamma, watched movies, spent time together, and were able to continue growing closer to each other as a pledge class. Our beautiful initiation ceremony was held early the next morning and these new members officially became our sisters!

Kappa Kappa Gamma’s sister sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon (AOE) held a fundraiser fashion show on April 21st, 2017. The fashion show’s aim was to promote acceptable business dress in different scenarios. Many sisters of Kappa attending the event and some even participated in the show. Raffle tickets were sold to raise money for AOE’s philanthropy. This was a fantastic way for our chapter to engage and talk with sisters from other sororities around our campus.

Sisters enjoyed their first Formal on April 22nd, 2017. Before the event sisters and their dates/friends met at the Kappa house to take lots of beautiful and fun pictures with each other. Out sisters and date/friends were then taken to the venue from the house. The event was held at the Raleigh Country Club where sisters and their dates danced, ate great food, and spent time together. The lovely decorations featured table pieces, a balloon arch, and the painted Kappa Kappa Gamma letters. Our very first formal was a smashing success and fun was had by all who attended.

[[File:Eta Chi Low Kounty Boil 2.jpg|thumb|Eta Chi hosted their first major spring philanthropy event on March 29—the 1st Annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Low Kountry Boil! With over 300 guests in attendance, the night was filled with fun games, great conversation, and a yummy low country boil feast—potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crawfish—topped off with a delicious banana pudding for dessert! The event raised over $2,500, with all proceeds benefiting Reading is Fundamental.]]

On April 28th, 2017, the last day of classes for the semester, a sisterhood event was held for sisters as a way to celebrate a job well done throughout the year. The event was an 80’s themed skate night. Sisters received a free Kappa tank top for attending the event and enjoyed skating with one another, playing games, and celebrating the last day of classes. This skating event was a fun way for sisters to hang out after completing another year here at NC State.

Members met at Talley on this day to hand out free coffee and snacks to students as a way to relax and prepare for the finals within the week. It was a great experience for sisters to interact with other students and even faculty in the NC State community. We were able to put a smile on a lot of people’s faces by doing this small gesture. It was a fun way to give to our NC State peers wishing them luck on their upcoming finals.

The Eta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma kicked off its Fall 2017 semester with spirit week in preparation for the upcoming formal recruitment process. During spirit week we prepared for recruitment by practicing songs and chants as well as preparing and decorating the house for our wonderful potential new members. Throughout this week we also did a number of sisterhood bonding activities and games to get everyone excited to recruit our new sisters.

The first week of September 2017 we participated in our first formal recruitment as a chapter. This was a rewarding and exciting time for our sisters as we were able to talk with and meet our potential new members through each round of the recruitment process. We gained wonderful new members through this process and offered them a bid on September 9th and invited them back to the Kappa house for a Beatles themed bid day. This bid day was great fun for everyone and it was filled with dancing, eating, and great conversation between sisters and new members. This bid day was a fantastic way to end our first formal recruitment.

On September 22, 2017 we went on our sisterhood retreat for the Fall semester. This was the first sisterhood event that our new members attended. For this event we went to the triangle rock club of Raleigh for a fun night of rock climbing. We were able to free climb and play climbing games as friendly competition among sisters. This event was an overnight event filled with lots of laughs and sisterhood bonding with our new members.

On October 9, 2017 we had our big/little reveal for our Fall 2017 pledge class. At this event each other the bigs made a cute poster for their littles and were placed into a room in the Kappa house. They were instructed to play a certain song and their little had to go find them by listening to the song. This day was extremely sweet as bigs and littles were united. Many photos were taken and many smiles were shared.

On the weekend of October 20 and 21 our Fall 2017 new member class was initiated into Eta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our fireside service was held on the 20th in the parlor of our house. The next morning we initiated these new members and they officially became our sisters. The ceremonies were touching and emotional for all who partook in this beautiful initiation process.

During the first week of finals to end a great semester Kappa hosted its second annual sisterhood holiday party. This party was a great time for everyone to hang out and relax during the hectic finals time. There was great food, hot chocolate, and even a gingerbread house decorating contest. This event was a great way for sisters to spend some time together before the holidays.

Our chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma seems to be a great addition to our NC State community and campus. Our chapter is always excited and willing to participate in the activities that the university has. We want to make a positive difference on our campus and so far it seems that we have been able to in a few small but meaningful ways.

On March 29th, Eta Chi hosted their first major spring philanthropy event—the 1st Annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Low Kountry Boil! With over 300 guests in attendance, the night was filled with fun games, great conversation, and a yummy low country boil feast—potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crawfish—topped off with a delicious banana pudding for dessert! Corn hole boards were set up in the backyard and Eliza Bleu philanthropy boutique was set up in the parlor; the boutique generously donated 20% of proceeds made that evening to RIF. Overall the event raised over $2,500, with all proceeds benefiting Reading is Fundamental. It was a GREAT evening shared with family, friends, and sisters and we look forward to hosting it again next spring!

Members of Eta Chi met at Talley on this day for the 20th annual Service Raleigh project. This service project allowed sisters to make a difference on our campus by doing a campus wide clean up. Sisters were sent to various places around campus and helped to beautify our school. This was a great way for our sisters to give back to the NC State community which we love and respect so much.

[[File:EtaChi KappaKarnival2017.jpeg|thumb|Held on October 26, Kappa Carnival 2017 included games, hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and even raffle prizes. All the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental.]]

We held our Fall 2017 carnival themed philanthropy event on October 26, 2017. During this event we had carnival games, hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and even raffle prizes. This was a fun event for both family and friends of sisters to attend. All the proceeds from this event went to our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental. We raised $1,000 for RIF during this enjoyable Kappa Karnival event.

On November 16 2017, we had our first ever reading is key event. We worked with the families of the Salvation Army and read the children a few books. Not only did we have the chance to share some of our favorite books with them, but we were able to do a few crafts as well. While it was a little hectic we all had a great time, and at the end of the night all of the children got to take a book home with them. This event allowed us to give back to our local community as well as continue to support our on philanthropy RIF by stressing the importance of reading to these children.

We chose to donate our time and money to Reading is Fundamental because this is Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national philanthropy. Our chapter is passionate about helping contribute to our philanthropy in any way possible. Our Low Kountry Boil as well as Kappa Karnival events were extremely successful in raising money and books in support of RIF.

We chose to donate our time to the Service Raleigh event because we care deeply about our NC State community and campus. This event was a way that Kappa was able to give back to NC State for all that they have done to help us during our first year as a chapter by allowing us to help beautify our campus.

We chose to donate our time to Salvation Army as a way to give back to our community as well support our national philanthropy of RIF. This event gave us the opportunity to interact with children and teach them the importance that books and reading have.

==Highlights of 2018==

Eta Chi started off the spring 2018 semester by having a night of PJs and Pancakes to get excited for another strong semester. Eta Chi also started a new tradition of Founders Cup which is a great way to stay involved on campus. Members are split up into different teams (named after the amazing founders of Kappa, of course), and compete to get the most points by going to the most campus events.

On January 24th, Kappa held their first percentage night of the semester. It was at Armadillo Grill, a delicious Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown Raleigh. So many girls from Eta Chi came with their friends from all over campus along with many members from various other greek life organizations from NC State’s campus.

On February 15th, Eta Chi held its second Kappa Krush date function at Moonlight Pizza Company. This night was date themed, meaning everyone dressed like a “date” on the calendar or a holiday. Sisters and their dates were able to enjoy delicious pizza while singing and dancing to fun music. There was also a fun backdrop where everyone could take pictures with their friends and dates.

February 25th was a BIG day for our newest members and some other sisters. It was big/little reveal. The big sisters decorated boxes and surprised their new little sisters by being their “gift” and popping out of the box when the time came to reveal themselves.

On March 24th, Eta Chi welcomed six new members into Kappa. After a special prospective new member pasta dinner, a fun bid day full of midnight ice skating, a new member retreat to a local escape room (where they did successfully escape), they were initiated into the Eta Chi chapter.

On April 5th, Eta Chi hosted their Spring philanthropy event, Mac and Keys benefitting Reading is Fundamental. Sisters sold tickets to their peers and family to attend this fun event for a great cause. Sisters were able to mingle with those attending and everyone was able to eat unlimited mac and cheese with an assortment of toppings. This event was a great time for everyone and was a great way for Eta Chi to give back to RIF.

[[File:Eta Chi 2018.Mac and Keys.jpeg|thumb|The chapter raised money for Reading is Fundamental at its April event, which featured mac and cheese from Noodles and Company.]]

On April 13th, sisters were able to take a break from busy weeks to dress in neon colors and enjoy a groovy night of bowling. Members of Eta Chi were given time to bond as the semester was wrapping up, whether they received the lowest or highest bowling score.

April 14th was a busy day for members of Eta Chi. Sisters started off the day by participating in NC State’s largest service event of the year: Service Raleigh. They went to a local high school and spent the entire morning re-mulching the outdoor common area. After Service Raleigh, Eta Chi hosted a Mother’s Brunch. Mothers and daughters enjoyed socializing, snacks, and painting miniature pots while mingling with others. This was a great way for sisters and all of their mothers to get to know one another during a fun event.

To start off the Spring semester, Eta Chi hosted a sisterhood event on January 6th called Pancakes and PJ's. Sisters ate a variety of pancakes with endless toppings while wearing their cozy pajamas. Sisters gathered in the kitchen catching up with winter b break memories and laughing over old memories from last semester. On January 24th, the chapter spent the evening at the bowling alley for a sisterhood event. This was an opportunity for members of all ages to spend time together and practice their bowling skills. The night started with pizza at the house and ended with friendly Still Life in Raleigh. At the venue, members and dates got to socialize, dance and even eat some yummy snacks such as chicken buffalo dip.

On April 20th, sisters danced the night away at their second formal. Sisters brought dates to the house and were then taken to 1705 East, a special event venue in Raleigh. There, sisters and their dates ate their weight in cake pops and other finger foods, socialized with other members and their dates, and danced for hours. It was a very fun way to wrap up the spring semester.

Members of Eta Chi held their biannual event of Kappa Kappachino on April 29th. During this event, members met in Talley Student Union and handed out free coffee and snacks to students passing through in order to give them encouragement to make it through finals week. It was a fun way to spread cheer during one of the most stressful times of the year.

After a fun summer break, sisters got back to Raleigh in August and kicked off the new semester by spending time with other Kappas as they began their spirit week to prepare for recruitment. The week of August 13th was filled with fun as sisters practiced for formal recruitment. Every day, they dressed up in different themes and played sisterhood games. Spirit week gave members lots of time to bond and learn more about each other. The week even included a sisterhood pool party!

Members of Eta Chi participated in their second formal recruitment during the weekend of August 31st-September 3rd. On September 4th, Kappa welcomed the Fall 2018 Pledge class home with a bid. It was a very Happy Bid Day! Sisters, new and old, dressed in fun colors and birthday themed attire, took more pictures than can be counted, enjoyed a yummy dinner, and even danced their hearts out with a DJ in the house. It was a great evening for new members to meet their sisters and feel at home right away.

The pledge class of Fall 2018 and the initiated members enjoyed a night out at Defy Gravity on September 21st. Girls rotated around the complex playing various games while bonding with each other and defying gravity by jumping sky high. The night wrapped up with a fun midnight dodgeball tournament and sisters slept on the trampolines.

During the week of September 24 to 28, members of Eta Chi participated in one of NC State’s most known traditions: Shack-a-thon. Shack-a-thon is a student driven fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Sisters, with the help of another Greek life organization on campus, built a shack and were in it 24/7 during the week. Sisters also sold rice Krispie treats to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

On September 28th, sisters and their families enjoyed a fun day at the Kappa house with a spaghetti dinner, photo booth, and Kendra Scott trunk show. Eta Chi even won the Kendra Scott competition with over $400 being donated to RIF. Sisters and their families were treated to a special performance by one of NC State’s acapella groups: Grains of Time. It was a very special night for sisters to show their families why Kappa means so much to them.

After a month of getting to know members of Eta Chi and a fun night of cardio dance to meet potential bigs, the pledge class of Fall 2018 finally received their big sisters on October 11th. Big sisters made posters for their new littles and surprised them by hiding behind them and then revealing themselves at the same time as everyone else. It was a very special night for all sisters to watch their families grow.

The Fall 2018 pledge class become official members of Kappa Kappa Gamma on October 20th, 2018. After their period as a new member, the formal pledging ceremony, a fun new member retreat, and many sisterhood events, they were initiated into Eta Chi.

[[File:Eta Chi 2018.Holiday Card.jpeg|thumb|Eta Chi’s first holiday card photo shoot was a fun way to spend the evening and it allowed sisters to get in the holiday spirit in order to make it through the rest of the semester.]]

During the week of October 29 to November 2, Eta Chi participated in Red and White week competitions with another Greek life organization on campus. Red and White week is Homecoming Week for the NC State community. Some of the events of the week included a lip sync battle, a competition for the best cupcakes, and a fight for the best banner. Eta Chi and their partner placed third overall for the week which left sisters feeling very proud since it was only their second homecoming week ever.

On November 4th, the 2018 chapter council officers had a day of leadership to transition the new Eta Chi 2019 officers into their positions. These sisters participated in various bonding and team building activities in order to start preparing the new officers for their new positions.

On November 11th, Eta Chi started a new tradition: Holiday Card Photos! Sisters dressed up in cute winter clothing and met in the Court of North Carolina to take pictures for an Eta Chi Holiday Card. Although it was a chilly evening, sisters were filled with the warmth of friendship and Kappa love.

Eta Chi held its biannual Reading is Key event on November 15th at Combs Elementary School in Raleigh. On this night, sisters were able to spread the joy of reading with kids. The kids were able to make crafts with sisters, have a Dr. Seuss read-along, and they even received a book to take home with them.

On November 30th, sisters of Eta Chi celebrated the December graduating seniors with a fun night of dancing and snacks at a venue in downtown Raleigh. Since this function was wig themed, sisters had a fun time channeling different personalities through new hair while giving the seniors one last event. The seniors received kind words from their sisters and got to leave through an arch of sparklers.

Eta Chi wrapped up another great semester with their annual holiday party on December 8th. Members came dressed in their best holiday attire, competed for the best gingerbread house, exchanged gifts through “secret sister,” and enjoyed snacks and the company of fellow sisters for the last time of 2018.

Highlights of 2019

To start off the year, Eta Chi had a roller-skating event. Although some girls may have had trouble staying on their feet, their sisters were there to help them up. The theme was Blue and Blue Looks Good On You Too, meaning all of the girls showed up in their best Kappa-themed blue attire. They finished off the night with yummy cake.

Kappa sisters participated in NC State's Dance Marathon, where they stayed on their feet for 12 hours to benefit Duke Children's Hospital. This is a special NC State event that allows participants to interact directly with the kids they are fundraising for. Eta Chi even took home an award for the 3rd place Miracle Team for 2019!

In February, the sisters had their first date function of the semester. Everyone was encouraged to bring a date and dress as opposites for the theme of "Opposites Attract." This gave everyone the opportunity to get creative and it was exciting to see what everyone wore.

For the 2nd date function of the year, Kappa sisters dressed up in green, yellow, and purple attire with their dates for the Mardi Gras theme event. Color beads were handed out to the sisters tearing it up on the dance floor.

In March Eta Chi hosted its second annual Mac and Keys philanthropy event to benefit Reading is Fundamental and was loved by all attendees. Guests were able to enjoy delicious mac and cheese while being entertained by live music from Mattie and the Masters. Kendra Scott and Vestige were also there selling beautiful jewelry and clothing.

In April the third formal was hosted at Tobacco Road Sports Cafe. Sisters brought their dates to the house and took party buses to the venue. At formal, sisters ate catered food and showed off their best dance moves.

Senior Send-off was hosted at Still-life in downtown Raleigh. Everyone wore a funky wig because they were "wiggin out" due to the seniors graduating. Each senior received a sign of what sisters in the chapter thought they were mostly known as in their time in Kappa. For example, most likely to know all the song lyrics by Taylor Swift. At the end of the night, Seniors left the venue through a sparkler arch created by their fellow sisters holding sparklers.

Fall semester began with August work week/spirit week. After a long summer apart, the sisters of Eta Chi were eager to see each other again. Preparations for a new pledge class began while everyone dressed up for different themes every day. Seeing the girls "throw down for their hometown" was a favorite of the sisters. The week ended with a fun evening
of outdoor games where girls cheered each other on fun events like potato sack races and the human knot. Labor Day Weekend Recruitment: Eta Chi's Fall 2019 pledge class got to run home to their new sisters and were able to experience a Grecian Getaway the Kappa way! The night was full of laughter, dancing, and white linen pants.

September brought the Sisterhood Retreat. Sisters got to know each other better through group events involving races on rock climbing walls, encouraging each other up steep slopes, playing games, and hanging out throughout the night. The event was held at the Triangle Rock Club. Parents Weekend Brunch: Families enjoyed time together eating , taking pictures,playing corn hole, shopping at the Kendra Scott kiosk at the kappa house before the NC State football game vs Ball State. Kappa Kabana: sisters and their dates were dressed in their tropicana outfits ready for the Bahamas. Lei were handed out to the sisters tearing it up on the dance floor.

October: Cheerwine and Design. Eta Chi had the pleasure of working with Panhellenic to host an event at the Kappa house called Cheerwine and Design. Members of all Panhellenic chapters on campus were invited to come paint canvases while drinking Cheerwine and meeting members of other chapters. It was a great time to chat and get creative while taking a small break from the chaos of the semester. Founders Day: Kappa hosted the Alumnae association and current members at the Hunt Library in the Duke Energy Center with a dessert bar that had a chocolate fountain. The Alumnae association spoke about the grand history of Kappa and giving words of encouragement to current members.

Big/Little Reveal: Each big had a ball of yarn to wrap around the house and all the bigs end up outside the front of the house. The little would start at the end of the yarn in the house and follow it all the way to their big that was outside.

Thrift Shop Date Function: Sisters came dressed in clothes they found in the back of their grandmother's closet for the thrift shop theme date function. The venue was a The Ugly Monkey and had arcade games inside.

Initiation: Initiation took place in the chapter room and had two services. The night before the lil's slept over in the house and participated in Fireside.

November: Kappa Kickball at Miller Field. The second annual event was held and composed of sisters being referees or welcoming guests. There were food trucks and a spotified confirmed singer named Levi who performed at the end of the tournament. Homecoming: Kappa sisters were busy with their homecoming partners Beta to get first place for all of the homecoming events. Kappa got 1st for the homecoming video, 1st for the most cupcake money raised, 1st for paint the town on Hillsborough Street, 2nd for homecoming banner, and 2nd for the dance performed at Stafford Commons. Overall, Kappa and Beta got 2nd place and was announced at halftime at the football game against Clemson.

Sisters and their dates enjoyed a fun evening at Imurji, a local art and music gallery in downtown Raleigh. Food, photos, and dancing were enjoyed by all.

December Holiday Party: Sisters got together in their ugly Christmas sweaters and wore their santa hats for a gingerbread house competition, secret sister gift exchange, putting together a scrapbook, and drinking hot cocoa.

''''''=Highlights of 2020=''''''

To start off the Spring semester, Eta Chi hosted a sisterhood event on January 6th called Pancakes and PJ's. Sisters ate a variety of pancakes with endless toppings while wearing their cozy pajamas. Sisters gathered in the kitchen catching up with winter b break memories and laughing over old memories from last semester. On January 24th, the chapter spent the evening at the bowling alley for a sisterhood event. This was an opportunity for members of all ages to spend time together and practice their bowling skills. The night started with pizza at the house and ended with friendly Still Life in Raleigh. At the venue, members and dates got to socialize, dance and even eat some yummy snacks such as chicken buffalo dip.

On February 13th, our chef prepared a delicious pasta dinner for Valentine's Day including her famous double chocolate chip brownies and cookies. Sisters came to the house to share a delicious meal and spend time together. The week of February 17th-21st, Eta Chi participated in the War of Roses, a week long competition supporting Pi Kappa Phi's philanthropy, The Ability Experience. Members painted a banner, baked cookies, and signed a Spread the Word to End the Word banner. Lindsay Dinallo entered the beauty pageant as our Rose Queen contestant and placed 3rd. Eta Chi placed 4th overall out of 6 sororities and raised $165. At the end of February our chapter holds an Academic Excellence Tea to celebrate academic excellence month. Any member from the previous spring semester or fall semester with a 3.75 term GPA receives and invitation; on average there are about 45 members who are invited. At the tea, a speaker is invited and members also receive prizes. The tea has been held for 4 years now and will continue to be held yearly. The tea is a special time where members can be praised for their hard work and dedication to academics. On February 28th, Eta Chi celebrated Valentine's Day a little late with our Kappa Krush date function. Members could bring a guest or date and dressed up in all different shades of red and pink. Members and dates met at the Kappa house to check in and then hopped on a bus to go to the venue, the Junction.

Dance Marathon is a nationwide fundraising movement involving college and high school students at more than 300 schools across the country. NC State's Dance Marathon benefits the Children's Miracle Network at Duke Children's Hospital. Multiple organizations on campus participated this year including other Greek organizations. This year NC State's Dance Marathon raised a total of $69,745.92 which went towards music therapy, arts & crafts, and research opportunities. As a team, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Kappa Tau raised over $7,000.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreaks in North Carolina and the rest of the country, NC State moved all classes online for the rest of the semester and gave students an extended spring break. This resulted in our chapter suspending all social events for the rest of the spring semester. We were unable to host our main philanthropy event, Macn Keys, like originally planned on March 28th due to the pandemic. Instead, Eta Chi virtually sold raffle tickets to family and friends to win prizes such as an espresso machine and a basketball signed by Kevin Keatts (NC State's basketball coach) to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.

Fall semester on August 20th, NC State cancelled all in person classes and closed dorms. Members living in the Kappa house were given the option to remain in the house or move out for the semester.

From September 18th-21st, members of Eta Chi conducted formal recruitment through a virtual setting using Zoom to talk to PNMs in breakout rooms. Bid Day was September 22nd and the House of Blues was our bid day theme! Members of Eta Chi were able to sign up for time slots to take pictures in front of the Kappa house and the banner following CDC guidelines. All Bid Day activities were held over Zoom t o welcome the new members. New members were then able to sign up for time slots to take pictures in front of the house on September 24th. The New Member Pin Ceremony was held virtually on September 27th. New members dressed in white and established members wore dark colors.

Our chapter held Big/Little Reveal on October 18ty. Groups of 3-4 new members came to the house at a time to finally discover who their bigs were. During the ritual chapter on October 18t we elected our new Chapter Council. The newly elected Chapter Council was installed on November 8th. On October 24th, Eta Chi had a virtual combination of Fireside and Initiation on Zoom. Only new members, their bigs, and Chapter Council attended to keep things running smoothly. All members wore light colors and recordings of songs were played instead of having members sing.

COVID-19, unfortunately due to the pandemic, we were unable to have several events that we had planned for both Spring and Fall semester, including our Parent's Cocktail, Formal, Kappa Casino philanthropy event, and our Semi Formal. NC State also did not host the usual homecoming events that we participate in.

Our chapter won two of the 2018-2020 Chapter Awards and earned three honorable mentions! Eta Chi on the Excellence in Chapter Management Award (Chapters with 119-179 members) and the Finance Award (housed). We earned honorable mentions for Most Improved Academic Excellence Award (8-11 Panhellenic groups), Panhellenic Award (8-11 Panhellenic groups), and Risk Management Award (Chapters with 119-179 members).

=Chapter Philanthropy= Eta Chi support Reading is Fundamental. Our chapter supports this organization because it is Kappa's national philanthropy.

=Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion= This year we added a position within our standards committee, so that our members at large could double as a Diversity sand Inclusion Chair.

=Sesquicentennial Celebration= Eta Chi celebrated Founder's Day and Kappa's 150th anniversary early during chapter of October 11th by participating in fun Kappa-related activities on Zoom and learning more about Kappa history and Eta Chi history.

''''''==Highlights of 2021==''''''

Eta Chi

2021-12-22T19:21:27Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Chi
|GreekSymbol= HX
|Image= [[File:Kappakappagamma walter-250.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2016|11|12}}
|College= [https://www.elmhurst.edu/ NC State University]
|Location= Raleigh, North Carolina
|District=
|Homepage= [https://ncstate.kappa.org/ Eta Chi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Chi Media related to Eta Chi Chapter]}}

<table><tr><td>

'''NC State University founded 1887'''

'''Chapter Founded: November 12, 2016'''

'''Charter members initiated: 109 '''

'''164 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Chi’s Outstanding Alumnae:'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==History of the University==

==Presentation and Establishment:==
After presenting to establish in 2012 and being selected to join the Pack in fall 2016, Kappa Kappa Gamma had been waiting many years to come to NC State. In 2015, S.E. Spencer (North Carolina) was selected as the Chapter Consultant and began making visits to NC State along with Lisa Thomson and others from Fraternity Headquarters. Throughout the 2015-2016 school year, Kappa representatives began to learn about NC State’s campus and Fraternity and Sorority Life culture. In the spring of 2016 Kappa Kappa Gamma was presented with the opportunity to rent a chapter facility from NC State. The property at 3501 Avent Ferry Road was approved to be the first home of Kappa at NC State.

Starting in late September of 2016 Leadership Consultants and Kappa Headquarters staff began the process for establishing the Eta Chi chapter. S.E. led a team of four Leadership Consultants, Hannah Bingham (Oklahoma State), Claire Kozel (Santa Clara), Maddy Poletis (Missouri), and Lindsay Webb (South Carolina) in a marketing blitz across NC State’s campus. After the consultant team distributed hundreds of lollipops, flyers, buttons, and bookmarks over nearly a week of tabling, more Headquarters staff and countless local Kappa alumnae descended on the Talley Student Center at NC State to interview potential charter members for Eta Chi. Nearly 200 fantastic women interviewed to be the first Kappas at NC State. On October 1, 2016, invitations to the final party and Bid Day were extended.

Bid Day arrived on October 2nd. The day began with the Formal Pledging Service, which was conducted by the Colonization Chairman, Suzanne Mahoney, and assisted by several women from the Delta Beta chapter of Duke University and the Epsilon Gamma chapter of UNC-Chapel Hill. Following the service, the charter class of 127 women were escorted through the house to receive their bid day bags and Kappa t-shirts. It was a fun filled day of face painting, photo snapping, and great socialization with established sisters and new friends. It was truly an unforgettable experience and set the stage for the beginning of a great first year.

On October 15th the charter class gathered for our first New Member Retreat. The day consisted of ice breaker activities, pumpkin painting, and hilarious team building games in the backyard. It was a great day for meeting new girls within our charter class and having a fun time goofing off together.

In mid-October, the Eta Chi chapter participated in Southern SMASH on NC State’s campus. Southern SMASH is a non-profit event created by fellow Kappa, McCall Dempsey, to raise eating disorder awareness and promote positive body image by physically destroying weight scales. During the event, students were encouraged to visit booths hosted by the Counseling Center, an eating disorder treatment center, and several other hosts, that promoted diversity and healthy eating. After visiting these booths, students were able to write positive messages on cards for them to keep to promote self-love; as well as “tombstones” to write a message to the scale before they smashed them. Students then took sledgehammers and smashed the scales along with their tombstones. All sororities were invited to participate in the event, but Eta Chi had the most participants and volunteers by far and were able to spend time talking to McCall and showing support for their fellow Kappa. McCall also hosted a talk later that day to share her experience battling and defeating her eating disorder, which many members of Eta Chi attended as well. The event allowed Eta Chi to remind themselves of their own self-worth, as well as share body positivity and raise eating disorder awareness on our campus.

During the last week of October, the Eta Chi chapter was given the task of partnering with Alpha Sigma Phi for Homecoming Week; NC State Wolfpack vs Boston College Eagles. Some of the events during the week were a Lip Sync Battle, a Craziest Fan competition, a float contest, Kupcakes for Kay, and many more. For the Lip Sync battle, we had the theme of NSYNC Y2K. Our songs were Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas, Please Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna, Down by Jay Sean, and Jumpin Jumpin by Destiny's Child. A few Kappa girls and a few Alpha Sig guys got together and performed a Mashup. For our float, it took a lot of hands to build. We constructed a large sculpture of the NC State logo, made from old t-shirts, chicken wire, and wood. The theme of our float was “Hang’m out to dry”, with another sculpture of a paper mache eagle centered in a birdcage. We also sold 100 cupcakes during the cupcake competition and raised $120 to be donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Overall, it was a very successful homecoming week and we did a great job with all of the competitions. Everyone had a blast and it was a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about who we are as a chapter.

On October 30th, after the hard work and thoughtful review by our Nominating Committee, slates were presented to the chapter for our first ever Chapter Council of Eta Chi. Also that evening, we shared our family reveals. Elections took place the following weekend, on November 6th, where 19 women were elected officer positions within the chapter.

In early November, the Eta Chi chapter was approached by Beta Theta Pi fraternity to work together to make lunches for over 100 volunteers at Habitat for Humanity's and NC State's Build-A-Block project. Build-A-Block is an ongoing effort to build 11 affordable and sustainable town-homes near the university's campus. The builders there were very appreciative and gracious, and invited both fraternities to come and help build over the following two semesters. Any left over lunch supplies were donated; fresh fruit and sandwiches were taken to local homeless shelters, and non-perishable items were kept by Habitat for Humanity for the following weekend's project.

==Installation:==
Installation weekend finally arrived on November 11, 2016. The evening began with a pizza dinner at the chapter house and then the charter class departed for the McKimmon Conference and Training Center. The Fireside service was held and graciously assisted by the Delta Beta and Epsilon Gamma chapters as the sponsoring chapters. A dessert reception was enjoyed following the service. During the reception, the District Director for the Lambda district, Katy Stovall (Drake University), shared some inspiring words with the founding class. She also presented gifts given from Alumnae Associations, Fraternity Council and Specialist Teams, and other chapters, to the Eta Chi Chapter Council and fellow sisters.

The following morning of November 12th, the day began with a delicious continental breakfast before gathering to begin the Installation service. The Installation service was conducted by Beth Black and assisted by the Epsilon Gamma chapter of UNC-Chapel Hill and Delta Beta chapter of Duke University, who are the official big sisters of the Eta Chi chapter. After the service, everyone returned to the chapter house for lunch and photos before returning to the McKimmon Center for an official Model Chapter Meeting. The meeting was lead by Beth Black, with the assistance of the newly elected Chapter President, Peyton Hartis; Recording Secretary, Mary Dare Martin; and Marshal, Megan Darle Huber. The remainder of the Chapter Council Officers were sworn into duty during the Model Chapter Meeting as well. Overall, the weekend was undeniably memorable, enlightening, and a special experience. '''109 new sisters were initiated that day.'''

Establishing Kappa on NC State's campus has been such a special privilege. We are so excited to be able to contribute to State's campus and Greek community. Our chapter is comprised of 109 outstanding young women, of all grade levels, with a wide variety of academic pursuits. We are finding our way as a chapter and how we fit within our campus and community, but overall the chapter is beginning in a positive and welcoming manner. Many of us chose to join Kappa because we each sought to be a part of something new and saw the opportunity of being a founding sister as a great way to better connect with our school and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Over the course of this semester, our chapter bonded instantaneously and many of us have created relationships with our sisters that we know will last a lifetime.

“I wanted to join Kappa to help better other women and Greek Life. It turns out it has bettered me. I’m so thankful for the support system I’ve been given and the family I feel like I’ve joined.”

“I wanted to join Kappa because I never thought I’d join a sorority, but when I met with Kappas during colonization I knew I had found people just like me and this is where I belonged.”

“I joined Kappa to start something new and leave a legacy here at NC State.”

“Joining Kappa has been my best decision yet and I am so happy I took the leap and tried it! Being in Kappa has given me the motivation to try my best in school because I don’t want to leave this beautiful sisterhood.”

“I joined Kappa because I saw it as a once in a lifetime experience and it was an organization with values I agreed with and had a passion for. I am so happy and touched to be part of this sisterhood.”

“I wanted to join Kappa because I have been searching for a supportive community at NC State. I have found some, but I knew I was missing out on having a large group of people who are always there for you. Kappa had that and Kappa shared so many of my values.”

“I joined Kappa because it wasn’t like any other sorority.”

“I joined Kappa because I knew from the beginning it was the right house for me – the values, philanthropy, and the alumnae. They are my role models and I aspire to be just like them and our Founders."

== Remainder of 2016==

On December 7th, our chapter held our first annual Sisterhood Christmas Party; the theme was ugly/festive Christmas sweaters. The date fell in the middle of the first week of final exams, so it was a great escape from a hectic schedule of studying and long hours in the library. The day consisted of Christmas themed snacks and hot chocolate, a gingerbread house decorating competition, and snapping photos on Santa's lap (S.E. Spencer hilariously took on this role). Afterwards, a large group of sisters exchanged Secret Santa gifts. The event was so much fun and a great way to finish off the semester and spend time with each other before leaving for winter break.

Finally, on December 10th, several members from our chapter spent four hours wrapping gifts for a law firm named Murgitroyd. The firm is located in Durham, NC and specializes in Intellectual Property Law. Murgitroyd reached out to Eta Chi because they needed help wrapping books to give out as holiday gifts for their clients. In exchange for the time spent helping this company accomplish their goal of wrapping these gifts, Murgitroyd gave a donation of $700 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Eta Chi is proud that four hours of our time was spent for a great cause; raising money for the Kappa Foundation.

'''Philanthropy:'''
In mid-October, the Eta Chi chapter participated in Southern SMASH on NC State’s campus. Southern SMASH is a non-profit event created by fellow Kappa, McCall Dempsey, to raise eating disorder awareness and promote positive body image by physically destroying weight scales. During the event, students were encouraged to visit booths hosted by the Counseling Center, an eating disorder treatment center, and several other hosts, that promoted diversity and healthy eating. After visiting these booths, students were able to write positive messages on cards for them to keep to promote self-love; as well as “tombstones” to write a message to the scale before they smashed them. Students then took sledgehammers and smashed the scales along with their tombstones. All sororities were invited to participate in the event, but Eta Chi had the most participants and volunteers by far and were able to spend time talking to McCall and showing support for their fellow Kappa. McCall also hosted a talk later that day to share her experience battling and defeating her eating disorder, which many members of Eta Chi attended as well. The event allowed Eta Chi to remind themselves of their own self-worth, as well as share body positivity and raise eating disorder awareness on our campus.

In early November, the Eta Chi chapter was approached by Beta Theta Pi fraternity to work together to make lunches for over 100 volunteers at Habitat for Humanity's and NC State's Build-A-Block project. Build-A-Block is an ongoing effort to build 11 affordable and sustainable town-homes near the university's campus. The builders there were very appreciative and gracious, and invited both fraternities to come and help build over the following two semesters. Any left over lunch supplies were donated; fresh fruit and sandwiches were taken to local homeless shelters, and non-perishable items were kept by Habitat for Humanity for the following weekend's project.

The week after Installation, Kappa t-shirts were sold at the chapter house to members for $1 each. The total proceeds, which amounted to $133, were donated towards the Kappa Foundation.

On December 10th, several members from our chapter spent four hours wrapping gifts for a law firm named Murgitroyd. The firm is located in Durham, NC and specializes in Intellectual Property Law. Murgitroyd reached out to Eta Chi because they needed help wrapping books to give out as holiday gifts for their clients. In exchange for the time spent helping this company accomplish their goal of wrapping these gifts, Murgitroyd gave a donation of $700 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Eta Chi is proud that four hours of our time was spent for a great cause; raising money for the Kappa Foundation.

We chose to donate our time and volunteer at the Southern SMASH to show our support for a fellow Kappa. No matter where each of our paths takes us, we are all united by the bonds we share through our sisterhood. We were more than happy to assist and support a fellow sister, especially when the event promotes women empowerment and destroying unrealistic standards that many women feel the need to uphold and silently struggle with.

We chose to donate our time and work with Beta for the Habitat for Humanity project because it was a great way to give back to our local community and help those families in need; every person deserves a roof over their head and a meal at least once a day. We look forward to working with Habitat for Humanity again in the following semesters.

We chose to donate to the Kappa Foundation because, as fellow sisters, we believe in supporting the development of women and preserving our heritage; what better way than to honor the organization that gives us our reason to come together and be a family.

'''Chapter Facility''':
Our Chapter meets in our beautiful, newly renovated house on Avent Ferry Rd in Raleigh, NC. The lower level of the house is where our Chapter meeting room is located, as well as our dining hall, kitchen, and a study/lounge space. The second floor of the house is where the main entrance is, consisting of an elegant foyer which opens up to our formal living room and a smaller study space; another private living room and bedrooms are also located on this floor. The third floor of the house consists of another private living room and the remainder of the bedrooms.

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== Highlights of 2017 ==

Kappa kicked off the spring semester and COB by Tabling in the brickyard! At this tabling event we sold donuts for one dollar each, with all proceeds supporting RIF. Sisters walked around campus spreading awareness of philanthropic causes and to help spread the Kappa name to potential new members. The event was a great way to meet our potential new members as well as inform the campus of the philanthropy that we support as an organization.

On January 16, 2017, Eta Chi held a potential new member interest event at Build a Bear Workshop in Crabtree Valley mall. Each new member made and decorated a bear to send to a local children's hospital. This was a fun way to both meet our potential new members as well as help out others in our community and it allowed our potential new members to be a part of our efforts to give back.

On January 19, 2017 Eta Chi hosted a potential new member interest dinner at the Kappa House. Spaghetti was served, as a myriad of new members came to enjoy the house and the company of prospective sisters. We were able to show our potential new members our beautiful house as well as interact with them in a comfortable and laid back setting.

In late January Potential New Members met with initiated members for a night of board and card games and snacks, allowing for all girls to mingle and get to know each other better in a fun environment. By attending this event we were able to meet even more potential new members and have fun conversations with them over friendly competition.

On January 24, 2017, the Kappa's went on two-on-one dates with potential new members. Each new member was paired with two sisters who took her on a "date" to a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, etc, to get her excited to join Kappa. These two-on-one dates allowed our sisters to get to know our potential new members on a more personal level. They were able to connect in a stronger way than some of the other events allowed.

Sisters participated in a craft night together on February 1st, 2017. Sisters could either paint bricks as door stops or canvases for their rooms. Sisters enjoyed each other’s company, music, and snacks while painting in the kitchen of the house. It was a great way for sisters to talk, hang out, and get creative.

Potential New Members were given a bid to be a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma on February 4, 2017, and were invited to the Kappa house for a super bowl themed bid day. Each new member was accompanied by a founding family to make this bid day the best day. There was food, dancing, games, and lots of photos taken. This day was a great and fun way for us to welcome our new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On February 10th, sisters and their dates joined together for a fun filled night at Defy Gravity. This was our first date function, titled “Kappa Krush”, where we enjoyed an evening jumping around a trampoline park and competing against each other in various games and obstacle courses at the venue. It was a great night for sisters and friends to engage in some friendly competition and have a lot of fun together!

During the weekend of February 17 and 18, 2017, a new member retreat and movie night was held for our new members. A movie was shown and snacks were provided as our new members partook in fellowship and fun sisterhood memories. This event allowed our new members to bond with each other and begin to learn what sisterhood is all about.

Kappa kicked off the spring semester and COB by Tabling in the brickyard! At this tabling event we sold donuts for one dollar each, with all proceeds supporting RIF. Sisters walked around campus spreading awareness of philanthropic causes and to help spread the Kappa name to potential new members. The event was a great way to meet our potential new members as well as inform the campus of the philanthropy that we support as an organization.

On January 16, 2017, Eta Chi held a potential new member interest event at Build a Bear Workshop in Crabtree Valley mall. Each new member made and decorated a bear to send to a local children's hospital. This was a fun way to both meet our potential new members as well as help out others in our community and it allowed our potential new members to be a part of our efforts to give back.

On January 19, 2017 Eta Chi hosted a potential new member interest dinner at the Kappa House. Spaghetti was served, as a myriad of new members came to enjoy the house and the company of prospective sisters. We were able to show our potential new members our beautiful house as well as interact with them in a comfortable and laid back setting.

In late January Potential New Members met with initiated members for a night of board and card games and snacks, allowing for all girls to mingle and get to know each other better in a fun environment. By attending this event we were able to meet even more potential new members and have fun conversations with them over friendly competition.

On January 24, 2017, the Kappa's went on two-on-one dates with potential new members. Each new member was paired with two sisters who took her on a "date" to a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, etc, to get her excited to join Kappa. These two-on-one dates allowed our sisters to get to know our potential new members on a more personal level. They were able to connect in a stronger way than some of the other events allowed.

Sisters participated in a craft night together on February 1st, 2017. Sisters could either paint bricks as door stops or canvases for their rooms. Sisters enjoyed each other’s company, music, and snacks while painting in the kitchen of the house. It was a great way for sisters to talk, hang out, and get creative.

Potential New Members were given a bid to be a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma on February 4, 2017, and were invited to the Kappa house for a super bowl themed bid day. Each new member was accompanied by a founding family to make this bid day the best day. There was food, dancing, games, and lots of photos taken. This day was a great and fun way for us to welcome our new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On February 10th, sisters and their dates joined together for a fun filled night at Defy Gravity. This was our first date function, titled “Kappa Krush”, where we enjoyed an evening jumping around a trampoline park and competing against each other in various games and obstacle courses at the venue. It was a great night for sisters and friends to engage in some friendly competition and have a lot of fun together!

During the weekend of February 17 and 18, 2017, a new member retreat and movie night was held for our new members. A movie was shown and snacks were provided as our new members partook in fellowship and fun sisterhood memories. This event allowed our new members to bond with each other and begin to learn what sisterhood is all about.

On February 19th, we held our first ever composite photoshoot! Sisters styled themselves beautifully as they each took photos for Eta Chi’s first composite. The composite now hangs on our wall in the parlor for all sisters and guests to see when they enter our home.

[[File:Eta Chi Academic Tea 2.jpg|thumb|Members who achieved a GPA of 3.75 or higher for at least one semester the previous year were celebrated at a an Academic Excellence Tea held during Kappa's Academic Excellence Month. During the ceremony, members who achieved a 4.0 GPA received a pearl dangle to attach to their key.]]

A new tradition started to celebrate members obtaining GPAs of 3.75 and above at least one semester the previous year. This tradition is the Academic Excellence Tea held during Kappa's Academic Excellence Month. At the event on February 26, 2017 a Kappa alumni, Eileen Taylor, spoke to the attendees about how her educational experiences shaped her life. During the ceremony members who achieved a 4.0 GPA received a pearl dangle to attach to their key. Lunch and tea was served courtesy of our chef. Each attendee was able to take home their own Kappa mug. The event is meant to reward members for all the hard work they put into their classes. The tea will become an annual event encouraging members to do well in their academics endeavors in order to be invited to this lovely event!

On February 26th, Eta Chi held its first Big/Little Reveal! Our spring class of nine girls were given a pair of colorfully designed socks; their big sisters wore a matching pair to each little sister. Big sisters stood behind a bed linen used as a makeshift divider, while the little sisters found their matching sock pair; they aligned themselves along the other side of the linen, across from their matches. Once all the sisters were matched to their Big’s, the sheet dropped and revealed their Big/Little pairs! It was a great event all around and even sweeter sight to see our newly initiated members embracing their new Big sisters!

The Spring class of 2017 was initiated on March 25th by the Charter class of Fall 2016. On the 24th, the initiates took a part in the Fireside ceremony after dinner that was held for them by the chapter. They then spent the night in the house and learned more about Kappa Kappa Gamma, watched movies, spent time together, and were able to continue growing closer to each other as a pledge class. Our beautiful initiation ceremony was held early the next morning and these new members officially became our sisters!

Kappa Kappa Gamma’s sister sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon (AOE) held a fundraiser fashion show on April 21st, 2017. The fashion show’s aim was to promote acceptable business dress in different scenarios. Many sisters of Kappa attending the event and some even participated in the show. Raffle tickets were sold to raise money for AOE’s philanthropy. This was a fantastic way for our chapter to engage and talk with sisters from other sororities around our campus.

Sisters enjoyed their first Formal on April 22nd, 2017. Before the event sisters and their dates/friends met at the Kappa house to take lots of beautiful and fun pictures with each other. Out sisters and date/friends were then taken to the venue from the house. The event was held at the Raleigh Country Club where sisters and their dates danced, ate great food, and spent time together. The lovely decorations featured table pieces, a balloon arch, and the painted Kappa Kappa Gamma letters. Our very first formal was a smashing success and fun was had by all who attended.

[[File:Eta Chi Low Kounty Boil 2.jpg|thumb|Eta Chi hosted their first major spring philanthropy event on March 29—the 1st Annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Low Kountry Boil! With over 300 guests in attendance, the night was filled with fun games, great conversation, and a yummy low country boil feast—potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crawfish—topped off with a delicious banana pudding for dessert! The event raised over $2,500, with all proceeds benefiting Reading is Fundamental.]]

On April 28th, 2017, the last day of classes for the semester, a sisterhood event was held for sisters as a way to celebrate a job well done throughout the year. The event was an 80’s themed skate night. Sisters received a free Kappa tank top for attending the event and enjoyed skating with one another, playing games, and celebrating the last day of classes. This skating event was a fun way for sisters to hang out after completing another year here at NC State.

Members met at Talley on this day to hand out free coffee and snacks to students as a way to relax and prepare for the finals within the week. It was a great experience for sisters to interact with other students and even faculty in the NC State community. We were able to put a smile on a lot of people’s faces by doing this small gesture. It was a fun way to give to our NC State peers wishing them luck on their upcoming finals.

The Eta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma kicked off its Fall 2017 semester with spirit week in preparation for the upcoming formal recruitment process. During spirit week we prepared for recruitment by practicing songs and chants as well as preparing and decorating the house for our wonderful potential new members. Throughout this week we also did a number of sisterhood bonding activities and games to get everyone excited to recruit our new sisters.

The first week of September 2017 we participated in our first formal recruitment as a chapter. This was a rewarding and exciting time for our sisters as we were able to talk with and meet our potential new members through each round of the recruitment process. We gained wonderful new members through this process and offered them a bid on September 9th and invited them back to the Kappa house for a Beatles themed bid day. This bid day was great fun for everyone and it was filled with dancing, eating, and great conversation between sisters and new members. This bid day was a fantastic way to end our first formal recruitment.

On September 22, 2017 we went on our sisterhood retreat for the Fall semester. This was the first sisterhood event that our new members attended. For this event we went to the triangle rock club of Raleigh for a fun night of rock climbing. We were able to free climb and play climbing games as friendly competition among sisters. This event was an overnight event filled with lots of laughs and sisterhood bonding with our new members.

On October 9, 2017 we had our big/little reveal for our Fall 2017 pledge class. At this event each other the bigs made a cute poster for their littles and were placed into a room in the Kappa house. They were instructed to play a certain song and their little had to go find them by listening to the song. This day was extremely sweet as bigs and littles were united. Many photos were taken and many smiles were shared.

On the weekend of October 20 and 21 our Fall 2017 new member class was initiated into Eta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our fireside service was held on the 20th in the parlor of our house. The next morning we initiated these new members and they officially became our sisters. The ceremonies were touching and emotional for all who partook in this beautiful initiation process.

During the first week of finals to end a great semester Kappa hosted its second annual sisterhood holiday party. This party was a great time for everyone to hang out and relax during the hectic finals time. There was great food, hot chocolate, and even a gingerbread house decorating contest. This event was a great way for sisters to spend some time together before the holidays.

Our chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma seems to be a great addition to our NC State community and campus. Our chapter is always excited and willing to participate in the activities that the university has. We want to make a positive difference on our campus and so far it seems that we have been able to in a few small but meaningful ways.

On March 29th, Eta Chi hosted their first major spring philanthropy event—the 1st Annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Low Kountry Boil! With over 300 guests in attendance, the night was filled with fun games, great conversation, and a yummy low country boil feast—potatoes, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crawfish—topped off with a delicious banana pudding for dessert! Corn hole boards were set up in the backyard and Eliza Bleu philanthropy boutique was set up in the parlor; the boutique generously donated 20% of proceeds made that evening to RIF. Overall the event raised over $2,500, with all proceeds benefiting Reading is Fundamental. It was a GREAT evening shared with family, friends, and sisters and we look forward to hosting it again next spring!

Members of Eta Chi met at Talley on this day for the 20th annual Service Raleigh project. This service project allowed sisters to make a difference on our campus by doing a campus wide clean up. Sisters were sent to various places around campus and helped to beautify our school. This was a great way for our sisters to give back to the NC State community which we love and respect so much.

[[File:EtaChi KappaKarnival2017.jpeg|thumb|Held on October 26, Kappa Carnival 2017 included games, hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and even raffle prizes. All the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental.]]

We held our Fall 2017 carnival themed philanthropy event on October 26, 2017. During this event we had carnival games, hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and even raffle prizes. This was a fun event for both family and friends of sisters to attend. All the proceeds from this event went to our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental. We raised $1,000 for RIF during this enjoyable Kappa Karnival event.

On November 16 2017, we had our first ever reading is key event. We worked with the families of the Salvation Army and read the children a few books. Not only did we have the chance to share some of our favorite books with them, but we were able to do a few crafts as well. While it was a little hectic we all had a great time, and at the end of the night all of the children got to take a book home with them. This event allowed us to give back to our local community as well as continue to support our on philanthropy RIF by stressing the importance of reading to these children.

We chose to donate our time and money to Reading is Fundamental because this is Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national philanthropy. Our chapter is passionate about helping contribute to our philanthropy in any way possible. Our Low Kountry Boil as well as Kappa Karnival events were extremely successful in raising money and books in support of RIF.

We chose to donate our time to the Service Raleigh event because we care deeply about our NC State community and campus. This event was a way that Kappa was able to give back to NC State for all that they have done to help us during our first year as a chapter by allowing us to help beautify our campus.

We chose to donate our time to Salvation Army as a way to give back to our community as well support our national philanthropy of RIF. This event gave us the opportunity to interact with children and teach them the importance that books and reading have.

==Highlights of 2018==

Eta Chi started off the spring 2018 semester by having a night of PJs and Pancakes to get excited for another strong semester. Eta Chi also started a new tradition of Founders Cup which is a great way to stay involved on campus. Members are split up into different teams (named after the amazing founders of Kappa, of course), and compete to get the most points by going to the most campus events.

On January 24th, Kappa held their first percentage night of the semester. It was at Armadillo Grill, a delicious Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown Raleigh. So many girls from Eta Chi came with their friends from all over campus along with many members from various other greek life organizations from NC State’s campus.

On February 15th, Eta Chi held its second Kappa Krush date function at Moonlight Pizza Company. This night was date themed, meaning everyone dressed like a “date” on the calendar or a holiday. Sisters and their dates were able to enjoy delicious pizza while singing and dancing to fun music. There was also a fun backdrop where everyone could take pictures with their friends and dates.

February 25th was a BIG day for our newest members and some other sisters. It was big/little reveal. The big sisters decorated boxes and surprised their new little sisters by being their “gift” and popping out of the box when the time came to reveal themselves.

On March 24th, Eta Chi welcomed six new members into Kappa. After a special prospective new member pasta dinner, a fun bid day full of midnight ice skating, a new member retreat to a local escape room (where they did successfully escape), they were initiated into the Eta Chi chapter.

On April 5th, Eta Chi hosted their Spring philanthropy event, Mac and Keys benefitting Reading is Fundamental. Sisters sold tickets to their peers and family to attend this fun event for a great cause. Sisters were able to mingle with those attending and everyone was able to eat unlimited mac and cheese with an assortment of toppings. This event was a great time for everyone and was a great way for Eta Chi to give back to RIF.

[[File:Eta Chi 2018.Mac and Keys.jpeg|thumb|The chapter raised money for Reading is Fundamental at its April event, which featured mac and cheese from Noodles and Company.]]

On April 13th, sisters were able to take a break from busy weeks to dress in neon colors and enjoy a groovy night of bowling. Members of Eta Chi were given time to bond as the semester was wrapping up, whether they received the lowest or highest bowling score.

April 14th was a busy day for members of Eta Chi. Sisters started off the day by participating in NC State’s largest service event of the year: Service Raleigh. They went to a local high school and spent the entire morning re-mulching the outdoor common area. After Service Raleigh, Eta Chi hosted a Mother’s Brunch. Mothers and daughters enjoyed socializing, snacks, and painting miniature pots while mingling with others. This was a great way for sisters and all of their mothers to get to know one another during a fun event.

To start off the Spring semester, Eta Chi hosted a sisterhood event on January 6th called Pancakes and PJ's. Sisters ate a variety of pancakes with endless toppings while wearing their cozy pajamas. Sisters gathered in the kitchen catching up with winter b break memories and laughing over old memories from last semester. On January 24th, the chapter spent the evening at the bowling alley for a sisterhood event. This was an opportunity for members of all ages to spend time together and practice their bowling skills. The night started with pizza at the house and ended with friendly Still Life in Raleigh. At the venue, members and dates got to socialize, dance and even eat some yummy snacks such as chicken buffalo dip.

On April 20th, sisters danced the night away at their second formal. Sisters brought dates to the house and were then taken to 1705 East, a special event venue in Raleigh. There, sisters and their dates ate their weight in cake pops and other finger foods, socialized with other members and their dates, and danced for hours. It was a very fun way to wrap up the spring semester.

Members of Eta Chi held their biannual event of Kappa Kappachino on April 29th. During this event, members met in Talley Student Union and handed out free coffee and snacks to students passing through in order to give them encouragement to make it through finals week. It was a fun way to spread cheer during one of the most stressful times of the year.

After a fun summer break, sisters got back to Raleigh in August and kicked off the new semester by spending time with other Kappas as they began their spirit week to prepare for recruitment. The week of August 13th was filled with fun as sisters practiced for formal recruitment. Every day, they dressed up in different themes and played sisterhood games. Spirit week gave members lots of time to bond and learn more about each other. The week even included a sisterhood pool party!

Members of Eta Chi participated in their second formal recruitment during the weekend of August 31st-September 3rd. On September 4th, Kappa welcomed the Fall 2018 Pledge class home with a bid. It was a very Happy Bid Day! Sisters, new and old, dressed in fun colors and birthday themed attire, took more pictures than can be counted, enjoyed a yummy dinner, and even danced their hearts out with a DJ in the house. It was a great evening for new members to meet their sisters and feel at home right away.

The pledge class of Fall 2018 and the initiated members enjoyed a night out at Defy Gravity on September 21st. Girls rotated around the complex playing various games while bonding with each other and defying gravity by jumping sky high. The night wrapped up with a fun midnight dodgeball tournament and sisters slept on the trampolines.

During the week of September 24 to 28, members of Eta Chi participated in one of NC State’s most known traditions: Shack-a-thon. Shack-a-thon is a student driven fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Sisters, with the help of another Greek life organization on campus, built a shack and were in it 24/7 during the week. Sisters also sold rice Krispie treats to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

On September 28th, sisters and their families enjoyed a fun day at the Kappa house with a spaghetti dinner, photo booth, and Kendra Scott trunk show. Eta Chi even won the Kendra Scott competition with over $400 being donated to RIF. Sisters and their families were treated to a special performance by one of NC State’s acapella groups: Grains of Time. It was a very special night for sisters to show their families why Kappa means so much to them.

After a month of getting to know members of Eta Chi and a fun night of cardio dance to meet potential bigs, the pledge class of Fall 2018 finally received their big sisters on October 11th. Big sisters made posters for their new littles and surprised them by hiding behind them and then revealing themselves at the same time as everyone else. It was a very special night for all sisters to watch their families grow.

The Fall 2018 pledge class become official members of Kappa Kappa Gamma on October 20th, 2018. After their period as a new member, the formal pledging ceremony, a fun new member retreat, and many sisterhood events, they were initiated into Eta Chi.

[[File:Eta Chi 2018.Holiday Card.jpeg|thumb|Eta Chi’s first holiday card photo shoot was a fun way to spend the evening and it allowed sisters to get in the holiday spirit in order to make it through the rest of the semester.]]

During the week of October 29 to November 2, Eta Chi participated in Red and White week competitions with another Greek life organization on campus. Red and White week is Homecoming Week for the NC State community. Some of the events of the week included a lip sync battle, a competition for the best cupcakes, and a fight for the best banner. Eta Chi and their partner placed third overall for the week which left sisters feeling very proud since it was only their second homecoming week ever.

On November 4th, the 2018 chapter council officers had a day of leadership to transition the new Eta Chi 2019 officers into their positions. These sisters participated in various bonding and team building activities in order to start preparing the new officers for their new positions.

On November 11th, Eta Chi started a new tradition: Holiday Card Photos! Sisters dressed up in cute winter clothing and met in the Court of North Carolina to take pictures for an Eta Chi Holiday Card. Although it was a chilly evening, sisters were filled with the warmth of friendship and Kappa love.

Eta Chi held its biannual Reading is Key event on November 15th at Combs Elementary School in Raleigh. On this night, sisters were able to spread the joy of reading with kids. The kids were able to make crafts with sisters, have a Dr. Seuss read-along, and they even received a book to take home with them.

On November 30th, sisters of Eta Chi celebrated the December graduating seniors with a fun night of dancing and snacks at a venue in downtown Raleigh. Since this function was wig themed, sisters had a fun time channeling different personalities through new hair while giving the seniors one last event. The seniors received kind words from their sisters and got to leave through an arch of sparklers.

Eta Chi wrapped up another great semester with their annual holiday party on December 8th. Members came dressed in their best holiday attire, competed for the best gingerbread house, exchanged gifts through “secret sister,” and enjoyed snacks and the company of fellow sisters for the last time of 2018.

Highlights of 2019

To start off the year, Eta Chi had a roller-skating event. Although some girls may have had trouble staying on their feet, their sisters were there to help them up. The theme was Blue and Blue Looks Good On You Too, meaning all of the girls showed up in their best Kappa-themed blue attire. They finished off the night with yummy cake.

Kappa sisters participated in NC State's Dance Marathon, where they stayed on their feet for 12 hours to benefit Duke Children's Hospital. This is a special NC State event that allows participants to interact directly with the kids they are fundraising for. Eta Chi even took home an award for the 3rd place Miracle Team for 2019!

In February, the sisters had their first date function of the semester. Everyone was encouraged to bring a date and dress as opposites for the theme of "Opposites Attract." This gave everyone the opportunity to get creative and it was exciting to see what everyone wore.

For the 2nd date function of the year, Kappa sisters dressed up in green, yellow, and purple attire with their dates for the Mardi Gras theme event. Color beads were handed out to the sisters tearing it up on the dance floor.

In March Eta Chi hosted its second annual Mac and Keys philanthropy event to benefit Reading is Fundamental and was loved by all attendees. Guests were able to enjoy delicious mac and cheese while being entertained by live music from Mattie and the Masters. Kendra Scott and Vestige were also there selling beautiful jewelry and clothing.

In April the third formal was hosted at Tobacco Road Sports Cafe. Sisters brought their dates to the house and took party buses to the venue. At formal, sisters ate catered food and showed off their best dance moves.

Senior Send-off was hosted at Still-life in downtown Raleigh. Everyone wore a funky wig because they were "wiggin out" due to the seniors graduating. Each senior received a sign of what sisters in the chapter thought they were mostly known as in their time in Kappa. For example, most likely to know all the song lyrics by Taylor Swift. At the end of the night, Seniors left the venue through a sparkler arch created by their fellow sisters holding sparklers.

Fall semester began with August work week/spirit week. After a long summer apart, the sisters of Eta Chi were eager to see each other again. Preparations for a new pledge class began while everyone dressed up for different themes every day. Seeing the girls "throw down for their hometown" was a favorite of the sisters. The week ended with a fun evening
of outdoor games where girls cheered each other on fun events like potato sack races and the human knot. Labor Day Weekend Recruitment: Eta Chi's Fall 2019 pledge class got to run home to their new sisters and were able to experience a Grecian Getaway the Kappa way! The night was full of laughter, dancing, and white linen pants.

September brought the Sisterhood Retreat. Sisters got to know each other better through group events involving races on rock climbing walls, encouraging each other up steep slopes, playing games, and hanging out throughout the night. The event was held at the Triangle Rock Club. Parents Weekend Brunch: Families enjoyed time together eating , taking pictures,playing corn hole, shopping at the Kendra Scott kiosk at the kappa house before the NC State football game vs Ball State. Kappa Kabana: sisters and their dates were dressed in their tropicana outfits ready for the Bahamas. Lei were handed out to the sisters tearing it up on the dance floor.

October: Cheerwine and Design. Eta Chi had the pleasure of working with Panhellenic to host an event at the Kappa house called Cheerwine and Design. Members of all Panhellenic chapters on campus were invited to come paint canvases while drinking Cheerwine and meeting members of other chapters. It was a great time to chat and get creative while taking a small break from the chaos of the semester. Founders Day: Kappa hosted the Alumnae association and current members at the Hunt Library in the Duke Energy Center with a dessert bar that had a chocolate fountain. The Alumnae association spoke about the grand history of Kappa and giving words of encouragement to current members.

Big/Little Reveal: Each big had a ball of yarn to wrap around the house and all the bigs end up outside the front of the house. The little would start at the end of the yarn in the house and follow it all the way to their big that was outside.

Thrift Shop Date Function: Sisters came dressed in clothes they found in the back of their grandmother's closet for the thrift shop theme date function. The venue was a The Ugly Monkey and had arcade games inside.

Initiation: Initiation took place in the chapter room and had two services. The night before the lil's slept over in the house and participated in Fireside.

November: Kappa Kickball at Miller Field. The second annual event was held and composed of sisters being referees or welcoming guests. There were food trucks and a spotified confirmed singer named Levi who performed at the end of the tournament. Homecoming: Kappa sisters were busy with their homecoming partners Beta to get first place for all of the homecoming events. Kappa got 1st for the homecoming video, 1st for the most cupcake money raised, 1st for paint the town on Hillsborough Street, 2nd for homecoming banner, and 2nd for the dance performed at Stafford Commons. Overall, Kappa and Beta got 2nd place and was announced at halftime at the football game against Clemson.

Sisters and their dates enjoyed a fun evening at Imurji, a local art and music gallery in downtown Raleigh. Food, photos, and dancing were enjoyed by all.

December Holiday Party: Sisters got together in their ugly Christmas sweaters and wore their santa hats for a gingerbread house competition, secret sister gift exchange, putting together a scrapbook, and drinking hot cocoa.

''''''=Highlights of 2020=''''''

To start off the Spring semester, Eta Chi hosted a sisterhood event on January 6th called Pancakes and PJ's. Sisters ate a variety of pancakes with endless toppings while wearing their cozy pajamas. Sisters gathered in the kitchen catching up with winter b break memories and laughing over old memories from last semester. On January 24th, the chapter spent the evening at the bowling alley for a sisterhood event. This was an opportunity for members of all ages to spend time together and practice their bowling skills. The night started with pizza at the house and ended with friendly Still Life in Raleigh. At the venue, members and dates got to socialize, dance and even eat some yummy snacks such as chicken buffalo dip.

On February 13th, our chef prepared a delicious pasta dinner for Valentine's Day including her famous double chocolate chip brownies and cookies. Sisters came to the house to share a delicious meal and spend time together. The week of February 17th-21st, Eta Chi participated in the War of Roses, a week long competition supporting Pi Kappa Phi's philanthropy, The Ability Experience. Members painted a banner, baked cookies, and signed a Spread the Word to End the Word banner. Lindsay Dinallo entered the beauty pageant as our Rose Queen contestant and placed 3rd. Eta Chi placed 4th overall out of 6 sororities and raised $165. At the end of February our chapter holds an Academic Excellence Tea to celebrate academic excellence month. Any member from the previous spring semester or fall semester with a 3.75 term GPA receives and invitation; on average there are about 45 members who are invited. At the tea, a speaker is invited and members also receive prizes. The tea has been held for 4 years now and will continue to be held yearly. The tea is a special time where members can be praised for their hard work and dedication to academics. On February 28th, Eta Chi celebrated Valentine's Day a little late with our Kappa Krush date function. Members could bring a guest or date and dressed up in all different shades of red and pink. Members and dates met at the Kappa house to check in and then hopped on a bus to go to the venue, the Junction.

Dance Marathon is a nationwide fundraising movement involving college and high school students at more than 300 schools across the country. NC State's Dance Marathon benefits the Children's Miracle Network at Duke Children's Hospital. Multiple organizations on campus participated this year including other Greek organizations. This year NC State's Dance Marathon raised a total of $69,745.92 which went towards music therapy, arts & crafts, and research opportunities. As a team, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Kappa Tau raised over $7,000.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreaks in North Carolina and the rest of the country, NC State moved all classes online for the rest of the semester and gave students an extended spring break. This resulted in our chapter suspending all social events for the rest of the spring semester. We were unable to host our main philanthropy event, Macn Keys, like originally planned on March 28th due to the pandemic. Instead, Eta Chi virtually sold raffle tickets to family and friends to win prizes such as an espresso machine and a basketball signed by Kevin Keatts (NC State's basketball coach) to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.

Fall semester on August 20th, NC State cancelled all in person classes and closed dorms. Members living in the Kappa house were given the option to remain in the house or move out for the semester.

From September 18th-21st, members of Eta Chi conducted formal recruitment through a virtual setting using Zoom to talk to PNMs in breakout rooms. Bid Day was September 22nd and the House of Blues was our bid day theme! Members of Eta Chi were able to sign up for time slots to take pictures in front of the Kappa house and the banner following CDC guidelines. All Bid Day activities were held over Zoom t o welcome the new members. New members were then able to sign up for time slots to take pictures in front of the house on September 24th. The New Member Pin Ceremony was held virtually on September 27th. New members dressed in white and established members wore dark colors.

Our chapter held Big/Little Reveal on October 18ty. Groups of 3-4 new members came to the house at a time to finally discover who their bigs were. During the ritual chapter on October 18t we elected our new Chapter Council. The newly elected Chapter Council was installed on November 8th. On October 24th, Eta Chi had a virtual combination of Fireside and Initiation on Zoom. Only new members, their bigs, and Chapter Council attended to keep things running smoothly. All members wore light colors and recordings of songs were played instead of having members sing.

COVID-19, unfortunately due to the pandemic, we were unable to have several events that we had planned for both Spring and Fall semester, including our Parent's Cocktail, Formal, Kappa Casino philanthropy event, and our Semi Formal. NC State also did not host the usual homecoming events that we participate in.

Our chapter won two of the 2018-2020 Chapter Awards and earned three honorable mentions! Eta Chi on the Excellence in Chapter Management Award (Chapters with 119-179 members) and the Finance Award (housed). We earned honorable mentions for Most Improved Academic Excellence Award (8-11 Panhellenic groups), Panhellenic Award (8-11 Panhellenic groups), and Risk Management Award (Chapters with 119-179 members).

=Chapter Philanthropy= Eta Chi support Reading is Fundamental. Our chapter supports this organization because it is Kappa's national philanthropy.

=Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion= This year we added a position within our standards committee, so that our members at large could double as a Diversity sand Inclusion Chair.

=Sesquicentennial Celebration= Eta Chi celebrated Founder's Day and Kappa's 150th anniversary early during chapter of October 11th by participating in fun Kappa-related activities on Zoom and learning more about Kappa history and Eta Chi history.

''''''==Highlights of 2021==''''''

Eta Phi

2021-12-22T19:17:48Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Phi
|GreekSymbol= HΦ
|Image= [[File:ElmhurstOldMain.JPG|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2013|11|23}}
|College= [https://www.elmhurst.edu/ Elmhurst College]
|Location= Elmhurst, Illinois
|District=
|Homepage= [https://elmhurst.kappa.org/ Eta Phi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Phi Media related to Eta Phi Chapter] }}

<table><tr><td>

'''Elmhurst College founded 1871'''

'''Chapter Founded: November 23, 2013'''

'''Charter members initiated: 43'''

'''139 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Phi’s Outstanding Alumnae:'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==History of the College==
In 1871, Thomas Bryan, a leading Chicago businessman, gave a substantial parcel of land 16 miles west of the city to a reform-minded group of Protestants, the German Evangelical Synod of North America. The land was intended for a school to prepare young men for the seminary.

The Elmhurst Proseminary opened that year with 14 students and an inspektor, the Reverend Carl Kranz. The original students studied music, mathematics, science, history, geography, religion, German and English—all disciplines that remain in the curriculum today. They also studied Latin and Greek. For decades, all courses, including English, were taught in German.

In 1924, the school formally assumed the name Elmhurst College (it had been called that colloquially for years) and began offering the bachelor of arts degree. The first leader of the new four-year college was a 1912 alumnus, H. Richard Niebuhr, who would become one of the premier theologians of the 20th century. Niebuhr served as Elmhurst’s president from 1924 to 1927.

Niebuhr envisioned Elmhurst as an ever-widening circle, opened the school to students from beyond the German Evangelical Synod and worked to build an intellectual community where young people might develop an effective individuality. In the years after Niebuhr’s brief but transformational presidency, Elmhurst’s ever-widening circle came to include women, adult students, graduate students and persons with an astonishing variety of passions, backgrounds and beliefs.

In the 1990s, the College began a sustained period of purposeful investment in institutional quality. It added faculty, expanded enrollment, raised admission standards and enhanced the campus. Its academic reputation grew substantially. From every sector of society, Elmhurst students are eager to engage avidly in learning—in the classroom and in the laboratory, in the city and around the world.

The Elmhurst College Strategic Plan 2009-2014 calls for the faculty and administration to build an institution of genuine distinction among the small colleges in the Chicago area and beyond. To meet this goal, the College must continue to grow convincingly in quality, impact and prestige. In short, it must achieve a higher level of service to students and society.

In the words of the strategic plan, Elmhurst intends to become “nationally known for the Elmhurst Experience, a contemporary framing of liberal learning.” The hallmarks of the Elmhurst Experience—student self-formation and early professional preparation—are designed to prepare its students to become truly educated men and women, ready for life in a complex and competitive world.

The Elmhurst campus is a 48-acre arboretum, boasting nearly 800 trees and shrubs. The City of Elmhurst is a quiet suburb ranked first in a Chicago magazine survey of the best places to live. Downtown Chicago is a 30-minute train ride away.

Students come to Elmhurst from many states and countries, and from nearly every religious, racial and ethnic background. As of 2013, the student body comprises about 2,800 traditional full-time undergraduate students, 325 adults pursuing an undergraduate degree and 285 graduate students.

==Presentation:==
On May 6, 2013, Kappa Kappa Gamma made a presentation at Elmhurst College. Members of Kappa’s presentation team were: Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College; Director of Chapters Collett Beers Rangitsch, Wyoming; Director of Programs & Education Beth Uphoff Black, Illinois Wesleyan; Fraternity Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse; Leadership Consultant Jessie Pereira, Santa Clara; Extension Coordinator Lisa Lunney Thomson, Bowling Green; Membership Services Chapter Support Libbi Rettew, Virginia Tech; and Executive Director Kari Kittrell. At the time of expansion, the campus Panhellenic consisted of Alpha Phi, Phi Mu and Sigma Kappa.

==Establishment:==
Establishment Chairman was Suzanne Brown Mahoney, Kansas State. Two Kappa chapters participated in the establishment activities: Loyola and Valparaiso. The Chapter Consultant appointed to assist Eta Phi was Jessie Pereira, and the Coordinator of Chapter Development appointed was Ann Moenius, Nebraska. Additional members of the establishment team included Barb Goettelman; Leadership Consultants Cara Cook, Arizona State, and Iliana Garcia, New Mexico; Beth Black; Janet Meinheit, Wisconsin; and Loyola Membership Advisor Tracey Bien, Drake.

The first tabling event at the Elmhurst College Activity Fair was on August 29, 2013. Since the Fraternity’s name was not on the participants list, Greek Life Director Elizabeth Doyle quickly found us an open spot to set up our table. It was sunny and hot, but the Kappa team didn’t melt! It was obvious that our outstanding Chapter Consultant, Jessie Pereira, had made many strong connections on campus. Everyone was very welcoming, and the offers to assist were numerous.

We were limited to no more than five table workers. Jessie Pereira, Suzanne Mahoney and two additional alumnae staffed it. Eta Phi Installation Chairman and Elmhurst resident Alexandria Shanklin, Emory, stopped by to meet us and helped, too. The table was provided by Elmhurst College and the “Be Kappa” tablecloth covered the table. Tabling materials and a large vertical banner had been sent from Headquarters to use. It was too windy for the vertical banner, and we needed to consider how to make the tabling pieces work in the wind.
The Kappas focused primarily on encouraging women to participate in Recruitment and told them that Kappa was going to be the newest sorority on campus. The potential new members were given Jessie Pereira’s business card which included the Be Kappa Facebook page address. Several women approached the table on their own, and we did our part to engage those who were a little more hesitant.

Overall, this was a great start to Kappa’s establishment at Elmhurst College. The event ran smoothly, we had all the necessary materials, a great team helped and there was interaction with a lot of potential new members.

Recruiting alumnae volunteers to assist with establishing the chapter began in early August and continued for more than five weeks. It was made possible by the assistance provided by the local Province Directors of Alumnae: Epsilon South Province Director of Alumnae Beverly Hayes, Miami, and Epsilon North Province Director of Alumnae Nancy Greenstein Worsley, Illinois.

It was determined that it would be beneficial for members of the interview team to participate in a conference call to have a refresher course about the Membership Selection process. This call was facilitated by Director of Membership Susan Pile, Miami (Ohio), and Assistant to the Director of Membership Melissa Shearer, Vanderbilt.

Before establishment began, wooden letters KKG were created to use during Recruitment, and we found a calligrapher to create the Bid Day cards who volunteered to make the centerpieces for the Preference dessert party. Floral arrangements for the interview registration table and the iris stems for the Formal Pledging Service were ordered. It was determined that we needed a basket with children’s books for the philanthropy display table.

Since the Valparaiso undergraduate members came to assist with the round one parties, snack bags were assembled by the Hinsdale Alumnae Association members for them to have on the bus ride home. Snack bags were also assembled for the young alumnae team assisting that evening as well as snack bags for the Loyola undergraduate members who came to assist with Formal Pledging and Bid Day.

Lisa Thomson flew in from Headquarters to assist. She, Jessie Pereira and Suzanne Mahoney put the finishing touches on the party space. The Valparaiso undergraduate members arrived, were briefed and given shirts which had been purchased for the future Elmhurst College GIRLS Academy. The alumnae team members were given the same briefing and shirts. There were approximately seven Valparaiso women and approximately 20 alumnae assisting the first evening. Approximately 95 potential new members attended the parties. It was an exciting night, and everyone felt hopeful and enthused for the kick-off of the Kappa colonization events the next week. During the weekend, Leadership Consultants Cara Cook, Arizona State, and Iliana Garcia, New Mexico, arrived to help.
From September 23 to 25, Kappa conducted information sessions at tables in the student center. These sessions made it possible for Jessie Pereira and the Leadership Consultants to tell the potential new members about the process for Kappa’s Recruitment during the week and allow time for them to ask questions.

Recruitment began on September 26th. The women from the Loyola Chapter, Beth Black and a team of alumnae helped with the party. Several parties were scheduled throughout the day and additional women from Loyola came to help with an evening party as did Janet Meinheit, Wisconsin.

Interviews began on September 27th. The college booked a room for us across from the common area of the student center. In their off-time, alumnae put together the snack bags for the Loyola women for Sunday, and these alumnae assisted Loyola chapter volunteers with crafting projects. Following the morning interview session, campus catering brought in lunch and the alumnae team ate while the membership selection meeting was conducted. This meeting was facilitated by the Field Representatives and Suzanne Mahoney. The Loyola membership adviser, conducted the final selection meeting, and by 8:30 p.m. the team had compiled a list of women to invite to the final party.

Bid day arrived on September 29th. The Loyola women and a team of six local Hinsdale alumnae joined the establishment team for this exciting day. The party was very successful: 54 bids were extended and all attendees accepted them. These women were escorted to another room for the Formal Pledging Service. Beth Black conducted the service.

Following the service, everyone went back to the original party room where the new members received their bid day bags and Kappa T-shirts. The establishing class took photos and had fun together while a reception was hosted by the Fraternity for the campus Greek leaders and administration. The 54 new members then came to the reception after which they stayed for a pizza and salad dinner. There they all had an informational session about Kappa and participated in ice-breaker activities. This was an incredible experience and made memories for a lifetime.

==Installation:==
The Eta Phi Installation team included Chairman Alexandria Shanklin, Emory; Jessie Pereira; Ann Moenius; Fraternity President Julie Leshay; Director of Alumnae Lori Gilmore Miltenberger, Butler; Fraternity Ritual Chairman Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State; Barb Goettelman; Regional Director of Alumnae Jennifer Beardsley Fales, Kansas State; Beverly Hayes; Nancy Worsley; Epsilon Central Province Director of Chapters Alexandria Campion Young, South Carolina; and Headquarters staff members Lisa Thomson and Libbi Rettew.
Fireside was held November 22, and the Installation Service was conducted November 23 at the Westin O’Hare. Eta Lambda Chapter at Loyola served as the sponsoring chapter.

A beautiful installation brunch was held at the Westin O’Hare. Barb Goettelman served as toastmistress. Elmhurst College Dean of Students Eileen G. Sullivan, Ph.D., welcomed Kappa to the campus and spoke about how the Fraternity fits into the Elmhurst College Greek system. Also attending the luncheon were Elmhurst College Associate Dean of Students Ian Crone, Associate Dean of Students Desiree Novak, Assistant Director of Greek Life Elizabeth Doyle and Panhellenic President Carly Pizzitola.

Hinsdale Alumnae Association Co-president Susan Nelson Nibeck, Washington University (St. Louis), presented Chapter President Stephanie Young a beautiful new President’s badge inlaid with pearls.
The model chapter meeting followed at the Westin O’Hare with Fraternity President Julie Leshay presiding. Following her installation as Eta Phi’s President, Stephanie Young presided and closed the meeting.
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Dr. Sullivan’s Installation Brunch Address:
“Good afternoon. On behalf of President Alan Ray and the Elmhurst College administration, I’d like to say welcome and thank you to so many people who have gathered today to celebrate our students and what they have established together, the Eta Phi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. But before doing so, I wanted to mention something about a dream. Bear with me…. It actually wasn’t my dream, it was someone else’s dream; nonetheless, it seemed relevant to share today.

“It seems to be a common phenomenon when you work in student affairs to ‘take your work home with you,’ so it’s not unusual for me to hear the following from someone on my staff when I arrive to the office each day: ‘I had this dream.’ Last week, those were the words of Desiree Novak, Associate Dean of Students. Given I, along with my staff, are often having dreams about work-related happenings, this wasn’t unusual, but...I also wasn’t sure where this was going. I started to think about everything that had gone on on-campus the week preceding Desiree’s dream.

“I should tell you all that at Elmhurst College, the material for our dreams is quite impressive. Over the course of the last two weeks, we had a country music concert featuring a former American Idol, which, incidentally, was disrupted by tornadic activity. We also had a gubernatorial candidate on campus, a First Amendment Free Speech Day which included faculty and students reading banned literature in the Founders Lounge of the student center, a lecture about the legacy of a beloved Chicago film critic, a meeting of the Better Men’s Initiative, a King of Hearts program (to be clear, the Better Men’s initiative and the King of Hearts program were two separate events) and a handful of ‘happenings’ that I read about through a series of incident reports I received, courtesy of our Campus Security Department.

“So when I say I’m not sure where the ‘I had a dream’ comment would lead us, I really meant it. I mean, this year alone I’ve dreamed of being pulled over a 15-foot wall, being part of a flash mob under a circus tent and climbing a telephone pole only to jump off a platform and zip-line through a forest. (Wait a minute…those weren’t dreams.)

“But alas, Desiree did have a dream, and it was a happy one. I asked her ‘what was the dream about?’ She responded by saying ‘We were initiated into Kappa.’ ‘Really?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ she responded. Confused, I asked her ‘So even though you are a Sigma Kappa, and I am a Delta Zeta, they initiated us?’ She nodded and gave an affirmative ‘Yep.’ Still a bit puzzled, I pressed ‘And they didn’t have a problem with the fact that you and I are members of two other National Panhellenic Conference groups?’ Equally confused, but very happy she shrugged and said, ‘I guess not.’ She couldn’t recall who all was there, but she did note ‘they were all so nice.’ And I couldn’t help but think no greater truism exists. You, the national volunteers and alumnae, have all been so nice to our students, now, your sisters. Thank you so much for your kindness and for your leadership.

“I’d first like to thank the national volunteers for Kappa, those who have been involved in this process from extension presentations in April and May, to Installation of the chapter today, some seven months later. I’d especially like to thank Julie Leshay, President, and Barb Goettelman, Extension Chairman. These women, along with other national volunteers, headquarters staff and alumnae have made today possible, and the College thanks you for your commitment to Kappa and our students at Elmhurst College.

“I’d be remiss not to mention members of our staff who also have worked to make this day possible. Certainly, Desiree Novak, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Success and Retention. Desiree’s support of Greek life at Elmhurst runs deep and her commitment to the Greek experience is grounded in her own membership in Sigma Kappa and her previous work for her national organization. Prior to hiring our current director of Greek life a few years ago, Desiree assisted the College in our most recent extension effort when we colonized and later chartered Phi Mu. I’d also like to thank Ian Crone, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities. Ian is our overall champion of student involvement, mentors countless students in and out of the Greek community and is always up for new and exciting adventures on campus. Let’s give Ian and all the men who are here today some recognition: the fathers, brothers, friends and others representing the male contingent are outnumbered at today’s lunch, but their presence is much appreciated. Thank you for being here to support your Kappas.

“Most importantly, I want to thank Elizabeth Doyle, our Director of Greek Life. Talk about nice – when she accepted her position at Elmhurst College a few years ago, she was so excited that when Ian asked her ‘what do you prefer to be called, Liz or Elizabeth?’ she responded ‘either is fine.’ Ian started calling her Liz, and we all followed suit. It wasn’t until a year later that we learned that no one in her entire world calls her Liz. Others at Elmhurst have ‘course corrected,’ but I can’t break the habit: she is still Liz to me.
“Recognizing that fraternity and sorority members at Elmhurst are retained at a rate of ten percent above the campus average, Liz set out to grow our community. And she has – by 39 percent over a three-year period. The leadership opportunities she has developed for and the mentoring she provides to our students is nothing short of amazing, and we are so grateful that she is here. If there was a commission on undergraduates recruited into the field of student affairs (our Panhellenic President Carly is one such example), Liz would have a beach house by now. Really. She brings a joy to her work and it is noticed by students, faculty and staff. To the volunteers and the headquarters staff of Kappa, you have an excellent campus partner in Elizabeth Doyle.

“And of course, to Jessie Pereira, our wonderful Chapter Consultant who I first met when Kappa presented to the campus community in May. Having started my career in student affairs as a campus Greek advisor, over the years I have met with many a chapter consultant and because of that, I think I understand how frustrating it can be to have to answer the question posed by those outside of the higher education community: ‘So…what is it that you do?’ The question is usually followed up with a response like ‘And that takes all day?’ I understand that it is definitely difficult to describe what chapter consultants of fraternities and sororities do without coming across as a cruise director. But make no mistake, their work is no cruise. Jessie worked diligently to build interest in Kappa in the early fall, and over the course of the past two months, she has nurtured and guided the colony, so that it could become what it is today, the Eta Phi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

“I recall visiting with Jessie in early September and giving her names of great women she should talk to. To each person, she was able to tell the story of Kappa, and encourage her to take the journey she did as a founding member of the Santa Clara chapter. We at the College are so grateful, Jessie, that you will be here guiding the chapter members as they build their membership this spring and embark on all the wonderful experiences that will make up their journey of establishing a strong chapter at Elmhurst. So to Jessie, Julie, Barb and all of the Kappas who are here today, thank you. You’ve done a great thing in establishing a Kappa chapter at Elmhurst. The College administration believes that Kappa is a perfect addition to our Greek community and looks forward to the contributions the chapter will make to the College.
“And to the 42 amazing women of the Eta Phi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma…congratulations! Today we celebrate you, the start of what will be an incredibly enhanced undergraduate experience, and a lifetime of memories you will make with your sisters.

“While it is obvious that you have been influenced by your Greek experience thus far, we all know that who you have become is due in large part to the positive influence and personal impact of your parents, brothers, sisters, other family members, friends and supporters. Many of these individuals are here with us today. Let’s give them a much deserved round of applause.

“But Kappas, any way you look at it, today you emulate your founders. While there were only six of them and they came together in 1870 when the word ‘sorority’ did not yet exist, you are like them today. And, while you are connected to Kappas of all ages in collegiate and alumnae chapters across the country and beyond, you are not bound to specific chapter traditions. As a new group, you get to establish your own. While you will share in common with other undergraduates a focus on children − through Reading is Fundamental and GIRLS Academy, you will experience the excitement of developing your own traditions and your own commitments to things like friendship, leadership, service and community involvement.

“For some of you, you come from a family where others are Greek-affiliated…parents, sisters, brothers. And even for some of you, your Greek connections within your family are more specific. You have cousins, aunts, mothers or even grandmothers who are Kappas. For you, this is a special bond to be shared within your family. And of course, for some of you, you are the first in your family to join a Greek-letter organization. No matter your individual context, you, as likeminded women with similar values and interests, have made a decision to come together and start something new at Elmhurt, just like your founders did at Monmouth College in 1870.

“Earlier this morning, you took part in something special, something shared only by Kappas: your ritual. Looking back on my initiation into Delta Zeta in 1984, I admit it was a bit of a blur. I was 18 and pretty overwhelmed. Having an older sister who was initiated into Delta Zeta four years before I was, I asked her all kinds of questions after I had been through the ceremony. But, each year after that, when we initiated new members into our chapter, I made an effort to try to pay close attention and internalize the experience.
“I can’t say that I was completely successful in that effort, but I tried. I ask you to try, too. When we internalize our own ritual, we are building upon the great foundation our parents and others have laid for us − to live out our values in our daily lives, through our interactions with others. My hope for all of you is that at some point in your life, your ritual takes on very personal significance for you. I hope it becomes one of the principle components of your decision-making process, and it serves as a guidepost for how you lead your life.

“As an educator, I understand that fraternities and sororities were founded on sound educational and humanistic values, with the ultimate goal of developing in their members an appreciation for values and a commitment to making the world a better place in which to live. As initiated members of Kappa, you have taken vows that undeniably tie you to these purposes. And in doing so, you and the 140 other collegiate chapters of Kappa Kappa Gamma have said this is who we are. This is what we value.

“This past week, I was in the grocery store doing some shopping when I noticed an elderly couple standing in the meat section. The man picked up a package of beef tongue. A young woman walking by noticed, and asked what it was. ‘It’s beef tongue,’ the man replied. ‘You eat it.’ The young woman looked confused and pressed him, asking ‘You eat something that comes from the mouth?’ ‘Certainly,’ he said. ‘It’s good for you.’ Puzzled by this, the young woman continued to press the older man, ‘I can’t believe you eat something that comes from the mouth.’ She then turned, walked over to the dairy section, picked up a gallon of milk and left.

“Often, we who are involved in sororities and fraternities are judged by those outside of our membership. However, like the man in the store, we know the positive effects of our choices, regardless of what others will say. As Kappas, you know the difference you can make on campus and in your own communities. The purposes and values to which you took an oath and the way of life they develop in you are admirable values by which to live your life. Do more than remember your ritual. Use the values imbedded in it to help guide the many decisions you will make as members, as college students and as people.

“Like Kappa, Elmhurst College is also about certain things: the core values of academic excellence, stewardship, community and faith meaning and values, guide our work as an institution and form the foundation for our learning community. It seems to me that these values are reflected in the purposes of Kappa Kappa Gamma, set forth over 140 years ago on a campus not far from here, by a group of six courageous women who set out to make the world a bit better.

“As members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, at a college rich in values, you have been given a wonderful opportunity to enhance your life experience through sorority membership. It is my hope that you will embrace this experience by maximizing your membership and leadership opportunities and living your collegiate life at Elmhurst College to the fullest.

“Congratulations, and happy initiation!”

==Highlights of 2013==

This year the Eta Phi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was chartered at Elmhurst College. We have 42 active members and 1 alumna.

We kicked off our colonization process on September 26, 2013 and hosted our first Bid Day on September 30, 2013.

We were welcomed into the Elmhurst College Community during our Homecoming festivities on October 5, 2013 by students, faculty and representatives from every other Greek organization on campus.

On November 2, 2013 we partook in a Sisterhood Retreat and started forming ties through various team building activities.

November 17, 2013 elections were held and 19 women took up officer positions within our chapter.

November 22, 2013 was our Fireside followed by installation on November 23, 2013.

Since installation we have begun meeting regularly as a council and chapter every Sunday. We are in the process of establishing by-laws and standard for the chapter to uphold. We are also communicating with other Greek Organizations on campus in hopes of having a collaborative function in the near future.

Our goals include getting more involved in the Elmhurst College Community as well as being more active within the chapter as well. We are also partaking in informal recruitment that will be taking place March 2-8, 2014.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
Our chapter is very eager to become a well-known name in the community. All of the girls are starting to get out of their comfort zones and truly put forth effort to know everyone in the chapter. We are extremely supportive of one another and love spending time together.

==Highlights of 2014==

Scholarship: We had six members initiated into the Fraternal Values Society: Taylor Soss, Geena Jacobson, Katie Evensen, Sam Musick, Tiffany Lutka and Katelyn Ditzler. We had five of our members iniated into the Order of Omega: Katelyn Ditzler, Geena Jacobson, Stephanie Young, Katie Evensen and Sam Musick. We also had two members initiated into Gamma Sigma Alpha: Diana Santana and Katelyn Ditzler.

Conferences: Over the summer we had a number of our members attend a variety of conferences. Gina Skiris and Geena Jacobson attended AFLV LeaderShape in June and Stephanie Young and Katelyn Ditzler attened UIFI. Katie Evensen also attended UIFI and served as an intern for AFLV Central.

At Elmhurst's Greek Awards, Angela Tucker was awarded most outstanding new member out of all greek chapters campuswide. Tiffany Lutka was also elected to be on the Executive Board of the Panhellenic Council.

We celebrated our first Birthday on November 23rd with all of our newly initiated members. We had a very successful first formal recruitment adding 26 new members to the chapter, and making the all sorority average.

We also had our first Philanthropy event, Get Fit With Kappa in April of 2014 where every participant donated a book. We also had our first Semi Formal in May of 2014 and our first formal in December of 2014.

Other philanthropy events have included: a Potbelly's fundraiser in November of 2014 and a Reading is Key Event in November of 2014 as well.

Some traditions that we created have included the Sisterhood support bra given out at every chapter meeting, and the smartie panties to be drawn from a pool of girls that logged study hours the previous week. We also have monthly sisterhood dinners.

Our chapter is also very involved in supporting other chapter's of Greek Life on campus. In March of 2014 we participated in Dodgeball hosted by Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Mu by having two Kappa teams, as well as participating in Lambda Chi's Watermelon Bust in September. We also supported Sigma Kappa when one of their sisters passed away from Leukemia by participating in a fundraiser. Many of our members participated in Alpha Sigma Phi's annual powder puff game playing on both the red and gray teams, as well as taking pictures with Santa in support of Alpha Tao Omega. Also, one of our members was a participant in Phi Mu Alpha's Philanthropy event called Queen of Diamonds and ended up placing first. Many of our members also went in support of her. Other than that, we have been and continue to be involved in Relay for Life among many other organizations on campus. We also continue to be supportive within the Panhellenic community and the Greek Community in any way that we can.

I do not think much has changed in terms of our campus, however our chapter has changed drastically. Over the course of one year we have transformed into a much more competent and independent chapter than when we started off. Our Executive Board has become much more independent and cohesive than when we started off. Although we are still getting the hang of things as far as planning events and having regular attendance, we have a strong group of girls who are really enthusiastic about our capabilities through Kappa and our future looking ahead. We had a really great group of girls that were just initiated who are all very strong leaders not just in Kappa but throughout the campus as well. We have overcome many obstacles and challenges as a brand new chapter on campus, but we are as involved as we can be and continue to learn and grow with each passing week.

We hold chapter meetings every Sunday from 6:30-7:30 in a classroom inside of Old Main, one of the Academic Buildings on campus. Council meetings are held in the same place at 5:30. The city of Elmhurst does not allow Greek Housing, however many of our members live together as roommates in dorms or apartments.

==Highlights of 2015==
In the Spring of 2015, We had the very first panhellenic Girls Academy in the history off KKG. We
also had a few Reading is Key events, the most recent being in October of 2015. We had a
successful Spring 2015 recruitment, and an even more successful Fall 2015 recruitment where we
met our quota.

Although we are only two years old, Kappa Kappa Gamma is now the second largest sorority of the
five at Elmhurst College. We are larger now, but our sisterhood only grows, and we use committees
far more than we did in the past. We also now use paper agendas for each chapter meeting.

==Highlights of 2016==

Our chapter has grown a great deal in the small time that it has been on campus. We are still the largest sorority at Elmhurst College. Our chapter is made up of women who are very diverse in what they are passionate about and what they are involved in. Many are leaders and a part of various organizations on campus. Our sisterhood has also grown stronger. These are highlights from each month:

January - No meetings are held during the month of January because no student organizations meet. Many of our sisters studied abroad in places including, Amsterdam, Berlin, China, Costa Rica, Prague, and Rome.

February - Meetings began this month and were held in Old Main 107 on Sunday evenings. Since we were at campus total, there was no need for recruitment in the Spring semester. We were and still are the largest sorority on campus.

March - We had a St. Patrick’s day function. Three of our sisters studied abroad to Greece together.

April - We had an overnight sisterhood retreat at a campsite where we had fun and got to learn more about each other. We hosted our first big philanthropic event on campus called Kappa Kick Off which was an ultimate frisbee tournament along with food and games. All money raised went to Reading is Key. We also teamed up with Alpha Sigma Phi for their Chili Cook Off event which raised money for both our philanthropies and books were donated to Reading is Key. This month, we also had our formal.

May - We hosted a mini GIRLS academy at Churchville Middle School.

July - Our chapter was awarded for academic improvement and recruitment for our chapter size at the convention in San Diego which our president, Megan Davis, attended.

September - Recruitment was this month over a three day weekend and we gained twenty new members. Our sister, Deyaneira Garriga, also attended a conference.

October - We were accepted to host another GIRLS academy in the Spring and have been raising money for that since. Homecoming was this month which we all participated in. Many of our members also participated in a fraternity Powder Puff game and since we had the most players out of any sorority, we also won money for our philanthropies.

November - We initiated nineteen new members into our sorority, including two legacies. Sisters also participated in the Christopher Lyons Memorial Walk for our chapter’s local philanthropy which we chose because it is in honor of a member’s brother.

December - We had an ugly christmas sweater function. At the Greek Summit here at Elmhurst College, our chapter won “Chapter of Excellence”. Our member, Becca Vogt, also won sorority woman of the year.

==Highlights of 2017==

The year of 2017 was a year filled of growth for KKG Eta Phi at Elmhurst College. One of the biggest development was our sisterhood. The spring semester was filled with wonderful events, philanthropic as well as social, but we struggled in connecting with sisters. The fall semester brought a wave of new members as well as a new-found bond among our whole sorority. Many sisters have expressed the change in atmosphere and are proud to be a Kappa. Overall, we are much happier and much more connected. Our sorority consists of girls from all majors. Many are student leaders on campus. Many improvements have happened and we are grateful for the past year.
The month of January consists of no meetings since it is J-term at Elmhurst College. Some sisters traveled abroad to Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Austria, Hungary, and Czech Republic for the month through study abroad programs. One sister studied abroad in Ecuador for the entire spring semester and another in England.
The spring semester started in February with our new council. Chapter meetings were held every Sunday in an Old Main classroom. No spring recruitment was needed since we were the largest sorority on campus. A bake sale for RIF was held in the cafeteria.
To create bonds with other Greek life on campus, we paired with the fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi to play an on-campus game during the month of March. For spring break, one sister went to Amarillo Texas with Habitat for Humanity to build houses.
April was a very eventful month. We had our first function which was a 50s/Grease function. It was a fun night of dancing with sisters and dates. We also paired with the fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha for a bingo night. Girls Academy took place the 22nd to the 23rd. Forty middle school girls participated, and it was overall a very successful time. We also hosted our Frisbee tournament for RIF which had teams from many different organizations around campus.
To wrap up the spring semester, the month of May consisted two events. To raise money for RIF, we held an all-you-can-eat queso dip fundraiser for RIF. It was called Kappa con Queso. We also had our formal which was a nice way to spend time with sisters before finals.
Summer break filled June and July. Sisters went on vacation, attended summer school, and worked at internships.
The fall semester started at the end of August. Some of our sisters were Orientation Student Leaders who volunteered to be trained to help first years through Elmhurst College’s orientation. One sister went to Florida for her Disney internship.
Recruitment was held in September. 84 girls enrolled in formal recruitment. Our quota was 17 girls. Bid day was very successful. The theme was Red, White, Blue & Blue. We acquired 17 new members. Three different sisterhoods happened during this month. We had a movie night, ice cream sisterhood, and a craft night.
In October we went to laser tag with Alpha Sig. We also hosted a Halloween mixer with Alpha Phi and Alpha Sig. To raise money for RIF, we held a bags tournament called Bags for Books. Weekly sisterhood dinners happened in the cafeteria. There was a haunted house and a pumpkin patch sisterhood. Our overnight sisterhood was a successful. It was filled with food, games, and bonding.
During November we had our first fall function. The theme was Disco Inferno. Our sisters participated in one of the fraternity’s annual Powder Puff game. We also initiated 17 new members, two of whom were legacies. We had a very successful philanthropy event for the Kappa Function. It was an all you can eat mac and cheese buffet. Our new exec board was selected and voted in. The annual Christopher Lyons Memorial Walk took place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We continued weekly sisterhood dinners as well as had a sisterhood friendsgiving. There was also a movie night.
Position transitions happened in December. We had a final sisterhood dinner, a study event, and a plaque exchange to end the semester. We also went to the Christkindl Market in Chicago with the fraternity ATO. One sister graduated this semester. All in all, it was a successful year of growth for our chapter.

==Highlights of 2018==

The Eta Phi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was strong in the year 2018. Two main goals the chapter had was to improve sisterhood and the chapter’s GPA. The chapter saw a great increase in its GPA, which many sisters are very proud of. During Candle Pass, the question was posed: what is the chapter’s identity? It was decided that the chapter is the most diverse in terms of personality. This was reaffirmed with the girls who joined in the spring and fall semester.

January: There were no chapter meetings due to J-term. There was a sisterhood in the cafeteria on the 30th so that sisters could reunite after the long break.

February: Early in the month there was an Activity Fair where Kappa had a table. There we talked to people about Greek life and encouraged girls to go through Continuous Open Bidding (COB) with us. That night we met with our Potential New Members so that we could get to know each other better. There were two more dinners with the PNMs and a craft night to solidify who we wanted. The night of the craft night we voted on the PNMs and extended bids to four girls and only one did not accept. Regardless, we were very excited about our new members and celebrated them with Bid Day, which had a theme of U.S.A. like the fall. There was chapter every Sunday.

March: March was a big month for philanthropy and sisterhood. Many sisters read to children at a local elementary school for the Reading is Key event on the 3rd. Over 100 books were donated! There was a sisterhood dinner later that week. On the 12th there was another philanthropy event with a bake sale where $41 was raised for the Kappa Foundation. The LC that visited us in the fall was so beloved that we requested her for the spring and got her! Bri came back to campus the 25th-30th and gave us many things to work on for the fall, a big one being delegation. She was very helpful for girls who were in new positions. While Bri was on campus we hosted a Trivia Night, where a group of one of our sisters’ friends (who called themselves Denim Thunder) won.

April: This was a very busy month for the Eta Phi chapter. There was a wood staining sisterhood on the 6th. The next day there was another Activities Fair, this time for prospective students. After the fair there was a photoshoot for fall recruitment where we all wore our spring apparel shirts (they were black, loose shoulder shirts with sunflowers and our letters). On the 9th there was big/little pref. One of the other sororities on campus, Sigma Kappa, hosted SKapture the Flag on the 11th. We had our function, themed Mathletes vs. Athletes, on the 13th. The function was very successful. I-Week was the 15th-21st with the New Member Retreat kicking it off. Another sorority, Alpha Phi, hosted Home Runs for Heart on the 18th and a few of our girls participated. That same day we had Candle Pass at night where we sat in a circle and got a better understanding of each other. Fireside was on the 19th, and initiation was on the 21st. Since there were only two girls being initiated (the third was initiated fall 2018), it could not be justified to host our own initiation. Therefore, our girls, their bigs, and our Marshal drove to Monmouth College for initiation. The next day an Every Member Educator came and worked on improving our sisterhood. A Relay for Life event was hosted from the 27th-28th and a group of Kappas went to support. There was another photoshoot for fall recruitment on the 28th, where we utilized Wilder Park next to campus. A senior brunch was put on on the 29th. Finally, concluding a packed month was a Zumba sisterhood.

May: We started out May with an Ultimate Frisbee philanthropy where we raised over $200 for RIF.. Our formal was on the fourth at a country club in Itasca. Every sister got a superlative, including “Attached at the Hip,” “Most Likely to Become an Elmhurst Stroller Mom,” and “Most Creative.” The next day we supported our sisters who were in a Dance Showcase by getting a group of girls to see the show. On the 6th there was a mandatory sisterhood where we did group activities and tie-dyed shirts with our letters on them. There were Leadership Awards for all of the social Greek organizations on the 10th. An award was given to each for “Best New Member” and “Best Sister/Brotherhood.” Katherine Albano won “Best New Member” and Gabi Garcia won “Best Sisterhood.” Many sisters attended the Lambda Chi Alpha End of the Year Bash to celebrate the semester ending. Our lovely seniors also graduated, off to do wonderful things.

June: Since our school was on summer break, the months of June and July were very low-key. There was a sisterhood pool party at one of the girls house. Our Standards Chairman, Alexis, flew to Denver to attend Convention where we got an honorable mention for Best New Member Experience.

July: Again, July was relatively uneventful. There were two sleepover sisterhoods.

August: School started up again with chapter. We also hit the ground running by having a recruitment workshop on the 29th.

September: Recruitment became the focus of the chapter with workshops twice a week. We got a nice practice talking to potential new Kappas at the Greek Life Fair on the 11th. Our lovely LC, Sena, arrived on the 12th. She was instrumental to our recruitment weekend running smoothly. Also on the 12th was a Greek Life info session and the popular Greek Life Bonfire at night. At both events we got to talk to an array of girls about the positives of joining a Greek Life organization. The next day there was Mocktails with Panhel, where representatives from each sorority met with PNMs for a fancier event. Also on that day, one of our sisters, Katherine, left for Ohio to attend Leadership Academy. At long last the day had come, it was time for Recruitment! Our first day apparel was the provided Panhel shirt with denim skirts. For the second day we donned a white top with colored high-waisted flare pants. Finally, the third day apparel was an all-white dress. Our Bid Day theme was Kappa Knock-Outs, where we had a gray tank top with pink boxing gloves on the front. We welcomed 18 incredible new girls (one of which is a legacy) to our chapter and later celebrated with them at the Bid Day party. We also had the opportunity to later extend bids to two other very worthy girls, making us 20 girls stronger. On the 21st we had a Sweet Sister Mixer where new members got to mingle with active members and potential bigs. Formal Pledging took place on the 23rd. We closed out the month by participating in the Flag Football event for Alpha Sigma Phi, one of the fraternities on campus.

October: October was another big month for philanthropy. We had a bake sale where we raised $67 for Mag Mutts, the Blue and Blue Bags Tournament, where 7 teams participated (Alpha Sigma Phi won) and $78 was raised (as well as 2 books donated!) for RIF, and the Blue and Blue BBQ, where the families of sisters got to come and meet each other. $428 was raised for the Kappa Foundation and 21 books were donated for RIF. Some of our sisters participated in the Mag Mutts 5K run where they raised $200 for the organization. There was also a team of Kappas for the Lambda Chi Alpha Pumpkin Bash and we won first place! On Founders Day we celebrated Kappa and also went to a local pumpkin patch for a sisterhood. Later we also had a pumpkin carving sisterhood. Homecoming was a super fun time with quarter-zip apparel that said “Tailgates and Touchdowns” with cats and dogs on the bag. After that there were two Big/Little Mixers, and then Pref Day!

November: November started with a bang with Big/Little Reveal which had a Wizard of Oz theme. On the 14th we had Candle Pass where we got to know each other on a deeper level. FS was on the 16th and Initiation was on the 17th. We also had two girls from Loyola University participate in our initiation. The 23rd marked our 5th anniversary of being on campus!! Chapter elections took place on the 25th where we voted in sisters to the new pilot executive board. Mac and Cheese with KKGs happened on the 28th and we raised $370 for RIF! Our semi-formal was on the 30th and was a blast.

December: We celebrated the 5th anniversary of our chapter being on campus on the 1st by inviting alumni to come and reminisce about our past. Leadership transitions happened on the 2nd, along with our final formal chapter of the year. On the 7th we had a Holiday Party where girls participated in a plaque exchange. Some of our sisters participated in the Dance Showcase, so there was a group of girls who went to support them. The 9th marked our final event for the year, a relaxing sisterhood in lieu of chapter. We also found out the incredible news that we were approved for Girls Academy for the fall of 2019! All in all, we had a great year, and can’t wait to see what is in store for us for 2019!

==Highlights of 2018==

The Eta Phi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was strong in the year 2018. Two main goals the chapter had was to improve sisterhood and the chapter’s GPA. The chapter saw a great increase in its GPA, which many sisters are very proud of. During Candle Pass, the question was posed: what is the chapter’s identity? It was decided that the chapter is the most diverse in terms of personality. This was reaffirmed with the girls who joined in the spring and fall semester.

January: There were no chapter meetings due to J-term. There was a sisterhood in the cafeteria on the 30th so that sisters could reunite after the long break.

February: Early in the month there was an Activity Fair where Kappa had a table. There we talked to people about Greek life and encouraged girls to go through Continuous Open Bidding (COB) with us. That night we met with our Potential New Members so that we could get to know each other better. There were two more dinners with the PNMs and a craft night to solidify who we wanted. The night of the craft night we voted on the PNMs and extended bids to four girls and only one did not accept. Regardless, we were very excited about our new members and celebrated them with Bid Day, which had a theme of U.S.A. like the fall. There was chapter every Sunday.

March: March was a big month for philanthropy and sisterhood. Many sisters read to children at a local elementary school for the Reading is Key event on the 3rd. Over 100 books were donated! There was a sisterhood dinner later that week. On the 12th there was another philanthropy event with a bake sale where $41 was raised for the Kappa Foundation. The LC that visited us in the fall was so beloved that we requested her for the spring and got her! Bri came back to campus the 25th-30th and gave us many things to work on for the fall, a big one being delegation. She was very helpful for girls who were in new positions. While Bri was on campus we hosted a Trivia Night, where a group of one of our sisters’ friends (who called themselves Denim Thunder) won.

April: This was a very busy month for the Eta Phi chapter. There was a wood staining sisterhood on the 6th. The next day there was another Activities Fair, this time for prospective students. After the fair there was a photoshoot for fall recruitment where we all wore our spring apparel shirts (they were black, loose shoulder shirts with sunflowers and our letters). On the 9th there was big/little pref. One of the other sororities on campus, Sigma Kappa, hosted SKapture the Flag on the 11th. We had our function, themed Mathletes vs. Athletes, on the 13th. The function was very successful. I-Week was the 15th-21st with the New Member Retreat kicking it off. Another sorority, Alpha Phi, hosted Home Runs for Heart on the 18th and a few of our girls participated. That same day we had Candle Pass at night where we sat in a circle and got a better understanding of each other. Fireside was on the 19th, and initiation was on the 21st. Since there were only two girls being initiated (the third was initiated fall 2018), it could not be justified to host our own initiation. Therefore, our girls, their bigs, and our Marshal drove to Monmouth College for initiation. The next day an Every Member Educator came and worked on improving our sisterhood. A Relay for Life event was hosted from the 27th-28th and a group of Kappas went to support. There was another photoshoot for fall recruitment on the 28th, where we utilized Wilder Park next to campus. A senior brunch was put on on the 29th. Finally, concluding a packed month was a Zumba sisterhood.

May: We started out May with an Ultimate Frisbee philanthropy where we raised over $200 for RIF.. Our formal was on the fourth at a country club in Itasca. Every sister got a superlative, including “Attached at the Hip,” “Most Likely to Become an Elmhurst Stroller Mom,” and “Most Creative.” The next day we supported our sisters who were in a Dance Showcase by getting a group of girls to see the show. On the 6th there was a mandatory sisterhood where we did group activities and tie-dyed shirts with our letters on them. There were Leadership Awards for all of the social Greek organizations on the 10th. An award was given to each for “Best New Member” and “Best Sister/Brotherhood.” Katherine Albano won “Best New Member” and Gabi Garcia won “Best Sisterhood.” Many sisters attended the Lambda Chi Alpha End of the Year Bash to celebrate the semester ending. Our lovely seniors also graduated, off to do wonderful things.

June: Since our school was on summer break, the months of June and July were very low-key. There was a sisterhood pool party at one of the girls house. Our Standards Chairman, Alexis, flew to Denver to attend Convention where we got an honorable mention for Best New Member Experience.

July: Again, July was relatively uneventful. There were two sleepover sisterhoods.

August: School started up again with chapter. We also hit the ground running by having a recruitment workshop on the 29th.

September: Recruitment became the focus of the chapter with workshops twice a week. We got a nice practice talking to potential new Kappas at the Greek Life Fair on the 11th. Our lovely LC, Sena, arrived on the 12th. She was instrumental to our recruitment weekend running smoothly. Also on the 12th was a Greek Life info session and the popular Greek Life Bonfire at night. At both events we got to talk to an array of girls about the positives of joining a Greek Life organization. The next day there was Mocktails with Panhel, where representatives from each sorority met with PNMs for a fancier event. Also on that day, one of our sisters, Katherine, left for Ohio to attend Leadership Academy. At long last the day had come, it was time for Recruitment! Our first day apparel was the provided Panhel shirt with denim skirts. For the second day we donned a white top with colored high-waisted flare pants. Finally, the third day apparel was an all-white dress. Our Bid Day theme was Kappa Knock-Outs, where we had a gray tank top with pink boxing gloves on the front. We welcomed 18 incredible new girls (one of which is a legacy) to our chapter and later celebrated with them at the Bid Day party. We also had the opportunity to later extend bids to two other very worthy girls, making us 20 girls stronger. On the 21st we had a Sweet Sister Mixer where new members got to mingle with active members and potential bigs. Formal Pledging took place on the 23rd. We closed out the month by participating in the Flag Football event for Alpha Sigma Phi, one of the fraternities on campus.

October: October was another big month for philanthropy. We had a bake sale where we raised $67 for Mag Mutts, the Blue and Blue Bags Tournament, where 7 teams participated (Alpha Sigma Phi won) and $78 was raised (as well as 2 books donated!) for RIF, and the Blue and Blue BBQ, where the families of sisters got to come and meet each other. $428 was raised for the Kappa Foundation and 21 books were donated for RIF. Some of our sisters participated in the Mag Mutts 5K run where they raised $200 for the organization. There was also a team of Kappas for the Lambda Chi Alpha Pumpkin Bash and we won first place! On Founders Day we celebrated Kappa and also went to a local pumpkin patch for a sisterhood. Later we also had a pumpkin carving sisterhood. Homecoming was a super fun time with quarter-zip apparel that said “Tailgates and Touchdowns” with cats and dogs on the bag. After that there were two Big/Little Mixers, and then Pref Day!

November: November started with a bang with Big/Little Reveal which had a Wizard of Oz theme. On the 14th we had Candle Pass where we got to know each other on a deeper level. FS was on the 16th and Initiation was on the 17th. We also had two girls from Loyola University participate in our initiation. The 23rd marked our 5th anniversary of being on campus!! Chapter elections took place on the 25th where we voted in sisters to the new pilot executive board. Mac and Cheese with KKGs happened on the 28th and we raised $370 for RIF! Our semi-formal was on the 30th and was a blast.

December: We celebrated the 5th anniversary of our chapter being on campus on the 1st by inviting alumni to come and reminisce about our past. Leadership transitions happened on the 2nd, along with our final formal chapter of the year. On the 7th we had a Holiday Party where girls participated in a plaque exchange. Some of our sisters participated in the Dance Showcase, so there was a group of girls who went to support them. The 9th marked our final event for the year, a relaxing sisterhood in lieu of chapter. We also found out the incredible news that we were approved for Girls Academy for the fall of 2019! All in all, we had a great year, and can’t wait to see what is in store for us for 2019!

==Highlights of 2019==

No chapter activities occurred in January due to J-term.

February was a relaxed month for the Eta Phi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Headquarters designated the Eta Phi chapter, along with all other chapters in the Epsilon district, to go through a new leadership structure. Instead of having approximately 18 council members, there was an EBoard made up of six Vice Presidents and the President, with directors falling under the department of specific VPs. The girls of Eta Phi began the semester navigating the new structure.
The chapter decided not to go through with informal recruitment.
Eta Phi did host an LC from the 11th to the 15th. Lots of her visit focused on operating under the new structure and sisterhood. From the 15th to the 17th our President, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Organization, Vice President of Member Development, and Standards Director attended a Kappa conference in Dallas, Texas.
With that in mind, lots of the events that happened in February were sisterhoods. Some of those included dinners, crafting, roller skating, and attending an on-campus hypnotist show!
A Ritual Review was also held to teach new initiates (and any actives that had become rusty) how formal chapter works.
Kappa also had a team for Alpha Sigma Phi’s basketball tournament.

The month began with a rebranded philanthropy event: “Are You Smarter Than a Kappa?” It was a trivia night that raised money for Reading is Fundamental. The event was very popular and almost every chapter on campus participated.
Kappas also participated in other chapter’s philanthropy events. A team was made for Lambda Chi Alpha’s Dodgeball Tournament. One of our sisters and her boyfriend also competed in Phi Mu’s Muly Weds game where couples answered questions about each other. Then the audience got to decide which couple was their favorite. Alpha Sigma Phi also hosted a 3 on 3 basketball event in which Kappa had a team.
Multiple sisterhoods were held throughout the month as well. They included dinners in the cafeteria, going to Feed My Starving Children, and supporting our sisters in EC on the Rise (a campus talent show). Did we mention that one of our very own sisters won the talent show? We were so proud! Our Director of Risk also began “Keep Kappas Glowing,” where sisters could contact her to let her know who needed a pick-me-up or extra recognition. Those selected sisters were then gifted self-care items such as face masks and fuzzy socks.
Also, at the beginning of the month, composites were held. It was especially interesting to see the final copy with the structure change!

April was a far busier chapter for the Eta Phi ladies. One of the new, exciting things that occurred was Greek Week. Instead of chapter on the 14th, all Greek life organizations attended a Greek Week kickoff that included a comedian/inspirational speaker. The other events that occurred throughout the week was a banner competition, Canstruction, Greek Games, and Wear it Wednesday. During Canstruction, canned foods were used to construct into fun shapes and then donated to a local food shelter. On Wear it Wednesday every chapter member wore their letters.
Another fun event that occurred in April was our function. It was themed “Kappa Kappa PaGamma,” and all sisters and guests wore pajamas and robes.
April was also a big month for participation in other chapters’ philanthropy. Many of our sisters participated in Egg ASig, and we also had a team for Alpha Phi’s Home Runs for Heart. Kappa also had a team for a large, campus-wide event for Relay for Life as many of our sisters have been impacted by cancer in some way.
On a lighter note, our sisters bonded over multiple sisterhoods. There were sisterhood dinners every other week, a Picnic and Frisbee sisterhood to celebrate the weather becoming warmer, a sisterhood to go to a Women’s Lacrosse game to support one of our sisters, a movie night, and a S'mores Night on the campus patio. Easily the most exciting sisterhood, however, was the Sisterhood Retreat. It was held in the same room as chapter and included many bonding games. One of the highlights of the retreat, however, was an affirmation activity. Two at a time, sisters sat with their backs to a whiteboard as the rest of the chapter wrote affirmations about them. Some examples were “sapphire,” “dazzling,” and “hard working.” After everyone had written something, the sister would then turn around and see the amazing things her chapter had written about her. Every single member participated.
Building off the strengthened sisterhood, a handful of recruitment workshops were also held in April. The workshops included going over the logistics of recruitment and talking pointers. There were also a handful of recruitment photoshoots held.

May was a far less busy for the Eta Phi Chapter, in part due to it nearing the end of the semester. With that in mind, there were a handful of exciting things that happened. One was Greek Awards, in which our chapter received: Best Sisterhood, Ritual, Philanthropy, Greek Participation, and Circle of Excellence. Circle of Excellence meant we were in the top three for Chapter of Excellence, or the chapter that performed the best the year prior.
One of our biggest philanthropy events, Throw What You Know Ultimate Frisbee also occurred in May. Many chapters on campus participated. There was even a baseball and lacrosse team!
We had our formal on the 3rd at a local banquet hall.
Sisterhood, again, was strong in May. There was a Nail Salon Sisterhood that happened the day before formal where a group of sisters went to a local nail salon and got manicures before the dance. There was also a hangout on the mall sisterhood, one to attend the Elmhurst Dance Show and support sisters that were dancing, a craft night, and one where we all did facemasks and relaxed before finals.

Nothing much occurred in August because school began on the 26th. However, there were two recruitment workshops that were held to practice logistics and speaking with potential new members.

The women of Eta Phi hit the ground running in September. There were two recruitment workshops in the first week. Two of the fraternities on campus, Alpha Tau Omega and Lambda Chi Alpha, helped us practice for recruitment and gave us tips and pointers. The week of the 9th to the 15th was especially wild for the Kappa ladies. There was a recruitment workshop every night and a couple of events throughout the week. For example, Kappa had a table at the Taste of Elmhurst, where every club and organization on campus goes out on our mall and tries to attract new members. We also had a table at the Sorority and Fraternity Life Fair, where all social Greek life organizations had a table in our student union lounge to encourage potential new members to go through recruitment. Finally, we mingled with potential new members and friends in other chapters at the Greek Life Bonfire.
Panhellenic Recruitment occurred from the 13th to the 15th. Approximately 60 women went through. Our chapter, pridefully, was the most successful chapter in that we recruited 13 amazing women. The average recruited was 11. We celebrated Bid Day with a High School Musical theme, a taco station, and karaoke. All could hear us across campus, yelling, “What team? Wild Kaps!”
While recruitment was happening, one of our sisters, Marya Kaufman, attended Leadership Academy for the Eta Phi chapter.
During the week leading up to recruitment and during it, we also hosted an LC named Hannah. She helped answer Eboard and Chapter Council’s questions about their positions with the new structure and give our chapter pointers on how to better function. The things she emphasized was communication and maximizing time used. #callmebeepmeifyouwantanLC
After recruitment there was a handful of sisterhood events held. Sisters painted small canvases and participated in a Target and Culver’s sisterhood. The women who participated in the Target sisterhood all were assigned a sister to buy for and had to buy something for her that was $5 or under. Then they went to the local Culver’s for ice cream. Most importantly, we also had an Overnight Sisterhood! We went to a retreat center, did bonding games like “Ooh Me Too,” crafted, ate pasta, and played games to our hearts content. Another fun activity we did was put sticky notes around a wall saying why we love Kappa. The event was pajama themed and there was a competition for who had the best pajamas.
There was also a Ritual Review for members who had been initiated in 2018 so they could become familiar with the process of initiation.

October became the month of initiation prep for the women of Eta Phi. Every Wednesday and Sunday a Ritual Review was held, only one a week being mandatory. Each week went over different aspects of initiation, from FS to songs to other processes.
There were quite a bit of philanthropy events that occurred in October. On the 6th, there was a GIRLS Academy prep. Women who were Small Group Coordinators went over the curriculum and other women received information on the roles they would play throughout the day. On the 10th there was a Bags Tournament in which many chapters participated. A few sisters and our Vice President of External Affairs also went to a local elementary school, read to them, and donated books for Reading is Fundamental.
There were also a handful of sisterhoods that occurred throughout the month. There was breakfast at Egg Harbor, a lunch in the cafeteria, attending one of our sister’s senior recital, and going to a local pumpkin patch.
There were also multiple Big Little mixers. Big Little Week occurred at the end of the month and into November.
Kappas participated in many events in the month of October. They included: Lambda Chi Alpha’s Bag Prep/Drop Off/Pickup, Phi Mu and Alpha Sig Kickin’ It for the Kids, ATOlympics, and Lambda Chi Pumpkin Bash. We bought shirts for Phi Mu and Lambda Chi’s CureKi. One of the highlights of the month, however, was Sigma Kappa’s Pearl Jam. It is a lip sync competition between Sorority and Fraternity Life. Lambda Chi won, Kappa got second with our Disney Channel themed dance, and Alpha Sig got third.

The women of Eta Phi began November in the best way possible: with a semi-formal! It was held a local banquet hall and was lots of fun. Soon after, there was Big Little Reveal. Each little was given a yarn that connected to a spot on a curtain. Once the curtain was dropped, their big was revealed.
Speaking of fun, the Eta Phi chapter had the pleasure of being able to run GIRLS Academy. It was held at Churchville Middle School and was an all day event. There were 5 groups of middle school girls that all varied in size. The 10 Small Group Facilitators taught the girls the curriculum, including body positivity, bullying, and responsibility. A service event was held in which plastic bags that had been donated were cut and tied to become plarn: plastic yarn. The strands were rolled up into balls and then donated to make blankets for the homeless. The end of the day was celebrated with each group doing a skit pertaining to one of the letters in GIRLS, Girls Inspiring Responsibility, Leadership, and Service. Other chapter members helped by taking pictures, serving food, assisting in the curriculum, and helping the day run smoothly. It was a wonderful event that no sister will forget anytime soon. The other major philanthropy event that occurred was Kappa Karaoke and Games. Many chapters participated, playing board and card games, and did karaoke.
One of the major events that happened in November was initiation! 10 wonderful new members were initiated. Inspiration Period was celebrated with the tradition of Candlepass, in which sisters had the space to bond with each other on a much deeper level. Initiation had to be held in Daniels Hall this year, which was different since it was usually held in Circle Hall. However, the Eta Phi women took it in stride and the event went very smoothly. We all got to celebrate a job well done with a Panera brunch.
Continuing the sisterhood bonding, women went to a free movie night at the local movie theater, went to the Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago, and had a potluck Friendsgiving to celebrate Thanksgiving and the end of the month.
Kappas also participated in other events across campus. Some sisters, along with other sorority women, gave donuts to campus officers to thank them after events that occurred on campus. We also supported Alpha Phi’s King of Hearts, a male pageant. A few sisters went with other members of Sorority and Fraternity Life to Feed My Starving Children. Speaking of food, many sisters also got tacos from ATO’s Taco event. Finally, the Kappa women had a title to uphold at ATO and Alpha Phi’s Gingerhead House Competition and Pictures with Santa. Unfortunately, we did not uphold our champion title, but we did come in third place.

December was a very relaxed month for the Eta Phi chapter because finals occurred during the second week of the month. Right before finals, however, a Plaque Exchange and Holiday Party was held. Sisters made plaques for other sisters (Secret Santa style) and watched “Elf” while eating snacks and enjoying each other’s company. It was a pleasant way to end such a successful semester.

==Highlights of 2020==
"Chapter Summary
Covid-19 affected our chapter in many ways, but it did not stop us from achieving and doing a lot of great things this year. The biggest event that was changed due to the pandemic was recruitment. We had a virtual recruitment this semester where we were still able to recruit 11 amazing women to join our chapter. After we were able to welcome out new members, we were able to initiate them virtually as new initiated members and now active members. Initiation and Recruitment both went well and we were able to provide the importance of ritual and history in an online format. Almost all of our events were held virtually from sisterhoods, chapters, ritual reviews, Founders day, etc., but we were able to hold Bags of Book, one of our philanthropy events, in person while we were following all of the CDC guidelines, Kappa guidelines, and the University guidelines.

Two philanthropies that only our chapter support are Magnificent Mutts and Meows and the Christopher Lyons Foundation. We chose to support Magnificent Mutts and Meows because our sisters have a strong love of animals and supporting places that have adoption. Our chapter supports the Christopher Lyons Foundation because this supports an alumna from our chapter. Her brother passed away due to suicide, and the foundation raises money that supports Christopher’s favorite day program that he was in while he was in the hospital.

This year we have created a DEI committee that are there for girls to feel supported no matter what their backgrounds or ethnicity. The team is there to ensure that all the women in our chapter feel welcome. They are also there to handle issues in relation to Diversity if they were to arise. Once this team was formed, they helped to release a statement on diversity on behalf of our chapter that went to the college newpaper to be published. The DEI committee is also there to educate our chapter members on new information that may come up in regards to diversity. "

We celebrated Kappa’s 150th anniversary by holding the founder’s day ceremony and truly reflecting on the history of Kappa and what it means to be apart of this Women’s Fraternity.
[[File:Etaphibid.jpg|thumb|sisters]]
[[File:Etaphiphilanthropy.jpg|thumb|philanthropy]]
[[File:Etaphibidday.jpg|thumb|bidday]]
[[File:Eta (2).png|thumb|recruitment]]

Eta Upsilon

2021-12-22T19:13:29Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Upsilon
|GreekSymbol= Hϒ
|Image= [[File:Wichita_State.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2013|11|16}}
|College= [https://www.wichita.edu/ Wichita State University]
|Location= Wichita, Kansas
|Homepage= [https://wichitastate.kappa.org/ Eta Upsilon Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Upsilon Media related to Eta Upsilon Chapter]}}

'''Wichita State University'''

'''Founded November 16, 2013'''

'''Wichita State University (WSU), Wichita, Kansas, established 1895'''

'''Colonizing new members: 40'''

'''Charter members initiated: 40 undergraduates, plus three alumnae initiates'''

'''172 Total Initiates as of (June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Upsilon’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==History of the University==

In 1895, Fairmount College opened collegiate classes for men and women with funding by the Congregational Education Society. Sports were of interest to students from the beginning. On the second day of school, some of the men met under a tree to discuss forming a football team. In addition to football, basketball, baseball and track were added to the men’s roster and basketball to the women’s.

In 1905, under the glow of Coleman lanterns, the Fairmount Wheatshockers won the first-ever night football game played west of the Mississippi River. That same team instigated the first forward pass in collegiate history on Christmas Day of that year.

By the mid-1920s, financial concerns threatened the young college. Public ownership seemed to be the obvious solution to loyal Fairmount supporters, but the first campaign for public ownership failed at the polls in 1925. A renewed effort in 1926 was overwhelmingly approved, however, and the 569-student Municipal University of Wichita, popularly known as Wichita University or WU, became the first in a new era of city institutions in the American West. From the very beginning, Wichita University served students whose financial circumstances and family responsibilities limited their options for higher education.

A long and arduous battle that began in 1955 finally culminated in 1963 with legislative approval of a new state university. The citizens of Wichita responded in the form of a $1.5 million levy to pay the bonded indebtedness and provide a perpetual endowment for the new state institution. In 1964, it officially entered the state system of higher education as Wichita State University with an enrollment of nearly 7,000 students, the third largest university governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.

October 2, 1970, was one of the blackest days in Wichita State history. One of two planes carrying players, coaches, staff and fans to a football game at Utah State crashed near Silver Plume, Colo., killing 31. Football was discontinued in 1986 because of mounting debt.

In 1975, the women’s bowling team won the national title. Baseball returned to campus in 1978, finishing second in the College World Series in 1982 and winning the national championship in 1989. The men’s basketball team qualified for the Final Four in 1965 and 2013.

As Kansas’ only urban-serving research state university, WSU combines a traditional college atmosphere with the opportunities of the state’s largest city. As of 2013, Wichita State enrolled nearly 15,000 students.
The Beginning

In April 2012, the Wichita State University Panhellenic Council voted to establish a committee for the purposes of exploring extension. In October, the WSU Panhellenic Council voted to open for extension for the purpose of a local sorority, Gamma Epsilon, to affiliate with a National Panhellenic Conference group and for non-affiliated women on the campus.

In November, Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse, and Zeta West Province Director of Alumnae Melissa Smith, Kansas, made a visit to Wichita State and met with Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life Gina Stewart and Peggy Ward, adviser to Gamma Epsilon, a local sorority. The Fraternity sent its extension applications and letter of interest packets to the campus and received notification that it and another NPC group had been selected to make a presentation. Kappa’s on-campus presentation was scheduled for February 20, 2013.

A 14-inch snowstorm hit Wichita the evening of February 20. Due to the heavy snowstorm, flights were canceled, and the Kappa presentation team couldn’t get out of Wichita until February 22. Everyone had a great time while “grounded” and strengthened the bonds of sisterhood, working on projects together, while making several attempts to “get out of Dodge!” We had the opportunity to celebrate Extension Coordinator Lisa Lunney Thomson’s, Bowling Green, birthday together due to Mother Nature’s plans.

==Gamma Epsilon Insight==

Two undergraduate women who transferred from the University of Kansas to Wichita State University founded the local sorority Gamma Epsilon at WSU.

In 2012, members of Gamma Epsilon contacted the Wichita State College Panhellenic and asked it to invite a Panhellenic group to join Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma and Gamma Phi Beta. From its founding, Gamma Epsilon’s goal had been to affiliate with an NPC group.

Its purpose statement was “It shall be the purpose of Gamma Epsilon to foster positive connections within our organization and throughout the community. This student organization will instill respect for all women by promoting values of leadership, integrity, sisterhood, scholarship and philanthropy.” Gamma Epsilon’s five purposes were sisterhood, leadership, integrity, community service and scholarship. Its colors and symbols were turquoise, canary yellow, the owl, paisley, daisy and the locket.

==Presentation:==

After Gamma Epsilon members reviewed proposals, the women chose Kappa Kappa Gamma as one of the NPC groups to make a presentation. They informed their faculty adviser and fellow Gamma Epsilon Peggy Ward, and she entered the exploratory visit and time with KKG thinking, “Don’t blow this, we really want Kappa.” Peggy expressed later, “the pressure was really on me to seal the deal.” Kappa Kappa Gamma wanted them as well and to become a part of this Panhellenic community.

Kappa Kappa Gamma presented at Wichita State on February 20, 2013. Members of Kappa’s presentation team were Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College; Director of Chapters Collett Beers Rangitsch, Wyoming; Director of Programs & Education Beth Uphoff Black, Illinois Wesleyan; Barb Goettelman; Region 3 Director of Alumnae Linda Price Patton, Oklahoma State; Social Media Coordinator Claire Davis, Auburn; Lisa Thomson; and Executive Director Kari Kittrell.

The Wichita State College Panhellenic made the final decision as to which additional NPC group to invite with the recommendation from the local sorority Gamma Epsilon taken into consideration. Kappa Kappa Gamma joined Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma and Gamma Phi Beta as the fifth Panhellenic group on campus.

==Colonization:==

On March 16, the College Panhellenic of WSU invited Kappa Kappa Gamma to establish a chapter on its campus. This was welcome news not only for the Fraternity Council but also for a special group of collegiate members of the local sorority, Gamma Epsilon.

The Fraternity appointed Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State, as Colonization Chairman and Chelsea Dyer, Oklahoma State, as Chapter Consultant after which the planning for the fall colonization began.
In July 2013, Chelsea Dyer moved to Wichita, enrolled in a master’s program and began the process of spreading the word that Kappa Kappa Gamma was coming to campus. Her first event, the Activities Fair on August 28, brought “Be Kappa” posters, a bright blue table cloth, blue balloons and local alumnae wearing blue and their badges, and our campaign was launched. Women unaffiliated with the local group took notice. Some wanted to be a part of something new, some were intrigued with our national philanthropy, Reading Is Fundamental and the ability to choose a philanthropy project that was a passion for them.

On September 5 and 6, with the assistance of local alumnae under the direction of Wichita Alumnae Association President Judy Hardman Rapp, Kansas; local liaison Val Laham Learned, Kansas; and the undergraduates members of Gamma Alpha, Kansas State, under the leadership of President Claire Carlson and Vice President – Organization Hannah Smith, Kappa participated in the first and second rounds of formal Recruitment. Phi Delta Theta opened its beautiful home, and the Kappas recruited just like every sorority on campus with songs, T-shirts, owl cookies, blue punch, a program describing KKG and lots and lots of chatter!

On September 26, Kappa held its colonization kickoff event, in the National Institute for Aviation Research Building. Assisting with the presentation were Leadership Consultants Jordan Newsom, Knox, and Madison Taylor, Arkansas. Chelsea Dyer, Madison Taylor and Susanne Vander Heyden shared their personal accounts of the advantages of membership in Kappa Kappa Gamma. Two days of interviews conducted by local alumnae followed on September 27 and 28. The final day of colonization, Preference, on September 29 consisted of an event with cupcakes, tulle and twinkly lights and a reading about “What Kappa Is” from the members of Gamma Alpha Chapter. On a bright, breezy fall afternoon, Kappa Kappa Gamma welcomed 40 new members into Eta Upsilon Colony.

==Installation:==
Fraternity Installation Chairman Kristi McCune Rowland, Kansas State, oversaw the details for the installation with assistance from Chelsea Dyer and Coordinator of Chapter Development Risa Flanders, Kansas State.
A very special aspect of this installation was that three Gamma Epsilon alumnae, Laura Gerber, Julie Scherer and Peggy Ward, were initiated along with the 40 undergraduate colonizing members.

The FS service was held November 15 at the Crestview Country Club in Wichita, and the Installation Service was conducted the following day at the Wichita Marriott. Gamma Alpha Chapter served as the sponsor chapter and took part in the Installation Service.

A beautiful installation brunch was held at the Wichita Marriott. Barb Goettelman was the toastmistress. Fraternity President Julie Leshay welcomed Kappa to the campus and spoke about how the Fraternity fits into the Wichita State Greek system. Barb Goettelman shared a letter from Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life Gina Stewart:
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Women of Kappa Kappa Gamma,

First, my apologies for not being with you on this momentous occasion. Please know my thoughts are with each of you as you complete your journey of becoming initiated members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and receive the charter acknowledging that Wichita State University officially has a fifth NPC group represented on our campus.
This has been a long journey. It would be discourteous of me to not mention first the meeting held years ago with Phoebe, Alex (the founders of the local sorority Gamma Epsilon) and Peggy Ward (Gamma Epsilon’s faculty adviser). Had it not been for the energy and determination of those women and the founders of Gamma Epsilon, we would not be here today. Thank you to the women of Gamma Epsilon who worked hard to maintain a strong chapter, recruit the best and for making the decision to pursue membership with an NPC organization. This drive motivated the WSU Panhellenic to pursue extension and helped the Panhellenic extension team to determine that Kappa Kappa Gamma truly was the best sorority for us.

You are all now founding members of a sorority. This is an honor which has not been bestowed upon a woman at WSU since 1958. Please do not take this task lightly. It is a privilege, one that comes with hard work, probably some tears and many, many sweet memories as you develop deep bonds with your fellow founding sisters as you Aspire to Be who you are meant to be.

Recently, I ran into a founding member of my own sorority at a WSU men’s basketball game. She sits with her husband and three other founding members of the organization at every game, every year. They are all now in their 70s, but their passion for their sorority and for WSU is still just as deep as it was 55 years ago. In 1958, they experienced the same emotions you are experiencing today: the butterflies, the excitement, the nervousness. In another 55 years, these women will be gone, you will be the legacy women at WSU look up to as the founding members of a sorority. No one knows what our future will hold, but we do know that the WSU Greek community will need you to carry on that legacy. Fifty-five years from now, may you still be present and passionate so you may pass on the torch and inspire a new generation of Kappa Kappa Gamma women at WSU.
Please know you have an entire force of sorority women behind you, ready to go to work to make you a strong chapter. If each one of you is willing to put in the effort, then we will roll up our sleeves and work together to make you the best. You have been given the key; the door is yours to open.

Now, it is time to be. There are children waiting for you to help them learn to read. Alumnae waiting to feel the energy of young collegians. Sisters waiting to lean on your shoulder. Fraternity men waiting to partner with you for Hippodrome. Campus traditions waiting for you to carry them on. Sorority women waiting to embrace their new Panhellenic sisters. Most importantly, there is a woman within you, waiting to be who she is supposed to be. May Kappa Kappa Gamma help you to become the best you can be. Not just for yourself, but for the community you will now impact and the world you will now change.

Interfraternally,
Gina Stewart
Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life

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Judy Rapp presented the President’s badge to Eta Upsilon President Whitney McBryde at the brunch.
The members of the installation team were led by Kristi Rowland and included Fraternity President Julie Leshay, Fraternity Treasurer Nancy Eyermann Foland, Tulsa; Region 6 Director of Chapters Angela Disalvo, Iowa; Region 6 Director of Alumnae Jennifer King, Utah; Barb Goettelman, Susanne Vander Heyden; Melissa Smith; Zeta West Province Director of Chapters Katy Stovall, Drake; Jordan Newsom; Madison Taylor; Leadership Consultant Mallory Glazier, Michigan State; and the following Headquarters staff members: Lisa Thomson; Membership Services Chapter Support Libbi Rettew, Virginia Tech; and Creative Content Specialist Ali Brown, Ohio State.
The model chapter meeting followed at the Wichita Marriott with Fraternity President Julie Leshay presiding. Following her installation as Eta Upsilon’s President, Whitney McBryde presided and closed the meeting.
Charter members’ thoughts about becoming Kappas: “Installation weekend was one of the best weekends of my life. The whole experience was beautiful and will be a day I never forget. I can’t wait to see what our chapter can do on campus and what we can do in the future while working together to better those around us.” - Whitney McBryde, Eta Upsilon Chapter President.

==Highlights of 2013==

In the fall of 2009, Alexandra Miller and Phoebe Holeman created the local sorority, Gamma Epsilon, at Wichita State University (WSU) campus. They created this group with the intention of bringing a new sorority to the Wichita State campus. During the following spring semester, Alexandra and Phoebe recruited Peggy Ward, faculty member at Wichita State, to serve as the Gamma Epsilon faculty adviser. In the fall 2010 semester, Phoebe and Alexandra, along with Lindsay Ann Dickmeyer, Laura Gerber, Julie Scherer and Ashley Abedini, all founders of Gamma Epsilon, recruited the first class of Gamma Epsilon. They also created the symbols and ritual during this semester. In the spring 2011 semester, Gamma Epsilon presented their intentions to become an NPC sorority to the Wichita State Panhellenic. The Wichita State Panhellenic community voted to open for extension in the fall 2012 semester. WSU sent information to NPC regarding the university’s and Gamma Epsilon’s intentions. During the spring 2013 semester, Gamma Epsilon became an associate member of the Women’s Panhellenic Association at Wichita State after growing to a member count of 35 women. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Mu were each chosen to present to the Wichita State Panhellenic community. Gamma Epsilon and WPA voted to extend an invitation to Kappa Kappa Gamma to join the Wichita State Greek community.

During the rest of the spring 2013 semester and the following summer, Kappa Kappa Gamma worked with WPA and Wichita State to prepare for its upcoming colonization. Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in the first two days of formal recruitment in fall 2013. After the end of formal recruitment, Kappa Kappa Gamma began its marketing campaign which consisted of tabling, information sessions, communication with the fraternities and sororities, and use of display cases and bulletin boards around campus. Kappa Kappa Gamma also participated in
the WSU Back to School Bash and the Student Involvement Fair.

On September 26, Kappa Kappa Gamma held two Colonization Kick-Off Events in the National Institute for Aviation Research building on WSU’s campus to formally introduce interested women to the opportunity of membership in Kappa Kappa Gamma. The colonization team was assisted by several Wichita area alumnae and women from the Gamma Alpha chapter at Kansas State University. The weekend continued with Kappa Interviews conducted by Wichita alumnae on September 27 and 28 in Devlin Hall on campus and an invitation-only final preference round on September 29 in the National Institute of Aviation Research building. The celebrations continued into the afternoon with Greek reception and bid day activities.

The 40 new members of the Eta Upsilon colony were given their first Kappa t-shirt, a KKG tote bag and several KKG swag items. Their chapter supplement and Kappa Notebook were also given to them to use during the New Member program. The colony also took its first official bid day pictures with large wooden blue KKG letters made by a local alumna’s husband. The New Member program started the following day on September 30 and ended on November. At the end of the week, the chapter’s fireside was held at a local country club and the installation ceremony took place at the Marriott on November 16.

As new members, the original women participated in many activities that could support the bonds of sisterhood. KKG women participated in Shockertober fest capture-the-flag events and won first place. They also participated in intramural flag football, volleyball and supported other WSU and Greek events such as Songfest, Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash, Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Chili feed, Gamma Phi Beta’s Grilled Cheese feed, Phi Delta Theta’s Spaghetti Feed, Delta Upsilon Teeter-Thon and many more activities. KKG women also personally supported Wishes over Wichita by volunteering to sell tickets and assisting in running the event at the Benton airport. They also had a few sisterhood events including movie nights, a new member retreat and various outings. Also during the New Member Program the women learned exactly what it means to be a kappa.

Inspiration week began with Leadership Consultants, Jordan Newsom and Madison Taylor, coming back to Wichita to install Eta Upsilon with Chelsea Dyer, Chapter Consultant. On the first night of Inspiration Period, the last new member meeting consisted of officers being elected. Throughout the rest of the week, the new members went to a local corn maze and decorated pin boxes for their keys. Friday November 15, Eta Upsilon began the chartering process by joining Gamma Alpha chapter of Kansas State University, and alumnae for Fireside at a local country club. On November 16, 2013, the official Eta Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was chartered with Julie Leshay, the current Fraternity President, who resided over the Installation.

After installation, the ladies of Eta Upsilon had two official meetings before the end of the semester. They discussed their plans to help Kappa grow into a lasting sisterhood. With a strong start, the women of Eta Upsilon know they have all the keys for success.

Wichita State University has been under construction since 2012. Different buildings are being remodeled including the Rhatigan Student Center. The main parking lot on campus is becoming a new student dormitory, Shocker Hall. These changes are projected to be done, hopefully, by this coming summer of 2014. Marshallville was a trending topic created by the student body at Wichita State during the Fall 2013 to raise support for the men's basketball team due to their achievement of making it to the NCAA’s Final Four Tournament in their previous season.

==Highlights of 2014==

In January 2014 Eta Upsilon had the opportunity to do joint training with the women from Gamma Alpha at Kansas State University (K-State). Then Wichita State University (WSU) had their annual Springfest to kick off the start of the new semester. Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) participated by having their first spring recruitment. Through spring recruitment, six new women became a part of the Eta Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. As a new chapter tradition, Eta Upsilon created the Minerva award. This award is given to a New Member who encapsulates the ideals of Kappa. During the brunch after Spring Initiation, Angie Hobbs received the Minerva Award. Soon after recruitment Eta Upsilon was getting ready to participate in their first ever Hippodrome at WSU. Eta Upsilon was paired up with men of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Together they wrote, choreographed, built sets, and performed a skit. Their hard work paid off by getting third place in sets/props category.

The success for Eta Upsilon did not stop there. At the annual Greek Awards, Eta Upsilon was awarded outstanding new member. At Shocker leadership Awards, Eta Upsilon received Outstanding New Organization Award. Along with the Greek Awards, Eta Upsilon had the 2nd highest GPA within all the sororities at WSU.
March 1, 2014 marked the first philanthropy event. The event was called “Drop it the Fleur.” The event was a volleyball tournament where anyone could participate either by playing in the tournament or coming to watch. The proceeds went to their local philanthropy Fundamental Learning Center and the National Kidney Foundation. Eta Upsilon then went to Oaklawn Elementary School to read to the younger classes. The women plan on going back to Oaklawn Elementary. After participating in their philanthropy events Eta Upsilon participated in the All-Greek clean up.

As the school year was quickly ending, Eta Upsilon participated in the Parkinson’s basketball and soccer event. They then took part in their first passing of Senior Fleur tradition. The Gamma Alpha chapter from K-State also passed on their Friendship Fleur. Several members of Eta Upsilon were mortar board members.

Over the summer five members, two advisors, one chapter consultant, and the coordinator of chapter development were able to go to convention, in Houston, Texas. This was their first convention at a chapter of Eta Upsilon. At convention the president participated in the parade of flags with the flag that the chapter designed. The president then received a special award for being the first president of the Eta Upsilon chapter. The chapter also sent one member to the UIFI in June. Then in early August a special visit from Breeane, an alumna visitor, came during the first work week for recruitment.

WSU began to be an innovation campus at the beginning of the school year. Shocker Hall was opened as the new student housing building. The Rhatigan Student Center also had their grand opening of their student union center. WSU’s men’s basketball did exceptionally well. They entered the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament undefeated at 34–0.

In Greek life we had several milestones. Farmhouse fraternity was colonized as an official IFC Fraternity. Additionally Eta Upsilon participated in move-in day for freshmen, and Greeks get twisted, which is a new member academy.

The fall of 2014 was the first time Eta Upsilon participated in formal recruitment. It was a huge success due to the record breaking amount of women going through formal recruitment at WSU. During recruitment Eta Upsilon gained 30 new members, which helped of achieving the goal of membership growth. Two of the women from Eta Upsilon acted as Rho Gamma’s during formal recruitment. Additionally we now have a member serving on the Panhellenic council. We also had two members participated in Leadership Academy in Ohio that was put on by the fraternity.

Eta Upsilon was able to participate in other sorority and fraternity’s philanthropy events such as, Tri Delta Dodge N Dive, Delta Upsilon Nachofest, and Phi Delta Theta Spaghetti Feed. There were other events that they participated including, Mud Events, Shockerthon, Intramural volleyball team and kickball,
October 25, 2014 Eta Upsilon participated in their first ever Songfest at WSU. They won 2nd place overall. They then turned around to throw their second philanthropy event of Kappa Olympics on November 15th. Where different teams participated in different Olympic Games. Farmhouse Fraternity did not participate in the event but they did donate money to Eta Upsilon’s philanthropy for helping out their new chapter. The next day Eta Upsilon celebrated their first birthday as a chapter.

To wrap up the year, Eta Upsilon held elections for new officer positions for the new year. The following are now the new officers. President is Mariah Smith, Vice President of Standards is Lauren McGuire, Vice President of Organization is Erin Kirchoff, Vice President of Academic Excellence is Rebecca Newton, Treasure is Maggie Arndt, Membership Chairman is Whitney McBryde, Corresponding Secretary is Pam Saenz, Recording Secretary is Lauren Stiles, Marshal is Czarina Cutaran, Registrar is Anne Perez, Education Chairman is Jade Conkle, House Chairman is Carol Gibbon, Philanthropy Chairman is Portia Montoy, Public Relations is Jessa Ragan, New Member Chairman is Taylor Warren, Panhellenic Chairman is Diona Mendoza, Risk Management is Haley Valcoure, and Event Chairman is Madison Jewell

Wichita State University began to be an innovation campus in the fall of 2014. Shocker Hall was opened as the new student housing building. The Rhatigan Student Center also had their grand opening of their student union center. WSU’s men’s basketball did exceptionally well. They entered the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament undefeated at 34–0.

In Greek life we had several milestones. Farmhouse fraternity was colonized as an official IFC Fraternity.

Eta Upsilon does not have an established chapter house yet, but they hope to have one in the future. The chapter meetings are held in classroom buildings at WSU.

==Highlights of 2015==
In 2015 Eta Upsilon at Wichita State University (WSU) has made some ground breaking accomplishments. This is our second year on Wichita State’s campus, but have already reached major milestones. In January the chapter held Leadership Day in which old officers transitioned the new officers. On this day Sandy Sipes, a professor at WSU, came and spoke to the women about the importance of communication. This helped remind the women that communication is key to having any organization run smoothly. After winter break, Eta Upsilon jumped right into Greek events. In January the chapter was involved in many different Panhellenic service events such as Bras for a Cause and all Greek Clean Up. Additionally, took part in other fraternities and sororities philanthropy events which included Gamma Phi Beta’s Grilled Cheese, Beta Theta Pi’s Wok N’ Roll, and Pi Kappa Alpha Tricycle races. The ladies of Eta Upsilon participated in Shock the Yard, a step show held by the Multicultural Greek Council. They participated in this show with the women of Gamma Phi Beta.

Eta Upsilon was also involved with many campus activities. Several of our members were nominated for Shocker Leadership awards. Two of our girls, Lauren McGuire and Mineka Rose were elected to the Student Senate. Mariah Smith was also chosen as Treasurer for the Student Government Association.

In the spring the chapter held its first ever food philanthropy event, Custard with Kappa. It was held at the Delta Gamma’s house. Freddy’s Frozen Custard donated custard cookies. The tickets were only $3. Over $1,000 was raised. 75% went to the Fundamental learning center and 25% went to Reading is Fundamental. Eta Upsilon then went to Oaklawn Elementary where the read, played literacy games, and donated over 100 books so that each child could go home with their own book.

The Public Relations Chairman made an effort to get the GIN System up and running to have members utilize it better. In addition she wrote and distributed the annual newsletter. Throughout the spring semester, Eta Upsilon had mixers with the fraternities, Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Upsilon, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. In addition had a mixer with the sorority, Delta Delta Delta. The chapter held its formal date party on May 1st at the Tallgrass Country Club with the theme Great Gatsby. The chapter then held its first candle light ceremony for Autumn Slater on her engagement.

Eta Upsilon was also able to send fourteen girls to regional meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The chapter then held senior sendoff on May 8th sending 9 seniors off into the real world. They are now part of the alumni association, in which they are very involved with. Not only did the chapter say goodbye to the 9 seniors, but Chapter Consultant, Chelsea Dyer. She was the consultant for two years. She is now a Province Direct of Chapters, and is working in Wichita with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

At WSU there were many great achievements with basketball. ESPN Game day came to Wichita. WSU basketball then made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. Fred Van Fleet and Ron Baker announced their return for their senior seasons at WSU.

Eta Upsilon took a brief summer break, but in August had pre recruitment work week. Leadership consultant, S.E, came and gave very helpful suggestions to help make recruitment successful.

In September, Eta Upsilon participated in formal recruitment for the second year. The Phi Delta Theta house was used once again, but Eta Upsilon does have a lounge in the student dorms. Chapter Council, and other events took place here. Leadership Consultants, S.E and Alyssa came to help. Formal recruitment was a huge success. Eta Upsilon was the second preference house, and gained 28 new members from formal recruitment, and then two more girls from the fall continuous open bidding. In October, the ladies participated in many different actives such as sisterhoods, I-engage lunches, mixers, and Songfest.

Eta Upsilon had many social events. The biggest one was our first overnight sisterhood that was held in the Kappa Lounge. It was a big success full of fun memories. The women also had many mixers with the some of the fraternities which included, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Lambda Chi Alpha. They also participated in other Greek’s philanthropy fundraisers such as Dodge N’ Dive with Delta Delta Delta. Eta Upsilon won their first trophy with intramurals with the game being racquetball.

In November the first annual Kappa Olympics took place. This helped raise money for the local and national philanthropy along with collecting children’s books that will be donated to Oaklawn Elementary in upcoming spring semester.

At initiation in the fall the women initiated 27 new members. Eta Upsilon was able to do R.R for the first time.

A big announcement took place in the fall. Eta Upsilon is proud to have a house! This was also thanks to the amazing house board association and alumni association. It is located near the other sororities. Eta Upsilon hopes to be able to utilize in the spring, and then have girls live in the house in the fall of 2016. A small way of saying thanks was at the second birthday celebration. This was a time where the ladies celebrated being on campus for two years, thanking the advisors for the constant support, and the alumni association for all that they do.

The 2016 officers for WSU KKG are:

President- Pam Saenz

Vice President of Standards- Lauren Stiles

Vice President of Organization- Haley Valcoure

Vice President of Academic Excellence- Alyssa Rule

Recording Secretary- Lauren Chapman

Corresponding Secretary- Ellie Frayer

Treasurer-Libby Graber

Registrar- Emily Thon

Marshal-Mineka Rose

Education Chairman-Amy Pham

House Chairman- Darah Witherspoon

Membership Chairman-Mariah Smith

New Member Chairman-Madison Jewell

Panhellenic Delegate-Timory Hills

Philanthropy Chairman-Anne Perez

Public Relations Chairman-Caitlin Lee

Risk Management Chairman-Sloan Nicolay

Event Chairman- Samantha Murry

==Highlights of 2016==

2016 brought a multitude of milestones and new adventures for the Eta Upsilon Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Wichita State University. In January, we opened the year on the 19th with the university’s Meet the Greeks event. Here our women and the rest of the Greek community were able to mingle with one another and students interested in Greek life. January 25th kicked off our weekly chapter meetings and we were up and running with our events for Continuous Open Bidding. This included tabling, cold calling and hosting a number of mingling events. On the 30th, our women were able to make our facility more welcoming and warm with a chapter house-cleaning party.

We started off February with our book drive where we collected books for K-5th grade students. Then came the first Continuous Open Bidding event in our newly obtained house: the Kappa Carnival. February 7th rolled around and S.E. Spencer, our Leadership Consultant, arrived and visited Eta Upsilon for the week. Monday, February 22nd marked Wichita State’s Greek Awards ceremony. Eta Upsilon was overjoyed to congratulate and cheer on Mariah Smith for receiving the Greek Woman of the Year award and Mineka Rose for receiving the Greek Unity award! We wrapped up our book drive and were able to collect a large sum of books to donate to the children at Oaklawn Elementary School. February 26th marked our last Continuous Open Bidding Event as well as a movie night sisterhood at the Kappa house. Lastly, on February 29th the Panhellenic Council hosted its Scholarship Dinner. This dinner, hosted at the Crown Uptown Theatre, celebrated the academic achievements of the Panhellenic women and chapters at Wichita State.

Following the book drive in February, Eta Upsilon gave a helping hand on March 2nd to Oaklawn Elementary School. We spent time playing literacy games and reading books to K-5th grade students. In addition, each child was able to pick a book from our collection to take home with them. On March 5th, Kappa welcomed our spring COB members as they went through Formal Pledging at the Kappa house.

To begin the month of April, we hosted our very first Parent’s Day on the 2nd. Members were able to give their families a tour of the Kappa house, enjoy a meal, and watch a baseball game at Eck Stadium. As a sweet add-on, Big/Little reveal for the newly pledged COB members followed after the game at the Kappa house. On the 4th, the All-Greek Mixer took place at the Aviate Sports Forum. The days following, Kappa performed with the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon in the 89th Annual Hippodrome Performances. Under the direction of Portia Montoy and Breck Towner, Kappa and SAE won 1st Place Overall, 1st Place in props, 2nd Place in Costumes, 2nd Place in Acting, and 3rd Place in Music! Panhellenic Council’s Mixer was on the 12th and their Panhellenic Build was on the 15th. Additionally, Eta Upsilon had their formal on April 15th. On April 23rd, Eta Upsilon performed its spring initiation. Afterwards, a brunch was held for the new initiates and their families in the Rhatigan Student Center. The same day, a number of Kappas supported another sister and participated in the MDA Muscle Walk at Sedgwick County Park. Members of Kappa also helped Sigma Phi Epsilon with their annual Pennies for Wishes fundraiser on the 23rd. In the next few days, we prepared for our own philanthropy event, Custard with Kappa. Members served guests with delicious custard donated graciously by Freddy’s Frozen Custard. We also had the opportunity to open the doors to the Kappa House to the public for the first time, and gave house tours during the event. Likewise, Eta Upsilon members participated in Grilled Cheese with Gamma Phi Beta on April 27th and on the 28th.

To wrap up the spring semester, on May 1st we moved out of the Kappa Lounge at Fairmount Towers. Delta Delta Delta’s Putt for A Cure, Lambda Chi Alpha’s Annual Watermelon Bust, and Wu’s Big Event were on May 1st. Our last chapter meeting for the spring semester was on the 2nd as well as Senior Service and Senior Sendoff. May was a popular month for other Greek chapter’s philanthropy events. Panhellenic Council hosted The All-Greek Mixer on the 4th. Play for Parkinson’s was scheduled on the 6th, and Kappa had a Pre-Recruitment Workshop to prepare for fall Formal Recruitment. The 8th of May was also the last Chapter Council meeting for the spring semester. The Kappa house closed on the 13th for the summer.

On June 22nd through the 26th, President, Pam Saenz and Membership Chairman, Mariah Smith attended the 71st Biennial Convention in San Diego, California on behalf of Eta Upsilon. They attended a variety of educational sessions, met Kappas from across the United States and Canada, and were able to witness the Fraternity’s structural and leadership change. Eta Upsilon also received Honorable Mention for the Panhellenic Award and Honorable Mention for the House Board Award.

To start off the fall semester in August, the first women to live in the Kappa house moved in on the 13th. Chapter Council had their first meeting for the semester on the 14th. From the 15th through the 19th, our women learned, practiced and prepared themselves for Formal Recruitment during Work Week. The following Monday, the 22nd, was the first meeting of the 2016 fall semester and classes began. Meet the Greeks was on the 23rd in Omega Court and it served a great way to catch up from the summer break and introduce a multitude of students to Greek life at WSU.

As August came to an end, September began with a busy start. We hosted Formal Recruitment in our new facility for the first time from the 8th - 12th. During that time, Caroline Washnock, Chapter Services Coordinator, came on behalf of the Fraternity to lend a helping hand. On Bid Day, Eta Upsilon welcomed home 23 new members. After Formal Recruitment we had Fall COB from the 13th through the 22nd and we welcomed home an additional 13 new members. On the 17th we had formal pledging for Formal Recruitment new members. To end September we had a sisterhood on the 29th. There we had a great time watching movies, eating snacks, painting nails, and choosing who won the Best Dressed contest.

Moving into October, members participated in Lambda Chi Alpha’s Watermelon Bust, formally pledged our COB members, had our New Member Retreat, and participated in Wu’s Big Event on October 1st. Jennifer Fales, our District Director, came to visit Eta Upsilon on the 3rd. Our first overnight sisterhood in the house was the 7th and the 8th. During the sisterhood we played ice breakers such as charades and “Name that Song”, watched movies, and ate snacks. After our sisterhood on the 8th, we had our Big/Little Reveal. Littles were able to find out who their big was by standing in the middle of a circle while actives passed around a candle and turned it off to reveal that they were the Big. Our Founder’s Day Celebration and Advisor and House Board Appreciation Day was on the 13th. Education Chairman, Kennedy Fish, and Registrar, Nicole Rodgers, provided dinner, put together a presentation and a game that reviewed Eta Upsilon and Kappa Kappa Gamma’s history. At the end of the event, Kennedy presented gifts to the advisors and House Board. On the 22nd, we got into the Halloween spirit with our Field of Screams Date Party. The following weekend, we had a great time cheering for our sisters at Songfest on the 29th at the Orpheum Theatre. From October 30th through November 4th we hosted Merril Weber, Leadership Consultant, for a visit.

On November 3rd, we took our 2016 composite photos. On the 5th, we hosted Kappa Olympics at the Heskett Center. Eta Upsilon was able to raise over $700 and had more than 100 books donated. Beta Theta Pi serenaded our women to invite us to be Hippodrome partners on the 7th. On the 11th and 12th we initiated 29 members into the Eta Upsilon chapter. After Initiation, new active members and their families joined us for brunch at the RSC. Eta Upsilon celebrated its third birthday on November 16th. The following evening, we hosted our first Moms Christmas Decorating Party at the house and held our winter sisterhood on the 17th.. Event Chairman, Jillian Olmstead, put together the Game Night Mixer with Sigma Phi Epsilon on the 18th. On the 28th, Eta Upsilon elected the following members for the 2017 Chapter Council: President: Alyssa Rule, Vice President of Standards: Anne Perez, Vice President of Organization: Hallee Thompson, Vice President of Academic Excellence: Darah Witherspoon, Recording Secretary: Shari Riley, Corresponding Secretary: Mary Greenwood, Registrar: Holly Brown, Treasurer: Leah Ragan, Marshal: Caitlin Lee, Education Chairman: Hannah Tobias, House Chairman: Madison Jewell, Membership Chairman: Deisy Pamela Saenz, New Member Chairman: Kennedy Fish, Philanthropy Chairman: Kaylee Donohue, Panhellenic Delegate: McKenna Brieske, Public Relations Chairman: Jillian Olmstead, Risk Management Chairman: Emily Johnston, Event Chairman: Alison Roets. The 29th marked Panhellenic Council Elections and our own Erin Kirchoff was elected to be the 2017 President.

To end the 2016 fall semester, our last chapter meeting was on December 5th. On the 7th we had our Service Sisterhood, at Larksfield Assisted Living. At the sisterhood we played games and talked with the people at Larksfield. The 2016 Chapter Council wrapped up the year with its final meeting on December 11th. Panhellenic Council held its first annual Panhellenic Reception on December 16th.

[[File:Eta Upsilon house.png|thumb|Eta Upsilon Chapter House 2016]]

==Highlights of 2017==

On January 4th of 2017, Eta Upsilon started the year by having a joint chapter council meeting with the newly elected officers. This day we also held Leadership Day. Meetings offically began on the 23rd. During this week we began tabling for COB for the spring semester during Springfest.

In Feburary we held a "Kappa-cino" night on the 3rd for potential new members to learn about Kappa and get to know our members. On the 4th we took buses up to Kansas State University to meet up with our sister chapter to bond and share what our chapters do at our Universities. The 7th we held "Kappa Krush" making Valentine's Day cards and yet again allowing potential new members to learn about Kappa. Feburary 10th Sigma Psi Zeta came to our house to play games for a mixer. To celebrate academic achievements, the Panhellenic Council held Grade Awards on Feburary 13th. Ending COB tabling, we welcomed home our two new members on the 18th for the spring Bid Day.

Starting off the month of March, to help out our local philantrophy, we visited Oaklawn Elementary and read to kids for Dr. Suess Day on the 2nd. Our formal, the Final Rose was held on March 10th. On March 13th during our chapter meeting, the spring COB girls received their bigs. The week of the 27th-1st of March/April we had "I" week. During this time period we had pin box painting on the 28th, our sisterhood event on the 29th, FS on the 31st, and ended the week with Initiation on the 1st of April. Following initiation there was a brunch held with family and all members.

The month of April we had our Parent's Day on the 15th to bowl at the university and tour our house. There was the mixer with Lamda Chi on the 20th. That weekend a few selected officers, Hallee Thompson, Anne Perez, Kennedy Fish, Portia Montoy, and Emily Johnston, got the oppurtunity to go to Saint Louis for Leadership Training. Our graduating seniors had their send off on the the 26th with our sisterhood event following after. The 27th and 28th we held our annual food Philanthropy event, "Custard with Kappa". Through the days of our event we raised $1,350 for our philanthropies. The 29th of April we walked for the MDA foundation with the Panhellenic Council to honor one of our members, Becky Fulcher. That night a couple of our members performed in MGC's Stepshow.

During May, our final meeting was on the 1st. Eta Upsilon attended Leadership Awards on the 2nd. The current members living in the house moved out on the 31st.

On the 1st of June our new set of members moved into the house.

July 16th there was a PR Photoshoot to prepare for recruitment. The 28th of July there was an all Greek Volleyball Mixer, that was co-hosted with Delta Upsilon and Sigma Psi Zeta.

Starting off the new semester in August, Chapter Council had their first meeting on the 13th. Work Week for recruitment began the 14th and went through the 18th. The first meeting of the semester was on the 21st. On the 22nd , there was Meet the Greeks, that potential new members in PC and IFC attend to learn about the chapters.

During September we hosted Formal Recruitment the 7th through the 11th. Starting on the 12th we began with COB tabling. Formal Pledging took place on the 16th. One of our members, Holly Brown attended Kappa Leadership Academy as our representative, during the 14th through the 17th. On the 19th there was a mixer with Farm House. There then was Mud Events on the 23rd at Wichita State, in which Kappa took 2nd place in the volleyball tournament. Members had also participated in Watermelon Bust that is hosted by Lambda Chi Alpha. The month ended with COB Bid Day on the 30th.

To start off the month of October we held our overnight sisterhood on the 6th that lead into our Big/Little Reveal on the 7th. On the 12th Founder's Day and Advisor and House Board Appreciation took place at the house, with presentations over our Chapter's history. The 18th of October, girls went over to Sigma Alpha Epsilon for a pumpkin painting mixer. The week of the 23rd through the 28th there was Shocktoberfest in which Kappa participated in the Banner Competition, Wu's Birthday Bash, Hunger Games, 3 v. 3 Basketball, Trunk or Treat, Dine with the Deans, Big Pink Volleyball and Songfest. With the help of Emily Thon and Payton Calabria, Shocktoberfest and Songefest was well organized and allowed us to place in multiple events.

In November the week of the 6th through the 11th our "I" week took place. On the 7th there was a sisterhood in which we went ice skating. Initiation took place on the 11th with 26 members along with a member from Gamma Alpha be initiated as well. We celebrated Eta Upsilon's 4th birthday at Wichita State on the 16th. The 18th of November our chapter went to a local nursing home for Grandpals Day. During this month we had a Greek Spirit apparel sell in which we spent $941 and because we did so well this allowed us to receive a $50 check for our philanthropy. On the 27th Eta Upsilon elected the following members for the 2018 Chapter Council: President: Shari Riley, Vice President of Standards: Emily Johnston, Vice President of Organization: Brooke Arnold, Vice President of Academic Excellence: Emily Hennerberg, Recording Secretary: Katie Bennett , Corresponding Secretary: Kaylee Donoghue, Registrar: Sarah Brennan, Treasurer: Liz McGetrick, Marshal: Hannah Eddings, Education Chairman: Tori Jenner, House Chairman: Abbi Whisler, Membership Chairman: Leah Ragan, New Member Chairman: Kennedy Fish, Philanthropy Chairman: Emma Fowler, Panhellenic Delegate: Karson Younger, Public Relations Chairman: Clarissa Poulter, Risk Management Chairman: Jess Fowler, and Event Chairman: Caitlynn Waller.

December started with our Holiday Sisterhood on the 3rd. The first joint chapter council meeting took place on the 3rd as well. Our last final meeting took place on the 4th along with senior wills by 2017 fall graduate, Deisy Pamela Saenz. On the 8th we had our Date Party at Botanica Illuminations. The 15th of this month, we volunteered at Oaklawn Elementary. To end the year on the 16th , we held a fundraiser at Chipotle to raise money for our philanthropies.

Wichita State University is in a state of remodeling to create the Innovation Campus for students, faculty, and staff. This includes expanding the university on the former golf course that was located on the east side of the campus. It will include a new engineering building, business school, a hotel, new student housing, a law enforcement training building, and other future partnership buildings. Additionally, the Innovation Campus hopes to bring WSU students closer together.

Overall, the nature of Eta Upsilon can be described as a diverse and dynamic coalition of women who are ambitious in finding new ways to further improve and grow our chapter. The strong values and positive morals of our members has strengthened the bond and friendships within our chapter. We are eager to provide a helping hand in supporting not only other Greek chapters, but other organizations at WSU as we establish ourselves as the newest Panhellenic sorority on campus.

Eta Upsilon Chapter has traditionally raised money for our local philanthropy, the Fundamental Learning Center. Our chapter has donated hours to the Muscular Dystrophy Association as well as donating books and time to the children at Oaklawn Elementary School.

Our chapter chose to support the Fundamental Learning Center and volunteer our time at Oaklawn Elementary, because we wanted to continue to help and support children's education in our community. Fundamental Learning Center is a non-profit organization serving to assist children with reading and learning difficulties. Additionally, our chapter participates in the Muscular Dystrophy Association Walk to support one of our sisters and to become involved in raising awareness in Muscular Dystrophy.

Eta Upsilon holds chapter meetings in our chapter house that we spent the first offical full year in.

==HIghlights of 2018==

Leadership Day was held at the Kappa House on January 7th for outgoing and incoming officers as well as their advisors. On January 15th, Kappa had our first Chapter Council meeting of the year. The school year for Wichita State University started on January 16th and COB began. January 22nd was the first chapter meeting of the year. On January 23rd, Kappas spread the word about how awesome KKG is at Springfest; a tabling event on campus. On February 4th CC enjoyed our annual CC retreat and sisterhood, “throwback to being a kid.” February 6th and 8th we hosted two COB events; making tie blankets for the Wichita Children’s Home and created valentines for other PC, IFC, and MGC chapters on campus. On February 12th we celebrated our academic success at the panhellenic scholarship dinner. COB concluded on February 12th. On February 13th Kappa and Delta Delta Delta had a movie night mixer. February 17th was COB bid day and formal pledging where we welcomed home 5 new sisters. On February 22nd Kappa hosted recruitment counselor training. Kappas attended Greek Awards on February 26th. Kappa celebrated sisterhood on February 27th by bowling in the student center. Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa became besties at our trampoline park mixer on February 28th.

[[File:Eta Upsilon Chapter House.PNG|thumb|Eta Upsilon Chapter House]]

Kappas went to Oaklawn Elementary to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day on March 2nd. We read books to 4th and 5th grade students as well as played literacy games. We formed closer bonds with a sisterhood, Fro-Yoga on March 13th by attending a local yoga class and having an ice cream bar at the Kappa house. Spring new members were welcomed home to their new families at big/little reveal on March 26th. On April 2nd we had a greek sister bonding game night with Sigma Psi Zeta. April 6th we had a blast and danced the night away at a great “Dancing Under The Moonlight” themed formal. April 7th we went to a baseball game and had a barbecue for parent’s day. On April 8th-13th we hosted an awesome LC, Natalie. April 11th and 14th Kappa and Beta Theta Pi took home the winning prize at Hippodrome with their Toy Story inspired performance. April 16th-21st Kappa celebrated I-Week. On the 16th we had formal meeting with the pin returning ceremony; 17th we had a Dart Warz Sisterhood; 18th new members had pin box painting; the 20th we had our FS service; the 21st we formally welcomed 5 sisters home with Initiation and a brunch following. On April 22nd WSU hosted a sister sorority mixer with all PC and MGC sisters. April 26th and 27th Kappa raised $1,375 at our annual Custard with Kappa. On April 29th we had a PC mixer. On May 2nd we celebrated our seniors graduation with our Senior Send Off, we had eleven girls graduate. May 3rd was the last day of classes at WSU. On May 5th-10th Kappas finished up the year with finals week. On May 31st the live-ins moved out to prepare for 7 new live-ins. On the first day of June, our group of 7 live-ins moved into the Kappa house.

VPS, Emily Johnston, and Membership Chairman, Leah Ragan, attended Kappa Convention on June 20-24 in Denver, Colorado. July 30th-August 3rd we prepared for recruitment with work week and had a blast hosting LCs Hannah and Taylor. August 11th-15th we had our Formal Recruitment. The first day was a preparation night, followed by philanthropy night, values night, preference night, and finally Bid Day! We welcomed home 27 new members. We hosted Hannah, LC, again August 11th-17th. We had COB from August 16th-26th. August 18th we had Formal Pledging for our new members with a big/little mixer to follow. WSU classes started on August 20. On August 21st and 23rd we had two COB events; making tie blankets for the Wichita Children’s Home, and puppies and cupcakes. On August 29th Academic Excellence hosted a planner party sisterhood. Finally, we wrapped up August with COB Formal Pledging and Bid Day.

On September 13th-16th we sent Karson Younger, our Panhellenic Delegate, to Leadership Academy. On September 15th WSU hosted an IFC and PC block party. September 22nd new members went to laser tag for their new member retreat. On September 26th Kappas attended a PC presentation - “Why is Greek Life Relevant.” September 27th Kappas hung out with our pals - Sigma Phi Epsilon - at the bowling alley for a mixer. September 28th-29th we had an overnight sisterhood, “Kappa Adventure”, to get ready for big/little reveal on the 29th. September 30th-October 6th we had I-Week. October 1st was a formal meeting and pin returning ceremony. October 2nd was our Kona Ice Sisterhood. October 3rd new members had their pin box painting. October 5th we had our FS ceremony. October 6th we initiated 25 members and had brunch with new member’s parents. October 8th-11th was PC Circle of Sisterhood Week. On the 9th and 10th we tabled in the student center and hosted Lemonade for Literacy where our members passed out cups of lemonade to promote children’s literacy. On October 13th-16th we sent new initiates, Ellie St. Peter, Abbie Knoff, and Abby Hayes to Wichita State’s Greek Retreat. October 18th we support our local philanthropy, FLC, by helping with their annual fashion show. October 20th-27th WSU had our annual Shocktoberfest; where Kappa competed in the Pumpkin Run, Dodgeball, Big Pink Volleyball, Dine with the Deans, Wu’s Birthday Bash, and The Hunger Games. Shocktoberfest was concluded with the Songfest competition on the 27th. On October 20th Eta Upsilon was visited by an EME Trainer, Sue Skiffington-Blumberg. October 22nd we had our composite photoshoot. We had a pumpkin carving mixer with Delta Upsilon on October 28. Our 2019 slate was presented on the 29th.

Our 2019 slate is as follows: President, Leah Ragan, Vice President-Standards, Sarah Brennan, Vice President-Organization, Katie Bennett, Vice President-Academic Excellence, Hannah Eddings, Secretary, Sierra Proffer, Treasurer, Natalie Schrandt, Marshal, Jessica Fowler, Education, Emma Sanburn, House, Karina Thurnau, Membership, Karson Younger, New Member, Katrena Brown, Panhellenic Delegate, Abbygail Hayes, Philanthropy, Mandy Maness, Public Relations, Ellie Nightingale, Event, Laurel Wacker, and Risk Management, Nicole Picard. On November 2nd, we visited a local school, Oaklawn Elementary, to promote literacy with the 4th and 5th grade students. We enjoyed a fun sisterhood event at a corn maze on November 3rd. On November 5th we had our officer elections. November 7th PC hosted a PC mixer. And on November 8th we hosted a John King philanthropy concert and raised $750. Country recording artist, John King, came to Wichita State University to perform in a concert benefiting Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. On November 10th Kappa paired up for our “dynamic duo” date party. On November 12 we had a Thanksgiving Mixer with Farmhouse. On November 16th we celebrated Eta Upsilon’s 5th birthday, showed appreciation to our advisors, and decorated the house with members and their family members at our Eta Upsilon Extravaganza. On November 18th we had our first joint CC meeting. November 10th we had a barbecue dinner and a paper meeting sisterhood where we had members of our alumnae association teach us new songs. On November 25th-29th we hosted LC Sena and had a CC LC wrap-up on the 28th. On December 2nd was the last CC of the year. December 3rd we had our last meeting of the calendar year. December 8th-13th WSU had finals week and Kappas crushed all of their finals!

Eta Upsilon had its fifth birthday this year on November 16, we celebrated with our Eta Upsilon extravaganza. The chapter has continued to grow in numbers and sisterhood. Members agree that we have a welcoming and supportive chapter!

What organization does the chapter support? Fundamental Learning Center The FLC works with children with dyslexia and other reading disabilities. They also work with parents and teachers to train them to better work with children with such disabilities.

==Highlights of 2019==

In January, we started the year on the 20th with Leadership Day for Chapter Council 2019. Wichita State began classes on the 22nd. January 28th was our first weekly meeting of the semester and when our Nominating Committee Chair, Shari Riley was elected. January 28th also began our week of events for Continuous Open Bidding with our first event on the 30th, making taking blankets to donate to the Wichita Children's Home. January 31st was our second COB event where we made Valentine’s Day cards to send to other Greek chapters on campus.

February began with Emma Fowler, Leah Ragan, Kaylee Donohue, and Sarah Brennan presenting the Greek Award Chapter Presentation on the 2nd. February 4th the Panhellenic Council hosted a Scholarship Dinner where members with a 3.5 semester GPA for the 2018 school year were recognized. February 8th, we had a sleepover to get to know our COB members. February 9th was Formal Pledging and COB Bid Day. Our theme for Bid Day was "Camp Kappa" where we welcomed home six new members. Eta Upsilon hosted Leadership Consultant, Hannah Green February 11th-16. Standards hosted a self-defense class as a sisterhood on February 21st. February 24th we had our Chapter Council Retreat where we did team building activities and set our goals for the year. February 26th WSU PC had a speaker, Tina VanStennbergen.

We started the month of March off celebrating Dr. Susess Day at Oaklawn Elementary School on March 1st. We read Dr. Susess books, played games, and each student got to take home a book that we collected. March 4th was Greek Awards where our chapter was awarded gold level of Rhatigan Standards of Excellence. March 4th was also Eta Upsilon’s Behind Happy Faces EME training. March 10th-16th was Spring Break. After spring break, we had COB Big/Little reveal on March 18th. March 21st, we had a mixer with Sigma Phi Epsilon at the Trampoline Park. New Member Retreat playing laser tag was on March 23rd. March 24th was the start of I-Week. On March 26th we had a painting sisterhood. March 27th was New Member Pin Box Painting. March 29th was FS. We initiated six women on March 30th. Following Initiation, we had brunch. Newly initiated members invited their parents to help celebrate their initiation.

In April four Kappa's participated in Stroll Like an Alpha. The seniors had a senior sisterhood enjoying getting manicures on the 6th. April 6th was also Delta Gamma’s philanthropy event; Anchor Slash were a group of Kappa’s went and participated in their synchronized swimming event. April 10th, 11th, and 13th Kappa Kappa Gamma performed with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon for Hippodrome. Parent's Day was April 14th where we went to a Shocker Baseball game. April 16th Standards hosted a "get to know you" sisterhood. We played games to get to know our sisters and enjoyed face masks. Formal was on April 26th. April 27th, a group of Kappa's went to support the Shock the Yard Stepshow. April 28th, we had a Pre-recruitment Workshop where we prepared for Fall Formal Recruitment. April 29th started our week of events for our fall philanthropy, Custard with Kappa, were members of other Greek organizations found a Kappa and took a picture. They received points for posting this picture on social media. April 30th Kappa hosted trivia night with trivia centered around literacy.

May 1st was a fundraiser night at Slim Chickens, where we received a portion of sales from that night. Custard with Kappa was May 3rd and 4th. May 6th was our last meeting of the semester and Senior Send-off. May 10th VPAE hosted a Finals Study Day at the house where we had snacks and studied hard for our upcoming finals.

August started on the 6th with Work Week and Eta Upsilon hosted Leadership Consultant Kirsten Mintun. Work Week was full of activities and workshops to help get us prepared of recruitment. August 11th was our first night of recruitment, Philanthropy Night. August 12th was Values Night and the 13th was Preference Night. Bid Day was August 14th. Our theme for Bid Day was "Mission to Kappa" where we welcomed home 32 New Members. August 17th was Formal Pledging and the 19th was our first chapter meeting of the semester.

September started with a Taco truck sisterhood and COB Bid Day where we welcomed home one COB women. Beta Theta Pi and Kappa Kappa Gamma had a sand volleyball mixer on September 13th. Our Fall philanthropy event, Kappa-ture the Flag was on the 14th. The 21st of September was the New Member Retreat, our New Members had fun playing Minute to Win it Games. September 27th our New Member Chair hosted a sleepover before Big/Little Reveal on the 28th. September 29th was the start of I-Week and we welcomed Leadership Consultant, Bridget Ise. September 30th, we elected our Nominating Committee. Senior- Emma Fowler, Junior- Katie Bennett, Sophomore, Mary Kahre, Freshman- Jordan Beal, and At-Large- Abbi Whisler.

October 1st was an apple picking sisterhood. October 2nd New Members had Pin Box Painting. October 4th was FS. October 5th was initiation where we initiated 27 members. Following Initiation, we had a Brunch where Newly Initiated Members invited their parents to celebrate their initiation with them. October 21st was our composite photoshoot. October 25th was our Costume Date Party. October 26th Kappa participated in Songfest. On October 27th the Slate was presented.

The month of November started off with Officer Elections on the 4th. Our newly elected Chapter Council is as follows: President- Sierra Proffer, Vice President Standards- Katie Bennett, Vice President Organization- Aubrey Coleman, Vice President Academic Excellence- Nicole Picard, Secretary- Michaela Brooks, Treasurer- Kari Coster, Marshal- Kendyl Zorn, Education- Amy Kuhn, Event- Karina Thurnau, House- Dani Berk, Membership- Ellie Nightingale, New Member- Abby Hayes, Panhellenic Delegate- Jordan Beal, Philanthropy- Karina Brandt, Public Relations- Taniece Cao, and Risk Management- Robyn Zebedee. November 7th Eta Upsilon celebrated Founder's Day. November 9th ten of our members went to a local nursing home to play games with the residents. November 13th the Minnie Stewart Van visited Eta Upsilon. Standards hosted a bowling sisterhood on November 14th. November 16th was a Holiday Decorating Party to decorate our house for Christmas. November 17th was Leadership Day for the 2020 Chapter Council where we hosted EME Trainer, Elaine Hanner who gave us advice on leadership and teamwork. November 22nd was our second Fall Philanthropy event, Greeksgiving in partnership with Panhellenic Council. Donations from Greeksgiving went to the Multicultural Greek Council Quad.

December 2nd was our last chapter meeting of the semester. Standards hosted an ice-skating sisterhood on December 3rd. December 4th Kappa had a fun mixer with Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Overall, the nature of Eta Upsilon can be described as a diverse and determined group of women who are continuing to find ways to better our chapter. Our chapter has grown immensely, making many new friendships which has strengthened our bond as an overall chapter. We are continually looking for ways to improve our relationship with Panhellenic Council and other Greek chapters on campus

Traditionally, Eta Upsilon has raised money for our local philanthropy, the Fundamental Learning Center. As well as supporting the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Our chapter as donated books and time to the children at Oaklawn Elementary School. Eta Upsilon chose to support the Fundamental Learning Center and volunteering our time at Oaklawn Elementary, because we want to support children's literacy education in our community. The Fundamental Learning Center is a non-profit organization that educates children with reading and learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Eta Upsilon celebrated Founder's Day on November 7th at the John Bardo Center on Wichita State's campus. We had a light dinner and desserts followed by the ceremony for our Founders. The seniors in our chapter read the ceremony. Alumnae, Jen Nolte, Chelsea Dyer, and Stephanie Frey spoke to our active members about their time in Kappa and how the sisterhood has impacted their lives. As part of Jen's speech about leaving a legacy in Kappa, each active member decorated a rock with their name, pledge class, and their position (if they had one).

Eta Upsilon has begun celebrating Kappa's 150th anniversary by participating in the Minnie Stewart Van that visited our chapter. Members of Eta Upsilon are also applying for scholarships given out by Kappa to celebrate our 150th anniversary.

==Highlights of 2020==

On January 21st, Wichita State University began classes for the Spring semester. The first chapter council of the year was on January 26th.

February 8th we welcomed home 1 new sister with COB Bid Day and Formal Pledging. On February 11th we had a Galentine’s Day themed sisterhood where we decorated Valetine’s day cards for all of our sisters and played bonding games. Kappas read Dr. Seuss books and did activities with children at Oaklawn Elementary School on March 6th for Dr. Seuss Day. On March 11th we had a sisterhood at Dave and Busters.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, WSU suspended in-person classes March 16th-20th and that was followed by spring break. WSU resumed classes online on March 30th. Our new member found her big through a TikTok on April 24th when we had a Big/Little Reveal. On May 6th our new members was initiated virtually utilizing a all in one ceremony. May 7th was the last day of spring classes and Kappas finished the semester strong with finals May 9th-14th.

July 15th we held a virtual pre-recruitment workshop. August 3rd-8th Kappas prepared for recruitment virtually during workweek. August 9th-12th virtual Formal Recruitment took place. We welcomed home 25 new sisters with Bid Day on August 12th. Our Bid Day theme was Barbie and we used a Kappa convertible to deliver Bid Day goodies to all of our new members. Formal pledging took place in person in small pods on August 15th.

On August 16th Chapter Council had their first meeting of the fall semester. The first virtual chapter meeting was on August 17th. We utilized zoom for all of our chapter meetings for the fall semester. Fall classes also began on August 17th. September 26th the new members had a virtual New Member Retreat. On October 2nd all of our new members found their families with Big/Little Reveal held on Zoom. October 5th – 10th was I-week. On October 5th we held the Pin Returning Ceremony. On October 6th we held a virtual sisterhood on zoom where we created Kappa memory boards. Virtual Initiation took place on October 10th. Our Stuff the Truck for Literacy Philanthropy event took place on October 10th and 11th where Kappas collected snacks and children’s books at Sam’s and delivered them to local elementary schools.

Founder’s Day was celebrated on October 12th with a virtual ceremony that included facts and pictures of our founder’s as well as the “which founder are you” buzzfeed quiz. On October 19th we had a Kappa Foundation programming night. On October 23rd our sisters were able to get together for the first time in person since March with a sisterhood event where they ate s’mores, played yard games, and painted pumpkins.

On November 2nd we had chapter elections. Our 2021 officers are as follows; President – Lexi Campbell, VPS – Karina Brandt, VPO – Cydnee Durk, VPAE – Kari Coster, Secretary – Shelbi Proffer, Treasurer – Shay Weigel, Marshal – Aubrey Coleman, Education – Abby Hayes, Event – Cailey Holladay, House – Hannah Chandler, Membership – Bekah Dutton, New Member – Berkley Campbell, Philanthroy – Jacklyn Brokaw, Panhellenic – Keely Orr, PR – Eliza Grady, and Risk Management – Toni Jenner. November 8th was the first joint Chapter Council meeting. Leadership day was on November 15th. The last chapter meeting of the semester was on November 16th due to an extended Thanksgiving holiday and classes moving remotely after break. The last day of fall classes was December 3rd. December 5th – 10th Kappas finished off the school year will finals.

Eta Upsilon supports the Fundamental Learning Center. The Fundamental Learning Center works with children with dyslexia and other reading disabilities. They also work with parents and teachers to train them to be able to better work with children with such disabilities.

==HIghlights of 2021==
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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Tau

2021-12-22T19:10:29Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Tau
|Image= [[File:Georgetown.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2013|10|26}}
|College= [https://www.georgetown.edu/ Chapman University]
|Location= Washington, D.C.
|Homepage= [https://georgetown.kappa.org/ Eta Tau Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Tau Media related to Eta Tau Chapter]}}

'''Georgetown University Founded: 1789'''

'''Chapter installed: October 26, 2013'''

'''Number of colonizing new members: 24'''
'''Number of charter members: 24'''

'''227 initiates as of (June 2018)'''

-----------------------
Some of Eta Tau’s Outstanding Members:
Fraternity Officers:

Fraternity Loyalty Award:

Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:

----------------------------------------

==History of the University==

Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning in the United States. John Carroll’s founding of Georgetown College coincides with the birth of the U.S. In 1789, Carroll secured the deed to 60 acres of land on a hilltop overlooking the village of Georgetown. Classes began in 1792. Within the first year, attendance grew to more than 40 students from as far away as the West Indies. In 1817, the school awarded its first two bachelor’s degrees.

The Civil War (1861-1865) nearly closed Georgetown, as the student body dropped from 313 to 17 between 1859 and 1861. A total of 1,141 students and alumni enlisted in the war, serving in both the Union and Confederate forces. After the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in 1862, several campus buildings were turned into a temporary hospital. To celebrate the end of the Civil War, Georgetown students selected the colors blue (Union) and gray (Confederate) as the school’s official colors in 1876.

Georgetown established the School of Medicine in 1851 and the Law School in 1870. Patrick F. Healy, S.J., the university’s president between 1873 and 1882, was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. and the first to head a major U.S. university. The university’s expansion continued into the 20th century with the opening of the School of Dentistry in 1901, School of Nursing in 1903 and the School of Foreign Service in 1919.

By 1930, enrollment reached 2,600. However, the Great Depression was a period of great consolidation for Georgetown as enrollment fell to fewer than 2,000 students. During World War II, the U.S. War Department designated Georgetown as one of a select number of universities to house the Army Specialized Training Program. More than 75 percent of students enrolled in the 1943-44 academic year were military servicemen. During the 1944-45 academic year, women were allowed to enroll in the School of Foreign Service.
The years after World War II saw another increase in enrollment and expansion of the university. Georgetown created the School of Business Administration and the School for Summer and Continuing Education in the 1950s.
Across the nation, the 1960s were shaped by the emergence of revolutionary ideas and social upheaval. Georgetown students were on campus when the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy took place. The women’s movement began to take hold, and women were accepted to the College for the first time in 1969.

Students demonstrated against the Vietnam War in the 1970s, causing some disruptions to classes and campus life. By the end of the decade, most of the anger and discontent had been redirected into positive social action. The 1980s were a time of tremendous growth on campus. During the university’s bicentennial year (1988-89), U.S. President Ronald Reagan provided the opening address to kick off the yearlong celebration, the culmination of which included a reunion ball with more than 3,500 guests at D.C.’s Union Station. The 1980s also began a golden age in two traditional sports at Georgetown. Under coaches John Thompson, Jr., and Frank Gagliano, basketball and track, respectively, enjoyed unprecedented periods of success from the early 1980s well into the 1990s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Georgetown saw significant increases in the diversity of its students and faculty as it grew from a regional school to one of national prominence. Women also greatly increased their numbers within the faculty during the nineties, making up nearly 40 percent by 2001. In 2001, John J. DeGioia, Ph.D., became Georgetown’s 48th, and first lay, president.

Georgetown has grown to be a major international research university with eight schools, an affiliated hospital and many highly ranked academic programs. Today the university has more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students who take classes at five locations: Main Campus, Medical Center, Law Center, GU-Northern Virginia and the university’s School of Foreign Service-Qatar. Georgetown has a large and diverse workforce that employs more than 5,000 faculty and staff members.

==Kappa Presentation==

Presentation: Kappa Kappa Gamma is the first NPC group to install and have a chapter at Georgetown. Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College, received email communication on May 3, 2013, from Georgetown students Carrie Cosgrove, Katherine Steininger and Bayla Pidgeon stating an interested group of women were vested in bringing a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma to Georgetown. Prior to the Fraternity learning of this interest group’s intent, these women had reached out to the proper authority from National Panhellenic Conference and the Georgetown Student Affairs Office and received permission to contact Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On July 1, 2013, Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity was in receipt of a petition that a charter be granted to an interest group of unaffiliated students at Georgetown. On July 11, 2013, the Fraternity Council, Region 2 directors and Lambda Province directors unanimously voted in favor to approve the petition that a charter be granted to the interest group of unaffiliated students at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Date the invitation to colonize was received: July 1, 2013 (First email contact was May 3, 2013.)
Date of the Fraternity Council vote to accept the invitation and proceed to colonize and establish a chapter: July 11, 2013

==Colonization:==
The chapter was colonized from a petition received from an interest group of unaffiliated Georgetown women students. Individual prospective member “Kappa Conversations” or interviews took place on August 31. This team was led by Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse, with the help of Chapter Consultant Rebecca Shaw, Virginia Tech; Coordinator of Chapter Development Cori Egnew Woods, Richmond; Washington, D.C. - Suburban Maryland Alumnae Association President ViVi Tran, Central Florida; Gamma Chi Chapter Council Adviser Lee Bobbitt, Texas Tech; Diana Gale, North Carolina; Jen Stolp, UC Davis; Lambda East Province Director Libby Weith, Furman; Lambda Province Director of Alumnae Hilda Crucett Garrett, William & Mary; Lambda Coordinator of Chapter Support Adrienne Taylor Magnuson, West Virginia; members of Gamma Chi Chapter at George Washington University and Headquarters staff implemented this colonization plan specific to the needs of the first NPC sorority at Georgetown. Invitations to membership were extended and returned by 3 p.m. on August 31.
Formal Pledging took place the afternoon of September 1 on the Georgetown campus led by Barb Goettelman. Bid Day activities, games and fun followed by a reception with desserts from Georgetown Cupcake planned by Cori Woods and Rebecca Shaw.

The sponsor chapter for Eta Tau is Gamma Chi at George Washington University. Gamma Chi members attended both Formal Pledging and interview day on August 31 and played an instrumental and important an important part in Installation Weekend which took place October 25 and 26.

==Installation:==
The Fireside Service and Installation Service were held at the Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center with members of Gamma Chi serving as the sponsoring chapter. The weekend was led by Fraternity President Julie Leshay; Director of Membership Susan Pile, Miami (Ohio); Fraternity Ritual Chairman Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State; Barb Goettelman; Installation Chairman Vicki Tallman Egnew, Ohio State; Region 2 Director of Chapters Lesley Dillon Lage, Akron; Region 2 Director of Alumnae Selena Staley Myers, Akron; Hilda Garrett; Libby Weith; Rebecca Shaw; and Cori Woods.

A beautiful installation brunch was held at the Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center. Barb Goettelman was the toastmistress. Fraternity President Julie Leshay welcomed Kappa to the campus and spoke about how the Fraternity fits into Georgetown’s campus life.

ViVi Tran presented the President’s badge to Eta Tau president Jessica Michael at the brunch.
The model chapter meeting followed at the Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center with Fraternity President Julie Leshay presiding. Following her installation as Eta Tau’s president, Jessica Michael presided and closed the meeting.

Alumna’s thoughts about being a part of the new Eta Tau Chapter: Rebecca Shaw knew how special the weekend was for the charter members of Eta Tau. “I could see how each of the 24 women was hanging on to every word. It was a proud moment to see how much they wanted this membership in Kappa and just how appreciative they were.”
Charter members’ thoughts about becoming Kappas: On June 21, 2013, Carrie Cosgrove shared: Our first vision is creating an opportunity unique to Georgetown’s campus which is bringing together girls with different interests and views. Georgetown’s student life is group-centric in the sense that students tend to meet and befriend only those classmates who share a common interest or view, e.g. soccer, international relations, political parties and so on. This can be a wonderful opportunity to meet others who share a particular interest as you, but we have few-to-no options for girls to be brought together from all different branches of interests. We see Kappa as a way to bring together the women’s community of Georgetown in a way that doesn’t exist currently.

Secondly, we want to make sisterhood the most integral part of our future chapter. We want our sisters to be there for one another in every way possible, so we hope to implement academic and social support. The stress of Georgetown can bear down on anyone at any moment, and there is nothing better than having someone right there willing to help. Whether it would be tutoring in a specific subject, designated Kappa quiet study space during midterms and finals or emotional support from another sister, we see all of these possibilities and necessities in such a rigorous university. Also falling under our sisterhood importance, we would like Kappa to help younger students in their transition to Georgetown and college life. There are innumerable times that freshman and sophomores seek guidance from an older student, and we hope that our Kappa girls have the smoothest transition possible due to the advice and support of the older sisters and, in the future, Kappa alumnae. We desire to create true, loving bonds of friendship in Kappa.

==Highlights of 2013==

This past year has been full of new experiences as the charter class at Georgetown University. Our instillation date on October 26th officially brought us together as sisters with the help of fraternity president Julie Leshay, our chapter adviser Rebecca Shaw, and our sisters from George Washington University. Our class spent many hours laughing over painting crafts and monthly dinners in our dining hall during our new member period. For Thanksgiving, we had a potluck dinner, which we hope can become a tradition. In celebration of a great first semester as Kappas; we enjoyed an off-campus holiday dinner together. At the year-end dinner we exchanged “Secret Sister” gifts, which we hope, will become an Eta Tau tradition. We are excited to see what this new year will bring.

As the first sorority on Georgetown’s campus, we are excited to be setting a new precedence. We spent the last few months getting to know each other and getting to know Kappa. We are excited to continue to learn about Kappa Kappa Gamma’s values and are so thankful for the support we have received from our many sisters working in the greater Washington D.C. area. We are a loyal, committed, and enthusiastic founding chapter, and we are excited to welcome a new group of women this spring.

==Highlights of 2014==

We began the year welcoming 47 new members into the Beta pledge class. Bid Day occurred on Feb. 2nd and was an exciting afternoon filled with laughter, smiles, and picture taking. Then we had big little reveal on Feb 27th, which was one of the most fun evenings of last year! Next, we had our philanthropy event for the semester. We went to a local elementary school in DC where we read to kids and donated books to their school. It was inspiring to see so many Kappas passionate about helping Reading is Fundamental. Then we had our spring formal, which was a blast! Next was initiation, a special time for everyone as the Beta class officially joined the family. Over the summer, we sent five girls to represent Eta Tau and the Kappa Convention in Houston, Texas. The girls learned so much about their respective positions and how to benefit the chapter as a whole. Beginning the next semester, we went to the Founders Day event that the local DC Kappa Alumni group hosted. It was so amazing to see how ladies are so passionate about Kappa even beyond their college years. Then we had our winter formal in December and it was a wonderful evening full of sisterhood and friends.

Now for our chapter goals. We first off wanted to improve knowledge of ritual across the entire chapter. We worked on this goal by our Marshal having office hours where she let people learn more about it and answered any questions members might have had. We also wanted to improve sisterhood within the chapter. We worked on this goal by increasing the number of sisterhood events per month and thinking of creative of fun activities to do as a whole chapter. For example, our VPS scheduled a Kappa Halloween pumpkin carving activity one night in October that all of our sisters loved!

We recently gained more rights as a non recognized student group on campus. For instance, we now have the ability to table at more places on campus and rent out rooms. We owe this progress to the student government here at Georgetown. Another change that occurred this past year was a big one: the addition of another Panhellinc sorority here on campus, Kappa Alpha Theta. With this addition we expanded greek life and welcomed new friends into our lives. This makes two Panhellenic sororities here at Georgetown now. The establishment of Theta also led to the beginnings of the formation of a Panhellenic Council later in the year. We elected two members from our Chapter to represent Kappa on the council. Our chapter consists of over a 100 passionate girls that form a powerful presence of campus by having high standards of academic excellence and crazy, fun sisterhood events that bring us closer to our sisters each day. I know that each and everyone of my sisters would say that joining Kappa has been one of there best choices of their college life.

We hold chapter meetings in a University classroom on campus that we reserve each week. We do not have a house.

==Highlights of 2015==

2015 has been huge for Eta Tau! In this past year we saw the addition of two new pledge classes, the Gammas and the Deltas, adding lovely new sisters to our growing chapter. We were so excited to expand our chapter and its crazy to see how much we have grown in just two short years. We now have over 130 members.

We started out 2015 with recruitment in January, which went great! We especially enjoyed the help of our LC SE. She went own to visit us multiple times including initiation to help us set up a perfect welcome to our new members. In February we hosted a casino night philanthropy event that was a huge success, thanks to our philanthropy chair of the time, Tiana Chan! Now it was time for initiation, which went was a wonderful time filled with kappa ritual and sisterhood bonding, all thanks to our marshal, Charlotte Kirks.

Next we had our spring formal in April where Cara and Nina worked extremely hard to put on a fun night for everyone! When we came back to school in late august we went straight into recruitment workshops and then recruitment itself. It was a huge success as we came out with 30 new delta class members. Hannah Smith did a wonderful job with recruitment and Jaclyn successfully led the new members into the new member period by planning an awesome bid day and big little reveal. We then had semi formal for the first time in October, which not surprising was another fun night full of sisterhood and dancing! Then came initiation again, and then the nominating committee began the elections process. We are so excited for our new officers and know that they will do amazing things for this chapter! We ended the year by having our winter formal in December at a nightclub in Dupont Circle, which was amazing as always. Now finals are coming up as 2015 comes to a close, we cant wait to see how our chapter grows in 2016!

Georgetown Panhellenic changed the times of recruitment from Spring to Fall. So this year was our first fall recruitment cycle and it went perfectly! We gained a wonderful new delta pledge class of about 30 girls.
We also received a Kappa transfer from Wake Forest, Emily Cahill. We are so excited to welcome her into our chapter and have her join our sisterhood.

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? We organized our first annual Kappa Karnival last spring to benefit the DC Women’s Rape Crisis Center where we raised more than 1000 dollars for them. We decided to make this our signature philanthropy event and will be doing it every spring.

==Highlight 2016==

This year, at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention, the Eta Tau chapter was award the Recruitment Award for chapters at colleges and universities with less than 6 chapters. Additionally, the chapter received Honorable Mention for the Gracious Living Award for unhoused Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters.

In the fall, over half of the active members received one of these academic distinctions - and we also celebrated the fact that Kappa was #1 sorority on campus for academics, with an average GPA of 3.574 for the Spring 2016 semester. Throughout each semester, we also booked group study rooms in the library, providing a great place for members of the chapter to study together. Finally, we hosted a number of study breaks throughout the two semesters, encouraging sisters to take a little time off from studying for midterms or finals to spend time with sisters and receive appreciative small gifts (food, mugs, etc.) from the chapter.

Over the course of the past year, the Eta Tau chapter has has engaged in a number of philanthropic engagements, independently and in partnership with other Greek and student organizations.

Eta Tau has continued its commitment to volunteering for Reading is Fundamental, the fratenity's philanthropy. This fall, Eta Tau went to Beer's elementary school in DC to read to children for the afternoon, and to donate a number of books to the public elementary school.

Eta Tau hosts an annual Kappa Karnival as its signature philanthrophy event. This April, our chapter hosted our Carnival to benefit the Dog Tag Bakery, a philanthrophic bakery that trains, educates, and employs veterans and their caregivers. Additionally, in the spring semster, members of Eta Tau chapter participated in a Georgetown neighborhood cleanup to promote the chapter and greek life's positive impact in the community. In late April, the chapter participated in Georgetown University's Relay for Life fundraiser; Kappa Kappa Gamma was one of the top five fundraising group participants in the fundraiser.

This fall, Eta Tau hosted a charity yoga event in partnership with Georgetown University's Relay for Life student organization at Down Dog, a local Georgetown yoga studio. Eta Tau worked in partnership with DC Reads, a student organization working to provide mentorship and tutoring to underprivileged children in the DC metropolian area to run a face-painting booth at the organization's "Fall Fest".
In the fall semster, Eta Tau chapter maintained its efforts to engage in philanthropic partnerships with Greek organizations on campus. Most notably, Eta Tau sustained its commitment to philanthropic involvement with Georgetown University's Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter. In October, Eta Tau ran a bake sale station at Sigma Phi Epsilon's Halloween 5K, benefitting the Doorways Foundation, an organization providing protection to survivors of domestic violence. In November, our chapter paired with Sigma Phi Epsilon to donate sandwich meals to a local food bank.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support? We believe that it represents an important cause to benefit given the current political and social climate in colleges across the nation. Also our philanthropy chair sent out a poll asking which place chapter members wanted to benefit and the most people said the DC Women’s Rape Crisis Center.

== Highlights of 2017 ==

For Eta Tau, 2017 was an exciting year: old traditions were celebrated, new traditions were initiated, and our sisterhood continues to strengthen. Chapter Council 2017 approached this year with fresh, exciting ideas, and it has been wonderful seeing these new traditions brought to fruition.

[[File:Eta Tau 3.jpg|thumb|Eta Tau chapter members.]]

Throughout the year, we participated in and held several events that have focused on improving our chapter’s commitment to philanthropy, academic excellence, Panhellenic relations, and member development through sisterhood. To name a few, we hosted a Galentine’s Day sisterhood event, celebrated academic excellence with new professional development initiatives and two Academic Excellence Banquets, professional headshots, a trip to the movies, monthly book club meetings, several study breaks, a Dinner with Seven Sisters event, a women’s workwear workshop, our first chapter RIF event, a sisterhood pumpkin painting night, participated in other organizations’ philanthropy events, hosted our first annual Family Weekend Brunch, and so much more. To strengthen Panhellenic relations, Panhellenic planned the first ever meet-and-greet for our Chapter Council and Kappa Alpha Theta’s executive board, two Panhellenic pizza parties, Panhellenic office hours, and various other opportunities for members of both Panhellenic chapters to mingle and learn more about Panhellenic.

[[File:Eta Tau.jpg|thumb|Eta Tau celebrates Galentine's Day.]]

This April, some of our Chapter Council officers traveled to Pittsburgh for the very first Kappa Leadership Conference. These officers brought back with them new ideas that they immediately began implementing in our chapter to promote leadership and membership development. Additionally, we welcomed two Leadership Consultants, who each served as valuable resources for our chapter. With their guidance, we began new initiatives to enhance our chapter’s understanding of Fraternity Ritual – several ritual reviews, the Marshal Minute, and several forms of trivia regarding Fraternity history and ritual.

With our many successes, we certainly had our fair share of challenges this year, specifically with regards to budgeting. Unfortunately, we had fewer funds than we originally anticipated at the start of the fall semester, resulting in budget cuts. Despite this challenge, our Chapter Council, specifically our Treasurer and Assistant Treasurers, worked diligently to collaborate and find innovative ways to continue having fun events with fewer funds. This challenge in particular encouraged our Chapter Council to be as transparent as possible with Chapter members regarding Chapter finances. Additionally, with several pervasive issues surrounding our nation today, regarding feminism, diversity, and inclusivity, our Chapter has worked to address these issues and ensure that Kappa is a safe space where each member feels her voice is heard – specifically, through addressing all concerns brought through the anonymous Standards and Chapter Council forms, creating discussions surrounding women in the workplace and chapter issues, discussing ways we can introduce more inclusive language day to day, and feminist role model presentations.

In April, we said goodbye to 37 extraordinary seniors who created a lasting impact in our chapter. Through Fall Recruitment, we welcomed 34 incredible women into our chapter. They are dynamic, diverse, and wonderful young women who we are proud to welcome into our sisterhood. We are incredibly excited to see the impact they make in our chapter’s future.

With 2017 coming to a close, it has been remarkable to reflect on this year and see our chapter’s efforts to continue being a steadfast home to each and every member in our chapter. We are hopeful and excited that 2018 will be a year full of even more innovation in our chapter, with an unwavering commitment to Kappa Kappa Gamma’s ideals and values.

In 2017, Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Tau has continued to develop through a variety of opportunities both on and off campus and seeks to make the chapter increasingly more inclusive.

Chapter Council altered their style of discussion to a more discussion-based platform which allows for increased dialogue regarding the challenges that our chapter faces most often. Our leadership is ultimately working toward a more collaborative environment to become more socio-economically accessible to all and retain more members long-term. These efforts hope to create a more cohesive chapter in the overall.

Eta Tau has implemented a lot of organizational changes aimed at creating a more efficient chapter. Our total shift to the GIN system is almost complete; we have successfully uploaded all documents, forms, and calendars to that system. Our last remaining step is to send all chapter correspondence out using the GIN interface, which should be complete by the end of this academic year. The usage of committees has also been improved; new members have been assigned to committees and committee heads have been working to better communication with their committee members, as well as better utilize the resources they provide. We have also implemented a new "committee recap" system in chapter, where one member of each committee stands up in chapter to recap what has been discussed in their meeting. This practice aims to increase regular chapter member participation. By the end of this academic year, we aim to implement positions within each committee to assign tasks and responsibilities to better engage chapter members with leadership roles. All these efforts to increase chapter participation aim to culminate in a greater effort on the part of the chapter to get to know our next LC.

In the fall, over half of our active members received an academic distinction. We also celebrated Eta Tau's average GPA of a 3.578. Throughout each semester, we provided chapter members with a number of opportunities to excel academically and professional. We booked private study rooms in the library for Kappa use only, debuted a number of initiatives, such as the Study Abroad Spreadsheet, Major Buddies, Senior Coffee Chats, and KKG Alumni Network, and hosted a number of study breaks for members.

Furthermore, this year our chapter continued to work towards the preservation of ritual and history despite our relatively new establishment. After our Registrar and Marshal reorganized and took inventory of our off-campus storage unit, we were able to purchase new white ropes for our 34 initiates to use at our recent initiation on November 11. This was by far our most successful and efficient initiation to date with every member of the Zeta pledge class being initiated together. Three new members' moms were able to attend Fireside and Initiation: Francesca Kehoe, Lindsey Schneider, and Peyton Shelburne. Out of 34 new members, 28 ordered fraternity badges. Additionally, we now have a t-shirt blanket to use at recruitment that depicts the variety of events that our chapter has held over the past 4 years.

[[File:EtaTau2.jpg|thumb|Eta Tau at big-little reveal.]]

In addition to welcoming 34 new members into our chapter this fall, Eta Tau has continued to make strides with our public relations. This year public relations has increased dramatically as we continue to build a positive relationship with the university administration. We have worked to ensure this by creating an online store to give members access to merchandise to represent our chapter on campus, designing and purchasing a banner to put up during all Kappa Kappa Gamma events, purchasing a camera for the chapter's use to increase the photos that our chapter has, and increasing the understanding across the chapter of the importance of positive imaging online and across campus. Finally, we will be holding a hot chocolate event for all students during finals week as a stress reliever and to exhibit the positivity that Kappa Kappa Gamma brings to Georgetown's campus.

The Education Chair and programming committee have also become a larger, more dynamic presence in our chapter. Every month there has been at least one programming night per month where we incorporate Georgetown's motto of cura personalis, or care of the whole person, into our programming events. For example, we've had personal gender based violence presentations, discussions about sexual assault, SoulCycle classes, documentary screenings, improv troupes leading us in team bonding exercises, and wellness workshops in order to try and foster a sense of holistic well-being amongst our sisters. We have laughed, bonded, and learned the value of balance through these monthly events.

In terms of senior programming, we've placed a large emphasis on senior sisterhood with manicure events and self-defense workshops, as well as a bonding-based senior orientation. We have also continued doing senior wills, senior gifts, family letters, and a then-and-now style slideshow, to celebrate our graduating sisters. Additionally, we've celebrated Founders Day in a meaningful way; we've partnered with surrounding alumna associations to commemorate our founders with a chapter-wide dinner, presentations on the six founders accompanied by trivia and giveaways, and a thoughtful ceremony. We continued the tradition of doing Founders Day awards, where we celebrate the traits of our 6 founders and present the women in our chapter who also possess those traits with commemorative posters.

Outside of chapter and senior programming, the committee has continued to have a positive impact on our chapter's culture. We have started a monthly book klub, Wellness-Wednesdays, our first annual Family Weekend Open House at the local coffee shop, our First Annual Secret Snowflake gift giving event, feminist role model presentations during elections, and more. By starting all of these new sisterhood- and empowerment- focused events, the education chair and programming committee have certainly increased their presence in Eta Tau.

Overall, we look forward to the positive impacts that 2018 Chapter Council and all members will make to continue this progress next year.

During this past year, Eta Tau has engaged in philanthropy and service for others in a variety of ways both on and off campus. In addition to each member completing service hours that often included unique and interesting clubs outside of our chapter, we have collectively partnered with other Greek and non-Greek organizations, raised awareness about important causes, and donated money through fundraising efforts.

In the spring of 2017, we focused primarily on Kappa Karnival which took place in April. For our annual Kappa Karnival on April 1st, we secured a co-sponsorship with Georgetown University Hawaii Club and donated all of the proceeds to Kahumana, a non-profit in Oahu whose mission is to co-create a healthy, inclusive, and productive, farm-based community with homeless families, people with disabilities, and children. We raised and donated $2000 to Kahumana. The event itself was a huge success, as we had the biggest turnout of any of our Karnivals to date, with participation from all of Georgetown's Greek organizations as well.

In the fall of 2017, we spent most of our energy aiding Reading is Fundamental. We raised about $800 dollars to go to the national RIF organization through our Family Weekend Brunch in addition to hosting a book drive that received about 250 books that will be going to DC Preparatory School. We crafted bookmarks in both the spring and the fall which will be going to DC Prep as well. Eta Tau also hosted a Reading is Fundamental station at the Center for Social Justice’s Fall Fest where the entire chapter came to do Mad-Libs, read fortunes, and play basketball with elementary school children in the CSJ’s tutoring programs.

Eta Tau has also been a helping hand to other organizations on campus this year. We purchased 50 books for the Center for Social Justice last spring to help them finish their book wish list for tutors to read with students. Our chapter members signed up to run Sigma Phi Epsilon’s annual Halloween 5k in which all the proceeds go to Doorways for Women and Children, an organization that provides protection to survivors of domestic violence. We also hosted a bake sale at the 5k. Additionally, we participated in Delta Phi Epsilon’s collection of pads for the homeless. Our chapter collected a total of 45 boxes of pads that went to N Street Village, a Washington D.C. shelter that aims to empower homeless and low-income women.

Our chapter has engaged with other off-campus organizations by raising $1040 for a young Zambian girl named Advent through Save the Children in the spring. We collected food donations for Washington D.C. Capital Food Bank this Thanksgiving season. We collected a total of 113 boxes and cans of goods for the food bank. We have also planned to sponsor nine children from the Georgetown School of Nursing Angel Tree to buy them presents for the upcoming holiday season.

Finally, we engaged with our local chapter of Relay for Life. Georgetown's Relay for Life, which was held on April 21st and raised over $100,000, $9,824 of which was raised by our Eta Tau team. At the event, many women from our chapter painted faces, participated in the Luminaria Ceremony, and cheered on one of our own in the Survivors Lap. This fall, our team has already raised $605 for the 2018 Relay for Life event.

Eta Tau looked both close to and far from home this year when selecting organizations to support. While we hold our commitment to RIF, Relay for Life, and other Greek organizations constant year to year, Kahumana, Georgetown's Center for Social Justice, Save the Children, Washington D.C. Capital Food Bank, and the upcoming Angel Tree were suggested to the chapter by our very own sisters. Working with organizations close to the hearts of our members is a phenomemenal way to keep them involved in our philanthrophic pursuits.

==Highlights of 2018==

[[File:EtaTau2018.jpg|thumb|Eta Tau in 2018.]]

Eta Tau proudly completed its first COB in the spring of 2018 and welcomed 15 new members. These women are some of the most involved and dedicated in our chapter, and they are incredibly special to us as our first COB class.

The President, Marshal and Membership chair traveled to Denver to celebrate Kappa Convention, where our chapter won the Best Recruitment Award and an Honorable Mention for standards.

In the fall, our chapter celebrated its 5th birthday, and we welcomed 28 new girls in our Eta class. We increased our philanthropy efforts exponentially by volunteering weekly at a bilingual preschool in DC and reading to the students there.

Despite efforts by the university to suppress Greek life, membership numbers are growing and chapters are gaining public recognition from other on campus groups. The chapter has a high morale at the moment and is excited to welcome back 20+ girls who were studying abroad during the fall semester.

''''''Highlights of 2019''''''

This year Eta Tau chapter was driven philanthropic and full of fun sisterhood events.

Philanthropy: Our philanthropy hit a sky high this year. Our very own sister, Callia Karas, celebrated her second annual hoyaTHON, a 12 hour non-profit event that most of our chapter attended! Through different events such as Valentines with the Veterans, RIF trips reading to children, hoyaTHON, Relay for Life, Sig Ep 5k, Girls on the Run, and many more fun philanthropy events, our chapter completed over 1,094.5 service hours.

Sisterhood events: We spent a lot of time bonding at fun sisterhood events. One Also, two our sisters taught workout classes, free for all Kappas to attend. Together we sang fun karaoke, celebrated Georgetown Day, St.Patrick's Day, and Homecoming, and hosted 4 extremely fun formals, all encouraging fun sisterhood bonding! To close out the year, we finished with Kappa secret santa that instilled our members with holiday spirit.

Academics: Our chapter has also been academically excellent this year. Our fabulous education chair has hosted multiple Kappa alumnae panels and career panels. Our awesome VPAE has booked us endless study rooms,hosted us for First Bake as a study break, and provided awesome study tips. She also really promoted Kappas helping Kappas. She created a mentor/mentee system within our chapter based on majors/minors to help when registration is happening. She also hosted a resume peer-reviewing workshop.

Recruitment: We received 40 new members hailing from across the globe, all with unique different backgrounds and passions. They have added so much to our chapter already. We held an awesome Bid Day on a rooftop apartment, overlooking the skyline of Washington, DC, and had an awesome Big/Little reveal at a cool bowling alley! They successfully completed their new member meetings and online EME with positive energy and enthusiasm. We held a beautiful initiation, formally welcoming them as full Kappa Kappa Gamma members. We cannot wait to see their future in Kappa.

Chapter Council: Chapter Council of 2018-2019 lead our chapter with an excitement and innovation that is truly contagious. They have spearheaded bigger and better things for our chapter, and we are forever thankful for their passion, spirit, and drivenness for our chapter. Our chapter has elected outstanding, qualified members for Chapter Council 2019-2020, and we are so excited to see everything the have in store for Eta Tau over this next year.

='''Highlights of 2020='''

Before COVID happened, we were able to host our academic banquet celebrating the chapter's academic achievements. We also had a formal in which all of our sisters had a great time. Once COVID happened, we switched to virtual events. Some of our virtual events included workout classes, watching Netflix or movies together. New Member baking retreat, big/little reveal, study hours on zoom, and kept up our tradition of having initiation sleepover but on Zoom instead. During convention, we were awarded the Ritual Award and had Honorable Mention for the categories of Risk Management and Recruitment. In the fall, we held our first ever virtual recruitment and were extremely successful! We had 47 new members and all of them were initiated in a virtual ceremony on November 14th with the prince of some Kappa family members. We held Chapter and Chapter Council weekly on Zoom as well. For Founders Day, we celebrated our 150th anniversary with a presentation, fun Kahoot, and which founder are you quiz. We also still had an academic excellence banquet to celebrate this last semester's academic achievements and gift cards were awarded. For RIF in the fall, we held a virtual 5K to encourage people to get active and also raise money on social media. Overall , our goal was to keep members engaged in the chapter and foster a community of support and I think we were successful in this.

"Chapter Philanthropy" - We support RIF, DC Central Kitchen, ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Martha's Table, and hoyaTHON. We chose these organizations to be involved ways that stuck to Kappas values and traditional philanthropy with child literacy and also to stay engaged in a world in a way that was productive with COVID and Racial Justice. For most of these organizations we raised money through virtual fundraising on social media or the 5K. We also donated our time through filming ourselves reading books to benefit Martha's Table.

=Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion = During recruitment training, we had breakout sessions where we talked about correct language, how to be inclusive, and how to be better sisters. Out philanthropy chair put together a fundraiser for many organizations such as the NCAAP and ACLU during the summer and our sisters supported this cause on their social media. We rose awareness on our social media and we also did a chapter presentation on race, discrimination, privilege, etc. and took part in a dialogue following the presentation.

Sesquicentennial Celebration

We celebrated Kappa's150th anniversary in our virtual chapter meeting. Our Education chair made a presentation and we learned about our founders, took a "which founder are you" quiz and also did a fun Kahoot to end the presentation! We all learned a lot about our chapter's history and that was reflected when we were able to answer the questions on the Kahoot quiz.
Note to Chapter Registrar:
• Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights.
• If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter.
• Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.
Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Sigma

2021-12-22T18:52:18Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Sigma
|Image= [[File:Chapman.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2013|04|19}}
|College= [https://www.chapman.edu/index.aspx/ Chapman University]
|Location= Orange, CA
|Homepage= [https://chapman.kappa.org/ Eta Sigma Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Sigma Media related to Eta Sigma Chapter]}}

'''Chapman University, Orange, Calif., founded in 1861'''

'''Chapter founded April 19-20, 2013'''

'''Number of charter members: 97'''

'''441 Initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Sigma’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Eta Sigma Members:'''

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==History of Chapman University==

Chapman University, one of California’s oldest private universities, is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, Calif., affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Founded as Hesperian College in Woodland, Calif., the school began classes on March 4, 1861. Hesperian admitted students of both sexes and all races—a radical educational concept at that time. In 1920, the assets of Hesperian College were absorbed by California Christian College, which held classes in downtown Los Angeles. In 1934, the school was renamed after the chairman of its board of trustees (and primary benefactor), Charles Clarke Chapman.

In 1965, Chapman took undergraduate education to the high seas when it began running World Campus Afloat, the program that would eventually become Semester at Sea. Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics, Schmid College of Science, College of Performing Arts, School of Law and College of Educational Studies. Chapman University had 6,398 students in 2011 when it marked its 150th anniversary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapman_University - cite_note-3

==Colonization==

In November 2011, Chapman University opened the campus for extension, and Kappa and two other groups were invited to make presentations to the campus extension committee headed by Alli Segal, Assistant Director for Student Affairs. The presentation team included Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College; Fraternity Director of Programs and Education Beth Uphoff Black, Illinois Wesleyan; Colonization Chairman and Ritual Chairman Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State; Regional Director of Alumnae Region 3 Linda Price Patton, Oklahoma State; Regional Director of Chapters Region 4 Ella Gaumer, UC Riverside; and, from Fraternity Headquarters, Social Media & Communications Specialist Claire Davis, Auburn.

Upon accepting the invitation to colonize at Chapman University May 3, 2012, Kappa Kappa Gamma joined a Panhellenic community which included Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Sigma Sigma.

Members of the Colonization team included the following Kappas: Colonization Chairman, Susanne Vander Heyden; Regional Director of Chapters Region 7 Hannah Meehan Spector, Utah; Regional Director of Chapters Region 4 Ella Gaumer; Regional Director of Chapters Region 6 Angela Disalvo, Iowa; Province Director of Alumnae Kappa South Beth Bartle Greulich, San Jose State; Province Director of Chapters Kappa Central Deanne Palmer, Colorado; Province Director of Chapters Kappa North Lauren Nogy, UC San Diego; Province Director of Chapters Kappa South Jessica Klepper, Washington; Leadership Consultants Britt Nelson, Colorado, and Charlotte Rhodes, SMU; and Local Installation Chairman Mary Ruddick Silzel, Whitman.

Recruitment took place February 13-16, 2013. Prior to the colonization recruitment, Director of Membership Susan Pile, Miami (Ohio) and Assistant to the Director of Membership Melissa Shearer, Vanderbilt, conducted a conference call to plan for the membership selections sessions. This conversation brought everyone together to reinforce the common vision and reminded participants of the seriousness of this process.
On February 16, 2013, 106 women at Chapman University accepted bids to become charter members of Eta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The chapters that participated in the colonization recruitment were UC Riverside, USC (Calif.) and San Diego. The Coordinator of Chapter Development for Chapman was Kylee Garton, UCLA.
The theme for recruitment was Be Kappa Chapman.

Colonization Chairman Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden coordinated the assignments for alumnae as well as flowers and planning with the Chapman catering department. Eta Sigma Chapter Consultant Andrea Schug, Minnesota, and Leadership Consultants Brittany Nelson, Colorado, Charlotte Rhodes, SMU, and Haley Smith, William& Mary coordinated the communication with the Potential New Members during recruitment. The following Fraternity Headquarters staff members assisted: Fraternity Director of Marketing & Communications Ashley Gilbert Moyer, Purdue, Fraternity’s contact with Chapman’s College Panhellenic; Fraternity Marketing & Communications Specialist Claire Davis, Auburn, responsible for audio-visual arrangements, interview scheduling, legacy verification and the details of voting; Fraternity Membership Services Chapter Support representative Libbi Rettew, Virginia Tech, coordinated matters involving Fraternity Headquarters and formal pledging.
The recruitment events included open houses, interviews and a preference party. Following the pledging ceremony, the colonization team departed with smiles knowing they were part of history and had been part of a job well done The theme for colonization was Be Kappa Chapman.

==Installation==

Members of the Installation team included: Installation Chairman Carol George Sanders, Cal State Northridge; Fraternity President Julie Leshay; Director of Standards Sharon Pickrell Gober, Oklahoma State; Eta Sigma Chapter Consultant Andrea Schug; Regional Director of Chapters Region 7 Hannah Spector; Regional Director of Alumnae Region 7 Vikki Haag Day, Whitman; Regional Director of Chapters Region 6 Angela Disalvo; Province Director of Chapters Kappa North Carroll Gommel Mueller, Arizona; Province Director of Chapters Kappa Central Deanna Palmer; Province Director of Chapters Kappa South Jessica Klepper; Publications Copy Editor Vicki Hill Carrigan, UC Riverside; Fraternity Ritual Chairman & Chapman Colonization Chairman, Susanne Vander Heyden; Eta Sigma Coordinator of Chapter Development Kylee Garton, UCLA;. Fraternity Extension Chairman Barbara Goettelman; and Local Installation Chairman Mary Silzel.

The Fireside was held April 20, 2013, at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Orange. The service was led by Director of Standards Sharon Pickrell Gober.

Following the Fireside service, gifts from alumnae associations and chapters throughout the country were presented to the chapter. Orange County Alumnae Association (OCAA) President Jeanette Justus, Missouri, received Barbara Bradshaw Sillesen’s, DePauw, badge. She said, “It is an honor to accept from OCAA member Libby Sillesen Fuller, UC Davis, this badge that belonged to Libby’s mother, Barbara Sillesen, and present it to the Eta Sigma president tonight and pin it on her tomorrow after the installation. Barbara was widely known throughout Orange County as Foothill High School’s top counselor and a vigorous proponent of a college education. She was president of the Southern Orange County Alumnae Association as well as serving in other offices. She was actively involved in UC Irvine’s colonization and served on its house board for many years. Barbara was highly respected by all colleges and universities in the area, including Chapman, for being such an effective counselor and inspiration for students. She always knew the outstanding women graduates in Central Orange County and made sure that Kappa knew where they were headed! We can thank Barbara for helping us pledge some great Kappas. Barbara was a truly stellar Kappa and role model for Eta Sigma women. When you wear Barbara’s badge, hold high the honor of Kappa, tempering word and deed according to the influence they will have. When you wear the key, give in all things the best that you have.”

The next morning, the installation service was held at the Grand Street Center in Orange. The UC Riverside and USC (Calif.) chapters served as sponsor chapters for Chapman and took part in the service. This installation was very special for five initiates whose mothers are Kappas and shared the weekend with them.

Following the installation, a lovely luncheon was held at The Villa banquet facilities in Orange. The buffet-style luncheon was attended by 230 Kappas, parents and friends. Fraternity Extension Chairman Barb Goettelman was the luncheon speaker and master of ceremonies. Alli Segal, assistant director for student affairs at Chapman, attended and welcomed Kappa to the campus on behalf of the administration. Chapman Panhellenic President Samantha Cressey, Delta Gamma, also attended.

Orange County Alumnae Association President Jeanette Justus, Missouri, presented the President’s Badge to Eta Sigma’s first chapter president, Hayley Chandler, who was also the chapter’s first affiliated member. Hayley was initiated at the University of Arizona, transferred to Chapman, affiliated and was elected president of the chapter.

Jeanette said, “This badge belonged to Barbara Sillesen and was presented by her daughter, Libby Fuller, both members of OCAA and role models for Eta Sigma women. When I wear my badge, I think of Kappa—the True, the Beautiful and the Good. Goodness is the quality everyone has in her heart to shine through the toughest situations. It is genuine caring and sharing of the self unselfishly. Goodness makes us capable of friendship and happiness through a constant striving to live each day to its fullest. Goodness cannot hide because it is what keeps us together. It allows us a humble acceptance of our failures and those of others, and it presents itself in all acts of kindness. Goodness must be displayed wholeheartedly in order to be seen.

The model chapter meeting was held at Covenant Presbyterian Church following the installation luncheon. Fraternity President Julie Leshay preformed the opening ritual and presided until the Chapter President Hayley Chandler was installed. She presided during the remainder of the meeting and performed the closing ritual. The ritual review and meeting instructions were given by Fraternity Ritual Chairman Susanne Vander Heyden.
Previous information provided by 2010-2014 Fraternity Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse.

==Highlights of 2013==

In the first year of the Eta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Chapman University took
two classes, the original Charter Class and in fall, the Alpha Class. When the chapter was colonized,
the Charter Class bonded and held a Brandy Melville sisterhood, their first formal, and prepared for
their first formal recruitment!

After fall recruitment, Eta Sigma welcomed the largest pledge class on campus, and began integrating them into the sisterhood. We participated in Gamma Phi Beta’s Airbands show, FIJI’s Turkey Bowl, and Kappa Alpha Theta’s KAT walk philanthropies, as well as putting on our own philanthropic event, Kappa Klassroom, where different greek organizations on campus competed in challenges to be named the “wisest owl.” We were part of the Orange County Breast Cancer Walk, and on a smaller scale to complete 15 required community service hours, sisters
volunteered at a local elementary school and at another organization, Operation School Bell.

Since we have been a new chapter, one of the main objectives we’ve focused on is creating lists of words we would like associated with us as a whole, such as classy, genuine, and diverse. We also conducted our second full cycle of elections and elected a new chapter council! Finally, we were a part of Greek Week at Chapman, held a semi formal, and are looking forward to Spring Recruitment! !!!

Our chapter itself has been a change on campus, as we colonized in the Spring of 2013, and since
then we have focused on building our sisterhood as well as integrating ourselves into campus. Eta
Sigma is a diverse, supportive, and exciting chapter to be a part of, and since colonization has
participated in most Greek life events as well as philanthropic endeavors off campus.

In May 2013, chapter members Kira Weiner and Annaliese Baker were honored as two of the ten freshmen to receive Chapman’s Outstanding First-Year Award.

==Highlights of 2014==
Spring 2014
Membership
The Eta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma started Spring Semester at Chapman University off with an extremely successful Spring Recruitment. After a week of informal recruitment events such as “Kappa Kappaccinos”, “S’Mores with Sisters” and “Kick Up Your Heels with Kappa” Eta Sigma welcomed in an amazing Beta Class.

Our New Membership Chairman and her committee planned “The Kappa Games” a Hunger Games themed Bid Day in celebration of the Beta Class at a nearby park. The chapter as a whole played many bonding games and enjoyed lunch together from an InAndOut food truck.

Philanthropy
The Spring Semester brought on many philanthropic opportunities for Eta Sigma. On March, 8th 2014 we hosted women from the Orange County Alumni Association for luncheon entitled “LoyalTea”, raising money to apply for Girls Academy and building our relationship with the Alumni Association. With the success of LoyalTea, Eta Sigma and OCAA have plans to host similar events in the future.

Eta Sigma was also very involved in the philanthropy events hosted by other chapters on Chapman’s campus to assist in the fundraising for their philanthropies as well as to bond with the Greek Community. These included:

● Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s “Chapman Idol” (2nd Place)

● PI Kappa Alpha’s “Chapman Olympics”

● Phi Sigma Sigma’s “Phi Set Spike”

● Delta Gamma’s “Anchor Splash”

● Delta Tau Delta’s “Delta Queen”

● Beta Theta Pi’s “March Madness”

Outside of Chapman the ladies of Eta Sigma were highly involved in philanthropic endeavors in the Orange County and Los Angeles. Each member logged 10 hours of philanthropy. Some philanthropic events included:

● “Standup for the Cure Paddle Board”

● Operation School Bell

● St. Jude

● Walk For Wishes

● Chapman’s Relay For Life

Events
Eta Sigma’s Events Chairman and her committee were busy last Spring planning exceptional events for our chapter. The first event of the semester was our Sapphire Masquerade formal. This was a night of dancing and celebrating our senior members who were graduating in just a few months. The event included a dance floor and photo booth to keep the night fun and exciting.

The second event hosted by Eta Sigma was our Date Party called Kappa Olympics. Our sisters dressed up in sports themed outfits with their dates and celebrated the night with fun games and activities.

Other events included sorority swaps with other sororities on campus as well exchanges with Chapman fraternities.

Sisterhood
Eta Sigma went into the Spring semester with goals to continue growing as a sorority as well as a sisterhood. With these goals in mind our Vice President of Standards and her committee put on a wide array of sisterhoods to foster sisterly bonding and chapter appreciation. For our all chapter retreat the chapter went to a local beach to bond and share a meal together.

To continue fostering sister bonding Eta Sigma has “Kappa Kompliments,” a private Facebook page, where sisters can anonymously send in compliments, words of encouragement, and any other positive messages that will then be submitted for the chapter to view. The Spring marked a full calendar year of Eta Sigma being on Chapman’s campus. The chapter was able to successfully become a part of the chapman Greek Community as well as
become close as sisters.

Fall 2014 Summary
Membership
Eta Sigma started Fall 2014 off with another amazing recruitment. We were able to welcome a fantastic Gamma class. Our Membership Chairman and our chapter were able to put on a flawless recruitment that brought the chapter closer as a whole and also helped start the year off with a bang!

Our New Membership Chairman and her committee hosted another exceptional Bid Day. The chapter and our new Gamma Class went to a nearby restaurant to enjoy food, a photobooth, the beautiful sunset, and of course get to know the new Gamma Class! The celebration had an “American” theme, and the chapter sported shirts saying “KKG, The American Dream”.

Philanthropy
Knowing that we would be hosting Girls Academy in Spring 2015 Eta Sigma eagerly began our philanthropic work. The first philanthropy event put on by Eta Sigma was Kappa Karnival. We welcomed other chapters in the Greek Community to take part in a carnival to fundraise for Girls Academy.

Eta Sigma also took part in other chapters’ philanthropy events such as:

● Gamma Phi Beta’s “Air Bands” (3rd Place)

● Kappa Alpha Theta’s “KatWalk” (1st Place in Sororities/3rd Place Overall”)

● Alpha Phi’s “Mr. University”

● Alpha Gamma Delta’s “So You Think You Can DiaBEAT This”

The women of Eta Sigma also individually logged 10 philanthropy hours. Sisters becameinvolved in a variety of philanthropies in the surrounding area of Chapman.

Events
Our Events Chairman and her committee were able to put on many wonderful events this past semester. One of the highlights was our Kappa Kabanna Semi Formal. This tropical themed semiformal was a blast for our sisters as well as friends.

Eta Sigma also put on many events with other fraternities and sororities. One highlight was an exchange with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity where we played laser tag.

We were also able to co-host Founders Day with University of California at Riverside. This was a great experience for initiated members, as well as a great way for our newest members to see how much Kappa Kappa Gamma means to so many women. Our events brought us all closer together in a fun and exciting environment.

Sisterhood
With such a large pledge class our chapter grew substantially this Fall. In order to keep our
chapter close and make sure everyone felt that they had found their home within Eta Sigma
our chapter hosted a variety of sisterhoods and events. These included sisterhoods such as
backyard movie nights, attending a trampoline gym, crafting with sisters, and many other
small events that foster chapter bonding. Eta Sigma sisters also took part in Greek Week. We
worked as a team to represent Kappa and support our fellow Greek Members.
One of the major sisterhoods was our chapter retreat that doubled as Big/Little Reveal. With
the whole chapter coming together to attend this one event everyone was able to see how
great it is to have such an amazing group of women as our sisters and friends.

Challenges/Goals
Eta Sigma was challenged to become closer as a sisterhood as well as to work on understanding and knowing ritual. By hosting sisterhoods and fostering chapter involvement Eta Sigma has become much closer. Our Marshall also worked on ritual review with initiated members and we were able to put on a flawless initiation ceremony.

Campus Changes/Nature of Eta Sigma
Chapman University is constantly making changes. Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council made changes to Greek Week by pairing each sorority up with a fraternity. This was great for Eta Sigma because it gave us an opportunity to meet more members of the Greek Community. More so, a new sorority will be coming to Chapman this Spring, this has been a great opportunity for Eta Sigma to reflect on what it means to be a newer sorority on campus and how we would like to present ourselves in the Greek Community. As a whole Eta Sigma is a group of women who are proud and excited to be members of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Chapter Meetings and Housing
The Eta Sigma chapter holds meetings as well as our events on Chapmans campus. The chapter does not have a house.

Women Behind The Badge
Members with Historical Badges:
Kelsey Leach has her grandmother’s pin from 1952. She was in the Gamma Alpha Chapter
at Kansas State.

Emmy Gyori also has her grandmother’s pin from when she was a Kappa at University of
Arizona.

==Highlights of 2015==

Membership:

The Eta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma started our fall semester with an extremely successful formal recruitment. Rooted in Kappa values, our chapter took one of the largest Fall 2015 pledge classes at Chapman, exceeding quota by 4 women. Leading up to recruitment, the Eta Sigma chapter put many hours into practice and preparation which started in late spring. This included our chapter retreated called Kappa Kamp. The entire chapter headed to the Gamma Xi Chapter at UCLA to spend a night in their beautiful house. This gave our members the experience of living together, and an opportunity to leave the Chapman community to be with just our Kappa sisters. A successful recruitment, and fantastic new pledge class, was an amazing start to the semester.

Philanthropy:

The 2015 calendar year was a busy philanthropic time for Eta Sigma. Within the first week of the spring semester the chapter hosted Kappa Kloset, which sold donated clothes to raise money for Girls Academy. Not soon after the event, in April, Eta Sigma had the honor of hosting our first Girls Academy. Our sisters came together as role models, friends, and leaders to provide an inspiring weekend for 50 local middle school girls. Our fall philanthropy event was a great way for our new Delta class to experience Kappa’s philanthropy first hand. Our Kappa Karnival hosted the local Orange community offering carnival games and food. The event also had carnival games in which each of the other Greek chapters on campus could compete against each other. The event was not only a fundraising success, but also a great way to show the Greek community Kappa’s value of philanthropy. Throughout the calendar year, Eta Sigma also took part in all of the philanthropic events held on campus by the other Chapman chapters. During which, our chapter took third place in Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash, first place in Alpha Phi’s Mr. University, and first place in Phi Sigma Sigma’s Phi Set Spike.

Chapter Goals:

A major goal the Eta Sigma chapter had for the 2015 calendar year was to bring our sisterhood closer together and raise chapter moral throughout the year. This was achieved through many sisterhoods, events and exciting chapter meetings. Eta Sigma had two formal events in 2015, the spring Black Tie Affair event included an In-N-Out food truck and all guests were encouraged to wear either black or white. The chapter’s fall semi-formal was held on a boat, which cruised the Long Beach bay. The events were truly magical. In the fall, sisters were able to invite a special woman in their life to “Ladies Who Brunch.” Women brought their mothers, sisters and friends to this beautiful event which showcased the close sisterhood of Eta Sigma. Standards Committee put on a variety of sisterhoods, which included yoga, rock climbing and bowling. These sisterhoods gave the Eta Sigma members an opportunity to spend time together in a fun and casual way. With the goal of keeping chapter moral high, Chapter Council members worked to make Sunday meetings fun, concise, and organized. Making sure chapter meetings were efficient and enjoyable was a major part in increasing moral. We were able to shorten meeting times by electronically taking roll through student ID cards, keeping announcements organized and well prepared as well as having interesting speakers such as a personal stylist come to chapter. Eta Sigma has grown so much since its first year at Chapman and was awarded the Chapman Greek Award for Chapter Growth. Eta Sigma has proven to be a strong chapter that can only continue to grow.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
Chapman University recently announced a shift to deferred spring recruitment. This change in recruitment will change the nature of Chapman Greek Life. With this major change in mind, Chapter Council worked to brainstorm the many ways in which spring recruitment will have an effect on our chapter in both positive, and negative ways. To best prepare for the Spring 2017 recruitment Chapter Council discussed a new budget to accommodate the shift in payments, ways in which each Chapter Council position will need to be altered, as well as a discussion of future officer transitions to make sure there is a smooth officer change during such a busy time. These discussions will continue on with the new Chapter Council to insure that Eta Sigma continues to have successful recruitments. Overall, the shift to spring recruitment will put pressure on all of Chapman University Greek Life, but Eta Sigma is working hard to be as best prepared as possible. We are confident that this shift will ultimately be positive for our chapter, community, and potential new members.

Chapter Meetings and Housing:

Where does your chapter hold chapter meetings? In the chapter owned or rented facility? In a university owned facility, house, dorm, lodge or classroom?

Eta Sigma holds meetings inside a classroom on campus.

What is the history of your chapter’s housing? Have your members had the opportunity to live together in any way? Does your chapter have a house, lodge, apartment or suite? If yes, is it chapter owned or rented, or university owned? How many sisters can live there? Has your chapter owned or lived in more than one house during its history?

Eta Sigma does not have any official housing. However, many of our sisters choose to live together in apartments, houses, and even dorms. The sisters who live together off campus provide a space for the members of Eta Sigma to get together off campus in a casual way, bringing our sisterhood closer together.

Woman Behind the Badge:

As we look ahead to the Fraternity’s Sesquicentennial celebration in 2020, please tell us the story of any historical badge being worn by a member of your chapter. Such a badge might be worn by your chapter’s president, another officer or a member who is recognized for her high scholarship. We are compiling information about the fantastic women who have brought us to this point in our history, the Women Behind the Badge.

What is inscribed on the back of the badge?

This badge is worn by Kelsey Leach, it was her grandmother’s pin from 1952 from the Gamma Alpha Chapter at Kansas State.

==Highlights of 2016==

Eta Sigma has had a fabulous year. From our New Orleans French Quarter Semi Formal to our surprise date party Kappa Gone Country, our events were a blast. Our Spring Retreat was at Ronald Reagan Park with the goal of having a meaningful conversation with someone that you haven't before. The entire standards committee
helped facilitate bonding activities. We hosted our first annual Golden Key Gala, raising over $6,000. It was a night to remember as we were able to showcase all the philanthropic work our chapter has done thus far. In regards to academics, from fall 2015 to spring 2016 our GPA went up from 3.381 to 3.407. Eta Sigma had 13 4.0’s in Spring 2016 and 61% (117) of the women maintained or improved their GPA’s. In union with the Greek community, Eta Sigma participated in Chapman University's
annual Skit competition. We won 5th place overall and 3rd place for sororities with our performance to Mamma Mia. At the 2016 Biennial convention, we are honored to
have won the Recruitment Award for campuses with 8-11 Panhellenic groups and received Honorable Mention in Chapter/Advisory Board relations, Excellence in
Chapter Management, and Standards.

During Labor Day Weekend we held our second annual Kappa Kamp. This weekend was a key factor in furthering our sisterhood as we kicked off the Fall semester. Kappa Kamp was filled with stories, inspiration, bonding, and all things Kappa! Another exciting event for Eta Sigma was our philanthropy event that was completely new to Eta Sigma: Fleurish. It is a week dedicated to bringing the Chapman community and surrounding areas together to create a space that fosters conversation on important topics. This year we chose to focus on the topics of empowerment and respect. The week consisted of daily self empowerment activities on campus; these events were used to tackle some of the problem that college students face on a regular basis, all leading up to our keynote speaker on that Thursday evening. We were fortunate enough to host the founder of I Am That Girl and Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Tau alumnae Alexis Jones. The event was a huge success as we had over 530 people attend, the majority of which were not involved in Greek life. We look forward in hosting this event every fall semester! To wrap up the semester, we had our Winter Wonderland Semi Formal and a Parent's BBQ during Homecoming weekend. We are so excited to welcome our new members next semester!

One of the most recent changes on our campus is deferred recruitment. Chapman University's Panhellenic Council has moved formal recruitment from the Fall to Spring. This is the first year our chapter is having formal recruitment in the Spring. We are adjusting well and Chapter Council is extending positions to go through recruitment so the upcoming officers can shadow throughout the two month transition.

Our fundraising is split between Kappa’s national philanthropies. Our fall event “Fleurish” raises funds for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. And our Spring event “Golden Key Gala” raises money for Reading is Fundamental. We volunteer with over 50 different organizations in the area! In the past some of our repeat organizations have been the Ronald McDonald House of Orange County, Operation School Bell, and local elementary and middle schools. We hope to be rebuilding our mentorship program, in partnership with Reading is Fundamental of Southern California, where we will be paired with a local school to meet with some of their
students.

We donate to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental because they are the nationally supported philanthropies for Kappa, and because their values closely align with those of the Eta Sigma chapter specifically. Additionally, we choose to volunteer for a variety of local organizations to help
promote community relations, but specifically seek out organizations that focus on empowerment; whether that be academic or personal empowerment. We also love
organizations that focus on the theme of promoting literacy and a love for learning.

The Eta Sigma chapter holds meetings as well as our events on Chapman's campus.The chapter does not have a house.

==Highlights of 2017==

This year our chapter was proud to successfully put on our annual event Fleurish for the second time. Fleurish was designed to bring the community and students together to raise discussion about important topics affecting our society. As it is more important now than ever to build one another up, this year we focused on a platform of love, respect, and desire to seek common ground despite our differences. We wanted to empower one another by practicing intentional acts of love. In addition to Fleurish, our chapter actively participated in philanthropy events of other greek chapters on campus and was proud to place first in Kappa Alpha Theta's annual event KATwalk, supporting Court Appointed Special Advocates, (CASA), and place second in Gamma Phi Beta's Airbands, supporting Girls on the Run. We gladly initiated 2 women into our chapter who transferred from other chapters. Another special event our chapter held again this year was Kappa Kamp, a weekend spent at the UCLA Kappa house full of meaningful bonding to continue to grow as a chapter and strive towards goals we created.

A recent change on our campus is a change to deferred recruitment. Chapman University’s Panhellenic Council moved formal recruitment from the fall to the spring the last academic year. This is the second year our chapter will hold formal recruitment in the spring. It is a hard adjustment, but it will get easier year by year. We have extended Chapter Council position transitions, so that upcoming officers work with their outgoing officer through this period. This is largely beneficial to the incoming membership chairman because she is able to participate in recruitment with an outlook that she will be in charge the following year. She has the opportunity to play a significant role in the recruitment process, so she has a better idea of her role and expectations. Additionally, we must modify the budget to accommodate this change. It was a challenge the first year, but it was much easier this time around.

Whether it be a fundraiser to support one of our sisters such as Relay for Life or a beach clean-up on a Saturday morning, the Eta Sigma Chapter is always looking for new ways to give back. In support of our national philanthropy, we have fundraised nearly $1,000 for Reading is Fundamental in the Spring of 2017 while partnering with the Friendly Center for our first Reading is Key Event. We were able to donate books to over 130 children from grades K-8. The Friendly Center provided us with a list of the reading levels, helping us cater to each child's needs. There were different shift sign-ups throughout the week allowing Kappas to pair-up one-on-one with a child. There were fun games and activities to help promote a love for reading. Further, we hosted our second annual Fleurish event this October. Fleurish was designed to bring students and the community together to raise discussion about important topics. The theme for this year was “Choose Love” with keynote speaker Houston Kraft. Houston talked about how we could increase our capacity for compassion and choose love in the hardest of situations. We had over 500 students, high schoolers, and community members join us in this conversation. It was a night where we all could laugh, be honest with ourselves, and come together to better ourselves and better those around us. All while raising $2,000 for GIRLS Academy this coming April.

As detailed above, Eta Sigma has established itself as a chapter dedicated education and empowerment. We choose organizations that members in our chapter can connect to. With events such as Reading is Key, Fleurish, and our upcoming GIRLS Academy experience, it is important that our members can see the effects of their efforts. Not only are we encouraging members to explore their passions, but we are creating more hands-on opportunities and ways to build relationships within our local community.

The Eta Sigma chapter holds all of our chapter meetings, as well as the majority of our events, on the Chapman campus.

==Highlights of 2018==

An exciting highlight for 2018 Eta Sigma was taking First Place in our university’s annual Skit competition put on by the Greek Life community. It was our first time winning and our video actually went viral online. It is a choreographed presentation of The Parent Trap condensed down to six minutes. All hands were on deck for this huge event, with Kappas stepping up to make the show happen through everything from planning the dance to designing costumes, music, and lighting. Our favorite part about Skit is the fact that it allows so many members in the chapter to step into different leadership roles that allow them to utilize their gifts and strengths. Numerous members are nominated from the floor and voted into positions such as “choreography chair,” “costume chair,” and “skit chair.” All positions have the opportunity to work together in creating the set, sound design, lighting effects, costumes, as well as working on administrative responsibilities and communication efforts. They develop their teaming skills while developing their leadership skills and presence in the chapter as well.

Our chapter was honored to have been recognized at Kappa Convention for earning one of the top five for “Most Outstanding Chapter,” a “Lifetime Education Award,” and six honorable mentions (finance, chapter management, new membership, membership, standards, and public relations). We feel blessed to have been able to send seven actives, and were blown away by how much they got out of their experience. They came back with new ideas, new passion, and a renewed sense of focus and excitement about their involvement in Eta Sigma.

We were proud to debut a brand new event this past semester. On the weekend of October 13th, we held a combined Parents Weekend and Founder’s Day brunch in which we highlighted all of the important reasons that we call Kappa home. Here we held a silent auction to raise proceeds for our fall philanthropy event, Fleurish. It was incredible to hear current active members speak as well as alumni who were being honored for their years of devotion. We found that by combining our Parents Weekend event with our Founder’s Day Celebration, we were better able to convey the meaning and value that Kappa holds in our lives while honoring our founders. We were also able to increase chapter and parent buy-in regarding our annual philanthropy event, Fleurish (details below). It was amazing to see and hear the parent and alumni reactions to the unveiling of our Fleurish theme for 2018 – “Turn On a Light.”

We are also proud to have had Kaitlin Wong, an active member, serving on the 2018 Chapman Panhellenic council as Vice President of Recruitment. We found that having one of our members on the council increased our chapter’s allegiance to the Panhellenic community as a whole, and we are looking forward to two new active members serving on the council in 2019.

Another notable event from the year included Kappa Kamp, a 3-day sisterhood retreat held at the UCLA kappa house. Each year we find that Kappa Kamp instills a renewed sense of pride and excitement for the coming year in each and every one of our members lives. We are also able to define our values and priorities as we enter into recruitment season, and get to know sisters we may not know as well while deepening the bonds we have with our good friends as well.

Our Chapter Council held a retreat during January of 2018 and set forth 5 strategic goals for the year. They included the following:
1. Improve timeliness of programming. 2. Increase chapter member retention. 3. Utilize committees more. 4. Improve Ritual and Chapter History Knowledge. 5. Increase Accountability and Compliance with Bylaws and Standing Rules. While we truly saw improvement in each and every one of these aspects of the chapter, we especially saw improvements in numbers 1, 2 and 3. Programming was bettered through the VPO role which created a within-chapter-council calendar that allowed us to communicate dates, times, and events far in advance before releasing them to the chapter to avoid potential over programming. This, in turn, had a positive effect on attendance at chapter events. We also saw an increase in chapter member retention. We believe that this is primarily due to the betterment of the sisterhood within our chapter as a whole, the establishment of a more fluid and bonding new member program, and the intentional programming that we put forth for the chapter. We also saw many members step into leadership roles within their committees. We felt that this could be attributed to the pre-set and thought through agendas for their meetings, and different group chats that were created to increase communication between committees. Additionally, with some of our committees, we were able to nominate/ assign different roles that were larger to girls looking to take on semi-big leadership positions in the chapter. We saw many of these girls step into chapter council positions for the 2019 year. We look forward to continuing to improve on our goals in 2019 as well.

We have adjusted to Chapman Panhellenic’s switch to spring deferred recruitment, as historically recruitment was always held in fall at the beginning of first semester. With two sessions under our belt, we feel confident stepping into this next recruitment and are proud of the goals and values we uphold as a chapter and look forward to adding new members.

Our chapter is dedicated to supporting a number of philanthropies. Fleurish is Eta Sigma’s annual fall philanthropy event that is focused around the keynote performance of a motivational speaker. However, it is so much more than that. From October 22nd to 25th, the women of Eta Sigma set up a table in the Piazza to lead our community in meaningful activities and fundraise money. This year’s theme was mental wellness, prompting our community to think empathetically about our mental health and consider it in the same light we think about our physical health. The tabling activities asked students to sign a pledge committing themselves to mental wellness, share things that help them get them through the day, reframe everyday intrusive thoughts and worries in a positive light, and consider how they can individually turn to our Chapman community for support.

Then, on Thursday, October 25th, award-winning mental health advocate Ross Szabo gave his keynote speech about mental health in Memorial Hall. He shared his story of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in high school, in a community where resources and education about mental wellness were scarce, and how building a platform for him to be vulnerable and share this story has helped him and others heal. He spoke in a candidly and uplifting manner, finding a way to make the audience laugh while asking sincere questions about how we treat ourselves every day.

In addition to this programming, Eta Sigma fund raised $21,000 for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Orange County chapter. This donation will help provide free support groups and educational resources for individuals in our community who struggle with mental health, as well as their families. This is a record amount of money fund raised for Eta Sigma chapter! Overall, Fleurish was a representation of the values of the women in our chapter. We gave our community a platform to open up, be vulnerable, and support each other, and the results of this have surpassed the week of Fleurish. As a result of this event, our community has barriers and stigmas broken down so people feel more comfortable asking for help when they need it, even if it just means talking to their friend about something difficult.
Additionally, we raised funds for Reading is Fundamental and spent a week tutoring students at the Friendly Center in Orange and were able to donate over 100 books to them. Also, we raised money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.

We chose to have Fleurish this year focus on the issue of mental wellness, something we see affect our own sisters, the Chapman community, and beyond, and felt it imperative to foster positive conversations for how we can acquire tools to increase our mental health. We selected the local chapter of NAMI to fund raise for because they provide mental wellness resources to the nearby community.

==Highlights of 2020==

Although we faced unprecedented times, Eta Sigma had a great and memorable year. We began our eventful year at recruitment! Throughout recruitment, we were able to create a stronger bond and bring high energy to each day. On day one, the theme was ‘Go Greek’, where we are able to show off how we participate in Greek life and how exactly Greek life has positively impacted our lives. On day two, the theme was philanthropy, which is when we are able to discuss what specific organizations and causes we support, more specifically Fluerish! On day three, the theme was values, which is when we are able to discuss what exactly Kappa’s value are and how each of our members embodies them. The last day, day four, is preference day, which is when the PNM’s receive an invitation to come back to Kappa and get to know us on a deeper level. Most members will tell you that preference day is the most special because we have very heartwarming speeches, we have some of our Kappa sisters sing, and we of course share a small piece of ritual and the value of the key with the potential new member. We successfully welcomed 67 new members, and welcomed them with a pink cowgirl themed bid day hosted at Kappa alumna, Mary Silzel’s house! Soon after, we celebrated our Inspiration Week, in anticipation for Fireside and Initiation on March 15th. Unfortunately, the week before initiation, we were sent home due to COVID-19, and unable to hold initiation in-person. We rescheduled Initiation to be on May 3rd. Our virtual initiation was very special and memorable for our Chapter, especially for our Theta Class. Although we could not all be together, we were able to have members of the Ritual and History committee to help facilitate the ceremony and make it special for our newly initiated members. To kick off spring semester, we began to hold virtual meetings, where we created themes for each meeting in order to keep everyone involved and excited! One of our biggest accomplishments was welcoming our newest committee, known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and creating a new chapter council position for the chairwoman of the committee. During the spring, we were unable to put together our annual philanthropic event, Fluerish. We instead started a brand new virtual mentor ship with the Big Brothers and Sisters of Orange County, and have fund raised for many different causes and organizations. We were also able to be apart of a virtual version of Skit, an event put on by Greek Life where chapters have to create a six minute performance based off of a movie or TV show. Eta Sigma placed as first with an Annie theme! Our members worked very hard and had a great time putting on a socially distanced skit. We also celebrated Kappa’s 150th anniversary with a virtual Founder’s Day celebration. We welcomed all of our family members, and celebrated the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma through many heartwarming speeches, videos, and even honored our founding members through a special ritual. As the semester went on, we held virtual meetings every Sunday, and held a sisterhood nearly every week. Some of our most memorable..

We virtually held trivia night’s, a pumpkin carving celebration, study room’s, and so much more. Our president, Charlotte Cavanaugh-Kerr was awarded president of the year, which was such an exciting accomplishment for Eta Sigma and for Charlotte! We also received honorable mentions from the annual Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention for our new member program, a heritage award, a gracious living award, and a public relations award. We were awarded New Adelphe Level, House Award for unhoused chapters, and a financial award for unhoused chapters. Although our year looked different, we all continued to learn, grow, and flourish amongst one another and because of that our bonds as Kappa sisters grew stronger than ever. Chapter Philanthropy

Eta Sigma supports many different organizations and causes. We have taken the time to truly

study, inform, and raise money for several different organizations. We chose to start a brand

new virtual mentorship with the Big Brothers and Sisters of Orange County. We have been

given the opportunity to be the first group involved in their pilot college bigs program; and we

hope to continue it every year. In lieu of fundraising, we raised $250 for Orange County

United Way

Local pandemic relief for low income individuals and families, $658 for Seal for Lebanon Beirut

Emergency to fund Lebanon, $3000 for A Place Called Home,

an organization that provides an array of services to local children and their family, and $500

Black Women's Blueprint, an organization dedicated to placing black women and girls’ lives, as

well as their struggles, squarely within the context of the larger racial justice concerns of the

black communities.

We chose to support these different organizations and causes because Eta realizes how

important it is, especially in a time like this, to give back and help the community, so that’s

what we’ve been striving to do all year. We felt that it was an important time to truly study,

inform, and raise money for these several organizations that are in need due to

unprecedented times.

We had the pleasure of appointing Roxy Amarizzi into our new DEI role in June of 2020, she was excited and prepared to implement values of diversity, equity, and inclusion to the Eta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma! She began to attend meetings with other Greek Life DEI chairs, Greek Life advisors, as well as meetings with our own chapter council members to brainstorm for the fall. She also conducted weekly informational sessions about a culture, religion, or topic that a sister felt passionate about, allowing for many of our new members (and older members!) to present on things that they felt were important to them. Then, for the fall semester, we created the DEI Committee consisting of liaisons between this role and other Chapter Council roles. We had weekly DEI Meetings with open forum topics about topics like body positivity, mental health awareness, the importance of self care, and more. The DEI role also worked with our Vice President of Standards to make hate speech a standards issue as well as implementing a reporting form for the chapter. We also worked with other chapters like Tri Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, and Alpha Phi to raise money for Lebanon over the Summer as well as conducting individual chapter fundraising for organizations like The Conscious Kid. Overall, this new role was rewarding to the chapter because we were able to construct it to fit the needs of our chapter. We were able to assess the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion and found that Eta Sigma truly does promote this values and envision a sisterhood with these principles.

Eta Sigma was able to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary in many ways! We were lucky

enough to have the Minnie Stewart van visit us during our bid day in January! The Minnie

Stewart Van allowed our chapter to enjoy exhibits and experienced Kappa’s founding

firsthand through virtual reality. Our chapter loved every second of it, and found it to be such

a special way to celebrate Kappa’s anniversary. We also were able to put together a virtual

founders day and celebrated with our entire Chapter and their family members. We had

multiple of our members speak about the history of Kappa, and we were able to put together

a virtual founders day ceremony.

==Highlights of 2021==
The Eta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma engages in a unique philanthropy at Chapman
University called Fleurish. Fleurish is an event held in the spring and the fall where our
chapter partners with a local organization to raise money and awareness for a specific cause
that we find meaningful to us and our community. In the spring at our Fleurish event, we
partnered with the Orange County Therapeutic Arts center and fundraised over $4,300
through venmo boards and selling art that members of our chapter created. On Friday May 6,
we threw an event on Musco lawn with live musicians and tables with art, fun games such as
cornhole and face painting. Over 500 people from the Chapman community attended the
event and the executive board of the Orange County Therapeutic Arts spoke about their
programs. We choose to support this organization because they provide innovative, artistic,
educational and therapeutic programs that inspire and transform children, at-risk youth, and
their families to fulfill their highest potential. This event was our chapter’s first in-person
events coming out of quarantine, so we wanted to focus on how we could reunite while
recognizing how the arts can help you come out of a crisis with something good that you’ve
created.
Our fleurish event in the fall supported Casa De La Familia (CDLF), whose mission is to provide
victims of trauma in SoCa with support services, counseling, and awareness. We fundraised
for CDLF from October 18th through October 22nd by tabling on campus, selling t-shirts and
stickers, and running a penny wars competition between the Greek chapters on campus. On
Friday, October 22nd we held an event on Musco Lawn with live musicians, and tables to
make self care packages or do a self care activity such as painting vases. The event on musco
lawn had 5 representatives from CDLF who spoke about their organization and we had
around 300 members from the Chapman community attend. We chose this organization
because our chapter felt it was so important to raise awareness for mental health services
and felt empowered by Casa De La Familia’s mission statement to ensure the long lasting
mental health success of individuals of all ages who have experienced trauma. For our
fleurish event in the fall we engaged with the other Greek organizations on our campus and
raised over $6,500.

Our chapter is excited to support Kappa’s national philanthropy, the Kappa Kappa Gamma
Foundation, and the new mental health and well being initiative next semester. During this
past year, we have focused on our chapter’s philanthropy, Fleurish, but have been planning
this semester on how to take action and support these organizations next semester. Our
chapter discussed what organization felt most meaningful to us and we choose to support the
JED foundation who works to promote emotional health and prevent suicide in teens and
young adults. This foundation inspired our chapter and we are excited to raise money and
awareness for them this upcoming year.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Our chapter took several initiatives this year to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion in
all of our programs, events, ideals, and leadership. Our chapter elected our second DEI officer
this year who educated our chapter on important information, conducted workshops focused
on DEI, weekly meetings discussing meaningful topics to our community, and constantly
promoted an inclusive environment within our chapter. She brought to light the celebrations
of heritage month, and each week highlighted positive female role models of different
ethnicities and their accomplishments. Our DEI committee members as well as the DEI Chair
created a weekly DEI newsletter which includes articles written from various members about
anything relevant or they feel passionate about educating the chapter about. With our fall
Fleurish this year we raised awareness and supported CDLF who focuses on the underserved
and underrepresented minority populations, taking care to provide culturally appropriate and
relevant services. Our DEI Chair worked closely with our Membership Chair to lead our
chapter in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our recruitment process and
educated our members on how to be the most inclusive and welcoming to any potential new
member, or anyone we speak to. The implementation of DEI initiatives within our chapter has
led all members of Eta Sigma to become more educated about other cultures, appropriate
language, and inspired the Panhellenic community at Chapman to be more passionate about
diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Eta Sigma chapter is excited to create more DEI initiatives
this upcoming year and continue to lead our chapter with ideals of diversity, equity, and
inclusion.
Operating in a Pandemic

The pandemic this past year affected our chapter’s ability to be in person, but did not stop us
from connecting, recruiting, bonding, and maintaining our sisterhood. During spring 2021, we
held all of our chapter meetings virtually. In addition, recruitment and initiation were held
over Zoom. Even though our recruitment was held virtually, our chapter put in extra efforts to
make it just as exciting and special, and we were still able to welcome home 45 amazing
women who we felt embodied the ideals of kappa and formed great connections during the
recruitment week. Our big-little reveals, as well as initiation, were virtual ceremonies but we
still found ways to make our new members feel celebrated through special letters written
from the bigs, shipping the littles their letters jacket, and some Greek families met up with
masks to celebrate in person. At the end of Spring 2021, our chapter was able to hold our
philanthropy event, Fleurish, in person by following our university’s health and safety
guidelines. At this event, everyone wore masks, socially distanced, and remained outside
throughout the event. This was our chapter’s first event back in person and the excitement of
everyone to be back together radiated. During Fall 2021, our chapter was able to hold our
events in person again with masks and following our university’s COVID regulations.
[[File:Chapman2.jpg|thumb|New Member]]
[[File:Chapman3.jpg|thumb|Philantrophy]]
[[File:Chapman5.jpg|thumb|DEI Newsletter]]
[[File:Chapman6.jpg|thumb|Phil/Big]]

Eta Rho

2021-12-22T18:43:07Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Rho
|GreekSymbol= HP
|Image= [[File:Cal Poly.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2013|03|02}}
|College= [https://www.calpoly.edu/ Cal Poly San Luis Obispo]
|Location= San Luis Obispo, CA
|Homepage= [https://calpoly.kappa.org/ Eta Rho Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Rho Media related to Eta Rho Chapter]}}

'''California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, established March 8, 1901, in San Luis Obispo, Calif.'''

'''Founded March 2, 2013'''

'''Number of charter members: 111'''

'''530 Initiates (as of June 2018)'''

-------------

==Background==

California Polytechnic State University or California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, also known as Cal Poly San Luis Obispohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University - cite_note-CSU_styleguide-6 or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Founded in 1901 as a vocational high school, it’s currently one of only two polytechnic universities in the 23-member California State University system.

Comprising six distinct colleges, the university offers 147 bachelor’s degrees, 49 master’s degrees and seven teaching credentials. The university does not confer doctoral degrees. The university is one among a small group of polytechnic universities in the United States which tend to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University - cite_note-11.

Cal Poly is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Cal Poly is known for its “learn by doing” educational philosophy that encourages students to solve real-world problems by combining classroom theory with experiential laboratory exercise. Cal Poly is one of four California State Universities that participate in the Big West Conference in athletics.

'''Some of Eta Rho’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==The Early Days==

'''Colonization:'''
In March 2012, Extension Chairman Barbara Adams Goettleman, Syracuse, visited the San Luis Obispo campus to explore the possibility of establishing a Kappa chapter. She met with Renoda Campbell, Cal Poly coordinator of multi-cultural programs and services, to learn about the Greek community at Cal Poly which includes Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta and Sigma Kappa.
Renoda gave her a tour of the campus and the town. She pointed out homes that might be rented or leased to buy. To be competitive, Eta Rho will need some type of housing.

The Fraternity and two other women's fraternities were invited to make presentations May 3, 2012. These presentations were open to the entire campus community although the Panhellenic Council decided who to invite to colonize.

Kappa Kappa Gamma accepted the invitation to colonize at Cal Poly on May 8, 2012, and planning began for the colonization recruitment to be held January 10-13, 2013. During the fall former Leadership Consultant Haley Smith, William & Mary, visited the campus to raise Kappa’s visibility on the campus and raise the momentum
Colonization Chairman Emily Langdon, UC Davis, planned Kappa’s colonization recruitment to coincide with Cal Poly’s January recruitment schedule. She was assisted by Eta Rho Chapter Consultant Sarah Ford, Central Florida, and Leadership Consultants Jessie Pereira, Santa Clara, and Rebecca Shaw, Virginia Tech, who staffed an on-campus information booth. They told interested students about Kappa and encouraged the women to attend the Kappa Kasual information sessions which were held the next two evenings. Kappa alumnae participated in interviews held on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, the UC Santa Barbara undergraduates assisted with an evening party. They sang Kappa songs, visited with the potential new members and closed the evening with a preference-type ceremony.
Sunday was a busy day for the colonization team. It included a brunch with a lovely preference-type closing. The potential new members signed bid cards after which the pledge ceremony was conducted for 126 pledges.
A celebration of the culmination of this exciting colonization recruitment was held at a bowling and pizza party. Everyone was thrilled to welcome Eta Rho’s new members and looked ahead to installing the chapter in March.

The colonization team was composed of Fraternity History Chairman and 2006-2010 Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis; Installation Chairman Carol George Sanders, Cal State Northridge; Regional Director of Chapters (RDC) Region 7 Hannah Meehan Spector, Utah; Pi South Province Director of Alumnae (PDA) Nancy Vandenburg Westcott, Idaho; Pi North Province Director of Chapters (PDC) Amanda Compton Ruffo, UC Irvine; Kappa North PDC Lauren Nogy, UC San Diego; Pi South PDC of Chapters Diane Jones, Fresno State; Pi North PDA Nicole Carvalho, Central Florida; Coordinator of Chapter Development Laurie Hollinger, Arizona State; Molly Bechtel, UC Davis; Joan Minneman Cannon, Kansas State; Sea Gill, UC Merced; Kristin Hlubik, San Diego; Meredith Radke, British Columbia; and Headquarters staff members Extension Coordinator, Lisa Lunney Thomson, Bowling Green; and Fraternity Social Media & Communications Specialist Claire Davis, Auburn.
This colonization was the first time the Fraternity’s new colonization marketing plan Be Kappa was rolled out. It included a Facebook page where potential new members could access recruitment information and schedule times for alumnae interviews.

'''Installation:'''

Fraternity Installation Chairman Carol George Sanders oversaw the details for the installation with assistance from Chapter Consultant Sarah Ford and Coordinator of Chapter Development Laurie Hollinger.
The Fireside was held Friday, March 1, and the Installation Service was conducted Saturday, March 2, at the Embassy Suites San Luis Obispo. Presidents of four Kappa chapters and active members from Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Merced and Santa Clara took part in the Installation Service.
A beautiful installation luncheon was held at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman was the speaker. University representative Renoda Campbell welcomed Kappa to the campus and spoke about how the Fraternity fits into the Cal Poly Greek system. Also attending the luncheon was Cal Poly Panhellenic President Anca Todor.

Central Coast Alumnae Association President Stevia Wilson Shaw, New Mexico, presented the President’s Badge to Eta Rho president Jenna Stack at the luncheon.

The members of the installation team were led by Installation Chairman Carol George Sanders, and included Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay; Director of Chapters Collett Beers Rangitsch, Wyoming; RDC Region 7 Hannah Meehan Spector; History Chairman and 2006-2010 Fraternity President, Denise Rugani; Extension Chairman Barbara Adams Goettleman; Ritual Chairman Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State; Pi Central PDC Yvonne Kim UC Riverside; 1998 Loyalty Award Recipient Vera Lewis Marine, Colorado College; Colonization Chairman Emily Langdon; Pi North PDA Nicole Carvalho; Pi North PDC Amanda Compton Ruffo; Pi South PDC Diane Jones, Fresno State; Assistant to the Director of Chapters Reece Lofty Juelch, UC Irvine; Leadership Consultants Jessie Pereira, Santa Clara; Becca Shaw, Virginia Tech; Whitney Anderson, Oklahoma State; and Chelsea Dyer, Oklahoma State and Headquarters staff members: Extension Coordinator Lisa Lunney Thomson and Executive Director Kari Kittrell.

The model chapter meeting followed at the Embassy Suites with Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay presiding. Following her installation as Eta Rho’s president, Jenna Stack presided and closed the meeting
Alumna’s thoughts about being a part of the new Eta Rho Chapter: “Twenty or so alumnae were called together by Fraternity President, Julie Marine Leshay to help to establish a Kappa chapter on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Most of us did not know each other, and yet the bond was there right away: the trust, the support, the friendship and the fun. We worked and planned and hoped that the dream of a new chapter would become a reality. We held our collective breaths as recruitment took place, and then, the magic moment of the pledge ceremony for 111 new members for a brand-new chapter! Now we work even harder to make sure Eta Rho will be the same wonderful experience we each had, and are now having again. Full circle—Kappa keeps its promise.” Judith Goins Carleson, Oregon State

Charter members’ thoughts about becoming Kappas: One-hundred-eleven female students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have had the incredible opportunity to be a part of something extremely unique…being a charter member of a new Kappa chapter. The Eta Rho Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma began with the process of recruiting girls in January 2013. Our current members found out about Kappa’s arrival in many different ways. Some of the girls read about the arrival in our school newspaper, and others saw flyers in our University Union. Personally, I found out about Kappa while being handed a hair tie with KAPPA written on it. That little green hair tie which seemed so insignificant at the time would turn out to be something unexpected and special.
My best friend, Kelsey Suggs, is a Kappa at Stanford University. Whenever I would visit her, her sisters always welcomed me with open arms. Because of the wonderful experiences I had with the Stanford Kappas, I knew that this was an organization that I wanted to be a part of. After attending the informational meetings and deciding to pledge, I knew this would be one of the best decisions I’ve made. I wanted to be the involved in the start of something new and special at Cal Poly.

Now, Eta Rho is a fully established and chartered chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. While we are officially recognized by campus as a part of the Greek system, we still have a lot of work to do. Our amazing chapter council works hard every week to ensure that we make our chapter the best that it can possibly be. Being a charter member of a chapter involves a lot of hard work. Each member of Eta Rho is embracing this once-in-a-lifetime journey that we are all a part of.

Many of our sisters are very vocal about what Kappa has done for us. Karen Nakaki said, “I have always admired Greek women, but had not found a group I felt was right for me at Cal Poly. So when the opportunity to be a charter member of Kappa Kappa Gamma came up, I knew I had to go for it. I knew Kappa to be a strong national organization, so I knew that as a new chapter, we would have so much support from the alumnae and other chapters at nearby schools. I truly feel as though we've been welcomed into the Kappa family with open arms, and for that I am so grateful and proud to wear the golden key.”

Nina Reyes shares similar feelings. “I wanted to join Kappa because I wanted to be a part of starting an organization that promotes leadership and friendship! I’ve always been interested in joining Greek life, but the timing had never been right. Once I heard about Kappa, I just had this gut feeling that this is it. This is the organization I am meant to be in. I love Kappa!”

Chelsea French expressed her joy of being a new member. “My feelings now for Kappa are something almost indescribable. At first I joined for community, but I have been given something even greater. I have received a knowledge and appreciation for leadership that I could not compare. I have learned commitment, loyalty, and friendship that could only have happened through Kappa.”

Overall, each of us has been touched by Kappa in a different way. Personally, I feel that by being a founding member of Eta Rho, I know I’m leaving behind a legacy at my university that will grow and prosper as the years go on. Katie Ryan, Public Relations Chairman

Preceding information provided by 2010-2014 Fraternity Extension Chairman Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse.
Fraternity Announcement:

Kappa Kappa Gamma has announced the official installation of its 139th collegiate chapter, located at California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

As one of the largest fraternities for women, Kappa welcomed 111 young women as they became charter members of the Eta Rho Chapter on March 2, 2013. More than 150 active and alumna women took part in this momentous occasion.

“Installing the Eta Rho Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was a special honor,” said Julie Leshay, Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity President. “The charter members are poised and ready to write their page of Kappa history, and all of us are thrilled to welcome these incredible new sisters.”

Kappa’s chapter at Cal Poly is the eighth National Panhellenic Conference group on campus and proudly, joins Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta and Sigma Kappa.

Community service, collaboration and unity are strengths of Cal Poly, and these attributes encourage students to provide service to their campus and community and develop leadership skills while experiencing an excellent education.

“These strengths complement the values that Kappa stands for,” added Leshay. Our already outstanding Cal Poly chapter is a wonderful addition to our organization!”

==Highlights of 2013==

Prior to the beginning of the new school year, Eta Rho’s Charter class enjoyed an exciting sisterhood retreat at Disneyland on September 12, 2013. Following that, the chapter prepared for our first formal recruitment with a spirit week from September 15-21. Each day of spirit week, sisters spent hours practicing how to recruit potential new members, learning new songs, practicing a recruitment performance, and most importantly, bonding. Once school officially began, Eta Rho participated in its first formal Panhellenic recruitment. It was a long and stressful process for the chapter but also a rewarding and successful one. By the end of the weekend, the charter class extended bids to 76 lovely potential new members. Eta Rho’s Charter class welcomed the Beta Class with an exciting “Kappily Ever After” themed Bid Day on October 1, 2013.

Throughout October, the Beta Class went through their new member period with tons of sisterhood events such as Kappa Kappacino hours, farmers markets, sisterhood studies, and shopping at a sorority vendor. The chapter also had fun with other Greek organizations with exchanges and sister twisters. Sisters got a chance to hang out with their families and support Cal Poly football during Parent’s weekend from October 25-27.

November was another packed month for Eta Rho. On the first, there was a fun Disney themed exchange with Delta Chi. On the following day, Eta Rho put on it’s first big philanthropy event, Kappa Kickball. Twelve of Cal Poly’s IFC fraternities participated in the event with us to support RIF. It was an exciting event with Delta Sigma Phi taking first in the tournament. On November 15, 2013, the Beta class had their new member retreat at Ludwick Community Center and was surprised with a Big/Little reveal. The next night, November 16th, was the first annual Kappa Krush date party. After that exciting weekend, the Beta Class continued having sisterhood bonding with I-week events. Their week consisted of a movie night, line dancing, scrapbooking, and a potluck. The week was topped off with their Fireside ceremony on November 22, 2013.

Finally, the new members became an active Beta Class with an early morning initiation on November 23, 2013. The Charter class welcomed 65 lovely newly initiated actives to the Eta Rho family. The eventful month of November was ended with a formal meeting on November 24, 2013, where the new 2013-2014 Chapter Council was elected.

Cal Poly’s Greek Life is alive more now than ever. The Greek Community continues to thrive, grow, and collaborate together through events, philanthropy, and building a strong relationship between chapters. The same sort of community can be seen in our new chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Together as a sorority, we make up a very diverse group of women, making the chapter a place where unexpected paths can merge. All members contribute to the dynamic of our chapter in which we all play a role in building an organization based on the Kappa ideals. We all love one another and genuinely care about the well being of our sisters. We are proud to be building “our dear Kappa days”.

==Highlights of 2014==

Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Rho Chapter spent their second year at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo making strides to develop the new chapter and build a sisterly bond with one another. 2014 marked a time of great growth of the chapter, furthering the chapter in new and exciting ways, and making a difference within the San Luis Obispo County.

The year started off in full force as we elected our second wave of council women to help lead the chapter on January 12, 2014. Within the first few weeks of our Winter Quarter, we began tabling and spreading the word that Kappa was looking for a new Gamma class to call Kappa their home. After a week of tabling in the University Union, Kappa held Informal Recruitment at the House for three days of parties to get to know the girls. On January 18th, we welcomed 29 New Members to become a Kappa and hosted Bid Day at our home. During the New Member period, Eta Rho welcomed the new members with several sisterhood events including Sisterhood Studies, a visit to In-N-Out Burger in Arroyo Grande, a Taco Tuesday Dinner, a Girls’ Night In Event where we painted nails, danced, and had pizza, and much more. During the New Member Period, Owl Pals were set up, which is when Active members were paired with New Members to meet up one-on-one and get to know each other better. As time passed and sister bonding strengthened, it was soon time for Big and Little Pairings to happen! To surprise the soon-to-be Littles, the Bigs made a maze of string for their Littles to trace back to them. The entangled string sent the littles all around the house, but ultimately led to their Big! The event was an exciting and fun way for the Bigs and Littles to revealed to one another. After a week of I-Week activities including yoga, trips to SLO DO CO, Tie-Dying, and a fun Kappa themed Girls’ Night, the chapter was officially ready to welcome in the Gamma Class. A wonderful Initiation took place March 7th and 8th on Cal Poly’s Campus, where we officially welcomed 29 Gammas into our growing chapter.

During the first quarter of 2014, the chapter participated in several Philanthropy events. Eta Rho participated in Lambda Chi Alpha’s Watermelon Bust, Write the Night Philanthropy held in Chumash Auditorium, Sorority’s Best Dance Crew hosted by Theta Chi, Phi Sigma’s Bocce Ball Tournament, a clean up of a local San Luis Obispo street, Hathway, with Sigma Pi, and donated our handmade Alphabet cards to local preschools for children to use. Together, our acts of philanthropy united the chapter while having fun and supporting many important local and National philanthropies and causes.

During Winter Quarter, Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted a Semi-Formal on February 26th at the Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo. The girls loved getting dolled up to dance the night away with their sisters and dates! Eta Rho also had a “Cats and Lumberjacks” themed exchange with ZBT and Theta Chi at Dairy Creek on February 21st. As an Academic Excellence party, the chapter and AE committee celebrated the women that earned a spot on the Dean’s List for the quarter prior, with a delicious Ice Cream Party hosted at the house. On March 2nd, Eta Rho hosted our fist ever House Dedication Ceremony on our First Birthday! The party was called “Day at the Derby”, so we all dressed up in sundresses and big hats to celebrate all of Eta Rho’s accomplishments. There was a photo booth, a southern style meal prepared by our Alumna, Madonna Inn Cake, and a ceremony in which the President and the House Chair unveiled the KKG letters on our beautiful, new home. We also joined the men from DSP for a dinner on March 13th. Kappa participated in Panhellenic Intramural Soccer, and we came out victorious, placing first among all other sororities. We ended the quarter with several events to ease ourselves and our Cal Poly peers into week ten and the following finals week. We had a Kappa Kappachino station set up on Dexter Lawn on Campus in which we served free Starbucks Coffee to brighten finals week for our fellow Mustangs. Also, thanks to our terrific Parent and Alumna Association, the entire chapter was given a bag of goodies to endure the upcoming Finals week.

Once we all returned from Spring Break, the chapter was ready to start off another quarter and ready to be with their sisters again! During our first week of school, we began our calendar with an exchange with Phi Kappa Psi with an American themed party. On April 10th through the 12th, new students flocked Cal Poly’s campus to preview the school, and to welcome the prospective students, Eta Rho set up tables to talk to parents and new students interested in going Greek. On May 3rd, Kappa hosted our second ever Sapphire Ball at Avlia Beach Golf Resort. The venue was outside right on the edge of the ocean, dinner was provided, and we danced and socialized under the stars! During May 12th through the 18th, all of the Cal Poly Greek Community came together to compete in Greek Week! Kappa Kappa Gamma was a part of Team Green, in a Hunger Games themed competition. Events ranged from Penny Wars to Dodge ball to Lip Synch to participating in blood drives and fundraisers at local eateries. A favorite day during Greek Week is Beach Day, taking place at Pismo Beach where there are Limbo games, relay races, and Hamster Ball races! As the school year came to a close, we hosted a Senior Sendoff Event on June 7th to celebrate our graduating seniors. Seniors gave speeches and the chapter shared fond memories.

During Spring Quarter, Kappa Kappa Gamma continued to partake in philanthropies across campus. On April 5th, three Kappas competed in Iron Chef with Delta Chi, where the sisters worked together to create a Hawaiian themed meal. The chapter formed a beach volleyball team to compete in Lambda Chi Alpha’s Lambda Cabana to raise money. We participated in Gamma Phi Beta’s philanthropy Flags for Frances on April 13th, NAK’s Miss Greek Universe, Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, AEPi’s Dodge ball Tournament, Sigma Nu’s Ducky Derby, Cal Poly’s Relay for Life supporting cancer research, and a carnival entitled ZBT Tahiti hosted by ZBT. During this quarter, the chapter earned their SAFER certification title from the University. By attending educational and fun events, our chapter learned how to live and promote a safe lifestyle. Members of the chapter participated in a Reading is Key events on April 19th and 26th at the Prado Day Center, a community center helping the homeless in San Luis Obispo. Together, we read books aloud, donated books, crafted, and helped kids get excited about reading!

As Summer break drew to a close, the women of Eta Rho met up to reconnect, bond, and prepare for Recruitment by gathering at the Kappa House for Spirit Week. During this time, we talked about why we love Kappa, the special ethics that connect us all, and preparing for Recruitment! During the middle of the week, we were surprised with a Sisterhood retreat to Disneyland on September 16th. Once our week of preparation was complete, we were ready and eager to talk to the girls interested in going Greek! All parties were held at the Kappa House, where we gave the girls tours of our home and shared why Kappa is important to us through conversation, pictures, and videos. At the end of Recruitment, we gave over eighty girls bids, and we celebrated their arrival into the chapter with a “Sweet Home Kappa Gamma” themed bid day! The following days, we had several sisterhood events including another trip to In-N-Out, a sisterhood BBQ, Pumpkin decorating for Halloween, Line Dancing Lessons, a shopping day at a local boutique, and a whole lot of sister bonding!

This Fall quarter was our time to shine and promote our philanthropies with the Cal Poly Community. On November 8th, we hosted our first ever Kappa Karaoke Philanthropy in Chumash Auditorium. Several groups signed up to participate and belt it out on stage. All proceeds of the event supported Kids’ Cancer Research Fund, a non-profit that was established in our very own San Luis Obispo. There was a raffle, a photo booth, games, and entertainment. The event was open to the general public, and several guest speakers spoke, including the founders of Kids’ Cancer Research Foundation! Kappa Kappa Gamma also contributed community service during Cal Poly’s Make a Difference Day. We went to Growing Grounds, a local non-profit whole-sale nursery where we helped in the garden and clean up their land.

On October 13th, Eta Rho celebrated Founder’s Day at the Sea Cliffs Resort on the edge of the ocean! We all gathered for brunch and speeches commemorating our Founding Sisters of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. The first Owl Award was presented to a sister of impressive academic devotion. As fall quarter continued, we had an exchange themed “SLO-Chella” in which we wore our flower crowns and dressed up as if we were attending the famous music festival. On October 23rd, we had a Taco Night Dinner with Sigma Pi at our house. And to conclude our socials, we ended the quarter with Kappa Krush, on November 7th at Petra Mediterranean Pizza and Grill, where we dressed up as the “perfect pair” with our dates.

After getting to know our new Delta New Member Class, Big and Little Reveal was here. After surprising the Littles at Avila Beach during their New Member Retreat, the Littles ran to go find their Big by matching their key to their Big’s lock. Big and Little reveal was followed by I-Week activities including donuts and coffee, a movie night and crafting, which were the final events before the Delta Class was initiated. Initiation of the Delta class took place at the Embassy Suites on November 21 and 22nd. During Finals Week, the AE Committee held a pizza party at the house in which we were divided up by college to allow us to get to know our like-minded peers and sisters a little bit better. The year concluded with nominations for the new 2015 council positions and a chapter-wide gift of a Alex and Ani Bracelet with a Fleur-de-Lis charm!

==Highlights of 2015==

Eta Rho has had such a fantastic third year on Cal Poly’s campus. Through philanthropy
events, sisterhood events, a new chapter council and many other fun activities, we are starting
to really make a name for ourselves as the newest sorority at Cal Poly.

2015 started out with a bang when the new chapter council was installed on January 4th.
It was a beautiful ceremony during our weekly Sunday chapter meeting that we welcomed 18
fresh faced and motivated woman to lead Eta Rho chapter. We are so appreciative of the work
that was done by the outgoing officers, and were lucky to have Leadership Day with them along
with the wonderful Barb Goettelman just a few days later on January 10th on Cal Poly’s
campus. On this day, Barb did some motivational speaking to the outgoing and incoming
officers, along with several advisors. We did a lot of ice breakers and the outgoing officers
shared tips for the incoming officers.

On January 11th, the Academic Excellence Committee held a banquet at the Kappa
house that was catered by Chipotle. At this event, there were tons of prizes given away such as
Victoria’s Secret gift cards for those Kappa smarties who received a GPA of 4.0 for the previous
quarter.

One of our favorite events that we hold every year is our Parents Weekend at the historic
Madonna Inn in SLO. On February 7th, we invited our parents to enjoy the weekend with us
starting out with a fabulous brunch the infamous Madonna cake. The following day we held
house tours at our spectacular house and showed it off to our loved ones. There was hot
chocolate and pastries that were paired perfectly with the Fall weather! This event is held every
year and is put on by our Public Relations chairman who always do a fabulous job.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, our philanthropy chairman had a fun idea of
holding a Galentine’s Day at the Kappa house. We laughed the night away with our sisters while
eating all kinds of desserts and making crafts. We also wrote Valentine’s Day cards to give to a
Senior Living home in SLO and hand delivered them to the residents. It really made their day to
have a handwritten note given to them from complete strangers! It’s little philanthropic acts like
this that we pride ourselves in.

Before we knew it, it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and with Reading is Fundamental as our
main philanthropy, it was only fitting that we celebrated it to the fullest! On February 27th, some
of the Eta Rho sisters went to the SLO Boys and Girls Club and spent the day reading to the
kids and doing crafts with them like making paper Dr. Seuss hats. We had so much fun bringing
joy to these children on this day and love all of the connections we have with local elementary
schools as well. We hope to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday every year and support Reading is
Fundamental in every way that we can.

Happy birthday to Eta Rho! On March 7th, 2015, we celebrated the installation of Eta
Rho on Cal Poly’s campus for our second birthday (although our actual birthday is March 2nd).
We rented out the roller blading rink in Santa Maria and skated the day away with our sisters!
There was a delicious cake there to help us celebrate our special day that was put on by Danielle Van Skike, our chapter Education Chairman. Each academic class dressed up in generations, from rocking the ‘90’s with overalls to fun neon patterns and jackets for the ‘80’s. Today we reflected on how far Eta Rho has come and all that we have accomplished.

Every year during finals week we try the brighten the days of our fellow student body by
putting on Kappa Kappachino. For this event, we set a booth up on Dexter Lawn at Cal Poly and
give out free Starbucks coffee and scantrons to students! It’s always a huge hit and is great PR
for our chapter. We held this event on March 12th as well as March 13th giving students two
days to enjoy everything that we give out!

Our first exchange of the year was a night to remember. On April 25th, we danced the
night away with the men of Delta Tau Delta and Theta Chi at a Petra restaurant in SLO. With
“when I grow up” as our theme, our girls created hilarious, creative costumes from a chef to a
rock star! Our favorite part about exchanges is getting ready with our sisters and letting off
school stress on the dance floor!

In addition to this exchange, we also had exchanges with Beta, Kappa Sigma, Sigma Pi
and a fraternity dinner with Sigma Pi. One of our sisters, Bibi, is the sweetheart for Sigma Pi
fraternity, so it is always fun to hold events with them. At our fraternity dinner with Sigma Pi, we
held it at our house and ate yummy Mexican food. Complete with a pinata and a few games of
corn hole, it was a night to remember.

One of our favorite things about being a Kappa is the bond we have with our sisters. We
love looking back on all of the sisterhood events that are put on by our Standards and
Sisterhood chairmen. A few of these events include International Night at the Kappa house with
activities originating from different countries, spa sisterhood days at the house with facials and
nail painting, a hypnotist sisterhood on campus and renting out movie theatres to watch
premiers with our sisters. This year we watched the new Hunger Games movie as well as Pitch
Perfect 2.

Our biggest philanthropy of the year was on May 2nd, Kappa Kickball. We hold this
event every year to support Reading is Fundamental. There is a kickball tournament put on
where all of Cal Poly’s fraternities are invited to come out and play in a single elimination
tournament. This year, it was a red, white and blue theme and trophies were given to the
winning team! We raised a lot of money for this organization that is near and dear to our heart.
This was a huge week for us, because just the day after was the start of Greek Week! We had
so much fun with our Greek Week partners playing fun sports games all week and ending it with
Lip Sync, where our team did an awesome memoir to the Breakfast Club. This is such a fun
week for all of Cal Poly’s greek life and thousands of dollars are raised every year for various
philanthropies.

On May 30th, we had our annual Senior Sendoff at the Kappa house. This day is as
equally joyful as it is sad, as we say goodbye to our seniors. We hold “roasts and toasts” and tell
embarrassing stories of our sisters and reminisce on the year we all had together. There are
also senior wills which are items given from the graduating senior to any sister they feel should
be given that item. Examples of this are Kappa shirts, inside joke gifts and small things they’ve
collected from Kappa events throughout the year. The seniors then receive a stein that has
Kappa’s crest on it that is filled with little goodies. This is another event that is put on by the
Education chairman and it is always such a sentimental event!

Not only do we love putting on our own philanthropies to support the organizations that
we love, but we also love attending philanthropy events from other sororities and fraternities.
We participated in a ton this year, and had so much fun doing it. A few of these include Lambda
Chi Alpha’s Watermelon Bust supporting the SLO Food Bank, TKE’s flag football, Delta Chi’s
pumpkin carving event that “carved out cancer”, Phi Kappa Psi’s Sorority Soccer Cup
supporting the SLO Boys and Girls Club, and also attended sorority events like Chi Omega’s
ChiO Casino and Alpha Omicron Pi’s Mr. Fraternity which supported Alzheimer’s research. We
are so proud of the greek community as a whole and all the hard work that goes into a
successful philanthropy event.

It wasn’t long until school was out for the Summer! Our sisters had a blast spending a
few months off from school together and traveling. We got some much needed rest, and knew
that recruitment was right around the corner! Spirit Week was from September 7th to September
18th. During these two weeks, our Recruitment Chairman was hard at work raising morale and
teaching all of us the ins and outs of recruitment that was right around the corner. We learned
our Door Song, which was to the infamous Kappa Rap, played ice breakers with our sisters and
bonded before the stressful week that was ahead. Recruitment ran from September 24th 29th.
After a long week, we were so excited to welcome our Epsilon class of 2015 at our
baseball themed, “Sweet Home Kappa Gamma” Bid Day. We love our 88 new members! They
were initiated on November 21st at a beautiful ceremony that they will remember forever. We
now have five smart, classy, beautiful pledge classes at Cal Poly!

On November 14th, we held our annual Kappa Krush date party at Spencer Makenzie’s
in SLO. The theme every year is “perfect pair” and the girls had so much fun dressing up with
dates. This is one of our favorite events of the year because we get to be creative and shake off
some stress before finals.

We have had another successful year at Cal Poly overcoming obstacles that inevitably
come with being a new chapter. We hope to improve our retention rates and also improve our
chapter involvement amongst our members. We do pride ourselves in the awards that we have
been granted such as Cal Poly’s Outstanding Greek Council Member of the Year given to
Megan Minahan and Cal Poly’s Panhellenic President of the Year given to Hannah Heitzig. Our
sister Kelsy Koenig was also crowned Homecoming Queen at Cal Poly representing the college
of Liberal Arts, and we could not be more proud of her!

Organizations that we have raised money for include Jack’s Helping Hand, Reading is
Fundamental and Together We Rise. Jack’s Helping Hand is an organization in SLO that helps
children and their families if they are diagnosed with cancer or a rare disability. We held a
Kappa 5k Run and invited the community to run with us and raise money for this organization.
We held Kappa Kickball in the Spring that raised money for Reading is Fundamental. We also
decorated “Sweet Cases” for Together We Rise, a nonprofit that helps youth navigate through
America’s foster care system. Sweet Cases are duffel bags that are stocked with hygiene
products, coloring books, crayons and more comforting items.

The 2016 Executive Board will be officially installed into office on January 9th on
Leadership day. Advisors, ingoing and outgoing officers will be present to send the new council
on their way. We are so proud of all of the accomplishments that Eta Rho had in 2015 and are
so excited to watch the new council flourish and make Kappa the best house that it can be.

==Highlights of 2016==
This year marked a pivotal transition year for Eta Rho. The remainder of our beloved Alpha class graduated in spring quarter, leaving us (and one remaining Alpha who is staying for fall quarter) to forge our own path in our fourth year on Cal Poly’s campus.

We started off our year with one of our favorite sisterhood activities--a movie night at the house hosted in the backyard complete with popcorn and candy. We bundled up and welcomed each other back from Winter Break. The next day our new Chapter Council dove right in with Leadership Day, where new officers were transitioned with the help of outgoing council as well as some of our advisors.

On January 10th we hosted our annual catered Academic Excellence banquet to honor the women in our chapter who received a 4.0, Dean’s List, and achieved their academic goals they set for themselves.
This year was the second year we have done winter recruitment. However, this year we took a more casual approach and got coffee with women that our chapter recommended. We got to know them one-on-one rather than doing an entire mini-recruitment at our house. We welcomed our Zeta class of 13 women with a baseball-themed bid day at the house.
February started off with Parents Weekend. Friday, February 5th, we opened our house to show our parents and loved ones. The following day we ate brunch at the Madonna Inn and got to hear about how Kappa has affected women in our chapter and alumni. That Sunday we hosted a hike for all sisters and parents to join.
The next weekend was filled with just as much fun for us. The following Thursday, we had a dinner with Delta Upsilon at their new house. The next day we celebrated Valentine’s day with a “Galentine’s Day” complete with cookies and note-writing. On Saturday we participated in Sigma Pi’s Home Run Derby philanthropy, where our sister Sarah took home first place!

The fun continued through the rest of February with fun social events. We had a librarians and barbarians themed exchange with the men of Delta Tau Delta and Phi Sigma Kappa. We also had our semi-formal, hosted at the Old Port Inn in Avila. We honored our seniors with a senior wine-tasting trip, hopefully a new tradition that the rest of the chapter can look forward to one day.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a trip to C.L. Smith Elementary School to do a Reading is Key event. Our sisters love interacting with the children and seeing how reading is impacting children first-hand. Our philanthropic spirit continued into March when we participated in a beach clean up with the men of Zeta Beta Tau.
March 2nd fell on a Saturday, which meant we got to celebrate Eta Rho’s third birthday party on the actual day! Because Eta Rho was turning three, we found it appropriate to throw ourselves a third birthday party at our house--complete with party hats, face-paint, balloons, streamers, and other fun childhood games and activities. It was fun to let loose and celebrate our chapter and how much we have grown.

The quarter was almost over, which meant that it was time to participate in our quarterly Kappa Kappacino event. We hand out free coffee, donuts, and scantrons to the students struggling to get through Dead Week. So many of our sisters love this event because it really does brighten up students’ days and we love how thankful students are.
But before we knew it, Winter Quarter was over and it was Spring Quarter, which meant it was time to initiate our Zetas. We got to bond during I-week with Zeta Zumba and a sisterhood trip to the weekly Farmer’s Market. Our Zetas were initiated on April 2nd. We got to celebrate with something a bit unorthodox--a British acapella band made a stop in SLO, coordinated by one of our sisters and her mom. They came to the Kappa house and serenaded us with a beautiful performance! It was so fun (and higher quality than a normal fraternity serenade).
On April 23, we had an exchange with Theta Chi and Zeta Beta Tau. The theme was jerseys and jorts (jean shorts) and it was great to see all of our sisters go all out for the theme. Throughout the year, we also had an exchange with Kappa Sigma and Sigma Pi as well as a dinner with Cal Poly’s men’s lacrosse and rugby teams and another one with Zeta Beta Tau.

The weekend of April 30th, our sisters started a new tradition with participating in Wildflower. Many other Greek organizations pair up and help to volunteer at the marathon, so we joined in on the fun with the men of Beta Theta Pi. In addition to this, we continued serving our community throughout Spring Quarter. The next weekend we helped out with a water station outside of our house for the SLO Marathon. Another fun service and fundraising opportunity, Greek Week, was the following week. May 2nd through 9th was filled with fun activities that we got to enjoy with our partners, Sigma Nu, Alpha Epsilon Phi, and Lambda Phi Epsilon. Greek Week activities were not only fun competition but also raised money for Jack’s Helping Hand, a local charity that our chapter also supports.
Philanthropy efforts from our chapter continued on May 14th when we hosted Kappa Splash. We swapped out our usual spring philanthropy of a kickball tournament for something more unique and interactive. We hosted an innertube water polo tournament between fraternities and it was a roaring success. We had a great fraternity turnout and both the participants and women in our chapter were having fun tanning by the pool, splashing around, watching games, and taking pictures. We even heard participants talking after the event about their excitement for next year’s tournament. We hope that we have started a new era for philanthropy and can continue this positive energy and love for this event!
On June 3rd we hosted our senior sendoff ceremony. This bittersweet time is always hard for our chapter, but this year it was particularly hard to say goodbye to the women in the Alpha (and some Beta) class who were so influential in making our chapter what it is today. We thanked them for their courage to start a new chapter and we promised we would carry on their legacy.

Because we were so busy during spring quarter, we held our formal on June 4th. It was at the Avila Beach Golf Resort and made for beautiful pictures. We danced the night away under a beautiful tent with string lights that overlooked the beach. But, formal was bittersweet because it was the last time a majority of our chapter was together before school was out for summer!

Before we knew it, it was time to pack our bags and come back for Spirit Week. We went over logistics like how to line up, how to do pickups, how to introduce yourself, and how to walk down our front steps without looking down and without tripping. But Spirit Week is so much more than logistics. We held workshops where we got to bond with our sisters and get to know more about each other. Spirit Week is a time to come closer together and learn more about each other as well as yourself. Ice breakers, emotional note-writing, and silly activities helped to strengthen our sisterhood and ensure that we were ready to welcome new women into our chapter. And, of course, Spirit Week means our sisterhood trip to Disneyland!

Recruitment started on September 28th and proved to be the long hours we anticipated. However, all of the time and sleepless nights were worth it when we welcomed home our beloved Eta class with a Vegas themed bid day at La Cuesta Ranch on October 5th.

The Etas kicked off their new member period right away with a sisterhood trip to farmer’s, a fraternity dinner, and an In-n-Out takeover. Our chapter was kept busy with many sisterhoods as well as our annual Founder’s Day celebration, this year held at the Madonna Inn with a theme of “something blue.”
Once again, our Philanthropy Chairman blew us away with our fall philanthropy. Last year we decided to do a “Kappa Kostume Run” and we decided to take it on again this year, except we wanted to go much bigger and improve turnout. We could have never expected the turnout we got--over 300 people participated and we raised over $4,000 for Jack’s Helping Hand (to put that in perspective, that’s about as much as all of Greek life raised during Greek Week).
The fun continued with our annual Kappa Krush date party was held on November 11th at the Embassy Suites this year. We stuck with our theme of “perfect pair” but tried to do the dates differently this year--we suggested that our members ask a date for their buddy.

Finally, we held a very successful I-week the week before dead week of fall quarter. We watched our women win the championship of soccer intramurals on our team with Beta Theta Pi, watched Moana at the drive-in, and held our first ever senior/new member night where the seniors got to pass on words of wisdom and advice to our chapter’s future. We initiated our Eta class on December 3rd.

Although we faced challenges this year, we are so proud of how far we have come. We received the President’s Community Service Award for an on-campus organization that does outstanding service. This was a big year for our philanthropy and we have finally started to establish ourselves on campus. We take pride in our strong sisterhood and the genuine women we have in this chapter. We have worked on improving our retention rate and are working on using our committees to improve chapter involvement. Council meetings have had almost every seat filled because of members coming to actively participate. We are so excited for our next executive board to take on leadership. We can’t wait to see what they have in store and how they will help us continue to grow!

Approved by the Eta Rho Chapter on 12/4/2016

==Highlights of 2017==
Eta Rho has reached its fifth year at Cal Poly with an exciting and successful year! Our chapter continues to grow and evolve as we establish ourselves and make our presence known on campus. Our philanthropy events—Kappa Splash and the Kappa 5k run—have raised thousands of dollars for Reading is Fundamental and Jack’s Helping Hands. We hope to continue raising more money every year to help make a difference in the San Luis Obispo Community and the whole country!

We started off 2017 with our new council members and the excitement of Winter Recruitment. We invited amazing women to our preference night at the house after meeting them for a coffee date earlier in the week. Informal recruitment was a success with our newly recruited eight wonderful Thetas that have shown to be an amazing addition to our chapter. We celebrated our new members with a fun bid day at the house with desserts, snacks, and sisters! Our first event with the new members was a dinner with the men of Beta Theta Pi. The rain did not stop us from having a great time and we always enjoy spending time with their fraternity! Our first sisterhood event with our Theta class was a space themed bowling night with pizza at Mustang Lanes. We had such a great time meeting our great new additions to the chapter at both the dinner and sisterhood!

As February approached, so did Parents Weekend! We kicked off the weekend by hosting an open house at the Kappa house where families were able to tour the house and meet the ladies that live in. We hoped the parents would now understand why we love our house so much after seeing it for themselves! We finished off the weekend with brunch at the Madonna Inn. Our families arrived with hundreds of books to donate to Reading is Fundamental and it was great that we could get our parents involved in our national philanthropy and show them how much it means to our chapter! During the meal, we introduced our chapters council members and sang for our families. We loved being able to introduce our families to each other and be able to show them what Kappa is all about!

Before we knew it, semi-formal season was upon us! The theme was Kappa Kappa Gatsby and it was at the Marriott. We danced the night away with our dates and sisters, and had an awesome time. On March 3rd, we celebrated Eta Rho’s fifth birthday with an event at Suspended Aerial Motion. We split up into two groups and had the opportunity to climb, flip, and twist on silks. It was an amazing experience that most of our sisters had never even heard of before, let alone attempted!

Winter quarter sped by and before we knew it, it was initiation week! We kicked off I-Week with a Zumba class at the Rec Center, an In-n-Out takeover the following night, and finished the week with a movie night watching Neighbors 2. Fireside and Initiation were beautiful and the Thetas were finally initiated into our amazing sisterhood. As winter quarter came to an end, we hosted our quarterly Senior Sendoff at our chapter meeting. It was bittersweet because we are going to miss our sisters so much but we know they are going to do amazing in the next chapter of their lives. We finished off the quarter with a day of service with the men of Zeta Beta Tau at Growing Grounds in San Luis Obispo. We were split up into different groups to perform different tasks for two hours. They are always very gracious when we go to volunteer and our sisters always work hard at these events!

Spring quarter finally arrived and we jumped right back into Kappa! We attended Farmers Market on the Thursday before the Cal Poly Open House in our cute Kappa tanks to show the Potential New Members how strong the Kappa sisterhood is. The following Saturday we joined the rest of Greek Life at the club showcase for open house where we setup our booth and chatted with PNMs and their families. We encouraged women to consider Greek Life because of the amazing opportunities that we are given with meeting new people, getting involved with community service, and being able to make the large Cal Poly campus seem a bit smaller.

Our busy spring quarter continued with a sisterhood event at the movies to see Beauty and The Beast. We then hosted our annual Kappa Splash Tournament, with proceeds going to Reading is Fundamental. The event went very smoothly and the men of Zeta Beta Tau won for the second year in a row! All of the participants loved the event and are looking forward to next year. After our philanthropy, we hopped right into competitive mode for the start of Greek Week. Our team was “Back to the Future” and the theme of the week was “Battle of the Classics.” We did an amazing job, winning many of the sports including bowling, basketball and flag football. Unfortunately, our team came in second place, but we improved greatly from last year and there is always next year to take home the victory! Our busy quarter did not slow down even when we neared the end. We hosted a Jolyn trunk Show, which was a huge success and girls really enjoyed it!

We also had a movie night at the house with In-N-Out and Magic Mike, followed by senior sendoff the next morning. Many girls came to “Roast and Toast” our seniors and it was a great sendoff. We are so proud of the amazing women who graduated and are excited to see what the future has in store for them!

Formal came the weekend before finals and it was well worth the wait. It was at Edna Valley Vineyards and catered by Taqueria Santa Cruz. The food was amazing and the venue was absolutely stunning with rolling green hills in the background, a perfect backdrop for pictures! It was a great event, just like all the other ones we had so far this year! We reached finals and had to part our ways from our sisters for summer, already anticipating the reunion in fall for recruitment!

Over summer, our sisters went off and did some amazing things! Some ladies were studying abroad, others were traveling, a lot of women had amazing internships, and many stayed in SLO and were able to be together all summer. As much fun as we had this summer, we were eager to come back and begin recruitment! We started off the school year with spirit week! We trained for the various days of recruitment, bonded with different activities, and even made time to take a trip to Disneyland. Recruitment was long and tiring, but completely worth it. We recruited some amazing women that are going to be great additions to Eta Rho and keep the chapter moving in the right direction! We hosted our fall bid night on a ranch with ice cream, donuts, dancing and lots of pictures. It was a great night and a great introduction to Kappa for our New Members!

For the Iota’s new member period, we planned as many events as possible in order to make them feel comfortable and welcome in Kappa. Our first event with our New Members was going downtown for Farmers Market. Actives drove our new sisters downtown to eat food and mingle with the new members. Our next event was a fun beach day, where we really got to know our new members a little bit better. We also had a bonfire on Grover Beach a few days later where we roasted s’mores, watched the sunset, and got to know the new members even more!
At our chapter meeting on the following Monday, we had formal pledging for our Iota class. They were given their New Member pin that they are to keep until the new member period is over in November. The following weekend we celebrated Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founders day at the Madonna Inn. It even featured a Kappa rap from our advisor Judith! To finish off October, Kappa volunteered for Cal Poly’s “Make a Difference Day” where we helped clean the kitchen of a summer camp called Granite Ridge in Creston with the ladies of Chi Omega. One of our most anticipated events of the quarter finally arrived, Kappa Krush! Everyone dressed up in “Dynamic Duo” costumes and had a great time chatting, dancing, and eating at SLO Brew at the Rock. The new members loved being apart of the event and are so excited for next year!

Initiation week was finally upon us! We kicked off I-week with the Senior/New Member spa night and continued the week with our popular In-N-Out takeover and going to the drive-in theater at Sunset Drive-In where we watched Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy from the comfort of our cars! The week ended with Fireside and afterwards the New Members went to the Kappa house for a sleepover. This year, we decided to also have an active sleepover in order for the actives to also bond during this special week of the quarter. It was a great time and have now decided to make it into a tradition. On Saturday November 11, the Iota class was initiated and they could not be more excited. Girls went to brunch after initiation with their Kappa families to celebrate being an active member of Kappa! With initiation behind us, the quarter is coming to an end.

We can't wait to install our new executive board and ready ourselves for another exciting year in KKG! Our fraternity had great success this year with our recruitment, philanthropies, and events. We cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store for us and the excitement that’s yet to come!

Approved by Eta Rho on 11/13/2017

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'''Highlights of 2018:'''

Eta Rho’s 6th year on Cal Poly’s campus started out strong. The start of a new year came with the training of our new council at the annual Leadership Day where each council member got to learn from their predecessor and bond with the other girls who will be beside them every step of the way for the next year. All our members couldn’t be more excited to get the new year rolling.

We started off the quarter enjoying a dinner with the men of Sigma Pi. The next weekend in February we hosted our annual Kappa Parent’s weekend where girls get to show their parents around our beautiful home and introduce them to some of their Kappa sisters. The main event for this weekend is the brunch we host for all the families. In the past we have had the brunch at Madonna Inn, but this year we decided to switch it up and have the brunch at Slow Brew Rock, which was an absolute hit and might just become our new tradition.

The month of February had many more fun events that followed. We had a dinner with Theta Chi that was “Jarty in the USA” theme, our annual sisterhood movie in Atascadero where our sisters gathered to watch Fifty Shades Freed, and a sisterhood event where we volunteered at Growing Grounds to help our community. Then we moved into the first weekend of March, which was filled with Kappa everything. We started out the weekend with our Reading is Key event at CL Smith Elementary. The kids love when we come in to read and do crafts with them, and we also donate books that they get to keep and take home. That same day we had Eta Rho’s 6th birthday party at Central Coast Sports Arena in Santa Maria, where we dressed up in our best 70’s decade’s outfits, ate our weight in Buffalo Wild Wings, and roller bladed with our sisters. The following day we had our Semi formal at embassy suites. We finished out the month of March with another dinner, but this time with the men of Beta Theta Pi.

April was just as exciting and filled with a variety of events. We had an impromptu acai sisterhood, a senior spa day at Sycamore Hot Springs, and a Lulu sisterhood. The seniors raved about how amazing their spa day was and loved the chance to get to bond with their fellow seniors, as well as be provided with a nice get away where they could relax and forget about the stress of graduating and entering the real world in a few short months. Whereas, the Lulu sisterhood was a hit because we could all bond over our obsession for cute workout clothes and get a huge discount on many of our favorite items.

The rest of spring quarter we had the opportunity to really reflect on what Kappa means to us and why we chose to join this amazing organization. We were able to reflect on ourselves, take the time to be with our sisters and focus on our relationships and giving back to our community, not just our social events that often become our sole focus at times.

We had a few more events to finish out the school year. The seniors had a senior day where they got food at Libertine, bonded, and finished out their day with senior

pictures with the lovely Matthew Lalanne. We also had a big sisterhood event in place of our usual Spring formal at Santa Margarita Ranch. The event was carnival themed including face paint, glitter tattoos, cotton candy, tacos and our senior sendoff “Roast and Toast.” Lastly, we finished the quarter with our annual philanthropy Kappa Splash. The men of Zeta Beta Tau won for the third year in a row, and we were able to raise over $1,500 for Reading is Fundamental. Everyone loved spending the day at the pool, tanning, hanging out with friends, competing, and most importantly raising money for a great cause.

It was now the bitter sweet time of summer break where everyone is excited to be on break from school, but sad to be separated from their sisters for 3 months. Girls went in all directions for summer break. Some stayed in SLO, some went abroad, some had amazing internships, and others just had a nice relaxing summer at home. No matter where everyone ended up, we all couldn’t be more excited to be reunited in the fall.

Two weeks before the start of school in the fall, our sisters returned to SLO to attend our annual fall sisterhood retreat. We usually make this trip to Disneyland, but this year we decided to switch it up and do a cabin retreat at Big Bear Lake. Girls got to stay in cabins and have sleepovers just like when we were younger, have bonfires where everyone told stories or played games to get to know each other better. There was a plethora of fun activities to participate in each day. Some of the activities offered were archery, a high ropes course, and a rock climbing wall. In addition to an impromptu soccer game and yoga with one of our sisters leading the class.

When everyone returned from the retreat it was time to jump right into Spirit Week. The Iota class had a few days of practice just for them to go over the basics of recruitment and offer them time to ask any specific questions they may have, but more importantly a time to bond with the members of their pledge class before we welcomed our new Kappa class. Then, a few days later, the entire chapter joined the Iotas and we all practiced for the much anticipated and biggest event of fall quarter. Although the week was spent practicing for recruitment in order to best prepare us to recruit the most amazing and genuine girls we can, we also had mini sisterhoods every day after training to allow for us all to get to know every single girl and become closer as an entire chapter. This year’s Spirit Week was one for the books and definitely something to be emulated in the future.

The first week of school we kicked off our annual fall photo off with Asia Croson. She always takes amazing photos for us and all the girls that were able to attend the photoshoot were so excited to receive her pictures. Recruitment this year was split into two separate weekends in order to minimize class conflicts and hopefully help manage people’s stress with balancing school and recruitment right at the start of the new school year. The first weekend of recruitment went so well we couldn’t wait to get the next weekend started, but we were also happy to have a break during the week to be able to catch up on sleep, schoolwork, and give us the energy and motivation we needed to finish out the second weekend strong and recruit some amazing new girls into this sorority. Bid Day finally came around on October 8. It was blue and blue themed at Higuera Ranch, and we were so thrilled to finally welcome home our new Kappa pledge class! The theme and decorations were such a hit that this might just be a recurring theme in the future. Everyone came decked out in anything blue they could find. Some

girls even wore blue wigs to show their dedication and love for our new Kappas.

The new members had so many events to go to during their first few weeks that gave us the opportunity to show them how great Kappa is and teach them to love it just as much as we all do. Their first event was Founder’s Day at Madonna Inn on October 13th, followed by our new fall philanthropy, Kappa Karnival, and a dinner with Zeta Beta Tau and Kappa Sigma the next two weeks.

In the past we have done a 5K run for our big fall philanthropy that benefits Jack’s Helping Hand, but this year we wanted to do something new. We decided to put on a carnival for other Greek Life to compete in games against each other, and then after the competition open it to the public to provide fun games and prizes for our community to participate in. All proceeds from the carnival were donated to the Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center, and we raised over $7,000 in our first year! We have high hopes for this philanthropy to expand even more in the future and get more of the SLO community involved in such a great cause.

We finished off October by volunteering at Growing Grounds once more because they are always very accommodating of our large number of girls wanting to help and we love giving back to them in any way we can. The next month was packed full of even more fun events for the new members including two more dinners with California Philanthropy Group and Tau Kappa Epsilon, as well as our date party Kappa Krush and the much anticipated Big/Little Reveal!

Big/Little reveal is usually every girl’s favorite part of fall quarter because the new members find out who their big is, the actives get their littles, and everyone’s family grows a little bigger. This year the new members were at their new member retreat at the Kappa House and were told they were going to Mitchell Park down the street for a bonding activity, but little did they know their bigs were patiently awaiting in their boxes they decorated, ready to jump out and surprise them! The Kappas were all so amazed when they walked up and saw all the boxes, making Big/Little Reveal a huge success. After the event, everyone went out with their new families to bond and get some food.

Later that same night was Kappa Krush. Kappa Krush this year was at Grillhouse, but we switched up the theme a little from the past two years. In the past we had everyone dress up with their dates as a dynamic duo or perfect pair, but this year we thought it would be fun to dress up with our dates as a rhyme without reason. The best part of the night was trying to figure out how everyone’s’ costumes fit together and rhymed. This was our last event before we left for Thanksgiving break, and when we came back from break we jumped right into I-week and the initiation process for the Kappas.

I-week began with the returning of the new member pins where we catered Buffalo Wild Wings for the whole chapter to celebrate the start of the initiation process for our soon to be new actives. The week continued with a bowling night at mustang lanes for the entire chapter, a Zumba class at the rec center, and finally a movie night in downtown SLO to watch the new Grinch. Fireside was finally here, and we held this at The Guild Hall on Friday November 30th. All of the Kappas and New Member Chairman had a sleepover at the Kappa House after Fireside and couldn’t be more excited to finish out initiation Saturday morning. We continued with the initiation of the Kappas on Saturday December 1st in the Performing Arts Center on campus; they were no longer new members and officially become active members of Eta Rho. This year we even had

a few family members of the new members drive to SLO to help initiate their sister, which was very special for those girls. The Kappas were all so excited to finally be active members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and celebrated by going out to brunch with their families.

We finished out Winter quarter by electing our new council, and we couldn’t be more excited to see where they lead Eta Rho next. We have high hopes for their success and know they are all so eager to take on their new roles. We can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for us!

==Highlights of 2020==

When looking back at Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Eta Rho chapter’s 2020, it was filled with many ups and downs. We started the year off strong by transitioning our new chapter council at Leadership day through a variety of fun activities and planning. Members of EtaRho attended the San Luis Obispo annual women’s march to show solidarity for all women and continue the fight for equality. We then began meeting potential new members for coffee dates to add to our sisterhood, and on January 24 held a Hot Chocolate recruitment party. To provide some much-needed sister time, we held a breakfast burrito sisterhood at the beautiful Shell Beach. We laughed, ate, and spent quality time together to cleanse from the stressors of the quarter.On January 30th, we welcomed the Nu class to Eta Rho into this sisterhood by having an energetic and fun night at our beautiful blue and blue house on bid day. Decked out in our groovy outfits, all of the actives were so excited to welcome home our new sisters. The Nupledge class danced, laughed, ate some
pizza, took so many cute pictures and got to know some actives in Kappa. That next Monday, the new members were formally pledged into the sorority. During the following weeks, the new members and actives in Kappa got to experience Greek life to its max with the jam-packed weeks of activities including a dinner with the men of Sigma Pi, a Balls to the Wall sisterhood held in our very own basketball court, and participated in Alpha Gamma Rho’s rodeo philanthropy. On February 8th we showed support for our local philanthropy, the Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center, at their prom. Kappa’s spent the night dancing, playing games and volunteering for a night we will never forget. On February 9th, our lovely seniors had their senior brunch and got to bond over delicious food! We had the honor of hosting the Minnie Stewart Van later that week, and enjoyed getting to hear about and experience Kappa’s history in Virtual Reality. We then had a tasty Galentines chapter dinner to kick off the week and reflect on our love for our sisterhood. We had another valentine s themed dinner on February 13th with the men of Pi Kappa Phi and delighted in heart-shaped pizzas. On February 17th, Kappa’s participated in Zeta Beta Tau’s annual Knockerball philanthropy and took home a win for the third year in a row! The next weekend we welcomed our families and loved ones to join us in activities
for our annual Family Weekend. We closed the eventful weekend at the beautiful Filipponi Ranch with wine tasting and gourmet Taste appetizers.As time was flying by and the Nus went on many key sis dates with actives, and the search for their big came to a close. The new members put on the fun socks given to them by their bigs, and found the matching pair where their bigs were waiting to be revealed. These ladies were gifted their bigs and welcomed into their new fams on February 27. The good times didn’t stop there. Eta Rho held our first ever Sapphire Ball on February29th at the magical Higuera Ranch and danced the night away with our sisters and friends. On March1st, we celebrated 7 years of the Eta Rho chapter with a Roller Rink birthday party. We had so much fun, it will surely be a night we will never forget. The new members and actives kicked off I-week and ate some yummy food at the chapter dinner, participated in a 2000’stheme spin class, competed in a fun game of family feud KKG style. Throughout this time, the new members got to know many members of Kappa and had a blast. On March 7th, we had the pleasure of initiating the members of the Nu class, who went to
brunch with their bigs and families after to celebrate. That evening, we had a dinner with the men of Kappa Sigma and enjoyed making new friends in the Greek Life community. We kicked off finals week with a chapter dinner on the 15th, and said our goodbyes before leaving for spring break.Over spring break, Kappa’s went into lockdown along with the rest of the country because of the COVID-19pandemic. This was an unprecedented time for all of us as classes became virtual and we spent Spring quarter apart. We tried our best to stay connected with virtual sisterhoods such as Netflix watch parties and baking classes. Eta Rho also ensured we stayed connected by assigning pen pals. Members sent each other letters,stickers, clothing and even paintings to remind them they are loved and missed. Over the summer, our sisters showed support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement by raising money, educating ourselves and others, and attending protests. Going into the Fall quarter, Eta Rho looked internally at what we could do to better promote diversity and inclusion in our organization and came up with an action plan, held
discussions, and listened to chapter and community feedback. We continued the role of a diversity, equity,and inclusion chair, and added a committee that created awareness programs for the chapter, history presentations and led discussions. When we came back to school in the fall, most of us were still online and apart, prioritizing the community’s safety. This didn’t stop us from holding virtual sisterhood events where we did music trivia, played video games, and watched movies together. In September we had Spirit week to practice for virtual recruitment, and bonded with our sisters over Zoom games and trivia. October 2ndthrough 5th, we met hundreds of potential new members during recruitment and had the pleasure to welcome the Xi Class to our chapter anniversary with a fun founder’s day Zoomparty where we could learn more about Kappa’s history. To get in the Halloween spirit,we held a pumpkin painting sisterhood where we could catch up with our friends and create some spooky masterpieces. To support our local philanthropy, The Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center, we did a fundraiser on Instagram and donated over 4,460 dollars!
On October 29th, we held a virtual Halloween dinner with the men of Sigma Pi and had fun playing games in breakout rooms and getting to meet new people.2020 has also been a big year politically, and Kappa’s made sure to get out there and make their voices heard by voting in the presidential election. The Xi class finally met their bigs in a surprise Tik Tok reveal over Zoom. Even though we were apart, we could feel the love and excitement of our sisters through the screen! During the second week of November, we had our inspiration period for the Xi class and held fun activities like an Among Us sisterhood and a Pop Culture trivia night. On November 14th, the Xi class became initiated members and the rest of the chapter welcomed them with open arms. We ended the quarter early at Thanksgiving, and traveled home to be with our families and loved ones. Considering all of the circumstances, Eta Rho had a great 2020 year and we look forward to seeing our sisters in person again in 2021!
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==Highlights of 2021==

Looking back at Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Eta Rho chapter 2021, it was filled with many ups and downs. For the majority of this year we were only able to see each other virtually, but this didn’t stop us from hosting events. On January 9th, we started the year off strong by transitioning our new chapter council at Leadership day through virtual bonding and planning our calendar over zoom. We then began meeting
potential new members for coffee dates to add to our sisterhood during the weekend of January 15th. On Friday, January 22nd, we held a colorful themed bid day where everyone was decked out in blue and pink kappa shirts to welcome the Omicron class. Then, on March 6th, we formally initiated the Omicron class over zoom. During the following weeks,
the new members and actives in Kappa got to go on key sister dates. Some were in person, with COVID guidelines, and some were online. That same week, all of the members of the Eta Rho chapter tuned into zoom and had a virtual exchange with the men of AEPi. On Friday, January 26th, the Omicron class had their big/ little reveal online with virtual initiation the week after on February 6th. With everything online, we still
wanted to host our reading is key events for the children of Hawthorne Elementary School. We joined one of the first grade classrooms over zoom and read to the students in breakout rooms. We donated several books to the students to take home so that they could read with their families.
Once winter quarter came to an end, our sisters headed off to spring break having some fun adventures. Some sisters went skiing, backpacking,
traveled across countries, and some stayed in San Luis Obispo. After returning from spring break, one of our sisters, Abi Clark, held an outdoor yoga class for sisterhood bonding. Once April came around, and spring quarter was in full swing, we held a virtual open house for
prospective students to come ask questions about Kappa and panhellenic. Later that week, we had a virtual exchange with the men of Sigma Pi where we played Kahoot games where the winners received prizes. To kick off the sisterhoods in May, we hosted a virtual sisterhood with the women of Kappa Alpha Theta where we did arts and crafts. We then wrapped up the spring quarter with finals, sending off our sisters who graduated, and headed off for summer. Over the summer, the sisters of the Eta Rho chapter were very
active. Some of our sisters packed their bags and flew across the world to study abroad, many landed internships and worked across the country, many spent their summer nights at home, and some stayed connected by seeing each other over the break.
As Cal Poly SLO opened up to allowing in person classes, we also were allowed to do modified in-person recruitment. So, we kicked off returning to school through spirit week which was a week filled with sisterhood, breakfast burritos, dressing up, painting banners, and preparing for formal recruitment. The first day of spirit week was pajama themed where we all dressed in our comfiest sleepwear and enjoyed breakfast burritos. The second day’s theme was “Lots of Love for Kappa'' where we dressed in our cutest pinks and reds to show how much we love Eta Rho. The third day’s theme was 60s/ Woodstocks where we
celebrated our recruitment practice by going to Woodstock’s pizza that night. The fourth and final day of spirit week included a beach day theme where we practiced in our favorite tropical shirts and flip flops.
We ended the entire spirit week by going to Cal Poly’s weekly farmer’s market to shop for local produce, hang out with our

sisters, and enjoy walking around the historic downtown SLO.

Going into the Fall quarter, Eta Rho looked internally at what we could do to better promote diversity and inclusion in our organization and came up with an action plan, officer goals, and listened to chapter and community feedback. We continued the role of a diversity, equity, and
inclusion chair, held council office hours, and held history presentations with interactive discussions. When we came back to school in the fall, we started off returning to in-person classes by wearing our new PR shirts, representing kappa, and seeing our sisters on campus. After the first few weeks of school, on October 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th, we met hundreds of potential new members during hybrid recruitment and had the pleasure to welcome the Pi Class to our chapter with a Brittany Spears themed bid night on October
18th. On November 7th, we celebrated Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 151th anniversary with a fun founder’s day party at the Venetian room of Madonna Inn, where we could learn more about Kappa’s history. Here, we awarded two of our sisters with scholarships for their dedication to academic achievements and assistance with the Houseboard. Later in the quarter, to support our
local philanthropy, The Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center, we held our annual Kappa Karnival and raised $6,200! In addition
to raising money for the CCASC, we had 13 raffle prize winners and members
of the Center come out to play carnival games with our sisters. On October 28th, we held an exchange with the
men of Alpha Epsilon Pi and had fun eating pizza and getting to meet new people. In addition to this jam-packed month, we hosted a pop up shop at the Kappa house where our friends from 75 Degrees and Fuzzy came to sell their clothes with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the CCASC. The next night, we held our annual Kappa Krush semi formal where we danced the night away at Dairy Creek Golf Course on our dynamic duo costumes to celebrate Halloween weekend. The following week, the Pi class finally met their bigs in a
surprise reveal at the house after their new member meeting. After being apart for so long and having a virtual reveal last year, this in person reveal was a treat! During the second week of November, we had our inspiration period for the Pi class and held fun activities like a rootbeer float night and breakfast burritos at the beach. We held fireside at our house the night of November 12th and were joined by the ritual specialist, Emily Barclay for the initiation ceremonies for the weekend. The next morning, November 13th, the Pi class became initiated members and the rest of the chapter welcomed them with open arms. We ended the quarter early at Thanksgiving with a sisterhood Thanksgiving dinner at the kappa house. Then we travelled home to be with our families and loved ones
and came back for finals week. The last week of school before finals week, we hosted a week-long sisterhood event that was full of self care challenges. Day one began with challenging our members to get outside! This included members going on walks or hikes, doing some outdoor yoga, or even just sitting outside and soaking up some sun. Day two focused on treating ourselves! Members went out and grabbed some of their favorite treats that they definitely deserved! Day three was a mid-week check in. We encouraged our members to take some time for themselves, journal, do a face mask, or even just going to bed a little bit earlier to get some much needed rest during week 10. Day four was sister
day! We all repped our KKG attire and hung out with our sisters doing so many different fun
activities. Finally on day five, we all met up on netflix watch party to enjoy a Christmas movie and relax before finals week began. It was such a special time being able to self reflect, relax, and enjoy some quality time with our sisters as the year comes to an end! Eta Rho had a great 2021 year and we look forward to seeing our sisters again in 2022!

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Eta Pi

2021-12-22T18:42:10Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Pi
|GreekSymbol= HΠ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Pi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2011|11|05}}
|College= [https://www.nyu.edu/ New York University]
|Location= New York, NY
|Homepage= [https://nyu.kappa.org/ Eta Pi Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Pi Media related to Eta Pi Chapter]}}

'''New York University, New York City, established 1831'''

'''Chapter founded as Eta Pi November 5, 2011''''''

'''368 initiates (as of June 2018)'''''

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'''Some of Eta Pi's Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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In 1830, Albert Gallatin, the distinguished statesman who served as secretary of the treasury under presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish “in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting for all and graciously opened to all.” Founded in 1831, New York University is now the largest private university in the United States. Of the more than 3,000 colleges and universities in America, New York University is one of only 60 member institutions of the distinguished Association of American Universities.

From a student body of 158 during NYU's first semester, enrollment has grown to more than 50,000 students attending 14 schools and colleges at five major centers in Manhattan and in sites in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. The center of NYU is its Washington Square campus, located in the heart of Greenwich Village. Students come from every state in the union and from 133 foreign countries.

==The Early Years==

In 2011, Kappa Kappa Gamma colonized its 138th chapter at New York University (NYU). On September 7, 2011 31 NYU women were initiated into the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. The Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma complements the growing Panhellenic community at NYU which includes Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon, Pi Beta Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha, and two local sororities. Eta Pi will join the chapters at St. Larence, Syracruse, Cornell, Marist, and Colgate to make six Kappa chapters in the state of New York.

==Installation==

There are many opportunities for the new chapter on the NYU campus. Laura Osborne, College Panhellenic Adviser, said, “We have high hopes that the addition of Kappa Kappa Gamma to the College Panhellenic Council at NYU will promote stronger leadership, deeper bonds of friendship, increased awareness of service to the community and higher ideals of scholarship among all the members of the fraternity and sorority life community.”

Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College, led the Installation team of Susanne Wolff Vander Hayden, Washington State, Director of Alumnae; Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse, Extension Chairman; Nancy Eyermann Foland, Tulsa, and Kelly Matyas Magyarics, Pittsburgh, Region 1 Directors of Alumnae and Chapters; Kim Heinig Pegg, Vermont, and Jodi Bilotti Howe, Syracuse, Alpha Province directors of Alumnae and Chapters, respectively; Alexandra Vukov, Michigan State, Chapter Consultant; Nicole Pitsinos, South Carolina, Coordinator of Chapter Development; and Rachel Dunlap, Baylor, New York Alumnae Association President. The New York City Alumnae Association President presented a badge, set with light-and-dark-blue stones, to be used as the chapter president’s badge, to the Eta Pi President, Caitlin Geehan.

'''Visiting the 9/11 Memorial:'''

On November 3, 2011, Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College, Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State, members of the Eta Pi extension team and many New York-area Kappas visited the 9/11 Memorial to honor and extend deepest respects to:
Jean Rogers, Penn State, flight attendant on American flight #11; Jen Kane, Villanova, World Trade Center; Kaleen Pezzuti, Cornell, World Trade Center; Norma Lang Steuerle, Carnegie Mellon, passenger on American flight #77 (Pentagon).

Fraternity President Julie Leshay brought copies of the front cover of The Key, winter 2001 edition, along with a copy of the article, “Honoring Those We Have Loved and Lost.” These items were placed at the name of each Kappa on the memorial. Amanda Brown, Puget Sound, Assistant to the Director of Alumnae, provided irises that were placed by each name with the article. Many 9/11 Memorial visitors stopped to read the information that our group left behind. All assembled were part of our Kappa Memorial Service led by Fraternity President Julie Leshay. It was a very moving experience and something we felt was important to do in connection with our new chapter at New York University.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

==Highlights of 2011==

The Fall 2011 Semester of the Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was a semester full of wonderful changes. After voting in the previous school year to absorb the Local Sorority Kappa Psi Delta into the National Fraternity Kappa Kappa Gamma, we immediately began to take action in our new roles in our new colony. As a local chapter that had thrived on the New York University campus for 12 years, our transition went very smoothly.

After all of the sisters had adjusted to the new terminology and structure of the chapter, business went on as usual and we had an extremely productive semester. Sisters co-programmed philanthropy events with other Greek Organizations on campus, we remained an active voice in the panhellenic and inter-greek council communities, many sisters attended a Founders Day event with the alumni association in Connecticut, and we had a beautiful initiation ceremony on November 4th with many alumni and Fraternity Officers present.

Successful events included: • a welcome back to the big apple tabling event where sisters gave out slices of apple pie and candied apples • a toy drive in one of the residence halls • Semi-Formal hosted a Cucina de Pesce, a location that was a part of the Kappa Psi Delta history • Stressbusters and cocoa during finals week • Numerous fundraisers to raise money to purchase books for A Place for Kids, an after school program that the chapter had worked with for a couple of years • Volunteering time at A Place for Kids, working on reading skills with a kindergarten class at PS-2 in Chinatown

'''Campus:''' Over the past year, there have been many changes to the Greek Community at New York University. Not only did we witness the absorption of Kappa Psi Delta into Kappa Kappa Gamma, but a new chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha was also installed on campus. These two events created an expansion in the Greek community and brought many organizations closer.

'''Chapter:''' Obviously the main recent change of the Eta Pi chapter was the transition from local sorority Kappa Psi Delta to the national fraternity of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Since we had already been established and running smoothly on campus and within the Greek community, the transition was not a difficult one. We were able to keep pace with other organizations on campus, despite technically being classified as a colony of new members. We were operating on the same level that we had always operated on and because of this, our transition was quick and painless.

The overall nature of the chapter reflected this attitude that simply because we were changing our letters didn’t mean that we were starting all over completely fresh. We wanted to move at a pace that was probably considered extremely fast for a colony, but we believed that the best way to make the change was to keep progressing forward not to slow down for the process. Because of this, the chapter ran as a cohesive, effective unit of women that were all striving towards our common goal, to absorb successfully into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

One of the greatest challenges we encountered this semester was the actual process of the transition. Each member had to go through the new member process all over again. At the beginning of the year, this seemed a very daunting task. But each member of the chapter took this challenge with great stride, and with the help of our installation team and all of the alumni and advisers that stepped up to assist us, we made a strong transition from Kappa Psi Delta to Kappa Kappa Gamma. Another challenge we faced was keeping traditions of Kappa Psi Delta alive to honor the history of our organization. We are currently incorporating these traditions into some of the programs being planning for the Inspiration week for the Beta class.

==Highlights of 2012==

'''Scholarship:''' Eta Pi supports sisters in their academic endeavors by offering study hours in the library each week and an open study room booked 24/7 during finals week. Chapter members are also encouraged to maintain high grades by participating in the “Wise Owl” program, in which they are entered in a drawing for gift cards each week during chapter if they received an “A” on a paper, exam, or project during the week. Girls with a 3.8 GPA or above are awarded a “Kappa Kappa Genius” T-shirt. For the spring of 2012, these girls were Madeline Aaron, Jillian Fairchild, Elizabeth Green, Ariana Marsh, Madelyn McClung, Meredith Menache, Rebekah Nielsen, Elizabeth Owen Skidmore, Puja Patel, Kristina Rathjen, and Karen Shin. In the Spring of 2012, Kappa received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Program at the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards.

'''Group Honors/Awards:''' At Greek Games 2013, Kappa Kappa Gamma placed 2nd in Free Throws, 2nd in Swimming, 2nd in Volleyball, 3rd in Basketball, 2nd in Variety Shows Skit, 3rd in Basketball, and overall 2nd in Greek Night. Out of 10 chapters, we had 3rd pick for 2012-2013 housing. We received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Program at the FSL Awards.

'''Traditions:''' We continued recognition of Kappa Psi Delta's founding anniversary date of December 11th. We also incorporated Kappa Psi Delta traditions into our Big/Little sister reveal ceremonies in both the spring and fall. Following initiation, we continued our tradition of hosting a family brunch inviting parents to celebrate with us and learn more about KKG.

Beginning in the fall of 2012, Eta Pi started the new tradition of “fleur dates” in which initiated sisters and new members each draw the names of different sisters to meet up with during the week. Our annual Thanksgiving Sisterhood Potluck was our first big event after Hurricane Sandy, and displayed the strong bond between our sisters through the good and bad times.

'''Special Events:''' Founder's Day was celebrated on Oct 6th, 2012. Kappa Kappa Grandma Sisterhood movie nights occurred each semester, in addition to regularly scheduled events. At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, Eta Pi members gathered in Central Park for our Sisterhood Picnic. Our FSL Housing theme month was “Neighborly November,” during which we collaborated with Alpha Epsilon Pi to host events for the NYU community and held a food drive for Sandy victims.

'''Philanthropic Involvement:''' Eta Pi continued our relationship with PS2, a local elementary school in Chinatown, to tutor and provide fun activities for students who do not speak English as a first language. Eta Pi also coordinated a dress drive to provide old prom and homecoming dresses for Operation Fairy Dust, an organization that gives the dresses to underprivileged girls. We also participated in Relay for Life, with almost all girls raising money before the event, and even raising more money throughout the night by selling “Kappa Quesadillas.” Many of the fraternities and sororities on campus participated in our Big/Little Newlywed Game, which raised over $300 for Relay.
Chapter Goals: Eta Pi strives to strengthen our sisterhood and increase Greek presence in the greater NYU community.

'''Challenges and How They Were Overcome:''' Our chapter has many new goals, as reflected in the LAP report for 2012. With regards to understanding and appreciation of Kappa, we are working to continue discovering Kappa. Our specific goals include implementing more mandatory ritual review and practices, hosting presentations on post-graduate Kappa involvement and opportunities, increasing usage of Kappa’s website as a resource, and increasing support and understanding of the Kappa Foundation.

With regards to interpersonal development, our focus is to strengthen enthusiasm and attendance for events. We did this by using the group system to gather enthusiasm and attendance at Greek-wide events, increasing co-sponsorships with other organizations, more recognition and positive reinforcement of sisters who attend events, and drafting an attendance policy to define commitment for all members. For self-discovery and intellectual development, Eta Pi strove to increase philanthropic and academic focus and involvement. We did this by increasing the number of service events and opportunities, encouraging the use of advisers and professors as resources, maintaining and improving our GPA as a chapter, and encouraging academic buddies to help in course selection and general support. Finally, with regards to leadership and skill building, we worked to use all available tools to improve efficiency, particularly with regards to communication.

We worked to streamline emails and make good use of chapter time, began planning a Chapter Council Leadership Retreat for 2013, worked harder to delegate tasks to committee members, and helped each sister become more confident and comfortable in Chapter Council positions through connections with Advisers and the use of chapter resources.

'''World/Local Events:''' Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast in October. New York University was affected by widespread power outages in the dorms and campus buildings. The Eta Pi chapter conducted and exercised our emergency protocols to ensure that each sister was safe. Members, new members, and alumnae housed fellow sisters in apartments and dorms with power. Following the storm, KKG participated in food drives collecting nonperishable goods for people affected by the hurricane, and individual members helped in efforts to clear rubble and rebuild houses.

'''Recent Changes:''' In the Spring of 2012, the Eta Pi chapter welcomed and initiated 35 new members. In the fall of 2012, Eta Pi initiated 44 new members. We held elections of the 2013 Chapter Council in November of 2012. As the newest chapter, Eta Pi is still learning about all of the facets of Kappa, but we are enthusiastic about learning and growing.

==Highlights of 2013==

The year of 2013 was another successful year of growth for the relatively new Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our chapter was recognized for three awards, Sorority Woman of the Year to Jen Morrisette, Advisor of the Year to Allie Vukov, and Outstanding Recruitment, at NYU’s Fraternity & Sorority Life Awards.
Scholarship is very important to the women of Eta Pi, and this year we implemented Owl Pals to foster connections between members studying similar majors. Additionally, we began a Book Club to further explore academic interest, reading books like Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

We hosted a variety of successful sisterhood events on campus, like our Chapter Potluck, Canvas Crafting, and Holiday party. We also held sisterhood events at our house, such as the Kappa Film Festival. Eta Pi also initiated a total of 40 new members throughout the year who underwent an easy and informative New Member process. Eta Pi also held both Formal and Semi-formal dance events during the year.

Eta Pi hosted both a Leadership Consultant multiple times throughout the year who we found to be helpful and approachable, as well as a Kappa Trainer who taught us about the fraternity and leadership. We also sent girls to Leadership Academy and Province this year.

Our chapter also increased our participation in Panhellenic and Inter-Greek events on campus, including the NYU Greek Games, in which we placed second, Greek Week, and New York Dance Marathon. Our sisters also gained the maximum number of positions for Panhellenic Council and participate in the Inter-Greek Council.
Our networking both on and offline was a big success for our chapter, as we held events with our nearest alumni chapter (including our 2013 Founders Day Celebration) and achieved an incredible increase in our chapter’s PR presence throughout social media.

Eta Pi continued its dedication to philanthropy, contributing to the NYU Dance Marathon, for which our chapter raised $6700, Relay for Life, the New York Cares Day of Service, and the Rose McGill Foundation. We held philanthropy events of our own like those benefiting Reading Is Fundamental and the Be The Match bone marrow drive. We also co-sponsored and participated in philanthropic events such as the Breast Cancer Awareness Runway Show with Zeta Tau Alpha, the Best Buddies Walk, National Hazing Prevention Week, Suicide Prevention Walk, and Greek Allies’ Safe Zone training and Pay Attention project.

With respect to our chapter-wide goals, Eta Pi worked hard to increase ritual knowledge by holding formal chapters every week starting in the fall, and we have seen an overall increase in the chapter’s familiarity with the ritual. Additionally, at the outset of the year we wanted to increase our recognition on campus, in the Panhellenic and Inter-Greek community, and online. We have made great strides in increasing our presence in all of these arenas by participating in more events hosted by different organizations, increasing our attendance and presence in Panhellenic and Inter-Greek council meetings, and by marketing our online footprint successfully enough to gain over 1000 followers on Facebook and similarly increasing our following on other social media websites. We also wanted to work on fostering better, more streamlined communication both within Chapter Council and the entire chapter, and having the Leadership Consultant and Kappa Trainer discuss better communication practices has produced more positive, efficient communication throughout the year.

Eta Pi held recruitment during the Spring and Fall semesters of 2013, initiating five new sisters in the spring and thirty-five in the fall. Our chapter elected the new 2014 Chapter Council in November of 2013. Additionally, our chapter enabled other sisters to hold leadership positions outside of Chapter Council by creating new positions to help streamline necessary chapter processes like Assistant Chairs and the “Kapparel” Chair.

Eta Pi is proud to characterize ourselves as a diverse group of easygoing, approachable women who value academics, philanthropy, and sisterhood. As our chapter grows and learns more about the facets of Kappa Kappa Gamma sisterhood, we are excited to learn the ritual and traditions of our fraternity and create new ones for our own chapter to uphold and enjoy.

==Highlights of 2014==
The year of 2014 was yet another successful year of growth and development for the Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Eta Pi is a tight knit sisterhood that is made up of girls who exemplify true loyalty and friendship. We have 139 sisters from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states and countries. Our chapter was recognized for House Chair of the Year to Chanele Hemphill at NYU’s Fraternity & Sorority Life Awards. At Convention, our chapter won the Public Relations Award, as well as having honorary mentions in the Academics and Standards categories respectively.

Eta Pi initiated a total of 55 new members Fall 2014 who underwent an easy and informative New Member process. This included a fabulous Bid Day, Big/Little Week, where the Big Sisters gave their Little Sisters personalized gifts each day, and an impeccable initiation. Eta Pi held a Valentine’s Day Invite, Formal and Semi-Formal dance events during the year. Our networking has been a big success for our chapter, as we held events with our nearest alumni chapter, including our very successful 2014 Founders Day Celebration. Our chapter’s PR presence throughout social media has continued to increase: our Facebook page nearing our goal of 1500 Likes. We have completely redone our chapter Pinterest site, adding ideas from chapter members and events.

We hosted a variety of successful sisterhood events on campus and in the KKG Penthouse. This included a self-defense class, in-house spa day with nail painting and facemasks, a holiday party with a cookie contest, and an end of the year picnic off-campus. Eta Pi hosted both a Leadership Consultant who we found to be helpful and approachable, as well as a Kappa Trainer who taught us about the fraternity and leadership. We also sent girls to Leadership Academy and Province this year.

Scholarship remains of great importance to the women of Eta Pi. We had 28 Kappa Kappa Geniuses (3.7+ GPA for Spring 2014 semester), who received ‘KKGenuises’ t-shirts recognizing their hard work. Two sisters got 4.0s for the Spring 2014 and received special pearl dangles for their badges. We have study hours every Sunday in a study room in the Library and, the last two weeks of the semester, we have a study room booked 24/7 for only Kappas. We continued to implement Owl Pals to foster connections between members studying similar majors.

Our chapter has continued to increase our participation in PanHellenic and Inter-Greek events on campus. On campus, we hosted events such as the Lafayette Residence Hall Thanksgiving dinner, Holiday Letters to the Troops, Secret Snowflake party, and Kappaccinos. Our chapter placed fourth in the Spring 2014 Greek Week. We supported the NYU Greek community by participating in NYU's second Dance Marathon (NYDM). It was a celebration that touched our chapter as our B+ Hero, Aubrey, celebrated her last chemo session. Our chapter alone raised over $10.000. Our fund raising efforts included selling "Rush Chi-Po-Tle" tanks bearing a #FTK on the back (For the Kids) and a Panera fundraiser. For the year 2015, Emily Orman will serve as the Vice President for PanHellenic Council while Emily Jewell will serve as the Risk Management Chair for Inter-Greek Council.

Eta Pi continued its dedication to philanthropy, contributing to the NYDM, Relay for Life, the New York Cares Day of Service, and the Rose McGill Foundation. We held philanthropy events of our own like those benefitting Reading Is Fundamental and the Be The Match bone marrow drive. We also co-sponsored and participated in philanthropic events such as the Breast Cancer Awareness, Cupcakes for Literacy with Pi Beta Phi, Haunted Penthouse with Alpha Sigma Tau, and Greek Allies’ Safe Zone training and Pay Attention project. Our most important philanthropy event was the ‘Keyed In’ event in a local school with over 130 kids, where we provided them each with a brand new book and had literacy stations, which included a photo-booth and bookmark-making station. The remainder of the books we brought were donated to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library.

Eta Pi held recruitment during the Fall semester of 2014, initiating 55 new sisters in the Fall of 2014. Our chapter elected the new 2015 Chapter Council in December of 2014. Additionally, our chapter enabled other sisters to hold leadership positions outside of Chapter Council by creating new positions to help streamline necessary chapter processes like Assistant Chairs for certain officers.

Eta Pi is proud to be a diverse group of easygoing, approachable women who value academics, leadership, philanthropy, and sisterhood. As our chapter grows and learns more about the facets of Kappa Kappa Gamma sisterhood, we are excited to learn the ritual and traditions of our fraternity and create new ones for our own chapter to uphold and enjoy.

Chapter meetings are held in a university owned facility, usually a classroom or conference room that can be booked.

Our chapter is given the priviledge of living in the top floor(s) of an university owned dormitory, the Lafayette Residence Hall, along with other Greek organizations. Seven sisters can live there and do so right now.

The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alunmae Association at the chapter's installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Rebecca Calvo, and now resides with Madeline Jerge. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”

The Philanthropy badge was presented by Allie Vukov on behalf of the Denver Alumnae Association to Eta Pi. It was given to Brittany Pace, then Kelly Naranjo, and now resides with Rebecca Borjas. The badge is inscribed with ΚΚΓ ΑΩΟ on the front, and “ΗΠ Philanthropy Chairman 11/11” on the back.

==Highlights of 2015==

The year 2015 was yet another successful year for the Eta Pi Chapter at NYU. We are a tight knit
sisterhood made up of women who strive to be positive role models for one another while being
loyal friends and sisters. We have 164 initiated sisters from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states
and countries. Our chapter was recognized at the 2014 Fraternity and Sorority Life awards
(February 2015) for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Outstanding Community Involvement,
and Lafayette Housing Chairman of the Year. Multiple 2015 graduates were awarded Senior Pillar
honors, as well as a Commitment to Change Award. We also sent women to Leadership Academy
and Province this year.

We host multiple sisterhood events a month either on campus or in the KKG penthouse. The
sisterhood events of 2015 ranged from an in house spa day to an ugly sweater and cookie contest at
our holiday party. As an organization, our sisterhood is strong. Our sisters who live in the house go
above and beyond to create a warm and welcoming space for all members of the chapter (some
even giving up their beds to house our wonderful leadership consultants!). Our bi-monthly chapter
programming, Femisphere, created by our Risk Chair Jen Tonti, delves into a tough to talk about
issue such as gender and sexuality or girl-on-girl bullying. This programming generates more
participation from the chapter than most other events, ultimately creating a safe space for women
to be women and talk about things that need to be discussed. Femisphere has done a fantastic job
in fostering our sisterhood in 2015, and we hope to continue it into the future.

Scholarship remains of great importance to the women of Eta Pi. We had 32 Kappa Kappa
Geniuses (3.7+ GPA for the Spring 2015 semester), who received ‘KKGenuis’ t-shirts recognizing
their outstanding academic achievements. We also had four (!!) sisters earn perfect 4.0 GPAs this
semester, each of which received special pearl dangles for their badges. Keeping our grades so high
is no easy task, so our VP Academic Excellence works with the chapter and her committee to
reserve study rooms in the library for after every chapter, and for 24 hours a day leading up to and
during exam week.

Also in 2015, Eta Pi was honored to be selected to host a Girls Academy in 2016. We could not be
more excited for this opportunity work with the Alumni Association on a cause that is so near to
our hearts while increasing our involvement in the greater NYC community.

We initiated 64 new members in the Fall of 2015 after an amazing “Kappa is the Key to Paradise”
themed recruitment. The newly initiated women went through an easy and informative new
member process, which included a beautiful bid day, and a super fun big/little week all, leading up
to a spectacularly beautiful Initiation ceremony.

Greek Life at NYU will welcome Delta Gamma onto campus this spring. We have multiple
members involved in the process, and are excited to spread all the PanHellenic love we can. Also
over the course of 2015, our chapter has continued its steady participation on the Inter-Greek and
PanHellenic executive boards.

Chapter Philanthropy:

Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation: (NYDM) In 2015, Eta Pi had around 40 dancers sign up
and raise money for the B+ Foundation’s Dance Marathon at NYU. Headed by Elana Rubin, our
team raised over $27,000 for the cause.

American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life: Every year, Eta Pi has a team participate at NYU’s
Relay for Life. In 2015, our team captain Kristina Rathjen (2015) worked with sisters all across the
chapter to put on fundraisers and raise a significant amount of money for the cause! We have already
begun fundraising for Relay 2016 with events such as Kappa Kandy Grams, organized by are house
committee.

Reading is Fundamental: Our philanthropy chair, Rebecca Borjas worked with Public School 64
for both tutoring hours in the Spring and our Reading is Key event in the Fall. At Reading is Key,
we provide every child with a new book, as well as a full afternoon of literacy crafts and games that
encourage the children to read.

NYU does a great job encouraging Greek organizations to participate in student-body wide
fundraising events. We participate in NYDM because it began as a Greek only fundraising event,
but expanded in 2015 to include NYU residential life. This year, we put into place a new rule
stating that all women must participate in a minimum of 5 philanthropy hours over the course of
the semester. This has not only increased presence at our Philanthropy events, but has also grown
Kappa’s presence on the NYU campus as a whole, for it encourages sisters to attend the
philanthropic events of the other Greek organizations.
-------------

==Highlights of 2016==

Re-reading this page has shown me that every year seems to be a successful year for the Eta Pi Chapter of KKG at NYU, however 2016 turned out to be an incredibly special year for many reasons. We have once more proven to be a very close group of strong women who work hard to support each other in every endeavor. We have 178 initiated sisters from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, states and countries. At the 71st Biennial Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter Convention held in June 2016, our chapter was named the Most Outstanding Chapter of the biennium; a huge honor that brought pride to both current chapter members and alumnae. At the FSL awards this past spring, our was named the “Most Improved Chapter at NYU”. Our fifth year on campus was full of wonderful achievements on a local level as well.

Our Vice President of Standards, Sam Granger, has done a wonderful job hosting sisterhood events that are enjoyable, creative and flexible with our sisters increasingly busy schedules! Our events range from a shopping excursion at a Kate Spade store at the new Oculus World Trade Center mall to a sister speed dating event to a day sleepover at our penthouse. Every event serves to bring our sisters even closer and provide some relaxation amidst the stressful school year. As an organization, our new risk chair–Amelia Salsgiver, along with her (biological) sister Katherine–has continued the programming created by our past Risk Chair Jen Tonti, which our chapter has come to know as ‘Femisphere’. We spend allotted time during chapter discussing issues that women of today deal with. In the current political climate, Femisphere allows a space for conversation between a large group of amazing, successful, diverse women; which is truly invaluable. Under the amazing leadership of our indispensible Event’s Chair, Lauren Enes, we have had two beautiful semi-formals, a date party and an unforgettable formal at Hudson Terrace. She also continued our traditional Parent’s Weekend, which featured brunch and a New York Met’s Game for our sisters and their families.

After a very successful housing presentation by our 2015 House Chair, Annais Lopez Sanchez, and receiving first housing pick of the Greek life penthouses, Eta Pi now lives in the most sought after penthouse on NYU’s campus. We have plenty of space for events and the girls who have the privilege of living in the house are very close. Our current House Chair–Jenny DeCandia–plans Kappotlucks semi-regularly to allow girls the chance to visit our penthouse, which also happens to have an incredible view of the city.

The Eta Pi Kappas have always been known around campus for their fastidious behavior towards their academics–this year was no exception. We had 46 Kappa Kappa Geniuses (girls with a GPA above 3.7) and 7 girls with 4.0 GPA’s in the spring. This fall we had 44 Kappa Kappa Geniuses and 8 girls with 4.0 GPA’s. We even had four new initiates into NYU’s Order of Omega.
Eta Pi had the true honor to host a Girls Academy in 2016. We as a chapter feel that it’s very important to positively influence a younger generation of women and were thus were very thrilled to have the opportunity to work with 50 middle school girls from Columbia Secondary School as well as the accomplished women of the New York Alumnae Association. Small group facilitators were selected from the chapter by application to participate in this amazing opportunity, and many other women both from Eta Pi and the NYAA were instrumental in volunteering to make the event a success--from helping with food to photographing and so much more, it was an amazing example of Kappas of all ages coming together. Eta Pi and the NYAA are excited to keep their relationship with the school and the participants going strong into the next year, showing our commitment to the girls and their families. We would like to extend a particular thank you to Jean Schmidt for providing outstanding support to the GIRLS Academy program.

We found our lovely new theta class during a Kate Spade fall formal recruitment this year led by Maria Guadagno. Our theme appeared to be an overall hit amongst the PNM’s as we recruited and initiated forty-five new sisters at a beautiful and well run initiation ceremony headed by Beatrice Masih. We plan to initiate another three thetas this spring.

Greek Life at NYU continues to build as a stronger and larger presence on campus. To assist in our own chapter’s involvement, our panhel chair, Zoe Rucker put a requirement into our bi-laws requiring each sister to attend at least one panhel meeting or event, which has proven to be a very positive change for our chapter! At the annual panhel election night this year we had over forty members in attendance!

In 2016, Eta Pi had around 33 dancers sign up and raise money for the B+ Foundation Dance Marathon at NYU known as NYDM. Our team raised over $30,000 for the cause which broke our own personal fundraising goal and our record from last year. We also won the spirit points competition after doing an excellent job with our canning events and having great attendance at other organization’s events. All in all, we were very proud of our team’s efforts.

Every year, Eta Pi has a team participate at NYU’s Relay for Life an event that benefits the American Cancer Society. In 2016, our team was comprised of around thirty chapter members and we raised 1000 dollars! We have already begun fundraising for Relay 2017 with events such as the sale of Kappa Kandy Grams. An event that both supports Relay and spreads holiday cheer!

We held our annual Reading Is Key event this year at the Cornerstone Community Center and had the pleasure of working with 19 first graders and 17 kindergartners at an after school program. They had a great time and each child went home with a new book!
The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alunmae Association at the chapter's installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Rebecca Calvo, then Madeline Jerge and it currently resides with the 2016 Eta Pi President, Annalise Bissa. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”

Approved by the chapter: December 11, 2016

==Highlights of 2017==
The year 2017 has been another exceptional year for the Eta Pi Chapter at NYU. Our sisterhood
continues to be comprised of ambitious and hardworking women who are always there for each
other. We have 168 initiated members from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states and countries.

At the 20162017 Fraternity and Sorority Life awards this past spring, our chapter was given the award for Outstanding Community Involvement. We sent sisters to the Kappa Leadership Conference in the spring and Leadership Academy in the fall. Our sixth year on campus has
proved to be our best one yet and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for our chapter. Our chapter has a strong sense of community and sisterhood, strengthened by the various sisterhood events held by our Vice President of Standards, Katherine Salsgiver, and our Events
Chairman, Monica Spafford. Events ranging from a Spa Day to a Picnic at Smorgasburg to a PopupShop Event had sisters enjoying spending time together while exploring NYC. We hosted an unforgettable Formal, Date Party and Family Weekend Brunch in the spring and a wonderful
Semi Formal this fall, organized by Monica. Once again we received first housing pick of the Greek life penthouses. Our House Chairmen, Jenny DeCandia and Hannah Nelson, provided a warm and welcoming space for sisterhood events and Kappotlucks.

Eta Pi’s members have once again shown their dedication toward academia. We had 42 Kappa Kappa Geniuses (girls with a GPA above 3.7) and 11 girls with 4.0 GPA’s in the spring along with sisters initiated to Order of Omega. In order to help our sisters though their academic
pursuits our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Angella Jiang, reserves study rooms at the campus library after chapter and 24 hours a day during exam weeks. She also organized our annual Keyed in Networking Brunch which allowed our sisters to network with alumnae and further excel in their fields.

This Fall, Eta Pi welcomed our wonderful new Iota class during formal recruitment led by our
Membership Chairman, Ximena Tellez. Our recruitment theme, Start the Spark with Kappa
Kappa Gamma, celebrated female empowerment! The new member process began with an outer
space themed bid day, showing our newest members that Kappa’s Out Of This World. The new
member period continued with an exciting big/little week and weekly new member meetings all
planned and led by our New Member Chairman, Acacia Dougan. Acacia prepared the Iotas to
become active members and helped them acclimate to life in the chapter. We initiated our
fiftyone new members in early November at a beautiful and meaningful ceremony organized by
chapter Marshal, Morrisa Cohen. This year’s Initiation Ceremony was made even more special
by our incredible alumnae involvement, including attendance by four Kappa moms and a
biological sister along with numerous Eta Pi alumnae.

As always, Eta Pi has continued to participate within the NYU Greek Community assisted by our
Panhellenic Delegate, Kate Goodman. Going above and beyond, Kate led our chapter through a
successful Alice in Wonderland themed Greek Week, planned events with other chapters, and
updated the chapter bylaws to allow sisters to fulfil their semesterly Panhel requirement by
attending one Panhel GA meeting or by attending two events put on by other chapters. This
change has allowed our sisters to support other organizations’ events, spreading even more
Panhel love! Additionally, we had many sisters serve in leadership positions within the
Panhellenic community, including members who served as Recruitment Guides for Fall Formal
Recruitment and two sisters, the maximum number possible, on the 2017 Panhellenic Executive
Board. Representing KKG beautifully, Morrisa Cohen served as Vice President of Judicial
Affairs and Claudia Yuan served as Graphic Design Chair.

2017 was filled with social and philanthropy events cosponsored
with other organizations including sandwich making for the Bowery Mission, game nights, and a Greekwide
Assassins Game! Maria Free, our Philanthropy Chairman, held our annual Reading Is Key event at PS64,
making crafts and helping the kids write their own short stories. Our largest philanthropy effort
of the year has been starting the Eta Pi Scholarship Fund. Thanks to the House Board,
Headquarters, and the NYC Kappa network, we are more than halfway to our fundraising goal!
In 2017, Eta Pi had over 30 dancers, 20 volunteers and 2 executive board members participate in
the 5th annual New York Dance Marathon to raise money for the Andrew McDonough B+
Foundation. Led by our NYDM Team Captain, Paris Reise, we hosted chapter fundraisers, sent
emails, and participated in fundraising challenges to raise $38,000, contributing to the record breaking grand total of over $603,000 for the fight against childhood cancer! Throughout the
year we were also able to spend time with our B+ Hero, Aubrey, thanks to the coordination of
our B+ Hero Liaison, Niyousha Ahmadi. We went bowling, played in the park, painted,
celebrated her 9th birthday in our penthouse, and even had sisters go to her house in Brooklyn
multiple times a week to tutor her. Our sisters have spent countless hours in 2017 fighting
childhood cancer through planning, fundraising, and spending time with Aubrey; we are so
proud of their hard work.

A highlight of 2017 was our annual Founders Day Celebration, co-hosted with the New York Alumnae Association. With over 180 sisters, both active and alumnae, we celebrated our six incredible founders, 147 years of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Eta Pi’s fifth birthday! We had the
honor of having Fraternity President, Beth Black, as our keynote speaker for the event, which
proved to be truly inspiring. It is definitely an event our chapter will remember for years to come!

The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alumnae Association at the chapter's
installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Ivana Rodrigues, then Rebecca
Calvo, then Madeline Jerge, then Annalise Bissa, and it currently resides with the 2017 Eta Pi
President, Maria Guadagno. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”

==Highlights of 2018==

Each year, the Eta Pi Chapter of KKG at NYU consistently adds wonderful, strong women to its ever-growing network of initiated sisters and alumni, and 2018 turned out to be an incredibly special year for many reasons. We have once more proven to be a very close group of strong women who work hard to support each other in every endeavor. We have 149 initiated sisters from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, states and countries. At the 149th Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter Convention held in June 2018, our chapter received an honorable mention for academic achievement. At the FSL awards this past spring, our chapter received the “Chapter of the Year” award, a huge honor that filled our sisters with pride at how far we have come together. Our former president, Maria Guadagno, also received the “President of the Year” award, further demonstrating how positive leadership does not go unnoticed and is highly valued! Our seventh year on campus was full of wonderful achievements on a local level as well.
Our House Chair, Sami Robbins, has done a wonderful job hosting sisterhood events that are enjoyable, creative and flexible with our sisters increasingly busy schedules! She gave a stellar presentation and received the first housing pick of the Greek life houses, where Eta Pi has the best view at NYU! We have a large living space that can accommodate our growing chapter’s events and recruitment processes, and the ladies that have the privilege of living there are extremely close! A consistent highlight are the monthly brunches held in the Penthouse at Lafayette Street, where a chef comes in to cook on the first Saturday morning of each month.
Our chapter had stellar academic achievement in the spring semester, with 24 women receiving the honor of being a KKGenius (a GPA of 3.7 or higher). 9 women finished out the semester with a perfect 4.0! One of our sisters, Olivia O’Hare, was even asked to join the prestigious Omega Nu Lambda chapter of Greek Honor Society: The Order of Omega! We could not be prouder of the outstanding achievements of our sisters both inside and outside the classroom.
Every event serves to bring our sisters even closer and provide some relaxation amidst the stressful school year. Headed by Shreya Jois, our events team did an outstanding job organizing two date parties, semi-formal, and formal for all of our sisters! Ending the school year at Hudson Terrace was a fun way to bond with all of our sisters, and the leadership by the events team was crucial in developing sisterly bonds.
Our Founder’s Day was a huge success thanks to the efforts of our Education Chair, Andrea Castillo at the Lord & Taylor rooftop! We had over 120 guests in attendance, and the alumni and active members were so excited by the location and overall experience of the celebration of Kappa.
We found our lovely new kappa class during fall formal recruitment this year led by Kenzie Mullin, with the theme of “Greetings from Kappa” and the tagline: life takes you unexpected places, while kappa welcomes you home. Our theme appeared to be an overall hit amongst the PNM’s as we recruited and initiated fifty-two new sisters at a beautiful and well-run initiation ceremony headed by Perry Byrne. We also have one new member to initiate in the spring of 2019! Prachi Deshpande, our new member chair, did an excellent job organizing our Bid Day event and educating our new members on everything about Kappa in order to better prepare them for initiation and becoming an active member.
Greek Life at NYU continues to build as a stronger and larger presence on campus. Our Panhel Delegate, Frankie Shapiro, has done an excellent job in organizing events with other chapters of Greek life, and our leadership overall has steadily improved on campus! We had 3 Kappas serve on the board of Panhel: Lydia Mitchell, the VP of Finance, Lexi Taylor, the VP of Recruitment Counsellors, and Claudia Yuan, who was the President this calendar year! We could not be more proud of the leadership displayed by these young women.
In order to fundraise for our philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental, our philanthropy chair, Olivia Clancy, organized a game night at the house, and a hot cocoa sale (which was a huge hit). In the spring, we also hosted a book drive to raise awareness about RIF. Our final Philanthropy event of the year was our reading is Key Event on December 12th at Public School 64, where we read to and crafted with children from kindergarten to third grade.
In 2018, Eta Pi had around 70 dancers sign up and raise money for the B+ Foundation Dance Marathon at NYU known as NYDM. Our team raised over $40,000 for the cause which broke our own personal fundraising goal and our record from last year. We loved dancing for our spirited B+ Hero Aubrey, and we are so excited that she continues to remain in remission! Our sisters love interacting with Aubrey at different events, and we even held a birthday party for her at the house this year.
The presidential badge was given by the New York Alumnae Association at the chapter’s installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, Ivana Rodrigues, Rebecca Calvo, Maddie Jerge, Annalise Bissa, then Maria Guadagno, and now resides with Acacia Dougan, who will pass it to Paris Reise for her 2019 term. The badge is inscribed with “HΠ” “NYU” and “11/05/11”.

Eta Omicron

2021-12-22T18:38:31Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Omicron
|GreekSymbol= HO
|Image= [[File:Eta_Omicron.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2010|03|27}}
|College= [https://www.northeastern.edu/ Northeastern University]
|Location= Boston, MA
|Homepage= [https://northeastern.kappa.org/ Eta Omicron Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Omicron Media related to Eta Omicron Chapter]}}

'''Eta Omicron, Northeastern'''

'''Northeastern University established in 1898 in Boston, Massachusetts'''

'''Founded March 27, 2010'''

'''86 charter members'''

'''367 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Omicrons’s Outstanding Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==The Early Years:==

Northeastern University was established in 1898 as the Evening Institute for Younger Men at the Huntington Avenue YMCA in Boston. Its first class was held October 3, 1898. The institute catered to the needs of the rapidly growing immigrant population in Boston. Within a few years of its formation, it offered classes in law, engineering and finance. In 1909, the school began offering day classes, and it moved to a new location on Huntington Avenue in 1913. The school was officially organized as a college in 1916, and in 1922 it was renamed Northeastern University of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association. In a period of rapid campus expansion, the university purchased the Huntington Avenue Grounds (former Boston Red Sox ballpark) in 1929, but did not build on the land due to financial constraints during the Great Depression.

Northeastern today is a private, secular, coeducational research university. It has eight colleges and offers undergraduate majors in 65 departments. At the graduate level, the university offers more than 125 programs and awards masters, doctoral, and professional degrees.
The university is the home of more than 35 specialized research and education centers. Its main campus is located in the Fenway Cultural District of Boston. Northeastern is classified as a RU/H institution (high research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Among Northeastern's past and present faculty are several Guggenheim Fellows and a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” winner, a former Democratic nominee for President of the United Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_University - cite_note-7 and a Pulitzer Prize winner.

==Colonization and Installation==

Following an open house attended by more than 200 interested women, interviews with Boston-area Kappa alumnae and the colonization team and an invitation-only, iris-adorned brunch, the charter members of Eta Omicron colony were pledged on January 30, 2010.

Eta Omicron was installed March 27, 2010, with 86 charter members. Northeastern’s director of fraternity and sorority life challenged the charter members to continue their excellent work as they begin a new era of sorority life on campus and in the Boston community.

Eta Omicron was the seventh NPC women’s fraternity to be established at Northeastern. The university enrolls more than 15,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students where 9,600 students were residents of the campus dorm and apartment structures. With more resident students than ever, the desire for more students to be part of a Greek-letter community increased.
Northeastern’s signature cooperative education program (co-op), as well as student research, service learning and global learning, builds the connections that enable students to transform their lives and the lives of others.

The university’s outstanding support of Greek life was one of many attractions to this institution for Kappa. The charter new member class boasted the highest GPA of any Greek-letter organization at Northeastern. Eta Omicron members were campus and community leaders bringing much to this new chapter as leaders, scholars and philanthropy-focused women.

Installing officers were Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis; Director of Membership Elizabeth Bailey, Mississippi; Region 1 directors Claire St. Martin Collins, Emory, and Kelly Matyas Magyarics, Pittsburgh; Rho Province Directors Allyson Kinney, Connecticut, and Julie Carley Reilly, Puget Sound; Coordinator of Chapter Development Janice Franklin Larson, Akron, and Chapter Consultant Melissa Shearer, Vanderbilt.

Eta Omicron Chapter was Kappa’s 137th active chapter and complemented the growing, service-oriented campus Panhellenic consisting of seven other NPC groups—Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta, Kappa Delta, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Sigma Kappa colonizing in Spring 2013.

==Chapter Awards==

'''Fraternity Awards:'''

Risk Management Award, 2014

Academic Excellence Award, 2016

Public Relations Award, 2018

'''Northeastern Panhellenic Awards:'''

Chapter of the Year, 2013

Outstanding Sisterhood, 2013

Outstanding Scholarship, 2013

Chapter Excellence, 2013

Outstanding Scholarship, 2014

Outstanding Leadership, 2014

Achievement in Scholarship, 2014

Achievement in Leadership, 2014

Outstanding Philanthropy, 2015

Outstanding Academics, 2015

Chapter of the Year, 2016

Achievement in Philanthropy, 2016

Achievement in Scholarship, 2016

Chapter of the Year, 2017

==Highlights of 2012==

2012 was an exciting year for Eta Omicron: we focused on involvement in Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Boston community, and on building sisterhood in general. Some of our philanthropic efforts included volunteering at the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club, where we tutored and held workshops such as baking classes. We also made valentines for troops, volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank, went to the Astra Zeneca Hope Lodge, and even helped clean up the Franklin Park Zoo! Our variety of sisterhood events this year included movie nights, ice skating, and a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts.

The spring of 2012 proved to be an eventful semester for Eta Omicron. We earned the "Most Improved Chapter" Award for the year of 2011, showing that our efforts to be more involved in the Fraternity and Sorority Life community are being recognized. During Greek Week, we were paired with Kappa Sigma, taking part in Greek Sing and winning Greek Olympics! We also participated in Relay for Life, where many sisters walked laps around our arena all night for cancer awareness and support. The year's formal was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cambridge. Our semester was wrapped up by our annual Tea Party, where our seniors were sent off after hearing kind words about them from their sisters. Our chapter's GPA for the Spring 2012 semester was 3.361 placing third among all panhellenic sororities.

At the 2012 biennial convention, Eta Omicron earned honorable mention in academic excellence and panhellenic relations.

The fall semester of 2012 started off right with a recruitment retreat in Cape Cod. We stayed overnight at a camp, practicing recruitment skills and getting ready for another great semester. Recruitment was one of our biggest successes this year, as 34 new members joined the one uninitiated member in pledging Kappa Kappa Gamma. During homecoming, we were paired with Alpha Epsilon Pi and placed second in the annual homecoming dance competition, Take It To The Floor. We also took part in in the Light the Night walk, which raised money for leukemia and lymphoma.

On Founder's Day, we attended a luncheon at Harvard and heard alumnae talk about how they continued to stay involved in Kappa. We also sponsored our second annual Kappa Kickoff, where we raised almost $1,000 with nearly 30 participating teams. During I-Week, we had many successful events, including the big-little reveal. The week culminated in 34 new members becoming initiated on December 1, 2012, with one more being initiated in the spring. The semester ended with our semi-formal at the Longwood Bar and Grill. We finished the semester with a 3.4 GPA, placing second among all panhellenic sororities.

Northeastern University is growing rapidly, with over 44,000 students applying for 2,800 spots in the 2012 entering class. This year, the business school received a donation of $60 million and was renamed to the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. Eta Omicron is composed of a wide range of individuals who bring unique personalities and ideas to the chapter. We embrace all of our members and their points of view, striving to create an accepting atmosphere where everyone can thrive and get involved. Through our diversity as a chapter, we challenge ourselves to uphold our values every day and truly live up to Kappa standards.

==Highlights of 2013==

2013 was a busy and exciting year for Eta Omicron! We continued to increase our involvement both in Northeastern Fraternity and Sorority Life on campus, as well as the greater Boston area. The Astra Zeneca Hope Lodge, which serves as a home away from home for cancer patients and their families, became our local philanthropy focus. We spent two nights a month baking cookies, playing bingo, and talking with guests of the Hope Lodge. Our philanthropic involvement this year also included making Valentine’s Day cards for troops, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and volunteering at the Franklin Park Zoo. Sisterhood events included a Madewell shopping event, Kappa Krumbs baking competition, Owl Pals, and weekly group dinner dates.

Eta Omicron’s hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed during spring semester. At Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards, we were honored to earn the Chapter of the Year Award, as well as the Outstanding Sisterhood, Outstanding Scholarship, and Chapter Excellence Gold Awards. We were also honored that one of our sisters, Vice President of Academic Excellence Margaret Minnig, was named Outstanding Scholar.

Our sister, Emma Caggiano, was elected as the first Panhellenic President from our chapter. During Greek Week, we were paired with the gentlemen of Phi Delta Theta, and won Greek Sing with our “Saved By The Bell” themed dance! We also won overall Greek Week, with our participation in food can collecting, Greek Olympics, and strong chapter spirit at events. Relay For Life was also a great success- our sisters collectively raised over $20,000, more than any other team on campus! At Province, we were honored to earn the New Member Program Award. We also held a Kappa Kaffeine fundraiser during finals week to raise money for the Kappa Foundation, and a Futsal tournament with Alpha Epsilon Pi to raise money for the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club.

Our formal was held on April 13th at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. To recognize one of our largest graduating classes yet, as well as future graduating classes, we created Senior Week, known as S-Week. The week included programming for seniors, as well as a night of speeches from our sisters to the graduates. We concluded the semester with our annual Tea Party brunch. Our GPA for spring semester was 3.39, ranking second among all 8 sororities on campus, as well as surpassing the all-sorority and all-women average.

We started off fall semester with a sisterhood retreat at Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. We prepared for recruitment and bonded as a chapter after a long summer apart. With the addition of another sorority on campus, Sigma Kappa, as well as an increase in the number of girls interested in Greek life, Northeastern’s Panhellenic recruitment structure was changed. Instead of four days in a row, recruitment was spread out across two weekends. Recruitment proved to be very successful, as we welcomed 33 new members of the Epsilon class to our chapter on October 7th.

Founder’s Day was hosted on our campus and alumni, including recent graduates from our chapter, joined us for a brunch celebration. Our annual Kappa Kickoff philanthropy event had its biggest turnout yet, with 47 teams signed up, and raised more than $1,000 for Hope Lodge.

During homecoming week, we were paired with the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and won the annual dance competition, Take It To The Floor! Our new member period was eventful, with programming including a “Kappa Key-esta” for new members to meet actives, a Minute-to-Win-It game night, and a key and pillow exchange for bigs and littles. I-Week included many events such as our yearly Owl Prowl dinner, and culminated in the initiation of 31 sisters on November 24th.

Our philanthropy committee ran a t-shirt fundraiser and donated the money raised to the Kappa Foundation. We ended the semester with our Sapphire Ball, held at the Back Bay Hilton on December 7th. Our chapter’s GPA for Fall 2013 was unavailable at the time this report was submitted.

==Highlights of 2014==

2014 was an exhilarating and action-packed year for Eta Omicron! Some of our main focuses this year were to strengthen our sisterhood and further our philanthropic efforts. We continued to go to our local philanthropy AstraZeneca Hope Lodge twice a month to play Bingo, bake cookies and talk to the patients and guests. Some other philanthropic events we participated in were Cards for Troops with the ladies of Delta Phi Epsilon, the Muddy River cleanup, The Johnson & Johnson Games and serving food at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans. Our sisterhood events included a trip to SkyZone, pumpkin carving, movie nights, a J. Crew shopping event, a workout at Pure Barre Boston, and the first annual post semi/post formal Brunch at Pour House.

The 2014 spring semester was a great way to start the year. Our sister, Jennifer Cordero, was elected the first Panhellenic Secretary from our chapter. At Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards, our sister Kayla Arruda won “Outstanding Scholar” and our advisor, Jan Larson, won “Outstanding Advisor”. Our chapter achievements included “Achievement in Scholarship” and “Achievement in Leadership.” We also won awards for “Outstanding Scholarship” and “Outstanding Leadership.” Overall we were ranked Bronze in Chapter Excellence.

During Greek Week, we were paired with the gentlemen of both Sigma Beta Rho and Beta Gamma Epsilon. We played an active part in the week’s activities, participating in Greek Sing and placing 2nd overall for the week. We were also involved in Northeastern’s Relay for Life and were the top fundraising team, raising $12,386, for the second year in a row. At the end of the week we hosted our Reading Is Fundamental event at Samuel Adams Elementary school. We read “The Rainbow Fish” to first-graders, played fish-themed bingo, decorated bookmarks, and every child received a book of their own to take home.

Formal was held on April 5th at Venue in Downtown Boston. As the semester came to an end seniors participated in Senior Week (S-Week) events as we graduated our last Alpha class members. One event called Alpha Bid Day was held in honor of all the Alphas who never had the chance to run into the arms of loving sisters on bid day. We invited back as many Alphas who were in the area for the event. We concluded the spring semester with our annual Love and Loyal Tea Party. Our chapter GPA for the spring semester was a 3.4, which surpassed the all woman and all sorority average. We had the 2nd highest-ranking GPA of all 8 sororities on campus.

In June, 5 of our sisters attended the 2014 biennial Convention where Eta Omicron won the Risk Management award and Honorable Mention in the areas of Ritual, Education, Academic Excellence, and Public Relations.

We started off the 2014 fall semester with our sisterhood retreat at Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. In accordance with our yearly goals, we extended the retreat to two nights so that we could devote an entire day to sisterhood bonding after a long summer away from school. We also prepared for the upcoming recruitment. Due to feedback from the Panhellenic community, the recruitment structure was changed again. Instead of having recruitment held over two weekends, it was brought back to being four days in a row. Recruitment proved to be very successful and we welcomed 36 wonderful new members into the Zeta class of our chapter on September 23rd.

We hosted Founder’s Day on our campus and active members of Eta Omicron and Zeta Alpha (Babson) chapters as well as alumni attended to celebrate with a brunch. During Homecoming Week we were paired with the gentlemen of Phi Delta Theta. We participated in the week’s events and won second place in the semester’s annual dance competition, Take It to the Floor.

The new member period was very eventful. There were many events including “Kappa Kandy Land” and Family Feud for the new members to meet and socialize with the active sisters. During Inspiration Week we held our 2nd annual Pillow-Key Exchange for the bigs and littles and the annual Owl Prowl. The week culminated in the initiation of 36 new members on November 7th.

Our annual Kappa Kickoff was held on November 16th with 35 teams participating, raising $850 dollars for Hope Lodge. Our philanthropy committee also hosted a second RIF event at Samuel Adams Elementary. To further support RIF, we brought an Ice ream truck to campus and raised over $150. Our Sapphire Ball was held on December 6th at Estate in Downtown Boston. The chapter’s fall 2014 GPA was 3.39, again surpassing the all sorority and all women’s averages.

Eta Omicron holds chapter in a university owned classroom, which changes each semester. Fall of 2014 was held in a Mugar classroom and Spring of 2014 was held in a Behrakis classroom. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite. We have never had one in our history.

==Highlights of 2015==

Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a delightful 2015 school year. We started the year with five main goals: to increase organization within committees and allow members the opportunities to gain more leadership; to focus on individual well being of sisters and strengthen the sisterhood of EtaO; to improve internal organization and structure of Chapter Council leadership; to increase Panhellenic involvement and visibility on campus; and to foster growth and understanding and appreciation of Kappa.

We were able to achieve all of these goals, for example by restructuring how we hold second chair position elections, holding countless bonding sisterhood events and implementing a Chapter Council bonding initiative to help the council realize and appreciate each other’s skills and leadership endeavors. We are also proud to support our sister Sneha Pandya who was elected to be Panhellenic President at Northeastern for the upcoming 2016 year. Some examples of the sisterhood events we put on included a kickboxing event, movie nights, pottery painting, ornament decorating with other chapters on campus, and J Crew and Brandy Melville shopping events.

The Spring semester of 2015 started wonderfully for Eta Omicron as we won “Outstanding Philanthropy” and “Outstanding Academics” for our chapter in the annual Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards. Our sister, Ashley Karsenty served as the Panhellenic Secretary as well. At the end of the school year, four of our sisters attended the biannual Province meeting.

We were also very active in our school’s Greek Week, participating in Greek Sing and placing second overall in our Greek Week competitions where we were paired with the gentlemen of Delta Tau Delta and the ladies of Delta Phi Omega. As a kickoff to Greek Week we also participated in the annual Relay for Life on campus. We won the Double Dare Competition and received $500 for our team, bringing our total fundraising as a team to over $16,000.

Formal was held on March 28th at The Inn at Longwood. We ended the school year with Senior Week (S-week), with seniors participating in a multitude of activities including Senior Wills and Goodbyes. We graduated 24 incredible seniors. Our last event of the year, the Love and Loyal Tea, was spectacular and we honored our much deserving sister Cara Henderson with the Loyalty Award. Our chapter GPA for the Spring semester was 3.38, ranking fifth out of the eight sororities on campus, as well as surpassing the all-women and all-sorority average.

We started our Fall 2015 with our annual sisterhood retreat to Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. We prepared ourselves for Recruitment with workshops and strengthened our sisterhood through bonding activities and competitions. Interest in recruitment continues to increase on campus and more than 500 girls came out for formal recruitment. Eta Omicron proved to have a very successful recruitment, welcoming 35 excited members to the Eta Class on September 30th.

This year the Eta Theta (Harvard) chapter hosted Founder’s Day on their campus and active members of Eta Omicron and Zeta Alpha (Babson) chapters as well as alumni attended to celebrate with a brunch. During Homecoming Week we were paired with the gentlemen of Beta Chi Theta and Alpha Delta Phi. We participated in the week’s events including the annual dance competition, Take It to the Floor. Our sister, Christy Murphy also ran for Mayor of Huntington Avenue, the first contestant ever from our chapter.
The new member period was carefully planned so as not overwhelm while simultaneously integrating the newest class. There were many events including Pumpkin Carving, a self defense class, and a “Minute to Win It” competition for the new members to meet and socialize with the active sisters. The annual New Member Retreat was held at an active sister’s house in Topsfield, MA. During Inspiration Week we held our 3rd annual Pillow-Key/Fleur-de-Lis Exchange for the bigs and littles and the annual Owl Prowl. The week culminated in the initiation of 33 new members on Saturday December 5th.

Our annual Kappa Kickoff was held on October 25th with 28 teams participating, raising $900 dollars for the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. We also held a Bar-B-Que afterwards for our sisters and the participating teams. In one of the most interesting Education Chapters, Eta Omicron held its first “It’s On Us” presentation, facilitating discussion and understanding about sexual assault on college campuses. The last week of the semester, we held S-week and celebrated our four graduating fall seniors. Our Sapphire Ball was held on December 12th at CandiBar in Downtown Boston. The chapter’s Fall 2015 GPA was not available at the time this report was written.

Eta Omicron holds chapter in a university owned classroom, which changes each semester. Fall of 2015 was held in a Cargill classroom and Spring of 2015 was held in a Churchill classroom. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite. We have never had one in our history.

The biggest recent change on our campus was the remodeling of Curry Student Center, where all Panhellenic Sororities hold formal fall recruitment. The first floor was renovated and now includes a mini amphitheater.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

A major focus of the Spring semester was increasing our philanthropic endeavors. We held our annual Reading is Fundamental event on March 31st at the Sam Adams Elementary School. We worked with the same class we had worked with the year before in their second grade classroom. We read “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie,” played bingo, and made bookmarks with the children. Additionally, we changed some of our activities with our local philanthropy, the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. Instead of Bingo, we started playing trivia and held a SuperBowl Party. Lastly, we held our first annual Lip Sync for Life, a Jimmy Fallon style LipSync Battle, and raised over $600 for the Hope Lodge.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

Our chapter chose to support the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge in 2013 because many of the women in the organization felt personal connections to the Lodge. We are all affected by cancer in one way or another and thought this would be the best place to devote our time. We are also able to do hands on work at the Lodge and we interact with the guests, instead of solely donating money and that was important to our chapter.

==Highlight of 2016==

Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an exemplary 2016 school year. In January, we crafted five main goals that we hoped to accomplish within the year: to raise chapter GPA by 0.02 (to 3.4) by December 2016; to decrease unexcused absences by 50%, to have attendance of at least 12 women at Fraternity Sorority Life events and Panhel meetings, and further to have an appropriate number of teams at Panhel philanthropic events per the Panhel Chairwoman’s discretion; to increase understanding and appreciation of ritual; and to form a strong relationship with our new philanthropy.

In the spring we volunteered at our new local philanthropy, Christopher’s Haven, for the first time on January 28th. We go to Christopher’s Haven bi-monthly and help out wherever we’re needed. Christopher’s Haven is a home away from home where children can stay with their families while undergoing cancer treatments at Massachusetts General Hospital. Most of the time we hang out with the kids and families playing games, watching shows, and making crafts, but other times we help parents with chores they don’t have time to complete. We have volunteered with Christopher’s Haven eleven times thus far and we cannot wait to strengthen our relationship even further.

Northeastern welcomed Chi Omega as its ninth sorority on campus in the spring of 2016. For the first time in our chapter’s history we held an informal spring recruitment. It was extremely successful and we welcomed nineteen lively Thetas to our chapter on February 4th. During their new member period, they attended events with older pledge classes to get to know our chapter. They attended the annual new member retreat, which was held at Emily Horn’s house in Franklin, Massachusetts. The new members also attended other annual events such as Owl Prowl and our Pillow/Key Exchange with their new big/little pairings. We were proud to initiate all nineteen women on April 9th.

In Northeastern’s annual Greek Week this spring, we were paired with the gentlemen of Kappa Sigma fraternity. We participated in Greek Olympics and our annual dance competition, Greek Sing, finishing first in both of these events. Also, our sister, Dina Hagigeorges, won Greek Goddess. The entire chapter’s participation and involvement in Greek Week played an active role in our overall first place finish. At the end of Greek Week, we won the Silver Achievement Award as well as Achievements in Scholarship and Philanthropy. Over the summer, two of our sisters attended Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national convention where we won the Academic Excellence Award and received honorable mentions in greatest improvement and panhel.

We ended the spring semester with senior week - an exciting time to celebrate the hard work and dedication our sisters have put in during their college careers. Our chapter participated in events such as Senior Legacy Night and Senior Wills and Goodbyes. Our annual Tea Party was held at the end of the week, where we honored Adriana Levy with the Loyalty Award. The week concluded with us graduating 25 of our wonderful sisters. We also attended Formal on April 22nd on the Spirit of Boston. Our final spring GPA was 3.471, ranking first out of all sororities on campus.
Upon returning to campus in the fall, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat. We held this event in campus classrooms, where we spent time bonding through games, activities, and recruitment workshops. Formal recruitment was held during the following two weekends. Eta Omicron successfully welcomed a new Iota class of 30 spirited women on September 26th. The new member period was filled with activities to integrate the newest pledge class into our chapter. We held our traditional events, such as our new member retreat, but also adopted new items to our new member curriculum, such as Every Member Education. I-week was successful in increasing sisters’ understanding and appreciation of our ritual. All thirty women were in good standing both financially and academically, which led to them being initiated at the end of their new member period on November 19th.

This year Babson’s Zeta Alpha chapter hosted Founders Day on October 15th. Active members of Eta Omicron and Eta Theta of Harvard were in attendance, as well as alumnae from various chapters. We celebrated our founding with brunch, presentations, awards, and engaging conversations.
Eta Omicron held numerous sisterhood events this year to strengthen the bonds in our chapter. Some events included crocheting, pumpkin carving, and a TITLE Boxing event. We had amazing chapter meetings, as well, including a speaker presentation about the It’s On Us campaign. We also participated in Northeastern’s Homecoming Week Events, which included our annual dance competition, Take it to the Floor, where we placed second with the brothers of Beta Theta Pi. Our sister, Savannah Knisely, ran for Mayor of Huntington Avenue.

The fall semester concluded with our Semi Formal and Senior Week. Semi Formal was held at Guilt Night Club in Downtown Boston on December 10th. Senior week celebrated our one December graduate. Unfortunately, the fall semester GPA was not available at the time of this report.
Our philanthropic endeavors were very strong in the 2016 school year. In the spring, we hosted our annual Lip Sync for Life Event with the brothers of Kappa Sigma and the sisters of Alpha Epsilon Phi where we raised $600 for Christopher’s Haven. Additionally, we attended Northeastern’s annual Relay for Life event on March 18th. As a whole, Northeastern raised over $260,000 and as women of Kappa Kappa Gamma, we contributed over $21,000 to this total. We were proud to be the top fundraising organization at Northeastern and we also surpassed our fundraising goal of $20,000. Furthermore, we made two trips to the Greater Boston Food Bank this year. During each trip, we made 6,000 meals possible and sorted through 9,000 pounds of food. We also held a Cards for Troops event with Delta Phi Epsilon. To support our national philanthropy, we held a RIF event on April 12th at the Samuel Adams Elementary School. We read The Giving Tree to three first grade classrooms and donated books to over 60 students. We held another RIF event at the same school in our fall semester, where we read Corduroy and did activities centered on the theme of the book. We gave each student a book and we donated the remainder of the books to the school. Also to benefit RIF, we had an ice cream truck come to campus and half of the profits went to RIF. Lastly, we held our annual Kappa Kickoff philanthropy event on October 23rd and raised $855 for Christopher’s Haven.

Our chapter meetings are held in rooms owned by Northeastern. Chapter meetings were held in 97 Cargill Hall and 200 Richards Hall in the spring and fall semesters, respectively. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite and we have never had one in our history.
Achieving our goals was an essential part of our 2016 school year. We successfully raised our chapter’s overall GPA by booking study rooms and enforcing academic excellence goals. We decreased absences by enforcing rules with recording secretary and VPS check-ins, utilizing surveys to plan events, and taking attendance at all planned events. We increased our Panhel attendance by utilizing committees for panhel meetings. Also, our sisters gained a better understanding and appreciation of ritual through our two Inspiration weeks. Lastly, we have positively promoted our new philanthropy and logged attendance hours to ensure we are forming a strong relationship with Christopher’s Haven. Overall, the 2016 school year has been a year full of sisterhood and high achievements for the amazing women of Eta Omicron.

==Highlights of 2017==
The Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a wonderful year in 2017. In early January, the Eta Omicron Chapter Council developed five goals for the chapter to move towards achieving throughout the year. These goals were to form a stronger relationship with the other Northeastern fraternities and sororities on campus and the greater Northeastern communities, to increase understanding and appreciation of rituals, bylaws, standing rules and history, to emphasize sisterhood in all aspects of chapter life and programming, to make better use of committees, and to increase study hours by 50%.

During the spring semester our chapter had many events to help strengthen sisterhood within our sorority as well as our relationships with other sororities on campus. We held events such as exercise classes and holiday celebrations within our sorority as well as with other organizations and chapters.

In March, Northeastern had its annual Greek Week, for which we were paired with the gentlemen of the Pi Delta Psi and Beta Gamma Epsilon fraternities. We participated in Greek Sing and Greek Goddess as part of the Greek Week festivities. During the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony, our chapter was incredibly honored to be named Northeastern’s Panhellenic Chapter of the Year for 2016.

In April, we celebrated our soon-to-be graduates and all their accomplishments and the hard work they had put in throughout their years at Northeastern with Senior Week. We held events including Senior Wills and Legacy Night, and arranged other fun events for the seniors to celebrate together as a graduating class. We had our annual Tea Party on Sunday April 2, where we honored our sister Emily Horn with the Loyalty Award. We graduated 30 incredible sisters at the end of this week. Our Formal was our last event of the semester and was held on April 22 at the Taj Hotel rooftop in Boston. Our sisters had a great time celebrating all of their hard work and achievements with one another after another great semester before parting for the summer.

On the first Saturday of the fall semester, September 9th, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat, located for the first time at YMCA Camp Beckett in Beckett, Massachusetts. Sisters spent time bonding and enjoying each other’s company by playing games such as Red Rover and mastering the high ropes course the camp had to offer. Our sisters spent the night in cabins strengthening our sisterhood before returning to campus Sunday afternoon.

Formal recruitment began the following Saturday and spanned two weekends. On September 25th our chapter welcomed 41 excited new members into our Kappa class. 2 members of our Kappa class were transfer students from Dickinson College and Marist College who were initiated into our sorority at their past colleges and were being welcomed into Eta Omicron with the new members.
We hosted a Founders Day celebration at the Northeastern Alumni Center on October 22nd for our sisters. Also in attendance were members of the BIAA and members from the Harvard University and Babson College chapters. We had a lovely ceremony and brunch to celebrate our fraternity.
On October 29th our Nominating Committee met to slate sisters for our new Chapter Council. At formal chapter on Tuesday November 7th we selected our officers for 2017.

We hosted our annual Owl Prowl on Wednesday November 1 to provide another opportunity for active sisters and new members to relax and get to know each other a little better. Our families were very excited to grow at our Big/Little reveal that Friday, November 3rd. With initiation approaching, our Inspiration Week began Sunday November 12th. On Thursday, we held our canvas/fleur de lis exchange for bigs and littles. We held our Fireside ceremony that Friday November 16th after a week filled with sisterhood events and bonding opportunities. After Fireside, the soon-to-be initiates and their bigs spent time bonding in a sisterhood cozy.

This year our chapter held 2 initiation ceremonies so that we could accommodate all of our new members and their busy schedules. On Saturday November 18th we were ecstatic to initiate 38 new members into our chapter and pass 18 senior sisters through their final Red Room ceremony. During this ceremony, one new member was also initiated to the Delta Nu chapter of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. On Sunday November 19th, one senior sister went through her final Red Room ceremony and 2 more new members were initiated into our chapter. We could not be more excited to have welcomed 40 wonderful new sisters to our chapter!

Our chapter meetings are held in rooms owned by Northeastern. Chapter meetings were held in 201 Mugar Hall and 101 Churchill Hall in the spring and fall semesters, respectively. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite, and we have never had one in our history.
Our last event of the semester was our Semi Formal, which was held at Guilt Nightclub in Boston on December 1st. Our sisters danced the night away and celebrated all their triumphs and achievements from the semester.

Philanthropy played a major role in our chapter throughout the year. We partnered with Alpha Epsilon Phi to host our annual Lip Sync for Life event on March 20th. On March 22nd, our sisters volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank, where we helped sort food and make many meals possible for those in need. On March 24th our chapter participated in Northeastern’s Relay for Life event, raising a total of $21,879 for the American Cancer Society and were proudly named the top fundraising team for the event. We held our Reading is Fundamental event of the spring semester on April 1st at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury Crossing, MA. For this event 13 of our sisters visited the school to read Fish Out of Water to the first grade students and brought them all books to take home with them.

On Sunday October 15th we held our fall philanthropy event, our annual Kappa Kickoff flag football tournament. The event started at 2 PM and we had a total of 42 teams. We were very excited to have raised just over $1,100 for our local philanthropy Christopher’s Haven. On Friday December 1st, we held our Reading is Key event of the fall semester. For this event, 15 of our sisters visited the first grader classes at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury, MA. We used the money we had raised throughout the semester to purchase books to give to each student, and handed them out at this time. We read The Giving Tree to the students and engaged in a fun, educational activity with them. Their enthusiasm and gratitude was palpable, and our sisters truly loved having the opportunity to bring more literature into these children’s lives.

Achieving our goals was a vital part of our 2017 school year. We successfully formed stronger relationships with the other Northeastern fraternities and sororities on campus and the greater Northeastern communities by creating a sign up sheet for every Fraternity/Sorority Life event to ensure that members of our chapter were present at every event, collaborating with and supporting other organizations on campus, and doing our best to hold an event each month with our Panhel pair. We increased our sisters’ understanding and appreciation of rituals, bylaws, standing rules, and history by presenting a bylaw/standing rule of the week at chapter and in the TWIK each week, practicing a ritual song at every chapter, and emphasizing both Kappa and chapter history throughout the New Member period. Our chapter emphasized sisterhood in all aspects of chapter life and programming by promoting standards as a resource to strengthen relationships and mediate conflicts, encouraging rearranged seating at informal chapter meetings, and offering one internal sisterhood event per month. In order to make better use of committees, our chapter chose to give members of the committees titles or roles when appropriate, host one committee bonding event per semester, and create a group agreement per committee including method of communication and goals. Our final goal was to increase study hours by 50%, which we worked to achieve by encouraging sisters to log their study hours on the Gin System, rewarding the sister/group of sisters with the most study hours at the end of each determined period of time, and creating study groups and teams by major. For the spring semester we had the highest GPA on campus for the 4th semester in a row. In conclusion, 2017 has been a year of many accomplishments and sisterhood for the incredible sisters of Eta Omicron.

==Highlights of 2018==

Eta Omicron had an incredibly successful 2018! Early in January, we devised three main goals to continue to strengthen our chapter even further: to improve accountability by increasing attendance, better recruitment by refining organizational abilities and refining recruiting skills, and to ensure that there is respect and proper education for ritual.

In the spring, we were able to accomplish a remarkable amount, strengthening our sisterhood, philanthropic relationships, as well as our relationships with the other sororities and fraternities on campus. Philanthropically, we continued our bi-monthly visits to Christopher’s Haven, our local philanthropy, as well as hosted and co-hosted several events throughout the semester. In January, we partnered up with the brothers of Kappa Sigma to craft cards for those with chronic illnesses. In February, we visited Community Servings with the gentlemen of Alpha Kappa Sigma and prepared meals for those in need. We also hosted our annual Lip Sync event with the women of Alpha Epsilon Phi, raising $1,123, half of which went towards Christopher’s Haven.

March again proved to be one of our busiest months. We started off with a spectacular sisterhood event at Rollerworld, where we skated the night away in ‘90s fashion. As the beginning of Greek Week, a Monopoly-themed Relay for Life quickly came upon us. Through donations and our Kappa Kaffeine booth, we were able to raise $16,282 for the American Cancer Society. Sister Cole Rifkin won Mayor of Monopoly, making our whole chapter proud as we walked into the early hours of the morning. With our Greek Week pairs, the brothers of Alpha Kappa Sigma and Lambda Phi Epsilon, we competed and placed second in the annual dance competition, Greek Sing, and our sister Laura Shannon ran for Greek Goddess. During the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony, we were proudly honored to be named Northeastern’s Panhellenic Chapter of the Year for the second year in a row. Due to the incredible efforts of the Chapter Council of 2017, we were also awarded the Academic Excellence Award, earned the Highest GPA in Panhellenic, and our president, Sydney Smith, won Panhellenic Council Outstanding President.

We began to close the spring semester with our Formal that was held on April 7th at the W. Prior to formal, sisters gathered at a local restaurant for brunch in preparation for the night of dancing ahead. During Senior Week, we celebrated all of the hard work and achievements of our seniors with Senior Wills and Legacy Night. We held our Annual Tea Party at the end of the week, where we honored Jessica Adrian with the Loyalty Award. We officially transitioned 27 women into alumna status and completed the spring semester with a chapter GPA of 3.596.

Over the summer, three of our sisters attended Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national convention where we were awarded with the Public Relations Award. We received four honorable mentions for New Member Programming, Excellence in Chapter Management, Gracious Living, and Academic Excellence. For the second year in a row, we conducted a Summer Health Challenge in which pledge classes competed to promote healthy living. This challenge served phenomenally to improve public relations as well as encourage keeping in touch over summer break.

For the first weekend of the fall semester, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat at YMCA Camp Beckett in western Massachusetts on September 8th and 9th. We focused on strengthening our sisterhood and put a large emphasis on ritual and the values we were searching for with recruitment approaching so soon. Through high ropes courses and relay races, we were able to strengthen our bonds and return back to Boston on Sunday, exhausted but eager to start recruiting. Formal recruitment was held during the following two weekends in Northeastern’s student center. On September 24th, Eta Omicron excitedly welcomed the wonderful Lambda class of 52 new members. We were thrilled to integrate a Kappa transfer from Syracuse University into our new member class. The new member period was filled with activities including the new member retreat, where women participated in their first Kappa Kozy and were able to get to know each other off campus.

On October 14th, we hosted a Founders Day celebration in Northeastern’s Alumni Center. We were joined by alumnae, members of the BIAA, as well as Gail Simpson Owen, the Fraternity President, and Alpha District Director Andrea Stanfield who we were ecstatic to welcome to Eta O. We had a beautiful ceremony accompanied by a fantastic brunch and celebrated our fraternity with pride. To prepare for another successful year, the nominating committee met on Saturday, November 3rd to slate our sisters for the new Chapter Council. At formal chapter on Tuesday, November 13th, we elected our Chapter Council officers for the 2019 academic year.

The fall was also filled with several events that deepened our bonds as sisters. We went apple picking at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, MA, attended an Xtend Barre class, carved pumpkins, relaxed together during a spa night, and even returned to Rollerworld and had even more fun the second time. We participated in Homecoming Week with our partners, the brothers of Phi Delta Theta, and competed in Take It to the Floor, the annual dance competition. Bigs were finally revealed to eager littles on November 4th, right before we hosted our annual Owl Prowl on November 7th. Here new members and active sisters were able to mingle and get to know each other better. This action-packed week was followed by Inspiration Week, where bigs and littles exchanged pillows and fleur de lis on Thursday night and we prepared for initiation with the Fireside ceremony on Friday night. After the ceremony, bigs and littles held a cozy in order to emotionally prepare for the upcoming ceremony in the morning. The following morning, Saturday, November 17th, we initiated the fifty-one new members.

In addition to all of our sisterhood events, philanthropy was one of our main focuses throughout the fall. We hosted our annual Kappa Kickoff event, a flag football tournament that we open up to the entire university. This year we were able to raise $1,356.13 for Christopher’s Haven. Through t-shirt sales, we were able to raise $310 for Reading Is Fundamental. We organized a fundraiser for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation at Love Art Sushi, raising $37.87. With the brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi, we crafted card for the Boston Homeless Veterans Shelter and with the brothers of Delta Tau Delta, we created cards for Remy, a patient undergoing treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. To support our national philanthropy, we visited Orchard Gardens Public School for our Reading Is Fundamental event on November 30th . Ten of our sisters read Make Way for Ducklings and bonded with the students. We are very proud of our philanthropic endeavors this year and we are excited to continue to watch our relationships flourish.

The fall semester came to a close with our Semi-Formal and Senior Wills. Semi-Formal was held on November 30th at Kingston Grille & Bar and our sisters celebrated our accomplishments of the semester and danced the night away. Senior Wills was held for the twelve seniors who graduated in December. The chapter reminisced and was able to give the graduating seniors the sisterly goodbye they deserved. These seniors were transitioned into alumnae status during a formal chapter meeting on Tuesday, December 4th.

Eta Xi

2021-12-22T18:37:07Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Xi
|GreekSymbol= HΞ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Xi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2009|04|25}}
|College= [https://www.ucmerced.edu/ University of California Merced]
|Location= Merced, CA
|Homepage= [https://ucmerced.kappa.org/ Eta Xi Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Xi Media related to Eta Xi Chapter]}}

'''University of California Merced, established 2002 -- opened its doors September 5, 2005 in the Central Valley as the 10th UC campus as well as the first American research university in the 21st century. '''

'''Eta Xi Chapter was founded April 25, 2009. '''

'''28 charter members'''

'''269 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Xi’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:''''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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== '''The start of a new beginning in a new century''' ==

==History==
The University of California, Merced (also referred to as UC Merced or UCM), is the tenth campus of the prestigious University of California system. Located in the San Joaquin Valley in unincorporated Merced County, Calif., near the City of Merced, UC Merced was the first American research university to be built in the 21st century. UC Merced is diverse, growing and committed to those ideals that serve the state, nation and world through research, education and public service.

As the San Joaquin Valley was the state’s largest and most populous region without a UC campus, on May 19, 1988, the Regents of the University of California voted to begin planning for a campus in the region in response to increasing enrollment and growth constraints at existing UC campuses. On May 19, 1995, the Regents selected the Merced site, mid-way between Fresno and Modesto, as the location for the University of California’s tenth campus. The campus groundbreaking ceremony was held October 25, 2002, and the first day of class was September 6, 2005.

On May 16, 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama gave the commencement address for the university’s first full graduating class, marking her first public experience as First Lady. Four of the 28 charter members of Eta Xi Chapter, UC Merced, graduated as members of this inaugural class.

In 2009, this contemporary, sweeping, four-year-old, green campus of the University of California system sat in California’s Central Valley—the Gateway to Yosemite—where most students studied biology and environmental sciences. Commencement speaker First Lady Michelle Obama described UC Merced students as those who “know how to get what they want.” She charged the class of 2009 “…as the students who helped build this school…to make your legacy a lasting one.” The charter members of Eta Xi, looking to the legacy of our Kappa Founders, accomplished the charge of the first lady. She asked them to “dream big, think broadly about your life, and…make giving back to our community a part of that vision.”

In fall 2010, the new housing complex, known as The Summits, opened to provide residences for students. The two, four-story buildings, Tenaya Hall and Cathedral Hall, are reserved primarily for incoming freshmen.
Colonization and Installation

==Colonization==

In May 2008, a group of innovative women petitioned Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity for membership and, following Fraternity Council’s vote, Eta Xi Colony began to grow. Delta Delta Delta and Delta Gamma joined Kappa in the university’s first sorority recruitment.

Kappa welcomed a new member class of 28, and on April 25, 2009, these women became the charter members of Eta Xi Chapter. Simultaneously, the brand-new Central Valley Alumnae Association was born. This group of Kappas, residing from Stockton to Fresno, actively supports Eta Xi.

==Installation==

The installation team, led by Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis, joined chapter members from Fresno State, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz and Santa Clara as well as Emily Langdon Nies, UC Davis, Coordinator of Chapter Development, and Pi Province alumnae for dessert and a gift presentation following the Fireside at the home of faculty adviser Catherine Redig Kniazewycz, UC Berkeley.

Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Gamma held their installations on April 25th, followed by a brunch on campus. Campus administrators, families, friends and newly installed members of Delta Gamma and Kappa joined in the celebration. Associate Vice Chancellor Dr. Charles Nies, Sigma Chi, and father of two Kappa daughters, challenged Kappas at UC Merced and across the continent: “In 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma set fire to a movement among college women, a movement that has not lost its relevancy in today’s academy. It is my hope that your fraternity will continue to push the boundaries of age-old walls and will blow the glass off the ceiling that has limited women. The fleur-de-lis now has an identifiable role on our campus landscape—may this tradition of empowering women inspire our students and positively impact our campus community.”

Eta Xi will surely reflect the perseverance of our Founders and will enthusiastically meet the challenges offered by the campus community and the world today.

==Highlights of 2009-2019:==

==2009==

Information from chapter history reports, scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.

During 2009, the chapter participated in several mixers with other Greek groups on campus such as a Greek dodge ball tournament, a Thanksgiving celebration dinner with Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Chi’s Derby Days which the chapter won.

The chapter built a strong relationship with the Central Valley alumnae. The chapter and association celebrated the Fraternity’s Founders Day together. At this celebration, the first Spirit of Kappa Award was presented to a chapter member. She was presented with a 60-year old badge which belonged to a local alumna.

Eta Xi engaged in several philanthropic events in the local community. It donated pencil boxes to the local Boys and Girls Club, hosted a Sock Hop dance event to benefit the women’s Valley Crisis Center and raised money through sales of hot chocolate and egg nog to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Madera, Calif.

The chapter strengthened and celebrated its sisterhood through events such as the formal dance, the Sapphire Ball, as well as dinners and t-shirt making. To further develop the sisterhood among members, Hootie was awarded for many reasons varying from helping a sister keep up her grades to saving a member’s house after a bad plumbing situation.

Although the chapter was new, it became stronger every day as it engaged in new experiences such as recruitment and thrived as a chapter. Each member was diverse and eager to learn more about Kappa as the chapter created its own traditions. The members took satisfaction in developing a strong sense of leadership within the chapter, campus and community.

As a new chapter, the members faced many challenges that come with being the first to start something in a new environment. Not having an established foundation or model to look to at times flustered many members. However, having the chapter consultant to guide, support and uplift the members in times of confusion was just what was needed.

Four of the charter members graduated in June, and it was difficult for the remaining members to cope with their loss. Despite this complicated situation, the Kappas remained dedicated and united as a result of their strong bond of sisterhood.

==2010==
During the spring semester of 2010, the chapter held its first formal recruitment which was successful. Following initiation, the members volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House in Madera. The chapter took second place in Sigma Chi Derby Days and held a tri-sorority formal with the two other sororities on campus in April.

During the summer, several of our members attended the 2010 Fraternity Convention in Phoenix. Other members attended Leadership Academy in September. Again this year the chapter and alumnae association celebrated Founders Day together. This was a nice opportunity for the members to meet more of the alumnae.

The third-annual philanthropic Sock Hop raised $800, and, in the fall, Kappa Kandy Grams raised $300 for the United Way in Merced. The chapter was very active in Greek Week held by the Fraternity and Sorority Council, and we held a Kappa Koffee Break serving complimentary coffee and tea on campus during finals prep week. The Public Relations Chairman promoted Kappa FaculTEA break where each member took a cute tea bag to give to one of her professors to show her appreciation.

The UC Merced campus had grown. In 2010-2011, there were approximately 4,400 undergraduaates, more women (70) participated in formal recruitment and two men’s fraternities established chapters on the campus.

Eta Xi continued to strengthen itself while buiding and establishing its own reputation. New ideas and traditions were started while the chapter maintained a healthy Kappa lifestyle balancing academics, leadership roles, philanthropy and positive public relations in a mature and learning way.

Academic excellence is one of the chapter’s challenges. The VP Academic Excellence established incentives for members to put academics as their first priority. Each member set her own GPA goal at the begninning of the semester. At the close of the semester, those who made their goals were rewarded. Recognition was given for most improved grades and highest GPA. Kappa Kash was created to reward members who passed a big test. It could be redeemed for prizes, and an auction was held at the end of the semester.

Another challenge was participating with the Fraternity and Sorority Council (FSC). The council was disorganized, changed its bylaws frequently and failed to communicate. As positions opened on the council, chapter members were encouraged to apply. This way, Eta Xi became more involved in the decision-making for the Greek system and could hold it accountable to standards Kappa holds. At least one chapter member attended the FSC meeting with the chapter delegate. These steps helped the chapter become more involved in FSC at UC Merced.

==Highlights of 2011==

We rang in the new year with the addition of 20 new members, 18 of whom were initiated. In February, Eta Xi attended its first ever Pi Province Convention held by the Delta Omega chapter in Fresno, CA. The chapter is proud to say we won an award for the amazing programming and organization that the Vice President of Organization, Heidi Zuniga, was able to orchestrate.

In early March, we had our Reading Is Key event where we visited the Boys and Girls Club in the local community to read to kids, engage in group activities with the different age groups, and donate the amount of books we collected. Each kid was able to take two books home with them. It was a very successful philanthropy event. In April, we were able to throw our annual Sapphire Ball. The event went off without a hitch, and Eta Xi is proud of how well the event went. Eta Xi chapter also hosted the first annual Spelling Key in the fall. In order to attend this event, people brought in childrens' books so that we could donate to the Boys and Girls Club. In October, we held our fourth annual Sock Hop where we raised $1000 for the local organization, Valley Crisis Center. Every year we hope to raise money for Sockhop by an increase of $200.

'''Campus:''' University of California, Merced has grown by an influx of campus buildings as well as an increased amount of students. With more students, Greek life has attempted to grow through more and more interest groups. A chapter of Order of Omega has been established on campus, and the chapter was founded by a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We have many members who hold other leadership positions on campus.

'''Chapter:''' Our chapter grew this year, in terms of sisterhood and numbers. We gained 20 new members, pinned 19 of them and in April we proudly initiated 18 members. Our total number of members is 43.

One of the biggest challenges that were faced in the year 2011 was academics. After having been put on an Academic focus plan to raise the chapter GPA above the All Sorority Average in Spring of 2011, Eta Xi was able to raise its GPA above the average and was taken off of the Academic plan. We were able to use different incentives to get women to study harder for their grades such as Kappa Kash for Good Grade Reports of As and Bs as well as banquet for the women who received a GPA over a 3.0 the previous semester. Kappa Kash is an incentive that was originally created by one of the VP-AEs to reward our women for good grade reports, however, over time, we started to hand out Kappa Kash for a variety of different reasons. For example, addressing the chapter correctly during chapter meeting, or dressing up on our formal dress days. Kappa Kash is basically paper money, which we hold an auction for at the end of each semester that auctions off items such as Kappa gear, gift cards, etc. This has helped our chapter be motivated to attend events, whether mandatory or optional.

==Highlights of 2012==
After a beautiful recruitment featuring "Ain't No hood like Sisterhood" and "Kappa's Greatest Hits," we started the year 2012 with the addition of 22 new members, 19 of whom were initiated and one of whom continued as a new member to be initiated Spring 2013. Starting off the semester right, we spent our first sisterhood hanging out and participating in Bounce House races.

Eta Xi had its first Tri-sorority philanthropy event, with Delta Delta Delta and Delta Gamma, called a Sweet Affair where we raised over $300 dollars to each groups philanthropy. In early March, we had our Reading Is Key event where we visited the Boys and Girls Club in the local community to read to kids, engage in group activities with the different age groups, and donate the amount of books we collected. Also in March, Kappa had its annual New Member Retreat as well as our active crash where we teach the new members songs and chants and hang out for about 10 minutes. Later in March, we had our Big and Little Reveal that showed off the bonds of friendship that our chapter creates for eternities. We were honored to have Joanie Cohen come to our chapter as a Kappa Trainer to show not only our chapter but all social Greek chapters how to be a Better Greek. In April, our 3rd annual Sapphire Ball went on without a hitch, and Eta Xi is proud of how well our event went. With Sad farewells in May, 14 of our chapter graduated. Over the summer our vice-President of Standards, Adariana Garcia, was sent to Convention in Florida and was able to bring us home an award for our Signature Philanthropy Event Sock Hop.

In August. We invited a third of our chapter to our Academic Banquet which celebrates those with GPAs over a 3.00 or 3.14 depending on the semester. Our second annual Spelling Key in September saw us raise over $200. In October, we held our fifth annual Sock Hop where we raised $800 for the local Women's Crisis Center; the chapter held our first ever Alcohol Awareness event that helped raised alcohol safety on campus; and last but not least we held Founders Day in Modesto for the first time which saw an increase of alumnae attendance. Our goals for the 2012 year were to increase academic standing as well as to continue fostering growth in each member through leadership and friendship. One of our biggest challenges has been academics, and we are slowly overcoming that by more and more positive enforcement of good grades. This has been something that the chapter spends energy on improving and growing. Another challenge has been spreading ourselves to thin by going to other chapter's events. We are learning to curb that impulse to do everything by limiting the girls that do attend events and also emphasizing time management.

Our campus has changed for the better during the year of 2012. The campus has added a new building for more classes as well as starting the construction for new science buildings and a five story building for our on-campus students. The school is growing in numbers as well making it more difficult to obtain needed classes but also encourages more people to go through recruitment. Our Fraternity and Sorority Life has grown by having two chapters Lambda Theta Nu, Inc. and Gamma Zeta Alpha installed onto our campus with FSC and Student Affairs approval.

==Highlights of Spring 2013==
In Spring of 2013, Eta Xi continued expanding this year with 31 new members, 30 of which were initiated. Our first sisterhood event involved bonding by playing get-to-know-you games and creating Kappa-themed headbands. With the help of our Philanthropy committee, we partnered with the Girl Scouts of the America to sell girl scout cookies on campus and managed to raise over $500 in the first day of selling. We were also able to partner with the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program and host an event on the UC Merced campus for students to donate their hair. Our annual Sapphire Ball this year was held at the Branding Iron for the first time with a Parisian theme. This year our annual visit with the Boys and Girls Club was held on Earth Day; and Kappas had the opportunity to garden plants and spend time interacting with children of all ages. During the Greek Gala held in May, we won two awards for our outstanding university relations and scholarship. The first all-sorority mixer in the history of UC Merced was also held in May, where we were joined by the ladies of Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, and Lambda Theta Nu Sorority Inc. for a day at the park with tons of games and a beautiful lunch. Our chapter has strived to stand out on campus and make our presence known by joining several new social media websites, such as instagram and twitter. We have continued with our goals of academic success in Eta Xi, and this year we ranked number one out of all fraternities and sororities on the Greek Grade report with a 2.819 GPA for Spring semester. We also had the largest percentage of members on the Dean’s List, with 22.54% As the Spring 2013 semester came to an end, we said farewell to 14 graduates and wished them luck as they embarked on their alumnae journeys.

==Highlights of Fall 2013==

Eta Xi had a very busy yet successful 2013 Fall Semester. To start off the semester, we held an event on August 29th called Under the Sea with KKG in the cat quad. We had a game booth for people to win goldfish and had other activities to welcome back students. Our annual Kappa Kandyland tabling event was held on September 4th outside of OSL where we passed out candy and to students throughout the day.

On September 13th our AE chair held an Academic Banquet to celebrate those in the chapter who achieved a 3.0 GPA the previous spring semester. On September 20th our Philanthropy chair held our first ever Katcha Katha Frisbee event where Greek organizations and other students on campus created teams and played in an ultimate Frisbee tournament. On October 11th we had a mixer with Omega Delta Phi Fraternity Inc. starting with a service event with the Early Childhood Education center in the morning, and having the mixer later that afternoon. Founder’s day lunch was held on October 13th at the Branding Iron restaurant.

October 19th our chapter was invited to table at PAA’s annual Barrio Fiesta event on campus. October 21-25th our chapter participated in Kappa Sigma’s first “Kappa Sigma’s Most Wanted Week.” During the same week on October 25th, our award winning philanthropy event “Sock Hop” was held. The next day we had our annual sisterhood event at the pumpkin patch, and the following week from the 27th through November 1st our LC Mary Beth came to visit. From November 12th-15th Eta Xi was partnered with SAE for this years Greek Week that involved various competitive events throughout the week, where we won first place. On November 15th Eta Xi co-hosted a Karaoke Night with PAA that was welcome to all students on campus. On November 22nd Eta Xi co-hosted UC Merced’s first ever Bare Necessities Run which was held in honor of reaching our fundraising goal for Promise for Education to help fund the University of California schools. On the same night, we had our annual thanksgiving mixer with Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

On December 4th, we held our annual Kappa Koffee Break in the bobcat layer before finals and offered free coffee and other snacks to students. To finish off the semester, On December 5th we participated in FSC’s Meet the Greek’s housing event where we got to meet and talk toPNM’s. Eta Xi had an incredibly busy semester, and adding to all of our accomplishments, Eta Xi finished the highest Fall GPA amongst all other Greek organizations. Also this year, Janine Fernandez was chosen as Kappa Sigma’s Star, Ashley Sigel was chosen as a Sigma Alpha Epsilon Violet, and Leah Beza was chosen as Sigma Chi’s Sweetheart. At the beginning of our spring 2014 semester we had a recruitment of 40 new members.

During the Fall 2013 semester, our campus grew tremendously. The UC Merced campus opened a brand new housing building called Half Dome that is five stories tall and is open to upper classmen as well as freshman. We also had a new student class classroom building open called the SSB (Student Services building). In construction currently is a brand new amphitheater and a second science and engineering building.

==Highlights of Fall 2014==

Eta Xi started the exciting fall 2014 semester with welcoming week tabling on the date of 28th of August, and on the date of September 5th, we hosted a welcome week event for anyone who is interested in going Greek, and it was our Kappa Kool Down event at the bowl for anyone who wanted to get away from the summer sun.

On the 11th of September, we had an event, “Scoops for Troops” which was collaborated with the veteran club on campus where we sold ice cream to raise funds that was completely donated to the wounded warriors. We also had our Academic Excellence Banquet at Toni’s Courtyard Cafe on the 13th of September to celebrate the hard work the ladies had put in for the past semester. The 19th of September, a few of our athletic sisters participated in the Sigma Chi volleyball tournament. On the 20th of September, we had our Chapter retreat to Santa Cruz, despite the accident that happened on our way there, we were able to handle it efficiently and minimized any sort of further damages.

We welcomed our LC Lauren to our chapter during the week of October 5th to help us to improve our chapters in many different ways possible, and also October the 6th marked the beginning of Kappa Sigma’s Most Wanted Week and our chapter participated in the week-long event that helped to raise funds for Kappa Sigma’s philanthropy, the wounded warrior home. Our education chair, Jasmin Blas held our fabulous Founder’s day at Vista Ranch and Cellar on the 11th of October. On the 17th of October, we had our very first Kappa Kup, human foosball tournament and the purpose of the event was to raise money and awareness for our very own philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental.

On the 24th of October, we had our very own and exciting mixer with Omega Delta Phi, and we also had an exciting event Carnival of Pink throughout the day and were collaborating with Kappa Sigma and helped to raise awareness on breast cancer. We also competed in a powderpuff competition event that was held by Delta Delta Delta. And on October 25th, we had our annual Pumpkin Patch sisterhood event which was held by our wonderful event chairman, Katrina.

On the 27th of October, we joined the Fraternity and Sorority Council for the Sisterhood Soiree for any women who were interested in becoming part of Greek. Our very own Nomination Committee presented the slates of new officers for the year of 2015 to the chapter on November 2nd. We as a whole participated in the Greek Week that was organized by FSC to promote Greek unity with Omega Delta Phi in the week of November 3rd. We also held our very first Kappa Kookoff Chili contest for the first time in the light of the accident and hoping to help out our sisters in need. The following date, November 16th, we voted and finalized the positions of officers as a chapter during our formal chapter meeting. On the 21st of November, we also had our amazing and exciting Thanksgiving Mixer with Sigma Alpha Epsilon. On December 1st, we finished the officer installation during our last formal chapter of the semester. Before the stressful finals week, on the 5th of November, we held our very first distress sisterhood event and the event definitely brought all of us closer and strengthened the bond of sisterhood. We ended our amazing semester at UC Merced with the budget presentation during chapter on the date of December 7th.

==Highlights of Fall 2015==

Before we started a new school year for our chapter, Eta Xi, on the 17th of January, had a leadership day for all the newly elected officers. We had recruitment throughout the days of the 23rd and 25th, and we were more than excited to welcome our new sisters to our chapter. On January 30th, we had our new member retreat for all the new members for our chapter. Needless to say, all of us were grateful for this opportunity to get to know the new members better.

On the day of February 5th, some of our sisters volunteered to go to support our UC Merced basketball game, pink out. The game brought us closer to each other and followed by the 7th, we celebrated all the Kappa Kappa Geniuses by inviting them to our Academic Excellence banquet. We had the pleasure to connect and mingle with the gentlemen of Sigma Chi on the 13th of February. We had our big and little reveal on the 22nd of February and soon after that, on the 8th of March, we had Sigma within the Delta marking the start of our initiation week. On the 10th of March, blue and blue had sent many wishes from the bigs to the littles prior to the initiation. On the 13th of March, we concluded our inspiration week with fireside and new member sleepover and we couldn’t be more excited to initiate all on the 14th of March, followed by a brunch after and gave us a chance to catch up with our alumnae. On the 18th of March, we hosted our annual event with the Girl Scouts and helped them raise money through the sales of delicious girl scout cookies; nothing made us happier that day than the smiles on everyone’s face.

We welcomed our leadership consultant on the 5th of April and we received tremendous help from her experience with kappa, and we are thankful for all the support we received from her as well. On the 10th of April, we had the chance to meet and greet the brothers from Kappa Sigma Fraternity. And we also had a great turn out at the bobcat day, the 11th of April by mingling with the potential new students of UC Merced. On the 15th of April, many of sisters didn’t hesitate to chop their hair off for a great cause, beautiful length. And we said goodbye to our seniors on the 18th and had a blast later the day at our annual formal, sapphire ball. Our sisters also enjoyed our very own sisterhood event that was hosted by education chairman and standards. We also concluded our semester with a composite photo shoot on the 3rd of May and our last chapter.

On the 23rd of August, we decided to have a CC retreat to plan ahead for the semester as we prepared for our first fall informal recruitment. On the 3rd and the 4th of September, we had our first two events for the fall informal recruitment and we couldn’t been more excited to get to know them more as we had our third informal recruitment event on the 11th of September as well.

On the 12th of September, in order to celebrate the hard work of each ladies, we invited the Kappa Kappa Geniuses who achieved a 3.0 or above to our Academic Excellence banquet. We had our alum mixer followed by the 13th and bid night for the new members who went through fall recruitment on the 14th. On the 18th, we hosted a new member retreat and we also pinned our new members on the 20th of September. We had our annual sisterhood retreat on the 26th of September and it was filled with laughter and great food.

We also welcomed the Leadership Consultant’s visit through the 27th to 1st of October. On the 2nd of October, we had our very own mixer with the gentlemen of Omega Delta Phi and we celebrated our Founders’ day on the 10th of October and got a chance to connect with several alums who came down to visit. We also had our new member retreat on the 16th followed by big and little reveal on the 18th of October. Kappa Lemonade stand on the 22nd of October definitely brought joy to the campus through the planning of Public Relation, and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate the beginning of Fall by going to Pumpkin Patch on the 24th. On the 29th of October, our chapter won the first eco-fest that was hosted by UC Merced for being the eco-champion.

On the 1st of November marks the beginning of initiation week with Sigma Within a Delta. We also elected our nomination chair for the chapter on the day of 1st as well. As we sent of the best wishes from the bigs to littles at Blue and Blue on the day of November 3rd, we also had our annual philanthropic event Kappa Kup from the 12th to the 14th of November. After a successful thanksgiving event that was hosted by the Event committee, we initiated our new members at Fresno State on the 21st of November. We had election for new officers on the 22nd of November and we also installed the officers on the 30th of November. On the 6th of December, as we said goodbye to our sisters, we had the opportunity to bond with them at the sisterhood event. And the Public Relation Committee decided to give back to the UCM community by hosting our annual Kappa Koffee Break.

==Highlights of 2016==

The previous year was fairly uneventful besides being awarded as blue status for philanthropy and the recent presidential election. As of now the election hasn’t seemed to effect any of the women directly but there is no telling what the future may hold. Other than these two things the chapter has been pretty steady.

Campus: Our campus has just approved the 2020 Project meaning the campus should be completely finished by the year 2020. With this growth in the campus, the chapter begins to grow and adapt to the larger scale. This is especially apparent during philanthropy week-long events when the stakes are higher than ever.

Philanthropy: In our community, we have the Women’s Valley Crisis Center which is a place where women and children that have been domestically abused can go to do seek shelter, food, and any materials they may need to survive. As a chapter, we are not allowed to physically go and donate our time so instead we hold various fundraisers to donate money, clothes, materials, etc. to the center. Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support? As women, we felt that we should support women who do not have the privileges and opportunities that we have. These women are put in situations and helping them find a way out is all we can do.

==Highlights of 2017==

Eta Xi had an exciting and productive semester during Spring 2017, beginning with preparation for formal recruitment during Work Week which took place January 9th to January 13th, and recruitment practice, from January 23rd to January 26th. Spring recruitment took place on the last weekend of the month, with spirit night on January 27th, philanthropy day on January 28th, and ending with preference brunch and bid night on January 29th. The chapter ended the month by performing new member pinning on Monday night, January 30th.

During the short month of February, new members began to be introduced to chapter life. On February 4th, House Chairman Stephanie Maldonado held a storage clean up and awarded Kappa Kash to members who helped her organize the chapter’s storage. On February 11th, Vice President-Academic Excellence Mariah Estes held the biannual Academic Excellence Banquet at Toni’s Café. The chapter participated in its first mixer of the semester with sorority Delta Delta Delta on February 17th, organized by Events Chairman Ritu Sharma. Concluding the month, new members participated in a new member retreat on February 25th, held by New Member Educator Bridget Ise.

The busy month of March began with Events’ hosting Kappa Kappachinos and Sigma Chais on March 2nd, an event held by Eta Xi and the local Sigma Chi fraternity chapter to hand out coffee and energy drinks to students during midterm season, and the chapter’s DIY taco themed mixer with fraternity Kappa Sigma on March 4th. A Leadership Consultant visited the chapter from March 5th to March 12th to assist with Inspiration Week and initiation. Inspiration week, organized by Marshal Dafne Garcia, lasted from March 6th to March 11th; consisting of Blue and Blue ceremony at the Tri-College Center on March 8th, Fireside at Emily Langdon’s on March 10th, and ending with Initiation at the Masonic Lodge on March 11th. On March 9th, Philanthropy Chairman Daisy Cruz hosted a philanthropy event asking members to help her in baking 250 cookies for our local philanthropy, the Women’s Valley Crisis Center. Simultaneously with Inspiration week, Education Chairman Cindy Rosas introduced Secret Sister week where senior members were paired with a secret sister for the week. The chapter participated in fraternity Pi Kappa Phi’s week-long event War of the Roses from March 13th to March 17th. At the end of the week, sisters Isabella Methot and Ashley Alejandre were announced as Roses of Pi Kappa Phi. On March 15th and 16th, Philanthropy Chairman Daisy Cruz had the chapter assist the local Merced Girl Scout troop with their annual cookie sales on campus. The chapter wrapped up the month’s activities by participating in its BBQ themed mixer on March 18th, with fraternity Sigma Chi.

The month of April began with the return to classes from spring break and anticipation of Events’ annual formal, Sapphire Ball, which took place on April 8th. From April 10th to April 14th the chapter participated in Sigma Chi’s annual week-long event, Derby Days. Education Chairman had the chapter remind the seniors of how much they will be missed during Senior Farewell on April 15th. From April 17th to April 21st the chapter participated in Fraternity and Sorority Life’s week-long event, Be a Better Member Week. On April 21st, Eta Xi participated in Delta Delta Delta’s annual Kickin’ it for Cancer event. During Bobcat Day on April 22nd, Public Relations Chairman Rei Pham organized members to table in order to promote the chapter and welcome prospective students to the campus. On April 23rd composite photographs were taken of the chapter and the senior members participated in a Senior Photoshoot. From April 24th to April 28th, the chapter and Philanthropy Chairman teamed up with fraternity Kappa Sigma for our first ever Reading is Fundamental Week- a week dedicated to fundraising for RIF and philanthropy. Within this week, Eta Xi hosted the annual Beautiful Lengths philanthropy event. The chapter concluded the month with the last mixer of the semester, with fraternity Pi Kappa Phi. The last chapter of the semester was held on April 30th, before finals week and summer recess.

Moreover, to the end of August, the chapter was reunited for the commencement of the new semester. Leadership Day was held from early morning to midday, for the few new incoming officers. It is always delightful to see influential sisters in a leadership position. As all sisters adjusted to their new classes and all to kick off semester, a mixer with a fellow fraternity Pi Kappa Phi took place September 16. The theme was Game of Thrones in line with the new season premiering around this time. Many games were played for the grand prize of 3 dragon eggs, but most importantly good times. The following week, the seniors of the chapter had a Senior Retreat sleep over. We cried, laughed, and smiled together as we got closer to one another and reminisced our favorite memories we had from being in Kappa. To conclude the month of September, the wonderful ladies/true believers of Kappademics, attended the AE Banquet brunch style!
For the exciting month of October, Kappa Kappa Gamma held their philanthropy week and much more. October 6, Nom Com were elected and placed. The following day, Kappa took their fall photos at a local pumpkin patch.

The following week, Kappa participated in Phi Mu’s philanthropy week (All Greek Together!). The big day finally arrived, Founder’s Day! October 14 was one for the books. Past alumnae and active sisters were together for a Founder’s Day lunch! The love of Kappa was present and strengthened as we got to know our family lineage from many years ago and beautiful voices singing with passion to Kappa songs. From October 23-27, we had the biggest event in Kappa history, Kappa Kup. All week long sisters created events such as Pie-A-Kappa , huge soccer match , penny wars, Jeopardy , talent show , take a picture with a Kappa, RIF Instagram challenge and pop tab competitions. Better late than never a senior photoshoot took place October 29th.

Our great events chairman Emily Wang, hosted a mixer with Sigma Tau Zumba style on November 4th! What better way to have fun and burn calories away mainly from laughing at how bad everyone was. November 6th was many peoples favorite occasion especially for students going through midterm season, Kappa Kappachino’s on November 7th. That weekend Kappa started roughing it Yosemite style! A sister hood retreat (aka ka-mping) gathered around the fire singing songs, playing charades, hiking, and more! November 15, Kappa participated in a Sisterhood Soiree to encourage women to go through the recruitment process for the following semester and getting to know other Panhellenic sororities. To end the windy month of November, new officers were slated and installed such as our new lovely president Bridget. We are excited on the new ideas and things to come for our newly sized down chapter council.

For the brief month of December, the last chapter meeting ended December 3. As the month went by sister focused on passing finals and being reunited with their families for Christmas break.

==Highlights of 2018==

As this year began, formal recruitment was the weekend of January 26-28. With recruitment, we brought twenty new ladies into Kappa Kappa Gamma! It was such an inspiring moment to see new ladies that will soon represent our chapter. About a month later, we had our annual event which we let the Girl Scouts sell cookies under our canopy!!! That happened on February 27th, and it brought so many happy faces to our canopy! It was a great time bonding with young girls on a college campus. Shortly following was the BIG week! Big and Little week was through February 26-March 4! March 4th was an exciting day to the big and littles who got paired together! We loved seeing the littles finally find their mentor and model for life. On March 7th was Blue and Blue! It was nice to see everyone dressed up and hear the big speak out about what they want their little to gain from Kappa. Now the day everyone was waiting for was coming, on March 10th!!! Finally initiation day has arrived and everyone is beyond ecstatic to finally grant the new members as official members of Kappa Kappa Gamma. It was great to see alumni come back and meet the new Spring 2018 class. That following week was Pi Kappa Phi's war of the roses week! Our sister Denise participated to be one of the nominees for Rose Queen. Although she did not take the title of Rose Queen, the chapter won the War of the Roses competition and were gifted a huge trophy. In the next week, Sigma Chi's Derby Days week was in action! Surprisingly with their philanthropy week, Kappa took another win! We were second ad third the whole week and swept the win at the end! Along with winning Derby Days, our sister Ritu was selected for their Derby Darling. On April 5th, we had another annual event, Beautiful Lengths! With this event, we cut people's hair for free and donate what we receive to cancer patients. We had a cosmetology school come and cut hair for the ones who volunteered! Following that on April 14th, we had Sapphire ball! The night everyone has been waiting for... it was such a delightful time seeing everyone dressed up lovely with their dates! Soon after Sapphire, we teamed up with Alpha Phi Omega to host a book carnival for kids on April 20th. It was nice to bond with a professional fraternity and be on the same page for our causes. We collected many boxes of books, it was a great turnout! Lastly, on April 22th we held the last chapter of the semester!!!!! Finals kicked in and sisters were studying hard! On a final note, Spring 2018 commencement was held on May 12th and 13th. We enjoyed seeing our sisters succeed and finally walk the stage! Nothing better than an O'Pat!!! Am I right?

As school started once again in Fall 2018, we slated for some positions welcoming a new VPO, VPAE, House/Registrar, Public Relations, Risk/Management, and Corresponding/Recording Secretary. The sisters given these positions transitioned very well and it was nice to see how they adjusted so quick. As this semester began quickly, many other organizations had their philanthropy weeks this semester. This semester we participated in COB which was the week of September 10-14. There were events such as yoga and games to get to know one another. At the end of the week, we gained three new members of Kappa Kappa Gamma. These new members really showed us how they would contribute to Kappa Kappa Gamma with their values and nature. Later, our sister Irene who is our Public Relations chairman was granted the Kappa Sigma sweetheart position during the week of September 24-28! The big day of the semester was approaching!!! Founder's Day!! This celebration was held at Five.Ten. Bistro. and brought together all the members and alumni. It was sweet to bond about a day that means so much to each and everyone of us. At this event, our lovely sister Ashley was chosen to be the recipient of the Toni Gaestel Spirit of Kappa award! She embodies Kappa's values and inspires us with her love and passion for Kappa. To add, she also is our philanthropy chairman. Following this week was Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash week, our sister Michaela who is our Events chairman ran for their anchor woman! Although she did not win, it was a close race and we are glad she participated! The week after that, our sister Josie who is our VPAE chairman ran for Pi Lambda Phi's Lioness during October 15th-18th. It was a close competition, but we worked hard to get her to win in the end!!! Our chapter was so proud to see the ladies who stand on chapter council put theirselves out there to create bonds between other organizations! It was a sweet year to be a Kappa with all the success we have had with philanthropy weeks. Speaking of philanthropy weeks, our week has come!!! Kappa Kup was the week of November 14-16. Our amazing Public Relations chairman and Philanthropy chairman came up with a fascinating and fun week for the other organizations. Our events consisted of book drives, pie eating contest, hoot at a key, and a lip sync battle! Unfortunately, Kappa Kup could not happen due to the horrible air quality so it is postponed for next semester. However, the new Mr. and Mrs. K sweethearts are Erick from Pi Lambda Phi and Mira from Delta Gamma! These two have shown tremendous amounts of effort throughout the week and it obviously did not go unnoticed! With our philanthropy week, we raised about $2,500 and collected over 1000 books to give to the Friends of the Merced County Library. On November 17th, our new members got initiated at Fresno State, since we only got three new members. To end, the slate for the new officers was presented on November 25th. Our last chapter was held on December 2nd! Here's to another great year of being a Kappa!

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Eta Nu

2021-12-22T18:35:50Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Nu
|GreekSymbol= HN
|Image= [[File:Eta_Nu.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2009|01|10}}
|College= [https://www.scu.edu/ Santa Clara University]
|Location= Santa Clara, CA
|Homepage= [https://scu.kappa.org/ Eta Nu Website]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Nu Media related to Eta Nu Chapter]}}
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'''Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif., established 1851'''

'''Eta Nu Founded January 10, 2009'''

'''77 Charter Members'''

'''547 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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Some of Chapter’s Outstanding Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==History of University==

Santa Clara University, founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College, is California’s oldest institution of higher education. It was established on the site of Mission Santa Clara de Asís, the eighth of the original 21 California missions.

The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank until 1853. Following the Civil War, enrollment increased and by 1875, the size of the student body was 275. One-third of the students were enrolled in the collegiate division; the remainder attended the college’s preparatory and high school departments.

Santa Clara experienced slow and steady growth during its first 60 years, becoming the University of Santa Clara in 1912 when the schools of engineering and law were added. In 1925, the high school was separated from the university, taking the name of Bellarmine College Preparatory in 1928.

For 110 years, Santa Clara was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates, and Santa Clara became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students tripled over the next decade. The size of the faculty also tripled, and the university began the largest construction program in school history, building eight residence halls, a student union and the athletic stadium.
In the early 1970s, the board of trustees voted to limit the size of the undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for generations to come.
In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name.

The 106-acre campus is located in Santa Clara, Calif., at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay, approximately two miles from San Jose International Airport. The university enjoys a moderate climate year-round; the sun shines approximately 300 days a year.

At the center of the campus is Mission Santa Clara de Asís, surrounded by the roses and palm trees of the historic Mission Gardens. The more than 50 buildings on campus include residence halls, two libraries, a student center and extensive athletic facilities.

==Colonization==
The colonization Recruitment was led by Joanie Cook Cohen, Colorado, and assisted by Coordinator of Chapter Development Amanda Compton Ruffo, UC Irvine; Chapter Consultant Jessica Myers, Washington; Leadership Consultant Kate Greene, Ohio State and Tara Singhal, Creighton. Also participating in this Recruitment were members from big sister chapter UC Davis assisted by the UC Berkeley and Stanford chapters. Recruitment events were held on the Kappa Alpha Theta patio, at St. Clare’s Catholic Church and in the tent Delta Gamma used for Recruitment. Kappa’s colonization Recruitment was a true Panhellenic experience.

Interviews for the charter class were conducted at the Starbucks immediately off campus as no events could be held on the campus where Greeks are not recognized by the university. Exceptional support was received from the members of the San Jose and East Bay Alumnae Associations as well as other associations in the Bay Area who eagerly participated in new member interviews and assumed positions on the advisory and house boards. Cristin Carone Sanchez, UC San Diego, opened her home for the planning and membership selection meetings.
Eta Nu’s preference brunch and formal pledging were held at the San Jose Doubletree Inn where 87 new members were pledged on October 18, 2008.

The months before Eta Nu was installed were a unique period for the charter members of Eta Nu Chapter. The new members were able to bond and nourish the new chapter in a short time. These women worked hard to build a strong Kappa reputation on campus and build strong relationships with the Greek community at Santa Clara. They looked for philanthropy to support and developed a strong feeling of sisterhood. One of the chapter’s first social events was a lovely semi-formal held in November.

As a new chapter on campus, Eta Nu faced several challenges. Where to hold the weekly meetings was solved by making arrangements with St. Clare’s Church near campus. As the new kids on the block, the members faced judgments from those who were not ready to accept a new group on campus. The new members had to learn to open up and accept each other as sisters. This was accomplished very quickly and easily. They accomplished this by dividing the new members into small groups each week, meeting together and sharing stories about themselves. Through this, friendships were formed and the groups felt more comfortable with each other.

==Installation==

Eta Nu Chapter was installed on January 10, 2009, in a ceremony held in Berkeley. All ceremonies for this installation were held in the chapter house during the UC Berkeley winter break when the chapter members weren’t in residence. This made it possible for the Santa Clara charter members to spend the weekend nights sleeping in sleeping bags in the chapter house which gave them the experience of living in a chapter house. Several additional members from the other province chapters joined the charter members for this slumber party.
The 77 charter members were warmly welcomed into the traditions and history of Kappa Kappa Gamma during their initiation.

Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis; Chapter Consultant Jessica Meyer, Washington and Pi Province Director of Chapters Amanda Compton Ruffo, UC Irvine, led the new members through a beautiful and memorable initiation. Extension Chairman Joanie Cook Cohen, Colorado, oversaw the installation planning.

Following the Fireside Friday evening, as everyone enjoyed dessert, the chapter received gifts from chapters and alumnae associations. A badge to be worn by the chapter president was given to the chapter by the San Francisco Bay alumnae associations; the philanthropy badge was presented by Joanie Cohen on behalf of the Denver Alumnae Association to be worn by the philanthropy chairman and a scholarship dangle to be worn or presented to a member as the chapter decided was presented by Carol George Sanders, Cal State Northridge.

The installation brunch followed the installation at the Clark Kerr Conference Center atrium and banquet room on campus. Chapter members from the UC Davis, UC Berkeley and Stanford chapters assisted with the installation. Members from the other Pi Province chapters and associations were there to welcome Eta Nu as the Fraternity’s newest chapter. This was a beautiful, sunny northern California weekend. This installation would not have been possible without the exceptional support of the UC Berkeley chapter, its house board, advisers and alumnae. It was a fabulous Kappa effort.

At the first chapter council meeting, Chapter Consultant Jessica Myers presented and displayed the archives which the Fraternity sent to Eta Nu to start its chapter archives. After initiation, the women continued to make an effort to establish the chapter’s role on campus as well as in the community. During the spring, the chapter held its first informal Recruitment and pledged 16 new members. These women were initiated as the quarter came to an end.

==2009-2010==

After a wonderfully relaxing summer, the members returned to campus refreshed and excited for the new year. One of the biggest changes and most exciting moments was getting its own chapter house. The house had been completely renovated during the summer and was beautiful with creative decorations such as small fleur-de-lis tiles in the floor. Seventeen amazing Kappas lived in the house this first year. The house made a huge difference in strengthening the chapter. The members were able to spend more time together and have a place for the meetings and sisterhood events.

The members were excited to plan and hold the chapter’s first official fall Recruitment. The themes for three of the days were Kappa is a Girl’s Best Friend, Dr. Seuss and the Secret Garden preference party. On October 14, 2009, Eta Nu pledged 41 new members.

In addition to a semi-formal, the chapter carried out several philanthropic activities. These included Kappa Kare Packages. Several groups of women put together small baskets of items such as decorated baby bibs, diapers, bottles and pacifiers. These baskets were given to a women’s shelter in San Francisco where they were given to 15 women with babies.

The chapter was composed of a diverse group of women who participated in all school events and were leaders, scholars and athletes who exuded compassion and leadership throughout the entire campus. After initiation in January 2010, the chapter had 118 members.

Since the chapter was only a year old, it was extremely difficult to make itself known and respected as those qualities come with time. Another hardship the chapter experienced was the dwindling participation in non-mandatory chapter events. The chapter made it a priority to be more involved and supportive. During that year, the members demonstrated through their actions and dedication that although a young chapter, it was a group of extremely strong and intellectual women who individually were amazing but together were unstoppable. The women of Eta Nu progressed immensely in 2009 and became stronger as a united unit which showed the true meaning behind sisterhood.

The 2010 year was one filled with chapter development and sisterhood events for the women of Eta Nu. Following winter break on January 9, 2010, 41 new members were initiated. The UC Berkeley chapter graciously welcomed Eta Nu to its chapter house for a beautiful initiation ceremony. Following this initiation, Eta Nu celebrated the chapter’s first anniversary.

Winter 2010 was filled with philanthropic and sisterhood events. The chapter had two teams participate in Alpha Phi’s star search and helped contribute to their philanthropic efforts. Eta Nu continued to show a campus-wide presence with a large turnout for Kappas to the Game and a successful parents weekend meet-and-greet at the chapter house. The winter Reading is Fundamental (RIF) event was a successful chapter book collection followed by reading to second-grade students in a nearby elementary school. Eta Nu brought home first and second place in Kappa Alpha Theta’s dodge ball tournament and proudly displayed the trophies in the chapter house. The annual Sapphire Ball was held at the beginning of February in the beautiful Corinthian Grand Ballroom in San Jose.

Spring quarter started with the chapter’s first on-campus Relay for Life and its first Kappapalooza event which raised more than $2,500 for an organization called Four Pearls and the Kappa Foundation. Eta Nu wore matching Kappapalooza tank tops and danced the night away with fellow students, sold auction tickets and manned the busy kitchen. The chapter won first place in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days. An Eta Nu member was chosen as the Derby Darling after a stellar performance in the athletic activities. At the spring Panhellenic awards event, Eta Nu won the award for Chapter Progress, and its member Christine Ahlstrom was elected Panhellenic President.

==2010-2011==

Fall Recruitment was successful resulting in welcoming 54 new members. The chapter celebrated the new pledge class with an interactive sisterhood at a sports venue filled with trampoline walls and floors.
The chapter celebrated Founders Day with the San Jose Alumnae Association, and the fall pledge class was initiated November 13, 2010.

Eta Nu’s chapter house was located one block from the Santa Clara campus which made it the perfect gathering spot for the 160 members and their activities.

In addition to seeing the Kappa sisters, many incentives to attend the non-mandatory events such as apparel distribution and baked goods were instituted to emphasize the importance of attendance and reiterated what was considered a valid excuse.

Another challenge was getting to know each other in a chapter that had nearly tripled in size in three years. To assist with this, several small sisterhoods were held.

==Highlights of 2011==

In 2011, Eta Nu continued establishing itself as a leading fraternity on campus. It joined in every possible philanthropy event hosted by other Greek organizations, took an active role in the campus Panhellenic and fully involved itself in several clubs on campus. Eta Nu celebrated the second anniversary of its founding and looked forward to another building year.

Winter quarter 2011 began with the chapter hosting a Fraternity Trainer whose topic was developing bonding and trust between the members.

The chapter members participates in several philanthropies this year including Alpha Phi’s philanthropy Star Search, Jog for Jill walking in support of the late Berkeley Kappa Jill Costell, Mr. Casanova and Panhellenic’s fundraiser. To support RIF, Eta Nu supported Dr. Seuss Day by reading and making hats with children at a local elementary school.

Spring quarter began with a visit from Fraternity Leadership Consultant Kristin Hanricka. The members hosted an alumnae event at the Kappa Kastle chapter house. This was a huge success, and the members hoped it would become an annual event.

The chapter took part in several philanthropies this quarter including Theta dodge ball where it placed third and later that day its Evolution of Superior Being mural took first place; Sigma Chi hosted its Derby Days and Eta Nu took first place in the Fashion Show; Kappa held its Relay for Life and Delta Gamma hosted its annual Anchor Splash. Kappa Karnival was a huge hit and included a dunk tank and water obstacle course.
The Greek Awards event was held in downtown San Jose where Eta Nu received the following individual awards: Greek Scholars Robin Landis and Carolyn Linck; Spirit of Service Ellen Thompson; Panhellenic Award of Distinction Megan Sopko and Charlotte Allen; and Outstanding New Member Dominque Troy. Eta Nu also received the Outstanding Chapter Program Award.

Fall quarter began with Recruitment and a visit from Leadership Consultant Kelcey Schmidt, Georgia Southern. The chapter celebrated its successful Recruitment with a 1980’s-themed bid night where the 57 new members were taken ice skating and to a potluck at the Kastle. This year the chapter celebrated Founders Day 2011 at the Kappa Kastle with many local alumnae

The chapter had now grown to 160 active members, and the chapter received an Academic Focus Letter from the Fraternity Council. Eta Nu met the challenge, and all its members shot for Pi, a new academic plan developed by the Vice President Academic Excellence.

==Highlights of 2012==

2012 was a great year for Santa Clara Kappas! We have officially established ourselves as a presence among the campus, enough so that our Panhellenic Council was able to add another sorority after our successful charter. Kappa joined in every possible philanthropy event that was hosted by other Greek organizations as we support all our other sorority sisters and try to keep the sense of community alive. Eta Nu was an active part of our Panhellenic delegation as well fully involved in various clubs and leadership roles around campus. Eta Nu celebrated its 3nd birthday of the Chapter's installment and looked forward to another successful year keeping our foothold as one of the top sororities.

Eta Nu’s winter quarter began quickly as our first week back was Initiation Week! Planned by our wonderful Marshal, the week was filled with bonding experiences for the Epsilon Class as well as the “families” within Kappa. Girls decorated they key boxes so that after receiving their keys, they would have a safe place to store them which would be unique to them. That Friday, Fireside was hosted at our wonderful Chapter House and then all the New Members as well as some actives drove to Sarah Bedford’s house in Hillsboro in order to have a sleepover before Saturday morning initiation. The remaining actives drove out the next morning bright and early to help set up and participate in the ritual. Many advisors and family members came and even some alumnae from the area. We were especially blessed to have the mother of our new sister, Erin Root and the sister of Ellie Mcquestion in attendance as well.

After that Eta Nu settled back into a regular routine. We elected our new officers and had a smooth transition period and officer voting that was overseen by Sareena Helton, the LC, when she came to visit us. Her trip was filled with fun adventures including the aquarium. Following a page from last year, we had a wonderful Sisterhood event to see the movie “The Vow” and there was not a dry eye in the theatre. Kappa supported Delta Gamma’s philanthropy event “Anchor Slam” by cheering on the competitors. Other philanthropies that Eta Nu was represented at included Jog for Jill: walking in support of the late Berkeley Kappa, Jill Costell as well as Alpha Phi Star Search where Eta Nu was able to show off our amazing dance-moves and support a great cause. Eta Nu also hosted a wonderful brunch and house tours during Parent’s Weekend as we left old shirts and pictures of events around the house so our parents could see the bonds we had formed.

March held two important events including the ever anticipated Sapphire Ball as well as our RIF day. To promote RIF, Eta Nu supported Dr. Suess' day by reading and making hats at a local elementary school where the Principal is a mother to a kappa. We also partook in a joint effort with Sigma Chi to host a team for Relay for Life so we could have people walking all 24 hours of the event. After working hard on our academics, Kappa placed 1st in the Panhellenic Compilation so we were able to compete in all events in the Spring as we were no longer on our “Focus Plan” - way to be academically excellent girls!

Spring for Eta Nu started off with the taking of the composite pictures. We had a wonderful date Dash of “Dynamic Duos” and girls were ever so creative. Kappa Alpha Theta's philanthropy, Theta Dodgeball, which allowed Eta Nu to demonstrate our athletic ability as we won after a fiercely competitive final round versus Alpha Phi. In keeping with our Philanthropic support, Kappa had multiple teams participate in Sigma Chi’s “Derby Days” where the senior team took first with their can construction of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Frattiness” design. The Juniors wow'd in the fashion show with their bathroom, and the rest of Eta Nu showed their talents during the Sigma Sing-Off. Kappa placed second overall at the event which we were very pleased about as we always enjoy supporting great causes.

Next, Eta Nu supported Sigma Pi’s philanthropy by participating in their All-Day Volleyball Tournament where after a heated battle, we placed 2nd overall. Congrats Girls! As spring is always filled with philanthropy events, Greek Awards are hosted reward all of our hard work as a Panhellenic Association. This year, Kappa was recognized for Outstanding Fraternity Values, Outstanding New Member Program and Outstanding New Member, Cynthia Baricevic. Our biggest honor was being named Outstanding Chapter of the Year! This was our first time and hopefully not our last!

For sisterhood, we took a wonderful hike up and around Palo Alto and some of our pictures made it to the cover photo for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Facebook page. We were very excited about this! Kappa Karnival had a record of 34 teams participate and continues to grow as our annual event gathers more awareness. The day was perfect weather to walk around the carnival-like events and eat popcorn, snow-cones, and cotton-candy. We were able to raise over $700 at the door and over $2000 from the teams! We were even dubbed with the title of being Sigma Chi’s “Favorite Event of the Spring Quarter”. While Karnival may have been Sigma Chi’s favorite event, the girls favorite event was our Kappa Kandyland themed Spring Semi-Formal Dance. The venue, located in downtown San Jose overlooked the city which gave us some gorgeous views when we could tear ourselves away from the dance floor. To end the night, the juniors, sophomores and freshman sent our seniors off in style with a VERY enthusiastic O-Pat. We were sorry to see them graduate in June, but very excited to see how they continue to stay apart of Kappa Kappa Gamma!

As always, Fall Quarter began with a multitude of recruitment practices leading up to heavily anticipated Fall Recruitment! We had a surprise sisterhood to Santa Cruz for a fun day at the beach and of course, an opportunity for some wonderful pictures. This was a great way to let off some steam and catch-up before school started. Eta Nu’s attitude was always positive and it paid off as we received a fantastic Zeta Class of 51 members!

We could not have asked for a better group of girls to accept into our family after a fun-filled night of bowling during Bid-Day and everyone wore our adorable Recruitment/Bid-Day Shirts to “Stay Golden”. The New Member program began shortly after that and continued throughout the fall quarter. After recruitment, Eta Nu was blessed with a phenomenal visit from LC, Kristi Watts. We loved her Southern Charm and her ability to connect with every girl she met in our chapter. She met with all council members and was able to co-teach a Zumba class with one of her fellow Texans at the house, Eta Nu definitely has some moves! We were sad to see her leave but look forward to her upcoming visit in the Spring.

Fall held a varieties of mixers including ones with fraternities as well as a Cookie-Exchange with the newest addition to Santa Clara Panhellenic, Alpha Delta Pi. This was a great way for Eta Nu to help show their support of the new Sorority as well as meet their Charter Class. We also supported a local philanthropy, Project Open-Hands, as girls served meals to the homeless.

For Founders Day, Eta Nu was invited to attend the Brunch hosted by the San Jose Alumnae Association. We had so much fun getting to mix and mingle with them as well as bring goodies and food to help celebrate. Our Panhellenic Delegation arranged for a speaker to talk to all the Sororities about how to protect ourselves, “Girls Fight Back”. Many girls loved the enthusiasm the speaker showed as well as the audience participation and the sound effects.

Another Panhellenic event, Greek Gatsby was hosted and Kappa participated by donating a basket for the silent auction as well as having girls attend the event. It was a fun-filled night for the greek community and Panhellenic was able to raise money for a wonderful charity. One of the highlights of Fall Quarter was our new annual fall Semi-Formal event, Kappa Korral! Hosting a western-themed dance in the backyard was extremely fun as girls tried to two-step the night away with their dates. Hay-bales and saddles were generously donated for the night so pictures could be taken highlighting our theme. Girls enjoyed the atmosphere, music and the wonderful snacks! Our Fall closed with Big/Little Reveal Week! As always, this week was filled with presents, surprises, sweat, tears and QUITE a few late nights. It went off without a hitch and all the families welcomed everyone their clan in a varieties of outfits and surprises. We are glad that everyone was able to participate!

Eta Nu was also recognized on the national level for Honorable Mention for our Risk Management program. This was the first time that Eta Nu was recognized on a national level. We are very excited for what is to come in 2013.

This past year, our Panhellenic Council added a new sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. This makes five total sororities associated with our Panhellenic council. Alpha Delta Pi rushed after the other sororities had met quota and had quite a turnout. They have been a great addition and we are excited about the expanding greek life. Eta Nu is located approximately one block from Santa Clara University's campus. Our chapter house is home to 18 girls and our house mother and is a welcoming home for all our sisters. While we are only associated with the city of Santa Clara, all our members attend Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University is located in Santa Clara, California where palm trees and flowers cover the campus.

The campus is extremely picturesque and has over 5,000 undergraduate students as well as an additional 3,000 graduate students. Undergraduate students are in one of three schools: The College of Arts and Sciences, the Leavey School of Business, or the The School of Engineering. Additionally for graduate students there is a school of Law and the Counseling Psychology, Education, and Pastoral Ministries program. Students have an array of 44 majors to pick from as well as many other minors. Santa Clara University is continually growing and improving their academic reputation.

==Highlights of 2013==

2013 was an outstanding year for the Santa Clara Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Nu chapter! We not only were active in all possible philanthropy events, but Eta Nu really showed that we were Panhellenic women as demonstrated through our overwhelming support of our fellow Greek organizations. We also help various school leadership positions and continue to be involved in a variety of organizations and clubs on campus. Eta Nu celebrated its 4th birthday as a Chapter and look forward to the many memories that lie ahead for us!

Our winter Quarter began again with Initiation Week. This was a great way for all the girls to return after Christmas break and catch up with our sisters who had returned from studying abroad and really focus on what Kappa meant to each of us. Activities for the week ranged between decorating boxes for their new badges as well as family dinners and movie nights. This year, Initiation took place at the University of California Berkeley house. All the girls drove up on Friday afternoon and Fireside took place as to begin the process. Many family members of actives and new members were able to attend and it really made the ceremony special for everyone involved. Saturday morning, initiation took place and all the young ladies were added to our Eta Nu chapter! We could not be happier to call these ladies are sisters, “not four years, but for life!”

The next big step for Eta Nu was officer elections and transitions. The Nominating Committee really took the time and effort to consider our next future leaders of the chapter and we could not be happier with our Chapter Council. Our girls did some fantastic dancing in support of the Alpha Phi’s “Star Search” as well as the Panhellenic throwback event, the “Greek Gatsby.” Eta Nu proudly supported both these causes through our participation and donations. The First annual “Kappa Karoke” took place, our new winter Philanthropy event. We had an overwhelming response and our campus and fellow Greeks really rallied behind the cause and made it a fantastic success. For Parents’ Weekend, Eta Nu held an open house reception so girls could show their parents our house and what “being a kappa” meant to them. A variety of t-shirts, photos and food were all on display to welcome the parents. This was a huge success especially with all the baked goods our girls contributed! Also, some of our members were invited down to the installation of Eta Rho Chapter in Cal Poly. We loved being involved and supporting other chapters in the area and are looking forward to keeping close relations with them.

Spring quarter is always a busy blast for Eta Nu. The sun is shining and the Greek system really comes out in full force! Spring for Eta Nu started off with the taking of our composite pictures. Later that week we all bonded over a showing of “Bridesmaids” in our wonderful Kappa Kastle. We all gathered in our cozy little room and shared a night of fun and laughter. A week later, we had the pleasure of hosting our LC, Kristi Watts, for the second time. Our Chapter loved spending the week with Kristie through ice cream dates, country concerts, and movie marathons! That weekend Eta Nu had the pleasure of attending Pi Province. Many of our sisters attended and had the opportunity to experience one of the great opportunities we have to get to know our sisters in our area. Eta Nu was so excited to receive two awards: Standards Award and Most Improved Academics Award. We were the only Chapter to receive two awards, proving to be a very proud moment for us as a Chapter!

It was a great day filled with fun memories for all! Later that week, our Chapter was surprised with an America Themed Date Dash! What we thought would be a workshop, quickly turned into girls scrambling around, finding a date, and pulling out our red, white, and blue! Sisterhood for Eta Nu continued as we gathered in the “Rose Gardens” for a day of fun activities and bonding. Our sisters love being outdoors and enjoying the sunshine in the Spring. That week Eta Nu celebrated with our Spring Semi-Formal- Kappa Kaliente. It is always a wonderful to dance the night away with our sisters. To end the night, the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen sent the seniors off in style with a VERY enthusiastic O-Pat. We were sorry to see them graduate in June, but very excited to see how they continue to stay apart of Kappa in the future! We were very busy that week as our big philanthropy event, Kappa Karnival, was that Saturday. The day was perfect weather to walk around the carnival-like events and eat popcorn, snow-cones, and cotton-candy. We were very proud to raise over $1600! Sororities, Fraternities, and other organizations love to participate in our philanthropy events, as we do in theirs! Spring is filled with many Philanthropy events for our Greek System. Kappa Alpha Theta’s philanthropy, Theta Dodgeball, allows Eta Nu to demonstrate our enthusiastic athletic ability!

In keeping with Philanthropic support, Kappa had multiple teams participate in Sigma Chi’s “Derby Days.” The week was filled with exciting events, followed by a fashion show in which our Kappa Seniors dressed up as various board games and stole the show! Next, Kappa supported Sigma Pi’s philanthropy by participating in an all day beach volleyball event. We all loved having some fun in the sun while supporting a great cause! As Spring is always filled with many philanthropy events, Greek Awards are hosted to reward all of our hard work as a Panhellenic Association. Eta Nu was honored to receive Outstanding Chapter Development and Outstanding Philanthropic Commitment. Every year we look forward to these awards as they acknowledge all the hard work or our Greek community! As the quarter came to a close, the seniors celebrated their wonderful memories in Kappa Kappa Gamma by having a Senior Brunch and Tea. The seniors had a chance to gather together and reflect on how special their experience has been in Kappa thus far.

As always, Fall Quarter began with a multitude of recruitment practices leading up to a heavily anticipated Fall Recruitment! Our quarter started off with an exciting date dash with the theme “Opposites Attract.” It was so fun to see our sisters get creative and come up with silly costumes for the evening! Our Quarter continued with a visit from our LC, Page Tompkins. We loved getting to know Page and were so lucky to have her with us during our week leading up to Recruitment! Our hard work and passion throughout Recruitment proved to pay off when we received a fantastic Eta class of 46 members! We could not have asked for a better group of girls to accept into our family after a fun-filled night of bowling during Bid-Day and everyone wore our adorable Recruitment/Bid Day Shirts. The New Member program began shortly after and continued throughout the fall quarter.

Soon after Bid Day, Eta Nu gathered to celebrate our Founder’s Day. We celebrated at our beautiful house with brunch, bonding, and learning for all! That week, our sisters gathered with Sigma Chi and had our second annual Powderpuff Football Game. The week was filled with fun activities such as our team draft, Thanksgiving Dinner, and intense practices all leading up to the big game Saturday. The day was filled with enthusiasm and fun for all, but the best part was that throughout this process we were able to collect school supplies to send to a school in the Philippines.

Philanthropy continued with visits to Project Open-Hands, a local philanthropy that serves meals to the homeless. Every year Eta Nu loves going back and supporting this organization. That week, Eta Nu was surprised with a Sisterhood to Sky High! This was a wonderful night filled with jumping on trampolines, intense games of dodgeball, and chances to catch up with new and active members. Eta Nu LOVED our visit to Sky High and hope to go again in the future! Our quarter continued with our Fall Semi Dance- When In Rome. The girls loved the venue, food, and dancing. Semi dances are always a favorite memory for Eta Nu! This took us to Thanksgiving break and followed with one of the most anticipated weeks of the year…Big Little Week!! As always, this week is filled with presents, surprises, sweat, tears, and QUITE a few late nights. It went off without a hitch and all the families welcomed their new addition to the clan with an array of silly outfits and surprises. We are glad everyone was able to participate and share in one of the best nights of the year!

Eta Nu is located approximately one block from Santa Clara University's campus. Our chapter house is home to 18 girls and our housemother and is a welcoming home for all our sisters. While we are only associated with the city of Santa Clara, all our members attend Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University is located in Santa Clara, California where palm trees and flowers cover the campus. The campus is extremely picturesque and has over 5,000 undergraduate students as well as an additional 3,000 graduate students. Undergraduate students are in one of three schools: The College of Arts and Sciences, the Leavey School of Business, or the The School of Engineering. Additionally for graduate students there is a school of Law and the Counseling Psychology, Education, and Pastoral Ministries program. Students have an array of 44 majors to pick from as well as many other minors. Santa Clara University is continually growing and improving their academic reputation. There was construction along our front drive leading up to the mission and now it is a pedestrian walkway with a gorgeous fountain in front. Our campus continues to improve itself and rise in rankings not only among the most beautiful campuses across the nation but as well as academically.

==Highlights of 2014==

2014 was an outstanding year for the Santa Clara Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Nu Chapter! Eta Nu remains to stay active in all possible philanthropy events and our Santa Clara community. Eta Nu Kappas participate in various school leadership positions and continue to be involved in a variety of organizations and clubs on campus. We are so proud of everything we have accomplished this past year and only hope to grow and succeed in the years to come!

Our Winter Quarter began quickly with Initiation Week. This week is very special to our Chapter as it gives us the chance to catch up with our sisters who have returned from study abroad. Our Eta Nu family is together again and we can focus on what Kappa means to each of us. Activities during the week ranged from decorating badge boxes to family dinners and movie nights. For the third year in a row, Initiation took place at the University of California, Berkeley house. The weekend began with Fireside on Friday night followed by Initiation on Saturday morning. Many family members of actives and new members were able to attend, making it very special for our Chapter. Eta Nu was very excited to initiate 44 young women into our sisterhood.

Winter quarter continued with officer elections and transitions. As always, the Nominating Committee spends a lot of time and effort in considering the next future leaders of the chapter. We could not be happier with the group of women that came together to lead Eta Nu through another successful year. Keeping busy in our community, our girls did some fantastic dancing in support of Alpha Phi’s “Star Search.” Eta Nu proudly supports philanthropy events through our participation and donations. Eta Nu was very excited to hold our Second Annual “Kappa Karaoke” event. Eta Nu raised over $600 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation! We had a great response from our community in support of the event. Everyone had so much fun at the event and we look forward to more successful years of Karaoke.

For our Winter Sisterhood Event, Eta Nu came together and made Valentine’s Day cards for members in our chapter. Each member was assigned another member at random and hand made a cute card for the girl. Not only was the day filled with crafts and fun, but we had Chipotle to feed our hungry stomachs! The following week Eta Nu celebrated with our annual Sapphire Ball Formal Dance. This is a favorite event for Eta Nu as it gives us all the chance to come together and have a wonderful evening of fun and dancing.

For Parents’ Weekend, Eta Nu held an open house reception for girls to show their parents our house and what “being a kappa” means to them. A variety of t-shirts, photos, and food were on display to welcome our parents. As always, our “KKG” letters were placed outside the house for our sisters and parents to take pictures together!

Every year our Chapter looks forward to visiting local elementary schools in support of Reading is Fundamental. In 2014, we had a huge turn out of girls who wanted to participate in the event. As always, Eta Nu goes on Dr. Seuss Day! This is such a fun way to be creative and silly with the children. This year we were thrilled to be able to supply every child with 2 books! Our Chapter Council was excited to make a team for Delta Gamma’s Philanthropy Event, Anchor Slam (a basketball tournament). We were even more excited when our girls won the entire event and brought home a winning plaque to hang in our living room!

As our quarter came to a close, our Academic Excellence VP kept us all in check by putting a strong emphasis on Academic Excellence Month. Academics stayed on our minds through the various events planned for us. From ice cream to guest speakers, Eta Nu was happy to talk about how to better our academics and achievements!

Spring quarter is always a busy, yet fun time for Eta Nu! The sun is shining in beautiful Santa Clara and many philanthropy events take place! Spring for Eta Nu started off with the taking of our composite pictures. Later that week a few girls from our Chapter traveled and helped with Princess Project. This event gives high school girls the opportunity to pick out prom dresses and accessories. Eta Nu always looks forward to attending this event and helping the girls look beautiful. That same day, other Kappas were busy supporting Alpha Delta Pi’s Philanthropy Event, Country Club Cup. It was a beautiful Spring day filled with fun, laughter and country club games.

A few weeks later, we had the pleasure of hosting our LC, Page, for the second time. Our Chapter loved spending the week with Page. Soon after, Eta Nu celebrated together with our Spring Fling Semi Dance. It is always a wonderful event to dance the night away with our sisters. To end the night, the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen sent the seniors off in style with a very enthusiastic O-Pat. We were sorry to see them graduate in June, but very excited to see how they continue to stay apart of Kappa in the future! We were very busy that week as our big philanthropy event, Kappa Karnival, was that Saturday. The day was perfect weather to walk around the carnival-like events and eat popcorn, snow-cones, and cotton-candy. We were very proud to raise $6,367 for Lymelight Foundation! The Lymelight Foundation is very close to Eta Nu’s heart as it was founded by one of our member’s family who suffers from Lymes disease. Sororities, Fraternities, and other organizations love to participate in our philanthropy events, as we do in theirs!

Spring is filled with many Philanthropy events for our Greek System. Kappa Alpha Theta’s philanthropy, Theta Dodgeball, allows Eta Nu to demonstrate our enthusiastic athletic ability! In keeping with Philanthropic support, Kappa had multiple teams participate in Sigma Chi’s “Derby Days.” The week consisted of various events ranging from a can drive, fashion show and sing off. We were so happy as our Junior Team won the weeks events! Next, Kappa supported Sigma Pi’s philanthropy by participating in an all day beach volleyball event. We all loved having some fun in the sun while supporting a great cause.

Later that Spring, Greek Awards are hosted to reward all of our hard work as a Panhellenic Association. Eta Nu was happy to receive The Outstanding Scholarship Award. Some of our members won individual awards such as the Outstanding New Member Award, Greek Scholar Award, Spirit of Service Award, and Panhellenic Award of Distinction. Every year we look forward to these awards as they acknowledge all the hard work of our members and Greek community! As the quarter came to a close, the seniors celebrated their wonderful memories in Kappa Kappa Gamma by having a Senior Brunch and Tea. The seniors had a last chance to gather together and reflect on how special their experience in Kappa has been thus far.

As always, Fall Quarter began with a multitude of recruitment practices leading up to a heavily anticipated Fall Recruitment! Chapter Morale started high as our President announced we received honorable mention for Recruitment and won the Gracious Living Award at Convention 2014! Our Chapter was very excited to be recognized for our hard work and we only hope to continue to grow and live up to our full potential. We were so excited to welcome our LC, Whitney, into our house. From beach adventures, movie time and talking about Kappa, we loved getting to know Whitney. We had such a fun week with Whitney and hope she comes back for a visit with us soon!

Our hard work and passion throughout Recruitment proved to pay off when we received a fantastic Theta class of 48 members! We were beyond thrilled to welcome such a genuine, thoughtful and fun-loving pledge class into our family. We all celebrated with a fun-filled night of Bid-Day bowling. Our Bid Day Theme was “Only the Best Get Picked.” Everyone wore our adorable Recruitment/Bid Day Shirts and flower headbands. The New Member program began shortly after and continued throughout the fall quarter.

Soon after Bid Day, Eta Nu gathered to celebrate our Founder’s Day. We celebrated at a Kappa Alumni’s beautiful house with brunch, bonding, and learning for all. The following weekend, Eta Nu was thrilled to have our very first New Member Presentations. The day was filled with breakfast treats, family, friends, and recognizing each individual member of our Theta Class. This is a tradition Eta Nu looks forward to continuing in the future!

Soon after, our sisters gathered with Sigma Chi and had our third annual Powderpuff Football Game. The week was filled with fun activities such as our team draft, Thanksgiving Dinner, and intense practices all leading up to the big game Saturday. The day was filled with enthusiasm and fun for all, but the best part was that throughout this process we were able to donate toiletries and diapers to Next Door, a women’s shelter. Philanthropy continued with a visit to Milpitas Food Bank, a local philanthropy that serves meals to the residents of Milpitas.

Later that week, our New Member Chairman held our annual New Member Retreat. The girls engaged in group-bonding exercises where the Theta class was grouped off and asked to brainstorm what Kappa means to them and then shared their answers with their class. All in all, the retreat served as a bonding opportunity between the Theta class members and was a very successful event. The quarter continued with our Fall Semi Dance- Fall Ball. The girls loved the venue, food, and dancing. Semi dances are always a fun night for the ladies of Eta Nu.

This took us to Thanksgiving break and followed with our last week before Christmas break. Eta Nu was surprised at Chapter with a Christmas Cookie Decorating Sisterhood! It was so fun to see everyone in their Christmas gear and share our holiday cheer before Christmas Break. We took a Chapter Christmas card photo that was sent to all our family and friends! As always, the last week of Fall Quarter is also Big Little Week! This week is filled with presents, surprises, sweat, laughs, tears, and many late nights for the big sisters. The week was great and all the families welcomed their new addition to the clan with an array of silly outfits and surprises. We are glad everyone was able to participate and share in one of the best nights of the year!

Most of the changes Eta Nu Chapter has experienced in the past year has been due to shifts in The Panhellenic Council. Since we are not affiliated with Santa Clara University, our community relies heavily on this council to manage our Greek community. Over the last year, Panhellenic Council went from having one advisor to having two new advisors. Furthermore, Panhellenic Council has changed the way the council positions are elected. Positions are now elected by an annual rotating system amongst sororities, with Panhellenic President and VP Recruitment elected by the Panhellenic Council itself. We hope that these changes will help Panhellenic Council to become more efficient and successful in the future.

Eta Nu Chapter would be described as a group of genuine, educated, and passionate young women. We constantly thrive to better ourselves and our community through chapter education, community outreach, and sisterhood bonding. Our Chapter values taking care of one another and looking out for the best interest of our members. We value and appreciate the differences between one another. We hold true the importance of our sisterhood and care we have for one another. We are a strong group of young women that strive to continuously push ourselves and reach our full potential.

Our chapter meetings take place in a rented facility, The American Legion, about 5 minutes away from our chapter house. Eta Nu has lived in our beautiful house for the past 5 years. All members have the opportunity to live in the house. We rent our house from a local realty company, Real Source Property Management. 18 sisters can live in the house at a time. Our chapter has always lived in the same house.

==Highlights of 2015==

Santa Clara Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Nu Chapter had an excellent year in 2015! Eta Nu Kappas continue to
participate in various school leadership positions and stay involved in a variety of organizations and clubs on campus. Eta Nu remains to be active in all possible philanthropy events and in our Santa Clara community. We are very proud of everything we have accomplished this past year and only hope to grow and excel in the coming years!

Winter Quarter started off strong with Initiation Week. This week is very special to our Chapter because it gives us a chance to connect with our Kappa sisters and values. It also allows us to catch up with our sisters who have returned from their study abroad adventures. Having our Eta Nu family together again reminds us of the important role Kappa plays in each of our lives. Activities during the week range from an ice skating sisterhood event to family dinners and a ceremony for the return of the New Member pin. For the fourth year in a row, Initiation was held at the University of California, Berkeley house. The weekend started with Fireside on Friday night followed by Initiation on Saturday morning. Family members of actives and new members were able to attend, making it very special for our Chapter. Eta Nu was very happy to initiate 48 young women into our sisterhood. Winter quarter continued quickly with officer elections and transitions. As always, the Nominating Committee spent a lot of time and effort in considering the next future leaders of the chapter. We could not be more pleased with the group of women that have come together to lead Eta Nu through another strong year as a chapter. Keeping active in the Santa Clara Greek Community, our members showcased some fantastic dance moves in support of Alpha Phi’s “Star Search.” Eta Nu proudly supports other philanthropy events through our participation and donations. Eta Nu celebrated our successful quarter with our annual Sapphire Ball Formal Dance. This is a favorite event for Eta Nu as it gives us all a chance to come together and have a wonderful evening of fun along with lots of singing and dancing. The following week Eta Nu was very excited to hold our Second Annual “Kappa Karaoke” event in which other
students create teams and perform. Eta Nu raised over $1,200 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation! We had a great response from our community in support of the event. Everyone had so much fun at the event, we look forward to our future events held for the foundation. For Parents’ Weekend, Eta Nu held an open house reception for girls to show their parents our house and what “being a kappa” means to them. A variety of t-shirts, photos, and food were on display to welcome our parents. As always, our “KKG” letters were placed outside the house for our sisters and parents to take pictures together! In addition to showing off our house, we raised over $250 for books that we donated at our Reading is Fundamental event. Every year our Chapter looks forward to visiting local elementary schools in support of Reading is Fundamental. In 2015, we had a huge showing of girls who wanted to participate in the event. As always, Eta Nu goes on Dr. Seuss Day! This is such a fun way to be creative and silly with the children. This year we were thrilled to be able to
supply every child with 2 books! Our chapter is looking forward to reading and playing with the children again next year! Girls from our chapter were excited to make teams for Delta Gamma’s Philanthropy Event, Anchor Slam (a basketball tournament). As our quarter came to a close, our Vice President of Academic Excellence kept us all in check by celebrating Academic Excellence Month. Academics stayed on our minds through the various events planned for us. From ice cream to guest speakers and daily study rooms, Eta Nu was happy to talk about and support the bettering of our academics and achievements!

Spring quarter continues to be a busy, yet fun time for Eta Nu! The sun is shining in beautiful Santa Clara and many philanthropy events take place! Spring for Eta Nu started off with our smiling members taking their composite pictures. A few weeks later, we were lucky enough to send some of our Chapter Council to the Regional Leadership Conference in Fresno, CA. Officers were able to talk to other Kappa’s from all over the West Coast and get ideas on how to better each chapter. We had the pleasure of driving back from our conference with our lovely LC, Riley. Our Chapter loved spending the week with Riley and enjoyed gaining new insight on how to make Eta Nu the best it can be. Soon after, Eta Nu celebrated the end of the year together with our Spring Fling Semi Dance. It is always a wonderful event to dance the night away with our sisters. To end the night, the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen sent the seniors off in style with a very enthusiastic O-Pat. We were very busy that week as our big philanthropy event, Kappa Karnival, was that Saturday. The
day had perfect weather to walk around the carnival-like events and eat pizza, snow-cones, and chicken wings. We were very proud to raise $8,738 for Lymelight Foundation! The Lymelight Foundation is very close to Eta Nu’s heart as it was founded by one of our sister’s family, as she suffers from Lymes disease. Sororities, Fraternities, and other organizations love to participate in our philanthropy events, as we do in theirs! Spring is filled with many Philanthropy events for our Greek System. Kappa Alpha Theta’s philanthropy, Theta Dodgeball, allows Eta Nu to demonstrate our enthusiastic athletic ability! In keeping with support throughout the Greek community, Kappa had multiple teams participate in Sigma Chi’s “Derby Days.” The week consisted of various events ranging from a can drive, fashion show and sing off. Next, Kappa supported Sigma Pi’s philanthropy by participating in an all day beach volleyball tournament. We all loved having some fun in the sun while supporting a great cause. Later that Spring, Greek Awards were hosted to reward all of our hard work
as a Panhellenic Association. Eta Nu was happy to receive awards for outstanding scholarship, outstanding new member education, and outstanding sisterhood. Every year we look forward to these awards as they acknowledge all the hard work of our members and Greek community! As the quarter and academic year came to a close, the seniors celebrated their wonderful memories in Kappa Kappa Gamma by having a Senior Brunch and Tea. The seniors had a last chance to gather together and reflect on how special their experience in Kappa has been thus far. We were sorry to see them graduate in June, but very excited to see how they continue to stay apart of Kappa in the future!

After a long summer, Fall Quarter began with a multitude of recruitment practices leading up to a heavily
anticipated Fall Recruitment! Chapter Morale was high after a fun week filled with bonding activities in preparation for recruitment. We were so excited to welcome our LC, Whitney, into our house. From park adventures, movie time and talking about our Kappa experiences, we loved getting to know Whitney. We had such a fun week and hope Whitney comes back for a visit with Eta Nu soon! Sisterhood day of recruitment was a themed day and our chapter wore lavender and white outfits. The backyard was decorated in lavender, white, and grey decorations. We had 325 PNMs come to Kappa that day. The next day was Philanthropy Day, and we were allowed to invite back 198 PNMs. The second day we wore different shades of blue dresses and made Dr. Seuss decorations for the backyard. Our assistant philanthropy chairman and a fellow junior gave a presentation to the PNMs about the different philanthropies we help. The next night was Preference Night and we had 98 girls come back to our house.

The actives wore navy dresses and the theme was "A Golden Opportunity" so there were plenty of gold and glittery decorations in the backyard. We read surprise letters to the actives and made a toast to Kappa--it was a really lovely night. Our hard work and passion throughout Recruitment proved to pay off when we received a fantastic Iota class of 52 members! We were beyond thrilled to welcome such an involved, gracious and cheerful pledge class into our family. We all celebrated with a fun-filled night of Bid-Day bowling. Our Bid Day Theme was “Kappily Ever After.” Everyone wore our adorable Recruitment/Bid Day Shirts and all sorts of girly tutu’s and tiaras. The New Member program began shortly after and continued throughout the fall quarter. Soon after Bid Day, Eta Nu gathered to celebrate our Founder’s Day. We celebrated at our house with brunch, bonding, and Kappa trivia bingo! Soon after, our sisters gathered with Sigma Chi and had our fourth annual Powderpuff Football Game. The week was filled with fun activities such as our team draft, Thanksgiving Dinner, and intense practices all leading up to the big game Saturday. The day was filled with enthusiasm and fun for all, but the best part was that throughout this process we were able raise money and donate to RIF and the Julian Street Inn, a homeless shelter. Later that week, our New Member Chairman held our annual New Member Retreat. The girls engaged in group-bonding exercises where the Iota class was grouped off and asked to brainstorm what Kappa means to them and then shared their answers with their class. They also made an adorable introductory video that was sent to all of the girls studying abroad so that they can start to learn the names of all the new Kappa’s!

All in all, the retreat served as a bonding opportunity between the Iota class members and was a very successful event. The quarter continued with our Fall Semi Dance- Fall Ball. The girls loved the venue, food, and dancing. Semi dances are always a fun night for the ladies of Eta Nu. This took us to Thanksgiving break and followed with our last week before Christmas break. As always, the last week of Fall Quarter is also Big Little Week! Most Bigs spent their breaks excitedly crafting away for the new members of their Kappa families. This week is filled with presents,surprises, sweat, laughs, tears, and many late nights for the big sisters. The week was great and all the families welcomed their new addition to the clan with an array of silly outfits and surprises. We are glad everyone was able to participate and share in one of the best nights of the year! We are very proud of the successful year Eta Nu had and cannot wait to see what will come in 2016!

Most of the changes that Eta Nu has encountered in the past year have been due to adjusting to the new
Panhellenic Council. Greek life is not affiliated with Santa Clara University, so we rely heavily on the
direction from our Panhellenic Council to manage the greek community. Eta Nu had three representatives
on the Panhellenic Council this past year: Panhellenic Treasurer, Secretary, and our Panhellenic Delegate.
With the advocacy of these members, Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to be as well informed as we can be about upcoming events and happenings.

The women of Eta Nu can best be described as caring, genuine, academic, personable, and involved individuals. We emphasize the importance of bettering ourselves individually and as a chapter through our community involvement, chapter education, and sisterhood bonding. Our chapter never fails to take care of one another and look out for the best interest of each member. We value and support the differences between each other. It is important for us to hold true to our sisterhood and care that we have for each and every member. Eta Nu is a group of strong women that strive to support each other in order to reach our full potential.

'''Chapter Philanthropy:'''

The organization in our community that Eta Nu supports is the Lymelight Foundation. This
organization raises money to provide grants children in order for them to receive proper
treatment, as well as raise awareness. The reason Eta Nu chose this organization is because it
was founded by one of our sister’s family, as she suffers from Lymes disease. As a Chapter we
wanted to show our support for our sister and her family as they strived to help others who
suffered from this disease. To raise money for Lymelight Foundation, Eta Nu hosts our
annual Kappa Karnival during Spring Quarter. This past Spring we were able to raise $8,738
for Lymelight! We also show our continuous support to the Kappa Kappa Gamma
Foundation and to Reading is Fundamental. In order to raise money for Kappa Kappa
Gamma Foundation, we host Kappa Karaoke in Winter Quarter. Eta Nu was proudly able to
raise $1,224 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation! Our main form of donation for RIF
is donating books to a local schools. Eta Nu’s favorite event in supporting RIF is when our
sisters have the opportunity to visit Briarwood Elementary School on Dr. Seuss Day. In
preparation for this event we had sisters and their parents donate books at our Open House
during Parents’ Weekend. Our Chapter collected a total of 65 new books for this event and
raised $255 for RIF! On this day we read to kids in three different classrooms, do Cat in the
Hat crafts, and this year we were able to send each child home with 2 books! Eta Nu is very
proud for all of the hard work that we put in to raise money for our organizations!
-------------

==Highlights of 2016==
Eta Nu started off 2016 strong with an academic and event-filled quarter. “I-week,” or initiation week, was held the first week back to campus where the older girls prepared for the upcoming rituals of initiation and the new member class bonded together decorating their pin boxes and spending time with their families. At Santa Clara, we are in a unique position where most of our juniors go abroad during fall quarter—we had 23 out of 35 members of our Eta class studying outside the U.S. in 2015! They were welcomed back with open arms and were thrilled to meet the new “littles” of their families. Per initiation tradition, the Eta Nu chapter traveled to the Kappa Kappa Gamma house at UC Berkeley on a Friday afternoon to host Fireside the night before initiation. The newest pledge class had a night full of bonding and after a short sleep, got initiated alongside their other Eta Nu sisters and Kappa family members who made the trip to Berkeley to celebrate with their loved ones. On the rainy morning of January 9, 2016, 51 new members were welcomed into our lovely chapter.

During I-week, our chapter hosted a philanthropic sisterhood event where we made fleece tie blankets for a local children’s hospital in support of Project Linus. It was a great opportunity to relax and spend some time catching up with each other after a long winter break while supporting our community.
January continued with nominating and appointing new Council members where we were reminded how lucky we are to have such hardworking and dedicated sisters working behind the scenes to make our chapter as successful as it is.

Moving on and making a change from the previous winter philanthropy, Kappa Karaoke, Eta Nu had held in past years, we were pleased to introduce Kappa Kakes: a breakfast for dinner, Valentine’s Day themed event. Hundreds of pancakes and pounds upon pounds of bacon later, our redesigned fundraiser raised $900 for both the Kappa Foundation and Reading is Fundamental. This was a huge success for our chapter as it demonstrated the strong philanthropic passion we have and our ability to be innovative with our events. While the event itself only lasted two hours, many hours of prep work were key to its success. February also celebrated our chapter’s academic excellence and newly awarded title of highest Panhellenic GPA for the 6th quarter in a row! As February was nearing an end, our Sapphire Ball formal was held on the 24th. Taking place at the Corinthian Grand Ballroom in downtown San Jose, Eta Nu danced the night away, taking breaks to gobble up the delicious food and enjoy the lovely venue. The last weekend of February was Santa Clara Family weekend—the perfect weekend to host our New Initiate Presents. Visiting parents were introduced to the Kappa Kastle and gained insight to the bond between the newest set of bigs and littles in the chapter. With posters sharing fun Kappa memories and an introduction to GIRLS Academy, family members saw what KKG is all about and helped us raise a majority of our donation goal of $2500 for GIRLS Academy.

A final event in winter quarter was reading to children for Dr. Seuss day at a local elementary school, Briarwood. We had 14 girls from our chapter go in the middle of the day during their busy week to read to and spend time with 60 students, guaranteeing each had a book to take home. As the quarter came to a close, our academic committee continued to support our studies with frequent library study rooms and snacks to get us through the finals grind.

Another key success from winter quarter was how quickly we filled the house. With the newly appointed house chairman available to answer questions and discuss the option of living in, the house was full by the end of February! For the 2016-2017 year Kappa has 19 girls in the Kastle. We also learned a couple weeks after the quarter was over that Eta Nu had, once again, earned the highest GPA in the Panhellenic community-7 quarters in a row!

Spring quarter started off busy with a visit from our first Leadership Consultant of the year, Sarah, from April 3-8. Council members, Kappa Kastle live-ins, and other Eta Nu members welcomed her to our campus with frequent lunch and dinner dates and the occasional workout class. At the end, council worked together to evaluate her visit according to her helpfulness to the chapter and council as well as her values of inspiration and friendliness. We were pleased and flattered with the compliments she gave Eta Nu in regards to our organization, professionalism, and overall chapter unity- qualities we pride ourselves in. Sarah gave council members a unique closing activity where each position was given both compliments and advice from fellow members to help her with her roles going forward. Following the LC visit, our Spring Sisterhood event came up quickly on April 10th. While we indulged in Kara’s cupcakes, a couple girls shared personal stories about themselves and their families, thereby encouraging smaller table discussions that promoted trust, friendship, and deep communication.

Alongside the other Panhellenic chapters at Santa Clara, Eta Nu was happy to participate in a Panhellenic baseball game competition where we tried to get the most members to go support the Broncos. In terms of more official business, we got our budget approved after earlier versions showed incomplete House Board costs. Our treasurer and her advisor worked tirelessly to get those done. On campus, Kappa also had a Relay for Life team April 16-17th and multiple Kappa’s worked as team leaders and leaders on the organization board of the program! April continued to be jam-packed with a Spring Recruitment Workshop to prepare girls with expectations in terms of time commitments and responsibilities as well as recruitment outfit information. Our recruitment chair also implemented recruitment committees this year, such as “craft” and “house,” to motivate girls to work on what they truly cared about, and this workshop gave us all the opportunity to rank how we would like to spend our work week and recruitment practice. This year, Panhellenic was striving for a “values-based” recruitment, and it was helpful to get a presentation on how to (not) interact with potential new members during the first weeks of school and how to promote a “go greek!” attitude.

On May 2nd, the Santa Clara Panhellenic community hosted the Greek Awards in downtown Campbell, and Eta Nu was honored to not only have handfuls of seniors recognized for their high honors, but also for our chapter awards of Outstanding New Member Education and Outstanding Scholarship. The night was a great way to see the other houses and recognize achievements from all Panhellenic chapters.

Our annual Spring Fling dance was held on May 4, and thus given the theme of Star Wars (may the fourth be with you!). With our newly renovated backyard full of white roses and clean fences, Eta Nu was happy to host a “Pre-Key” event full of pictures and snacks before the night began! The venue of the semi-formal was at the Loft Bar and Grill in downtown San Jose, which provided space for chatting, dancing, and fun photobooth memories. Keeping on the trend of annual traditions, Kappa Karnival was held on May 14th; it was a sunny and laughter-filled day with 141 of our actives participating. We even had our sisters from the local Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at UC Santa Cruz, Eta Mu, come join us for the day! Some of the games of the day included a sack race, find the bubble gum in the whipped cream, tug-of war, and a bouncy house relay race. As Karnival is the philanthropy that Eta Nu chooses where to donate the money, we continued to support LymeLight for our graduated Eta Nu sister Sarah Bedford who had Lyme disease herself and whose family co-founded The LymeLight Foundation. Teams from all around campus, such as orientation leaders, dorm groups, and other Panhellenic chapters, came out to support us and our philanthropy and made it a truly wonderful day. In the end, $5000 was raised, which is a tremendous accomplishment.

Nearing the end of the quarter, on Week 8 Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Pi got “married” for wedding week. With a fun rehearsal barbeque before the official wedding on Friday, May 20, our chapter was able to destress before the final stretch of the year and spend time with another Greek organization.

Spring came to a close with our wise owls keeping busy in study rooms organized by our VP of Academic Excellence and her committee. With a raffle incentive to win prizes for attending these study rooms, Eta Nu worked to motivate girls to keep a focus on their academics while supporting their fellow sisters who were doing the same. All the studying paid off with our 8th quarter in a row of the highest GPA within the Panhellenic community at Santa Clara. The Standards Committee also helped to reduce stress by invited a Kappa Alum and Advisor to host a fitness class after chapter. We left for summer with a sense of accomplishment in all that we had accomplished the past couple months at Eta Nu and excited to see all of our sisters again for Work Week at the beginning of September!

Over the summer our Eta Nu girls stayed happy and busy. With some sisters studying abroad in locations such as Copenhagen and London and other girls working with internships, it is clear that the driven spirit of Kappa stayed strong. At the biennial Kappa Kappa Gamma convention, Eta Nu was extremely honored to have been given the award for “Outstanding New Member Programming” as well as honorable mentions in finance and academic excellence! We understand the rarity of receiving these awards, and could not be prouder of our chapter.

On September 12, Work Week began one week before classes, per tradition, to help our chapter prepare for recruitment before the craziness of the school year. The house was buzzing with chatter of summer activities and how good it was to be back as we worked on crafts, learned the songs, and got the low-down on voting procedures. For sisterhood, the girls all went to Santa Cruz and enjoyed a day at the beach with some pizza, bonding games, and lots of picture-taking. Everyone was reminded how much recruitment truly is a team effort.

As the school year started, our chapter met up a couple times a week to reinforce songs, learn the dance for our mash-up song on Sisterhood day, as well as finalize the crafts for each day of recruitment. Our Marshall also led important voting workshops to make sure everyone—particularly the Iota class who had not been through recruitment before—understood and felt comfortable with the procedures. The two weeks until recruitment flew by, and before we knew it the active members were wearing their peach and white outfits, singing “rah rah for kappa” for over 300 girls who came to the house on Sisterhood Day. All the girls who had previously done recruitment served as mentors for the Iota class during the different parties and during voting. After day one, we were seeing tons of excitement from our members who were ready to meet more girls at Philanthropy Day and get to know some girls better on Preference Night. Philanthropy Day, as always, was centered around the main Kappa philanthropy, RIF, or Reading Is Fundamental. The house was decked out in Dr. Seuss day decorations, including a poster with the phrase “one fish, two fish, blue and blue fish,” which promoted our lovely colors blue and blue. The goldfish that acted as our centerpieces for they day were happily taken in as pets by some of our sisters.
On Pref Night we were thrilled to see familiar faces walking back up to the Kappa Kastle, and the night was full of smiles, laughs, and emotions. Per tradition, active members had the opportunity to write letters to their sisters that they then surprised during the Pref Night ceremony. At the first of the two parties, we had four girls who wrote a letter to our very own Recruitment Chair, as well as other letters from Kappa families and friendships.

The next day, with all of our actives all dressed up in our “new bids on the block” bid day theme, Eta Nu welcomed 51 excited new members as they ran down Lafayette Street to the little yellow house on the corner! It was also great to have our recruitment counselors back after their hard work with Panhellenic over the previous couple weeks. Carrying balloons and customized fleur-de-lis, many actives picked up a bid day buddy to make sure each new member felt immediately welcomed into the chapter. With pizza, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and a “swag station” full of glitter and flash tattoos, we got to know our new members as we danced and chatted in the backyard. Soon, we were off to Sky High, an indoor trampoline venue, where it was clear that friendships were already forming.

Our second Leadership Consultant of the year, Hannah, flew in late the night of October 2nd during Philanthropy voting. Although the chapter was particularly busy with recruitment as well as midterms, each council member had the chance to talk with Hannah about her position. For her wrap-up, Hannah gave us a brief presentation about the new fraternity organizational structure and who to contact with questions or concerns for our position and/or district.
As always, during the weeks after Bid Day, New Members were able to get oriented to each aspect of the chapter, whether that be finances or the chapter history, through our weekly Sunday afternoon meetings at the house. An additional sisterhood movie night was put on by Standards to encourage new members and actives to bond in the backyard on a Thursday night. All the new member programming gave the girls the chance to get their questions answered and get to know each other even better.
Founders’ Day fell on a rainy Sunday, October 15 this year, just two days after the 146th anniversary of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Even though the weather wasn’t on our side, we were pleased to welcome local alumnae into our house for a fun brunch and brief ritual. Having just pledged 51 new members, this was a great opportunity for the different chapter classes to mix and for the new members to have a glimpse into our fraternity history.

Our infamous fall powder-puff football philanthropy event, Kappa Chi Classic, proved to be a huge success this year. One of our Eta class members suggested that the philanthropy support Comedor Milagro de Jesus in El Salvador. After studying abroad in El Salvador and working in the community of Tepecoyo with Angelica, she had witnessed Angelica open up her home to feed 25 malnourished children from the community every day. Angelica keeps up this service based solely through donations and her own money. Through a Tilt page, Eta Nu and our friends and family contributed $1550 in just a couple weeks! Kappa Chi also held a “penny wars” drive between Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Chi, raising over $2000 total The week of the event held a draft on Wednesday to get the teams together and excited, a potluck dinner on Friday night, and a day-long flag-football tournament at a Marsalli park. It was a great opportunity for girls to bond with each other, particularly the new members meeting other girls.

Right after Kappa Chi, Big Little week was upon us! Trying to keep their identities a secret, the bigs decorated their littles doors, treated them to desserts and flowers and then two nights of baskets- the first with a “girls night in” theme and the second a classic “all out Kappa” basket! Reveal night was full of tangible excitement and lots of laughs, smiles and pictures. We broke out for dinner in our families so the Kappa class could get to know their bigs as well as grand-bigs and great-grand-bigs.

The final stretch of the fall quarter was just as busy as the rest of it. Eta Nu slated and voted on a new Philanthropy chair to finish out the term on October 31. Organized by our VPS, on November 10th, there was an optional trip to the clothing store Brandy Melville for the chapter to receive 25% off all purchases and spend more time with their Kappa families. On the weekend of November 12 and 13, the Eta Nu chapter and the Pi Deuteron chapter at UC Berkeley, hosted GIRLS Academy at the middle school right down the street from Kappa, Buscher Middle School. Spearheaded by our dedicated GIRLS Academy chairman, preparation work for GIRLS Academy started last fall after we were one of 8 chapters across the country to be elected to host such an incredible event. GIRLS Academy relies on the support of alumni groups, the individual chapters hosting it, as well as the support of the children and faculty at the middle school. The weekend is structured to include small group discussions about topics such as body image and time management, as well as a movie night, and graduation ceremony on Sunday.

Our annual Fall Ball was held on November 16th at Flames, a restaurant venue in downtown San Jose. It was held the week before Thanksgiving break, giving the chapter the chance to relieve some academic stress and spend time with their friends. The theme of our pre-key was “How Sweet It Is,” and cute photobooth stations and snacks were set up for girls to take pictures and mingle before loading the buses for the night.

Winter quarter came to a close as we studied for finals and squeezed in time to spend with our sisters before our long, four week winter break. Overall, 2016 was an amazing year for Eta Nu, and we look forward to what 2017 will bring!

== Highlights of 2017 ==
In January 2017, Eta Nu started off strong with an academic and event-filled quarter. “I-week,” or Inspiration Period, was held the first week back to campus where the older girls prepared for the upcoming rituals of initiation and the new member class bonded together and spent time with their families. The sisterhood activity during I-week was a workout class that was held at the American Legion. At Santa Clara, we are in a unique position where most of our juniors go abroad during fall quarter—we had 28 members of our Theta class studying outside the U.S. in the fall of 2016, and they returned to campus in January. The Eta Nu chapter traveled to the Kappa Kappa Gamma house at UC Berkeley on a Friday late afternoon to host Fireside the night before initiation. Everyone traveled on busses all together for the first time. The new pledge class had a night filled with bonding, and the next morning they got initiated alongside their other Eta Nu sisters and Kappa family members who made the trip to Berkeley to celebrate with their loved ones. On January 14, 2017, 49 new members were welcomed into the Eta Nu chapter. The chapter elected a new council with only two returning council members, so there were lots of fresh faces and new ideas, which made for an enthusiastic group.

In February, pledge classes participated in Alpha Phi’s Star Search philanthropy. Moving on and making a change from the previous winter philanthropy, Kappa Kakes, we were pleased to introduce a new philanthropy Cooking with Kappa, a Valentine’s Day themed spaghetti supper that was held on February 15th. The fundraiser raised $1,000 for both the Rose McGill Kappa Foundation and Reading is Fundamental though a Go Fund Me. At the end of the month, Santa Clara University hosted Family weekend. Kappa conducted the new member presents for all of the family members and held an open house on February 25th. The big sisters read letters to their littles at the New Member Presents ceremony in front of the parents and the rest of the chapter. They were touching and thoughtful. At the open house, Eta Nu hosted a Kendra Scott pop up boutique with 20% of sales benefitting RIF. February was Academic Excellence month and the VPAE gave a presentation every Monday at chapter. The presentations ranged from cover letters, resumes, interview tips to a career panel with Eta Nu alumna and other Kappas at the end of the month.

In March, Sapphire Ball took place on the 9th at the Biltmore Hotel close to campus. Committee competitions were implemented in March to motivate our members to get more involved. The committee earned points for various activities and the committee obtaining the most amount of points received a prize. Eta Nu also added song practice at the end of each chapter meeting to help improve ritual. As the quarter ended, our academic committee continued to support our studies with frequent library study rooms and snacks to get everyone through the finals grind. The chapter finished up winter quarter and embarked on spring break adventures.

In April, spring quarter started off with a visit from our first Leadership Consultant of the year, Katie, from April 2-7. Council members, Kappa Kastle live-ins, and other Eta Nu members welcomed her to our campus with frequent lunch and dinner dates and an occasional workout class. At the conclusion of her visit, council worked together to evaluate her helpfulness and advice to the chapter and council, as well as her values of inspiration and friendliness. We were pleased and flattered with the compliments she gave Eta Nu regarding to our organization, professionalism, and overall chapter unity- qualities upon which we pride ourselves. Wedding week took place the week of the 24th and Kappa “married the Sigma Pi fraternity at Santa Clara. The boys “proposed” to the chapter on Monday night and then a Barbeque and wedding ceremony followed on Wednesday and Friday.

In May, the Santa Clara Panhellenic community hosted Greek Awards in downtown Campbell and Eta Nu won the Sisterhood Award and the New Member Award. The night was a great way to see the other sorority houses and recognize achievements from all of the Panhellenic chapters. Kappa Karnival was held on May 6th. It was a sunny day with all of our actives participating and coaching teams of other Greek organizations or groups of friends. Some of the games at the carnival included a sack race, a water balloon toss, tug-of war, and a bouncy house relay race. Karnival is the philanthropy event that allows Eta Nu to choose where to donate the money raised and the chapter decided to continue to support LymeLight for their graduated Eta Nu sister, Sarah Bedford, who had Lyme disease and whose family co-founded The LymeLight Foundation. Teams from all around campus, such as orientation leaders, dorm groups, and other Panhellenic chapters, came out to support our chapter and philanthropy and made it a truly wonderful day. A total of $6,000 was raised, which is a tremendous accomplishment. Spring Fling was held on May 10th at California’s Great America, which was a fun change of venue from the prior year.
At the last chapter of the school year in June, members stuffed backpacks for children from low-income families for back to school with the remaining philanthropy budget.

During the summer, some important risk management rules changed which were helpful to Eta Nu as the chapter struggles to find chaperones with the 25+ age requirement. The house was repainted and redecorated on the inside. Finance got majority of the chapter to pay by Echeck and Eta Nu’s credit card fees decreased by $2,000.

The chapter reunited on September 11th for work week before the start of school on the 18th. For the sisterhood that week, girls carpooled to Half Moon Bay where they played Jenga, roasted s’mores, and ate pizza. During work week, the girls prepared for recruitment by crafting and learning songs. The house was completely full with 18 girls moving into the Kappa Kastle. This year was unique as 17 out of the 18 girls were in the same 2016 pledge class. Additionally, 30 out of 49 Kappas from the Iota class went abroad for fall quarter.

October started out with recruitment from September 30-October 3. The first day was Sisterhood with a Kate Spade theme, the second day was Philanthropy with a Kappa Karnival theme, and the third day was Pref night with the classic blue and gold theme. This was the first year that the Philanthropy day was Karnival themed. The chapter decided to change the theme from Dr. Seuss to Karnival to spotlight Eta Nu’s largest philanthropy event of the year. Recruitment was very successful due to great conversations that allowed girls to connect on a more personal level than in previous years. The theme of Bid day was KKG Under the Sea with mermaid and ocean decorations. Eta Nu welcomed 52 new members to the Lambda class. The entire chapter celebrated at a trampoline place called Sky High that night after having dinner at the house. Eta Nu was looking to grow as a chapter this year, so the chapter had the opportunity to host an informal continuous open bidding event in the back yard following recruitment. This was the first time Eta Nu participated in this process and it was a great success, welcoming another 4 members into the Lambda class. Lots of wild fires started in the hills near Santa Clara, so the chapter helped by donating items for families affected by the fires through the Kappa Sigma fraternity. The GPAs were reported by Panhellenic, and Eta Nu had the highest GPA out of all the sororities at Santa Clara with an average of 3.52. The chapter enjoyed going to the San Jose Sharks hockey game on October 12th for the fall sisterhood. The busy month of October continued with Founder’s Day on the 22nd. The event was held in the backyard on a sunny day with 5 alumnae in attendance. Kappa Chi, our powder-puff football philanthropy event, was held on October 27th and Eta Nu raised $1,373 for Comedor Milagro de Jesus in El Salvador.

In November, Big-Little week began during week 8 and the bigs decorated their littles’ doors, treated them to desserts and flowers and delivered two nights of baskets- the first was a “girls night in” theme and the second was a classic “all out Kappa” basket! Reveal night was held on November 10th. We broke out for dinner in our families so the Lambda class could get to know their bigs as well as grand-bigs and great-grand-bigs. This year Big-Little was funded by the chapter. The second Leadership Consultant visited Eta Nu the week of November 13th and gave the chapter and council advise on how to end the year strong. Our annual Fall Ball was held on November 15th. It was held the week before Thanksgiving break, giving the chapter the chance to relieve some academic stress and spend time with their friends. The theme of our semi-formal was “Masquerade” and girls donned fun, mysterious masks. Winter quarter came to a close as we studied for finals and squeezed in some time to spend with our sisters before our long, four-week winter break. Overall, 2017 was an amazing year for Eta Nu, and we look forward to what 2018 will bring!

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'''Highlights of the 2018:'''

Eta Nu started off the year in January with the initiation of the Lambda class. I-week was filled with fun bonding time as we reunited with our sisters who returned from studying abroad, played mini golf at a sisterhood event, and spent time with our Kappa families. Chapter elections were held right after initiation, and the previous and incoming chapter councils worked together on transitions. The chapter composite photos were taken in our house’s backyard in front of our beautiful wall of red flowers.

February continued with the installation of the new chapter council, as well as two separate philanthropy events. On Valentine’s day our chapter participated in a new event called Kappa Krush by selling and delivering roses to students across campus as a way to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Later in the month, some of our sisters participated in Dr. Seuss day to celebrate Reading is Fundamental by heading over to the local middle school to read to students. We also celebrated our new initiates during new initiate presents, and opened up our house to our parents during Santa Clara’s parents’ weekend.

March brought the end of winter quarter, so our sisters spent a lot of time cramming in the library. The AE committee provided moral support through events like Pie for Pi and study snacks in the library. Sapphire ball closed out the quarter, giving all of our sisters a chance to spend time together and have fun before finals.

We returned from spring break in April, ready to finish out the schoolyear. The month was pretty calm, as our sisters adjusted to their new class schedules.

May was a packed month for us as school started to come to a close. Our social calendar was packed as we had our final semi-formal of the year and our wedding to the brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Our sisters also began practicing for recruitment and got ready to say goodbye to our seniors. We ended the month by attending the Panhellenic Greek Awards, where Eta Nu won the Best Overall Chapter award.

June brought the last weeks of the year, but gave us just enough time for Kappa Karnival. The money raised at Karnival was donated to Lymelight Foundation, an organization founded by an alumnae of Eta Nu. All of our sisters’ studying paid off, as Eta Nu had the top GPA amongst the sororities at Santa Clara for spring quarter, and 22 of our sisters earned a 4.0 GPA.

June, July, and August were filled with travel, internships, and planning for recruitment. Our President and Vice President of Standards attended the Kappa Kappa Gamma convention, where Eta Nu won the Academic Excellence award. The summer ended with our sisters eager to return to school and reunite.

September began with all of our sisters returning to Santa Clara for work week, to get ready for recruitment. We spent time eating pizza at the beach in Capitola, learned Kappa songs, and practiced our conversations. Our sisters were well prepped for recruitment at the end of the month, and we had a great time meeting all of the PNMs. At the end of recruitment, we celebrated our 45 new members with a Kamp Kappa themed bid day complete with dancing, ice cream sundaes, and a grilled cheese food truck.

October was spent getting to know our new members, and spending time with our sisters. We celebrated Founder’s Day in our backyard by making keychains, talking to Alumnae, and eating brunch. The Mu class began their new member experience and began going on owl pal dates with the Lambda class. We went on a hike in the Santa Cruz mountains for a sisterhood event, and had fun playing flag football at our joint philanthropy event with the brothers of Sigma Chi.

November was filled with bonding as the Mu class had their new member retreat, and our sisters got ready for big little reveal. The Lambda class spent big little week decorating doors and dropping off baskets and treats. The month ended with Fall Ball, our first formal of the year. All of our sisters had a great time together before we left for thanksgiving break.

December was devoted to finals and getting ready for the holidays. Eta Nu earned the top GPA amongst sororities for the second quarter in a row, and 20 of our sisters earned a 4.0. Our sisters finished up the quarter and left campus for winter break. We spent a month celebrating the holidays and preparing for the initiation of our newest pledge class.

------------------------

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Mu

2021-12-22T18:30:17Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Mu
|GreekSymbol= HM
|Image= [[File:Eta_Mu.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2007|04|29}}
|College= [https://www.ucsc.edu/ University of California, Santa Cruz]
|Location= Santa Cruz, CA
|Homepage= [https://ucsc.kappa.org/ Eta Mu Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Mu Media related to Eta Mu Chapter]}}
----

'''University of California, Santa Cruz, established 1965'''

'''Chapter founded April 29, 2007'''

'''18 charter members'''

'''469 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Outstanding Eta Mu Alumnae'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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The University of California, Santa Cruz (also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, one of 10 campuses in the University of California system. Located 80 miles south of San Francisco at the edge of the coastal community of Santa Cruz, the campus lies on 2,001 acres of rolling, forested hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Monterey Bay.

The University of California, Santa Cruz opened in 1965 and had grown to an enrollment of approximately 16,000 students at the time the chapter was founded. Undergraduates pursue more than 60 majors in the humanities, physical and biological sciences, social sciences and arts. Graduate students work toward graduate certificates, master’s degrees or doctoral degrees in more than 30 academic fields.

UC Santa Cruz began as a showcase for progressive, cross-disciplinary undergraduate education, innovative teaching methods and contemporary architecture. Since then, it has evolved into a modern research university with a wide variety of both undergraduate and graduate programs, while retaining its reputation for strong undergraduate support and student political activism. The residential college system, which consists of ten small colleges, is intended to combine the student support of a small college with the resources of a major university.

Although some of the original founders outlined plans for an institution like UCSC as early as the 1930s, the opportunity to realize their vision did not present itself until the City of Santa Cruz made a bid to the University of California Regents in the mid-1950s to build a campus just outside town, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Santa Cruz site was selected over a competing proposal to build the campus closer to the population center of San Jose. Santa Cruz was selected for the beauty, rather than the practicality, of its location, however, and its remoteness led to the decision to develop the residential college system that would house most of the students on campus. Construction started by 1964, and classes began in 1965. Roads on campus were named after UC Regents who voted in favor of building the campus.
(If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

==Colonization==

Members of a local sorority named Alpha Sigma Delta at UC Santa Cruz who met with the Kappa extension team determined that Kappa would be the complement to their ideals of academic excellence, service, friendship and leadership. These women had made a positive impact on the university’s campus, and the extension team agreed the women would make a strong chapter and a pioneer in the establishment of campus Panhellenic with Gamma Phi Beta.

Members of the colonization team were Fraternity Extension Chairman Joanie Cook Cohen, Colorado; Pi Province Director of Chapters Felicity Meu, UC Berkeley; Coordinator of Chapter Development Mary Sue Hogan Babb, William & Mary and Chapter Consultant Angie Bloyer, Oregon State. The members of the UC Berkeley chapter served as big sisters for the new members.

==Installation==

Eta Mu new members attended the Pi Province Meeting at UC Berkeley in April. They participated in two days of workshops prior to the chapter’s installation on April 29, 2007. on.

Members of the installation team were Extension Chairman Joanie Cook Cohen, Colorado, who served as Installation Chairman; Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis; Former Fraternity President Marian Klingbeil Williams, Missouri; Director of Chapters Carolyn Byrd Simpson, Texas Tech; Regional Director of Chapters Lori McDonald, Utah; Regional Director of Alumnae Logan Krogh Tootell, UCLA; Pi Province Directors of Chapters Felicity Meu, UC Berkeley; Pi Province Director of Chapters Tanya Muirbrook, Idaho; Pi Province Director of Alumnae Amanda Brown, Puget Sound; Pi Province Director of Alumnae Amanda Compton Ruffo, UC Irvine; Leadership Consultant Katti Bowling, Kentucky.

The Eta Mu installation, scheduled during the UC Berkeley spring break when the members weren’t in residence, was held in the chapter house and culminated the Pi Province Meeting. This made it possible for the 18 charter members to spend the weekend nights in the chapter house and experience living in a Kappa house even though they slept in sleeping bags. Many visiting chapter members shared this slumber party experience, and all Pi Province chapters and associations participated in this unique celebration of Eta Mu’s installation.

The Province Meeting Candlelight Banquet was held Saturday evening, followed by the Fireside at the chapter house, conducted by Director of Chapters Carolyn Simpson. Following the Fireside, the gifts from alumnae associations and chapters were presented to the new chapter. The Denver Alumnae Association presented a special badge to be worn by the Philanthropy Chairman, and Fraternity Vice President, Carol George Sanders, Cal State Northridge, presented a dangle to be worn by the chapter’s Vice President for Academic Excellence.

The installation ceremony was held Sunday morning followed by a celebratory brunch at the gorgeous, airy Clark Kerr Hall dining room and patio. Extension Chairman Joanie Cohen spoke about the importance and coincidences of the many shades of blue.

==2006-2007==

Eta Mu had a very busy 2006-2007. The fall and spring Recruitments were very successful, and the chapter size approximately doubled. With the influx of new members, the chapter enjoyed some creative socials such as a date night, a cookie exchange and a Kappa Karaoke Night where the members were able to show off their singing and dancing skills.

In the winter of 2007, the chapter raised $1,500 for one of its philanthropies, the Invisible Children. The chapter also strove to help the local family shelter by performing several clean-ups, raising money for the children for Christmas and also reading to the children several times a month.

The chapter was installed, and 18 new members were initiated at the Pi Province Meeting in Berkeley on April 29, 2007. The members were excited to have so many alumnae at the installation to support them. At the time of the installation, there were 17 sororities and fraternities on the campus with only two that were National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) groups and five that were North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) members.

During its first year, the chapter was able to overcome the many challenges involved in being a new chapter on campus such as learning the new council positions. It was a challenge to get the campus to warm up to a new sorority, but once the students understood that Kappa was about philanthropy and sisterhood there was overwhelming student support for the chapter.

The biggest challenge for the chapter, besides becoming part of an international sorority, was having its first fall Recruitment without any sisters who had experience doing so. All the members grew closer knowing that everyone was going through the same thing. The chapter was fortunate to have the help and support of its Chapter Consultant, two Leadership Consultants and the Berkeley and Stanford chapters.

Another challenge for the chapter members was to learn the Fraternity’s rituals and traditions, but they knew the hard work was worth it when they saw the expressions on their new members’ faces during the beautiful initiation.

During 2006-2007, UC Santa Cruz had an enrollment of approximately 15,000 students. By the end of spring quarter, the chapter had grown to 39 members.

==2007-2008==

The 2007-2008 year found that Eta Mu had not only grown and expanded in numerous ways but also had grown in its involvement in the community. It sponsored another Invisible Children event on campus to promote awareness of the children and the war in Uganda, held numerous successful clean-ups at the local community homeless shelter and participated in the first Relay for Life on campus. The chapter strengthened its bonds with the other Greek organizations on campus through its enthusiastic participation in Greek Week, through picnics/potlucks and other events with the other organizations. The chapter grew together in its bonds with each other by working together, its sisterhoods, the first-ever formal and various other fun activities with each other. This year was one of many new endeavors, not without challenge but with overwhelming success.

The chapter received honorable mention recognition for philanthropy at the Fraternity’s 2008 General Convention.

The UC Santa Cruz campus is large and diverse with a small Greek community. Eta Mu is a small but rapidly growing chapter which is young and diverse.

The chapter’s primary challenge was related to its growth even though it had increased in size during the past year. One of the limitations was having only a small number of members to get acquainted with the interested women. The members overcame this challenge by putting forth their best effort to get to know the potential new members and recruiting members who would best represent Kappa’s ideals. The members continued to gain knowledge, experience and organizational skills led by numerous strong leaders who helped guide and lead the members to become a successful chapter.

==2009-2010==

During 2009-2010, the chapter held several notable events including chapter dinners with themes such as country-western and Thanksgiving dinner. It also held many sisterhoods, including movie nights and sleepover parties. Eta Mu also held an etiquette dinner.

An exciting time in the chapter’s history occurred during Greek Week. This week was a great opportunity for the members of the chapter to get involved and get to know all of the other sorority and fraternity members on campus. The Standards Committee planned a Greek Week poster-making party with pillow-talk afterwards. The highlight of this Greek Week for Eta Mu was when it won third place.

Academics were of great importance to the chapter. The Vice President of Academic Excellence and her committee held library hours every day, offering the members a chance to study together in a productive environment and encourage each other to succeed. Sisters who did well on a test or a paper received smart cookies and were recognized at the weekly chapter meeting. Members who maintained good academic standing received Kappa Kash.

Greek life at UC Santa Cruz was not very large as there were still only two NPC sororities on campus. However, this small community promoted close friendships among the groups. Despite the small size of the Greek community on campus, Eta Mu had a very successful year. In the fall Recruitment, the chapter extended 23 bids. During the winter, it extended 11 bids. These new members helped encourage participation in the chapter and the campus to raise awareness of Eta Mu on campus.

Because the chapter was still growing and learning, it faced a few challenges this year. Attendance became something with which the chapter struggled. However, the Standards Committee did a fabulous job in working with those who had attendance issues to come to an agreement. The President, Recording Secretary and Marshal worked together to increase attendance.

Eta Mu went through a wave of change that ultimately helped the chapter become more unified and committed. In fall Recruitment the chapter welcomed 25 new members, one of its largest pledge classes. In the winter, Eta Mu welcomed an additional 10 women into the chapter.

In the spring, Eta Mu hosted its first Presents Brunch at which each sister invited a special woman in her life to accompany her to a brunch where the newest pledge classes were formally presented to the entire chapter.

This year, Eta Mu implemented the Fraternity’s Philanthropy 1-2-3 program. Philanthropy 1 supported the Kappa family. The chapter fulfilled this by holding a Rose McGill Magazine Drive in which members went to family and friends to encourage them to buy magazines and raised up to $100.

Philanthropy 2 was getting involved in the local community. Eta Mu hosted a fundraiser at Woodstock’s Pizza where all proceeds went to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This event raised $200.

The chapter also held an Easter egg decorating party for children from the Boys and Girls Club in Santa Cruz. Each Kappa worked with a group of 15 girls ranging from 5 to 9 years old. After the girls finished decorating their baskets, they were sent outside while members hid eggs around the room. The girls were then let back into the room, and the Easter egg hunt began.

Another opportunity the chapter took to support local organizations was participating in Santa Cruz’s 30th Annual Human Race. This is a walk/run-a-thon that raises money for local non-profit organizations. The members chose to support Kidpower whose goal is to teach people of all ages how to use their own power to stay safe, think wisely and believe in themselves. Members reached out to their family and friends to collect pledges for Kidpower.

Lastly, Kappa held a cleanup at Seabright Beach. The sisters collected trash while enjoying the sunny day.

Philanthropy 3 is supporting the Fraternity’s philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental (RIF). In order to support RIF, the chapter hosted a fundraiser at Coldstone Creamery in Santa Cruz where it raised $150.

In the spring, Eta Mu held its first Faculty Tea where the members invited professors from all majors and mingled with them to let the professors get to know the Kappas and vice-versa.

The chapter members held several social events during the year to surround them with sisters and good company. These social events created a fun and festive atmosphere in which the members were able to celebrate the bonds of sisterhood.

==Highlights of 2011==

In January 2011, the chapter held informal Recruitment and pledged eight new members. Later that month, the chapter organized Kappa Kick-Off, a flag football tournament which involved teams of students from across campus. Each team donated books for RIF. The books were donated to the Boys and Girls Club at the chapter’s Reading is Key event during which the members and children played games, did face-painting and read books.

In February, 15 Eta Mu members attended the Pi Province Meeting at which the chapter received the Ritual Award which was a significant source of pride. For Easter, the chapter joined with Gamma Phi Beta to sponsor the Panhellenic Egg Hunt for children of UCSC students living in family student housing.

In May, Eta Mu participated in Greek Week, a campus-wide competition for sororities and fraternities. Members spent several weeks preparing a lip-sync dance number with a California road trip theme. The chapter finished in fourth place overall for Greek Week, including second place in powder-puff football and third place in lip-sync.

This spring, the chapter held its second-annual Presents Brunch at the Cocoanut Grove, a venue on the beach boardwalk.

In the fall, the chapter had its most successful Panhellenic Recruitment to date with 40 new members initiated in November. The chapter’s bowling philanthropy “Spare the Hooters” raised approximately $1,000 to fight breast cancer. Throughout the year, the chapter hosted and participated in several philanthropic activities such as a local beach clean-up and held events such as the semi-formal dance and Sapphire Ball.

UCSC faced severe budget cuts in 2011. Class sizes continued to grow while tuition continued to rise. Students responded by protesting with classroom walk-ins and interruptions. Although Greek life is small on our campus, involvement has been growing steadily.

== Highlights of 2012==

This year for our chapter has been very successful. In Winter quarter, we did not have recruitment as we normally do due to the great recruitment we had the previous year, but we still did tabling to keep up our public appearance. Our main philanthropy for this quarter was our second annual "Kappa Kickoff", which donated books for Reading Is Fundamental. We had a great turnout with support from other greek organizations on campus along with students not involved in greek organizations. We also had our semi-formal this quarter with a "Great Gatsby" theme.

In Spring quarter we participated in Greek Week involving various activities, such as futsol, powderpuff and lipsync, that many greek organizations on campus participate in. We had a joint philanthropy this quarter with Gamma Phi Beta for a Panhellenic Blood Drive. Sapphire Ball was during this quarter, as well, and turned out beautifully. Our chapter was able to host a lovely etiquette dinner with members of various different fraternitys that everyone enjoyed. Marshal also held a Senior Red Room since we did not have a winter initiation for them to go through it. Over Summer, we were able to send our President, Membership Chairman and Marshal to Convention in Florida and sent one girl to Leadership Academy, all of which brought lots of great tools and skills to the chapter.

In Fall we had a great recruitment with 43 girls receiving bids and 35 girls being initiated later that quarter. One of our big philanthropies this quarter was "Spare the Hooters", in other words bowling for breast cancer, which received a great turnout with lots of greek life, family and friend support. Our other big philanthropy was going to the local Boys and Girls Club to donate our books we received from "Kappa Kickoff" and also spending some time with the kids there. We even held another philanthropy where we ended up donating to Hurricane Sandy victims. We had many other events and philanthropies throughout the year along with having a wonderful visit from a Leadership Consultant and a Kappa Trainer, that were all equally as amazing.

'''Campus:''' Our campus has continued to suffer from budget cuts with continuous protesting all around, but will hopefully turn around soon with the new laws passed. Greek life has been growing nonstop on our campus, as well, with now about ten percent of the student population being apart of greek life. Since greek life is starting to grow so much, many greek organizations have been trying to find ways to fit their chapters on campus. Everyone has been looking into ways to possibly expand the University in some way to make space for Greek life.

'''Chapter:''' Our chapter has been doing well with attendance to all events and has been continuing to bring in our newest classes with lots of support. Between sisterhoods and Greek week our chapter has had many opportunities for chapter unity, which has been very helpful with the amazing growth our chapter has had.

==Highlights of 2013==
This year was very successful for our chapter. We did not have a Winter recruitment again due to
the large recruitment the previous quarter. We had our semi-formal dance Winter quarter with a
“Flashback to the 50’s” theme. Spring quarter was very busy for our chapter starting off with
sending many sisters to Pi Province and won Most Improved Chapter and continuing with great
philanthropies, recruitment and events. We had our annual “Kappa Kickoff” donating books to the
local boys and girls club, which was a very well attended event among both Greek life and Campus
life.

We also joined with our Panhellenic sisters, Gamma Phi Beta, to put on a blood drive for the
whole campus. We had continuous open bidding this quarter and ended up gaining 4 new
members and then sisters. We had a small philanthropy that involved sending personalized letters
to soldiers in the Army. Another prominent event we had was Sapphire Ball in a different location
than we have had previously at the Hilton in Scotts Valley. It was a success and everyone enjoyed
themselves.

Eta Mu hosted another event which was our annual Etiquette dinner with a few select
gentlemen from each Fraternity on campus, who were impressed and responded positively to the
event. Eta Mu was ecstatic to be removed from a focus letter this year after working hard to adhere
to the focus areas specified by Headquarters, such as having two Leadership Consultants visit Eta
Mu. Our chapter participated in Greek Week again this year, in events such as futsol, powderpuff,
pizza eating, puzzles relay and lip sync. We came in first for powderpuff, third in lipsync and fourth
overall. Our Education Chairman organized many useful and informative senior programs, and she
and Marshal put on a lovely banquet and Red Room ceremony giving our seniors a well deserved
send off into becoming Alumna.

The Vice President of Academic Excellence held an Academic Banquet at the end of the school year to commend women of the chapter for their hard work on their academics. Six large perpetual plaques were awarded for Highest GPA, Most Improved GPA, Most Hours in the Library, Most Sisterly, Most Study Hours and Best Class Attendance. Fall quarter started off with another very successful recruitment with 51 girls receiving bids and 48 becoming sisters. We had an amazing leadership consultant help us in this recruitment to improve
it and make everything run more efficiently. Vice President of Standards organized a very fun and
positive camping sisterhood. We also had our annual “Spare the Hooters” philanthropy with Sigma Pi Fraternity generating a very generous amount to donate to support breast cancer research. One of our sisters also helped in creating a Cold Stone philanthropy for those affected by the unfortunate loss of firefighters in the Arizona fires. We had an “Opposites Attract” themed date event in the fall that the girls in the Chapter and their dates really enjoyed.

Nominations and elections for officers for the 2014 calendar year went smoothly. Our Vice President of Standards and Vice President of Academic Excellence put on a holiday themed joint sisterhood and academic
dinner prior to finals. Multiple study rooms were booked for girls to utilize during dead week and
finals week at the library to help them study for finals.

'''Campus:'''
Our campus is coming of age and thriving with new changes, such as a shuttle system to help
students go to and from the San Jose airport. Class sizes are still large and classes are sometimes
difficult for some to get into, but our sisters still find ways to do well in their classes while still
finding time to do various other campus activities.

'''Chapter:'''
Our chapter has still been doing well in bringing in the new classes with lots of support and
sending out our seniors with the great congratulations they deserve. Our chapter has continued to
diversify with each sister being greatly involved in a wide range of events and activities on campus
and off campus.
Women Behind

==Highlights of 2014==

This year Eta Mu chapter saw a lot of growth, both in size and character. During our
Winter quarter, we did not have a recruitment yet again due to the large recruitment the previous
quarter. We had our semi-formal dance with a “Masquerade” theme, where girls and their dates
were encouraged to dress very classy and wear tons of fun masks.

Spring quarter, we continued participating in and hosting great philanthropies and events. Our philanthropy chairmen, Judy Kim and Megan Heynen, had our annual “Kappa Kickoff” donating books to the local boys and girls
club, which was a very well attended event among both Greek life and Campus life. Another
prominent event we held was Sapphire Ball. We returned to the location where it was held two
years ago, Cocoanut Grove. This time, however, it was held in the main ballroom instead of the
sunroom, which allowed for more room for tables, dancing and a nice stage for the DJ and to give
out awards. Our Event Chairwomen, Gabby Desio and Charlotte Byrn-Bailey, did fabulous jobs in
hosting this event and everyone had a great time.

Eta Mu hosted another event, which was our annual Etiquette dinner with a few select gentlemen from each Fraternity on campus. They were impressed, and responded positively to the event. We continued to stay off the focus letter this year, which we were very excited about. Our chapter participated in Greek Week again this year, in events such as futsol, powderpuff, pizza eating, puzzles relay and lip sync. We came in first for powderpuff for the second year in a row, second in pizza eating, third in lipsync, and fourth overall.

Our Education Chairman, Ruby Lynch, organized many useful and informative senior programs,
and she and Marshal, Lauren Porter, put on a lovely Senior Banquet and Red Room ceremony,
giving our seniors a well deserved send off into becoming Alumna. The Vice President of Academic
Excellence held an Academic Banquet at the end of the school year to commend women of the
chapter for their hard work on their academics.

Over the summer we were fortunate enough to send out President Lauren Wurst, Vice President-Organization Sanaz Batmanghilich and Risk Management Chair Amelia Lawrence to Convention in Texas. They all returned with great tips for running the chapter more efficiently and we won an Award for Recruitment and got Honorable
Mention for Ritual, Risk Management and Advisor-Officer Relations. Fall quarter started off with
another very successful recruitment with 59 girls receiving bids and 57 becoming sisters. Marshal
and Education chairman had a successful Kappa “Birthday Party,” which was well attended,
especially by the new members. In late October, we had a wonderful Leadership Consultant,
Whitney Cross, come visit our chapter for a week. She gave our CC many helpful tips on how to run
our CC positions. We held our annual “Spare the Hooters” bowling philanthropy with Sigma Pi
Fraternity, which raised a very generous amount to donate to support breast cancer research.

Towards the end of that quarter, we had a Red Carpet themed date event called “Kappa Krush.”
The girls in the chapter and their dates had a lot of fun attending and dressing up as celebrity
couples. Nominations and elections for officers for the 2015 calendar year went smoothly and
resulted in a new, cohesive chapter council. Multiple study rooms were booked for girls to utilize
during dead week and finals week at the library to help them study, along with a study break with
snacks all put on by the VPAE, Laura Morales. Eta Mu had a wonderfully productive year!

Campus:
Our campus is constantly bettering itself. There is new construction going on to create more
dormitories and facilities for our ever expanding student population. Class sizes are as large as
ever, making the enrollment process a little more difficult. However, our sisters always manage to
do their best. We joke around about large classes, saying in large classes there will always be at
least one kappa to study with.

Chapter:
Our chapter has been doing very well, especially at handling a constantly growing chapter. We
have grown so big that we have been finding it difficult to find spaces large enough to host all of
us! Luckily, our campus has some pretty huge lecture halls. Our chapter is very diverse in every
way, but we all still love and support each other always. Each sister brings something unique to our
chapter, helping us grow and develop all the time. We sent out our graduating seniors with
congratulations, love, and support, and we welcomed in the new classes similarly.

We do not have on campus housing, or a place only for ourselves at all. Because of this, we reserve
a room every week to have meetings in. If we have sisterhoods, we either reserve a room on campus
or rent one off. Our meetings are generally in the science building, which is owned by the
university.

We do not have on campus housing, nor have we ever. Sometimes a few girls live together on or off
campus, but they're always fairly small houses, and they often live with students from different
campus organizations or non-Greek students. We have an off campus storage unit to hold all of our
belongings. Informally, we have been thinking about different ways to accommodate Kappa living
arrangements, but it is very difficult.

==Highlights of 2015==

This year, Eta Mu consistently grew bigger and better than ever. During Winter quarter, we had our new officer installments. The new CC was very dedicated, and had many plans for the year. A leadership consultant visited and gave us wonderful tips on how to be the best leaders we could be. To start us off, the Vice President of Standards, Christine Charitar, hosted a fun sisterhood that many girls attended. It was a movie and candy night, which was desperately needed amongst the craziness of midterms. The Event chairwoman, Sophia Brinton, then hosted an amazing Semi-Formal at the Coconut Grove, with lots of dancing, fun photo props, and, of course, yummy food. The last event of Winter quarter was a tie-dying sisterhood on campus. We were given t-shirts, and we were also allowed to bring things we wanted to tie-dye from our homes.

Spring quarter was jam packed with fun Kappa activities. Presents brunch on April 19th was absolutely beautiful. We had a large new member class, so there were a lot of speeches, ranging from completely emotional and adorable to absolutely hysterical. About a week later, it was Eta Mu’s birthday! Our House chairwoman, Paula Pastuskovas, held an adorable birthday party on campus, with good food and games- it was a lot of fun. May 1st was our Sapphire Ball, which was an absolute success. It was held at Hotel Paradox, and there was a photobooth and a yummy sit down meal. There were also awards given out, which were voted on by our chapter, from things like Kappa Klassy (congrats to our President Sanaz Batmanghilich) to Kappa Krazy (congrats to Registrar Ruby Lynch). The next day was the start of Greek Week. As two-time reigning champions at powderpuff, our girls worked very hard and won it all again! We also won 3rd place in lipsync, which was the first time we have placed in many years, and we won 4th place in pizza eating. It was a great week for us. The next event was Kappa Karnival, thrown by our philanthropy chairwoman Roxanne Leon, which was new this year. There were games set up all over the lower field, and sisters were the game organizers and coaches. Students came in groups and played against each other. We successfully collected books and raised money for our national charity, Reading Is Fundamental. The etiquette dinner was held on campus in the Kresge Town Hall, and it went very well. We provided yummy Italian food, and hosted the charming men from the other greek organizations on campus. They were impressed, and responded positively to the event. Finally, it was senior appreciation time. The senior banquet was a success- it was very emotional and full of love. Seniors passed down gifts and their friends gave speeches. It really was lovely, all thanks to Kira Aarvig, the Education chairwoman. At the final meeting of the year, the seniors each gave their “last words” to the chapter. It was very sentimental, and we sent them off with much love.

Fall quarter was full of exciting events, especially with all the new members we got. Before recruitment began, we had another leadership consultant visit, and she helped us a lot when it came to running our recruitment. Recruitment went very well, thanks to Rachel Du and Yaritza Rodriguez, and we ended up with 52 new members who became sisters. Bid day was so much fun, as the New Member chair, Amanda Merrifield, welcomed the new members to Kappa. The event was sports themed, and was held at a gym on campus. We had a sisterhood at a pumpkin patch, to get in the mood for fall. Next up was our Date Dash event, which was country themed, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Spare the Hooters, our annual bowling for cancer philanthropy which we co-host with Sigma Pi, was a huge success as always. The bowling alley also contributed so that if we brought in cans of food to donate to a charity organization, they gave us free bowling shoes. Eventually, it was that amazing time of the year: Big Little week! The clues were a pin box, a mason jar, a picture frame, a CD, and special socks. For the reveal, we had the bigs wear matching socks that they gave to their littles, and they found their bigs like that. It was absolutely adorable, and everyone was very happy. Then it was I-week. Our Marshal, Magali Ceballos, hosted two wonderful nights of crafting preceding the initiation. We held initiation at the Veterans Memorial Building, and it went very smoothly. Nominations and elections for officers for the 2016 calendar year also went very well. At our last meeting of the quarter, our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Taylor Tibbs, gave everyone goodie bags of school supplies that we would need for the upcoming finals week. Eta Mu had a productive and positive year!

The campus of UC Santa Cruz is constantly evolving. The incoming classes continue growing bigger and bigger, and our campus has to account for this. Our chapter has grown so large that it has been hard finding places off campus to accommodate our size. We have been lucky to fit into the same room for the past few years, but we will have to update our room soon because we are so large now. We are one of the largest greek chapters at our school, and as diverse as possible. All of our girls come from many different backgrounds, and are learning many different things at school. However, we are united by our love of food and our love of each other.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Our chapter continues to raise money for breast cancer research every year with our annual Spare the Hooters event. We also consistently volunteer with the boys and girls club in downtown Santa Cruz.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

We chose to raise money for breast cancer for many reasons, but mainly because it is such an important cause that has impacted many of our sisters and their families lives. We help the boys and girls club because the children of our community need our attention, and we love to give it to them. We have built a great reputation in our community.

==Highlights of 2016==

This year was another exciting year for Kappa Kappa Gamma at Santa Cruz. In the winter of 2016 we were involved in clothing drives to help donate clothes to the homeless shelter. We also had a magical night at semi-formal where we dressed up and danced the night away. This same theme was continued into spring with our formal dance which was a throw-back to the 90’s. We had fun dressing up for this blast to the past! We also took time to honor our graduating sisters and celebrate their time as Kappa and undergraduate students at UCSC. There was a senior tea and special meeting where they gave our chapter advice for the future. At the end of the year we watched so many amazing sisters graduate and wished them well as they start their next chapter in life.

Over the summer a few of our sisters were able to attend convention down in San Diego. They came back with a wealth of new knowledge that they shared with all of us through stories and a presentation during meeting. The Fall was an exciting season for our chapter. We welcomed a new Panhellenic sorority to our campus as well as went through our own rush events. Many of our sisters were involved in the selection, and establishment of Kappa Alpha Theta and our sisters were excited to expand Greek life at Santa Cruz. Our own Fall rush went extremely well. We welcomed 60 new sisters to our chapter. Through the remainder of the year we have been involved in teaching our new sisters kappa history and values. This class has eagerly learned and embraced Kappa which makes our members excited for their contribution in the years to come. We also put on a breast cancer bowling philanthropy that we do yearly with the men of Sigma Pi and our annual fall date dash event. Overall this year has been a year of growth and strengthen for our chapter.

==Highlights of 2017==

2017 was an awesome year for Kappa Kappa Gamma's Eta Mu Chapter here at Santa Cruz. To kick off 2017, we had the transition of our old Chapter Council to our new Chapter Council. February was a busy and exciting month for Kappa. We held our annual Presents Brunch to have bigs show some of the most important women in our lives their littles. During this month we also had an LC (Leadership Consultant) come and visit, and our sisters got the chance to show her what Eta Mu chapter and Santa Cruz is all about. Semi-formal was also in the month of February. The theme was Valentine's Masqureade and the chapter and their dates had fun dancing the night away. In March, some of our sisters participated in the Polar Plunge that was a philanthropy opportunity in which we raised money for the Special Olympics. April was another jam-packed month for Eta Mu as we started our spring quarter.

We had our 1st annual Kappa Kickball Event, which was a kickball tournament where other fraternities and sororities on campus competed to help us raise money for Reading is Key. We had our annual etiquette dinner in April as well and celebrated Eta Mu chapter's 10th birthday party where our active and alumni members got together for a nice lunch to celebrate this milestone. Our Reading is Key event took place in April too, where a couple of our sisters got to volunteer their time at the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls club reading, playing, and facepainting with the kids. May was a spirited month for Eta Mu as UC Santa Cruz held its annual Greek Week competition. During this week, all of the Greek organizations got to participate in fun events led by our Inter-Greek Council. Kappa participated in events like lipsync, a pizza eating contest, and Powederpuff. For Powderpuff we won for our 5th straight year in a row. During this month we also had our formal which took place at the Gilroy Gardens. It was a beautiful venue and our sisters and their dates got to dance under the lights for our last formal event of the school year. Towards the end of the 2016-2017 school year, we got to honor our graduating Kappa sisters.

We had a senior tea held for these sisters and at one of our final meetings had a special moment in which they shared some advice with the chapter as they continue their undergraduate careers. In June, we watched and supported all of our graduating seniors and wished them well on the next chapter of their lives.

Over the summer, many of our sisters got the chance to travel around the United States and the world and partake in awesome jobs and internships. Fall was an exciting part of the year for our chapter. In September we prepared for recruitment and in October we welcomed 50 new members into our chapter. Our recruitment went extremely well this year and Eta Mu has been very involved in teaching our new sisters about Kappa's history and rituals. Rho class has eagerly learned and embraced Kappa, which makes our sisters excited for their contributions in the years to come as they will become our future leaders. In November, we finally initiated our 50 new members into our chapter. Also in this month we held our annual Spare the Hooters philanthropy event in which we teamed up with Sigma Pi to raise money for a local breast cancer awareness organization here in Santa Cruz and had an amazing Thanksgiving Dinner with all of our sisters.

Overall, this year has been a year of growth and learning for Eta Mu chapter. Our Chapter Council did an amazing job working together and putting on events for our chapter to enjoy. Despite some minor setbacks, Chapter Council worked seamlessly together in order to overcome the hurdles with the support of the chapter and our advisor. As a chapter, we have come together and participated in many philanthropic events and have enjoyed the events put on by our hardworking officers and their committees.

Last year, we welcomed a new Panhellenic organization onto campus, Kappa Alpha Theta. This year for recruitment, it was awesome getting to work with another Panhellenic organization and recruit more girls for not only Kappa but also for Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta. As for our Santa Cruz campus, there has been continued political movement and mobilization in response to the decisions President Trump and his administration are making. There has been growing solidarity and collaboration between different organizations to make Santa Cruz a safe community and environment for all of our students. As for Eta Mu chapter, we have been been continuing to improve our participation in Kappa events that we hold as well as share new ideas that the chapter can implement in order to improve this aspect of our chapter. Many of our sisters have also had amazing ideas that have promoted more sisterhood. Eta Mu has been expanding, improving, promoting participation and sisterhood, and informing the newer classes about Kappa's history and rituals.

There are a multitude of organizations that our chapter has traditionally raised money for and have donated our time to. One of the organizations that we primarily focus on giving back to is Reading is Fundamental. We also raise money for local breast cancer awareness organizations in Santa Cruz and donate our time to homeless shelters to help out our community. Numerous of our sisters are also involved in Camp Kesem, which is a non-profit organization that raises money to send kids whose parents have been affected by cancer to camp for a week during the summer.

RIF is a nationally recognized organization that is working to improve literacy in kids by providing them with access to books of their very own through community involvement and donations. Kappa Kappa Gamma has been a long time partner with RIF and our chapter wants to help raise money for this amazing organization. We held our Kappa Kickball tournament and have given our time to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz as our Reading is Key events in order to raise money for RIF. We also choose to support local breast cancer awareness organizations, homeless shelters, and Camp Kesem because the missions of these organizations are close to many of our sisters' hearts.

==Highlights of the 2019==

2018 proved to be another lovely year with another lovely bunch of Eta Mu Kappa women. To kick off the year, we had a smooth transition of chapter council, sworn in by last year’s president, Kamille. Meetings were filled with an unparalleled amount of gifs and memes in officer reports -- always a pleasure to see. On the philanthropy side of things, we’ve continued bringing in money for Kappa Kickball, a kickball fundraiser for the Santa Cruz animal shelter. This year at Spare The Hooters, we raised over $1100 for breast cancer research with help from the gentlemen of Sigma Pi, a new record for money raised at the event! Our Reading is Key events went well per usual and many books were collected for the Boys & Girls Club at Sapphires on Skates, a new and popular Kappa fundraiser taking place at the Santa Cruz Roller Rink. May was filled with events like our annual Greek Week in which most Greek organizations participate in a bit of friendly competition. Our ladies participated in basketball, game night, and of course, pizza eating. We had a beautiful Formal at Coconut Grove on Cinco de Mayo where one of our very own, Nicole S., drew the design for our shirts. Our girls got closer with events like sorority powderpuff, where many of our members practiced for months, which is what this chapter is all about: getting closer to an stronger with our Kappa sisters. The event brought in over $300 to Camp Kesem, a national nonprofit with a chapter at UC Santa Cruz dedicated to giving children whose parents have or have had cancer a free week of summer camp. In June we watched and honored our 2017-2018 class of Kappa girls graduate. Our seniors shared a special last year together with events like Senior Tea and Senior Send-off. It was our first year with an informal spring recruitment which brought our lovely Sigma class to us. Fall recruitment was stunning and organized as Kappas talked, sang, and smiled our hearts out to our new Tau class women. We’ve had some wonderful sisterhoods put on by both Standards and Ritual committees. From voting on our favorite Halloween costumes to watching “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” we’ve laughed our heads off considerably in each other's company. The always delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Terra Fresca was a success, leaving members more stuffed than the turkeys we ate.

This year has been a year of growth, laughter and learning for our Kappa chapter. Chapter Council came together to work though any and all issues and provide support to neighboring officers. This chapter as a whole is a group of beautiful, empowering, and always compassionate young women and we are sure to see next year bring even more progress.

This was our first year in Panhellenic recruitment that our chapter participated in informal spring recruitment. Officers who were a part of the initiation and new member process preformed most of their tasks twice, a change that was smoothly carried out by the designated officers.

This chapter has provided ongoing support to RIF and the Kappa Foundation, but outside of KKG Sanctioned organizations, we have provided donations and support to the Walnut Ave Family & Women's Center and Camp Kesem at UC Santa Cruz.

Kappa Kappa Gamma has been a long-time partner with RIF, an organization that promotes literacy in children by providing them with access to books of their own through community involvement and donations. We have also worked with the Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center which provides resources for women, children, and families in Santa Cruz County and has done so for over 80 years. Camp Kesem at UC Santa Cruz is a student-run, national nonprofit that provides an entirely free week of camp and year-long support to children who have been affected by a parent's cancer. At UC Santa Cruz, the Camp Kesem chapter has lots of Greek involvement, but the highest percentage of Greek life affiliates are Kappa women.

Our Meetings are traditionally at the Jack Baskin Engineering on campus at UC Santa Cruz. For special occasions and bigger events, we may meet at Kresge Town Hall which is also on campus, like we do for sisterhoods and Founder's Day.

==Highlights of 2020==

Eta Mu Chapter has undergone numerous improvements and troubles this year. We began this year with a new Chapter Council that helped our chapter work on challenges, supported us through the pandemic, and made the virtual experience of meetings meaningful. At the beginning of this year, our sisters helped volunteer for our school’s Colleges Against Cancer Blood Drive and helped collect 30 units of blood! In February, we hosted a Family Day that was filled with fun and games for our sisters’ families. Following that, we celebrated our Founder’s Day at Meder Park and got to experience the VR tours of how Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded which were provided by HQ’s Minnie Stewart Van. We then raised $700for the Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center through our annual Kappa Kakes Fundraiser. Our PR Chair, Cesia Villa Bello, made sure to represent all our members through fun Instagram Features like Kappa Meets (Hobby a Member does), Senior Spotlights, and Kappa Krushes where sisters would make shoutouts for each other. At the end of February, we had our Semi-Formal that was planned by our Event Chair, Victoria Caballero, and our Risk chair, Avery Bowen, who made sure everyone was safe and having a fun time! Our chapter operations changed dramatically when COVID-19 hit, and we all had to go back home for our Spring Quarter and do online learning. During the Spring Quarter, we faced hardship when horrific police brutality events sparked and caused discussion within our chapter. Our BIPOC sisters stood up and spoke about the injustices they have faced being in our chapter and were supported to use their voice. These discussions continued throughout the summer and into the fall quarter which really made us reflect and listen to each other. Our chapter participated in virtual recruitment with our other panhellenic organizations and made sure the recruitment went smooth and easy for PNMs. After recruitment, we welcomed 22 New Members who have made our Chapter filled with joy and optimism for our future. We had meetings every Sunday on Zoom where New Members would do programming with our New Member Chair, Aryn Williams-Escobar. During the Fall quarter, we made T-shirts to raise money for the Norcal Fire Relief Fund, and turned out to be a huge success! And towards the end of the quarter, our new members got their big sisters through a virtual big/little reveal. I also planned our virtual initiation for our new members and it went extremely well! All members were initiated and they did an outstanding job with completing their workshops and paying their dues. At our last meeting for the year, we swore in our new officers for the 2021 year, and it was quite emotional as this was a tough year for us all and we couldn’t have done without our 2020 CC.
Our Chapter supports RIF to help under served kids discover the joy of reading and books. We also help support local organizations to give back to our Santa community.
Our chapter added a DEI officer to our Chapter Council in an effort to educate our sisters and give voices to our BIPOC members. We elected Aryn Williams-Escobar as our DEI Chairwoman and she did an outstanding job in our Fall Quarter. Every meeting we would do a spotlight on a sister who talked about her identity which helped educate our sisters about new cultures and family dynamics. For example, our Indian sisters presented an informational presentation about the Punjabi Farmers Strike happening in India and shed light on what it means to be an Indian American in the U.S. and the stereotypes it follows. Furthermore, our PR Chair has made sure to represent all sisters in our Instagram Account and made posts about what it means to be an ally, a statement supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement,informational guides on what gaslighting and microaggressions are, and many more posts and stories. We celebrated at a local park with crafts and games. Also, the Minnie Stewart Van visited and we got to tour around the van to see the historical events that led to Kappa’s Founding. Sisters also experienced a VR tour of Monmouth College and how our founding sisters founded Kappa. On October 13, our PR Chair posted a celebration picture celebrating our Founders Day as well.

[[File:Etamuphotos.png|thumb|virtual]]

==Highlights of 2021==

Although this year for Eta Mu was mainly online, we still managed to strengthen our
connections with each other. Starting off the year, we had workshop for the whole chapter
hosted by the Behind Happy Faces Program. The Behind Happy Faces Program is a two-part
system to teach lessons. The curriculum utilizes creative PowerPoint presentations to expose
participants to the knowledge necessary for understanding mental health in their lives. The
interactive exercises that coincide with the PowerPoint presentations have been constructed
to maximize retention and improve participants’ emotional relationships to themselves and
others. This system is designed to deliver information in a short time frame, in order to meet
participants where they are, in the culture that they live. This program helped us be more
honest with each other and reflect on our mental health in especially in a college setting. In
February, we had our annual Presents Brunch for our Phi Class to celebrate big/little pairings
and bigs were able to present speeches about their littles. During Spring Quarter, we had
COB Recruitment and were able to get nine new members for Chi Class and I initiated them
through a virtual ceremony. We then celebrated Eta Mu’s Birthday by meeting at a nearby
park to take pictures and hang out socially-distanced. Towards the end of the quarter, our
Membership Chair came up with Kappa Kash which helped incentivize members to come to
events and promote Kappa Events in turn for points and prizes. We then hosted a senior
banquet for our seniors before graduation in June.
During Fall Quarter, we had another virtual formal recruitment and were able to get 24 new
members for Psi Class. We were able to do bid day in person at a nearby park as well as
big/little reveal, so that was amazing to see and hopefully made the new members feel
welcomed. Not many events were held to due to COVID procedures in place on campus and
off campus and all of our meetings remained online. I initiated Psi Class on November 21st
and following that day we voted on our new Chapter Council for 2022. It was more of a slow
year but I hope that as COVID procedures loosen, our chapter can have more events next year
in person.

We support Mental Health for America to live fully in the service of others by becoming
advocates for mental health and well-being. Kappa members will unite to educate, raise
awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health and well-being through fundraising
and service.
This year we raised money for our philanthropy through a virtual Kappa Talent Show, a Yoga
event, and a fundraiser at Woodstock’s Pizza.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We had a number of DEI presentations this year held by our DEI Chair. We hosted cultural
presentations during meetings that spotlighted member’s cultures. We also hosted
presentations on African-American History Month, Asian American Heritage Month, and
some discussion panels on more gender-neutral language within sororities.
Operating in a Pandemic

Mostly everything was online until Fall Quarter where there were a few events held in person
including bid day, big/little reveal, and philanthropy events. However, all meetings were
online including elections and initiation.

[[File:Eta Mu1.jpg|thumb|recruitment]]
[[File:Traveling.jpg|thumb|Chicago]]
[[File:Social Distancing.jpg|thumb|buying plants]]
[[File:Graduation.jpg|thumb|some of the graduates]]

Eta Lambda

2021-12-22T18:22:00Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Lambda
|GreekSymbol= HΛ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Lambda.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2007|03|31}}
|College= [https://www.luc.edu/ Loyola University Chicago]
|Location= Chicago, IL
|Homepage= [https://luc.kappa.org/ Eta Lambda Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Lambda Media related to Eta Lambda Chapter]}}

'''Loyola University, Chicago, established in 1870 as St. Ignatius College, Chicago, Illinois'''

'''Founded March 31, 2007 -- ___ charter members'''

'''590 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Outstanding Eta Lambda Alumnae'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Eta Lambda Alumnae:''' 
-Whitney Cross, Leadership Consultant, 2014-2015

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Loyola University Chicago, a private university founded in 1870 as St. Ignatius College, is the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic University and the only one located in Chicago, Illinois. It is comprised of four campuses: Lake Shore (LSC), Water Tower (WTC), Medical Center, and the John Felice Rome Center in Italy; and is home to ten schools and colleges: arts and sciences, business administration, communication, education, graduate studies, law, medicine, nursing, continuing and professional studies, and social work. Loyola also serves as the U.S. host university to the Beijing Center for Chinese Studies in Beijing, China.

With record-breaking student growth, nearly 16,000 undergraduate students study nursing, education, business and more on this campus which sits on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Fraternities and sororities have been a part of Loyola University Chicago since 1924. Loyola currently has 17 social Greek organizations. The previous information excerpted from the Loyola University website.

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==From the beginning==

Installed in March 2007, Eta Lambda Chapter at Loyola University Chicago is Kappa's 133rd active chapter. Kappa was invited by 61 members of an existing local sorority to join the Panhellenic spirit on this campus which includes Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Phi Sigma Sigma. With record-breaking student growth, nearly 10,000 undergraduate students study nursing, education, business and more on this campus, which sits on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Loyola's motto, Learn Broadly; Serve Generously; Lead Courageously,parallels Kappa's mission-it's a natural fit for Kappa and Loyola.

==Highlights of 2007-2010==

In February 2007, the chapter hosted its first annual Family Weekend. There were many fun, exciting events, and families of the actives caught a glimpse of the joy that comes along with being a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. By March the women joined with other Loyola teams at the annual Relay for Life, an overnight philanthropy to raise money for the American Cancer Association. The chapter came in third place for the amount of money raised. Overall, Loyola University raised a total of more than $35,000 for the cause.

Installed in March, 2007 Eta Lambda Chapter at Loyola University Chicago is Kappa’s 133rd chapter. Kappa was invited by 61 members of an existing sorority to join the Panhellenic spirit on this campus, which includes Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Sigma Alpha, and Phi Sigma Sigma. Kappa Kappa Gamma was chosen to replace Loyola's Kappa Beta Gamma Epsilon chapter.

April’s main event was the chapter’s first formal dance held at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Chicago. Trolleys were rented to transport the women and their dates from campus to the hotel. The elaborate event was deemed a major success by the members and their dates.
School resumed for the 2008-2009 school year in August with the chapter participating in the AIDS walk, at that time, there were a slightly more than 50 girls in Eta Lambda.

September fall Recruitment was a major success adding 41 new members to the sorority, making it the largest chapter on campus with 93 diverse women. The active members were so excited that Eta Lambda was growing, and the new girls were anxious to experience everything that was yet to come.

During that Recruitment weekend, two of the actives had the honor of attending the 2008 Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy. They came back to the chapter glowing from the weekend, eager to share with all the fun they had and the things they learned. It was an unbelievable experience and they passed on what they could to those who could not attend through pictures, memories, stories, and experiences. The lessons learned strengthened the Eta Lambda bond with their sisters across the country and with one another.

October was a very busy month for the women of Eta Lambda. They celebrated Founder’s Day by attending a ceremony and dinner at the Upsilon chapter house at neighboring Northwestern University. The chapter felt it was important for the newest Kappas to meet other Chicago area sisters in celebration of the Fraternity’s history.

On October 17 a new philanthropy, Charity Denim was held. The event involved the sale of designer jeans, with brands such as Seven and True Religion, at a discounted price. Proceeds from the event went to Holly’s House™, the Child and Adult Advocacy Center based in Evansville, Indiana. The center is named in honor of the work Holly Dunn Pendleton, a Kappa Alumnae has done in educating the community on how to assist victims of sexual violence, as well as her personal efforts to reach out and help victims of sexual assault. The Eta Lambda chapter welcomed Holly to the Loyola campus to speak and assist the event. Her speech moved everyone in the room to tears, while simultaneously inspiring the women to grow to be the best they can be to make a difference in the world. The sale was open to the entire campus with donations totaling more than $700 to the cause. For the women of Eta Lambda, Charity Denim was a great achievement.
During the same weekend, the Kappas invited dates and friends to attend a Chicago Bulls basketball game. Although the Bulls lost, everyone had a great time and the new girls had a chance to invite their non-Kappa friends to meet their new sisters.

Next on the chapter agenda was an event-packed Greek Week which ended with the first annual Greek Ball. Eta Lambda took first place in the pumpkin carving contest with their craving of an owl and second place in Greek Week overall.

November was a fantastic month to be a Kappa at Loyola. Busy, but thrilling the month held many new experiences for the chapter. The women participated in the Powder-puff games with four campus sororities competing in flag football from November 7 through 9. The Kappas were proud to win the competition.

The very important and exciting Inspiration Week took place with each day themed by important aspects of Kappa: Beauty, Love, Goodness, Truth, Friendship and Loyalty. It was a motivating week for the new members allowing them to bond with the rest of their sisters.

On November 15, 2008, the pledge class was initiated. Mothers and sisters of legacies surprised their girls and there were endless tears, hugs, and laughter. The weekend after Initiation, two coach buses filled with Kappas in matching shirts traveled the six hours to Columbus, Ohio. Once there, the women visited Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters and held an overnight sisterhood retreat. The Kappas were thrilled and fascinated to view actual artifacts of the Fraternity’s founders. The women enjoyed learning about Kappa’s past, while planning for their chapter’s future. Chapter elections were held and all were excited to have a new council ready to take on the New Year.

Throughout the school year, small retreats for the new members, and mixers with fraternities and sports teams were organized. Like all chapters, the girls had challenges and difficulties. But the chapter successfully made it through them, learning valuable lessons along the way.
2008 was a very exciting year for the Eta Lambda Chapter. They strongly believed their situation on the campus of Loyola was different from what other Kappa chapters may experience, but still enjoyed the great sisterhood and love of being members of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The chapter had 93 girls, with Kappas studying in Ireland, Mexico, and Rome. Many of the women received scholarships. The cumulative GPA was 3.078. Greek life was not very large of the campus of Loyola, so the chapter, with the other sororities and fraternities, did its best to show Greek pride and encourage campus support during its events.

By the end of 2008, the "museum in a box" National had proved to the chapter for its archives contained pictures, scrapbooks, and binders holding important papers from the first year. Such a young chapter, members were establishing themselves and busy getting the Kappa brand out to the rest of the campus. Growing in size, strength, and love, the women enjoyed every event and memory that took place at Loyola University Chicago.

The membership experienced issues with communications between Council members and the rest of the chapter. The chapter was able to find solutions by organizing committees with an emphasizes on in-house communication. One solution to the problem was solved when the chapter began to email the Council minutes along with the Chapter minutes to all members of Eta Lambda.
When Panhellenic Council elections were held for 2009. An Eta Lambda was elected Panhellenic Secretary, another chosen Vice President of Financial Affairs; a third was voted Ministry Liaison, with a fourth elected Multicultural Liaison. With that, the chapter held the maximum amount of women per sorority allowed on the Panhellenic Council. The chapter was extremely proud of these women, their hard work and involvement.

'''Fraternity Awards:'''
Chapter Excellence Award for Service and Panhellenic Leadership
Outstanding Chapter President Brittany Nielson

2009 was another amazing year for the chapter at Loyola University Chicago. Being at a smaller-sized Jesuit University can at times be difficult when seeking diversity. Within their young chapter, the members of Eta Lambda have found great variety among all of the sisters, but in the end, have commonality with their bonds to Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The sorority as a whole had a 3.19 GPA. With Greek life growing on campus, it was important to the members to have a successful and fun time with Recruitment. They were thrilled to have 43 new members invited into Eta Lambda teaching the girls the important aspects of being a Kappa Kappa Gamma through philanthropy, sisterhood and social events. The chapter growth made it one of the largest sorority chapters on campus.

Immediately following rush, a member was fortunate enough to attend the leadership conference from September 17th to the 20th, in Columbus Ohio. There, she joined over 350 Kappa actives and alumni from across the United States and Canada. Even though the conference was for Kappa sisters, the main goal of it was not to just become a better sister, but to become a better woman, something essential for the Eta Lambda chapter to learn and love.

In November, Panhellenic Elections took place. The chapter was happy to have two of its members elected to the Panhellenic Council as Vice President of External Affairs and as Assistant Vice President of Recruitment.

Parents’ weekend was held on the last weekend of January. It was a great opportunity for the women to share their Kappa life with their families. The weekend was filled with activities including attending the Broadway show, Tony and Tina’s Wedding; a delicious fondue dinner at the Melting Pot and ice-skating at Millennium Park. By including their parents in these events the women felt it gave their parents a greater understanding of the Kappa bond.

On February 13, the chapter held its semi-formal at the Fireside Grill in Evanston, Illinois. Another great social event, Krush party was organized in March. This was an event that Eta Lambda shared with another sorority on campus, Alpha Sigma Alpha. Krush party was held at a local venue and it gave everyone involved a perfect chance to get to know more people in the Greek community. But, the event of the year had to be the chapter formal. It was held on April 18 and for the first time, took place aboard on a boat on Lake Michigan. The boat cruised the beautiful skyline of Chicago, making this an unforgettable night and a favorite memory for many of the girls.

March 2009, started off with the cancer research philanthropy, Relay for Life. Raising $2000, Eta Lambda came in third place for the most money raised. With great attendance from the chapter members it was a special way to spend time with their sisters while supporting a good cause. In September, the members brought back Charity Denim and with the help of fellow students, raised $300 towards Reading Is Fundamental. In October, Eta Lambda organized Kappa Klassic, their largest philanthropy event of the year, an indoor, glow in the dark, golf course. With donations from the university, the participation from fellow students, other members in Greek life, and from the community, Kappa Klassic was a success raising $850 towards the AIDS foundation.
The chapter ended the year with one last social event, Date Night, with the women inviting their dates and friends to the circus at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. This was a perfect opportunity for everyone to enjoy an evening with their sisters before finals and winter break.
In 2010 the chapter was extremely productive. Home to 109 members, the women held a strong presence in the Loyola University Chicago community. Their overall GPA was 3.33 and was the highest among Greek organizations on campus.

February 2010 began with the chapter’s first philanthropy event of the year, “Reading is Key,” followed by a themed Semi-Formal “Kappa Kaliente” at Grand Central in Lincoln Park. The event chairman put together a wonderful evening at a great venue for dancing, filled with delicious appetizers and an amazing evening to bond with Kappa sisters. The month ended with participation in the Up ‘Til Dawn Letter Sending Party, raising awareness for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and an evening hosted at a local comedy club as a sisterhood event.
In March, Loyola’s Panhellenic Council organized a “Dating Doctor Event” with a dating coach guest speaker pointing out dating do’s and don’ts to the Greek community.

On March 29th a chapter birthday party celebration was held with cupcake refreshments. Several area alumni attended sharing their experiences as Kappas with the girls. The chapter celebrated the approaching end of the semester with a Sapphire Ball formal, held at Hotel Sax in downtown Chicago in April 2010. It was a happy occasion to dress up, dance and bond with sisters and their dates.

The last philanthropy event of the semester, “I See a KKG,” combined Loyola organizations (including the fraternities and sports teams) to organize a campus-wide, week long water gun fight. Greek Houses wore their letters during the week and if spotted were squirted with water guns. The event raised $100 with the proceeds donated to Heartland Animal Shelter.
After a long summer break, school resumed for the 2010-2011 academic year in August. Recruitment saw the chapter welcome 32 new wonderful women into E’s Fleur de Lies pledge class on September 19. The theme for the day was “Candy Land,” and with everyone swarming the candy-shop style tables.

On October 23, the chapter gathered for their Semi-formal “Kappa Krush” event at Salute Wine Bar in downtown Chicago. An outstanding event, the evening was great fun filled with dancing and laughter. The fall months were also filled with many new member retreats.

November was an important month for the chapter, filled with bonding, philanthropy, and a very special event. The members gathered at Comedy Sports, an Improv theater located in Chicago on November 5th. The women had fun letting loose, laughing, and being invited to get involved with the actors on stage. On November 6th, the chapter began an annual event called Kappa Klassic, a black-light mini-golf themed philanthropy event held on campus. Everyone in the community was invited to join, and other organizations sponsored and decorated different golf holes. Refreshments included a cotton candy machine and a pie-eating contest. The event raised $672 for the Imerman Angels, a non-for-profit organization providing one-on-one support for cancer patients.

Eta Lambdas have an ongoing volunteer relationship with Children’s Memorial Hospital, and a small group of women hosted Kappa Kraft Night with the patients twice a month. The highly anticipated Inspiration Week was held November 14-20. Each day was themed with important aspects of Kappa; Love, Friendship and Loyalty, Goodness, Beauty, Truth and Purity. It was truly an inspiring week for the new class. On November 20th, they were initiated into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The chapter closed the year with elections. Actives had been extremely productive in philanthropy, sisterhood, and scholarship. Members took each success as inspiration to go above and beyond expectations, to grow stronger in both size and strength, and to continue showing their love for Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The chapter prides itself on the active participation of sisters in several on-campus organizations outside of Kappa. Members are diverse, and so are their interests. The women are involved with different campus activities and organizations, including: Advocate; AMSA- American Medical Student Associate; Autism Speaks; Best Buddies; Beta Rho- School of Communications Honor Society; Campus Crusade for Christ; College Against Cancer; College Democrats; COPAA; Criminal Justice Organization; Future Teachers; Global Brigades; HAS; Intramural Soccer; Italian Club; KSO; Loyola 4 Chicago; Loyola Coalition for the Homeless; Loyola Companions; LUC EMS; Misericordia; MSA; Neuroscience Society; Order of Omega- Greek Honor Society; Pre-Dental Association; PRSSA; Psychology Club; RHA; SNAIL; Student Ambassadors; Student Community Board; Student Nurses Association; Student Philanthropy Committee; Students for Like; The Phoenix- Student Newspaper ; Undergraduate English Association; Up till Dawn; USGA- University Student Government Association; and Women's Club Volleyball.

The growing interest in the Greek system at Loyola marked a shift from previous decades, when few students participated in fraternities and sororities. In 2011, participation had grown by the hundreds each year since 2009, with the chapter size of social fraternities and sororities at 65-110 members, even with the addition of new organizations. Six sororities comprise the Loyola Panhellenic Council. Within a short span of time, the vibrant women of Eta Lambda quickly became a well-established chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Since being installed in 2007, Eta Lambda has grown and expanded to epitomize sisterhood and philanthropy in the Loyola community. In 2011 the chapter held the second highest overall GPA of the Greek organizations on campus. They continue to grow both in number of members as well as in the outreach and impact we are able to have on campus.

==Highlights of 2011 – 2019==

2011 was a busy, fun, and productive year. The chapter welcomed a new pledge class this past fall, which was very exciting. In addition, Loyola University Chicago welcomed Alpha Delta Pi to campus and the Eta Lambda Chapter served as a guide in their acclimation to campus and to help them in establishing themselves. The women hosted several philanthropy events, such as Kappa Klassic and were able to help a worthy cause with funds raised.

'''Fraternity Awards:'''
In 2011, at the 41st Biennial Epsilon Province Meeting, Loyola took home two awards: Risk Management and Greatest Improvement.

==Highlights of 2011==

This year was a busy, fun, and productive one. We welcomed our new pledge class this passed fall, which was very exciting. In addition our school, Loyola University Chicago, welcomed Alpha Delta Pi to campus and our chapter has served as a guide in their acclimation to campus and to help them in establishing themselves. We hosted several philanthropy events, such as Kappa Klassic where we were able to help a worthy cause with funds that we raised.

'''Campus:''' Loyola University is a Jesuit University on Lake Michigan with almost 16,000 students enrolled. This past year has held many changes on campus, such as many projects to improve the campus and community. One of the greatest has been the addition of Alpha Delta Pi last semester to our greek community.

'''Chapter:''' Since being installed in 2007, Eta Lambda has grown and expanded to epitomize sisterhood and philanthropy in the Loyola community. We currently hold the second highest overall GPA of the Greek organizations on campus. We are growing both in number of members as well as in the outreach and impact we are able to have on campus.

This past year has gone very smoothly for our chapter. One of the biggest changes is that our Council will now work in accordance with the school year instead of the calendar year, which required some transition, but we have been able to move smoothly with the support of one another.

==Highlights of 2012==

This year was an exciting and busy one for Eta Lambda chapter. It started with the initiation of our Panda's Pearl Pledge class. We worked hard through spring to get involved on campus and worked hard on our first Girl's Academy in addition to our annual Reading is Funadamental event. In June our President and other council members attended the National Convention in Florida where we were awarded the Recruitment Award for schools with 6 to 9 Panhellenic chapters and were given honorable mention for the Ritual Award and Standards Award.

The 2012-2013 school year was kicked of with Loyola University's first ever Greek Week. We also had the opportunity to participate in Sigma Chi's first annual Derby Days at Loyoal as well as team up with Delta Sigma Pi for our Kappa Klassic Philanthropy with their Egyptian Expedition event. The year of 2012 has been a big year for Eta Lambda to participate in the growing and strengthening of the Greek community at Loyola as well as increasing our presence in the local community. We were also able to welcome a new pledge class of 42 women who we eagerly await to welcome this February.

Loyola Univeristy is a Jesuit University on Lake Michigan with almost 16000 students. The past few years have been full of changes with projects to improve the campus and community in addition to a huge movement to make Loyola a green campus and make student aware of their environmental impact. In the last year the addition of Delta Sigma Phi has emphasized the growing presence of Greek Life and its role on Loyola's Campus.

Since being installed in 2007, Eta Lambda has grown to embody sisterhood and the philanthropy both on campus and off. Currently we hold the highest overall GPA of the Greek organizations on campus emphasizing our focus on academic excellence. We have been growing in the number of memebers and our outreach on campus. Eta Lambda is excited to continue in the growth of the role of Greek Life on campus as well as in the community.

==Highlights of 2013==

This past year was an exciting year for the Eta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We have shown our support both on campus and in our local Chicago community through philanthropy, sisterhood, and scholarship. The Chapter’s current GPA is 3.32, the highest among Greek organizations at Loyola University and we currently have 126 active members. Eta Lambda consistently exemplified Kappa’s philanthropic values through our participation in GIRLS Academy, Greeks for a Good Cause, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Loyola Trick-or-Treat, the Rose McGill Holiday sharing, and more. We had our first annual Kappa Karnival philanthropy event in November where we raised over $4,000 for GIRLS Academy.

In February our chapter traveled to Monmouth, Illinois, for a sisterhood retreat where we visited the Stewart House and the Alpha chapter house and met our sisters in the Alpha chapter. In 2013 our chapter participated in 3 initiations, two being for our own chapter, in February and November. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in the recruitment and initiation of the Eta Phi chapter at Elmhurst College. 2013 has been a significant year for Eta Lambda through our participation in the growing and strengthening of our Kappa sisterhood, as well as the Loyola University and local Chicago communities.

Loyola University is a Jesuit University on Lake Michigan with almost 16,000 students. The past few years have been full of changes with projects to improve the campus and community in addition to a huge movement to make Loyola a green campus and make student aware of their environmental impact. In the last year Loyola’s Office for Student Activities and Greek Affairs has emphasized the growing presence of Greek Life and its role on Loyola's Campus.

Since being installed in 2007, Eta Lambda has grown to embody sisterhood and the philanthropy both on campus and off. Currently we hold the highest overall GPA of the Greek organizations on campus emphasizing our focus on academic excellence. We have been growing in the number of members and our outreach on campus. Eta Lambda is excited to continue in the growth of the role of Greek Life on campus as well as in the community.

==Highlights of 2014==

2014 was an exciting year for the Eta Lambda chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our chapter has continued to grow in both numbers and presence in our Loyola University Chicago community. The Chapter’s current GPA is 3.41, the second highest among Greek organizations at Loyola and we currently have 103 active members. Loyola University is located in the bustling city of Chicago with nearly 10,000 undergraduate students. Our chapter has a strong presence on campus and in the surrounding community as well. This year, we have shown our support through philanthropy, sisterhood, and scholarship. Eta Lambda has exemplified Kappa's philanthropic values through our participation in GIRLS Academy, Sigma Chi's Derby Days, our Kappa Cares events, the Rose McGill Holiday Sharing and more. We held our second annual Kappa Carnival in November and were successful in raising over $6,000 of canned goods and donations for A Just Harvest, a local soup kitchen. The weekend of June 28th, several of Eta Lambda's officers attended Convention where Eta Lambda won the Most Outstanding Chapter. We were elated to have been designated the chapter that exhibits excellence in the performance, efficiency and exemplification of the ideals, mission and standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The past few years have been full of changes with projects to improve Loyola's campus and community, along with initiatives to make Loyola a green campus. In the last year, Loyola's Student Activities and Greek Affairs has required that all greek life chapters hold recruitment during the spring semester. Since we typically hold recruitment during the fall semester this is a change for our chapter. Luckily, we have been able to adjust our calendar to accommodate these new changes. Currently we hold the highest overall GPA of the greek organizations on campus, emphasizing our focus on academic excellence. We have been growing in the number of members and our outreach on campus. Eta Lambda is excited to continue in the growth of the role of greek life on campus as well as in the community.

Our chapter experienced a great start to the 2014 academic year. In February, we honored academic excellence month and celebrated all of our sisters who are devoted to their studies. We had a leadership consultant, Mary Beth, visit campus and advise our chapter. Mary Beth provided Eta Lambda with lots of advice and helpful suggestions for officers, which has benefitted us as a whole. On the weekend of February 8th, Eta Lambda facilitated the local GIRLS Academy event at Morgan Park Elementary School. Around 40 young girls from the school participated. The GIRLS Academy team mentored the girls in small groups where they offered helpful tips about body image, education, money management, positive health habits and how to stand up to a bully.
In March Eta Lambda participated in the campus wide event of Relay for Life in conjunction with the other organizations on campus. During this event we helped raise funds to support the American Cancer Society and attended the Relay for Life’s evening activities in the Gentile Arena. On Saturday, March 29th, we hosted our Sapphire Ball at the stunning Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago. There we celebrated our sisterhood and danced all night long.

We finished off the semester by hosting the senior brunch to honor the senior girls’ commitment to Kappa. The brunch was held in Palm Court, a beautiful atrium event space on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. The seniors signed documents officiating their alumni status in Kappa, and celebrated their sisterhood one last time with their fellow sisters and returning alumni.

Over the summer, several Eta Lambda officers attended Kappa’s annual Convention the weekend of June 28th at the Hilton Hotel in Houston, Texas. Our president, vice president of organization, vice president of standards and advisor attended the event. Eta Lambda is so excited to have received the Most Outstanding Chapter Award at Convention this year. This award is given to the chapter that exhibits excellence in the performance, efficiency and exemplification of the ideals, mission and standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
After a long and relaxing break, we returned to Loyola for the start of the 2014-2015 academic year in August. Unlike previous years, we did not hold recruitment during the fall. Instead, our chapter had the unique experience of strengthening our bonds as a chapter for one more semester before adding new members.
Our fall events began with our semi-formal event at Rockit Bar in Wrigleyville on Saturday, September 20th. It was a fantastic night full of fun and sisterhood. In October, the pledge class Panda’s Pearls hosted our most successful Kappa Cares project yet. The pledge class facilitated “Operation Care Package,” where they sold slices of Giordano’s deep-dish pizza to raise money towards care packages for troops over seas. The event was successful in raising over $400 as well as creating countless thank you cards to send to the troops. At the end of October, Eta Lambda participated in Sigma Chi’s annual Derby Days event. We eagerly participated in all of the events, which supported the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, and it was a wonderful way to remind ourselves of the importance of philanthropy. Later in October we hosted our first annual Women’s Weekend, where we were encouraged to invite a special woman in our life to attend a weekend of fun-filled activities. The weekend included a kick off event downtown in Beane Hall and a beautiful brunch in Mundelein auditorium.

November was another eventful month for Eta Lambda. We held our second annual Kappa Carnival philanthropy in Rambler Room on Saturday, November 22nd. Many on campus organizations participated by each setting up a carnival game booth. We had carnival activities such as a cakewalk, face painting, a talent show and more. Kappa Carnival successfully raised over $6,000 of canned goods and donations for A Just Harvest, a local soup kitchen that provides meals for the community 365 days a year. Over 300 people attended the event and it proved to be a success. To end our year, Eta Lambda participated in the annual Rose McGill Holiday Sharing by sending gifts and holiday cheer to a sister in need.

Eta Lambda is really excited and ready to take on the new year including the addition of a new member class. We strive to continue to positively impact both our Loyola and Chicago community. We hope to keep growing and learning as we continue on our journey, while always showing our love and loyalty for Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Our chapter holds meetings in multi-purpose rooms on Loyola's Lake Shore Campus. We rent these rooms out depending on our need for each chapter meeting. At Loyola University Chicago sorority housing is forbidden. There is no housing for our sorority. Instead, Eta Lambda members are allowed to live in whichever dorm or apartment building they see fitting.

==Highlights of 2015==

This past year has been a wonderfully productive and exiting time for the Eta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our chapter has grown and evolved tremendously, not only in numbers, but also in our on campus involvement as well as our in our presence in the Loyola University of Chicago community. We are one of the highest ranked organizations academically on campus, and we currently have 127 active members. Loyola University of Chicago is located on Lake Michigan, surrounded by a diverse and exiting community and has nearly 16,000 students. Our chapter strives to make a difference not only on campus, with our fellow greek life members and other organizations, but also in the community.

As we returned from a lovely holiday break in January, we enthusiastically awaited our first Spring Recruitment. Due to Loyola’s decision of moving Greek life’s recruitment season from Fall to Spring, we were afforded the unique opportunity of bonding longer as a chapter as we awaited our enthusiastic new members. At the end of January, we welcomed the pledge class, “Devon’s Darlings” of 60 incredible women into our happy family. We finished the exciting month with a mixer with “Tiki with TKE” mixer at our local Bar 63 and Grill.

We had a very fun filled February, as we not only had our Big Little Reveal, but also our annual Date Party full of bowling, dancing and karaoke. We finished the month of February with one of our monthly Kappa Cares events. Unique to our chapter, Kappa Cares is something we are very passionate about; each month, a different pledge class gets to choose a philanthropy of their choice to raise money for or to spread awareness for, adding a very personal aspect to what we do. In February, Angie’s Army raised money for WATSI, an organization that funds medical treatments for people who are unable to afford them around the world. Through our efforts, we were able to help fund a heart surgery for Wildiesta, a little girl from Haiti.

We kicked off March by participating in SAE’s Paddy Murphy week, a week long philanthropy event that raises money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Through practice, sweat and hard work, we were able to win their annual powderpuff football game for the 2nd year in a row, and had a great time participating in all of their events as a chapter. The C’s Keys pledge class then held a successful Kappa Cares event, tabling for Autism Awareness. We also participated in Loyola’s Relay for Life, creating a team and raising money by selling bow’s created by one of our very own. We finished off the month with a greatly anticipated and beautiful Initiation Week, for our Devon’s Darling Pledge Class.

Soon after, in April, Dev’s darlings got their first opportunity to hold their own Kappa Cares events. They did a beautiful job, selling bagels and cupcakes, to raise money for one of their own, whose aunt was battling cancer and struggling financially. We had an amazing formal at the exquisite Drake hotel, in downtown Chicago, and danced the night away. We finished off the semester by holding a senior brunch on April 19th, to honor our senior members’ commitment to Kappa and their approaching graduation.

After a long and relaxing summer, we returned at the end of August for the 2015-2016 academic year. In September, C’s Keys held a Kappa Cares event raising awareness for Crohn’s and Colitis to honor one of our very own battling with Crohn’s Disease.

October was a fully packed month filled with sisterhood. We celebrated our Founder’s Day on October 11, with a fun “Which Founder are You Most Alike” quiz, a kappa history quiz, and included some fun trivia facts about our chapter’s history, while enjoying pizza from one of our favorite local pizza joints. That coming week we participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days philanthropy event. The weeklong event included obstacle courses, photo competitions, and finally a sorority dance competition in order to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Later that month, we had our annual Women’s Weekend, a weekend in which we at Eta Lambda invited our most influential women role models,whether it be our our moms, sisters, or aunts to join us in fun-filled sisterhood events such as a tour around Chicago and a brunch at Loyola. We ended the month with a sisterhood trip to Goebert’s Pumpkin Patch, enjoying fresh corn on the cob, sweet apple cider, and spending time with a variety of farm animals.

We started off November by holding our huge philanthropy event: Kappa Karnival. This is a carnival styled event in which organizations and clubs on campus could participate in by making a carnival themed table, and by competing in a talent show in order to raise money for Lurie’s Children’s Hospital, a hospital that Kappa volunteers at every month. We blew our original goal of $4,000 and actually doubled it, raising a total of $9,400. This was our most successful Kappa Karnival yet. We continued through November by facilitating our annual GIRLS’ Academy event at Carl Sandburg Junior High. 50 girls attended and it was an amazing weekend helping to educate and talk about issues such as body image and bullying, and to help inspire them to become respectful leaders in their school and community. Our Dev’s Darlings pledge class stepped up to the plate again and held another extremely successful Kappa Cares event in which the Eta Lambda Chapter invited members of the Loyola University' Chicago community to share their story and take a photo in order to combat personal stigmas that people face.

After a lovely Thanksgiving break, we returned to Loyola and had another wonderful sisterhood event, attending Lincoln Park’s Zoo “Zoo Lights”, before approaching Finals Week. Eta Lambda has had a very positive year, striving to continue to keep impacting both our Loyola as well as our Chicago community. We look forward to taking on the new year with the addition of a new pledge class, and continue to keep growing and learning as a Chapter, while always showing our love and loyalty for Kappa Kappa Gamma.

==Highlights of 2016==

This past year has been full of excitement and accomplishment for the Eta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our chapter has had a huge presence on the campus of Loyola University of Chicago this year. Loyola University of Chicago is located on Lake Michigan in Rogers Park. The Loyola community has approximately 16,000 students. We currently have 141 active members. Our 141 members present a positive image throughout this exciting and diverse campus. Our chapter strives to impact the Loyola community, as well as communities outside of our own.

As we returned from our holiday break in January, we anxiously and excitedly prepared for our Spring Recruitment. At the end of January, we welcomed 65 wonderful women into our chapter. This pledge class became known as “T’s Fleur De Lis.” The members of the new pledge class had their pinning ceremony in February. This pledge class is full of smart, talented, and beautiful women, who have and will continue to make a huge impact on our chapter.

We kicked off March with our Big Little Reveal. Shortly after, we had our Inspiration Period leading up to the beautiful Initiation Ceremony for our “T’s Fleur De Lis” pledge class of 2016. We ended the month of March with our Reading is Fundamental Philanthropy event. Our chapter traveled to Bateman Elementary School to read and craft bookmarks with the children.

April began with Loyola’s Relay for Life. We participated by creating a team and donating to Relay for Life. We also participated in SAE’s Paddy Murphy Week, which is a week-long philanthropy event that raises money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Through practice and determination, we won the powder puff football game for the third year in a row, and we enjoyed participating in all of SAE’s other events that week, as well. Following SAE’s Paddy Murphy Week, we had a mixer with TKE at our local Bar 63 and Grill. The theme of the mixer was to dress up as your favorite Netflix character. We ended the month of April with a Kappa Cares event organized by our newest pledge class, “T’s Fleur De Lis.” Kappa Cares is something that is very unique and important to our chapter. Each new member class hosts an event, where they raise money and awareness for a philanthropy of their choice. For the month of April, “T’s Fleur De Lis” chose to raise money and awareness for GirlForward by selling hair ties and bagels in our student center. GirlForward is a charity in Rogers Park that helps refugee girls by providing them with mentorship programs, as well as educational help and programs. We were very proud of our newest pledge class for hosting such a great event.

Over the summer, three of our Executive Board members traveled to the National Kappa Convention in San Diego, California. Our chapter won “Best National Academic Excellence,” and we also received honorable mention for Recruitment, New Member, and Standards. Our chapter is very proud of these accomplishments. After a relaxing and enjoyable summer, we returned at the end of August for the 2015-2016 academic year.

September was a relaxing month. We always make sure to support other Greek Life organizations on campus. In September, we supported and participated in Phi Sigma Sigma’s Field Day and Delta Sigma Phi’s Tugs event. Throughout September, we also prepared for our sisterhood retreat, as well as our semi-formal. Starting in October, our event chairman planned a very fun semi-formal at The Library Gilt Bar. We danced the night away with our sisters and friends. Following semi-formal, we had a sisterhood retreat at Camp Henry Horner. We all participated in small group activities, as well as activities involving the whole chapter together. The retreat was a perfect time for reflection and bonding with the whole chapter, and it made our sisterhood even stronger. We ended the month of October by participating in and raising money for Sigma Chi’s annual Derby Days Philanthropy event. As we participated and supported the Greek Life community and their events to kick off the semester, we were anticipating our own fun-filled philanthropy month of November.

November was a very exciting month for our chapter, as we hosted our first annual “Kappapalooza” philanthropy event, and we also participated in Girls Academy. A group of girls from our chapter went to Carl Sandburg Middle School and worked with seventh and eighth grade girls. We taught them about leadership, body image, and ways to deal with bullying. It was a great time for these middle school girls to have fun and open up to the understanding and inspiring women in our chapter. Following Girls Academy, we hosted our very own philanthropy event on Loyola’s campus. We were thrilled to host and introduce our brand new philanthropy event, Kappapalooza. Our week-long event involved all of Loyola Greek Life, and we raised money for Chicago-based charities. We kicked off the week by tabling in Damen and passing out candy and wristbands promoting Kappapalooza. We tabled every afternoon of the week. On Tuesday of the week, we hosted the first Big Man On Campus (BMOC) event to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago. Any man from any organization on campus was allowed to participate, and they were coached and escorted by a sorority on campus. There were three rounds for the men to represent themselves and their organizations, including fashion, questions, and talent. It was a very exciting, fun, and enjoyable event that was a great success. Thursday was our next big event for the week, and we called it Kappasta. We sold “all you could eat” Maggiano’s pasta and bread. During this event we raised money for The Greater Chicago Food Depository. We ended the fun-filled Kappapalooza week with our Kappa Kicks event. We hosted a soccer tournament for the different organizations on campus, and we raised money for American Scores Chicago. Overall, we had a very successful philanthropy week, and we raised close to $8,000 for these three Chicago-based charities. We are thrilled and very excited to host another Kappapalooza next year.

We ended the year with a Kappa Cares event at the beginning of December. We partnered with the Crohns and Colitis Foundation to raise money and provide information about the disease. We chose the Crohns and Colitis Foundation because it has affected a few women in our chapter, so we felt strongly toward raising awareness for this foundation. We tabled in our student center and sold Molly’s Cupcakes for the cause, and we raised $163. This year was an exciting year for Eta Lambda, and we are anxiously anticipating adding more wonderful women to this organization. Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Lambda is looking forward for what next year has in store for us, as we will continue to strive to impact each other, as well as the community around us.

==Highlights of 2017==

Kappa Kappa Gamma Year In Review: 2017
Loyola University Chicago’s Eta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is made up of one hundred and sixty four women. These women are academically driven, involved both within and outside the Loyola community, and strive for greatness in every aspect of their lives. Our chapter is comprised of well rounded women who aid Kappa Kappa Gamma in its continuing efforts to prosper and thrive. This year was one of growth for Eta Lambda, and often times with growth comes a learning curve. However, the women of this chapter handled any hurdle faced with grace and the utmost respect for our organization as a whole. In the past twelve months we have shared some of the deepest laughs, strongest hugs, greatest sorrows and most joyous times; experiencing pinnacle life moments with women, who have gone from strangers to sisters.
This past January, Loyola University Chicago’s Panhellenic Council held the largest recruitment weekend in its’ history. It was a weekend full of excitement, bonding with our sisters, and the anticipation of a new member pledge class. On our “Dream of Kappa” themed bid day, Eta Lambda extended bids to seventy six amazing women.
Then came February, a month where Kappa embodied the true meaning of sisterhood. Eta Lambda’s former Registrar and House chairman was hospitalized for the entire spring semester without a diagnosis. In this difficult time for our sister, our chapter stepped up. Our sisters visited her in the hospital, started a fundraising campaign for her family, involved the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and held fundraising events throughout campus which ultimately transpired into a community wide effort.
At this semester’s new member retreat, our newest pledge class, Katie’s Kweens were able to start creating the sisterhood within their pledge class that elder members of the chapter have come to appreciate. They were able to strengthen the friendships that make Kappa feel more like a sisterhood. With the end of February came Big/Little reveal where Bigs created matching t-shirts for themselves and their Littles. As Big and Littles began to get to know each other more, Bigs helped guide their Littles into Inspiration Period. After initiation our Kappa Sisterhood grew by seventy one women. Seventy one women who are kind, ambitious, involved, self-starters; all of whom are driven to further propel Kappa forward in the years to come. This March we celebrated Eta Lambda's 10 year anniversary. Fifteen women from the founding pledge class came together for the weekend to celebrate and reconnect. Together, past and present members of Eta Lambda enjoyed brunch and a campus tour. We also hosted Women’s Weekend, where our sisters invited a significant woman from their life to visit. During our Sunday brunch, we shared the value of philanthropy with our woman. In addition to collecting books and donations for our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental, we created bookmarks and made cards for a sister who was going through a tough time. This weekend epitomized our ideal of donating our time, not just our money. We kicked off April by participating in Relay for Life. We helped contribute to raising over $100,000 to help the fight to end cancer. We concluded the month by taking formal to the lake; dancing the night away with our sisters on the Odyssey, a boat at Chicago’s Navy Pier. We then sent our senior sisters off with heartfelt letters and a brunch to remember and celebrate their cherished years in Kappa. With May came graduation and the start of a summer where our sisters spanned the globe. Kappas went abroad, worked in various industries across the nation, volunteered, spent time with family, and prepared for another school year ahead.
September marked the start of another year and the return of our Kappa sisters. Devon’s Darlings, the senior pledge class, kicked off the year with a Kappa Kares event to raise money for epilepsy, a cause near and dear to a few of our sister’s hearts. We tabled in Damen to raise awareness and collect donations for the Epilepsy Foundation. Along with our own philanthropic efforts, we attended various events across the greek life community. We joined Phi Sigma Sigma for their Phield Day and played a riveting game of kickball to benefit the Kids in Need Foundation. In addition to this, we participated in Sigma Chi’s week long philanthropy event, which was in support of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. We were able to get involved by performing a New Orleans themed dance at their final event for Derby Days. In October, Eta Lambda supported Delta Sigma Phi at their Tugs event to help raise money for the American Red Cross. These efforts came at a crucial time to help support the Red Cross’ effort in providing national aid as our nation grappled with a series of natural disasters. This support embodied the idea that when it comes to philanthropy, the Greek life community bands together to support meaningful causes. T’s Fleur De Lis hosted a Kappa Kares event to raise awareness for Curvy Girls, an organization empowering young women with scoliosis. We hosted a semi-formal at a fun venue, where our sisters spent a night on the town enjoying each other’s company. October concluded with our largest philanthropy event of the year, Kappapalooza. It was a weekend long extravaganza that kicked off with an all you can eat pasta night to raise funds for our national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. Friday we hosted Kappa for Kids. Members of the Loyola community created encouraging bookmarks to promote literacy. The weekend concluded with our main event, Kappa Kicks. Teams from all different organizations on campus came together to play friendly games of soccer in support of our efforts to spread awareness about childhood illiteracy. The weekend was a success and Kappa was able to shine light and educate the Loyola community about an overlooked issue faced by many. At the end of this month, Kappa was proud of our new member pledge class, Katie’s Kweens, for receiving the highest new member pledge class GPA from Panhellenic.
This November we held one of our most cherished academic recognition events, Pearl Ceremony, a tradition that has been passed on through our chapter. Each semester, we honor the hard work and determination of the women who have received a GPA of 3.8 or higher with a pearl to put on their pin. While this Pearl Ceremony is not considered ritual of Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity, it has been passed down over the years as an Eta Lambda tradition that we continue to honor.
This past year, Eta Lambda chapter grew not only in terms of membership, but also within Greek life and Loyola’s community at large. Over the year, we learned that Kappa is so much more than just a women’s organization. We are sisters who truly care about each other and the causes that we support. Every day, but especially in times of hardship, we are incredibly grateful to be members of Kappa Kappa Gamma - an organization filled with women of character and integrity.

==HIghlights of 2018==

This year was rather eventful for the Eta Lambda chapter. We inducted a phenomenal group of new members in January, confident that they would carry the key with grace and tenacity. In April, Kappa was involved with Relay for Life on campus. We raised over $5,000 for the cause, and every member of Kappa was present at the event. Later in April, We had our own philanthropy: a Reading is Fundamental Book Donation Day. For RIF, we went to New Field Elementary School. There we were able to help distribute books to children of every age and background. The excitement of the children as they picked out their books was absolutely adorable. After the children picked out their books, members of Kappa sat down with them to help start reading or color a bookmark for their new book! We donated a plethora of books for every age with options for bilingual students. The children were very appreciative of this opportunity to further their reading abilities. As the semester was winding down it was announced a new Chapter of Kappa Delta was being established at Loyola. Many girls in KKG took this opportunity to welcome them to campus and introduce them to Chicago. At the national convention over the summer, we received an award of Most Outstanding Board and the Gracious Living Award as well as honorable mentions for awards in Academic Excellence, Panhellenic, Recriutment, and Finance. In September, we had a successful Womens Weekend and Sisterhood Retreat in which we celebrated the power of women and the strength of sisterhood. We also celebrated the phenomenal academic success of the women of Eta Lamba as over 51 members had a GPA over 3.80. We began a new tradition called the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Key" in which sisters who have demonstrated KKG values receive a special key necklace that they get to don with honor for the next week. In October, we successfully launced the new pilot structure. Girls Academy, although it did not take place this semester, was expertly planned, and our GA Chairwoman elegantly manuevered a difficult situation and was able to keep the girls in mind despite all of the obsticles in her path. In November, we held a special Philanthropy Event in which we created birthday cards for Mikey, the cousin of one of our sisters, who had to spend his 4th birthday in the hospital finishing up his last round of chemo. We were able to rally not only our sisters, but also several members of the Loyola Greek community to try to make Mikey's birthday extra special. Our main Philanthropy Event for the spring semester was a major success in which we raised over $5,000. Additionally, several sisters were highly involved in the midterm elections, from offering rallying advice to driving people to polling places, Eta Lamba was determined to share out voices to help shape the country. We elected a new council using the new structure. We are convinced that they will carry this chapter through another successful year.

The main change that impacted the chapter this year was the change to the council structure. We are excited and anticipatory to make this change the success we know it can be. We appreciate the new structure's ability to offer more leadership positions of various levels of responsibility so that more of our sisters can utilize their unique skills to benefit the chapter. We enjoy the structure's format in that it spreads the responsibility creating a truly supportive environment for our council officers.

We have three teared philanthropy so that we can maximize our ability to help others. We support Reading is Fundemental because we realize the importance of reading education and believe that every child, regardless of their parents' economic status, deserves access to engaging books. We support Girls Academy because we want to empower young women, offer them good, relatable role models, and help guide them through a tough social time for most girls. We support several local organizations through out monthly Kappa Kares events because we want to support numerous causes that are close to the hearts of our sisters and work with organizations in our local communities.

==Highlights of 2019==

Starting off 2019, Eta Lambda welcomed Leadership Consultant Katy to Chicago. Members of council met with her to discuss goals for their year, while the chapter as a whole had fun showing her the city and all there is to love about Chicago. During the weekend of Jan 25-27th, Eta Lambda successfully recruited a new member class of intelligent, down-to-earth, and compassionate women.

Then, in February, the chapter formally welcomed the newest members into Eta Lambda during our formal pledging event where they received their new member pins. All amidst Chicago’s polar vortex! Then, Eta Lambda bonded during a Galentine’s event where women made cards for each other. Members also had the opportunity to partake in a Secret Galentine’s program to surprise someone in the chapter with a little gift. To close out the month of February, the chapter hosted its members and their guests at our Date Party event at Tunnel.

In March, we held our highly anticipated Big/Little Reveal, where new members found out who their big sister and mentor for their time in Eta Lambda would be. The following week, we began Inspiration Period in preparation to initiate our new members. On March 23rd, Eta Lambda was thrilled to initiate 66 driven, kind, and enthusiastic new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma.

During the month of April, we held our annual Senior Say, a tradition where we honor our seniors with a potluck followed by a senior Flower Ceremony. To kick off our philanthropy event for Reading is Fundamental, our members had the opportunity to have dinner with the CEO of RIF! The following day, the day our members celebrated our big RIF event at New Field Elementary by traveling to the school to donate books and read with the children. We also celebrated formal during the month of April! Our members had a great time dancing and socializing with each other to close out another productive school year.

In August, the sisters of Eta Lambda arrived back on campus to start another academic year. During the month of September, we joined Pi Kappa Phi in a Bob Ross themed mixer and hosted our annual philanthropy event, Kappapolooza. The mixer was held on Loyola’s campus and was a fun way for the Kappa sisters to get to know the new fraternity. For Kappapolooza this year, our members were able to get involved by tabling all week in order to raise money and awareness for RIF. During the week there was a Kappa Karnival that included a soccer tournament and other carnival activities. It was a great atmosphere for everyone who came out and great food to go along with it. In addition, we hosted our first ever RIF Off event. The RIF Off was a pageant-like show where the male contestants performed an individual talent, a dance routine, and had to answer audience’s questions. Three winners were then able to be chosen based on which contestant raised the most money, who the judges liked the most, and who won the audience’s vote. Overall, we were able to raise $4,500 for Reading is Fundamental during the week!

In October, our chapter embarked on our annual Sisterhood Retreat at Camp Henry Horner. Our members had the opportunity to bond and get to know each other through small group sessions, games, and activities. At retreat, our members also had the chance to celebrate Kappa’s 149th anniversary through activities and stories about our organization’s founding.

In November, our chapter held its annual Women’s Weekend, organized by our Member Engagement Director, where each chapter member had the opportunity to bring important women in their life to campus. Our members enjoyed getting to meet and hear from such influential women in our sister’s lives throughout the weekend. Towards the end of November, Eta Lambda elected a warm and encouraging Council to serve us during the 2020 calendar year. Additionally, our Events Director planned an incredible Semi Formal in November that members raved was, “the best social event since joining Eta Lambda!” We loved getting to celebrate and interact with each other before finals in December.

Over the last year, the Greek community welcomed two new organizations, Kappa Delta and Pi Kappa Phi. The women of Kappa Delta participated in their first formal recruitment in January, welcoming an amazing class of women to the Greek community! Our members have supported the women of Kappa Delta in their philanthropic events supporting Girl Scouts and as Greek “big sisters”. In September our chapter had a great time getting to know and welcome the men of Pi Kappa Phi to campus with a Bob Ross themed mixer.

Eta Lambda has had a lot of growth and progression over the last year. The women of Eta Lambda have been working hard to understand and implement the new council structure and to increase member engagement. In doing so, our members have shown great dedication and passion for the health and long term prosperity of our chapter. Our member’s devotion and love for not only each other, but the organization as a whole, has continued to propel us towards our chapter goals and a better future for Eta Lambda.

In addition to our ongoing support for Reading is Fundamental, GIRLS Academy, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, Eta Lambda supported PAWS Chicago, Stewart’s Caring Place, Danish Home of Chicago, and Apna Gar through our monthly Kappa Kares events this year. chapter has had a long standing relationship and support for PAWS Chicago, a local animal shelter with a dedication to preventing and encouraging “no kill” animal shelters. At the beginning of 2019, Eta Lambda’s founding president Laura Allio passed away from breast cancer. In honor of her, our chapter supported Stewart’s Caring Place, an organization near and dear to Laura’s heart that supports patients and families facing cancer. During the Halloween season, our members were able to provide comfort and support for senior citizens during the Halloween season by making Halloween cards for the residents at the Danish Home of Chicago. As members of the Chicago community, Apna Ghar is an organization close to our members that provides holistic support for immigrants in the Chicago area.
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==Highlights of 2020s:==

Loyola University Chicago Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Lambda Chapter 2020 History Report:
2020 Eta Lambda Summary:
To begin 2020, the new Eta Lambda Chapter Council met to discuss goals and ideas for the upcoming year during our annual Council Leadership Day. Then, Eta Lambda introduced our chapter to perspective members at the Loyola Chicago organization fair. In the final weekend of January, members finished their preparations for spring recruitment by attending the Panhellenic bylaws workshop.
In the first weekend of February, Eta Lambda welcomed 71 amazing, intelligent and ambitious new members into our chapter during spring recruitment. Then, the chapter formally welcomed our new members during our formal pledging event. On February 20th, we had our first formal event of the year, date party, at Happy’s Bamboo Bar & Lounge, where our members and guests danced and bonded with each other. Following our date party, new members attended their new member retreat where they learned more about Kappa Kappa Gamma and each other. To finish the month, our chapter held a successful wellness workshop to help members refocus, relax and reset.
March began with Eta Lambda members taking time away from their studies and enjoying their spring breaks. Following spring break, Eta Lambda began initiation preparations with new member meetings and ritual reviews. Eta Lambda also celebrated a cumulative chapter G.P.A of 3.51! But then, unexpectedly, just as quickly as the 2020 began, it came to an abrupt halt. On March 12th, 2020, Loyola sent out an urgent email to inform students that all classes would be
moved to an online format and campus would be shut down due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) world-wide pandemic. COVID-19 hit the world by storm. It was unbelievable, scary and unprecedented. COVID-19 would change everyone’s way of life for the foreseeable future, including members of Eta Lambda. Because of this, Eta Lambda was forced to move all events to an online format, encouraged to prioritize the health and safety of our members and take on this new challenge with the support of our sisters. For the duration of March, everything was quiet. Eta Lambda, and everyone else across the globe, took time to regroup, pause and prepare for what was to come.
In April, Eta Lambda Council continued to encourage and support its members the best they could with virtual events, online fitness classes, email updates and social media outreach. To prepare for the Fall 2020 semester, Eta Lambda held a virtual registration workshop via Zoom (a video chat platform) to help members pick out their classes and give them a space to ask questions.
In May, as the semester ended, Eta Lambda held one final celebratory Zoom chapter to say farewell to the graduating seniors and end the academic year on a positive note. All members took their final exams online and prepared for an unusual summer in quarantine. Then, on May 7th, 2020, Eta Lambda initiated its new members via a virtual Zoom initiation with the help of Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters. Eta Lambda was ecstatic to officially welcome our fantastic new members as sisters of the golden key, even if the circumstances were not ideal. Also, Eta Lambda found out that our chapter was awarded the “Most Outstanding Community Involvement” and “Most Outstanding Philanthropy Program” for the 2020 Sorority and

Fraternity Life Awards. Eta Lambda was very excited and grateful to be recognized for all of our hard work. Eta Lambda then bid a sad farewell to its 52 senior members, who were unfortunately unable to finish their Kappa Kappa Gamma experience the way they had anticipated. Eta Lambda will miss their seniors dearly, and wish them the absolute best.
During the months of June and July, Eta Lambda did its best to keep members connected as the COVID-19 pandemic continued. Also, Eta Lambda Council created its first online summer newsletter to help keep members engaged and updated. The summer months were difficult for many members, but Eta Lambda sisters continued to support each other in any way they virtually could. Although we were hopefully about the Fall 2020 semester, Loyola University Chicago sent out an email informing students that all classes and many campus activities/resources would continue to be online through the rest of the semester, including Greek Life functions. So, Eta Lambda Council began to prepare for a fully online semester. The climate of the world was hostile, as political tension and human rights issues grew larger amidst the presidential election year and the pandemic. The world seemed to be changing as we knew it, and members were encouraged to stick up for what they believe in and make a difference, no matter how small, in whatever way they felt comfortable.
Then, in August, Loyola University Chicago held an online organization fair that Eta Lambda attended, where we introduced our chapter to prospective new members via Zoom. Classes resumed on Monday, August 24th, as all students began to get into the routine of a fully-online semester. At the end of August, Eta Lambda held its first virtual chapter of the semester, where members were able to finally interact after a long summer apart.

September was our Kappapalooza philanthropy event. Eta Lambda did its best to hold our philanthropy virtually, with online donations and online activities. This gave Eta Lambda members a chance to connect with the Loyola community and ask for support for our charity, Reading is Fundamental. Eta Lambda also held its first virtual formal chapter, where members still dressed formally and wore their pins, even though we could only see each other through a computer screen. During this formal chapter, Eta Lambda celebrated its members academic success through a virtual Pearl Ceremony, where members who got a 3.8+ GPA received a pearl for their achievements. New member meetings picked up online where they left off in the previous spring semester. A virtual Flower Ceremony/Pinning Ceremony was held for the new members online, where ‘Bigs’ were able to say some kind and encouraging words about the new members during the ceremony. Additionally, another meeting was held for the new members to explain to them the ritual and history behind Kappa Kappa Gamma and its initiation ceremony, which is something they were unable to fully comprehend or experience because of their initiation being online in the spring. Eta Lambda tried to make these experiences as special for the new members as possible, despite the circumstances. September ended with a socially- distanced “Kappa Kares” event, where we supported a philanthropy that is special to Eta Lambda, the “WINGS” organization that’s mission is the “break the cycle of domestic violence.” Eta Lambda collected donation materials from members to give to this organization.
In October, Eta Lambda held an online formal chapter where the Nomination Committee was elected and election practices were explained. Eta Lambda also held a virtual Founders Day Celebration for Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 150th Founders Day. To celebrate, members took an

online quiz about Kappa Kappa Gamma history, watched a short clip about Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founding, looked at many of the Kappa Kappa Gamma archives together and had a few Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae come to speak about their experiences as a life-long member. It was a very exciting and fun celebration, even though it was not in-person. Then, at the end of October, Eta Lambda held another “Kappa Kares” event about sisterhood, where members were encouraged to engage with each other online and in person (if socially distanced, wearing medical masks and comfortable), in order to promote mental health and overall wellness during this unprecedented and difficult time. By the end of October, Eta Lambda had to begin thinking about spring 2021 recruitment, which would be all virtual, so Council held its first recruitment workshop to kick off the recruitment season ahead.
November began slowly for our chapter, and the rest of the Greater Chicago Area, as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began. Extra precautions were put in place at Loyola, and many members decided to go home to prepare for what was ahead. Despite this, Eta Lambda wanted to hold a sisterhood event, in lieu the cancelled “Girls Academy” event (cancelled due to COVID-19), to encourage members to think introspectively, think about women empowerment and connect more deeply with each other. This event greatly boosted Eta Lambda member’s moral during a very tough time. In mid-November, election night was held during an online formal chapter. Eta Lambda Council prepared for the voting practices and procedures to be fully virtual, yet still accurate and confidential. During this chapter, the new Council for the year 2021 was elected, and Eta Lambda was proud and overjoyed by the members chosen to fulfill their duties and carry on the legacy of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The following week after elections was transition week, were new council and old council began to transition and connect with each

other to ensure the success of the 2021 year. As November came to a close, Eta Lambda held one last final chapter, where officer transitions were made and another Pearl Ceremony was held. Following our final chapter, many Eta Lambda members and Loyola students returned home for Thanksgiving break and the duration of the semester, as campus would completely shut down after Thanksgiving.
December was a quiet month for Eta Lambda because many members had left Chicago to return home for the holidays and were focusing on finals. Members continued to support each other in whatever ways they could, and were excited and hopeful for the new, and hopefully better, year that was ahead.
Eta Lambda Philanthropy:
This year, Eta Lambda supported the following philanthropies: Reading is Fundamental, WINGS, L4 (“Live Life Like Laura,” the philanthropy for a Kappa Kappa Gamma alumna that passed away from cancer) and Osteosarcoma Research at the Cleveland Cancer Clinic.
Eta Lambda Founders Day Celebration:
Eta Lambda celebrated Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 150th Founders Day virtually on Zoom. Eta Lambda began the celebration with a fun online quiz for members to participate in regarding Kappa Kappa Gamma history. The winner of the quiz was emailed a Starbucks gift card! Then, members watched a video that explained the story and history about how Kappa Kappa Gamma was discovered and how it came to be what it is today. After the video, the chapter looked at a lot of Kappa Kappa Gamma archives to remember the sisters that came before us and connect with

them through their memories. The finish the celebration, our chapter invited a few alumnae to the Zoom call, where they answered members questions and shared fond memories about their experiences in Kappa Kappa Gamma. Overall, the celebration was a success and a very warm light during a dark time in the world.----------------

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of ''The Key'' to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Iota

2021-12-22T18:20:00Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Iota
|GreekSymbol= HI
|Image= [[File:Eta_iota.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2005|04|02}}
|College= [https://www.creighton.edu/ Creighton University]
|Location= Omaha, NE
|Homepage= [https://creighton.kappa.org/ Eta Iota Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Iota Media related to Eta Iota Chapter]}}
----

'''Eta Iota, Creighton University, established in 1878 in Omaha, Nebraska'''

'''Chapter Founded April 2, 2005'''

'''600 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Iota’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''
Leadership Consultant Tara Singhal 2008-2009; Leadership Consultant Sarah Roszhart 2010-2011

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==The Early Years==
Edward Creighton, born in Ohio in 1820, was a successful businessman before he moved to Omaha in 1856. In addition to his significant role in developing the transcontinental telegraph line, Edward figured prominently in cattle ranching, banking and freight operations. When he died in November 1874 without a will, his fortune passed to his wife, Mary Lucretia Creighton.

Mary Lucretia Creighton was known for her charitable work; Mary personally delivered food, money and other items to needy Omaha families. After her death in 1876, Mary’s will — drafted after inheriting her husband’s wealth — provided $100,000 as a memorial to her late husband “to purchase the site for a school in the city of Omaha, and erect buildings thereon for a school of the class and grade of a college.”

The responsibility of starting a school with Mary Lucretia Creighton’s bequest fell to Bishop James O’Connor, and it was the bishop who enlisted the Society of Jesus to operate Creighton University. Since Fr. Roman Shaffel led five Jesuits (and two lay teachers) to open Creighton in September 1878, Creighton has been home to hundreds of Jesuits. More than 50 Women attended Creighton University as early as 1892, when Kate Drake was part of the first class of the College of Medicine. As members of Creighton’s professional schools and University College, women attended many of the same classes as male undergraduates. However, it was not until fall 1951 that women were allowed to enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences.

==The First Year (From The Key, spring 2005)==
On April 2, 2005, 44 Creighton University women were initiated as members of the Eta Iota Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The new members were initiated and the chapter installed by Fraternity President Priscilla Murphy Gerde, Purdue. Katie Rieff, Eta Iota’s first chapter President, was honored to have the Fraternity President pin her badge on her during this memorable occasion.

Assisting in the Installation service were Susie Eynatten Hughes, Missouri, Director of Membership; Joan Cook Cohen, Colorado, Extension Chairman; Stacie Quinn Neely, Idaho, Regional Director of Alumnae; Mary Campbell Ford, West Virginia, Regional Director of Chapters; Jayme Morris-Hardeman, Kansas State, Province Director of Alumnae; and Risa Pierce Flanders, Kansas State, Province Director of Chapters. Carlan Lind Wolfe, Nebraska, served as Eta Iota’s Coordinator of Chapter Development, and Kara Albert, Westminster, served as the Chapter Leadership Consultant.

Sigma, Nebraska, was Eta Iota’s Key Sister Chapter with members of Theta, Missouri; Omicron Deuteron, Simpson; Omega, Kansas; Chi, Minnesota; Beta Zeta, Iowa; Gamma Alpha, Kansas State; Gamma Theta, Drake; Gamma Iota, Washington (St. Louis); Delta Omicron, Iowa State; and Zeta Zeta, Westminster, serving as Key Sisters for the charter members. All those involved in the weekend’s activities provided a warm welcome to the new chapter.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==
Creighton University is a top ranked Jesuit University with more than 7,000 students of diverse faiths and races from across the United States and 41 countries.

Eta Iota has grown steadily from their initial 44 charter members. The Creighton Greek community has also grown from five to seven NPC members.

Our chapter is full of charming, intelligent young women who enjoy spending time with each other. Some of Kappa's best moments are the Sisterhood retreats we have every semester. These retreats are a great way to bond with the older active members, and can be a lot of fun; Just last year we sported our very own "Kappa Olympics." We also have many social events throughout the year, from date parties and formal dances to sisterhood retreats and study hours. Over half of our chapter is involved in three or more organizations outside of Kappa, and many hold executive positions in those organizations. Kappas are known for their presence at other Greek organizations' philanthropies, and most recently, Eta Iota was recognized for its superb involvement in Relay for Life, an all night event to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Locally, Kappa Kappa Gamma can provide a welcoming “home away from home” for any woman who wants to pursue new avenues, challenge conventional wisdom, and seek a leadership organization whose main goal is the success of each individual member. Members of Kappa Kappa Gamma can support each other and learn about themselves while participating in philanthropic endeavors, social events, academic pursuits, and leadership opportunities

Many philanthropic efforts involved the gift of time, including volunteering at the medical center, teams for Race for the Cure and Relay for Life, KORE groups volunteering at the Hope Center, and Hunger Clean Up. The Chili Feed fundraiser became a regular philanthropic event.

Campus Panhellenic honors for Eta Iota included Scholarship Honorable Mention, Excellence in Recruitment and Campus Involvement, New Member Scholar and New Member of the Year, Kallie Woodward.
Eta Iota was recognized at Zeta Province meetings.

'''Convention Awards'''
The chapter received received Risk Management Honorable Mention and Excellence in Chapter Management at the Fraternity Biennial Convention.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

==Highlights of 2011==
Formal Recruitment of the Kappa Class, Dinner and a Movie Sisterhood Event, New Officer Installations, Formal Pledging, Sisterhood Retreat at the Zoo, Sin City Date Party, Jazzercize New Member Retreat, Jail and Bail Philanthropy Event with the Greek Community, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Anything But Cotton Date Party, Inspiration Week, Sisterhood Event and Big Sister Reveal, Fireside, New Member Sleepover, one Relay for Life Team, Initiation and Brunch, Saphire Ball Formal, Greek Unity Week.

Zeta Province Awards (Risk Management, Chapter Excellence, Honorable Mention for Philanthropy, Honorable Mention for Gracious Living), Composite Picture taken, Kickball for Kids Philanthropy Event, Alumni Spring Banquet, Greek Awards (Risk Management, Honorable Mention Alumni Relations), Senior Night, Greek Lip Sync Contest, Kappa Kooldown Public Relations Event, Continuous Open Bidding Process for Lambda Class, Made Pottery for Bid Day, Formal Pledging, Kappa Kappa Gamma Pajama Date Party, Hollywood Themed Sisterhood Event, Homecoming Week, Leadership Consultant Visit, Kappa Klips Philanthropy, Chili Contest Philanthropy, Appointed Nominaiton Committee, Sail Away With Kappa Date Party, New Member Retreat, Pre-Recruitment Workshops, Founder's Day, Kappa Parent's Day, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Breakfast at Tiffany's Semi-Formal, Inspiration Week, Big Sister Reveal, Fireside, New Member Sleepover, Initiation and Brunch, History Night before Chapter, Christmas Card Photo Shoot, Senior Night, Kappa Kissmas Public Relations Event, Weekly Study Hours, Mid-Terms and Finals Study Breaks, New Member Program and Study Hours, Themed Programming Nights, Intramural Teams (Basketball, Soccer, Flag Football, and Volleyball)

'''Campus:''' Creighton University has approximately 4,000 undergraduate students. There are 6 established Panhellenic Sororities, including Kappa, with Alpha Phi chosen to join at the end of 2011. There are 5 Male Fraternities, with Beta Theta Pi joining the community in Fall 2011. Academically, Creighton is the top ranked Jesuit School in the Midwest. A small campus size allows for a close-knit community where all student organizations support each other.

'''Chapter:''' Starting from 44 charter members only 6 years ago it is amazing to see that our chapter has grown so much. Involvement in and out of Kappa makes for a rich diversity in our chapter. Many leaders in and out of council lead us on as we are still changing, adapting, and setting traditions for future Kappas.

Alumna Involvement: Inviting a different adviser or alumn to attend chapter each week with introductions each week. Inviting alumna to help facilitate and answer questions for programming nights. Campus Image and Involvement: Encouraging girls to tell the chapter about upcoming events on campus during the "new business" portion of chapter each week. Selecting girls to make teams for other greek organization's philanthropy events. Making sure girls wear their letters as much as possible, especially on special weeks like Recruitment and Inspiration week and on Wednesdays. Simply by saying hello to sisters when you see them helps as well. Chapter Unity/Sisterhood: Planning more non-mandatory events, like stay in Saturdays. More of an emphasis on planning non-mandotory events between two different classes, that way girls get to meet and become close to all chapter members. Also, making mandatory events more fun by doing things like going to a movie instead of chapter helps girls to hang out and have fun with one another.

==Highlights of 2012==

Formal Recruitment for Mu Class, Bid Day at Jones Bros., Sisterhood Event, New Officer
Installation, Formal Pledging, Sisterhood Retreat at Family Fun Center, Kappa’s Best Dance Crew Date, Party, New Member Retreat, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Inspiration Week, Sisterhood Event, Big/Little Sister Reveal,Fireside, New Member Sleepover, Relay for Life Teams, Initiation and Brunch, Sapphire Ball Formal,
Greek Unity Week, Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention, Composite Picture Taken, Kickball for Kids, Philanthropy Event, Alumnae Spring Banquet, Greek Awards, Senior Night, Greek Lip Sync Contest,Kappa Kooldown Public Relations Event, Continuous Open Bidding Process for Nu Class, Jones Bros. Pizza Party for Bid Day, Formal Pledging, Tiki Tiki Date Party, Sisterhood Retreat, Homecoming Week,Leadership Consultant Visit, Kappa Kupcakes Philanthropy, Academic Excellence Appointed,Nomination Committee, Kappa Goes to the Kapitol Date Party, New Member Retreat, Pre-Recruitment Workshops, Founder’s Day, Kappa Parent’s Day, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Kentucky Derby Semi-Formal, Inspiration Week, Big/Little Sister Reveal, Fireside, New Member Sleepover, Initiation
and Brunch, History Night before Chapter, Christmas Card Photo Shoot, New Officer Installations,Kappa Kissmas Public Relations Event, Weekly Tutoring for Girls Inc., Weekly Study Hours, Mid-Terms and Finals Study Breaks, New Member Program and Study Hours, Themed Programming Nights,Intramural Teams (Basketball, Soccer, Flag Football, and Volleyball)

'''Campus:'''
Creighton University has approximately 4,000 undergraduate students. There are 7 established Panhellenic sororities, including Kappa. There are 5 Male Fraternities. Academically, Creighton is the top ranked Jesuit school in the Midwest. A small campus size allows for a close-knit community where all student organizations support each other.

'''Chapter:'''
Starting from 44 charter members only 7 years ago, it is amazing to see that our chapter has grown to 105 active members. Involvement in and out of Kappa makes for a rich diversity in our chapter. Many leaders in and out of council lead us on as we are still changing, adapting, and setting traditions for future Kappas.

==Highlights of 2013==

Formal Recruitment for Mu Class, Bid Day at Jones Bros., Sisterhood Event, New Officer Instillation, Formal Pledging, Sisterhood Retreat at Family Fun Center, Kappa’s Best Dance Crew Date Party, New Member Retreat, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Inspiration Week, Sisterhood Event, Big/Little Sister Reveal, Fireside, New Member Sleepover, Relay for Life Teams, Initiation and Brunch, Sapphire Ball Formal, Greek Unity Week, Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention, Composite Picture Taken, Kickball for Kids Philanthropy Event, Alumni Spring Banquet, Greek Awards, Senior Night, Greek Lip Sync Contest, Kappa Kooldown Public Relations Event, Continuous Open Bidding Process for Nu Class, Jones Bros. Pizza Party for Bid Day, Formal Pledging, Tiki Tiki Date Party, Sisterhood Retreat, Homecoming Week, Leadership Consultant Visit, Kappa Kupcakes Philanthropy, Academic Excellence Appointed Nomination Committee, Kappa Goes to the Kapitol Date Party, New Member Retreat, Pre-Recruitment Workshops, Founder’s Day, Kappa Parent’s Day, Reading is Key Philanthropy Event, Kentucky Derby Semi-Formal, Inspiration Week, Big/Little Sister Reveal, Fireside, New Member Sleepover, Initiation and Brunch, History Night before Chapter, Christmas Card Photo Shoot, New Officer Installations, Kappa Kissmas Public Relations Event, Weekly Tutoring for Girls Inc., Weekly Study Hours, Mid-Terms and Finals Study Breaks, New Member Program and Study Hours, Themed Programming Nights, Intramural Teams (Basketball, Soccer, Flag Football, and Volleyball) Lip sync, recruitment practice, continuous open bid, formal pledging for Omicron class, Duck calls and overall date party, sisterhood retreat at Bellevue Berry Farm, new member retreat, Parent’s brunch at Tip Top, Kappa trainer visit, Kappa Kupcake philanthropy event, Founders day, senior programming, recruitment practice, LC visit, council slated, instillation of three council replacements, inspiration week for Omicron class, Big/Little reveal, election of council, Christmas card pictures, Fireside, new member sleepover, initiation of Omicron class, all sorority pre-recruitment meeting, sisterhood retreat, recruitment practice, training of new council, new officer installations, and semi-formal.

Our chapter’s challenges for alumna involvement included inviting a different adviser or alumna to attend chapter each week with introductions each week. Inviting alumna to help facilitate and answer questions for program nights.Campus Image and Involvement: Encouraging girls to tell the chapter about upcoming events on campus during the “new business” portion of chapter each week. Selecting girls to make teams for other Greek organization’s philanthropy events. Encouraging girls to wear their letters as much as possible, especially on special weeks like Recruitment and Inspiration week and on Wednesday helps to create and enhance a positive image for Kappa Kappa Gamma to new members, actives, and others on Creighton’s campus. Simply saying hello to sisters when you see them helps as well.

Our chapters challenges for chapter unity/sisterhood included planning more non-mandatory events, like stay in Saturdays. More of an emphasis on planning non-mandetory events between two different classes, that way girls get to meet and become close to all chapter members. Also, making mandatory events more fun by doing things like going to a movie instead of chapter helps girls to hang out and have fun with one another.

Creighton University has approximately 4,000 undergraduate students. There are 7 established Panhellenic sororities, including Kappa. There are 5 Male Fraternities. Academically, Creighton is the top ranked Jesuit school in the Midwest. A small campus size allows for a close-knit community where all student organizations support each other. As for our chapter, starting from 44 charter members only 7 years ago, it is amazing to see that our chapter has grown to 105 active members. Involvement in and out of Kappa makes for a rich diversity in our chapter. Many leaders in and out of council lead us on as we are still changing, adapting, and setting traditions for future Kappas.

==Highlights of 2014==

Formal Recruitment of the Pi Class (40 girls), Bid Day at the Holiday Inn, New Officer Installation, Formal Pledging, Sisterhood Retreat in the Opus Community Room, “The Thing That I Love” Date Party, New Member Retreat in Lower St. John’s, Composite Pictures, Inspiration Week, Big/Little Sister reveal week, FS, New Member sleepover in the Opus Community Room, Initiation, Initiation Brunch, Relay for Life team at Creighton, Kappa Kickball at the Rasmussen Center, Greek Unity Week, Greek Awards, Senior Night at chapter, Risk Management Picnic with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sapphire Formal Ball, Spring Banquet at Joselyn Art Museum, Greek Lip Sync Contest, Kappa Kooldown PR Event, Continuous Open Bidding is cancelled due to quota being met, Tiki-themed Date Party, Recruitment Practice, Homecoming Week, Monmouth Duo Spelling Bee with Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Klassic golf outing and Philanthropy Event, LC Visit, Anti-Hazing Week, Academic Awards Banquet, Risk Management Lawn Bowling Event, Sisterhood Retreat at Ditmar’s Apple Orchard, Founder’s Day Celebration at Oak Hills Country Club, Greek Week, Kappa Trainer visit, Chapter Slating, Sisterhood Retreat in Opus Community Room, Recruitment Practice, Elections, Kappa Christmas-themed chapter, “Casino Royale” Semi-Formal, Cookie Exchange with actives and alumni, Recruitment practice with Kappa alumni, All-Sorority Recruitment Workshop, New Officer Installations, Christmas card photo, Fundraiser for the KKG Foundation at Noodles and Co., Finals Study Break, Pi Class pie event, Weekly volunteering at Conestoga Elementary School (who also works with Reading Is Fundamental), Weekly study hours hosted by VP Academic Excellence, Intramural teams (flag football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer), Senior Programming nights.

Our chapter prides itself on its strong sisterhood and involvement. Although our chapter is large at 104 active members, events such as Sisterhood Retreats ensure that all of our members have the opportunity to get to know one another. In terms of involvement, the members of our chapter are involved in many other activities both inside and outside of the Creighton community, and many of our members hold prominent leadership roles, whether on Chapter Council or in other organizations on campus. This powerful combination of strong sisterhood and leadership creates a diverse environment where our members are challenged to be the best that they can be while still having the love and support from our chapter.

As a chapter, we continuously challenge ourselves to attend non-mandatory events, such as chapter study breaks and other events happening in the Greek community and on Creighton's campus. By motivating and encouraging one another to support our own chapter as well as our surrounding community, we continue to increase our outside involvement as well as our presence in the Creighton community. In addition, one of our other challenges that our chapter faces is decreasing the negative stigma surrounding our Standards committee. Our Standards committee not only provides support to our members in times of need, but recognizes and rewards our members in times of triumph. By striving to reward our members for their accomplishments, we will continue the strong traditions of sisterhood that are already present in our chapter. Finally, our chapter strives to form leaders in each one of our members by assigning each member to a committee. We hope to increase the involvement of each and every one of our members by using our committees to our fullest potential and instilling the point that all of our members play an important role in the workings of our chapter.

Creighton University is home to over 4,000 undergraduate students and almost 8,000 students overall. Kappa Kappa Gamma is part of a rich Panhellenic community, which consists of 7 sororities and 5 fraternities. Academically, Creighton is the top ranked Jesuit school in the Midwest. A small campus size allows for a close-knit community where all student organizations support each other. Creighton continues to increase our Panhellenic spirit through various all-Greek events and workshops throughout the year as well as several opportunities to support other fraternities and sororities in the Greek community at on-campus events, such as philanthropy events.

It is amazing to note the growth in our chapter after almost 10 years since our founding. We continue to grow as a chapter and continue the tradition of excellence established before us. Eta Iota continues many of the traditions formed since our founding as well as paving the way for the future members of Eta Iota chapter.

Both chapter and council meetings are held in meeting rooms owned by Creighton University. Eta Iota chapter is currently unhoused.

==Highlights of 2015==
Formal Recruitment of the Rho class, Bid Day at Pump it Up, Ice Skating Sisterhood Retreat, Big/Little Week, Big/Little Reveal, Inspiration Week, FS, Initiation, Initiation Brunch, Kappa Kupcakes fundraiser for RIF, Eta Iota 10th Anniversary Dinner at Hilton Omaha, Spring Banquet at Joslyn Art Museum, Regional Leadership Conference in Schaumburg, Sisterhood Retreat at Memorial Park, Installation of PR Chairman, Kappa Kooldown PR event, Installation of Treasurer, Nautical-themed mixer with Beta Theta Pi, Kappa Klassic golf tournament benefitting RIF and Conestoga Magnet School, Continuous Open Bidding for the Sigma class (2 new members), Sisterhood Retreat at Family Fun Center XL, Founder’s Day celebration at Oak Hills Country Club, Recruitment practice, Slate presentation, Recruitment practice, LC visit, I-Week, Officer elections, Initiation of the Sigma class in Lincoln (Sigma Chapter), “Fire and Ice” Semi-Formal at Omaha Livestock Exchange Building, Leadership Day for incoming and outgoing council, Officer installations, Panera fundraiser for the KKG Foundation, Recruitment practice.

Our chapter has excelled this year at reducing the stigma surrounding Standards. This is something that the Standards committee has worked really hard on and is something to continue into the next year. Another one of our strong suits as a chapter is our philanthropy involvement. This year, we raised over $5000 for Reading is Fundamental during our Kappa Klassic golf tournament, which is the most that our chapter has raised at any philanthropy. The Philanthropy committee has put on several successful fundraisers this year, giving Eta Iota a chance to meaningfully impact the organizations we support.

One of our remaining challenges this year is attendance at non-mandatory events, such as Greek Week and other events put on by Creighton’s Greek community. Although many of our members are actively involved in other organizations, it is important to stress making time for Kappa in order to increase our presence in the Greek community. In addition, although several of our members achieve high grades, there are too many members currently on Period of Concern, something the Academic Excellence committee has been actively working to improve throughout the latter half of the year and will continue to work on throughout the next year.

Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
Creighton University is home to over 4,000 undergraduate students and almost 8,000 students overall. Kappa Kappa Gamma is part of a thriving Panhellenic community, which consists of 7 sororities and 5 fraternities. Academically, Creighton has been ranked #1 in the Midwest for 13 consecutive years. A small campus size allows for a close-knit community where all student organizations support each other. Philanthropy and service are integral parts of the Creighton experience. Creighton continues to increase our Panhellenic spirit through various all-Greek events and workshops throughout the year. This year, Creighton had its first Dance Marathon, led by the Greek community, and it was a resounding success.

This past year, Eta Iota chapter celebrated 10 years of excellence. This was an opportunity for us to reflect on our growth as an organization and look ahead to the future. Eta Iota continues many of the traditions formed since our founding as well as paving the way for the future members of Eta Iota chapter.

Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Conestoga Magnet School is an elementary school in the Omaha community and is supported by Reading is Fundamental. Many of the children at Conestoga come from underprivileged families where education is not necessarily a priority. Our members sign up weekly to go to the school and are given opportunities to read to the children.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

Volunteering with Conestoga allows our members to get a better grasp of the impact that mentoring a child, even for a short while, can have on their attitude towards education. Since Conestoga is a RIF school, our volunteer time demonstrates on a face-to-face level the impact of reading on a child’s education, which in turn demonstrates the importance of RIF for these students. In addition, many of our members come every week to the same classroom, which allows them to foster stronger relationships with the children at Conestoga. Our time at Conestoga gives members a chance to reach out and make a meaningful difference in the Omaha community.

==Highlights of 2016==

Eta Iota's events over the past year included a successful Geaux Kappa themed formal recruitment, bid day at Skate City, Kappa Kupcakes, new member retreat, FunPlex sisterhood retreat, Flashback Friday Date Party, Big/Little Week, Spring Banquet at the Joslyn Art museum, COB, an overnight sisterhood retreat, and the Sapphire Ball in the spring.
In the fall we were involved with Kappa Kooldown, Welcome Week Lip Sync, COB, Kappa Klassic, a mini-golf sisterhood outing, Kappa goes Kountry date party, new member retreat, Founders Day, Academic Excellence Banquet, a scavenger hunt sisterhood event, Leadership Day, and a Masquerade Semi-Formal.
A goal of ours over the past year was to increase our Greek spirit by participating in other organization's events. We have made great progress in this area. In addition to our own events, Kappas participated in Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Greek Week, Greek Unity week, many other Greek events, and held leadership positions on the Panhellenic Council.
Over the last year we were recognized by both Creighton University and Kappa Kappa Gamma for awards celebrating our chapter. We received the risk management award from Creighton and the Standards Award at Kappa Kappa Gamma's 71st Biennial Convention. In addition to being recognized as a chapter, a number of our members were recognized for their individual accomplishments. Over 40 of our members were on the Dean's list and several received competitive academic awards. We also had two members be initiated into Order of Omega this semester,

Last year, Creighton University welcomed its 25th president, Fr. Daniel Hendrickson. Since his inauguration, we have seen several changes associated with this new leadership. One of the President's main initiatives is to increase Creighton's global presence; Eta Iota is well represented in this regard, with several members studying, working, or serving abroad. Creighton University is home to about 4,000 undergraduates and 8,000 students overall. The Greek community is thriving, with 7 sororities and 6 fraternities who support each other very well. Creighton in general has a very close-knit community thanks to our small campus size and focus on a values-based education. Creighton is academically strong and has been ranked #1 in the Midwest for 14 consecutive years.

Each year we raise money for Kappa Kappa Gamma's national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. We also raise money for and volunteer at Conestoga Elementary School in Omaha. We were drawn to Conestoga for a few reasons. The first being it is a Reading is Fundamental school. This is a great way to see how Kappa Kappa Gamma is making a difference in the education of students. The children at Conestoga bring great joy to us! Their enthusiasm to learn is what makes us truly want to volunteer there each week.

Every Wednesday we meet in a classroom of the Haprer Center at Creighton University. This building serves as a welcome center for students, as well as the business school.

[[File:Eta Iota IMG 1067.jpg|thumb|Eta Iota members at chapter meeting]]

[[File:ETa Iotakappa council.jpeg|thumb|Eta Iota Chapter Council 2016]]

==Highlights of 2017==

The Eta Iota Chapter started the year of with a “Sapphire City” themed recruitment. We gladly welcomed 44 new members into our sisterhood. Our Spring philanthropy event, Kappa Kupcakes, was a huge success. We sold 735 cupcakes and raised over $4,000 for our philanthropy. In April, we held our Spring Banquet at the Joselyn Museum and enjoyed celebrating our chapter! We wrapped the year up with a fun formal where our sisters enjoyed taking pictures in the photo booth and dancing all night long! Kappa also got the privilege to have pizza with Father Hendrickson, which was a great opportunity to ask him questions and learn about our growing campus community. Kappa also got to put on a few yoga chapters throughout the Spring- to promote body positivity! To wrap the spring semester up, our chapter won multiple awards at Creighton’s Greek Awards. We were recognized as Membership Development Chapter of the Year, Recruitment Chapter of the Year and Risk Management Chapter of the Year.

Kappa had multiple successes during the Spring Semester, to get the school year started- some of our sisters were a part of Lip Sync which is an event put on by Creighton University every year. Kappa girls this year went full "teen angst" as their theme! We started fall semester off with our annual golf outing, Kappa Klassic. We held this event during parents’ weekend and had a great turnout! The outing included baskets to bid on and an optional brunch beforehand. Overall, it was a huge success, and a great time to spend with our sisters and families. Kappa had the pleasure of welcoming back Katrina Rieff (Eta Iota's 1st President) to speak at our Founders Day event. We also had multiple Cane's fundraisers- which were all very successful! Kappa also held it's annual Kappa Kooldown, where our sisters stand out on the mall and hand out refreshments!

Our chapter is also incorporating more events with other greek organizations. Kappa and Pi Phi held our annual monmouth duo during the fall semseter, where one of our sisters won the competition! Kappa also held a mixxed fit with Tri Delta, which is a fun fitness program that includes boot camp and dancing. We were also fortunate enough to have an overnight sisterhood retreat held outside of Omaha. This was a great opportunity for us to bond together as pledge classes and as chapter. The semester was tied up with a “Kappa Kissmas” themed semi-formal full of holiday cheer!

Recent changes on Creighton's campus include increasing campus security by increasing the hours of the shuttle and jayride. Also by adding security cars south of the interstate- for students who walk underneath the interstate. Kappa has expressed their interest in this issue by talking with Father Hendrickson and Public Safety. Eta Iota even had the privilege of learning some self-defense moves from a Public Safety officer. Another change on Creighton's campus includes the opening of two CHI health facilities, the production of the new dental school and Creighton also received a 10 million dollar donation to increase the College of Arts and Sciences. Kappa has been blessed this year to be a part of a growing community here at Creighton.

Eta Iota supports Conestoga Magnet School, an elementary school minutes from Creighton, and this continues to be our philanthropy. It’s great to see how we have become more involved with the school over the years. From assisting teachers’ in their classrooms or helping out with the school Halloween party we enjoy making a difference in the lives of the students at Conestoga. Kappa also held a fantastic Reading is Key event at Conestoga! We also held multiple Cane's fundraisers to raise money for our sisters in areas affected by the recent hurricanes. Kappa also joined the rest of the Creighton community during Dance Marathon and raised $5, 495 for children! We also had the pleasure of competing for Phi Delt's Miss Athena, which was Ana Balintona this year- who raised $917!

Eta Iota understands the relationships they foster with the students at Conestoga makes a meaningful difference in their lives and in the Omaha community. Conestoga is a Reading is Fundamental school, and our weekly volunteer work demonstrates the importance of reading and the impact it can have on a student’s life. We continue to be drawn to Conestoga because of the meaningful work we have done there and the potential to continue to make a difference.

Eta Iota found out we will be hosting Girls Academy next year and our chapter and the Omaha Alumnae Association is eager to begin preparing for the weekend long event. We understand this is an honor and we cannot wait to inspire girls in Omaha!

[[File:Eta Iota Chapter 2017.png|thumb|Eta Iota chapter members 2017]]

==Highlights of 2018==

The Eta Iota Chapter started the year of with a “Kapturing Kappa" themed recruitment. We gladly welcomed 53 new members into our sisterhood. Our Spring philanthropy event, Kappa Kupcakes, was a huge success. We sold 897 cupcakes and raised $4,485 for RIF. In April, we held our Spring Banquet at the Old Mattress Factory and enjoyed celebrating our chapter! We wrapped the year up with a fun formal where our sisters enjoyed taking pictures and dancing all night long! Kappa also had the pleasure of hosting Girls Academy this year. Our chapter also had a lot of educational chapters inlcuding: Stress Management, Women's Empowerment, Public Safety, and Breast Cancer Awareness. To wrap the spring semester up, our chapter won multiple awards at the Kappa National Convention including Excellence in Recruitment and Risk Management.

Kappa had multiple successes during the Spring Semester, to get the school year started- some of our sisters were a part of Lip Sync, which is an event put on by Creighton University every year. Kappa girls this year were "pitch perfect." We started fall semester off with a new philanthropy event, Breakfast at Kappa. We held this event during parents’ weekend and had a great turnout! Overall, it was a huge success, and a great time to spend with our sisters and families. Breakfast at Kappa was a great success by raising over $5,000 for RIF. Kappa had the pleasure of welcoming Joan Cohen to speak at our Founders Day event. Kappa also held it's annual Kappa Kooldown, where our sisters stand out on the mall and hand out refreshments! Our chapter is also incorporating more events with other greek organizations. Kappa and Pi Phi held our annual Monmouth Duo during the fall semseter. We also came in 2nd at the Dance Marathon that is held by Fraternity and Sorority Life every year. Kappa also held a date party with the theme of "Dynamic Duos." Our sisters had so much fun dancing the night away! We were also fortunate enough to have an overnight sisterhood retreat held in Ashland, NE. This was a great experience for our sisters to get to spend some time together! This was a great opportunity for us to bond together as pledge classes and as chapter. The semester was tied up with a “Snow Ball” themed semi-formal full of fun!

Recent changes on Creighton's campus includes increasing campus security by increasing the hours of the shuttle and jayride. Also by adding security cars south of the interstate- for students who walk underneath the interstate. Another change on Creighton's campus includes the opening of two CHI health facilities, the opening of the new dental school. Creighton is also working on improving the "mall" that students walk up and down for classes. Kappa has been blessed this year to be a part of a growing community here at Creighton.

Conestoga Magnet School, an elementary school minutes from Creighton, continues to be our philanthropy. It’s great to see how we have become more involved with the school of the years. From assisting teachers’ in their classrooms or helping out with the school Halloween party and parade we enjoy making a difference in the lives of the students at Conestoga. Kappa also held a fantastic Reading is Key event at Conestoga! Kappa also had the pleasure this year of recruiting three Creighton basketball players to read to kids at Conestoga during our Reading is Key event. We also held multiple percentage nights at Cane's and Chipotle to raise money for our sisters through the Kappa Foundation. Kappa also joined the rest of the Creighton community during Dance Marathon and raised $83,500 for children!

Eta Iota understands the relationships they foster with the students at Conestoga makes a meaningful difference in their lives and in the Omaha community. Conestoga is a Reading is Fundamental school, and our weekly volunteer work demonstrates the importance of reading and the impact it can have on a student’s life. We continue to be drawn to Conestoga because of the meaningful work we have done there and the potential to continue to make a difference. We also continue to donate to the Kappa Foundation.

Eta Iota also held GIRLS Academy this year and we had so much fun! All members of Eta Iota that were involved with Girls Academy had to complete "Circle of Care" training. In addition we had a speaker come talk to us from Kappa to help us get prepared for Girls Academy. We held Girls Academy through the "Holy Name" school in Omaha. We connected with girls throughout the ages of middle school. The weekend was jam packed with games, leadership talks, and of course-fun! This weekend was impactful for not only the middle school girls that were involved but also the Kappa members that participated. We are so honored to have been able to hold Girls Academy this year.

==Highlights of 2019==

Eta Iota Chapter enjoyed many events and activities in the 2019 school-year. In January, we kicked off our semester with a Glow Kappa and Kate Spade-themed recruitment. On Bid Day, we welcomed 48 new members and bonded at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The following week, we welcomed 2 additional new members into the Psi Class and enjoyed a mini Bid Day with ice cream Sundays and other treats at Chapter.

We kicked off February with a social event that was out of this world. Our sisters had fun designing costumes for the Kappa Kappa Galactica theme. We wrapped up that same weekend with a sisterhood retreat at which we decorated Valentine’s Day cookies, made skits with an eclectic box of props, and voted on the most creative skit – the winning skit gave us a good laugh over the unreliability of the printers on Creighton’s campus. The following week, we celebrated our third annual Reading is Key event with Conestoga Magnet School, our community partner. On February 13th, our sisters helped students at Conestoga pick out books to take home and read with their families and play some fun literacy games. The same day, our House Advisor left with five of our council officers for the Kappa Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas. There, they exchanged ideas with sisters from other Chapters and learned about effective leadership. The knowledge they gained from this experience helped Eta Iota focus in on our “Why” and all the amazing things that Kappa Kappa Gamma has to offer. We closed out the month of February with a fun New Member retreat, at which the members of Eta Iota’s Psi class bonded and kicked off Big/Little week with letters from Bigs. Big/Little reveal was the following Wednesday and we enjoyed our annual tradition of letting the Littles unwrap their Bigs.

Following Spring Break, we began Inspiration Week and spent time reflecting over Ritual and what Kappa means to us as individuals and as an organization. The week coincided with Creighton University’s Fraternity and Sorority Life Unity Week, giving our members additional time to reflect on Fraternity and Sorority life and supporting our fellow Greek-affiliated organizations. That weekend we initiated all 50 members of the Psi class into our Chapter and celebrated over brunch.

We enjoyed another sisterhood retreat in April at TD Ameritrade. Our members ate Qdoba, played Frisbee, drew chalk art in the parking lot, as of course, took advantage of the photo opportunities in the beautiful weather. After the retreat, many sisters stayed to cheer on the Bluejays at the ensuing baseball game. The following day, our members attended Creighton’s annual Panhellenic Tea, where we recognized senior Courtney Child for her dedication to nursing and to Kappa. At our annual Spring Banquet, we celebrated our seniors who graduated that May and named Peyton Young as New Member of the Year and Allyson Greco as Member of the Year. The following week marked our most successful Kappa Kupcake Spring Philanthropy yet, during which we sold 1,224 cupcakes and raised over $6,000 for Reading is Fundamental. We celebrated our Kupcakes success with Formal, where we danced the night away at a Sapphire Ball.

Our Chapter was honored to be recognized as excelling in our connection with our local alumnae and academic achievement, when we were awarded the Alumni Relations Award and the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award at Creighton’s annual Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards. Emily McKenna was also recognized by the entire Fraternity and Sorority life community for her academic achievements when she received FSL’s Panhellenic Scholarship for Juniors. In May, we said goodbye to our seniors and celebrated their time in our Chapter with Senior Wills, videos put together by senior’s families, and through time spent reminiscing.

We started off the school year strong when several of our members came back early to practice for Creighton’s annual Lip Sync Battle, a tradition designed to introduce incoming freshman to our Fraternity and Sorority community. They danced to a Lady Gaga-themed mashup and definitely stole the show. We again continued our Kappa Kooldown tradition, where we hand out free Pepsi products to any students and faculty on the Mall. This event is a great way for our Chapter to get our name on campus and connect with students from all other organizations.

In September, we had a fun sisterhood retreat at which we matched our sisters to fun facts that we had previously submitted. It was a great way for our members to bond and learn about each other beyond the typical facts usually shared in ice-breaking activities. At our first social event of the semester, we danced the night away at a Kappa Kountry-themed date party.

The following weekend we hosted our second annual Breakfast at Kappa’s Fall Philanthropy event. Last year, this event replaced the Kappa Klassic, but maintained its features of coinciding with Creighton’s Family Weekend, a silent auction, and a yummy brunch. Sisters always enjoy inviting their friends and family members to learn about Kappa and our philanthropies while supporting the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This year, we included a branch of the fundraising efforts to support Conestoga Magnet School. We raised $7,053.80 for Conestoga and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, marking another successful philanthropy event. The following weekend, some of our members also attended Creighton’s annual Dance Marathon, an event put on by the Fraternity and Sorority Life community on campus that benefits the Omaha Children's Hospital and Medical Center (a Children's Miracle Network Hospital). This event raises awareness and funds to support children with pediatric illness without worry of financial hardship. Our team, led by Kenzie Enmeier, a lead organizer for the whole event, was the top fundraising team for the event.

We kicked off October with social mixer with two other organizations on campus, Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Lambda Beta. We dressed in comfy pajamas, ate pancakes, and danced to some fun line dances. The following day, we celebrated Founders Day. There we enjoyed brunch, looked at scrapbooks dating back to 2014, when Eta Iota was founded, and shed a few tears as Sigma sister, Kimberly Arms Shirk, shared her touching story of how her sisters helped her get through her near-death experience. It was such an honor to hear her present as we were reminded to find the silver lining, lean on our sisters, and make the most of our time as active members. We also had the honor of witnessing the Founders Day Ceremony and celebrating the pinning of 65-year alumnae members. After Fall Break, we celebrated our members’ academic achievements at the Academic Banquet. Individuals were recognized for making the Dean’s List (3.5+ GPA), achieving 4.0 GPAs, and raising their GPAs.

In November, we had our overnight sisterhood retreat at Camp Kitaki in Louisville, NE. We enjoyed taking pictures for Recruitment, playing games, going on one-on-one hikes, scrapbooking, making friendship bracelets, and watching New Moon. We finished the retreat with an Eta Iota favorite, “Touch a sister who,” where members have a chance to show each other the impact each woman has had on her sisters and on the Chapter as a whole.

Soon thereafter, Eta Iota had the amazing opportunity to host the Minnie Stewart Van on November 9th. The van, a traveling museum that is on a year-long road trip to visit every Kappa chapter to celebrate Kappa’s sesquicentennial, set up shop in behind Hixon-Lied Science Building. Members enjoyed watching the Virtual Reality depiction of the events of Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founding, adding to the time capsule, and checking out the fun artifacts. It was such a cool opportunity to see and interact with Kappa’s history and to see how we are a part of it, too. We are all eager to see how Kappa changes in the next 50 years and to see the time capsule opened in 2070!

As the semester came to a close, we welcomed in our new officers, hosted a few more percent nights at various restaurants in Omaha to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and celebrated our successes this semester at an Owl Be Home for the Holidays-themed Semi-formal. We are eager to finish up finals, have restful Winter Breaks, and arrive back on campus ready to recruit some phenomenal new members in January.

reighton University and our campuses Fraternity and Sorority Life approved the installment of a new fraternity, Delta Chi , on our campus Fall 2019. Delta Chi will begin the founding process and will participate in IFC Recruitment in the Spring of 2020. The campus is eager to see how the addition of this Chapter will influence our community.

The Creighton Climate Movement, an underground organization designed to fight for climate justice and create change on our campus, gained momentum this year as they almost passed a referendum to encourage Creighton University to divest from fossil fuels. over 85% of voters voted to approve the referendum, but administration did not feel that divesting would be in Creighton University's financial interests. Students on campus continue to work to create change.

Eta Iota continues to be known on campus for our diversity and inclusiveness. Our Chapter strives to be a welcoming enviornment where women of all backgrounds can find a home. We are always proud to see how incoming classes lead our Chapter and lead other organizations as well.

Conestoga Magnet School, an elementary school minutes from Creighton, continues to be our Chapter philanthropy. It’s great to see how we have become more involved with the school of the years, as we have more classrooms asking to be involved with our Friday afternoon volunteering program every year. Eta Iota also holds an annual Reading is Key event at Conestoga! We also join the rest of the Creighton community during Dance Marathon and raised money for children facing childhood illnesses. Eta Iota understands the relationships they foster with the students at Conestoga makes a meaningful difference in their lives and in the Omaha community. Conestoga is a Reading is Fundamental school, and our weekly volunteer work demonstrates the importance of reading and the impact it can have on a student’s life. We continue to be drawn to Conestoga because of the meaningful work we have done there and the potential to continue to make a difference. We continue to grow our relationship with all those at Conestoga, including students, teahcers, and administrators and are ever happy to grow our involvement and interaction with Conestoga students.

ta Iota celebrated Founders Day at Champion's Run Golf Course. There, we had brunch, talked to alumnae members, browsed scrapbooks from as early as Eota's Founding in 2014, and witnessed the Founders Day Ceremony. We also had the pleasure of seeing the pinning ceremony of three 65-year members and were reminded that the bonds of Kappa Kappa Gamma spreads far beyond our college years. We also had the special treat of hearing Sigma member, Kimberly Arms Shirk, speak. She shared with us her near-death experience and reminded us to find the silver lining, lean on our sisters, and make the most of our collegiate expereinces.

Sesquicentennial plans: We enjoyed performing the Founders Day Ceremony at Founders Day this year and are eager to do so again next year. Our Chapter also enjoyed hosting the Minnie Stewart Van in Novemeber. We were inspired by the time capsule on board the van and are planning to create one of our own. Incoming Marshal also plans to host a birthday party for Kappa . We are eager to see what the next year will bring for our chapter as we approach Kappa's 150th anniversary.

==Highlights of 2020==

[[File:Eta Iota Chapter Council 19-20.png|thumb|Eta Iota CC 2019-2020]]
This year has been unlike another other for Eta Iota. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed 38 new members after successful recruitment. Our recruitment lasted from January 11th to the 18th. [[File:Class of 2021 eta iota.png|thumb|class of 2021]] We hosted Sarah Stoner, a leadership consultant, during the week of recruitment. She was able to assist the chapter council and the recruitment chair throughout the week. Bid Day was held on January 18th, and the theme was Camp Kappa. We celebrated at the Vintage Ballroom in downtown Omaha, where we can make s'mores, dance the day away, and spend time with our sisters. On January 22nd the new members went through formal pledging. [[File:Eta Iota NMs.png|thumb|NM class]] The program behind happy faces took place on January 25th. And to end the month of January, the chapter had a ritual review before the chapter on January 29th. [[File:Eta Iota Chi class.png|thumb|Chi class]]

In February, our event chairman Colleen Follis hosted a date party on the 21st. The theme for this event was decades. On the 22nd, the new members had their new member retreat. At this event, they received letters from their Bigs. This marked the beginning of Big Little week for Eta Iota. Big Little reveal was on February 26th, and each Kappa family welcomed their newest members! On the 28th, we had our annual "Reading is Key" event at Conestoga Magnet School. At the event, we read to the students and gave them their own book to take home. Then on the 29th, we had a sisterhood retreat inspired by the game family feud. During the retreat, members were able to spend time with their Kappa family and make buttons and spend the day getting to know the new members. Then after midterms, we went on spring break from March 7th- 15th.

The week following spring break for Eta Iota was supposed to be Inspiration week; however, things did not go as planned. Creighton University went to fully online learning for the remainder of the semester. This meant for Eta Iota that we would no longer meet in person for the rest of 2020. However, this did not stop us from holding virtual events. On April 22nd we held a virtual senior night for the class of 2020. We spent the evening listening to the senior's stories and catching up like our fellow kappas. It was a lovely way to bring closure to our graduating seniors in what is now the new normal.

Then on Thursday, May 14th, Eta Iota held its very first virtual initiation. Our Marshal Katie Mumm invited our chapter founder Joanie Cohen to the ceremony to witness this one of a kind event. This was a historic event for our chapter, and we were so thrilled to have this experience. After the ceremony, we had an entire chapter zoom where we had dinner together and welcomed the newly initiated members into our chapter. It was a night with lots of laughs, fun, zoom games, and connecting virtually.

Over the summer, Creighton University announced that they would be returning to in person learning in the fall. [[File:Eta Iota sisters.png|thumb|sisters with masks]] This was fantastic news for our members because we could all be in Omaha together once again. August 17th marked our first day of classes. Creighton University offered a range of courses from asynchronous to synchronous to accommodate the community. Then on August 26th we held our first chapter of the year. Throughout the semester, we held weekly chapter meetings. We had fun breakout activities planned by our vice president of standards and the chapter council at these meetings.

On October 9th our event chairman Colleen Follis hosted a fun virtual semi-formal. The theme was TV Shows and Movies. Sisters came in a range of outfits, including Hallie and Annie, from the Parent Trap to the iconic character of Draco Malfoy, to name a few. Over the semester, we had virtual recruitment practices to go over the new vote rules and figure out how to recruit in an online setting. [[File:ETa Iota fall.png|thumb|fall with masks]]

This year, we are hosting an online Facebook auction in place of Breakfast at Kappa's. The auction took place from October 13th- 17th and was planned by our philanthropy chairman Kayla Schilke. All proceeds from this event will benefit our national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental, and our local philanthropy, Conestoga Magnet School. For Conestoga, the funds were used to buy books for first and second graders. [[File:Eta iota on campus.png|thumb|on campus - fall]]

[[File:Eta iota on campus2.png|thumb|on campus]] On October 13th, we celebrated our Sesquicentennial. Our education chairman Katie Ramirez put this event on. After the event, we had guest speakers speak on what Kappa means to them. It was a great evening filled with history in connection to celebrate 150 years of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Katie put together a video from the past members who shared some warm regards and uplifting messages. They know that this year is extremely challenging for us as a chapter, just the uncertainty of the global pandemic we're in, which is why they wanted to bring us some joy in video messages. It was a lovely night spent together with sisters and encompassed our sisterhood in a way where we could safely connect. It is an interesting way to celebrate our 150th year; however, we are excited to continue to celebrate Kappa for many years to come.Eta Iota also received two honorable mentions for unhoused chapters for the Gracious Living Award and the Finance Award at the virtual convention this year. [[File:Eta iota with masks.png|thumb|with masks]]

In the following week, chapter council nominations began. Annie Collopy served as the nomination committee chairman. The slate was presented on October 21st. Chapter elections took place on October 28th, and the new officers were installed by our chapter president Madi Corsi on November 4th.The new officers are …Kayla Schilke- President Katie Ramirez - Vice President – Standards Cara Buckley - Vice President – Organization Alex Van Cleave -Vice President – Academic Excellence Jessica Jagelski – Secretary Carly Araje – Treasurer Maddy Hirchert – Marshal Peggy Dunn - Education Chairman Sophie Barnes - Event Chairman Sarah Noone - House Chairman Emily Carlson - Membership Chairman Faith Carlson - New Member Chairman Kenna Frasier - Panhellenic Delegate Cali Rawhouser-Mylet - Philanthropy Chairman Olivia Peters - Public Relations Chairman Kat Willegalle - Risk Management Chairman. To help with the transition process, Eta Iota hosted a virtual leadership consultant Sara Johnston. We loved having Sara, and the chapter council appreciated her help to aid in the transition process. As the year 2020 comes to a close, Eta Iota is preparing for our formal recruitment process, which will begin in early January.

Conestoga Magnet School, an elementary school minutes from Creighton, continues to be our Chapter philanthropy. It's great to see how we have become more involved with the school over the years, as we have more classrooms asking to be involved with our Friday afternoon volunteering program every year. Eta Iota also holds an annual Reading is Key event at Conestoga! We also join the rest of the Creighton community during Dance Marathon and raised money for children facing childhood illnesses. Due to the unforeseeable circumstances in the year 2020, our chapter could not fundraise as much as we previously had done in the past. However, this did not stop our philanthropy chair Kayla Schilke from raising money for our philanthropies. Our Kappa online auction brought in $1,410 and the percent night at Chipotle brought in $364. We were able to raise $1,774 this year! Eta Iota understands the relationships they foster with the students at Conestoga make a meaningful difference in their lives and the Omaha community. Conestoga is a Reading is Fundamental school, and our weekly volunteer work demonstrates the importance of reading and its impact on a student's life. We continue to be drawn to Conestoga because of the meaningful work we have done there and the potential to make a difference. We continue to grow our relationship with all those at Conestoga, including students, teachers, and administrators, and are ever happy to expand our involvement and interaction with Conestoga students.

For diversity equity and inclusion, the chapter council decided to elect a position on the education committee. The first sister to serve in this position is Kenzie Nelson. Throughout the year, our education chairman and our recruitment chair put on several programs that help educate our members further on diversity equity and inclusion. Creighton University does an excellent job pursuing these endeavors through programs that all undergraduates must complete to be leaders on another campus. there's still more work to be done in this field, and Eta Iota is taking the steps needed to educate our members on diversity equity and inclusion. [[File:Eta iota on quad.png|thumb|on the quad]] [[File:Eta iota night out with sisters.png|thumb|sisterhood event]]

==Highlights of 2021==

==Highlights of 2020s:==
From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:
Housing:
Philanthropy:
Chapter Convention Awards:

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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Eta

2021-12-22T18:17:32Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Eta
|GreekSymbol= HH
|Image= [[File:Eta_Eta.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2002|11|23}}
|College= [https://www.ucf.edu/ University of Central Florida]
|Location= Orlando, FL
|Homepage= [https://ucf.kappa.org/ Eta Eta Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Eta Media related to Eta Eta Chapter]}}
'''University of Central Florida established in 1968'''

'''Eta Eta founded November 23, 2002 - 121 charter members'''

'''965 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

-------------------------

'''Outstanding Eta Eta Alumnae''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Officers'''

Kelly Kohler, Leadership Consultant 2007-2008;
Sareena Helton, Leadership Consultant 2011-2012

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients'''

'''Additional Outstanding Eta Eta Alumnae'''

Kelly Kohler, Chapter Consultant 2008-2009

Kalee Ankrum (Humphrey), Founding Sister 2002-2003

Kinsey Ankrum (Lallathin), 2004-2006

Courtney Austin, Founding Sister 2002-2004
-----------------

The University of Central Florida was established on June 10, 1963 when the Florida State Legislature passed, and Governor Farris Bryant subsequently signed into law Bill No. 125. The Board of Regents appointed Charles Millican the first president of the new university in 1965. Millican, with the consultation of a citizen advisory group, would choose the name Florida Technological University as well as co-design the school's distinctive "Pegasus" seal. Before the university was constructed, the land where it would be was desolate farm land. In fact, the first time that Millican went to see the land where the new university would be, he could not find it and had to return weeks later with specific directions from the Chancellor of the Board of Regents.

In March 1967, Florida Governor Claude Kirk presided over the groundbreaking of the new Florida Technological University. Eighteen months later on October 7, 1968, classes began with 1,948 students, 90 instructors and 150 staff members, in the school's first academic building, the library. During the university's inaugural year, fifty-five degree programs were offered within its five colleges: Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Engineering and Technology. The university's first mascot was the Citronaut, a mix between an orange and an astronaut.

UCF was founded as a non-segregated and coeducational university, with the founding goal being to educate current and future students for promising space-age careers in engineering, electronics and other technological professions, thus serving as a support system for the nearby Kennedy Space Center. In addition, the Central Florida Research Park, located adjacent to the UCF campus, serves as a major focus of simulation for space and defense-related research.

The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida. UCF is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, and has grown to be the second-largest university in the United States by enrollment in 2011.

==Colonization and Installation==

The University of Central Florida was one of the fastest growing institutions in the U.S. in 2002. At that time there were 36,000 students attending the university. Kappa Kappa Gamma became the 10th National Panhellenic Conference group at UCF.

Colonization activities to establish the Fraternity’s 130th active chapter were held October 8-13, 2002. Founders Day 2002 not only celebrated the founding of Alpha Chapter, Monmouth, and the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma, but it also celebrated the birth of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Bid Day and formal pledging were held October 13, 2002.
On November 23, 2002, approximately 120 University of Central Florida students were initiated as members of Eta Eta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The chapter was guided by Gina Caputo DiPaolo, Florida, local Coordinator of Chapter Development and Kylee Deterding, Iowa State, Chapter Consultant.

'''Chapter Traditions'''

Whether it's a weekend at Downtown Disney, going out together, cheering on the Knights in football, or just sharing stories with each other, Kappas are always participating in activities to strengthen the bonds of sisterhood.

The chapter has an annual overnight sisterhood retreat for the entire chapter at a secluded location. During the retreat, there are team-building activities, rituals review, and just hang out together as sisters. There are also new member retreats exclusively for the new member class.
The women recognized the importance of family, and helped to make Kappa a home-away-from-home by hosting a variety of family-centered activities, including Family Weekend in Fall, and a Mother Daughter Day or Daddy Daughter Day in the Spring.

Kappa was not only about building friendships and becoming a part of sisterhood at the University of Central Florida, but also about sharing a bond that will last a lifetime with women who share these most meaningful friendships. It was also about becoming a part of an amazing sisterhood, built on mutual values that bind Kappas beyond college years.

==Highlights 2002-2010==

The University of Central Florida has grown each year. Statistics show that it is the eighth largest university in the nation. This school shows much diversity which is also reflected in Eta Eta chapter.

Eta Eta participated and won 2nd place in Pi Beta Phi's Rock the Arrow philanthropy. The chapter won 2nd place in Pi Kappa Phi's Bowlshlogger philanthropy. It participated in Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash and attended and won Phi Gamma Delta's Hostages for the Homeless philanthropies. Teamed up with Delta Upsilon, the chapter collected more than 800 pounds of aluminum cans. The members also collected 300 pillow cases to "Don't Skirt the Issue," and donated books to "Reading is Fundamental."

Also, Eta Eta participated in the Rotary Gridiron Classic at the Citrus Bowl Stadium in 2003. It was a great way to kick off our new installation at UCF and new recruits careers in the NFL.

The chapter was on a winning streak, winning Homecoming Week with Delta Upsilon and Greek week with FIJI and Alpha Epsilon Pi. The girls attended a date function at Halloween Horror Night, Bowling with Kappa Sigma, Pig Tails and Pig Skins social with Delta Upsilon, Sapphire Ball- Spring Formal, the Mi Tai date function on the Sun Cruise Casino, and participated in the Panellenic Trick or Treat on Greek Street event.

In 2005, the chapter participated in several philanthropies. Among them, Kappa Delta's KD Shakedown, Beta Theta Pi's MS Walk, Pi Beta Phi's Rock the Arrow, Delta Upsilon Lipservice, Alpha Delta Pi's Cheers for Charity, TKE Rock 'n Jock, and FIJI's Island Princess. Eta Eta hosted its own philanthropy, UCF Idol, with Beta Theta Pi. The chapter worked with the Princeton Review and held a mock LSAT/MCAT test in which students were placed in a real test setting with a booklet, that was an actual copy of an older test, and were mailed results. Each participant paid $10 and the money was donated to Reading is Fundamental.

For socials, the chapter held a "Tennis and Golf Pros" night with Sigma Nu and Theta Chi, graffiti social with Pi Kapp, Dragon Room with ATO and a go-carting buddy social with ATO and Sigma Nu. It also participated in Greek Week in April. For Homecoming in October, with a Tarzan and Jane theme, the chapter won overall with partners Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Phi Mu Alpha, and Phi Delta Theta.

Fall sisterhood events included lasertag and fun in the arcade at Wonderwork and a "Kappa Kamo" date function at Big Oaks Ranch, complete with a bonfire and hayrides. In the spring the women enjoyed a comedy night at SAKS Comedy Club with ice cream. During I-week members designed tiles at Glaze Under Fire and spent the night with their Kore families. In February, and again in September, the New Member True Blue Sisterhood Retreat was held at place at an alumna's house in which singing songs and crafts were on the agenda.

Spring Bid Day was themed Masquerade, Mardi Gras, and Fall Bid Day was a Las Vegas theme held at the California Pizza Kitchen. There was a formal in the Spring at Wyndom Resort and a semiformal in the Fall. To finish off the semester together, the women enjoyed a holiday party making gingerbread houses, playing games, and providing gifts for underpriviledged children.
In the Spring of 2005, Eta Eta achieved a 3.138 GPA, rankin 1st of 18 sororities in the Greek community. In the Fall the chapter placed 3rd (out of 19) with a GPA of 3.056.

Eta Eta participated in many philanthropies in 2006. They included Diabetes race, Delta Upsilon Lipservice, Dance Marathon, Tau Kappa Epsilon Rock 'n Jock, Sigma Phi Epsilon Queen of Hearts, Phi Gamma Delta Island Princess, Phi Delt Dodgeball Tournament, Pi Kappa Phi Sets on the Beach, read to children at Deerwood Elementary for our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental, Trick or Treat on Greek Street, Lambda Chi Alpha Watermelon Bust, Alpha Tau Omega Rock the Wreath, Alpha Delta Pi Cheers for Charity, Sigma Chi Derby Days, and the Multiple Sclerosis Walk. Eta Eta also hosted our own philanthropy, Kappa Unplugged, where pillow cases and books for Don't Skirt the Issue and Reading is Fundamental were collected. A monetary donation was made to the Kappa Foundation. The Eta Eta & Delta Epsilon chapters of Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted a 'Shop For a Cause' fundraising event at the Lilly Pulitzer store in Winter Park. Lilly Pulitzer donated $250 (10% portion of the night's proceeds) to Reading is Fundamental. The chapter also participated in a playground build with the ladies of Chi Omega and the gentlemen of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

For socials, there was the "Banana Republic" social with Kappa Sigma, "Can't Fight the Moonlight" social with Tau Kappa Epsilon, "White House Black Market" social with Phi Delta Theta, date function where we attended a Predators game, comedy social with Tau Kappa Epsilon at the Orlando Improv, date function included lunch at Planet Hollywood and a movie at AMC, "Rock Star" social with Phi Delta Theta, and "Dress to Impress" with Phi Gamma Delta. The chapter was paired with Phi Gamma Delta for the Peter Pan themed Homecoming in November placing first overall!

Spring Bid Day was NFL themed and was held at the Holiday Inn. Spring sisterhood events, included Kore family friendship bracelet making, Kore family nigh watching American Idol, sisterhood social watching Legally Blonde 2 and had Mary Kay makeovers, and a sisterhood social at the movies. Spring initiation was conducted at Florida State University with the chapter spending the night with the Epsilon Zeta chapter. The were initiated 23 sisters in the spring. The spring formal was held in April at Disney's Contemporary and there was also a Blue and Blue Banquet for the graduating sisters.

Fall Bid Day was an "I Dream of Kappa" theme and was held at Disney Quest. Fall sisterhood events were a sisterhood movie night, Etiquette lunch including Ballroom dancing lessons, and a sisterhood social at build-a-bear where making teddy bears. During Initiation Week sisterhood events such as Kappa Kappuccino that included painting coffee cups and Kappa gone Retro which had the women dressing up and tie-dyed t-shirts and pillow cases. Fifty-one sisters were initiated in the fall. A brunch was held at the Holiday Inn with our alumnae invited to join us as Founders Day was celebrated.

Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies in 2007. Among them, Alpha Delta Pi Cheers for Charity, Pi Beta Phi Rock the Arrow, Kappa Delta Shamrock 5k run, Knight-Thon, Alpha Epsilon Phi Bowlanthropy, Kappa Alpha Theta Spring Fling, Tau Kappa Epsilon Rock and Jock, Phi Delta Theta Dodgeball Derby, Phi Gamma Delta Island Princess, Relay for Life, Panhellenic Blood Drive in the spring, Cystic Fibrosis Gala, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Beta Theta Pi BBQ Challenge, Knights Give Back Beach Cleanup, Panhellenic Blood Drive hosted along with the ladies of Pi Beta Phi in the fall, Lambda Chi Watermelon Bust, Beta Theta Pi and Alpha Epsilon Phi UCF Idol, Alpha Tau Omega Rock the Wreath, and Sigma Nu Volley for Christy. Eta Eta also hosted its own philanthropy, The Senior Fall Festival, in which we local senior citizens were invited to play board games, make arts and crafts, and dance. There were also guest performers such as a jazz group and the UCF Shimmy Knights.

Chapter socials included a “Red Hot” social with Phi Gamma Delta, a “Mardi Gras” social with Sigma Nu, a “Stoplight” Greek Week social, an “Angels and Demons” social with Phi Mu Alpha and Phi Delta Theta, a “Cancun” Foam social with Sigma Nu, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Lambda Sigma Upsilon, a “Wood Stock” social with Phi Delta Theta, a “BET vs. CMT” Homecoming social, and last we had “Day Glow” social with Sigma Chi. During Greek Week in March, with a Camp Anawanna: Salute Your Shorts theme,the chapter won overall with our partners Beta Theta Pi, Delta Phi Lambda, Iota Phi Theta, and Lambda Theta Phi. Homecoming in November, with a Knightmare in Elm Street theme, the chapter won overall with our partners Sigma Nu, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Lambda Sigma Upsilon.

Spring sisterhood events included a Sisterhood Valentine’s Day Dinner, Sisterhood Retreat at Arabian Nights, Kappa Kooking Night, and the Blue and Blue Senior Banquet. There was also a “Pistol and Pin-Ups 1920s” Formal at Sea World. During fall recruitment the chapter held an Alumni Tea Event. Fall Bid Day was a “Timeless Class With a Whole Lot of Sass” theme held at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. An amazing job was done on Recruitment resulting in 56 ladies accept bids which was greater than quota. Fall sisterhood events, consisted of an Ice Cream Social and a Sisterhood Social at Aloma Cinema Grill. There was aVegas themed Semi Formal at the Eagle Creek Golf Club. In addition to initiating 41 sisters the alumnae were invited to a dinner at the Student Union in the celebration of Founder’s Day.

In the Spring of 2007, Eta Eta achieved a 3.182 GPA, ranking us 3rd in the Greek community. In the Fall we placed 16th with a GPA of 2.877.

In 2008, Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies. They included GI Theta Chi, Sigma Nu’s Battle of the Greek Gods, Tau Kappa Epsilon’s Rock and Jock, Pi Beta Phi’s Rock the Arrow, Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Bowlanthropy, Phi Delta Theta Dodgeball Tournament, Phi Gamma Delta's Island Princess, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Alpha Tau Omega’s Rock the Wreath, Beta Theta Pi BBQ Challenge, Lamda Chi's Watermelon Bust, Theta Chi Helping Hands 5K Run, Panhellenic Blood Drive, Cystic Fibrosis Walk, and Relay for Life. Eta Eta also hosted it's own philanthropy, Kappa Kook-off, in which books were donated by participating fraternities and sororities for RIF along with a food tasting and eating competition with other games as well.

Eta Eta socials had a “Guys wear ties, Girls wear pearls” social with Theta Chi at Saks Comedy Club, a “Comfort is Key” social with Tau Kappa Epsilon at Fort Christmas Park, a "Mafia" Social with Sigma Chi for Greek Week, a “When I Grow Up…” Social with Sigma Nu at Firkin & Kegler, a “Stop Light” Social with Delta Tau Delta and Phi Gamma Delta at Bliss, a “Pin-Up Girls and Military Men” Social with Lambda Chi Alpha at Roll Bar, and finally, a “School Spirit” social with Tau Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau at the UCF Arena and South Side BBQ. During Greek Week in March we had a Greekstop: Zelda Theme with Sigma Chi as our partners and placed 3rd overall.

Homecoming was held in November with the chapter participating in a Service Event, Volleyball Game, Movie Knight, Comedy Knight, Skit Knight, Concert Knight, Spirit Splash, Parade, Football Game, and Awards Ceremony. Two socials were held with the partner fraternity, Theta Chi: Buddy Social at Aloma Cinema Grill and "Hogs and Hunnies"Social at Lazy Gator Bar. Eta Eta and Theta Chi won 3rd place overall involving the theme A Knight's Quest: Robin Hood.

Eta Eta's Spring sisterhood events included a "Pep Rally", followed by Spring Recruitment where events took place at a Bonfire, a UCF Basketball Game, and a Preference Night Dinner. Spring Recruitment resulted with 22 accepted bids and Bid Day at Wonder Works. A new member Retreat was held in February along with a Game Night Kore Event.

Spring was a very busy time for the chapter. Some of the activities included Initiation and a Line Dancing Kore Event, A Knight Under the Stars Formal at Kennedy Space Center, Senior Banquet, and Kappa Reading Days at Little River Elementary School.

Fall Recruitment involved an amazing Spirit Week with an etiquette event and an Alumnae Tea. Wild About Kappa, Sweet Home Kappa Gamma, and Kappa & Co. were our themed days for recruitment with a Bid Day themed “Welcome to the Club” located at Firkin & Kegler where 60 wonderful ladies accepted bids. During the Fall semester, the women visited a new cupcake parlor called Sweet as a Kore Event and during I-Week held sisterhood events including a Kappa Dive-in Movie at a local YMCA pool, a note writing day to sisters who impacted you, and an arts and crafts event where we painted and decorated wooden fleur-de-lis. After an 80s Prom (Semi-Formal) at the Plantation House and Pan Pride Week including a Progressive dinner with Delta Delta Delta, there was a family weekend including a night of bowling followed by a tailgate before a football game.

Eta Eta celebrated its sixth birthday with a "6 Year Old Birthday Party" themed Founder's Day at the Oveido Women's Center. Many of the newly initaited sisters attended a Junior Panhellenic BBQ in November in order to meet ladies in other Greek organizations. The chapter was busy with other activities such as UCF's Trick or Treat on Greek Street, the Beautification Project at Pineloch Elementary School where murals were painted with inspiring messages for the students to read as well as the chapter creating gardens of plant and flowers.

Eta Eta was named Chapter of the Year for 2008 among all Greek Organizations. The chapter was proud to have sisters selected as Junior Panhellenic Secretary, Panhellenic P resident, and Head Rho Gamma for Formal Recruitment.

The University of Central Florida continues growing each year. Statistics show that we are the 5th largest in the nation based on total enrollment. The school shows much diversity, which is reflected in Eta Eta Chapter.

In the Spring of 2008, Eta Eta achieved a 3.176 GPA, ranking 5th in the Greek community and 3rd overall in Fall with a GPA of 3.138.

In 2009, Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies. Among them were Alpha Delta Pi Cheers for Charity, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Knight-Thon, Alpha Epsilon Phi Bowlanthropy, Chi Omega's Wish Race, GI Theta Chi, Delta Upsilon's Darling, Delta Tau Delta's Miss Greek, Sigma Pi and Chi Omega's Yards for Youth, Kappa Sigma's 5K Marathon, Cinderella's Closet with Alpha Xi Delta, Phi Gamma Delta Island Princess, Relay for Life with Theta Chi, Panhellenic Blood Drive in the spring with Zeta Tau Alpha, Cystic Fibrosis Walk, Delta Upsilon's 5K Marathon, Trick or Treat on Greek Street with Sigma Nu and Tau Kappa Epsilon, Lambda Chi's Watermelon Bust, Kappa Alpha Theta's Kicks for Casa, and Alpha Xi Delta and Delta Upsilon's Dodgebrawl. Eta Eta also hosted its philanthropy, The 2nd Annual Kappa Kook-Off, where other Fraternities and Sororities were invited to create their own dishes to be judged, and participate in relay races.

Socials for Eta Eta included "The Letter R" social with Sigma Nu and Sigma Pi, a "Meet and Greet" Social with Zeta Beta Tau and Delta Tau Delta, a “Color Green” Greek Week social with Alpha Xi Delta and Phi Delta Theta, a "Skating Through the Decades" social with Zeta Beta Tau and Alpha Epsilon Phi, a "Guys in Ties, Girls in Pearls" social with Theta Chi, a "Disney" Homecoming social with Sigma Nu and Tau Kappa Epsilon, a "Flippy Flop" social with Delta Tau Delta, and last we had "Grab-a-Greek" social our various dates. The chapter also hosted a "Tacky Tourist" Date Function at Old Town, Sapphire Ball at Epcot, and a "Famous Couples Throughout History" Semi Formal at the Winter Park Civic Center. Greek Week in March, paired the chapter with Phi Delta Theta and Alpha XI Delta and include such activities as Greek Games, Greek Sing, Extravaganza, and a Gala. At the Gala, Eta Eta won the "Most Improved Academically" award.

Homecoming was held in November with a "Knightro's Circus" theme with the chapter placing first for the philanthropy and third place overall with our partners Sigma Nu and Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Sisterhood events included a Sisterhood Scrapbook Night, Sisterhood Pottery Night, an overnight Sisterhood Retreat, a Mother-Daughter Chocolate Making event, Kappa lunch every Wednesday, a Family Weekend for Homecoming including Mini Golf and a Football Tailgate, a Sisterhood "ICE" event at Gaylord Plams in Orlando, and a Senior Banquet.

During fall recruitment the chapter held an Alumnae Tea Event. Fall Bid Day was a “Glitz, Glamour, and Golden Keys ” theme and was held at Universal Studios. The women did an amazing job with Recruitment which resulted in 59 new members. During I-Week there were sisterhood events such as a Sisterhood Event at Rebounderz and a Kappa Lunch. Fifty-three sisters were initiated on Founders Day. We also held a dinner where we invited our alumnae to join us in the celebration of Founders Day. In November, representatives from the chapter attended the Something of Value Seminar that was held by the University.

In the Spring of 2009, Eta Eta achieved a 3.136 GPA, which ranked the chapter 10th in the Greek community. In the Fall the chapter placed 7th with a GPA of 3.117.

In 2010, Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies that included Alpha Delta Pi’s Cheers for Charity, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Knight-Thon, Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Bowlanthropy, G.I. Theta Chi, Alpha Tau Omega’s Rock the Wreath, Pi Beta Phi's Speed Read competition, Cinderella's Closet with Alpha Delta Pi, Relay for Life with Sigma Pi and Phi Delta Theta, a Panhellenic Blood Drive in the spring, Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk, Trick or Treat on Greek Street with Theta Chi, Theta Chi and Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Greek Park After Dark, Lambda Chi's Watermelon Bust, Kappa Alpha Theta's Kicks for CASA, Delta Upsilon and Alpha Xi Delta’s Dodgebrawl, and Reading is Key at the Florida Hospital. The chapter also hosted its philanthropy, the third Annual Kappa Kook-Off. In addition to that philanthropy, the chapter hosted its first annual car show, Cars, Keys, and Fleur de lis. The Fraternities, Sororities, and various other organizations on and off campus were invited to enter their cars to be judged. This event benefited the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Eta Eta was busy with socials this year with the “Trends Gone Bad” social with Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Pi, a “Sports Guys and Trophy Wives” social with Alpha Tau Omega, a “Miami Vice” social with Delta Upsilon, an “Army Guys and Military Wives” social with Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Nu, a “Baywatch” social with Beta Theta Pi and Delta Tau Delta, a “Rescue Me” social with Theta Chi, a “Superstars and Movie Stars” homecoming social with Phi Gamma Delta and Delta Lambda Phi, and a “Superhero” and “Barbie and Ken” Greek week social with Lambda Chi Alpha. The chapter hosted “Vegas” Date Function at Howl at the Moon, “Black and White Affair”, Grab-a-Greek Function, Sapphire Ball at Heaven, and a Masquerade Ball at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort. Greek Week was in March where the chapter was paired with Lambda Chi Alpha, and participated in Greek Games, Villian Hunt, Block Party, Greek Feud, and Greek Gala. Homecoming in October had a “Hercules” theme where Eta Eta came in 2nd place for cans and box tops and third place overall with partners Phi Gamma Delta and Delta Lambda Phi.

The chapter’s sisterhood events included a “Chonga Fiesta” themed Potluck, a “Valentine’s Day” Movie Night, a “Army” theme laser tag event at Hard Knocks, an overnight Retreat at Disney, Wet-N-Wild, Kappa lunch every Wednesday, Family Weekend for Homecoming including a football tailgate, a Father-Daughter Day at SAK Comedy Club, J. Crew Shopping Night, weekly Sisterhood Studies, and Senior Banquet.

The members did an amazing job with Spirit Week and Recruitment in the fall. Fall Bid Day was a “Kappa Life is Sweet Being a Double Kay Gee” theme and was held on a dinner cruise. Fifty five new members were initiated.

The chapter held a brunch at the Albin Polasek Museum & Gardens with alumnae invited to join in the celebration of Founders Day. Also during the fall, the chapter participated in National Hazing Prevention Week, Panhellenic Pride Week, a Job Finding Webinar, and a Resume Building Webinar.

The University of Central Florida continued to grow. Statistics show it to be the second largest university in the nation. The University not only grew in size, but in athletics as well. In December, the Knights football team won its first ever bowl game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The school shows much diversity, reflected in the chapter.

In the spring of 2010, Eta Eta received a 3.114 GPA, ranking us ninth in the Greek community. In the fall the chapter placed 10th with a GPA of 3.042.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

==2011==

In 2011, Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies. Among them were Alpha Delta Pi’s Cheers for Charity, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Knight-Thon, Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Bowlanthropy, Sigma Pi’s Ace competition, G.I. Theta Chi, Pi Beta Phi's Speed Read competition, Pi Beta Phi’s arrow bowl, Cinderella's Closet, Relay for Life with Sigma Pi and Zeta Beta Tau, Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk, Trick or Treat on Greek Street with Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Mu Alpha, Theta Chi and Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Greek Park After Dark, Lambda Chi's Watermelon Bust, Delta Upsilon and Alpha Xi Delta’s Dodgebrawl, and Reading is Key at the Florida Hospital. Eta Eta also hosted its own philanthropy, the 4th Annual Kappa Kook-Off, in which we invited other Fraternities and Sororities to create their own dishes to be judged, and participate in a variety of races centered on the “Margaritaville” theme.

For Socials, Eta Eta had a “Pirate” social with Delta Upsilon, a “Green Monkeys” bowling social with Sigma Pi and Zeta Beta Tau, and an “Army” social using air soft guns with Kappa Sigma. There was also a "Vegas" themed semi-formal. For Greek Week in March, we were paired with Sigma Pi and Zeta Beta Tau, and participated in Greek Games, Greek Extravaganza, the Block Party, and the Greek Stroll For a Cause. For Homecoming in October, with a “Men in Black” theme, Eta Eta came in 3rd place at skit night, 2nd place best dance, 1st place in the banner competition, 1st place in can collection, 2nd place in the float build, and 2rd place overall with our partners Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Mu Alpha.

Eta Eta’s sisterhood events included Ice at the Gaylord Palms, camping at camp Warren Willis Kappa lunch every Wednesday, a Family Weekend for Homecoming including a football tailgate and laser tag at Hard Knocks, a Mother-Daughter Day at Buca Di Beppo, a J. Crew Shopping Night, weekly Sisterhood Studies, and a Senior Banquet. Eta Eta did an amazing job with Spirit Week and Recruitment this fall, and during this time we held an Alumnae Tea Event. Our Fall Bid Day was a “Go Kappa/Went Kappa” theme and was held at Ceviche followed by a comedy show. In spring, we initiated 9 sisters, and events such as Kappa Kup Kakes at Sweet, Miss UCF pageant, a UCF basketball game, IM games, and Kappa Lunch. In fall, we initiated 56 sisters, and during I-Week we held a variety of sisterhood events such as a Sisterhood Movie Night watching “What’s Your Number”, a Sisterhood event roller-skating “80s” themed, Kappa Kup Kakes, and a Kappa Lunch. Also during the fall our Chapter participated in National Hazing Prevention Week, and Panhellenic Pride Week.

'''Campus:''' The University of Central Florida is growing each year. Statistics show that we are the second largest university in the nation. We have a 55% percent female population. We are not only growing in size, but we are growing in athletics as well. This past year the University of Central Florida joined the BIG EAST. The school shows much diversity, which is reflected in our very own Eta Eta Chapter.

In the Spring of 2011, Eta Eta received a 3.203 GPA and, in the Fall we placed 11th with a GPA of 2.985. III. Chapter Challenges: (Describe them and how the chapter met and overcame them.) In 2011, Eta Eta set a goal to hold more sisterhood activities during the year to get more sisters involved with bonding events. We also aim to attend more intramural sports games to help support those players. Lastly, we aimed for a goal of a GPA of at least 3.15, and to bring back academic incentives.

==2012==

Eta Eta anticipated ground breaking for a new chapter house in April 2012. The chapter planned to have formal recruitment in the house in the fall of 2013.

'''Convention Awards:'''
Honorable Mention: Standards Award 2010-2012
Honorable Mention: Excellence in Chapter Management Award 2010-2012

In 2012, Eta Eta participated in several philanthropies within the community. Among them were Delta Zeta's Turtle Tug, Alpha Delta Pi's Cheers for Charity, Sigma Pi's ACE project and SPIKE, Kappa Delta Shakedown, Pi Beta Phi's Arrow Bowl, Trick or Treat on Greek Street, Delta Upsilon and Alpha Xi Delta's Dodgebrawl, Knight-Thon, and Alpha Epsilon Phi's Bowlanthropy. Eta Eta also hosted its own philanthropy events including Kappa Kickball, a kickball tournament supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, as well as our 5th annual Kappa Kookoff with a theme of "Around the World in 80 Plates." At Kappa Kookoff all of the participating sororities and fraternities cooked different ethnic dishes from around the world that were judged by a panel of sisters to determine a winner.

Eta Eta had fun on many socials including a Toga theme with Zeta Beta Tau and Delta Sigma Phi, a Nautical or Nice theme with Delta Tau Delta, an America theme with Beta Theta Pi and FIJI, an 80s theme with Sigma Nu and Phi Mu Alpha and a "Dynamic Duo's" Kappa Krush party. Eta Eta also enjoyed a beautiful formal at Seaworld with a classy Sapphire Ball theme, as well as a Roaring 20's themed Semi-Formal at the Orange County Regional History Center. For Greek Week we paired with Sigma Chi and participated in the exciting Greek Games. Eta Eta paired with Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Nu and Phi Mu Alpha for Homecoming, winning 1st place Overall, 1st place Can Collection, 1st place Fountain Guard Painting, 1st place Service Day and 2nd place Skit.

Eta Eta participated in Spring recruitment, Bid Day was held at Arabian Nights with a UCF theme. We initiated 5 sisters with Delta Kappa Chapter in Miami. In the Fall we participated in formal recruitment and held our annual Alumnae tea. Our Bid Day theme was "There's No Place like Kappa", the event started off at BB King's restaurant and after we played games at Dave and Busters. Our new members enjoyed events like Kappa Speed Dating, a Kappa Krafting night, and an 80's themed New Member Retreat.

Very soon after Eta Eta initiated 43 new sisters. This fall we celebrated our 10th anniversary as a chapter, our Founder's Day celebration took place at Tuskawilla Country Club with a "Toast to Ten Years" theme. In the spring, Eta Eta bonded over dinner at the Hard Rock Café, then saw the talented Blue Man Group at Universal Studios, we had a daddy-daughter bowling extravaganza at Firkin and Keglers, weekly sisterhood studies and lunch in the Student Union. During the Fall our sisters enjoyed splashing around at Orlando's Wet 'N Wild, we got to see our families at Family Weekend football tailgate and a dinner at NBA City, we got chilly at the RDV Ice Skating rink, and got sporty playing IM sports.

During the Summer many sisters attended Kappa Kappa Gamma's Biannual Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Eta Eta received honorable mention for Chapter Management and Standards, and received a shout out for having almost 40 sisters in attendance.

UCF's Greek Community is rapidly expanding. In Fall of 2011 we welcomed Delta Zeta on campus and this fall we received news of Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Phi's colonization. With a community of more than 3000 undergraduate students it is exciting to welcome these new chapters and see what they can bring to the University of Central Florida. Eta Eta chapter is working hard to keep our GPA above the All Sorority Average.

==2013==

In 2013, Eta Eta paired up with the Cystic Fibrosis foundation of Florida to host a walk on UCF’s campus. Eta Eta also hosted the first annual Kappa Karnival. At Kappa Karnival all of the participating sororities and fraternities created different carnival booths, and children from the community participated at each booth. Eta Eta also participated in Trick on Treat on Greek Street, Kappa Delta’s Shakedown, Zeta Beta Tau’s Get on The Ball and Zeta Tau Alpha’s Lip-sync competition, as well as UCF’s own Knighthon. Eta Eta is working to increase UCF Greek involvement in the CF walk.

Eta Eta had fun on many socials including a “Hard Hats and Snapbacks” theme with Sigma Pi, a “Duck Calls and Overall’s” themed homecoming social with our homecoming partners Delta Sigma Phi, and a “Don’t wanna grow up” social with Zeta Beta Tau. Eta Eta also enjoyed semi-formal at the Brevard County Zoo. Eta Eta paired with Pi Kappa Phi and Delta Sigma Phi for homecoming, winning 2nd place overall, most cans collected, and 3rd place in Skit Night.

Eta Eta participated in spring recruitment; bid day was held at Wonder Works, where each sister wore her jersey. We initiated 16 sisters. In the fall Eta Eta moved into a brand new house on campus. We participated in formal recruitment out of our own house for the first time and also held our annual Alumnae tea. Our bid day was held at Old Town with a “New Bid’s on the Block/80’s theme.”

Our new members enjoyed many events at our house including a movie night, and a craft night. Very soon after Eta Eta initiated 51 new members. In the spring we went to the Orlando Science Center for a sisterhood sleepover, and had dinner at Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. Eta Eta got to participate in many reading days in elementary schools throughout the Orlando area. We also got to see Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney. Our mothers got to join us making chocolate at Ferris and Fosters. Sisters participated in many IM sports including soccer, flag football and volleyball. We also held weekly sisterhood studies at the house and around campus to try and boost our chapter GPA.

UCF’s Greek community continues to expand. The spring brought the colonization of Pi Kappa Phi, and the fall brought Gamma Phi Beta. Eta Eta officially moved into our new house on campus in August of 2013. Chi Omega also moved into their house. Eta Eta continues to work to bring our GPA above the All Sorority Average.

==Highlights of 2015==

The Fall Semester of 2015 brought a new year for Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Eta Eta chapter at the University of Central Florida to thrive and reach new potentials. Kappa women represented our chapter eloquently through formal recruitment both affiliated and unaffiliated.

Our Chapter was highlighted throughout the Panhellenic community through numerous representations. Michelle Weber, Payton Grandquest, Emma Anderson, Delaney Ridgway, Jennifer Bayes, Lexie Bell, Grace Bennett, Eve Niles, Madison Skonie, Cailin Cooney, Rachel Additon, Emily Reed, and Sam Holsten are sisters who chose to disaffiliate and shine light on our chapter through the roles of Rho Gammas and Panhellenic Executive Board. Eta Eta welcomed new faces during formal recruitment which started the morning of August 17th and came to an end with Bid Day on August 22, 2015. We celebrated our new members, Chi Class, with a golden theme of ‘Take me Home Where My Dreams are Made of Gold’. Our chapter enjoyed an early dinner together at Margaritaville followed by an entertaining night enjoying the Blue Man Group’s performance at Universal Studios.

On September 10th we hosted Sundae Funday at our house where we served the Greek community ice cream with a choice of toppings. Followed by Kickin’ it with Kappa held on the 12th. Kickin’ it with Kappa is a kickball tournament where different fraternities and sororities had the opportunity to compete against one another. Our tournament and Sundae Funday event support Reading is Fundamental (RIF), which helps the community grow and support our younger generations. Alpha Tau Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha placed first in the kickball tournament and Theta Chi and Delta Zeta placed first overall.

Family Weekend kicked off on September 19th with a family barbecue, buffet style, where food and company were enjoyed. Families heart and stomachs were full as they wrapped up their meals and headed over to enjoy the football game against Furman.

We ended the September calendar with a Kappa Lunch on the 23rd where our house chair Kaitlin Yutzy arranged for Chick-fil-A catering. And finally our Grab-A-Date where we all dressed as tacky tourists and geared up to go to Wonder Works. Our chapter and our dates spent the night doing interactive games, and pushing our comfort zones on the ropes course and roller coaster simulators.

On October 1st, Kappa participated in Zeta’s annual philanthropy event Zeta Lip Sync. We worked hard and performed an excellent routine while being supported by the rest of our chapter members. Shortly after we participated in Phi Hoops placing first overall! We ended our exciting week celebrating Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founders day with a Sunday brunch at Ceviche Tapas restaurant.

Initiation Week took place on October 12th. We started off the week with events full of sisterhood. During the week we had a night for family dinner, a Movie on the Lawn where we watched Hocus Pocus and indulged on snacks, and later in the week we all put on our game faces and played laser tag at Hard Knocks. Ending with our chapter initiating 54 new members on October 17, 2015. We also had a new member from Florida State University’s chapter join us for initiation with her big.

Following I-Week was UCF’s annual Homecoming week. On Monday UCF hosted Comedy Knight featuring Damon Wayans Jr. and Jimmy Tatro. Tuesday was Concert Knight with performers Big Sean and Dan + Shay. Along with other events throughout the week such as Kids Carnival, Skit Knight, and Movie Knight. Ending the festive week with Spirit Splash, a campus wide pep rally, where students parade into the campus’s reflection pond and get ready for the big football game against Houston. Spirit Splash was awarded Best Campus Tradition in 2011 by the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA). Our sisters won third place at Skit Knight and enjoyed participating in the week long events. Two of our sisters Rachel Additon, and Hannah Starner were on Homecoming Executive Board and helped plan and execute a fun filled week. Before Halloween weekend, we had a Halloween party at the house where we watched scary movies and munched on a lot of candy! This week was also Panhellenic Pride week. Our sisters participated in numerous events and even won 1st place overall. We hosted a book drive with our Monmouth Duo, Pi Beta Phi! It was a great activity to do together.

On November 4th we hosted the weekly Panhellenic meeting at our house, welcoming all twelve Panhellenic chapters. After, had another Kappa Dinner catered by Little Greek. The next day Kappa participated in KD shakedown coming in 3rd place with our routine. Friday, we had our Sisterhood Retreat at the Orlando Science Center! The night was filled with fun games, laughter, and sisterly bonding. We also participated in Alpha Xi Delta’s Dodgebrawl event where we placed 2nd and in Gamma Phi Beta’s Moonball event placing 1st. We ended the month with Semiformal and Pack to Attack Hunger.

Semiformal took place downtown at The Ballroom on Church Street on November 12th. We enjoyed an elegant evening full of horderves and dancing. Ending the semester with Pack to Attack Hunger. Last year we raised $2,500 and this year we were challenged by Panhellenic to raise $3,000. Exceeding our expectations, we raised over $3,000 and ended up being the 4th highest in Panhellenic donations. We were represented by Haley Mills, Payton Grandquest, Laura Ballesteros, and Bia De Faria on Pack To Attack’s Executive Board and had over 40 girls lend helping hands to package meals. On November 20th, a few of our sisters went to an Elementary School in the area for our Reading is Key event where we donated books to the children.

Eta Eta Chapter has had a successful Fall semester and we continue to meet benchmarks as the semester is coming to an end. As a chapter we aim to reach new goals and keep our minds open to new opportunities.

UCF’s Panhellenic community is progressively expanding. As a Greek Community we have been actively working on growing our philanthropy events and reaching out to wider audiences for support. As a whole IFC and Panhellenic communities have joined hands and have been doing better at supporting each others events. Attendance for philanthropy events has risen and numbers raised for organizations campus wide have too risen. Eta Eta chapter diligently worked to remove our chapter off of the Academic Focus Plan and have kept our chapter GPA above the All Sorority Average.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Eta Eta Chapter annually raises money for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), Kappa Kappa Gamma’s National Philanthropy. In the Spring as a chapter we raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

We support Reading Is Fundamental because we are sisters of this organization and support our National Philanthropic traditions. As a chapter we believe in motivating and inspiring children to read and providing books to families and children who need them the most. This gives children the opportunity to follow their dreams and achieve their full potential. We want to provide them this opportunity they may not have had otherwise. We support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of our sister, Alison Callum, who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis in 2003. This past year we raised over $50,000 to help families pay for medical treatments and also to fund research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

==Highlights of 2016==

These past Spring and Fall Semesters of 2016 have brought along many great experiences to the Eta Eta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. This new year has given the Eta Eta chapter many opportunities to thrive and grow in the Greek community and to become an even greater sisterhood.

To start off the year, Eta Eta came back to school ready for what was to come. We had our first sisterhood event on February 19th, “Kappa’s It.” We decked out in matching Kappa shirts, took endless photos in the photo booth, ate tons of yummy treats, covered the house in confetti, and created endless memories. That same week, we also had 14 members of our chapter selected to be Rho Gammas for the upcoming Fall 2016 recruitment, one member on the Panhellenic Recruitment Team, and one member on the Panhellenic Executive Board. To close out the month, we had an amazing Father/Daughter day planned by our public relations chair, Kate Cowart. We spent the night relaxing and enjoying each others company at the Orlando Solar Bears Ice Hockey game with our dads.

In March before spring break, We enjoyed having our old LC, Alyssa, back for a visit the week before spring break and catching up with her.

On March 19th, we gathered our bathing suits and sunscreen and headed to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon for a fun day full of water rides and sisterhood. Even though the weather was cold and rainy, we all stayed positive and made the most of it. To end out the month, we had our first grab-a-date event, Kappa Kochella, held at Dave and Busters, where we spent the night playing arcade games and collecting endless tickets for prizes.

April was an eventful and successful month for the Eta Eta chapter. On April 2nd, we had over 50 sisters participate in UCF’s Dance Marathon, Knight-thon. As a team we all stood for 20 hours and raised over $20,000 for local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Our feet were certainly sore, but our hearts were extremely full. That same weekend, we had four of our sisters attend SEPC, where they attended various workshops about leading with purpose. They got to meet fellow Panhellenic women and Kappas from the south eastern part of the United States.

April 4-8, was Greek Week and we were paired with Sigma Pi. Gabby Bell, one of our sisters who is the VP of Administration for Greek Council, planned the Greek Week. Kappa and Sigma Pi had a huge turn out for participation throughout the week and during the various philanthropy events, such as decorating hats for children with cancer, and bagging toiletries and writing letters to soldiers.

That next weekend, the 9th, we helped organize the Cystic Fibrosis 5k on UCF’s campus. We spent the afternoon cheering on participants, lending helping hands, and bringing awareness to an organization that is very close to Eta Eta’s heart. That night we all headed to the Kappa Kastle for PJ Potluck put on by our House Chair Liz Foley. We had tons of yummy food, karaoke, and surprise sumo suits. On April 13th we cheered in Alpha Delta Pi’s annual Cheers for Charity. We may not have placed but we certainly did our chapter proud. On the 16th we spent the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We went on rides, met Disney characters, and had a blast bringing out our inner child. To close out such a great month, we danced the night away at the Heaven Event center for our annual Formal on the 23rd. We ate delicious food, danced to great music, got henna tattoos, and sang our traditional Oh Pat song to our graduating seniors. The next day, we headed to the Heathro Country Club and heard our final goodbyes from our seniors. We laughed at their stories, cried as they reminisced about their favorite memories, and learned that Kappa just isn’t four years, it’s for life.

The Spring semester for Eta Eta was one that we will all never forget. We created endless memories and exceeded all of our goals. We left for the summer ready for everything that the fall semester was going to bring. Over the summer, we had eight active sisters and an alumna attend Kappa Kappa Gamma’s biannual convention in San Diego, California, representing our chapter beautifully and having an amazing time learning about Kappa's history and bonding with sisters young and old.

The Fall 2016 semester was the beginning of a new school year for Eta Eta. Before classes started, we spent two weeks preparing to recruit the best new member class yet. We were all reunited on Monday, August 8th to begin our annual Spirit Week. We spent those days learning the ins and outs of recruitment, step clapping, singing, and creating new bonds with sisters. That Saturday, August, 13th, Beth Young put on our Alumnae Tea event. Many Eta Eta alumnae came by for refreshments and gave advice to active sisters about the upcoming recruitment. The next Monday, the 15th, started off Formal Recruitment, and ended on the 20th, when we welcomed 60 new members and our 14 Rho Gammas home. Our new members, Psi class, and the rest of the chapter hopped on busses and headed to Disney Springs where we had a delicious dinner at the House of Blues and ended the night with an exciting show at Cirque de Soleil.

September was a month full of family and fun. On September 17th, Kappa opened its doors and welcomed the families of our sisters for UCF’s Family Weekend. We had yummy barbeque catered to the house and then headed over to the stadium to watch our Knights play Maryland. Just a few weeks later, we had a big surprise in store for our new members. On October 2nd, they were welcomed into their new Kappa families on Big-Little Reveal. We had covered every door in the house with personalized decorated banners and watched as our new members ran into the arms of their excited bigs.

The following week was UCF’s annual homecoming week. We laughed at Comedy Knight, Danced on Concert Knight, and ended the week with the best college tradition in the nation, Spirit Splash. Our sister, Hannah Starner, served on the Homecoming Executive Board and helped make this Homecoming week one to remember. Our homecoming liason, Stephanie Sharf, took charge and helped make this week so successful. Kappa was partnered with Alpah Epsilon Pi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon for the week, and we then proudly took home first place for participating in homecoming events all week.

October was also the month we had our Inspiration week planned by our marshal, Amy Willsey. We had a delicious house dinner of tacos catered by the parents of sister Karen Enamarado, spent time with our Kappa families, and bounced on trampolines until we couldn’t anymore at Rebounderz. We ended the week with 58 newly initiated sisters on October 22nd.

That following Thursday we participated in Zeta Tau Alpha's annual Zeta Lip Sync benefiting breast cancer education and awareness. Our sisters worked extremely hard and put on a flawless performance for the Greek Community. To end out the month, we took a trip to the Central Florida Zoo, a sisterhood event put on by our VP of Standards, Colette Lowndes. We spent the day looking at animals and playing endless sisterhood games. We also had our annual Founders Day brunch on the 30th to celebrate the 146th year of the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma, organized by our education chair, Andrea DiMayo. We enjoyed a lovely brunch and reflected on the six founders that started the organization we all call home.

The month of November was one to remember. To start off the month, we participated in Pack to Attack, packaging meals for families in the Orlando area. The following week we had our annual Semi-formal on the 10th at Mangos Tropical Café, put on our by our Event Chair, Ingrid Onoriod. We ate delicious Spanish food and enjoyed an energetic show put on by some of their dancers. Our Fall philanthropy event, Kickin’ it with Kappa, took place on November 13th. We headed over to UCF IM fields and cheered on many members of the Greek community as their organizations participated in games of Kickball and donated books to Reading is Fundamental. RIF raises money and collects books to donate to local schools for children that might not have books to read. Pi Beta Phi took first place for the sororities, while Sigma Pi took home first place for the fraternities. This semester also was very successful for our IM teams. Paola Ramos, our IM sports chair, led us to many victories. We remained undefeated in flag football and took home first place in Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Phi Hoops, Delta Zeta’s Hike for Hearing Flag Football tournament, and Gamma Phi Beta’s Moon Ball event!

To end out the semester, we had a house dinner put on by our house chair Liz Foley, and heard senior wills, organized on by our Education chair, Andrea Dimayo. We filled our bellies with breakfast food catered from Too Jay’s, decorated Christmas ornaments, exchanged cookies, and listened as our graduating seniors said their goodbyes.
Finally, December 1st we had our last event as a chapter, a grab-a-date at Dave and Busters.

Eta Eta has had an amazing year. The most prestigious accomplishment of our chapter was when we were awarded 1st in academics out of all of the UCF sororities. This was a first in chapter history, and it was all due to the hard work of our sisters. 2016 brought many wonderful opportunities to our sisterhood and helped us surpass our goals as a chapter. We have grown so much as a chapter and can’t wait to see what new opportunities and experiences this new year has to offer.

==Highlights of 2017==

The Eta Eta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has thrived as an organization throughout the year of 2017. The year has brought along many learning and growth experiences for the chapter as a whole. To kick start the new year, the women of Eta Eta entered the Spring semester by getting involved with the Greek community. The weekend of January 30th, Brittany Melson and Rachel Geril attended the Greek Leadership Challenge in Cocoa Beach, FL and learned more about the 4 different Greek councils on campus and how we can work together to improve relations. The following month on the 15th at the Panhellenic meeting hosted by Kappa Alpha Theta, seven members were selected to be Rho Gammas for the upcoming fall semester and help hundreds of young women find their homes within the Greek community. To close out the month, on February 25th, we grabbed our bathing suits and sunnies and made our way to Cabana Bay for our retro sisterhood retreat, hosted by our Vice President of Standards, Paola Pineda. We had fun in the sun all day, and then laughed the night away playing some of our favorite games, including human Hungry Hungry Hippos!

On March 4th, right before spring break, the chapter enjoyed an amazing Mother/Daughter day sprinkled with gorgeous sunflowers, hosted by our public relations chair, Brittany Barnes, at The Porch. We brunched all morning and left with cute polaroids featuring our very own moms. Once we returned from our mini vacation, we started getting ready for our brand new spring philanthropy event, planned by our very own philanthropy chair, Tara Elardo. Kappa’s Key to Wingin’ It was a huge success, bringing in nearly $2,000 for our chapter philanthropy, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We walked away from our event with more awareness than ever before about CF, all thanks to the incredible representative from the Foundation who taught us endless fun facts and applicable demonstrations. Even our LC, Ingrid, got to join in on the fun, as she hung out with us at our event and got to see all of Eta Eta’s hard work pay off. To close out the month, we enjoyed our first grab-a-date of the semester at Boardwalk Bowl, where we teamed up and bowled to our hearts desire.

April was a very busy, yet successful month for the chapter. On the 1st of the month, our Knight Thon team, led by the trio of Hannah Starner, Gabby Bell, and Jennie Baker, made their way to the CFE arena to dance the next 20 hours away FTK. The night was full of hypnosis, Zumba, incredible miracle children’s stories, and plenty of emotions. Fundraising all year and dancing our hearts out allowed UCF to meet, and far exceed, our goal, with Kappa donating nearly $18,000 benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. That same weekend, a few of our officers, Andrea DiMayo, Paola Pineda, Tori Louth-Ciaccio, Hannah Hoffman, and Katherine Briatico attended the Kappa Leadership Conference in Denver, Colorado. They represented the chapter well, and brought back loads of information as to how to improve our Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter as a whole. To top it all off, SEPC was also held that weekend, where Tillie Schuman, Peyton Edwards, and Emily Diez represented Eta Eta among the community of Panhellenic women, where they attended various workshops about leading with a purpose.

April 3rd-8th, was Greek Week and we were paired with Pi Kappa Phi and NPHC. Our chairs, Ingrid Onoriode and Stephanie Sharf, lead the chapter throughout the week. Kappa and our partners had an amazing time competing in all of the events and collecting cans for the Harvest Food Bank. That same Saturday, we headed out to the Lake Nona Country Club to celebrate our graduating seniors at senior wills, hosted by Colette Lowndes. We ate lots of food, listened to funny memories, and remembered that Kappa isn’t four years, it’s for life. To close out such a wonderful month, on April 20th, we danced the night away at the Omni Orlando Resort for our annual Formal event. We pigged out at the chicken wing and pasta bar, took tons of silly photo booth pictures, and sang our traditional Oh Pat song to our seniors. It was truly a night to remember.

We had so much fun participating in other philanthropies, as well as raising money for our very own. We far exceeded our goals, all the while creating endless memories. We left for our summer vacation eagerly awaiting all that was to come in the Fall semester.

The Fall 2017 semester got started in the best way possible. We all got to come back to UCF two weeks early to hang out with all of our sisters and prepare to recruit the best new member class ever. The big reunion after the long summer took place on August 7th, but was short lived because we quickly had to learn the ins and outs of everything recruitment related by our wonderful membership chairman, Hannah Hoffman. Spirit week was spent step clapping our hearts out, screaming door chants, and having quite the “house party”. We put all of our training into practice when we hit the ground running for our first day of recruitment on the 14th. Formal recruitment came to a close on the 19th, where we welcomed home the 56 new members of Omega class, as well as our well-missed Rho Gammas. We carried on our bid day festivities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where we spent the evening roaming the park and watching the various light shows.

Eta Eta started off the new school year strong by meeting at the house on the 28th for a planner party, hosted by the vice president of academics, Alex Shapiro. We highlighted and marked up our calendars with all of the fun events to come that semester, but making sure to pencil in time for all of our studying and homework. Unfortunately, our schedules got a little skewed when Hurricane Irma made an unwanted visit, and kept us away from school and Kappa for a couple weeks. During this time, sisters checked up on sisters, offered up their homes, and took care of one another, truly exemplifying what it means to be a Kappa woman.

The chapter made it back safe and sound on September 17th, just in time for big/little reveal. The bigs decorated and hid in boxes, patiently waiting for the very moment when their little would run into their arms. Soon after the littles got their bigs, we all enjoyed a wonderful Inspiration week, starting October 1st, planned by our marshal, Lauren Jacobs. During the week we bonded with our sisters, and got the chance to channel our inner 80’s girls and skate the night away at Semoran Skateway. The week ended with our beautiful initiation ceremony, and 54 newly initiated sisters on October 7th. The following week, we celebrated our Founder’s Day, hosted by our education chairman, Colette Lowndes, at the house as we dressed up in our trendiest fall clothing, and pied our favorite council members in the face. The very next day, our Panhellenic Delegate, Tillie Schuman, planned a new event, Owloween with our neighbors, Chi Omega. We got to spend time getting to know our fellow Panhellenic sisters, all the while getting to decorate pumpkins and eat sweet treats.

To finish out the month of October, we participated in Kappa Delta’s annual KD Shakedown benefitting the Girl Scouts of America. Our sisters worked so hard, and it truly showed on stage with the amazing performance they delivered.

The first week of November proved to be a busy one. Early in the morning on the 4th, we participated in Pack-to-Attack, packaging meals for families in the greater Orlando area, then immediately made our way over to our Sisterhood event on memory mall. We teamed up and played various Disney channel-esque games and races, and made so many fun memories. On the 7th, we hosted our annual Kickin’ It with Kappa, newly transformed into a soccer tournament by our philanthropy chairman, Emily Diez. The event raised nearly $3,000 for our philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental, and we got loads of books to donate to the children!

On November 16th, right before we left for Thanksgiving break, we all got our glam on for our annual semi-formal, hosted by our event chairman, Ali Rollins. We danced the night away at the breath-taking Orchid Garden, and closed the night out by Oh Patting our graduating seniors.

To close out the semester, the Eta Eta chapter hosted our first ever Golden Key Celebration to commemorate the 15 years that our chapter has been on UCF’s campus. It was a truly amazing event, as all of our sisters, families, and Kappa alumni joined us at the Orlando Science Center, and we raised over $10,000 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We spent the night bidding on raffle items, eating delicious catered food, and breaking it down on the dance floor. The highlight of our night was meeting our Fraternity President, Beth Black, and listening to a wonderful speech given by our District Director, Barb Goettelman. They are the women that we aspire to be, and we are so grateful that they could attend our event.

The Eta Eta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an incredible year. We are so proud of all of our accomplishments academically, and in the Greek community. We have grown as a chapter and a sisterhood within the year of 2017. Many new opportunities have been presented to us and we have taken advantage of them to the fullest, and can’t wait to see what the new council, led by Tillie Schumann, will bring us in the year of 2018.

==Highlights of 2018==

2018 was an amazing year for the sisters of the Eta Eta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We began the New Year with a planner party hosted by our AE chair Kyla Johns where we were able to see each other after the winter break and prepare for the spring semester. Next, we celebrated being a kappa with our Kappa’s It event by singing karaoke, putting on giant sumo suits, and taking lots and lots of glitter pictures. For Valentines Day we celebrated with our gal pals at the house by eating sweet treats at our pan love event. To end the month of February we packed our bathing suits and sunscreen for a weekend getaway at Daytona Beach for our sisterhood retreat. We spent the day lounging outside by the beach and pool enjoying the sunshine and spent the night acting in skits and playing bonding games with all of our sisters.

On March 3rd Kenzi Gangwish our PR chair planned a fun night with our favorite kappa dads for father daughter day where we cheered on the Orlando Magic vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. Later that month we had a cozy pan grab a date at the Kappa Kastle. We put on our favorite pair of PJ’s, watched Disney movies, and had a gelato truck come to the house. The grab a date’s continued with another at Wonderworks where we wore on our best Hawaiian shirts and tried the high ropes course and interactive games. At the end of March we put on legwarmers, scrunchies, and neon leotards for an 80s fitness themed grab a date at the bowling alley.

To kick off the month of April we hosted our second annual Key to Wingin’ It Philanthropy event at the house benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We cheered on the different fraternities and sororities as they competed to eat as many wings as they could. On April 7th kappa was FTK and participate in UCFs annual Knight-Thon 20 hour dance marathon. We spent the night in the CFE arena dancing, listening to miracle stories, getting hypnotized, and raising money for a great cause. Overall, we raised $33,000 benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network.

We continued to be philanthropic by participating in Alpha Delta Pi’s Cheers for Charity competition. Seniors Andrea Dimayo, Talia Meizinger, and Sammy Brown teamed up as captains and lead us to victory where made a comeback and placed 2nd in the competition. We got dressed in Kappa Klassy for our formal, which was planned by Ingrid Onoriode. We spent the night dancing under twinkling lights, getting our palms read by Madam Morgana, and Oh Patting our seniors on their final formal. It was a night for the books. On April 22nd we said goodbye to our seniors during a country club brunch for senior wills. We were able to look back on the senior’s favorite college memories and reminisce on all they loved about kappa. To wrap up the month and the semester Paula Ramos our House Chair hosted a much needed house breakfast during finals where we could fuel up on some Maple Street biscuits before going back to study.

Over the summer, big things were still happening for kappa. Tillie Schumann, Katherine Briatico, Madi Wiesen, and Brittany Barnes attended the national Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention in Denver, Colorado where they represented Eta Eta chapter. Our chapter won the ritual award, Panhellenic award, and was among the top 5 for most outstanding chapter. This showed how much our chapter has grown and will continue to grow in the future. Our study lounge was also revamped thanks to house board and our renovation committee. They transformed the room into not only a functional study space, but a beautiful area that represents Kappa.

Before school started both the 7 rho gammas and eta eta chapter were hard at work preparing for recruitment during spirit week. And after 2 weeks of hard work it was worth it when on bid day the future members of Eta Eta and the returning rho gammas ran down the red carpet leading home. Nicole Cantore the new member chair put on an amazing bid day with Lights, Camera, Kappa where the new members were able to enjoy a popcorn and candy bar and spent the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios screaming on Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster. Later that night we had the VIP treatment with a dessert party at the Fantasmic show.

To get to know the new members we had a planner party, speed dating, game night, and a dinner and movie night spent singing along to Mamma Mia. On September 15th the new members had a sleepover for their retreat at the Kappa house. The night was spent playing bonding games, having an ice cream bar, and staying up late laughing with new friends. At the end of September everyone decked out in black and gold to represent the undefeated knights for parents weekend. Kappas were able to show off the house to family and eat Sonny’s BBQ.

Education chair Kristin Collison started a new member and senior Q & A called Dear Kappa Days where older kappa’s were able to reflect on their experiences and give tips and advice to the future members. We had our first grab a date of the semester at Rebounderz where we dressed all American and bounced the night away on trampolines. Later that month Becca Zerbo represented Eta Eta chapter at leadership academy in Ohio where she attended workshops and learned new skills that she was able to share with our chapter.

We then participated in Zeta Lip Sync where Brittany Barnes and Kenzi Gangwish choreographed alpha alpha class in their fight night dance. A few days later was big little reveal where the new members were surprised with their big sister holding a matching puzzle piece. On October 13th we celebrated Founders day at Tuscawilla Country club and had brunch with other kappa alumni where we reflected on the 6 founding women who made this incredible chapter possible. Next was I Week which was put on by our Marshal Becca Kirsch to prepare for initiation. Every day included a special hash-tag where sisters could post their favorite memories and we also rented out a theater to watch and cry to A Star is Born. Then on October 20th 51 new members became forever sisters during initiation. A few days later Kappa hosted its first annual Kappa Con Queso thanks to our philanthropy chair Denise Cukierman, which benefitted Reading is Fundamental. With unlimited chips and queso and a surprise appearance from Knightro the night was a complete success To wrap up the end the month we had a K K Jean themed grab a date at drive shack. We channeled our inner Tiger Woods and ate so many churros.

To start off the month of November we had Kamp Kappa our sisterhood retreat at the house created by our Standards chair Katherine Briatico. We spent the night making bracelets, sugar scrubs, and s’mores. Next we had a social with Tau Kappa Epsilon and got creative dressing as anything with the first letter of your name. Finally we wrapped up the end of the semester with our Bright Lights Big City semi formal in downtown Orlando. We danced the night away and sang our traditional Oh Pat to the graduating seniors.

Overall Eta Eta chapter had a big year filled with success, memories, and laughter.

==Highlights of the 2020s==

We began the semester with our new Leadership
coming together to create goals as a chapter and learning all of our roles as leaders. We kicked
off Syllabus Week with a planner party hosted by our Academic Excellence Director, Sarah
Goddell. At the end of the month, we had our first house dinner, hosted by our Facility Director,
Megann Linardos. Throughout February, we hosted a Partial Proceeds, had another House
Dinner, and had our first Kappa Krush party, hosted by our Event Director, Madison Evard. At
the end of the month, we had our Sisterhood Retreat, hosted by our Member Engagement
Director, Cameo Dyer. We spent the day at Orange Lake Resort where we played arcade
games and lounged in the lazy river! We then spent the night at the hotel where we played
games and had some sisterhood bonding.Our plans suddenly changed when UCF announced
that we would move to remote instruction beginning March 16th due to the Coronavirus. Despite
this challenge, it didn’t stop members of Eta Eta from communicating and making the best out of
the situation. Our Director of PR, Julia Amorim and our VP of External Affairs, Courtney
Garrison had the idea of starting a #KappaQuarantine page where sisters submitted Tik Tok
dances and fun challenges to earn points to win a prize in the Fall. In order to prepare for
Recruitment, Jenn Flatin, our Primary Recruitment Director and Shannon Jones, our VP of
Membership were hard at work planning out songs and dress colors! Jenn also hosted some
virtual Recruitment Workshops to teach first time recruiters how Formal Recruitment works!
Also, our House Director, Megann Linardos, found a way to connect us all for one final “house
dinner” by delivering each of us a pizza to our homes while we quarantined. We also said
farewell to our graduating seniors by hosting a Senior Wills Zoom call where the seniors
reminisced on their time in Kappa.When we returned from summer break, we immediately got
into Recruitment mode. Recruitment was completely virtual at UCF, so this was something new
for all of us. We hosted a virtual spirit week where we worked on our values, conversations, and
how to navigate Zoom and come up with new ideas to make our Recruitment run smoothly. Our
Recruitment Team also invited Josh Peck to join one of our Zoom calls to boost morale and give
some words of encouragement. Recruitment week definitely had its ups and downs, including
the power going out in one of the on-campus housings, which delayed our Day 1 for some
hours. Despite the challenges, Eta Eta welcomed Alpha Delta pledge class and celebrated by
hosting a socially distanced Kappa Candyland Bid Day where our New Members met their Bid
Day buddy and got some photos outside of the house. The next week, we continued by
participating in COB and welcomed some more new members to Alpha Delta class. We then
hosted Formal Pledging via Zoom for the New Members where they received their New Member
Pin. September began with some new member meetings where the New Members learned
about Kappa’s history and many different aspects about our chapter. They also hung out at a
Virtual New Member Retreat where they bonded and played games with each other. At the end
of the month, we had a virtual Minnie Stewart Van Visit where some of our members learned
about Kappa history and some of the artifacts that are still around today. October was a busy
month for Eta Eta. We began by having a Virtual Founders Day celebration where we learned
facts about Kappa’s history and played a fun Kahoot game that reviewed some fun facts about
Kappa. Inspiration Period began with Big/Little Reveal and the Return of the New Member Pin.
Throughout the week, we played Kahoot games, Among Us Party, and even a canvas painting
party via Zoom. Our big event of the week was The Masked Kappa. Chapter members
submitted videos of themselves singing and dressed up like a character and we all guessed
who we thought it was. It was a ton of fun! The week ended with our beautiful Initiation, hosted
by our Ritual and History Director, Nicole Leonard. With it being completely virtual, our members
and newly initiated members were able to truly listen to the beautiful words of our ritual and
understand the meaning behind Kappa. We ended out the semester with our Philanthropy
Event, hosted by our Philanthropy Director, Sam Bostelman. We delivered Thanksgiving meals
to people around the community and raised money to go towards our philanthropies. We hosted
another virtual Senior Wills for our Fall seniors. We then installed our 2021 Leadership Board
and began preparing them for their incoming term.

Eta Eta supports our Fraternity tradition of
supporting Reading is Fundamental, while also seeing the impact of this foundation and how it
supports children around our area. Our members truly enjoy getting into schools in the area
and being able to read to them and build connections with them. We also support the Kappa
Kappa Gamma Foundation because of our bond as a sisterhood and wanting to help sisters in
need. We also continue our Eta Eta tradition of supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to
honor our sister, Allison Callum, who passed away from CF in 2003.

Eta Eta added a DEI committee this semester to help educate
and spread awareness about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in both our chapter and our
community. This committee hosted many programming events throughout the semester
including teaching the chapter some Sign Language, Black History Month awareness, and
honoring National Disability Day. They hosted a few Zoom movie nights where we watched
“Love, Simon” and “The Hate U Give” to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community. We also
had a presentation about Cultural Appropriation around Halloween time and a presentation
about Hispanic Heritage Month.

We celebrated our Sesquicentennial Celebration by appreciating our past and how it
impacts our future as a Fraternity. Throughout the semester, we did a Minerva Moment at
every chapter meeting which showed an artifact from our past, we reviewed our ritual, or a fun
Kappa fact. We also celebrated our Founders Day by playing fun games that discussed Kappa’s
history and also found out which founder each of us were most like. We also all received a
Kappa coat-of-arms sweatshirt to show our love for Kappa.

[[File:Kappa Zoom.jpg|thumb|Chapter zoom]]
[[File:Screen Shot 2020-12-14 at 6.16.13 PM.png|thumb|Kappa House]]
[[File:Screen Shot 2020-12-14 at 6.19.32 PM.png|thumb|Kappa gal]]

Eta Zeta

2021-12-22T17:56:12Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Zeta
|GreekSymbol= HZ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Zeta.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2001|11|17}}
|College= [https://www.jcu.edu/index.php John Carroll University]
|Location= University Heights, OH
|Homepage= [https://jcu.kappa.org/ Eta Zeta Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Zeta Media related to Eta Zeta Chapter]}}

'''John Carroll University (formerly St. Ignatius College) established in 1886 in Cleveland, Ohio; later moved to University Heights, Ohio'''

'''Chapter founded November 17, 2001 - 27 charter members'''

'''328 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Zeta’s Outstanding Alumnae'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Loyalty Award Recipient:'''

'''Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==History John Carroll University==

John Carroll University, one of 28 colleges and universities operated in the United States by the Society of Jesus, was founded as St. Ignatius College in 1886. It has been in continuous operation as a degree-granting institution since that time.

In 1923 the College was renamed John Carroll University, after the first archbishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. In 1935 it was moved from its original location on the West Side of Cleveland to its present site in University Heights, a suburb 10 miles east of downtown Cleveland.

In September 1968 the University made the transition from full-time male enrollment to a fully coeducational institution as women were admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences for the first time. Currently more than 3,300 undergraduates call John Carroll University home.

==Highlights of 2001-2010==

'''Colonization and Installation'''

Eta Zeta Chapter became the first Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter of the new millennium on November 17, 2001. Located in University Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Eta Zeta is proud to have been the first National Panhellenic Conference group to be installed on campus. "Eta Zeta was colonized on October 21, 2001, after a successful match with Kappa Gamma Delta, a local group founded in 1998. The 27 charter members were initiated and Eta Zeta Chapter was installed by Fraternity President Ann Stafford Truesdell. Fraternity officers assisting with the weekend activities were Director of Membership Martha Allen Kumler, Ohio State; Chairman of Extension Carol George Sanders, Cal. State Northridge; Regional Director of Chapters Susie Eynatten Hughes, Missouri; Coordinator of Chapter Development Jill Hughes Mealy, Akron; Gamma Province Directors of Chapters Joni Manos Brown, Ohio Wesleyan, and Mindy Moellering, Miami; Leadership Consultant Kylee Deterding, Iowa State; Chapter Consultant Ruchi Karla, Westminster; and Executive Director Lila A. Isbell, Montana.

Kappa Chapter at Hillsdale College served as the Key Sister chapter for Eta Zeta during the weekend activities, while members from Ohio State, Akron; and Ohio Wesleyan, also participated."

Chapter Consultant Ruchi Kalra served as resident adviser to the chapter while pursuing a graduate degree at JCU. Jill Hughes Mealy, Coordinator of Chapter Development, was responsible for recruiting chapter Advisers and House Board members.

The Cleveland and Cleveland West Shore Alumnae Associations presented the chapter with the President’s Badge while countless associations and chapters within the Province sent greetings and gifts for the chapter. Especially significant was the quilt prepared by Lambda—Akron, that resembled one hanging in their chapter house.

One of the chapter goals for 2004–05 was to gain a greater appreciation of chapter and Fraternity history. We continue to display our scrapbook during Recruitment and other all-Greek Recruitment events. As part of the New Member program, the Registrar and Education chairman plan an interactive workshop on chapter and Fraternity heritage. There is also an archives display of chapter awards, past issues of The Key, the scrapbook, the New Member Signature book, the Songs of Kappa Kappa Gamma book, and more. In addition, the chapter holds birthday parties with cupcakes and brownies to celebrate Founder’s Day and the installation of Eta Zeta.

In spring 2005, the chapter hosted the Gamma Province Meeting at John Carroll and met women from nearby Kappa chapters, as well as worked with the Cleveland Alumnae Association. Province Meeting was a beautiful affair and everyone from the chapter benefited from the programs presented as well as acquired leadership skills from helping to plan and host the event.

Eta Zeta was proud to be recognized for the highest GPA of all Greek organizations on campus. With a chapter average of 3.31, Eta Zeta exceeded the all-sorority average of 3.13. This was especially significant because we have been working to increase our academic excellence program for the past few years. We have instituted regular study tables and awards for members who make special effort to improve their academics.

In addition, Eta Zeta was honored with the Spirit Award during Greek Week. John Carroll instituted several big changes to the structure of Greek Week, but the Kappa women remained positive throughout the week and did not let it get in the way of having a great time. Eta Zeta members were present at every event held that week and showed support, not only for competing Kappas, but for all the Greek participants.

The New Member chairman made important changes in the way Key sisters were selected and made the workshops presented during the New Member period more interactive and interesting. Also, our Marshal instituted special Kore group activities to integrate the new members with the actives and let everyone get to know each other better before Initiation. These included things such as T-shirt making and a craft night. Thanks to these changes, we feel that our Initiation was one of the most meaningful that we’ve had, both to the newly initiated members and the actives.

One of the biggest challenges that Eta Zeta faced during this year was planning ahead and reorganizing the chapter due to the fact that half of its members would be graduating in May 2006. The chapter is currently holding strong at 50 members, one of the largest chapter's on JCU's campus, but 23 are graduating seniors. In order to offset this, the women of Eta Zeta worked very hard this past year to make the transition as smooth as possible. To get the numbers up for formal recruitment, one of our own members headed a Greek marketing committee to educate the campus about sororities. In addition to the strategies enacted by Panhellenic, the women of Eta Zeta did their best to attend and help with as many campus events as possible, such as Little Sibs Weekend, Project H.O.P.E. and Cultivating Community. Our Recruitment was successful as well. Eta Zeta was more prepared for the challenges that go along with fall Recruitment, which resulted in fantastic return rates for the week—100 percent, 98 percent, 92 percent and 81 percent for each day respectively. We selected 11 new members through formal Recruitment. Finally, Chapter Council positions were combined and chapter concerns were raised to the Leadership Consultant who helped educate the chapter on strategies to take changes in stride.

Another challenge the chapter faced was trying to organize a large, campus-wide philanthropy event. Eta Zeta has done many small service and fundraising projects but really wanted to get the Kappa name out there with a highly publicized event that all students could take part in. The challenge was met, in part, in September at JCU's Homecoming football game. Eta Zeta hosted a Balloon Pop, selling balloons with raffle tickets inside, to raise money for Kappa Kidney Camp and RIF. The women walked through the street fair and stood outside the gates of the stadium to sell balloons to students and parents, and raised almost $300. We hope that this event will continue to grow.

On Founders day we worked with the Cleveland Alumnae Association, which granted the chapter a scholarship, and our charter was presented to our chapter President.

Once again, Eta Zeta was proud to be recognized as having the highest GPA of all Greek organizations on campus. Eta Zeta exceeded the all-sorority average of 3.13. In addition, Kappa Kappa Gamma was honored with the Spirit Award during Greek Week festivities. Also, for the fourth year in a row, the women of Eta Zeta were victorious in the Lip Sync Event.

The New Member retreat at Lambda—Akron allowed for the new girls to break out of their shells and experience what it would be like to have Greek Housing. Along with that, positive strides have been made in instituting all-Greek dorms on campus.

In the spring, “Kappa Kisses” candy was sold for Valentine’s Day in the student center to raise money for Kappa Kidney Kamp, a philanthropy of Gamma Province. A Valentine’s Date Party held at McNulty’s in Coventry saw pink and red dresses as everyone danced the night away! Also, the majority of Kappas drove downtown Cleveland and went to a Cavs game together. We also enjoyed Black Tie Bowling with Delta Tau Delta Fraternity—The ladies of Kappa dressed in black-tie attire and went bowling with the fraternity members. Through a book drive we collected 27 books that were donated to Miles Park Elementary School in Cleveland.

At the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Kappas helped with whitewashing walls, raking leaves and other volunteer activities. The Sapphire Ball took place at the Hilton Inn in Beachwood. The ladies of Eta Zeta had dinner and danced the night away. The lip sync routine was performed for the enjoyment of others.

Project H.O.P.E. allowed members to be “buddied up” with students with disabilities for games, sports and dancing. Others worked the booths putting on the games. In the fall, chapter members participated in Involvement Fair with a booth and talked to first-year students about the perks of getting involved in Greek Life. Members also served the people of Cleveland at a food bank downtown for a several hours.

Informal Recruitment resulted in six new members. Kappa dinners were held with the girls as well as other activities to get to know them better. The ladies of Eta Zeta decorated a golf cart with the theme “Kappa Candyland” and drove it in the parade. Candy was handed out to the residents of University Heights as well as to students.

For Founders Day, chapter members traveled to a country club in Shaker Heights to meet local Kappa alumnae for good food, company and songs. Eta Zeta went to a haunted house off campus for some fun and bonding time with the new members. Before heading out, pumpkins were decorated.
For nine hours, Kappas spent time with the people of St. Malachi House and St. Herman’s House of Hospitality by serving food and visiting the residents. Other volunteer work included Through the Eyes of a Child—an on-campus philanthropy in which inner-city students participate in a day of Christmas activities. Chapter members ran a jewelry-making booth for 3 hours.

Spring semester began with a philanthropy event at the Hospice. The ladies of Eta Zeta lifted the spirits of the residents with bingo, pizza and cookies. A sisterhood event with the title “Old School Valentine’s Day Party” allowed Eta Zeta to welcome its newest member with pizza, cake and Valentine’s for all.

From kickball to the car push, talent show to lip-sync, the ladies of Eta Zeta showed the campus community their pride and spirit during Greek Week. The week ended with John Carroll’s first ever Relay for Life. Eta Zeta walked throughout what proved to be an inspirational and emotional evening with one of the largest groups participating. The ladies of Eta Zeta also took a field trip to the Great Lakes Science Center.

Eta Zeta ended the academic year with the annual reading day picnic. This offered the ladies an opportunity to hang out and relieve some stress before finals. It was also our last opportunity to spend time with those who would graduate in May. The second Dance Marathon Car wash was held at a nearby gas station. The girls enjoyed the sun as they raised money for the upcoming campus Dance Marathon.

The ladies of Eta Zeta retreated to the Carroll Lodge for some bonding, reflection and preparation before formal Recruitment. Formal recruitment had the theme “I dream of Kappa.” We received nine fabulous young ladies. Informal Recruitment gave us a chance to snatch two more amazing ladies for the fall 2007 new member class.

The ladies off Eta Zeta hosted their first annual Dance Marathon. With the invitation extended to the entire campus community, we all gathered to dance, play games, listen to bands, and raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Eta Zeta also participated in Delta Tau Delta’s first kickball tournament for charity. The Kappa Kousin Event was a night spent playing trivia games and new members bonding and getting to know the active members better.

The Key sister event involved new members and their key sisters coming together for a progressive dinner that included appetizers, dinner and dessert at different locations.
Blue and Blue Desserts was a treat—Kappa’s hosted a dessert party for the new members before Initiation. Desserts ranged from cookies to blue Jell-O with gummy fish.
Post initiation all the girls gathered and watched the Ohio State vs. Michigan game at an active’s house for a sisterhood event. An active co-founded “Every 2 Minutes”— an all-female, sexual-assault prevention peer education group. A total of 27 members made the Dean’s List; one member was named Greek Leader of The Year and JCU 2008 Student Leader of The Year.

Eta Zeta was proud to be recognized as having the second highest GPA of all all greek organizations on campus. The women of Eta Zeta also exceeded the all-sorority average on campus. We continue to hold a reputation of scholarship and sincere dedication to studies. We continued the use of our library log and other awards for members who make special effort to improve their academics. The Vice President of Academic Excellence continued the newly created “Fleur de A’s and B’s” program, which tracks when members receive an A or B on an exam or big paper/project. At the end of the semester, those with 15 or more fleur-de-lis stamps receive a prize.

During Greek Week, Kappa was honored with the Scholarship Award, Philanthropy Award, Alumna of the Year award, and Greek Leader of the Year award. And, Eta Zeta was the 2008 Greek Week Champion.

During formal Recruitment, our Recruitment Chairmen did a great job of showing potential new members what being in Kappa is all about. We were so excited to gain 10 great new members. At informal Recruitment we hosted an ice cream social, where we were able to get to know girls who were interested in Eta Zeta. We were delighted to gain another four new members.

Kappa Kappa Gamma placed first in the Greek Week talent show!The women of Eta Zeta were present at every event held that week and showed support, not only for competing Kappas, but for all the Greek men and women participating. Kappa also had one of the largest groups participating in John Carroll’s second annual Relay for life, which served as the conclusion of Greek week.
In January, the ladies hosted the second Dance Marathon. The night was filled with raffle drawing, great food, live performances, and tons of fun. The ladies raised an approximate grand total of 1,000 dollars for Reading Is Fundamental.

Our chapter also takes particular pride in our New Member Program. Our Marshal and New Member chairwoman worked together to create special Kore group activities to integrate the new members in with the actives and let everyone get to know each other better before Initiation. These activities included painting Kappa crafts, a night of trivia games and a dinner with their Key sisters.

Fall 2009 was a semester of firsts for our chapter. This semester was the first time the ladies of Eta Zeta had our very own sorority floor. Our House chairmen worked hard and decorated the floor with light and dark blue colors. Eta Zeta was proud to have 17 members live on the floor where we could bond and celebrate sisterhood more often. Eta Zeta also hosted its first ever Stop the Bop on campus in October. The ladies spent numerous days playing Hanson’s “Mmm Bop” song until people gave enough money to have the bop stop. The ladies raised a total of $500 for our philanthropy.

Although Eta Zeta is a fairly small chapter with 41 active members, we are one of the largest Greek organizations on campus. We take pride in the fact that the members of our chapter are all extremely involved in other organizations and clubs on campus, and often hold leadership positions. Some of these organizations include Phi Eta Sigma, CLC, Lamda Pi Eta, Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, Dance Ensemble, Dance Team, Cheerleading Squad, Student Union, Golf Team, Student Union Programming Board, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Arrupe Scholar, Orientation Staff, Two minutes, Student Today Leaders Forever, and Circle K International service organization.

Eta Zeta celebrated its ninth anniversary of its installation on November 18th, 2009.
One challenge our chapter faced this past year was chapter unity. We instituted the “Blind Dates” and “Hoots and Salutes.” Both of these increased sisterhood and brought us to regularly recognize each others’ achievements. Also this was not our easiest semester. This last semester, John Carroll University experienced two suicides within weeks of each other. It was a hard experience for all of us and having the unity and sisterhood of our sorority was comforting. Also, by having our floor, which includes a study lounge, we were able to watch our favorite TV shows together, have move nights and conduct our chapter council meetings there. This helped us create a tighter bond of sisterhood.

At the 2010 General Convention, Eta Zeta received the Excellence in Chapter Management Award as well as Honorable Mention in Finance, Recruitment and Panhellenic. Our visiting Leadership Consultant noticed our excellence, but also left us with information to help us improve. After meeting with all the officers, we were able to adjust our Kore Groups and learn more about our responsibilities.

2010 proved to be a challenging year. Eta Zeta was recognized as having the fourth highest sorority GPA out of the five sororities. However the women of Eta Zeta exceeded the all-student average GPA on campus. This was a significant honor because we are constantly working to increase our academic excellence program. We had regular study tables throughout the spring semester and continued the use of our library log, and awards for members who make special effort to improve their academics throughout the entire year.

During Formal Recruitment this Fall semester, our Chapter got the largest pledge class, 14 new members, in Eta Zeta history. Our Recruitment Chairman did a great job organizing the weekend and showing potential new members what being in Kappa is all about. We were excited to be above chapter total.

This year Kappa Kappa Gamma placed first in the Greek Week talent show for the second year in a row! Our chapter’s representative won the Honorable Woman Award at the end of the week. Kappa also had one of the largest groups participating in John Carroll's third annual Relay for life, which served as the conclusion of Greek week.

This past year we created a new event to raise money for RIF. We had a pasta dinner, called KAPPASTAfor the John Carroll Students and community. With raffles, tons of food, live performances, the night turned out to be a lot of fun. The event was successful and we were able to do it twice within the year, raising close to $2,500 for Reading Is Fundamental. The chapter also won “Tug of War” for the second year in a row, as well as the prestigious campus Talent Show again.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''
2010: Excellence in Chapter Management; Honorable Mention in Finance, Recruitment and Panhellenic

==Highlights of 2011 - 2019:==
Highlights (scholarship, group honors/awards, special events, philanthropy and service projects, etc.):

==Highlights of 2011==

The Eta Zeta chapter has celebrated multiple landmarks this past year. We celebrated its tenth anniversary of our charter at John Carroll University. Our chapter also had something to celebrate in our successful academics. Our chapter had the most improved GPA from Spring to Fall Semesters 2011. Eta Zeta has achieved a higher GPA average than the all-campus GPA average and female all-campus GPA average.

Kappa also has the more members in the Order of Omega Society than any other organization along with having the newly elected Order of Omega President as one of our members. Two of our sisters also served on the board of the organization. When our LC visited in the fall semester she recognized the great strides that this chapter has made along with providing many suggestions that have been very helpful in the leadership of our chapter. Several suggestions helped us in updating our Standing Rules and Bylaws, which have been written by our new Chapter Council and will soon be voted on. All of our members were able to meet with her and enjoyed hearing about the various chapters across the nation and learning from both her experiences and her knowledge of the general Fraternity.

Because of Eta Zeta's great success in formal recruitment in the Fall of 2010, our chapter met the campus member quota and thus did not do informal recruitment in the Spring semester. Formal Recruitment this past Fall 2011 semester was another historic landmark for Eta Zeta, as we "Welcomed to our Masterpiece" 17 new members which was the most Eta Zeta has ever welcomed from Formal Recruitment and the highest amount initiated out of the four other sororities on campus.

Current members were very successful in demonstrating Kappas' balance among members, sisterhood, and overall pride in the chapter and Fraternity. Our New Member Chair organized events for the chapter for the actives and new members to socialize and bond, including crafting embellished cork boards, painting pumpkins, and decorating T-Shirts. New Members were also able to bond with each other at meals, a New Member retreat, and sleep-overs on the floor. Current members took new members on "dates" to get to know one another better and strengthen the bond between actives and New Members.

At our third annual Fall philanthropy event, Kappasta, the chapter raised $1,300 by serving fellow students, faculty, staff, family, and community members an all you can eat pasta dinner and a raffle with wonderful donated prizes such as a Kindle. One of our senior members played the piano throughout the event and a campus acapella group performed. The chapter decided to donate 80% of this money to Reading is Fundamental and the remaining 20% to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. It was a great success. Greek Week is always a heavily anticipated event for the Greeks at John Carroll. Our chapter won Second Place overall, First Place in Talent Show, Fourth Place in Lip Sync, and succeeded in many other activities throughout the week. Greek Week was a great opportunity for our sisterhood to bond in a very strong and unique way and work together as a whole in support of each other as well as the other organizations. At the conclusion of Greek Week, the John Carroll University campus hosted Relay for Life, which our chapter was heavily involved in.

In our fundraising at the event we raised over $1,000 for the Relay Community. Throughout the long hours into the night we continued to support the other Greek and non-Greek organizations present at the event. Our chapter was also pleased to be able to mix with all three fraternities on campus, as well as a date party in the Spring and Sapphire Ball, our annual Spring Formal.

'''Campus:''' John Carroll University's campus is 60 acres large and is located in the suburban community of University Heights, outside of Clevaland Ohio. John Carroll is a Jesuit University that celebrated its 125 Anniversary this fall. John Carroll has 3,000 full-time Undergraduate Students and 700 Graduate Students, this small atmosphere creates a very distinct community feeling, that our chapter is honored to be a part of. Greek Life only represents about 13% of the student body, but is steadily growing and gaining notoriety in the community.

Members of Greek Life share a common and special bond, of which enriches the lives of all Eta Zeta members. The majority of students study Business and Science or Technology but also has programs available in the Social Sciences, Humanities and Education. Our chapter is among the 100-plus recognized organizations on campus and many of our members are involved in at least one of these organizations.

Immersion trips and opportunities to study abroad are plentiful at John Carroll which our members take full advantage of, although we miss them dearly while they are away.

A very important aspect of John Carroll is our Jesuit heritage, the Jesuit ideal of "men and women for others" is definitely noticeable in all students, particularly within our sisterhood. Because of our Jesuit identity there are many service opportunities. For example, every week John Carroll has an event called Labre where students go out into the Cleveland neighborhood and serve food to the homeless. Kappas often go together on the service trip and help to better the community that we live in, better our chapter, and more importantly better ourselves.

'''Chapter:''' Currently the Eta Zeta Chapter has 51 active members, seventeen of which were initiated this fall. This is also our second year of having a floor completely devoted to Kappa members to live on. This floor has two lounges that serve as places for members to hang out together or study, these lounges are often used for sisterhood events. The majority of sisters live on this floor, but sisters who do not, including new members, have access to the floor so it is a place for all of the sisters to enjoy. Our chapter has been led by seven amazing seniors, who will be missed but all sisters are looking forward to them starting the next stage of their lives.

Chapter Council was pleased to have a Kappa Trainer lead our Officer Transitions. The trainer was very valuable in helping us understand and how to live by the Kappa values and helped us establish and plan goals to be accomplished in the future. The entire chapter is constantly developing closer bonds with our advisors and feel comfortable going to our advisors for assistance and resources on how to improve. The members of Eta Zeta proudly represent Kappa in Student Organizations and jobs across the John Carroll community including academic societies, sports (intramural, club, and varsity), Student Union, Residence Life, Student Union Programming Board, and Campus Ministry.

We are especially proud to have a member of Kappa currently serve as Panhellenic President. Our chapter is constantly looking ways to strengthen our sisterhood from eating together in the Cafeteria to off-campus events such as ice skating, to visiting the near by Akron chapter. Kappas are involved in a lot of activities but at the end of the day we all do our best to make time for one another and enjoy all the time we can spend together.

Our Chapter is proud to have accomplished our goals from the previous year, but are constantly looking to improve ourselves in every way possible. This year we have focused greatly at perfecting our ritual ceremonies. In addition to our monthly ritual rehearsal, we also practice songs and XXXXX throughout the month. We were very fortunate to have two ladies from Head Quarters attend our initiation, which motivated all the members to represent Eta Zeta as well as possible. Kappa members are constantly looking for more ways to strengthen our sisterhood. Before formal recruitment, active members went on a sisterhood retreat and through tears brought members together even more than possible. Through philanthropy events, meals, Super Bowl parties, and many more activities are sisters are given opportunities to get to know one another more and create lasting memories. One issue brought to the attention of our chapter was improving our Risk Management skills and emphasizing the current values of our chapter and the fraternity at large. Our Chapter Council has recently revised our By-Laws and Standing Rules to be more understandable to members and prevent future problems.

==Highlights of 2012==
The Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to be involved in campus and community events while always maintaining the ideals that define our fraternity. The year of 2012 has kept us very busy. Achieving the highest sorority GPA on John Carroll campus, our sisters have shown great dedication and importance to education. Collectively, we achieved a GPA of 3.26 during the spring of 2012. We keep a Kappademics binder in our campus library to log study hours as a way to encourage each other to strive for academic excellence.

Our chapter was very enthusiastic about winning Greek week. It was an exciting time and we enjoyed coming together as sisters to compete for the championship. Our chapter was also very excited to accept 20 new members into our fraternity.

Our 2012 president, Rebecca Magyar, attended the bi-annual Convention this past summer. Our chapter received a Standards award for chapters with fewer than 75 members. We also received honorable mention in three categories: most improved academic excellence award, academic excellence award, and recruitment award. These last three categories were all for the five or fewer Panhellenic group category.

At John Carroll University, Greek life is a very open community. Eta Zeta wears its letters on Tuesdays. This is one of the favorite traditions that have been going on for quite a while. Every year right after recruitment, new members go on a retreat to get to know their pledge class better and to learn Kappa songs in order to promote sisterhood. This retreat is usually held at a sister’s house. A new tradition started by our Greek Life director this year was a Panhel and IFC retreat. All new members were mandated to be at a Saturday training where they learned about Greek life at JCU and had the opportunity to bond with new members from other fraternities and sororities.

Sisterhood events have frequently been a favorite. This past year, we held over a dozen sisterhood activities. In the spring, we had a superbowl party on our floor, as well as a movie night off campus. On another night, we made crafts together. We also had our annual end-of-the-year Reading Day picnic at a sister’s house. Eta Zeta had Blue and Blue, Owl Pal, and Kappa Kousin which were nights that new members spent with older sisters to get to know them better. We also had a Pumpkin picking event around Halloween where we bought small and big pumpkins and came back to our KKG floor to paint and decorate them. Towards the end of fall semester, we each brought our own clothes in to decorate and held a Kappa Klothes night. We spray painted our clothes with different shades of blue and made ourselves more letters. We enjoyed a Kappa Christmas party where we ate a nice variety of food, made KKG ornaments and had a Christmas clothes contest. A special event that Greek life holds each year is the Greek Thanksgiving. All the fraternities and sororities get together to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together, encouraging inter-fraternal relationships. At the dinner, we also held a canned food drive in which each chapter competed to bring the most cans. We enjoyed our date party in the fall with the theme of “Guys in Ties, Girls in Pearls.” It was a fun night to spend with sisters and some friends.

Philanthropic involvement is frequently seen in our Kappa activities. Our biggest event was our annual Kappasta which is a spaghetti dinner we sponsor. All of the proceeds go to Kappa Kidney Camp. Seven baskets were donated by parents, businesses and Kappa sisters to be raffled off. By the end of the night, we raised $1631.62. A group of our sisters were invited to volunteer a few hours at Ronald McDonald where they spent some time with families who had loved ones in the neighboring hospital. Hugs for Heroes is another philanthropy we like to be involved with. We gathered in our lounge one night and wrote letters to soldiers overseas. In the spring semester, we participated in Relay for Life, for which we teamed up and walked to raise money for those suffering from cancer. Some Kappas also decorated cookies that were given to a homeless shelter as a way to lift their spirits and give back to the community. We also volunteered at a Cleveland Battered Women's shelter.

Eta Zeta completed an Action Plan for 2012 covering four different categories: Intellectual Development, Leadership and Skill Building, Understanding and Appreciation of Kappa, and Interpersonal Development. For the academics category, our chapter made the goal to improve our floor in order to have a more study-friendly atmosphere. We also wanted to improve our Academics Program to combat procrastination. Under Leadership and Skill Building, we decided to focus on committee involvement and improving the efficiency of chapter meetings. We wanted to involve our committees more, prioritize our business, and review Robin’s Rules and update the way Chapter is run. To enhance our understanding and appreciation of Kappa, focus was placed on heritage and ritual. Eta Zeta aspired to hold program nights that focused on the history of Kappa and Eta Zeta, and expose chapter members to the Ritual book. To enhance our interpersonal development, our chapter wanted to focus on unity, sisterhood, risk management, and attendance. We did this by reviewing Kappa’s policies and standards, creating a buddy system for the entire year, holding sisterhood retreats every semester, and inviting speakers to address Risk Management issues.

One of the challenges we always face is transitions. It’s a difficult time because some of the positions are filled with new members who are the least familiar with Chapter Council. As we do every year, the outgoing and incoming officers schedule a meeting time with the adviser to discuss the transition. The outgoing officers are responsible for training the new officers, so there is constant communication between them to ensure a smooth transition.

Kappa Kappa Gamma likes to be supportive of all other Greeks on campus, so we attend as many other philanthropy events of our fellow Greeks as we can. The Greek presidents on campus are in great communication with each other and inform each other when philanthropy events are taking place.

John Carroll has had one of its main quads closed off for a few years. This past summer, the quad was finished and is now open to student use. A memorial fountain from the class of 1956 was just completed this past fall and built by our business school. The fountain is gorgeous and the tiling around it was also re-done. Our chapter donated a brick to the construction of this project. The lacrosse team went Varsity and looks forward to their first season this upcoming spring. One of the dorms was renovated on campus and is open for upper classmen housing. JCU has also decided to renovate one of the dorms this summer. It is the largest freshman dorm on campus and it will be closed for the next school year. With housing being limited, the Kappa floor is required to make some changes and accept non-Kappas on to the floor. We are currently unsure what this will look like, but as a chapter, we will be supportive of each other and embrace these changes with a continuous positive and encouraging attitude.

==Highlights of 2013==

During 2013 the Eta Zeta chapter at John Carroll University has worked hard to meet our goals set in place by our chapter council members at the beginning of the year. We hoped to have a better understanding of ritual and chapter heritage, improve involvement or inclusion of non-chapter council members, to better our New Member Program, and to continue to maintain strong academic standards.

We improved our understanding of ritual in the spring by having monthly reviews, going over elements of ritual that needed improvement, appropriate dress for formal chapter, and Robert’s Rules of Order.

To improve involvement of all members, we held many sisterhood and social events. In the spring, we held a Super Bowl mixer with fraternity Beta Theta Pi, a cookout mixer with fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon, a formal date dance called the Sapphire Ball, and mixed with many different chapters on campus during Greek Week to get spirited for events. In the fall we held a mixer with fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha, a Disney themed date party, and a semi-formal Great Gatsby themed date party.

To build sisterhood, we had a Kappa Emmaus Retreat, where we spent a weekend at an off campus house doing bonding activities, allowing us to become even closer as a chapter. Along with that, we took a trip to Patterson’s Fruit Farm for apple picking, had a Christmas Party, many mani/pedi and movie nights on the floor, and a picnic at the end of the spring semester. Also, every week in chapter we passed along a journal with a letter in it from one sister to another, and passed along a blue bra to any sister in need of support. We raised $1550 for Reading is Fundamental by hosting Kappasta, a spaghetti dinner on campus. We also sent 40 Christmas cards to deployed soldiers, made blankets for Labre through the Linus Project, made Christmas cards with buddies at Through the Eyes of a Child, participated in Relay for Life and Danie’s Day at JCU, and mandated a five hour service requirement for each sister.

This year we improved our New Member Program by making it more involved and giving the New Members more opportunities to get to know the sisters. Fall formal recruitment was September 20-22, and we met our quota of 20 New Members, also holding a 100% retention rate from Friday to Saturday. Shortly after formal recruitment our cap was raised to 64 women, and we picked up two more New Members through informal recruitment, making it the largest pledge class in Eta Zeta history. After recruitment, we had many events such as a Kappa and Co. themed bid day celebration, Owl Pal, where we painted pumpkins, Kappa Kousin, where we made key chains, a speed-dating night with the sisters on the floor, a New Member retreat, a bonding activity with each academic class, weekly New Member dinners, a big/little reveal, eight New Member presentations, and a Meet the Advisers night. On November 17, 2013 we initiated 22 New Members, including three legacies.

Our chapter has also been able to maintain our strong academic standards, by earning an average 3.26 GPA for the Spring 2013 semester and a 3.22 GPA for the Fall 2013 semester. We began weekly drawings for small prizes for any sister who has earned an A or B on an assignment, and offering a gift card to the sister with the most hours spent in the library at the end of each semester.

Another aspect of our chapter we worked on improving was Panhellenic involvement. This year, three of our members were Pi Chi’s during formal recruitment, one of them being Pi Chi Director. Also, one of our members was Vice President of Programming for Panhel.

As a chapter, we received two Province awards, the Standards and Advisory Program awards, as well as an honorable mention for Public Relations. We were also the John Carroll Greek Week champions for the second year in a row.

This past year, one of the largest freshmen dorms has been under construction for renovation, which has limited on campus housing, requiring us to allow non-Kappas on the floor. We were all accepting of this change, and friendly and supportive of each other and the new girls on the floor. Next year, all of the Greek organizations will live in the same building. It is the building in which we already live, so we will not have to move our floor. We are looking forward to sharing a building with the other chapters at John Carroll and hopeful that this will allow us to grow closer with them.

==Highlights of 2014==

The Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to uphold standards and values of the fraternity through community service, sisterhood, and campus involvement. The year of 2014 has kept us very occupied. Our sisters achieved the highest sorority GPA at John Carroll. We achieved a GPA of 3.28 and moved from being ranked 3 to 1 out of the 5 sororities on campus. To encourage members to go study and dedicate themselves, we had programs that included the Kappa Library Log and Rate my Professor. The Kappa Fridge was created as a rewards program to help motivate girls in their academic studies.

To improve sisterhood, Kappa held many philanthropy and social events. Philanthropic involvement is frequently seen in our Kappa activities. To start off the year, Kappa members participated in Danie’s Day and led a fingerprint art station for the kids and their buddies. Kappas participate in Labre, going downtown to feed the homeless in Cleveland. Another off campus activity was going to the Montefiore Purim Festival where participants played games and did other activities at a nursing home. Kappa Kappa Gamma donated to Kappa Kidney Camp and Kappa Foundation. The Events chairman set up many events held throughout the year. Kappas did a tie-dye mixer with Delta Tau Delta, following a mixer with Chi Omega at a pottery-painting studio. Pre Greek Week activities, members mixed with 3 other fraternities and sororities. The Great Gatsby semi-formal was held in the Spring of 2014. Sapphire Ball was in early April. In the fall, Kappa had a fun campfire mixer with Lambda Chi Alpha and a pancake breakfast with Sig Phi Epsilon. Kappa held a Woodstock themed “Kappapaloza” date dance late October. A lot of excited Kappas went to Patterson’s farm in the fall, right after recruitment ended. An on-campus sister event included playing “Kapture the Key”. Before initiation, a sisterhood retreat with lots of fun games and activities occurred. Our annual Kappasta event was held on October, 26th, 2014. At the end of raffling and the Spaghetti dinner we raised $1,400 for Reading is Fundamental. Some Kappa members went to a Reading is Key event at the Boys and Girls Club CLE. Girls enjoyed sharing storytime, drawing Thanksgiving turkeys, and playing games such as Thanksgiving bingo with the kids. Each child went home with a book, and the remaining were donated to the Boys and Girls Club. The last Philanthropic event held at the end of the year was Through the Eyes of a Child. At this popular on-campus community service event, Kappa had a station of Christmas coloring pages and helped the kids meet Santa. Most Kappas agree that the best sister memories are unplanned, informal hangouts on the Kappa floor with sisters.

In 2014, several social media accounts were created for our Chapter. The PR chair worked hard to improve Eta Zeta’s Public Relations while active in her position. These accounts give Kappa the opportunity to show the difference we make on campus and off through posts of awards/honors, chapter goals, philanthropy events, sisterhood events, and other special events. Our new social media accounts include Instagram, Facebook page, Tumblr, and a newly designed website using the GIN system. This improves Eta Zeta because these platforms show our chapter in a positive light both on and off campus. Recording Secretary created a Google Drive that composites all the minutes, standing rules and by laws. This gives Eta Zeta Kappa members the chance to access these documents, improving our awareness of Chapter and Kappa procedures.

One of the biggest goals Eta Zeta’s Housing Chairman wanted was to establish better communication to improve Eta Zeta’s awareness of the housing policies and expectations. Weekly updates were sent out to Housekeeping and Residence Life about the cleanliness of the bathroom/hallways/trash, to insure that the facility was maintained. Housing Chairman decorated the common spaces for the holiday to give the floor an extra lift. The bulletin board would be decorated for the members with personalized notes. The goal was for the facility to have a fresher look. A major undertaking this year was to clean and organize the storage room, add new shower heads, and add new design in the study lounge so members could maximize the use of the lounge. Members now use the study lounge for an independent study, utilizing the rooms printer, textbooks, and other resources.

Corresponding Secretary had the duty of planning Parent’s Brunch for all chapter members and their parents. During the 2014 brunch, 14 seniors were recognized and received gifts. The Corresponding Secretary also sent out cards to every chapter during their Founder’s Day, beginning of each semester, before/after recruitment, and for holidays.

Another aspect Kappa wanted to improve was presentation with Panhellenic involvement. We are proud to announce three of our members were Pi Chis during formal recruitment. Also, the Panhellenic Delegate for this term collaborated with the Vice President of Organization. These two officers used participation groups to encourage Panhellenic meeting attendance. As a final incentive at the end of the year, two members of the chapter were awarded with gift cards for attending Panhellenic meetings.

Kappa held a Kappa Trainer as well as our PDC visiting the weekend before recruitment. At the Kappa Training, members were brought closer together through group activities. Our PDC came to our Recruitment Workshop and gave a brief presentation as well as some tips on how to best conduct ourselves during recruitment rounds. Members were involved during the workshop by doing mock recruitment rounds and voting. Also, they shared tips and information about cool things our chapter members have done helped get girls prepared and excited for the next weekend. Our membership chair said there was no challenge with keeping up spirits and morals of our Kappa girls leading up to and during recruitment. Eta Zeta welcomed 19 new members into Kappa Kappa Gamma after formal recruitment this fall. From Saturday to Sunday, our return rate was 71%. Quota for recruitment was 19 girls, and we reached quota. The New Member Chairman set up events to bond the new members with the rest of the chapter through Owl Pal, Kappa Kousin, Speed Dating for Bigs, weekly New Member meetings, and the New Member Retreat.

Our chapter Marshal led monthly ritual reviews, including a “What Not to Wear” fashion show addressing what is appropriate and inappropriate attire for formal chapter and a self-guided reflection on what is beautiful and good. She also helped Eta Zeta prepare for Initation by holding twice-weekly Initiation reviews to accommodate Eta Zeta’s varying and challenging schedules. She also provided surveys to active members to ensure they were understanding and grasping the material. At the end of the Initiation review period, she held a big review game, at which members demonstrated their knowledge of Initiation ritual in order to win the prize of not having to help set up for Initation after the Fireside ceremony. She held a Blue and Blue all-chapter sisterhood event during Inspiration Week, at which Eta Zeta members decorated cupcakes with blue decorations and participated in a Flowerside ceremony, in which New Members receive flowers selected to represent them by their bigs. On November 16, 2014, 18 New Members were initiated into Eta Zeta.

Our 2014 president, Alexandria Miranda, attend the bi-annual Convention this past year. Our chapter received an award for the most outstanding New Member Program.

This past year, we welcomed three non-Kappas to live on the floor. They found the floor to be a supportive and friendly environment. John Carroll Residence Life underwent a major change in the past year, moving all Greek organization housing into one dorm building. Sharing a building exclusively with Greeks has brought all the chapters closer together at John Carroll.

We do have a few girls that wear historical badges. Our president wears a badge that is passed down during each transition. It is a chain that is attached to an individual’s pin and has the President’s dangle and the letters that symbolize our chapter, HZ.
Also, the Vice President of Standards wears a pin with a chain containing the letters HZ and the President of Standards dangle.
During the New Member period, there is a special pin given to one New Member, who showed admirable portrayal of what it means to be a true Kappa Kappa Gamma. It is passed on by the member who received it the previous year. The back of the pin is initialed R.K with the date 11/1/01.

==Highlights of 2015==
The Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to uphold standards and values of the fraternity through community service, sisterhood, and campus involvement. Our 2015 President is Sara Martinko. This past year we had four chapter delegates go to the Province meeting in Spring of 2015.

When Vice President of Standards entered Kappa as Vice President of Standards in 2015, Eta Zeta had been struggling with morale and chapter unity. However, with a new leadership team willing and determined to change this, there was soon a quick turn around. As VPS, she wanted to continue Eta Zeta traditions of boosting morale, such as the blue bra of support as well as the sisterhood journal. It was a goal of hers to make this more consistent, by holding the women accountable when it was their turn. VPS also wanted to add additional and routine morality boosters. VPA initiated Kappa Keeper of the Key to recognize a woman each week who had done something outstanding. A few examples of women who were recognized were a sister who’s internship was working at a jury’s office, a sister who was accepted into a study aboard program for the spring semester, and a sister who completed a half marathon. Another sister would have to nominate a fellow sister to be the Kappa Keeper, thus calling more girls to become involved in the process, and recognize the beautiful and the good in one another. She also made hoots and salutes a part of her report. She felt that this got the girls exited and started chapter on a positive note. In the prior year, attendance had been an issue, however this year, it seemed as girls genuinely wanted to attend events with their sisters. In the spring of last year, she planned a Love and Loyalty Valentine’s sisterhood event, where we had an open discussion on loving your sister, loving another, and loving yourself. Each girl wrote down a personal quote for each of the categories and VPS complied all of them to make a reference book for the Kappa study lounge. Last year we explored Cleveland, visiting a marketplace. This was a fun sisterhood event, leaving campus and exploring the community around us. We ended the year with a sisterhood cookout outside of our dorm. A beautiful day made it perfect to enjoy burgers, corn hole, and each other. This was a great way to not only relax before exams, but also to see how sisterhood had really come together the past semester. This fall semester for sisterhood, one of her primary focuses was to strengthen academics, while promoting sisterhood. She did this by working in conjunction with the Vice President of Academic Excellence. We created the idea of “study buddies,” promoting sisters studying together and taking a picture to be posted in the study lounge. We had a study party in our study lounge, with a variety of favorite cereals to enjoy as brain food. Another issue she wanted to bring forth was the idea of sexual violence. One of our sisters who graduated in the spring had been a victim of sexual assault. She used this experience to become an advocate to bring awareness on this important issue. For a programming night, we skyped in this sister from Florida. She told us her story, engaged the chapter, and asked important questions for reflection. After she gave her account and shared information, we had the director of the Sexual Violence and Prevention Center initiate a discussion on the statistics, warning and prevention signs of sexual violence. This event is probably what she was most proud of as Standards. It was amazing to see one of our fellow Kappa sisters stand up for her beliefs and have willingness to inform our sisters. As VPS, she found that Eta Zeta is a collection of passionate, dedicated women who want to grow individually as well as with each other. Although it may have spearheaded events and traditions to promote sisterhood, she felt that it is the uniqueness and dedication of women to this fraternity in which sisterhood truly has blossomed.

Over the past year in her time as Vice President of Organization, she found that the detail and organization of our chapter council took in creating our Strategic Goals has allowed each officer to succeed in creative ways for the ultimate well being of Eta Zeta. This year, VPO took a new approach on our committee usage and merged all officers into groups. These five groups include: Risk/Events, Ritual/New Member/ Corresponding Secretary, Membership/Public Relations/Registrar, Education/ VPO/ Academics, and Philanthropy/House/Panhel. The standards and finance committees were equally dispersed throughout each of these 5 subgroups to serve as a voice and outlet to their subcommittee and still maintained a meeting in their appointed committee. Eta Zeta has found this more efficient to have other officers at their expense when one needs support. Lastly, Eta Zeta had two successful Leadership Consultant visits that gave our chapter council great advice to improve in different aspects of their positions that has lead to a more cohesive chapter council.

Starting off this semester, Kappa went from having the highest GPA in Fall 2014, 3.29, to being ranked fourth out of five sororities in Spring 2015, 3.22. Since we were tied with the all-girl GPA at JCU, we were at risk for academic probation. To combat this, the Vice President of Academic Excellence began a system with study buddies. This entailed Kappas to study with a sister in one of their classes, write down their common goals, and turn them into her. As a whole, this system helped stress the importance of academics. In addition, VPAE had everyone calculate their GPA goals. After receiving a majority of them, she calculated an overall GPA goal of 3.49 for this semester. Before scheduling for the spring semester, she continued the academic buddy system by pairing new members with older active members of the same major in order to give them advice prior to scheduling. Many new members were very happy with this system as it guided them through the stressful scheduling process. To encourage girls to study, she hung a clothespin line in the study lounge and gave Starbucks gift cards to those who took pictures studying with one another to hang on the clothespin line. In addition, VPAE enforced quiet hours in the study lounge from 8-10pm Monday - Thursday. Many sisters were pleased with this because they could now avoid the hike to the library and study in the comfort of the study lounge. Regarding Period of Concern, only 1 girl was placed on it for a couple weeks. When the conditions change based on her situation, once more organized, she trusted this girl could improve her work ethic to be successful academically. Overall, many new ideas were created this semester to stress the importance of academics. She believes these programs will aid in the academic achievements of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Last Spring, Parents Brunch was on March 21st in LSC conference Room. The Corresponding Secretary put on the event and it had a great turn out. A lot of parents were present and we also celebrated eighteen Kappas who were graduating. Each graduate received a poster board with their picture on it. During the brunch, parents and other sisters could write little messages on them for the seniors. This Fall, all twenty-two new members have ordered their pins.

As a way to better educate members on Personal Finance, the Treasurer chair created a new financial program entitled Kappa Cash. At each chapter the Treasurer teaches a mini lesson on personal finance such as how to budget, credit cards, bank accounts and interest rates, etc. Then at the following chapter she asks a question regarding the previous lesson. If the member gives the correct answer the kappa gets to choose if she wants to spend her money, place her money in her checking account, or place her money in her savings account. If she spends her money, she plays a game with a chance of winning a gift card, but there is also a chance she will not win anything. This exemplifies the risks of spending money to the chapter, because once money is spent it is gone. If she puts her name in her checking or savings account her name will go into a drawing for rewards at midterms and finals. The checking account shows members that money placed in this account is more short-term than a long-term savings account. Members seem to enjoy and are learning from this program.

It is not hard to keep the sisters of Eta Zeta attentive and enthusiastic because there is an interest in learning about Kappa history. Each week the Registrar asks a Kappa trivia question on the Facebook wall and gives out prizes. Also, she provides a history fact during her report at chapter.

Our Marshal of Eta Zeta chapter traveled to Carnegie Mellon University in the Spring '15 to initiate two of our members from informal recruitment. Over the summer our Marshal resigned, so at the beginning of the fall semester we elected a new one. In the Fall '15, she conducted a thorough ritual review with these two members. After gaining twenty-two New Members through recruitment this fall, the Marshal held the Pledge-In ceremony on September 27, one week after Bid Day. Leading up to Inspiration week, she prepared Eta Zeta for Initiation by holding twice-weekly Initiation reviews, requiring each member to attend at least one per week. On November 6, the Marshal traveled to Lambda chapter at University of Akron to initiate one of the New Members who would not be in attendance at Eta Zeta's Initiation the following week. On Tuesday, November 10, the Marshal planned Blue and Blue for the sisters of Eta Zeta as a way to strengthen the bond between our sisters as we prepared for Initiation on Saturday. At Blue and Blue, letters were written from bigs, grand-bigs, etc. to their family members who were being initiated. These letters were to be read by the New Members the night before Initiation. In addition, the initiates were to write letters to their future littles, explaining how their time as a New Member was going, and the excitement that ensued building up to Initiation. There was also an ice cream sundae bar for the chapter. In addition, the Flowerside ceremony took place the same night as Blue and Blue, where the New Members received flowers from their bigs that represented them in some way. Littles of graduating seniors also spoke on behalf of their bigs at this time. A thorough Initiation review followed the ceremony. On November 13, Fireside ceremony took place, followed by set-up for Initiation. Eta Zeta hosted Initiation for a New Member from Lambda chapter who also needed to be initiated. This year's Initiation set-up was challenging because a different room was being used. However, the chapter worked together, and the seniors took charge, in order to make the space work as necessary. On Saturday, November 14, 22 New Members were initiated. The Marshal met with the newly initiated members of Eta Zeta in order to debrief from Initiation.

At the end of Spring 2015 we said goodbye to eighteen Kappas. This year our chapter has a graduation class of eleven. The Education chair recently organized Founder’s Day at The Cleveland Aquarium. We were in attendance along with various alumni from the Cleveland area. The chapter has also been actively participating in education events and programing nights. The chapter just participated in an educational programming night where members learned about sexual assault, sexual harassment, and the after effects. A counselor from the campus guidance counselor office spoke as well as a previous alum from the chapter who shared her personal experiences. Overall this past year has been very successful and we are looking forward to event more educational events in the future.

One of the biggest goals Eta Zeta’s Housing Chairman wanted was to create a relaxed and inviting environment in the common areas. By updating and rearranging furniture on the floor she created an open atmosphere that encouraged actives and new members to bond in the common areas. The common spaces were decorated for the holiday to give the floor an extra lift. We also received new carpet in all of the common spaces, giving the facility a fresher look. A major undertaking this year was to clean and organize the storage room and implementing a new check out system for the storage room keys.

Our 2015 Membership Chairman said Recruitment was wonderful. Kappa Kappa Gamma was able to welcome nineteen new members during formal and three more during informal recruitment a week later. In the Spring Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in a workshop to practice conversation skills and the Membership Chairman also educated our new members on the recruitment process. In the Fall she created events to get girls excited for the long weekend ahead. We had one meeting practicing skills and another talking about logistics. She planned a group day bonding event were groups picked out the questions they would ask potential new members. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Delta came together and had a mixer to practice bumping and conversation. After the weekend of Recruitment she asked members to complete a survey for the next Membership chair to use.

The New Member Chairman educated twenty-two new members about the Eta Zeta Chapter at John Carroll University. She hosted events such as weekly meetings before chapter, Owl Pal, Kappa Kousin, Speed Dating, movie nights on the floor, Big/Little Reveal, New Member Retreat and Inspiration week. On October 24th New Members participated in a Sexual Harassment and Alcohol Education course that is required for all Greek Life to complete. The girls bonded with one another and got to know the actives well throughout this 8-week New Member Period.

To continue improving Panhellenic involvement, Kappa passed the bylaw that stated members must attend one Panhellenic event per semester. These events include weekly Panhellenic meetings as well as other philanthropic events put on by the other sororities on campus. Kappa's involvement has greatly improved since this implementing of this bylaw through presence at the weekly meetings as well as Greek Life events on campus. This year Kappa had two members serve on the Panhellenic executive board as Vice President of Programming and Vice President of Membership. Two other Kappa members were also chosen to be Pi Chis during Fall Recruitment.

After taking on the position of Public Relations Chairman in 2013, she really worked hard to create and develop our different social media platforms. Her goal for this past term was to have a positive presence on social media and make all of our social media accounts even better than they were before. Also, she wanted to get more of the chapter involved with the GIN system, which was one of her biggest challenges. It was very hard for us to transition over to the GIN system but with the help of our VPO we were able to start using the features on the website. She worked to create our new website through the GIN system. This past year, PR really worked to develop our Tumblr account. She want our Tumblr to not only be a fun site of pictures of our chapter, but also to use as a resource for other positions that need to use these pictures, such as recruitment scrapbooks. She also tried to post more often on our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Page. Another thing that she has done is make a lot of videos for our chapter. This past year PR made a Senior Send-off Video, Recruitment Video, and Bid Day Video. The annual newsletter, the Hootie Hoo was sent out in May and the Chapter Honors Report was also sent to headquarters in May. Lastly, she worked to create our new website through the GIN system.

To improve sisterhood, Kappa Kappa Gamma held many social events. The Events chairman set up many events held throughout the year. Kappas did a board game mixer with Sigma Phi Epsilon, following a bingo mixer with Lambda Chi Alpha. Pre Greek Week activities, members mixed with 3 other fraternities and sororities. The Wildest Dream semi-formal was held in the Spring of 2015. Sapphire Ball was in early April. In the fall, Kappa had a fun campfire mixer with Lambda Chi Alpha, a volleyball game with Sigma Phi Epsilon, and a football tailgate with Beta Theta Pi. Kappa held a 90's themed “Kappa Kappa Gamma is All That” date dance late November.

During Risk Management’s term she wanted our chapter to become more informed and involved with personal health/wellness. In order to achieve this she hosted three health and wellness events: two in the spring and one in the fall. In the spring Risk took our sisters to a Barre class (a mixture of strength activities and Pilates) and to Skyzone (indoor trampoline park). She thought it would be a fun way to get active and relieve stress. This semester we have a cycling event at Groove Ryde scheduled for December 12th as a way to relieve stress before finals. One challenge that Kappa Kappa Gamma experienced during her term was that our buddy system was not being used properly. We have a buddy system at our dances to insure that all people attending (Kappas and non-Kappas) get home safely, if they are asked to leave the dance. People were not sending in their buddy's names so we were unable to send home the right people at the dances. In order to fix this we have now made it a priority to make sure our members send in their buddies prior to our dances. The Events Chairman and Risk Management Chairman give presentations prior to dances about alcohol and expected behavior at our events. Another new thing that happened during her term was she made a health and wellness incentive program called the Kappa Klimb. Our sorority lives on the 4th floor of our dorm and to encourage health and wellness Risk decided to make an incentive program for our sisters to want to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Every time a Kappa walks up the stairs she can put a tally next to her name, and the person with the most tallies at the end of two weeks wins a $5 gift card. It's promoting health and a little friendly competition between our sisters.

The recent changes on our campus include a new Greek Life advisor. This transition has been difficult as she is making many changes. Despite this we are working to improve our Panhellenic relations on campus and our presence on Panhellenic Council.

The overall nature of our chapter is very diverse and positive. It is possible to find at least one of our members in almost every activity on campus, so the overall group is eclectic in our passions. Our chapter is eager to help when help is required, and works to make all of our members feel included. Although our overall nature is positive, we do run into some problems. Recently we have been experiencing problems with participation in various chapter activities, attendance at chapter meetings, and behavior at date dances. Our fall date dance this year had multiple issues in regards to girls drinking alcohol and our standards committee is working to rectify this. We are planning a programming night as well to address the issues. In recent years, whenever issues have arose, they can quickly be fixed by reiterating the ideals of Kappa to our members and working together towards living these out. This is what we plan to do with our current issues as well.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

To improve sisterhood, Kappa held many philanthropy and social events. Philanthropic involvement is frequently seen in our Kappa activities. Last semester we had several service events including card making for a nursing home, Dani's Day which is a day of service with children who have downs syndrome, the Jesuit Day of Service, and many girls do weekly service. We held a philanthropy event called Sweet Tea Tuesday where we raised money for Kappa Kidney Camp and the Kappa Foundation. Our annual Kappasta event was held on October, 25th, 2015. At the end of raffling and the Spaghetti dinner we raised $2.055 for Reading is Fundamental as well as receiving over 55 books to donate. We have volunteered on freshman move in, did a service event with the Chi-Omega chapter as well as helped with Through they Eyes of A Child where we had fun coloring and taking pictures with Santa with children from inner city schools of Cleveland.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

As an organization we typically donate to three organization including, Kappa Kidney Camp, Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Foundation. Due to the fact that we are a chapter in Ohio we have Kappa Kidney Camp as a regional organization. This is a week long camp for kids with kidney issues to participate in safe activities and make new friends. We get the opportunity to send girls to the camp in the middle of the week to meet the kids!
Each year we participate in two events held by the University for the Cleveland Community. It is important to the girls in the chapter to give back to the community and volunteer with children. On top of weekly service in the community and the events held on campus we have many girls that attend immersion trips outside of the country. This gives them an opportunity to make and impact on a global level.

Service is very important to our chapter as a whole and girls often say that some of their best sisterhood memories are from the times when we are helping others.

==Highlights of 2016:==

The Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to uphold standards and values of the fraternity through community service, sisterhood and campus involvement.

Our 2016 president was Victoria Williams. She attended the Kappa National Biannual Convention in June to vote on changing the structure of the organization and elect the new fraternity council. She gained new advanced knowledge about Kappa and met other sisters from across the country. At the convention, Eta Zeta was awarded the Finance award in recognition of outstanding achievements for the years 2014 to 2016.

Throughout her term as Vice President of Standards, she worked with her committee to implement as many new and refreshing ideas as possible. The biggest changes have come through just working to communicate better with the chapter as a whole about standards and overall expectations. The committee has continued many of our sisterhood building ideas from the past such as the Blue Bra of Support, and weekly Kappa Keeper of the Key. The VPS created a new Sisterhood Favorites Binder to have in our study lounge that our sisters can look to for ideas to build each other up, if someone is having a bad day. This year we also had a very fun sisterhood retreat that we used as a way to bond coming back to school from summer break, and also a way to prepare for recruitment. As we welcome in new members, a new set of needs to be fulfilled by Standards. Our chapter has improved greatly in terms of inclusion and morality due to the events planned by the VPS. Our chapter has taken major steps towards being more accountable for each individual’s actions, which has been a great learning opportunity for all of us.

Upon starting her time as the Vice President of Organization, she really wanted to improve committee involvement. She therefore tried to implement a committee member of the month system, where each committee chair would nominate a member of their committee each month that they believe has significantly contributed in one way or another. While this did not hold up, it will be tried next term. There was a new approach to committee usage with merged groups that the former VPO created and she continued them this year because they were received well. The groups remain as follows: Risk/Events, House/Philanthropy, Ritual/Corresponding Secretary/New Member, Panhel/Registrar/Membership/PR and VPO/Education/VPAE, with the standards and finance committees dispersed throughout these 5 groups. Eta Zeta also hosted two Leadership Consultants, one in April and one in September. These visits were very successful, since many girls got to meet the LC’s, took them out to dinner and were able to benefit greatly from their knowledge. The first visit during April allowed chapter council to focus on how to get members more involved and how to be more cohesive as a council. The second visit in the fall was focused around recruitment. All of Eta Zeta’s members were able to learn how to better communicate with the PNMs as well as refresh their knowledge on recruitment procedures. Furthermore, having a Leadership Consultant present during recruitment made the weekend a lot smoother and the voting process a lot clearer and more efficient. She really feels that the involvement and interest that the girls showed in both of the LCs this year was really great and was really happy to see how much we were all able to benefit from their visits. Looking forward, she thinks that encouraging committee involvement and usage of the Ginsystem, as well as planning organized, fun visits for the Leadership Consultants, should be a point of focus of the next VPO.

Our Vice President of Academic Excellence began a new program called “Geek of the Week” that recognizes one sister each week for an outstanding academic achievement. This has been a fun way to celebrate excelling in classes. She emphasized tracking study hours through the Gin System, rather than the binder in the library we used to use. This helped to increase the number of study hours we completed as a chapter, because they could be recorded from anywhere on campus. This showed how committed our chapter is to their studies. She continued the academic buddy system for last year, which pairs up new members with someone of the same major for advice with scheduling, etc. She was overwhelmed with the positive response from this program. For fall 2015, we had a GPA of 3.26 and were 3rd for all of Greek Life and also 3rd for the sororities; the average all female campus GPA was a 3.19. For spring 2016, we had a 3.31 and were tied for 3rd overall for Greek life and also tied for 3rd of the sororities. The average all campus female GPA was 3.31. Overall, she is a great motivator for the chapter and has led to an increase in our academic involvement.

The Corresponding Secretary has added many new ideas to Chapter Council and the chapter as a whole to both keep everyone on top of their position and unit the chapter as sisters. She ordered report reminder cards and handed them out to each officer as a way to help get reports turned in on time. She started a secret admirer box which sits in the lounge and girls can write compliments about each other and then they are read out loud at chapter. This has encouraged positivity and encouragement amongst the Kappas. She also sent out birthday cards to advisors and alum in order to keep our relationships with them high.

The Eta Zeta treasurer instituted a program called Kappa Cash last year in order to better educate members of their personal finances. She teaches a mini lesson related to finance and then asks a question about it at a later date to ensure people understand the meaning and application. Those that answer the question correctly are then entered in either the checking, a midterm gift card drawing, or the savings, a final gift card drawing, account. This has been a great way to get everyone involved and learn more in fun ways. From the duties of the treasurer, everyone in the chapter gains a better understanding of how to manage their money.

In order to keep the sisters of Eta Zeta constantly involved in Kappa history, the Registrar did various history updates in chapter or on the Facebook wall. Additionally, she ordered a Museum in a Box from Headquarters which provided an exciting amount of new history to the entire chapter. This was celebrated along with a history presentation around Founder’s Day. Eta Zeta also celebrated their 15th anniversary as a chapter on November 17.
Our Marshal of Eta Zeta chapter made it a goal for girls to understand the procedure of ritual. After gaining twenty-one New Members through recruitment this Fall, the Marshal held the Pledge-In ceremony on October 9th , one week after Bid Day. Leading up to Inspiration week, she prepared Eta Zeta for Initiation by holding twice-weekly Initiation reviews, requiring each member to attend at least one per week. She wanted girls to really know the songs for Initiation. The Sunday starting Inspiration week she had two girls stand up in front of the chapter and tell members what kappa means to them. This got the Initiates excited to join a strong bond of sisterhood. On Wednesday, November 16, the Marshal planned Blue and Blue and Flowerside for the sisters of Eta Zeta as a way to strengthen the bond between our sisters as we prepared for Initiation on Saturday. At Blue and Blue, letters were written from Initiates to their future littles telling them about Inspiration week and how they are feeling and about their Kappa family. Bigs wrote letters for their littles to read the night before Initiation. In addition, the Flowerside ceremony took place the same night as Blue and Blue, where the New Members received flowers from their bigs that represented them in some way. Littles of graduating seniors also spoke on behalf of their bigs at this time. A thorough Initiation review followed the ceremony to prepare everyone for Saturday. On November 18th, Fireside ceremony took place and before that everyone helped to set-up for Initiation. Getting prepared for Initiation was a little challenging this year since the New Member period was shortened. However, the chapter worked together. On Saturday, November 19th, twenty-one New Members were Initiated. The Marshal met with the newly initiated members of Eta Zeta in order to debrief from Initiation.

At the end of Spring 2016 we said goodbye to eleven Kappas. This year our chapter has a graduation class of seventeen. The Education chair recently organized Founder's Day at the Westwood Country Club in Rocky River. We were in attendance along with various alumni from the Cleveland area. The chapter has also been actively participating in education events and programming nights. During the fall semester, the chief of the John Carroll police department gave a presentation about substance abuse, and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center gave a presentation about sexual assault and harassment. The senior class of 2016 also participated in some fun sisterhood events at the end of the year, and care packages were sent to the Kappas that were studying abroad. Overall, this past year has been successful and we are looking forward to more educational events in the future.
Eta Zeta’s housing chairman continually strived to maintain a clean, inviting space on the sorority floor for all of the sisters. She used her budget to add new decorations to the floor before recruitment and saw a great reaction. Girls are always in the lounge and it is always a welcoming and homey atmosphere. In addition, she utilized the Kappa House Board who generously funded a new vacuum and microwave. Along with Residence Life on campus, she implemented creating the roster for the floor sooner (in November vs. February) to avoid people signing leases to live off campus, which was a small issue in the chapter this year. She continues to reserve rooms on campus to hold all of Eta Zeta’s events and submits work orders to fix anything that needs repair on the floor.

Our 2016 Membership Chairman said recruitment was wonderful. Kappa Kappa Gamma was able to welcome twentyone new members during formal recruitment. This year we had a 100 percent retention rate on the first day of recruitment thanks to all the hard work from our members. Through formal recruitment we reached our school's capacity of membership and did not participate during informal recruitment. In the Spring, Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in a workshop to practice conversation skills and the Membership Chairman also had a separate workshop to educate our new members on the recruitment process. In the Fall she created events to get girls excited for the long weekend ahead. There were a total of two workshops one to improve conversation skills and another pertaining to the logistics of recruitment. Throughout the weekend everyone had high spirits and were excited to welcome our new members.

The new member period for Eta Zeta was shortened from eight weeks to five weeks in order for them to be initiated before semester break. While it was a lot to take in in a short time, the New Member Educator worked very hard to ensure a smooth, enjoyable transition for all the girls. Her goal was to be creative with her position and think as much outside of the box as possible because she believed that the program was becoming repetitive each year. Keeping with tradition and following all of the events, she put her own twist on things. The new members also completed the "Not Anymore" program prior to being initiated.

Last year, Kappa passed a bylaw that stated members must attend one Panhellenic event per semester which has been a great way to get all our sisters involved with other greek life. Eta Zeta showed a great presence at other greek life activities, philantrophy events and Panhellenic fundraisers. This year Kappa had one member serve on the Panhellenic Executive Board as Vice President of Finance and Administration. Three other members were also chosen to be Recruitment Counselors (Pi Chis) and assist with the potential new members during fall recruitment. At the end of the semester, three members were elected onto the Panhellenic Executive Board for the following term - President, Vice President of Scholarship and Standards, and Vice President of Public Relations.

This past year, after taking over Public Relations Chairman from a member who had previously held the position for the last 2 years, she worked hard in continuing to maintain a favorable image for Eta Zeta over social media and other digital platforms, but implemented brand consistency to help our chapter become better recognized and distinguished from other organizations. For example, she created a new social media logo and cover photo for the chapter and created different campaigns and graphics showcasing our members (eg. 30 Reasons Why We Love Kappa, National Kindness Week, Kappa Keeper of the Key). As a result, the chapter and members received lots of positive feedback and were featured multiple times on the Kappa Headquarters Instagram account. Through her PR efforts, she tried to encourage members to become more involved in the chapter by taking an interest in following their sisters' accomplishments, headquarters news and supporting other Greek organizations on and off campus. She also created materials such as flyers, banners, buttons and social media advertisements to promote our philanthropy events like Kappa Dog Day and Kappasta. In addition, she updated the chapter website through the GIN system by including new officer and position bios and pictures, uploading new images of members and adding a new section under the website menu that included our campus involvement. She also put together the annual newsletter which will now be sent out every December since officer transitions are conducted then. This makes the most sense to summarize the events that took place in that time frame (from January - December) based on the members who held the positions then. She also completed the Chapter Honors Report and sent it in to headquarters in May. Overall, many positive strides were made this year for Eta Zeta’s public relations.

To continue to build relationships with the Greek organizations on campus, Eta Zeta had many social events. In the spring, we had a Board Game mixer with Beta Theta Pi, a Letter Shirt mixer with Delta Tau Delta, a Gym Day with Sigma Phi Epsilon, and a Floor Hangout with Lambda Chi Alpha. We also had many mixers during Greek Week including a Pizza Party with Kappa Alpha Theta. Sapphire Ball was in late April. In the fall, Kappa had a Tailgate and Cookout mixer with Sigma Phi Epsilon, Pumpkin Carving with Lambda Chi, Karaoke with Beta Theta Pi, and Christmas Cookie Decorating with Delta Tau Delta. Eta Zeta held a "Perfect Pairs" date dance in early November. The Events Chairman worked hard to improve behavior at date functions and continue implementing all risk management procedures. In the future, Eta Zeta hopes to cultivate relationships with all Greek Organizations on campus and to improve Panhellenic relations with more sorority mixers.

During the Risk Management chair’s term, she worked to promote healthy living habits to the chapter in new, fun ways. She made many upbeat playlists through Spotify in which the whole chapter could access for workout motivation. She has offered workout plans and diet plans to anyone who is interested. She continued the Buddy system from last year, which assigns buddies to each member for all social events in order to be responsible for each other’s actions and promote low-risk behaviors. Our risk behavior has improved greatly from last year due to the immense efforts of the Events and Risk Management Chairs to relay to the chapter the importance of respectable actions. The chapter has become more reliant on each other and constantly working towards no high-risk behavior at all. Along with that, the chair brought in Brian Hurd, the head of campus police, to discuss the risks of underage drinking. He even had the chair undergo sober checkpoints to illustrate how someone would be tested. This was a great reminder to the chapter of the real, legal consequences that can come with alcohol. The risk management chair is also planning a fitness event off campus through Orange Theory Fitness. She worked extremely hard and increased the morale of the chapter this past year.

The philanthropy chair continued with our annual fall Kappasta event to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. It was football themed and titled “Kappasta Bowl”. This year, a total of $2,563 was raised in addition to approximately 400 books. An event is in the planning to distribute and read the books to local schools. In the spring, Eta Zeta hosted the first annual “Kappa Dog Day” in which hot dogs were sold and there was also a hotdog eating competition in order to raise money for Kappa Kidney Camp. This was a very successful event that got other students on campus involved with one of our philanthropies and also allowed for some friendly competition. The chapter has continued to be involved in many service events on campus including Danie’s Day, a day of service with children who have downs syndrome, and Through the Eyes of a Child, where Kappa has a coloring page table and pictures with Santa for children from inner city schools of Clevelend. The members have continued collecting service hours that are over and above the required amounts.

We have had no major changes on campus this year. Our chapter is very respected on campus and has a good reputation. We are known for being involved in many things other than just our chapter, constantly exploring our other interests and expanding our experiences. Despite a few bumbs with high-risk behavior in the past, the chapter has motivated each other to become more responsible of their actions and respectable of their sisters. No matter the issue, the chapter and their council always work together to establish the best solution and overcome whatever lies ahead.
Eta Zeta has supported Reading is Fundamental through our annual Kappasta Event, where we offer endless pizza, pasta and salad to our campus and community for a small monetary donation or a childrens book donation. We have also supported Kappa Kidney Camp and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation with various smaller scale events throughout the year.

Reading is Fundamental is our national sorority philantrophy, but also a great foundation in which all of our members believe in. The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation is a great way for us to give back to Kappa and support our fellow sisters all over the country.

==Highlights of 2017:==

As the Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to grow, we continue to focus on high standards of the fraternity while participating in community service, sisterhood and campus involvement.

At the beginning of 2017, the VP of Standards was very excited to get started. She wanted to create a committee that was there to support each member of Eta Zeta. In the spring, she started the support by implementing a sister of the week presentation to highlight one member of the chapter. To go along with this, she wanted to highlight the seniors as well, so she created a senior spotlight. By the end of the Spring semester, we had a night on the floor that consisted of minute to win it games, and more! This was a good rap up to the academic year. Coming back in the fall, she planned a retreat with different activities to build sisterhood and prepare for recruitment. In October, we continued the tradition and went to Patterson's Fruit Farm. Our VP of Standards received an idea from two members on her committee and decided to go with it, so each member was paired up with another member in the same academic class. Each pair wrote a letter to each other about how lucky Kappa was to have them as a part of this chapter. Also, our VP of Standards has implemented a quote of the day that is sent through the Ginsystem. Another way our VP of Standards and her committee continues to build sisterhood by having a Movie Monday on the floor. This allows all the members to join on Monday nights and watch a movie together to start off the week. To end this semester, she prepared a holiday party that built sisterhood before we leave for break. We went ice skating, ate dinner together, played games and other activities. She has made it a priority to continue to strengthen our sisterhood and create a positive environment for the entire chapter.

The VP of Organization has been very busy changing how committee nights are done. She split up the committee’s to be subdivided differently. Now we have one representative from each committee announce the update. This is a new way to get more girls involved in committee night. Our VPO has been able to set up and welcome two Leadership Consultants to our chapter in the spring and in the fall. She had to organize their schedules, plan who was taking them to different meals and plan fun activities to show both of them around Cleveland and John Carroll!

Our chapters VP of Academic Excellence kept our standards high this semester by creating different programs so that we all can encourage each other. She started making study rooms around the busy times of the semester. She would reserve a classroom to encourage members to bring homework and to study. The VPAE has continued to do the Kappa Fridge where once a week people can write down a positive accomplishment for the week dealing with their classes and the VPAE picks one randomly out of a bag to acknowledge one sister who did an awesome thing that week. The name is placed on a “fridge” in our study lounge. She has created study buddies for everyone so that every member has a resource to help them with scheduling classes or with any class in general. Finally, she has been giving members a pearl dangle to go on their badges if they received a 4.0. This is an awesome way to be congratulated on all the hard work.

The Eta Zeta's corresponding secretary has been busy making door decorations for all the sororities and fraternities in Hamlin Hall. She has made creative and fun decorations each month. She was also in charge of ordering badges for our new members. And she has also continued to have the secret admirer box on the floor which allows our members to write notes to each other and to be read aloud in chapter. This gives our members a chance to keep a positivity throughout the chapter!

The recording secreatary was spent a lot of time and hard work updating and changing our Bylaws and Standing Rules. We are so happy with how she handled everything.

Our chapters treasurer has been busy adjusting and presenting the budget to the chapter. She has made it known to all members where the dues are going to for each position. She also gave a presentation for programming night that explained the differences between checking and savings accounts. She wanted to teach our members the importance of creating a personal budget and how to do create one.

The registrar tried to find new and creative ways to get the chapter involved in learning the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma, but more specifically the Eta Zeta Chapter. She started doing a history question of the week where she would ask a question during chapter dealing with Kappa’s history or our chapter’s history. The members would have an opportunity to figure out the answer and send it to her. She would go through them and whoever got the answer correct was put into a drawing at the end of the semester for a gift card. This was a fun way that she brought in history to our chapter.

This year our Marshal has been very busy going over and refreshing ritual during formal chapters and preparing for initiation. She put together a ritual review at the end of the spring semester to remind the members how important our ritual is. This fall semester, she has overseen the activities during the Inspiration Period. The Marshal has been holding song review since September to get the actives ready and this year the attendance has been phenomenal. During the inspiration period, she enforced a no booze, no bars, and no boys rule.

Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
There were no major changes to our campus in the past year. We had some minor improvements to our dorm building that we are very excited for. Our chapter continues to be present on campus. All of our members are involved in many things other than just our chapter and continue to have leadership positions in other clubs or organizations around campus.

Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
The Eta Zeta chapter continues to support Reading is Fundamental through our annual Kappasta Event. We offer endless pizza, pasta and salad to our campus and community for a small monetary donation or a childrens book donation. We also support Kappa Kidney Camp and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation with different events throughout the year.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Reading is Fundamental is our national philanthropy.

Chapter Facility:
In what kind of a facility does your chapter meet? Please attach a clear photo of where you typically hold chapter meetings – whether in a classroom, chapter house or elsewhere.
We hold our formal chapter meetings in Rodman building on campus.

==Highlights of 2018==

As the Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to grow, we continue to focus on high standards of the fraternity, specifically promoting sisterhood, while participating in community service, academics, and campus involvement. Our chapter has also continued to have the highest Greek life grade point average with a 3.44.

In January, four Eta Zeta members travelled to The Ohio State University to help their Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter with their upcoming recruitment. The Eta Zeta chapter kicked off the 2018 year with our informal recruitment where we hosted a nail and spa event on our floor with the members and PNMS. Through informal recruitment, we received one new member, which was quota. The following week, the chapter hosted our semi-formal dance with the theme of Sweethearts/Valentine's Day. Two new members (1 from informal and 1 from formal recruitment) were initiated at the University of Akron during their spring Initiation. In March, One member was chosen to be a Leadership Consultant for Kappa Kappa Gamma, while another graduating senior member accepted a position with the Peace Corps as a Health Educator in Cameroon. In April, the Eta Zeta chapter participated in several events during Greek Week and completed the week by competing in John Carroll University's Lip Sync competition; our lip sync was to the theme of Shrek, in which was came in 4th place. At the end of the month we had our annual Sapphire Ball formal dance at Landerhaven. Finally, our last event of the semester was Kappa Dog Day for our Philanthropy, in which we raised $210.21 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation and Kappa Kidney Camp by hosting a hot dog cookout to sell hot dogs and snacks on our university's campus. Over the summer we had several members hold internships at places such as Key bank and Progressive as well as three members travel abroad to Italy and London. In June, two of our sisters represented the Eta Zeta chapter at Kappa Kappa Gamma's Denver Convention, where our chapter received an Honorable Mention for Risk Management. For the fall semester, the Eta Zeta chapter hosted their formal recruitment in September. Our theme was CoCo Chanel. On bid day, which the theme was "Make it like its your Bid-day," and we welcomed eight new members. Also in September, our Public Relations chairwoman had the opportunity to attend the Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy at the Heartland Conference Retreat Center which allowed her to take a deeper look into herself but also learn principles of leadership as well as meet Kappas from all over the country. At the beginning of November, we also hosted an informal recruitment where we served donuts and cider and played games on the floor. Through this recruitment, we were able to welcome four new members to the chapter. In October, our chapter had our annual Kappasta event, where we event alumni, campus members, and families to share a pasta meal with us, During this event, our chapter raised $1412.00 for Reading is Fundamental. At the end of October, we invited the children of the University Heights community to trick-or-treat on the floor with all our sisters; we shared our Kappa chants with the kids and their families. To conclude the recruitment season, the chapter hosted big/little reveal on the floor that was PJ themed and then big/little pairs had a sleepover on the floor the night before Initiation. On November 17th, the Eta Zeta welcomed twelve new members into the chapter. Finally, we ended this semester with our fall date dance, which the theme was Decked in Denim. Through this semester our House chairwoman has been working diligently with her committee and our president to update and renew our floor. We have added new desks and chairs to the study lounge as well as re-organized and added new accessories to our lounge. Additionally, our chapter is required to do five hours of service every semester but many women go above and beyond by participating in weekly service such as Labre, Carroll Ballers, and EMT volunteering.

Other Miscellaneous activities that our chapter has completed include:
Our New Member Chairman completed a series of "Owl Pal" event where current members pair with our new members to do activities such as making dream catchers, vases for plants, and other crafts.
Our Risk Management chairman re-established a program called the "Kappa Klimb" by putting a list of our chapter names by the front door of our dorm floor for members to mark down their name when they climbed all 4 floors up to the Kappa floor instead of taking the elevators.
In the spring semester our Secretary encouraged chapter members to read the chapter minutes by hiding 3 words or phrases within the minutes. Whoever the first 3 people to correctly report the words and phrases received candy at the next chapter.

With our chapter graduating a substantial amount of seniors in the Spring of 2018, the Eta Zeta chapter is going through a re-rooting, rejuvenating period of time. We are working on becoming more supportive and harmonious sisters to each other. Our chapter advisor recently facilitated a "retreat" event for the chapter in order to converse and communicate about any issues we feel we are having in the sorority. This event allowed a safe space to talk as well as increased morale and cooperation for the chapter as we entered exams.

[[File:Eta Zeta 2018.jpg|thumb|Eta Zeta 2018]]

'''Philanthropy'''

Our chapter chose this organization because it is is a local charity that allows children with kidney ailments to experience a "normal" camp experience. The Eta Zeta chapter felt that this organization coincided with the values of Reading is Fundamental as well as was child focused. Additionally, the organization is unique and allows the chapter to be connected within the local community.

==Highlights of 2019==
As the Eta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to grow, we continue to focus on high standards of the fraternity, specifically promoting sisterhood, while participating in community service, academics, and campus involvement. We have additionally maintained a scholarly grade point average this year, at 3.38. In February, we hosted 2 informal recruitment events on campus, and gained 6 new members. On March 31st, we held our own Initiation at John Carroll University to welcome the 6 new members into the chapter. In April, the chapter participated in several games and events during Greek Week and completed the week by competing in John Carroll University's annual Greek Life Lip Sync competition. The lip sync theme for Kappa Kappa Gamma was 'The Parent Trap,' and we came in 4th place. The following day, we had our annual Saphire Ball formal dance. Over the summer, we had sisters intern at companies in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago. In September, we held an Informal Recrutment Event called 'Cotton Candy with Kappa' to promote Formal Recruitment, which happened shortly after. Also in September, member Sarah Flaherty travelled to Columbus, Ohio to attend Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy with one Kappa from every chapter around the country. While there, she did many activities in small groups and did many team building games to build skills of leadership and teamwork. At the end of September, John Carroll University had their annual Formal Sorority Recruitment, and the Eta Zeta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma received 12 new members. The chapter welcomed the new members during bid day, themed 'Race Home to Kappa.' In October, the chapter celebrated Founders Day with a special Founder's Day dinner at Acacia Reservation. Soon after, the chapter hosted an Informal Recruitment event, 'Fall in Love with Kappa,' where we gained 2 more new members for the fall bid class. We initiated 14 new members in the Eta Zeta chapter on November 16th. Our Chapter President, Julia Korek, implemented the use of powerpoint slides during chapter, to help better faciliatate chapter, and make information more visible while the officers are speaking.

The Vice President - Standards, Liz Forsyth, hosted many fun sisterhood events throughout the year, like Bachelor Mondays, where many sisters would gather together in the elbow lounge to watch the television show. In February, she hosted a Galentine's Day event. In March, she hosted a game night and 'Something on a Stick Day' where she got corndogs and other fun foods on sticks for people to enjoy. In December, she hosted a holiday event, where the chapter participated in a Secret Santa a gift exchange. The Vice President - Organization, Lexi Iemma, hosted 2 successful visits from Leadership Consultants, who provided helpful feedback on how the Eta Zeta chapter is doing well, and how we can improve. The New Member Chairman, Hope Scherger, hosted several fun activities for our new members both in the Spring and Fall semesters called 'owl pal' events. The Housing Chariman, Karly Johnson, worked a lot to maintain the floor, and make it fun. She held a door decorating contest for St. Patrick's Day for girls living on the floor. She also worked dilligently with the chapter President on new changes to chapter housing, to make the floor transition as smooth as possible. The Events Chairman, Maddie DelBene, hosted many fun mixers in addition to the dance, like playing Volleyball with a fraternity on campus, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and having Ice Cream and doing face masks with another sorority on campus, Kappa Delta. The Philanthropy Chairman, Lauren Price, encouraged members to do weekly service and planned 2 successful philanthropy events during the year. In March, she planned Chips, Cheese, and KKGs where the chapter sold chips and queso on the quad to raise money benefitting Reading is Fundamental. The chapter raised a total of $476.85. In October, the chapter put on the annual philanthropy event, Kappasta, where we served pasta, pizza, and salad to raise money for RIF. At this event, the chapter raised a total of $1,366.

The Eta Zeta chapter is continually working on promoting sisterhood, maintaining open communication, and generally suppporting one another. The chapter is one of 5 sororities at John Carroll University, in addition to 4 fraternities. The Eta Zeta chapter is very panhellenic, often supporting other Greek Life in their philathropy events. John Carroll University recently announced a change in the residence hall housing Greek Life, and Kappa Kappa Gamma is looking forward to the transition, and hopes to make it a positive one.

Our chapter supports Kappa Kidney Camp, a local charity that allows children with kidney ailments to participate in a 'normal' camp experience. The Eta Zeta chapter felt that this organization correlated with the values of Reading is Fundamental as well as was focused on children. Additionally, the organization is unique and allows the chapter to be connected with the local community.

The chapter celebrated Founders Day with a special Founders Day dinner at Acacia Reservation in Lyndhurst, Ohio with the Cleveland Alumni Association.

==Highlights of the 2020s:==

(Information from chapter history reports, scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)

'''Housing'''

'''Philanthropy'''

'''Convention Awards'''

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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Epsilon

2021-12-22T17:55:22Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Epsilon
|GreekSymbol= HE
|Image= [[File:Eta_Epsilon.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1999|10|23}}
|College= [https://www.jhu.edu/ Johns Hopkins University]
|Location= Baltimore, MD
|Homepage= [https://jhu.kappa.org/ Eta Epsilon Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Epsilon Media related to Eta Epsilon Chapter]}}

'''Johns Hopkins, Established in Baltimore, MD, in 1876'''

'''Chapter Founded in 1999 -- 44 charter members'''

'''673 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Chapter’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

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==Johns Hopkins University==

The Johns Hopkins University was the first university in the Western Hemisphere founded on the model of the European research institution. Named for its initial benefactor, Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins, the university enrolls nearly 20,000 full- and part-time students on campuses in Baltimore, Maryland; Montgomery, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; China; and Italy. The Baltimore campus – Homewood – has more than 4,700 full-time undergraduates in two schools, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering. Johns Hopkins is also well known for its School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.

From The Key, Summer 1999; figures updated October 2012 [http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/about_jhu/facts_at_a_glance/index.cfm]

===Greek Life at Johns Hopkins University===
Johns Hopkins University's Greek system includes four councils: The Panhellenic Association (PHA), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). In Spring 2012 there were over 1,200 Greeks at Johns Hopkins (approximately 25% of the undergraduate student population). [http://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/FSL/]

The university does not provide Greek housing to any fraternities or sororities, though many fraternities maintain private residences off-campus.

Recruitment at Johns Hopkins is deferred and typically takes place in early February.

Panhellenic Association
* Alpha Phi, Zeta Omicron Chapter (Chartered 1982)
* Kappa Kappa Gamma, Eta Epsilon Chapter (Chartered 1999)
* Phi Mu, Gamma Tau Chapter (Chartered 1982)
* Pi Beta Phi, Maryland Gamma Chapter (Chartered 2010)
* Delta Gamma, Zeta Kappa Chapter (Chartered 1990, Closed 1995)
* Kappa Alpha Theta, Zeta Chi Chapter (Chartered 1997, Closed 2009, Reestablished 2013)

Inter-Fraternity Council
* Alpha Delta Phi
* Alpha Epsilon Pi
* Beta Theta Pi
* Lambda Phi Epsilon
* Phi Delta Theta
* Phi Gamma Delta
* Phi Iota Alpha
* Phi Kappa Psi
* Sigma Chi
* Sigma Phi Epsilon

Multicultural Greek Council
* alpha Kappa Delta Phi
* Delta Xi Phi
* Iota Nu Delta
* Sigma Omicron Pi

National Pan-Hellenic Council
* Alpha Kappa Alpha
* Alpha Phi Alpha
* Sigma Gamma Rho

==Highlights of the 1990s==

Eta Epsilon Colony was established at Johns Hopkins University, April 9-11, 1999. The colonization/recruitment process resulted in 44 enthusiastic new members. Initiation of new members and installation of the chapter took place October 22-24, 1999. Greek life at Hopkins consisted of eleven fraternities and four NPC sororities at the time. The biggest challenge of 1999 was acceptance by other sororities and fraternities. By participating in all Panhellenic events and joining the Fraternity League's intramural volleyball games (the first girls' Greek organization to participate in the league), the chapter not only received acceptance as a Greek organization but also respect, both as individual women and an organization.

Membership was a concern as well. The chapter began fall semester with 29 new members and held Continuous Open Bidding (COB), gaining two more members.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

Academic Year 2001-2002

From chapter’s History Report: The Johns Hopkins University, and the new Eta Epsilon chapter, recognized the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, by holding a candle light vigil on the Arts and Sciences Quad. Our chapter consists of 40 sisters, many of whom sit on chapter council. Our small size presents difficulty trying to accomplish all the activities and tasks necessary for a well rounded chapter.

Academic Year 2004-2005

By 2004, our fifth year as a chapter, we saw an increased presence in the involvement in the Johns Hopkins community. Campus events included a smores barbecue, and a Halloween candy giveaway. Eta Epsilon had the largest number of sisters participating in freshman orientation. Sisters were involved as executive staff, student advisers, parent ambassadors and orientation assistants. Additionally, the Panhellenic Council recognized Eta Epsilon as having the highest GPA of all sororities and fraternities on campus.

Following the tragic death of a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Eta Epsilon showed its support to the fraternity by sending irises and a card to their house as well as providing emotional support to the brothers and friends of the lost student.

Dissatisfied with Recruitment in 2004, more time was spent planning for Recruitment 2005, with help from the Advisory Board who held workshops discussing conversation skills, body language and smooth transitions, in order to boost the chapter's confidence in recruitment abilities. In the Spring of 2006 we gained one of our largest classes, 21 new sisters. That fall we won our campus wide Greek Week contest for sororities. Other events we participated in were Relay for Life, raising money for cancer, reading books to children. Our Waffle House philanthropy raised more than $300.

Academic Year 2005-2006

2006 saw us active in a clean-up project in the Wyman Park Dell near campus, and we received a grant to help us purchase playground equipment for a Baltimore city playground.

Academic Year 2006-2007

A constant struggle is recruiting enough members. We are the smallest sorority on campus and our small size is often frowned upon by girls going through recruitment who want to join a larger sorority. We welcome Leadership Consultant visits to help before and after recruitment but the challenge continues. In Spring 2007, the chapter welcomed 9 women through formal recruitment and participated in Spring COB to bring the new member class to 15 women.

Academic Year 2007-2008

In Fall 2007 the chapter welcomed a new member class of 6 women through Fall COB. In Spring 2008 we welcomed our largest new member class yet, 24 women. Twelve new members came from formal recruitment and an additional twelve were added through Spring COB.

Academic Year 2008-2009

In Fall 2008 the chapter welcomed an additional 6 women through Fall COB. That year we also were recognized as Greek Week Champions of 2008, and we won the Panhellenic Award at the Biennial Convention.

In Spring 2009 the chapter welcomed a new member class of 33 women, 25 of whom were recruited through formal recruitment (8 were added through Spring COB).

Academic Year 2009-2010

In Fall 2009, an additional 9 new members were welcomed through Fall COB. We enjoyed a sisterhood retreat at Terrapin Adventures where we did rope courses, a giant swing and zipline, creating a unique bonding experience before the start of the school year.

Finally, in Spring 2010, the chapter saw the largest expansion of the chapter in our short history with a new member class of 60, nearly doubling the chapter size and surpassing quota for the first time in the chapter's history. Fifty-four of these women were recruited through formal recruitment and 6 were added through Spring COB. The large increase in the size of the new member class can be attributed to both an increase in quota after the closing of another Panhellenic chapter, and the extraordinary efforts of the Kappa sisters to shine during recruitment.

During Relay for Life, we were the largest fundraiser at Johns Hopkins. At Convention in Phoenix Eta Epsilon received the Recruitment award and honorable mention for Academic Excellence, Standards, Panhellenic, Finance and Greatest Improved Chapter. At Johns Hopkins we earned recognition for earning the highest GPA of all sororities with a 3.51.

Academic Year 2010-2011

We celebrated our 10th birthday in the fall, an important milestone, and welcomed Pi Beta Phi to our campus. Pi Beta Phi colonized in Fall 2010 with 66 charter members.

Fall 2010 marked the first time in many years that Eta Epsilon chapter did not participate in Continuous Open Bidding, as the chapter had grown sufficiently that this measure was not necessary. The chapter has not participated in Fall COB since.

With the addition of Pi Beta Phi all chapters' recruitment quotas were lowered to 35 women, allowing for smaller and more closely-knit new member classes. In Spring 2011 Kappa Kappa Gamma welcomed the largest new member class of any Panhellenic chapter on campus, 41 women. The chapter did not participate in Spring or Fall COB.

At Province Meeting in March we were awarded the Risk Management award for our dedication to new risk policies and procedures. In April, a Kappa Trainer, Julie Martin Magnis, George Washington, Museums Chairman for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, presented ritual workshops prior to initiation.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Bracelet sale to benefit the Kenya water project, raising $400, Relay for Life, Waffle House to fund Kappa causes, purchasing playground equipment for a city playground. Raised $1,000 at our Barnes and Noble charity book fair to promote literacy and hosted a children's section at the University Spring Fair.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

2008 Recruitment Award

==Highlights of 2011-2020==

==Highlights of 2011==

A new tradition was begun in 2011 when we held our first annual Monmouth Duo picnic with the recently colonized Maryland Gamma chapter of Pi Beta Phi, wearing tee shirts especially designed with an interlacing Kappa key and Pi Phi arrow on the back. We continued to excel in academics with the top campus GPA of 3.45.

In Spring 2012 the chapter continued to excel in recruitment, surpassing quota of 45 by welcoming 47 new members.

==Highlights of 2012==

The sisters of Eta Epsilon chapter began the year with recruitment in February and welcomed the Chi new member class shortly afterwards. With the addition of the Chi class the chapter grew to approximately 130 active members. Following recruitment the sisters engaged in a number of social activities including sisterhood bonding events for the new members, three date parties, and send off luncheon for the soon to be graduating seniors. The luncheon provided the perfect time for the sisters to reflect on the many ways being a Kappa had enriched their university experience. In addition the sisters continued their academic and philanthropic pursuits. The chapter’s combined GPA for the spring semester was a 3.41. Spring philanthropy included continued work at Barclay elementary school as well as Kappa participation in events such a Dance Marathon and Relay for Life.

Fall semester was marked by Kappa’s participation in Greek Weekend in which we hosted the 2nd annual Kappa cook off, the proceeds of which went to Barclay Elementary school. Kappa was also happy to take 2nd place in the weekend’s powder-puff football competition. Later in the semester as a sisterhood bonding retreat the sisters visited a nearby ropes course where they partook in both teambuilding and trust exercises. The fall was concluded with a winter formal and the election of new officers.

In the past year it has not just been the Greek organizations on campus that have experienced growth. The university accepted the largest freshman class in history last spring. In addition a number of new construction projects have been completed to handle the university's expansion. However, the heart of campus remains the same as do the attitudes of the students. Greek life is still a close knit community of four panhellenic sororities though there has been discussion of inviting a fifth sorority to campus in the next few years.

Our chapter has expanded greatly in the last year and has really succeeded in establishing itself around campus as an involved and proactive organization as seen by our strong turn out for Greek week and our high level of involvement in other on campus organizations. We are still a tightly knit group despite our rapid growth and the sister remain focused on academics and philanthropy: Relay for Life, volunteering at the Barclay School for RIF, American Cancer Society, Maryland Food Bank, Maryland SPCA.

==Highlights of 2013==

During 2013, Eta Epsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was the recipient of the Province Standards Award. Eta Epsilon continued their tradition of receiving the Highest GPA Award in chapter rankings at the Johns Hopkins University with a 3.43 in the Spring Semester and a 3.49 in the Fall Semester. The sisters additionally received 2nd place in the Greek Week event of Powder Puff. The Philanthropy event of our Kappa Kook-Off continued to be very successful and raised money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.

2013 Recruitment included the highest number of Potential New Members going through formal Recruitment to date at the Johns Hopkins University. This affected all sororities on campus in accommodating these large numbers during the recruitment process. The Eta Epsilon Chapter enjoyed a successful recruitment gaining its chapter a large class of 56 New Members. The sisters of Eta Epsilon held a new philanthropy event called Kappa Kickball to raise funds and support the local community. They also started a new tradition of accepting children’s books as admission to Kappa events or monetary donations. All the children’s books and proceeds were donated to Baltimore’s Barclay Elementary School. In 2013, there was a great dedication and focus on philanthropy. Eta Epsilon sisters volunteered for Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, President’s Day of Service, Freshman Move-in/Orientation, Tutorial Project, Kappa Kook-off, Kappa-Kickball, children’s book game during Spring Fair, and continued working on literacy skills with students at Barclay Elementary.

==Highlights of 2014==

During 2014, Eta Epsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma received honorable mention for academic excellence at the Kappa Kappa Gamma 2014 National Convention in Houston, Texas. Eta Epsilon is proud to report their members continued success in academics as the chapter again received the Highest GPA award among sorority chapter rankings for the Fall semester at the Johns Hopkins University with a 3.45 GPA in the Spring Semester and a 3.49 GPA in the Fall Semester. The two Philanthropy events during 2014 were the second annual Kappa Kickball event and then the annual Kappa Kook- off. Both were successful events that fostered a sense of community on the Johns Hopkins campus as well as helped raised money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.

2014 Recruitment again saw a very large number of Potential New Members excited to go through the formal Recruitment process at the Johns Hopkins University. With five sororities on campus offering bids to potential new members, Eta Epsilon Chapter welcomed 42 New Members (after two losses of Potential New Members). The sisters of Eta Epsilon again held successful philanthropy events, Kappa Kickball and Kappa Kook-off, in which at each event they accepted children’s books, as well as monetary donations, as admission to Kappa events. As during 2013, all the children’s books and monetary donations were donated to Baltimore’s Barclay Elementary School. In 2014, the sisters of Eta Epsilon set a goal of attending and participating in more philanthropic events run by on-campus student organizations as well as other Greek life organizations. These events included Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, President’s Day of Service, Freshman Move-in/ Orientation, Tutorial Project, Greek Week, Powder-puff, Kappa Kook-off, Kappa Kickball, Johns Hopkins’ Spring Fair activities and various other sorority/ fraternity events. Eta Epsilon also made a goal of having a more organized structure to its committee meetings and a better flow of communication between chapter members.

Eta Epsilon chapter holds chapter meetings each Sunday of the month in a hall owned by the university on campus property. Eta Epsilon does not have a house. Therefore, each member finds her own housing, either in an apartment or smaller house located around the campus of the Johns Hopkins University.

==Highlights of 2015==

During 2015, Eta Epsilon continued to report its members continued success in academics. Eta Epsilon report an average 2015 spring semester GPA of 3.42. The two Philanthropy events during 2015 were the first annual Kappa Krushes and Kappa Con Queso. Both were successful events that fostered a sense of community on the Johns Hopkins campus as well as helped raised money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.

2015 Recruitment again saw a very large number of Potential New Members excited to go through the formal Recruitment process at the Johns Hopkins University. With five sororities on campus offering bids to potential new members, Eta Epsilon Chapter welcomed 44 New Members (after three losses of Potential New Members). The sisters of Eta Epsilon again held successful philanthropy events, Kappa Kickball and Kappa Kook-off, in which at each event they accepted children’s books, as well as monetary donations, as admission to Kappa events. As during 2014, all the children’s books and monetary donations were donated to Baltimore’s Barclay Elementary School. In 2015, the sisters of Eta Epsilon continued their pledge to attend and participating in more philanthropic events run by on- campus student organizations as well as other Greek life organizations. These events included Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, President’s Day of Service, Freshman Move-in/ Orientation, Tutorial Project, Greek Week, Powderpuff, and Johns Hopkins’ Spring Fair activities.

In spring 2015, Eta Epsilon formed “Kappademics”, a Facebook page run by the Education chairwomen. This page fostered a sense of community by having sisters post where on campus they were studying and when. It allowed sisters to form study groups and prioritize time for academics. The sister who posted the most in the group and also attended study hours was awarded the prestigious title of “Geek of the Week”.

==Highlights of 2016==

In 2016, Eta Epsilon chapter continued its traditions of continued success in philanthropy and academics. Eta Epsilon reports an average 2016 spring semester GPA of 3.52. Our philanthropy events included Kappa Karnival and a collection drive in the spring, and Kappa Con Queso in the fall in which we surpassed our fundraising goal. These events also fostered a sense of community on the Johns Hopkins campus as well as with our partnering fraternity. Our goals mainly centered around the Focus Letter and improving upon aspects delineated in the letter.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.

With 2016's round of recruitment, we saw a huge number of potential new members go through the formal recruitment process at Johns Hopkins University. With 5 panhellenic sororities on campus offering bids, Eta Epsilon chapter welcomed 41 members with two dropped. We also had two legacy new members, and were able to organize for the mother of one new member to attend Initiation. Being on a Focus Letter this year has led our sisters to re-evaluate our priorities and re-center ourselves on our core values and beliefs. With new attendance policies that are sympathetic to sisters and still encourage attendance at all events, sisters are more engaged and happy with their chapter involvement. The Fraternity and Sorority Life Office on campus held various seminars on wellbeing and health that were well-attended by our chapter, as well as a seminar on hazing. Finally, we focused on holding more sisterhood events this semester such as Secret Santa's and a pumpkin-picking trip.

'''Chapter Philanthropy:'''
The sisters of Eta Epsilon again held several successful philanthropy events - in the spring, we held a collection drive of feminine hygiene products for the House of Ruth, a local shelter for battered women. We ran this drive with Alpha Phi and were able to collect a great deal of donations. We also held Kappa Karnival, in which different organizations signed up for booths at a carnival-themed outdoors event. Tickets were sold by sisters and all proceeds went to RIF. In the fall, we held our second annual Kappa con Queso co-sponsored by a fraternity on campus as well.

Again, all the proceeds went to RIF, and all the leftover food was donated to Our Daily Bread, a local soup kitchen. This fall we also started a book drive to benefit Reading is Fundamental in preparation for our philanthropy round during formal recruitment next Spring. Moreover, in 2016 the sisters of Eta Epsilon continued their pledge to attend and participate in several philanthropic events on campus run by other campus student organizations and other Greek life organizations. These events included Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, President's Day of Service, Freshman Move-in/Orientation, The Tutorial Project, Powderpuff, Greek Week, and Johns Hopkins' Spring Fair Activities.

House of Ruth and Our Daily Bread are two extremely charitable organizations in Baltimore that several sisters have donated their time to. As women, we particularly identify with the House of Ruth and their mission to house and protect victims of intimate partner violence and their children.

== Highlights of 2017 ==

[[File:Eta Epsilon New Members Bid Day.jpg|thumb|Eta Epsilon welcomed 42 members on Bid Day in 2017.]]

In 2017, Eta Epsilon chapter continued its traditions of success in academics and philanthropy.

Eta Epsilon reported an average 2017 spring semester GPA of 3.6, the highest of the 5 Panhellenic chapters at Johns Hopkins University. Our philanthropy events included our annual children's book drive for local Baltimore schools in the winter, and a collection drive for House of Ruth, as well as Kappa Karnival in the spring. In the fall, sisters took it upon themselves to set up a Hurricane Harvey Fundraiser and Bake Sale for the Las Vegas Victims' Fund. The chapter also introduced a new philanthropy event to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental, called Night Owls, during which sisters sold slices of pizza from 11:30 pm - 1:30 am over the Halloween weekend in order to fill the students’ needs for late night food when the university dining hall is not open. With new and old events for students of the university to take part in, the chapter fostered a sense of community on the Johns Hopkins campus. After new initiatives to improve upon aspects delineated in the letter, by re-evaluating our priorities and re-centering ourselves on our core values and beliefs, the chapter was taken off the Focus Letter we received last year.

[[File:Eta Epsilon Sisterhood event 2.jpg|thumb|A fall sisterhood event at a petting farm.]]

During 2017, the chapter focused on improving member participation, presence in the Greek Life community, and overall sisterhood within the chapter. With new attendance policies instigated last year that are now the norm, member involvement has increased greatly. Also, in the fall the chapter was split into groups of 8-10 sisters who were given a small stipend to organize a small scale sisterhood event for the chapter if they wanted to, which we had several of throughout the semester, including a lunch together on campus, a cupcake decorating event, and a makeover night. In the spring, sisters attended an organized sisterhood event to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game, and in the fall an event at Clark's Elioak Petting Farm. The chapter was also very involved in the Greek Week activities, like bubble soccer and a wing eating competition. Throughout the year, the chapter also held several programmings during chapter meetings, including ones on sexual assault, sustainability, mental health, and alcohol abuse prevention.

With 2017’s round of recruitment, we saw a huge number of potential new members go through the formal recruitment process at Johns Hopkins University. With 5 panhellenic sororities on campus offering bids, Eta Epsilon chapter welcomed 42 members with one dropped.

The sisters of Eta Epsilon again held several successful philanthropy events this year. In the winter we held annual children's book drive for local Baltimore schools. In the spring we partnered with Alpha Phi for a collection drive of feminine hygiene products for the House of Ruth, a local shelter for battered women. We also held Kappa Karnival in the spring, which featured food, music, carnival games, and a moon bounce, with all proceeds going to Reading is Fundamental. In the fall, sisters took it upon themselves to set up a Hurricane Harvey Fundraiser and Bake Sale for the Las Vegas Victims' Fund. The chapter also introduced a new philanthropy event to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental, called Night Owls, during which sisters sold slices of pizza from 11:30 pm - 1:30 am over the Halloween weekend in order to fill the students’ needs for late night food when the university dining hall is not open.

[[File:Eta Epsilon Volunteering.jpg|thumb|Eta Epsilon members participate in President's Day of Service.]]

Additionally, in 2017 the sisters of Eta Epsilon continued their pledge to attend and participate in several philanthropic events on campus run by other campus student organizations and other Greek life organizations. These events included Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, President's Day of Service, Freshman Move-in/Orientation, The Tutorial Project, Greek Week, and Johns Hopkins' Spring Fair Activities.

The organizations that the chapter chose to support other than Reading is Fundamental were those close to our sisters’ hearts, including the House of Ruth and its mission to house and protect victims of intimate partner violence and their children, as well as the time-specific disaster events of Hurricane Harvey and the Las Vegas shooting.

==Highlights of 2018==

In 2018, the Eta Epsilon chapter continued its excellence in the areas of academic excellence, philanthropy, sisterhood, and integrity.

Our spring 2018 chapter GPA was 3.66, the highest of all Panhellenic organizations on campus and higher than the all-women GPA at Johns Hopkins University. At Kappa’s national convention, our chapter was awarded the National Award for Most Improved Academic Excellence, for which our chapter is incredibly proud.

[[File:BidDay2018EtaEpsilon.jpeg|thumb|Celebrating Bid Day at Eta Epsilon.]]

For philanthropy, our chapter both hosted and participated in multiple events throughout the year, including our events Kones for Kappa, Kappacino, and Kappa Klassic, all in support of Reading is Fundamental, raising a total of $3700 throughout the year.

Additionally, our chapter had teams that participated in other organizations’ philanthropic events on campus, including Kappa Alpha Theta’s Rock the Casa, Alpha Phi’s 5k memorial race, Dance Marathon, among others.

Our chapter was also enriched through programming on many topics, including a presentation from Johns Hopkins’ sexual assault response unit, active listening & empathy training, sustainability, a resume workshop, and diversity and civic discourse discussion. Through these presentations, our members grew not only closer as sisters but also individually as scholastic, responsible women on the Hopkins campus.

In 2018, our chapter strove to embody female empowerment in multiple aspects. One way we did this through addressing the pervasive problem of sexual assault on college by raising awareness within the chapter through a presentation by Johns Hopkins' Sexual Assault Resource Unit, which aimed to teach our sisters how to communicate about sensitive issues concerning sexual assault in a way that empowers and supports survivors.

Additionally, each week we would highlight female achievement through "Kween of the Week", which was a spotlight on someone who was an especially inspiring female role model. Some spotlights included: Kirsten Gillibrand, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and even some of our own chapter members who went above and beyond for our philanthropy events.

[[File:Eta Epsilon Fall 2018.jpeg|thumb|Eta Epsilon at its fall 2018 photo shoot.]]

Also, our council strove to connect our sisters to resources for improving mental health, including informing our chapter about the counseling center's services on campus and participating in active listening & empathy training.

Furthermore, our chapter aimed to support other Panhellenic women on campus by attending PAJH (Panhellenic Association at Johns Hopkins) events and fostering a more positive recruitment environment. One focus within the PAJH community this year was to be more inclusive of the multicultural organizations on campus when discussing recruitment and making sure to encourage PNMs to consider all of the wonderful organizations on campus.

Overall, in 2018 our chapter strove to be more inclusive, supportive, and empowering to our sisters and other members of our campus community.

==Highlights of 2021-2030==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.

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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Eta Delta

2021-12-22T17:54:31Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Delta
|GreekSymbol= HΔ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Delta.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1998|04|18}}
|College= [https://www.valpo.edu/ Valparaiso University]
|Location= Valparaiso, IN
|Homepage= [https://valpo.kappa.org/ Eta Delta Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Delta Media related to Eta Delta Chapter]}}
----

'''Eta Delta, Valparaiso University'''
'''Valparaiso University founded in 1859 in Valparaiso, Indiana'''

'''Founded April 18, 1998'''

'''447 Initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Delta’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Eta Delta Alumnae:'''

Lisa Thomas (Mathews), Chapter Consultant 2004-2005

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==History of University==

Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is located in Valparaiso, Ind. The university is a coeducational, four-year, private Lutheran institution founded in 1859 which had five colleges (arts and sciences, business administration, engineering, nursing and honors) when the Fraternity installed Eta Delta Chapter on the campus. It is the largest independent Lutheran university in the United States and is home to the second-largest collegiate chapel in the world, The Chapel of the Resurrection.

In its more than 150-year history, Valparaiso University has passed through three distinct phases. Founded by Methodists in 1859 as an institution pioneering coeducation, the Valparaiso Male and Female College was forced by the reverses of the Civil War to close its doors in 1871.

It was revived in 1873 by an enterprising educator, Henry Baker Brown, as the Northern Indiana Normal School, renamed Valparaiso College in 1900 and rechartered in 1906 as Valparaiso University. During the next 20 years, it established business and law schools and won national recognition as a low-cost, no-frills institution of higher learning. Many alumni of this period achieved distinction in their fields as governors, legislators, scientists, business leaders and other professionals.

Despite its decades of success, the university again experienced financial hardship as the United States entered World War I. The Lutheran University Association, a group of clergy and church laity who saw a bright future for the university, purchased it in 1925, ushering in the modern era of Valparaiso’s history. Distinguished by its Lutheran heritage of scholarship, freedom and faith, Valparaiso University continues to fulfill the dreams of these modern founders.

Valparaiso has established itself as a premier Midwestern university that combines a thorough grounding in the liberal arts with solid professional training. In the 1940s, the university, spurred by student action, established a school of engineering and adopted a student-administered honor system. The Christ College honors program and a school of nursing further enriched the university’s offerings.

In 1956, Valparaiso’s chapel-auditorium was destroyed by fire. In 1959, it was replaced by the majestic Chapel of the Resurrection, a fitting symbol of the university’s commitment to its Lutheran ideals—and of the thriving community’s renewed growth.

Covering 320 acres, Valpo’s campus is positioned one hour southeast of Chicago and just 15 minutes from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. The town of Valparaiso is considered to be the southeastern-most suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area.

==The Early Years==

When the Fraternity Council voted to accept the petition from a local sorority at Valparaiso University, planning to establish a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma on the campus began. In February 1998, members of the local group Phi Beta Chi were formally pledged during colonization services and planning for installation began.

On April 18, 1998, Eta Delta chapter was installed. The installation was conducted by Fraternity President Cathy Thompson Carswell, Illinois Wesleyan; Director of Chapters Ann Stafford Truesdell, Ohio Wesleyan and Chairman of Extension Juliana (J.J.) Fraser Wales, Ohio State.

Other National Panhellenic Conference groups on the campus in 1998 were Kappa Delta, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, Gamma Phi Beta and Chi Omega.

==Highlights of 1997-1999:==

(From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)

Approximately 35 percent of the undergraduate students were Greek in 1998. Eta Delta Chapter had 41 active members and 11 new members which was more than the average chapter size on campus.

Throughout the 1997-1998 school year, Phi Beta Chi/Kappa Kappa Gamma had as its goal to receive the President’s Award of Excellence on campus. Phi Beta Chi had last received this award in 1992. Eta Delta was confident that it will continue to be one of the truly distinguished chapters at Valpo.

Eta Delta Chapter was guided by Chapter Consultant Heather Siegel, Iowa, as the chapter began transiting from a local sorority to a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She was not only a consultant, but also a friend to the chapter members.

At the beginning of fall semester, the members set the chapter goal: to do more activities as a chapter and to participate more in campus activities. The chapter accomplished this through intramurals, participating in community service projects and being involved in Panhellenic.

The chapter members and members of Phi Delta Theta partnered in trick-or-treating at the pediatric ward of Porter Regional Hospital in Valparaiso. The Kappas and Theta Chi held a yard sale in October. Members were encouraged to bring clothing, household items and anthing else that could be included in the sale. The proceeds from the event supported the Breast Cancer Society of Valparaiso. Additional activities were Adopt-A-Grandma, Adopt-A-Highway, Drop Walk for Hunger and traditional green events.

In 1999, the chapter raised its GPA to 3.26 which was above the all-campus average, and the chapter had grown to 51 members.

The greatest challenge the chapter faced was apathy. This was overcome by encouraging the members to be involved, scheduling fun events and giving out prizes and awards for participation including Kappa of the Week to the member who was the most involved.

In 1999, Eta Delta Chapter took an active role in philanthropic activities. The members volunteered at the Valparaiso Guild Bazaar, participated in the Breast Cancer Walk, continued visiting and supporting the Kappa Grandma who lived at Canterbury Place and participated in highway clean-up. In addition to these events, the chapter also participated in the all-Greek activity of Trick-or-Canning which collected food for needy families in the area.

To celebrate the millenium, the chapter held a date party with Chi Omega which was its first double-date party with another sorority.

==Highlights of 2000-2010:==

(From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)

The chapter celebrated Founders Day on October 13, 2005. The chapters displayed a set of letters from Phi Beta Chi, the local sorority which became Eta Delta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma in 1998. Also displayed were Phi Beta Chi composites, the first Kappa Kappa Gamma composite and memorbilia from the local sorority days including a bunny because it was known as the Beta Bunnies.

The chapter received six awards at the 2005 Delta Province Meeting including house board/chapter relations, greatest improvement, new member program, most improved scholarship and received an honorable mention for unity, loyalty and gracious living as well as membership.

The chapter was proud to be second academically among the women’s groups on the campus. The chapter had the most 4.0s of any sorority on campus fall semester, and the new member class had the highest GPA compared to other new member classes. This year there were 49 chapter members.

The members enjoyed a hayride date party, homecoming week and an exciting Hollywood semi-formal dance in November. Kappa’s campus-wide philanthropy, Battle of the Sexes, was successful this year. Throughout the semester, the members worked on changes in the chapter room and added a new dining room table.

This fall, the campus changed from informal recruitment to continuous open bidding. Eta Delta was unfamiliar with this method of fall recruitment so several workshops were held to prepare the actives for it.
The chapter wanted to unite off-campus and on-campus members. They did that by setting up a buddy system and creating a screen name that let all the members know what activities were going to take place during the week.
The chapter members wanted to encourage more alumnae to attend events by letting them know a month ahead of upcoming activities.

In 2006, the 50th anniversary of the former local chapter was celebrated by holding a banquet and dance that was attended by many Kappa alumnae. Alumnae and active members spoke at the banquet. A big room of the chapter’s dorm was reserved to display archives including old composites. The members made a quilt out of old letters that had been in storage and displayed it on a wall. Scrapbooks from past years were on tables for the guests to see as well as cut-out wooden letters and Kappa memorabilia.

Eta Delta started a new philanthropy activity with the Midwest Center. The members went to this home which serves children who have been abused and as a result have emotional disabilities. They started a library there and began a library night. The chapter is the only group that goes to the center and spends time with the children who love being with the women. Eta Delta was featured in the center’s newsletter and was asked to come back again.

The chapter pledged four girls in the fall and 11 in spring recruitment. The staff member who was in charge of all the sorority recruitment said that Eta Delta’s spring rush was the best she had ever seen by the chapter.

The students on the Valpo campus are very close. All of the chapters support each other’s philanthropic activities. Also, there is a good relationship between the Greeks and independents. Eta Delta members are very involved on the campus and are the only chapter to participate in each Greek organization’s philanthropic event. There is at least one chapter member who participates in each organization on campus.
The chapter meets in a university-owned chapter room which makes it inconvenient to install anything such as a fan or pictures on the wall.

During Valparaiso’s homecoming weekend in 2006, Eta Delta invited Kappa alumnae to its chapter room for a few hours during the day. The alumnae had a good time looking at old scrapbooks and composites while reminiscing about their college days.

The chapter pledged 12 new members at the beginning of the year and seven more women during fall semester. The members continued to focus on scholarship and philanthropy.

At the 2007 Delta Province Meeting, Eta Delta received six awards: first place for philanthropy and honorable mention in academic excellence, membership, new member program, advisory board/chapter relations and unity, loyalty and gracious living. Kappa’s dedication was displayed when it received several Greek Life awards: President’s Award for Excellence, Adviser of the Year Award and Outstanding Philanthropy and Community Award. The chapter was proud of Kappa Jennifer Cole who was named Greek Woman of the Year.

Renovations were made to the chapter room including new carpeting and plans were made to install a keypad and new cabinetry.

Valparaiso University built a new student union in the center of campus to bring students together for dining, mail and student organization meetings. University President Alan Harre announced his retirement during the summer of 2007, and Mark Heckler was named as his replacement effective in October 2008.
One of the biggest challenges the chapter faced this year was communication among its members. The members realized it was important to talk face-to-face rather than relying on email so much, and confidentiality was stressed.

During 2008, Eta Delta celebrated its 10th anniversary. Kappa alumnae were invited to come to the chapter room where desserts were served while everyone reminisced as they looked back on the growth of the chapter. Chapter scrapbooks, awards, and pictures were on display. The undergraduates and alumnae enjoyed putting Kappa stickers and bookmarks into books which were donated to Reading is Fundamental (RIF). It was special for the active members to listen to alumnae stories. This display brought a lot of memories to the alumnae as well as the undergraduates and reminded everyone of her continuing sisterhood.

The chapter room had been under construction and everyone was pleased to see the outcome. With the new entertainment system, cable and welcoming atmosphere, the chapter room had become a place where members could get together outside of scheduled meetings.

Eta Delta continued the tradition of philanthropy by collecting small stuffed animals and won the H.U.G. challenge on campus. In addition the chapter added two new philanthropies: Kappa Goat Regatta and Kappa Kasino. During the year, the chapter donated more than $2,650 to several philanthropies such as the Midwest Center and Hilltop. With its dedication to philanthropy and sisterhood, the chapter was pleased when it received third place for its academics in the spring.

Greek Life Awards the campus received were President’s Award of Achievement, Outstanding Public Relations Award and Outstanding Chapter Programming Award. These awards show the chapter’s commitment to the campus and community.

Valparaiso University celebrated its 150th anniversary during the fall of 2008, and several activities were held on campus. Kappa hosted the Duck Pond. The new student union building was dedicated in January 2009 to honor outgoing President Harre.

The chapter faced challenges with Recruitment. Valparaiso had its lowest number of rushees in 10 years and decided not to conduct a fall Recruitment. Eta Delta had trouble filling its council positions although the nominating committee did a good job of slating members in positions for which they were well qualified.

To connect the new members and seniors, there was a focus on having the Fleur-de-Lis be senior members during the new member period.

Since the chapter was on probation, the morale was low. Its social and philanthropic events on campus were limited, and a variety of educational events and workshops were held. To raise morale, several sisterhood events were held which helped the chapter realize it wanted to be proactive in Valparaiso University’s community.

With Recruitment in 2010, the chapter moved forward using the lessons it had learned and with a class of 15 fabulous new members who invigorated the chapter. In March, the chapter held its second annual Kappa Boat Regatta in the campus pool. Several other Greek groups participated, and their creativity was amazing. There were many surprises along the way.

In April, Eta Delta served as hostess for the Delta Province meeting. It was such fun to meet undergraduate and alumnae members from throughout the province. The chapter was proud to receive the Advisory Board/Chapter Relations and Standards awards. The chapter received the following awards from the university: the President’s Award of Achievement and adviser Valarie Thayer, UC San Diego, received an Advisory Board award.
As the semester closed, the chapter was received a focus letter from the Fraternity Council. The members looked forward to the next semester to regain the chapter’s direction and conquer the challenges facing it. Eta Delta members returned for the next semester in high spirits, planning monthly sisterhood events and looking forward to philanthropy.

Sisterhood events brought everyone together, and members participated in the Watermelon Mayham and Sigma Chi Derby Days. For Founders Day, we toured the campus to learn about the first Kappas through crossword puzzles, clues and walking to the chapel steps. It was wonderful to have a lot of alumnae share the day with the chapter.

The second-annual Kappa Kasino philanthropy event was a huge success. Many attended, and it proved to be another great way to unite with other Greek organizations and also reach into the community to gain their involvement as well. To close the year, the chapter participated in the Kappa Foundation Holiday Sharing program. The members purchased gifts and raised money for a fellow sister.
On campus, the 50th anniversary of the Chapel of Resurrection was celebrated, a new fitness center was completed in the fall and new campus apartments were finished for fall semester. The chapter worked to increase the bonds of sisterhood, get its GPA above the all-sorority average and was involved in other campus activities and service projects.

In 2010, the chapter initiated 19 new members and was third among the seven sororities in academics. Eta Delta placed second in the first-ever Valpo Cup in the fall and had some great sisterhood events: hayride and ice skating. The chapter raised $400 from the Boat Regatta which benefited RIF. Eta Delta participated in intramurals such as water basketball, volleyball, floor hockey and soccer. At Greek Awards, the chapter received the public relations award.

The chapter was sad to have 18 seniors graduate in the spring and pleased to pledge five new members for the fall class. Several Kappas went abroad to study. Eta Delta received a warning of probation letter as the year closed. It included a checklist of what the chapter has accomplished so far and looked very good. The chapter was very positive about the progress it had made during the past year.

==Highlights of 2011-2019:==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2011==

During 2011, Eta Delta organized two successful philanthropic events: Kappa Cardboard Boat Regatta and Mr. & Miss Greek Life Pageant. Together these two events successfully raised money for RIF. Also this year, the chapter won Homecoming, and chapter member Alex Moulchin was crowned Homecoming Queen. In academics, Eta Delta had 14 members make the Dean’s List, and two members had 4.0s. The chapter initiated 20 new members.
This year, Valparaiso University hired a new Greek Life coordinator: Allison Cath, Northwestern.
The chapter worked hard to meet the terms of the warning of probation from the Fraaternity. The members became familiar with the Fraternity’s Bylaws and Standing Rules, and each member was expected to hold herself to high standards of conduct.

==Highlights of 2012==

Eta Delta began 2012 with a strong formal recruitment of ten women, who we got to know at a sisterhood event on bid day. We welcomed them with blue and blue cupcakes and played get-to-know-you games. Soon after, the new chapter council met for a leadership retreat to discuss the chapter’s goals for the upcoming year.

In February, we were visited by a Leadership Consultant, Haley Smith, who stayed for the week and helped our chapter work on efficiency and unity. We celebrated Valentines Day together at our semi-formal Kappa Krush Dance and continued the sisterly fun at a hilariously awesome Murder Mystery Sisterhood event. March brought even more chances to bond. We had another sisterhood event to learn about etiquette, and then we spent a week preparing for initiation by having a Kappa Love night, performing new member class skits, and having a new member class sleepover in the Chapter Room.

After initiating our newest Kappas, we got to know the men of Phi Kappa Psi at a unity event where we danced the night away. In April, we focused on our philanthropic involvement. We hosted a very successful Mr. and Mrs. Greek Life Pageant to raise money for Reading is Fundamental, stayed up all night at the University’s Relay for Life, and participated in Phi Psi 500. We celebrated the Monmouth Duo by having a unity event with Pi Beta Phi, where we highlighted our shared tradition of academic excellence by coming together to study.

To strengthen our sisterhood, we had movie nights in the Chapter Room every other week, and we took our sisterhood on the road by traveling to the Indiana Dunes for a picnic with a view. To honor the women who raised us, we invited our mothers to a Mom’s Day brunch. Greek Week was also in April, so we partnered up with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon to participate in trivia contests, relay races, and other friendly competitions. Sigma Phi Epsilon also joined with us to participate in a cookout and bag-o tournament.

At the end of the month, we dined and danced in style at a formal Sapphire Ball. The following morning, we paid tribute to our seniors at our Senior Banquet, where we enjoyed light refreshments as Kappa families gave speeches and parting gifts to the bigs and grandbigs that they’d miss! In may, we wrapped up our semester by bump, set, and spiking our way to third place in Sigma Pi’s volleyball tournament, and gathering together as a sisterhood to watch the Kentucky Derby.

Over the summer, we had the opportunity to send five women to the national convention in Jacksonville, Florida, where we met Kappas from around the world, learned about our fraternity, and received an honorable mention award for our Exemplary House Board.

When we reunited in August, we got to know the freshmen by volunteering at Move In Day, Dunes Day and at the Welcome Back Block Party, where we also met Valparaiso’s new Assistant Dean of Students for Greek Life, Carolyn Whittier. With her help, we recruited a large fall pledge class, adding eight new women to our sisterhood in September. We celebrated Bid Day with a sisterhood event full of food and games. Soon after, we invited our fathers to cook out and play outdoor games with us at a Dad’s Day event. We also supported Sigma Chi’s philanthropy by competing in Derby Days and participated in Valparaiso’s Day of Caring. Near the end of the month, we spent the day together at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. We also received a letter placing us on an academic focus plan, to assist us in improving our grades.

The beginning of October was also the beginning of Homecoming Week. We participated in the week’s activities and were proud of our sister who earned second place in the race to becoming Homecoming Queen. The same week, we stood by two of our women who strutted their stuff in Tri Delta’s Fat-Talk-Free fashion show. We came together to decorate paddles at a sisterhood event. Eta Delta hosted our most successful Boat Regatta fundraiser yet, and we also celebrated Founders Day with our alumni over brunch and a presentation about our history. This month, we had another visit from a leadership consultant, Rebecca Shaw.

After fall break, we helped Lambda Chi Alpha raise money at their Pumpkin Palooza, before donning our best plaid and overalls for a Kappa barn dance. We also spent time with the men of Phi Sigma Kappa at a unity event cook out. In November, we initiated our fall pledge class and elected our new chapter council. We finished out the month with a Christmas themed dance. In December, the Christmas holidays were on our minds. We had a Christmas party in our chapter room, where each sister made her own ornament for our brand new Christmas tree, ate Christmas cookies, and put together Christmas cards to send to Eta Delta’s alumni.

We stayed in the Christmas spirit with a unity event with Phi Delta Theta, where we decorated cookies to take to Hilltop preschool. In the spirit of holiday giving, we purchased gifts as a chapter to send to a sister in need through the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation’s Holiday Sharing Program. Keeping our academic focus plan in mind, we studied hard for finals, and raised our overall GPA back above the all sorority average, ending our year with much to be proud of.

In the past year, Greek Life on Valparaiso University’s campus has seen significant growth and undergone many positive changes. In the fall of 2012, we welcomed Carolyn Whittier as our new Assistant Dean of Students for Greek Life, and she implemented many changes to Greek Life on our campus. She began to host monthly roundtable meetings for the officers of all of the fraternities and sororities to meet and discuss issues pertaining to their position together. For example, the Risk Management and Event Chairmen from all of the organizations meet to discuss social events on campus and within Greek Life. In addition to these meetings, which keep us all informed, she has formed committees to update all of our campus documents for Greek Life, such as how Greek Judicial Board will operate.

In addition to these organizational changes, Greek Life hosted Valparaiso’s first ever Dance Marathon to support Riley’s Children’s Hospital. It was fun, great for Greek Life’s image on campus, and we raised over $10,000! Overall, it was a success, and we will continue to host this event together in the future. This year also saw changes in the way our campus hosts formal sorority recruitment. Many changes were made, including replacing a skit night with a sisterhood night and having more open houses in the fall to raise interest sooner. These changes and Ms. Whittier’s guidance helped all of the Panhellenic sororities have their largest recruitment in several years. One other change on our campus this year is that the President of our University has begun to plan for the fraternities and sororities to get their own houses on a new greek row. This is in the University’s ten year plan for the campus.

Eta Delta has certainly seen some changes in the past year. We have worked hard to address some organizational and risk management issues, and I believe we’ve done a good job. Our chapter is now running more efficiently and participating in dances and other social events more safely. While those aspects of our chapter have improved this past year, we have struggled with our sisterhood and making an impression on the larger campus community. We are turning now to focus on growing closer together again and stepping up our participation on campus to improve our image.

==Highlights of 2014==

Eta Delta received an honorable mention for New Member Programming at the 2014 Convention. We won the Ausensen Award for Excellence in Campus Involvement and an award for Excellence in Public Relations at the annual Valpo Greek Awards ceremony. We had teams participate in Dance Marathon and Relay for Life. Eta Delta was the 2014 Women's Division Runner-up in Songfest, which is an annual sing and dance competition between campus Greek Life. Our Spring Gpa was 3.295 and our Fall GPA was 3.201. Our representative for Homecoming, Amanda Moulchin, won homecoming queen. We became SAAFE certified for the years 2013-2014 by having 80% of our chapter participate in SAAFE certified workshops throughout the year. Eta Delta signed the One Valpo pledge, which is a pledge saying that we will "celebrate diversity and raise awareness to the peaceful outcomes of inclusion". Our Panhellenic community adopted Circle of Sisterhood as our philanthropy. We also had members participate in VU Day of Caring, which is a university wide day of philanthropic events throughout the community. We held our first Reading is Key event with Hilltop children and partnered with Sigma Phi Epsilon. Hilltop is a local daycare center for underprivileged families in the community. We read with the children and did a craft with them and, since the event was around Christmas time, Sigma Phi Epsilon gave each child a present. Eta Delta also had two new philanthropy events in 2014. In March, we held Kappa Karnival, a community wide carnival event. In October we held our Kapture the Flag event, which was a capture the flag tournament.

Eta Delta is relatively small compared to chapters at other schools. We pride ourselves in having a diverse group of women who are active on campus and off whether that is through sports teams, clubs, jobs, volunteer groups, etc. In January of 2014, Eta Delta received its largest pledge class ever of 22, making us the largest sorority on campus. During fall recruitment, we had eight more members join. Beacon Hall, a new dorm on campus, was opened. The sorority housing proposal process began and Pike was approved to come on campus.

In previous years we have held chapter in our chapter room, which is located in the all sorority dorm. However, because of our large chapter size, this spring we moved to the Brown and Gold room in the Harre Union and in the fall we moved to Niels 234.

Our chapter lives together on a floor of a sorority dorm owned by the university. Typically, all sophomores and juniors live in this facility and we can provide housing for up to 36 members. In 2014, we received news that the university would be building new sorority housing, expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Our president's badge is from 1998, when we were founded. On the back is inscripted "PRES 4/18/98"

==Highlights of 2015:==
In January, Eta Delta took part in Formal Recruitment and welcomed 18 new members with a 50s themed bid day. In February we participated in Valparaiso University's Dance Marathon event. We also held Kappa Manicure, a new mini philanthropy event where we painted nails. Members also attended Meet the Pike's Night this month, a semiformal event welcoming the members of the newly chartered Phi Kappa Alpha chapter to campus.

Over Spring Break, three members attended the first annual all greek service trip to Tennessee. In March, we held our second annual Kappa Karnival fundraising event. In April, Eta Delta had four members participated in St. Baldricks by shaving their heads. We had a sisterhood event where we painted tiles to decorate the new house and a unity event with Pi Beta Phi where we tie dyed shirts. We won 2nd place in Songfest with a Beattles themed dance.

At the Valparaiso University Greek Awards Kappa Kappa Gamma was recognized as a 2013-2014 SAAFE and Empowering Organizations and won The Ausensen Award for Excellence in Campus Involvement 2013-2014, Excellence in Public Relations 2013-2014, and Received Honorable mention for New Member Program Award. In May 2015 we had our Sapphire Ball Formal dance and fifteen seniors graduated from our chapter this month.
Construction began over the summer for the new Sorority campus housing and are planned to be completed by the end of the 2015-2016 academic year.

In August, Eta Delta had a field day event with members from Sigma Chi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition, and Latinos in Valparaiso for Excellence where we participated in various activities. Relay for Life was held in October and the Kappa team was the top fundraising team, raising $1,508. Later that month, sixteen members participated in the annual VU Day of Caring event where they went to a local nature preserve to do restoration work. That same day, we had a sisterhood event where we made 15 tie-blankets for Project Lynas, an organization that sends donated blankets to children in hospitals.

In November, we had the first annual Kappa Cooks for Books, a waffle breakfast, where we raised $115 for Reading is Fundamental. We also had a Dad's day event where we learned to ballroom dance and later we initiated a new member class of two. We ended the year with our annual Thanksmas sisterhood event and a "Crazy Holiday" themed dance.

The biggest changes to campus this year would include the construction of the new sorority housing and the addition of two new chapters on campus- Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Lambda Gamma

==Highlights of 2016==

In January, Eta Delta took part in Formal Recruitment and in February we welcomed 23 new members. We had an "Up" (the movie) themed bid day. Our chapter also had the pleasure of meeting Jim O'Heir (an actor from Parks and Recreation) during one of our chapter meetings.

In February Kappas won the Phi Kappa Psi Chili Cook-off for the second time in a row and we held our Kappa Krush dance.

March, we held our third annual Kappa Karnival fundraising event. Five of our sisters traveled to Washington D.C. over spring break to volunteer. We had a unity event with Pi Beta Phi where we hosted a fashion show. Eta Delta also participated in Song Fest and our theme was Disney villains.

At the Valparaiso University Greek Awards Kappa Kappa Gamma was recognized for the best recruitment award and one of our members won sorority woman of the year award. In May 2016 we had our Sapphire Ball Formal dance. We had a unity event with Phi Sigma Kappa where we watched movies in our pajamas. At the end of the semester we moved out of Scheele hall for the last time and packed up our chapter room to move into our new Kappa house.

Construction for the new sorority houses continued over the summer. At Convention we earned Honorable Mention in the areas of Finance, Philanthropy, and House Board. We also received the Kappa Kappa Gamma National Panhellenic Award.

In August, our new house was finally finished. Eta Delta had an America themed dance party with the brothers of Sigma Pi. Relay for Life was held in October and Kappa participated by walking and giving out temporary tattoos. In September some of our members participated in Pi Kappa's Alpha's firemen's challenge and we prepared for fall recruitment. Kappa won homecoming week for the second time in a row.

In October, we held our fall dance, which was themed famous couples. We held our first ever Fall Festival with the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi. We initiated three new members. We joined them at the Boys and Girls Club where we held a variety of different booths that the children could play. We also held our first sorority interest event called Kamp Kappa.

In November, had a Dad's Day event where we hung out with our dads at a football game. We also had our annual Thanksmas dinner and gift exchange.

The biggest change was the addition of the new sorority houses on campus. 6 houses were built for the 5 sororities on campus and one unaffiliated house. The houses are beautiful. They are built so they all connect through the basements and each sorority member has access to her house by using her campus ID card.

We hold our chapter meetings in the chapter room of our new house starting the beginning of the fall semester. The university owns our house. There are a variety of different room styles. The president has a room to herself and there are two floors of rooms that have triples, doubles, and quads. 25 sisters are able to live in the house. This is our very first year in our new house and we are very excited.

The only historical badge we have in our chapter is our president’s badge which we have had since we came to campus in 1998.

==Highlights of 2017==

In January, Eta Delta took part in Formal Recruitment, capped off with a country themed bid day, Sweet Home Kappa Kappa Gamma.

On February 25th, we welcomed 22 new members into the sisterhood. This brought the chapter's active member total up to 82. We held our Kappa Krush dance at Casa del Roma.

In March, we held our fourth annual Kappa Karnival fundraising event. We raised $607, which was split between the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Eta Delta had 25 members participate in Song Fest, and our theme was 90s throwbacks.

In April, we participated in Dance Marathon for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In May, we had our Sapphire Ball Formal dance at Casa del Roma.

In August, to kick off the school year, Eta Delta had a Hawaiian themed dance party with the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi. In September, six of our members won the Pi Kappa Alpha Fireman's Challenge, and we prepared for fall recruitment.

In October, we initiated five new members. We had our first sisterhood retreat at Camp Butternut Springs. Many Eta Delta members participated in Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society. In November, we had a Great Gatsby semi formal at Casa del Roma.

In December, had our annual Thanksmas dinner featuring an ugly sweater contest and a Secret Sister gift exchange. We also made cards for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Having moved in during the fall of 2016, Eta Delta marked the first full year of having its own university-owned house in 2017. The facility can house 25 members in a variety of triple, double, and quad rooms, while the president or Vice President of Standards has the luxury of her own room. The house can comfortably accommodate weekly chapter meetings with seating for all members. We can also now perform the initiation ceremony within the chapter facility.

Eta Delta’s historical badge is its President’s badge which dates back to the chartering of the chapter in 1998. Eta Delta received 2 Greek Awards from the Panhellenic/InterFraternity Council: “Excellence in New Member Education” and “Most Improved Chapter.” Our recruitment counselor, Leah Birhanu, received the “Sam Salvador Living Your Values Award.” This award was created in honor of a Chi Omega who passed away this year. Rin Seibert received “Sorority Advisor of the Year”.

==Highlights of 2018==

We hit a homerun starting the year with our baseball themed Bid Day “A League of Our Own” in January.

In February, we performed in Lambda Chi Alpha’s Air Guitar Competition and won a check for RIF. We had Kappa Krush on the 10th at Casa del Roma. We had a Galentine’s Sisterhood event on the 18th. We had four sisters participate in the Polar Plunge. We initiated 22 new members on the 23rd.

In March, we has sisters attend various spring break trips including a Greek Life trip to Denham Springs, Louisiana, a medical trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with the Nursing Program, and a mission trip with St. Teresa’s Student Center to Des Moines, Iowa. We also had a sisterhood event in the union where we played Twister and ate pizza.

In April, we had many sisters participate in Dance Marathon. We held a Reading is Key Event at Parkview Elementary where we read “A New Leaf” and made tree crafts. We had a sisterhood event where we painted and potted plants. We had many sisters participate in Songfest; the theme was summer.

In May, we had a red carpet themed formal at Casa del Roma. We held a dodgeball tournament for our philanthropy event and raised money for RIF and the Kappa Foundation. We held a senior banquet celebrating our graduates and wishing them all well in the real world. We also won the Intramurals for the year!

In September, we had a barbecue at the house after a football game as a sisterhood event. We held a sisterhood retreat at Camp Tannadoonah where made birthday cards for the kids at the Midwest Center and participated in many bonding activities. For Homecoming, we had a table at the Street Fair and held an alumnae event where members shared their favorite memories. We had two teams participate in the Pike’s Firemen challenge, and we won for the second year in a row. We held our first combined service event with St. Teresa’s Catholic Student Center. We raised money at the Strack and Van Til’s for Hobart Humane Society. We also had all our members participate in cleaning up the highway US Route 2.

In October, we had a sisterhood event, “Kappa is to Dye For,” where we tie dyed clothes. We had our semi formal at County Line Orchard. We held a unity event with Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Delta Theta. We had sisters participate in the Iron Phive 5k for ALS and Kicking it for KD.

In November, we had a service event at Cafe Manna. We also had a philanthropy event for Girls Academy called Kappa Kakes where we made and sold pancakes.

In December, we had Thanksmas. We shot our recruitment video. We had a karaoke unity event with Phi Sigma Kappa.

Panhellenic Council passed a fall 2019 extension for a sixth sorority.

Along with our president’s badge, we have two new historical badges. The Susanna Eibel Young award is given to the girl with the highest cumulative GPA at the end of her junior year. Susanna Eibel Young and her mother were instrumental in the founding of Kappa on our campus. We have the VPS badge that is passed down from VPS to VPS. It belonged to Debra Harstad, who was a part of the graduating class of 2012 and served as VPS during her time in Kappa.

==Highlights of 2019==

In January, Eta Delta welcomed 28 new members during our Ice Cream themed bid day. We also held a unity event with Lambda Chi Alpha and created cards for children in the hospital. In February, Eta Delta put on Kappa Karnival for Girls Academy. There were various carnival games and karaoke teams from other fraternities and sororities. Five of our officers attended KLC in Dallas, Texas. Our new members found out their bigs that weekend as well! On February 23, all 28 new members were initiated into Kappa Kappa Gamma! The following day, the new members attended their first formal chapter as initiated members. In March, we held two unity events with Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Kappa Psi. In April, we held a charter day celebration for Eta Delta! In May, we had our Kappily Ever After formal in the Porter County Expo Center. We celebrated our seniors’ successes with a senior banquet, and 16 sisters graduated. In August, we helped freshman move into their dorms and participated in various Welcome Week activities such as the Fraternity and Sorority Life Meet and Greet. In September, we had a sisterhood retreat at the Indiana Dunes and helped clean up the beach. Sisters also went to Valparaiso’s Popcorn Festival. We also participated in Greek Week and PIKE’s Fireman’s Challenge. We welcomed Alpha Gamma Delta’s new members at their bid day celebration. We learned chants with the Alpha Gam LCs. We attended Pi Beta Phi’s Mr. Pi Phi philanthropy event for Read. Lead. Achieve. Sister’s participated in Valparaiso’s Day of Caring and Gamma Phi Beta’s Moonball that benefited their philanthropy, Girls on the Run. Homecoming brought alumni back to Eta Delta for Kappa Love. We also had a booth in the Crusader Street Fair. In October, we hosted another Kappa Karnival for Girl’s Academy and raised over $3,000!
Eta Delta also met potential new members’ during open house. We hosted a celebration for Founder’s Day with alumni. We invited Alpha Gamma Delta over for a movie night to welcome our new neighbors. We participated in various philanthropy events such as Kappa Delta’s Shamrock Soccer and Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Sig Ep Splash. We also had a Halloween Party with our sisters, and we mummified a sister with toilet paper and made caramel apples. Sigma Phi Epsilon also went bowling with us! We hosted a fall interest event for potential new members with a hot chocolate bar and cookies. We donated books to Hilltop Neighborhood House and volunteered. In November, we had a sister participate in St. Baldrick’s hosted by Lambda Chi Alpha. We also hosted a Dad’s Day where sisters and their dads carved pumpkins. Our spring of 2019 class had a retreat. Our entire chapter went through RR for the first time in four years. We participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days and Phi Kappa Psi’s Phi Psi 500. We hosted our first joint semi-formal with Lambda Chi Alpha, and the theme was 70s. Our new officers were elected and had a leadership day to begin to transition them. In December, we hosted Thanksmas and did a secret sister gift giving. We also adopted an Angel Tree Child. Our new officers were installed on December 7.

==Highlights of 2020==

Chapter Summary
In January, Eta Delta welcomed 18 new members during our Going for the Gold bid day. In Feburary, we hosted Kappa Krush. We initiatied all 18 women into Eta Delta. We hosted a movie night in the chapter room. We ice skated for a sisterhood event. One sister participated in Phi Sigma Kappa’s Polar Plunge event. We also created cards for children in hostpials with Lamdba Chi Alpha. In March, pre-COVID, we had a one member attend the Fraternity and Sorority Life service trip. Pre-COVID, four sisters attended a service trip in Costa Rica. Pre-COVID, four sisters attended Arch Madness in St. Louis for the Semi-Finals. In April, sisters participated in Valparaiso University’s first virtual Dance Marathon, and we celebrated our 22nd anniversity of Eta Delta. We participated in virtual Songfest, a campus tradition where student organizations come up with dances that follow a specific theme. During the COVID-19 lockdown, council met to work together and plan a virtual Kappa expreince. In May, we made a video for our graduating seniors and gifted them blankets. Two sisters received scholarships. Our member, Annika Brown, won the Sam Salvador Living Your Values Award at our Fratenity and Sorority Life Awards. We won Excellence in Chapter Development and Values in Action Awards. In June, our Chapter President attended virtual convention. During June and July, our members volunteered at FOCUS to welcome first year students, and one of our sisters was an Orientation Assistant. In August, we placed for New Member Education and Advisory Board at Kappa Convention. We had honorable mentions for Public Relations, Panhellenic, and Standards at Kappa Convention. We came back to campus in early August and helped first year students move in. Sisters participated in Mini-Dance Marathon. We also meet potential new members at the Fraternity and Sorority Life Meet and Greet. We particiapted in virtual fall recruitment and welcomed 9 new members into our chapter. In September, we participated in Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy events. Sisters participated in Dance Marathon’s FT5K, a 5K that benefits Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. We also won intramurals in Kickball. Our event chair hosted a movie night for sisters, and we watched Mulan. Sisters met potential new members at Fraternity and Sorority Life’s Fall Day. We played intramural co-ed volleyball with Lambda Chi Alpha. Our Spring 2020 new member class had a fall photoshoot. In October, we initiated 9 new members and hosted an all virtual initiation. Inspiration Period was held online as well where we hosted Kappa Love, game night, and senior night. We hosted Kappa Kahoot, our virtual philathropy event, that benefited Reading is Fundamental. We participated in Kappa Delta’s Shamrock philanthropy event and Lamdba Chi Alpha’s Spike Tournament and 5K that supported the RAINN Foundation. We had a fall sisterhood event where sisters painted canvas’ and pumpkins. We hosted a virtual fall interest event, Going Mad For Kappa, where sisters and potential new members played MadLibs. Our president, Chelsea VanAken, won the Susanne Eibel Young award from the East Lake/Porter County Alumni Association. This award is given to the junior with the highest cumulative GPA and comes with a special pin, monetary award, and certificate. Sisters participated in Fraternity and Sorority Life’s Monster Dash and safely hosted a Halloween party in the chapter room. In November, we installed all our 2021 council members.

Chapter Philanthropy
What organization does the chapter support? Reading is Fundamental, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Girls Academy

We support all three philanthropies throughout different efforts during the year. We support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation because it helps our sisters we are in need of financial supports affected by natural diseasters or situations like COVID-19. We support Reading is Fundamental because it provides kids with access to books. We support Girls Academy because middle school is a rough time for kids, especially girls, and we want to provide mentorship for them.

How did your chapter include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in your programming this year? (e.g., adding a DEI officer, philanthropy events, social media awareness campaign, chapter training, etc.). We created a diversity, equity, and inclusion chairwoman to transition with the incoming council. She will have a committee that represents each class of women in our chapter and the education chair. She will facilitate conversation and hold educational programs about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are participating in our Fraternity and Sorority Community’s conversation regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion as well. One sister is a part of the #OneValpo committee that is under IFC and Panhellenic.

How did your chapter celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary? Share what you have done this year. Our education chair created a Kappa Kahoot that had fun facts about Kappa Kappa Gamma. This included information about our founders and other history. Alumni attended via Zoom and talked about their experience in Kappa. They spoke about the friendships it brought them, life lessons, and opportunities Kappa has brought them.

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==Highlights of 2021==

In January of 2021 the incoming council met via zoom to discuss our plans for the
chapter. We welcomed 18 new members along with our recruitment counselors and officers to
our chapter with a Dream Awhile with Kappa bid day before our formal pledging.
In February we had our much awaited big little reveal.
In March, we were able to virtual initiate our new sisters after a fun filled I-week. We
had an online Tea Time with Kappa interest event for potential new members. Together we
had a powerpoint sisterhood event and a unity event with PIKE where we shared our
powerpoints. Not only that but we had a fashion unity event with Chi O.
In April, we had many sisters participate in Dance Marathon and we were the highest
fundraising organization! We were able to get together in person for a succulent pot painting
sisterhood event. We participated in wiffleball and volleyball intramurals which was almost
as exciting as our first online Girls Academy event that happened this month. We also had a
little charter day celebration at the house. Our chapter won FSL week and we won the pillar
of excellence along with other awards!
In May sisters participated in Songfest with a Pitch Perfect theme which had us first
place in sororities. We also had a Coffees and Donuts sisterhood event to celebrate the end of
finals. At the end of this month we had a senior banquet to celebrate our lovely seniors who
were graduating.
In July we had sisters help with FOCUS freshman orientation.
In August sisters participated in freshman move in and other welcome week events
such as Fraternity and Sorority Life Meet and Greet.
In September we had a Blue and Blue theme bid day to welcome four new members
to Kappa. Sisters took part in all the homecoming activities around campus and even
continued with flag football and volleyball intramurals. We also got a new chapter advisor.
In October we had our homecoming alumni event at the house to show them what our
chapter looks like now. We held a Pumpkins and Positivity interest event for potential new
members. After formal pledging, we initiated our four new members into our chapter after
another fun and in person I-week. We celebrated Founders Day with brunch, games, and
sisterhood. For the first time in over a year, we were able to hold a Black and White Ball
Semi! Intramural basketball was also going on at this time. Instead of chapter on Halloween,
we had a sisterhood event with cookies, caramel apples, and raffles!
In November we had a tailgating unity event with Kappa Delta to get ready for the
football game.We honored Dr. Bob at the FSL faculty and staff award ceremony. We were
granted enough money for a new chapter room. Two of our sisters were inducted into Order
of Omega. We also had our Kappa Kickball philanthropy event which was a huge success!
We did great in our basketball intramurals this month. Family day was hosted at the house for
our sisters and their families to get together and make Christmas ornaments.
In December we had our Thanksmas and lastly, our new officers were installed after
our leadership day.

Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why?
Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Girls Academy, and Active Minds Mental Health.
We support all three philanthropies throughout the year. We support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation
because it helps our sisters around the world who are in need of financial aid due to natural disasters or
because COVID-19. We support Active Minds because mental health is something important everyone
deals with, especially on a college campus. We support Girls Academy because middle school can be
difficult for girls, and we want to help them with their confidence.
How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy?
We sold shirts and held our first annual Kappa Kickball!
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We have a diversity, equity, and inclusion chairman who would often have presentations she
shared in order to educate us and hold those conversations.

Operating in a Pandemic
At the beginning of the year, we stayed virtual with chapter, initiation, recruitment, and even
unit events. Slowly, we were able to meet again in person with masks and a limited number
of sisters in a space. Sign ups for different time slots were available so every sister could still
take part in sisterhood events, just at different times. We are now meeting in person again
and holding in person initiation and semi formals for the first time in over a year.

Eta Gamma

2021-12-22T17:53:20Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Gamma
|GreekSymbol= HΓ
|Image= [[File:Eta_Gamma.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1997|10|24}}
|College= [https://www.sandiego.edu/ University of San Diego]
|Location= San Diego, CA
|Homepage= [https://usandiego.kappa.org/ Eta Gamma Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Gamma Media related to Eta Gamma Chapter]}}

'''University of San Diego, established in 1949 in San Diego, California'''

'''Eta Gamma founded September 21, 1997'''

'''899 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

----

'''Some of Eta Gamma’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Members:'''

Brianne Tatarian, Traveling Consultant 2001-2002;

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''additional Outstanding Eta Gamma Alumnae:'''

Brianne McGann, Leadership Consultant 2011-2012

---------------------

The University of San Diego is an independent Catholic institution known for its commitment to teaching and the liberal arts. Students live and work in a setting of Spanish Renaissance architecture overlooking Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The university serves approximately 4,000 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students. Close to 90 percent of the freshman and a majority of upperclass students live on campus. The university offers 16 NCAA Division I sports as well as a variety of club and intramural level sports.

==Installation==

Two trips to the sunny coast of San Diego, Calif., have resulted in a new addition to the Kappa family. The University of San Diego (not to be confused with UC San Diego) became home to Kappa Kappa Gamma's 126th active chapter, Eta Gamma.

An outstanding group of young women became a Kappa Kappa Gamma Colony during a Colonization Recruitment held on campus September 19-21, 1997. Installation of the chapter was held November 7 -8, making these women charter members of Eta Gamma Chapter. Fifty-one colony members were initiated by Fraternity

President Cathy Thompson Carswell, Illinois Wesleyan; Chairman of Extension Juliana (J.J.) Fraser Wales, Ohio State; and the Fraternity's second delegate to the Panhellenic Conference Carol Morrison Sobek, Arizona State, also assisted with the Installation.

Alumnae from the San Diego area and members from Zeta Nu, UC San Diego; Zeta Eta, UC Irvine; Gamma Zeta, Arizona; and Epsilon Delta, Arizona State, participated in Installation activities, as well. Eta Gamma's Chapter Consultant was Anne Kieselbach, UC San Diego; Ragen Bradner, UC San Diego, served as the Coordinator of Chapter Development.

Other Panhellenic groups on campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, and Kappa Alpha Theta.

==Highlights of the 1990s==

Eta Gamma Chapter was officially colonized on September 21, 1997 when 53 young women were informed that they were to represent this chapter as part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity at the University of San Diego. These women were installed as Charter Members on November 8, 1997.
At that time, the University of San Diego had 4,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students. Approximately 23% of the study body was involved in Greek life. There were five fraternities; Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Delta Tau Delta, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. There were four sororities; Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Phi, Alpha Delta Pi, and the newly colonized Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Under the supervision of Anne Kieselbach, the Chapter Consultant, and Regan Bradner, the Coordinator of Chapter Development, the new pledge class took on the responsibilities of continuing the Kappa traditions.

During the first new member Recruitment in 1998 the chapter pledged 30 new members. Party themes included "Kappa Kappa Chino" coffee house, "Kappa Academy Awards," and "Kappa is Your Candle on the Water."

In 1998 Eta Gamma's President, Bridgett O'Neil was honored as the Greek Woman of the Year at USD.
Also, that year the chapter reported the highest GPA among the sororities on USD's campus.
The chapter goal in 1998 was P.P.U.R.C. - building a meaningful foundation through "Participation, Planning, Understanding, Respect, and Communication." The chapter worked toward this goal through philanthropy, social, fraternity education, sisterhood, and scholarship efforts.

Challenges facing the chapter in the 1990s included low participation and lack of communication. The chapter instituted a variety of ways to improve both of these areas including attendance awards for individual members, email distribution groups, reminders of upcoming events, and personal notes read at the end of meetings.

Eta Gamma members participated in many organizations and honorary societies on USD's campus. Through their newsletter, the Eta Gamma Gazette, they shared events and current activities that the chapter was involved with to the greater Kappa sisterhood of readers.

The chapter incorporated some successful scholarship ideas that included honoring members with high GPAs, hosting Scoops Night by grouping members in majors to assist each other with choosing classes, and treating the members to massages and relaxation sessions during Kappa Relief Days before finals.

'''Philanthropy:'''

The chapter participated in a variety of events that raised money and awareness, many of which were co-hosted with other campus fraternities or sororities. These efforts included a book drive, after-school tutoring, volunteering at a resale clothing store, building homes in Mexico, and gift giving to needy families during the holiday season.

In 1999 the chapter members logged more than 2,000 volunteer hours in philanthropic efforts.
Some of the organizations that benefited from Eta Gamma's philanthropy included St. Vincent de Paul Center, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, Project Mercy, and the Children's Miracle Network.

'''Awards:'''

At the 34th Biennial Province Meeting, Eta Gamma received the Marian Williams-Mitch Pflugh Public Relations Award.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

The chapter continued its member bonding through theme parties, sisterhood events, social exchanges with other Greek groups, retreats, campus-wide events, intramurals, Moms Weekend, and Dads Weekend. The chapter also held theme nights for each class (sophomore, junior, and senior) to honor Eta Gamma members from each school year.

Participation continued to be a challenge, and the chapter committees worked on innovative efforts to increase attendance at events. These challenges also had an effect on finances, but the chapter was able to reorganize their budget to accommodate for the deficit. Also challenging the members were standards issues. The Standards Committee, along with other committees/officers on Chapter Council strengthened communication and sisterhood through events and awareness in order to improve morale overall for the chapter.

In 2005 the chapter reported that they received the honorable USD Dean's Trophy for the sixth consecutive year.

The chapter continuously displayed archives for members to see during Recruitment and throughout the year at meetings.

Eta Gamma hosted a successful Province Meeting in San Diego in 2009.

In 2010, the USD campus welcomed a new multicultural sorority; Sigma Theta Psi.
Through Recruitment in 2010 the chapter pledged 46 new members. The chapter's many sisterhood activities, including Key Sis themed events, strengthened the relationships between actives and new members.

Scholarship remained a core value, and members were rewarded for logging study hours and maintaining a high GPA.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Strong philanthropy efforts continued through the support of AVID, Haiti earthquake relief (UNICEF), breast cancer awareness, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, MS Walk, Rady Children's Hospital, and STEP.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

==Highlights of 2011==

In 2011, 54 new members were initiated - Eta Gamma's largest new member class to date. In 2011, the USD campus welcomed two new Greek organizations; Kappa Delta and Phi Gamma Delta.

==Highlights of 2012==

Eta Gamma Chapter has had a wonderful and successful 2012. Our spring recruitment brought us a pledge class of over 50 beautiful new members. These new girls have become an amazing asset to our chapter right from the get-go, and have continued to impress ever since. Our Bid Day consisted of an exciting bid reveal, followed by a fun filled trip to the bowling alley with froyo and dinner afterwards. The following weekend was our annual New Member retreat sleepover. New members mingled with actives and the Standards committee to learn traditional Kappa songs and chants, eat food, and bond over their new sisterhood. After that, our annual Presents date dash was held, where new members wore white and actives wore black.

Immediately after their first week in Kappa, new members began getting to know the sophomore pledge class better through "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our chapter's New Member chairman paired each new member with an older girl each week over the course of 6 weeks, so that new members could begin figuring out who they would choose as their Big sisters and who the sophomore pledge class would pick for their Little sisters. The dates were left up to the sophomore pledge class, but usually involved eating out, grabbing coffee, or even activities like bike riding or stand-up paddle boarding. In March, the big sisters give clues to their little sisters over the course of a week, leading up to a small ceremony where the Big sis reveals herself and her family to her new Little Sis.

The time immediately following Big Sis Reveal marks the beginning of Initiation. Girls strengthened the bond with their families as they went through Inspo Week, the week leading up to initiation. Each day was defined by a different color, and new members received gifts from their big sister's with different meanings on each day. This also gave active members the opportunity to explain to new member's exactly why they enjoy being a part of Kappa. On Blue Night, little sisters present handpainted keys to their big sister's, and big sister's give their little sisters pillows. This night helps girls to realize how Kappa has made a difference in the lives of other members. Following Blue Night, we have Fireside the evening prior to initiation at a YMCA in downtown San Diego. The following morning we iniated 54 beautiful new members.

In the past year our Kappa chapter held many philanthropy, social and sisterhood events. After our Presents dance, we held a "Drop It Like It's Yacht" mixer with Fiji and Lamda Chi Alpha fraternities, and our spring formal. This fall we held a mixer with Phi Kappa Theta themed as "High School Cliques", and we also held a "Kappa Klue" date dash, where girls invited guys and dressed as costumed pairs, like Barbie and Ken. We finished off the semester with our winter formal, held outdoors at the Boat House in Pacific Beach. Besides our dances, we held many sisterhood events as well as our annual Mom and Dad's weekends. We spent an entire day at Disneyland in November, and an evening shopping at Brandy Melville in Pacific Beach. We also spent a day at Balboa Park in Mission Beach, getting to bond and know each other better as sisters. Last semester we held a Bunco Night, and had prizes for people who won the Bunco games. We also had a sisterhood dinner, where large groups of girls got to know each other better at restaurants over yummy food. We also had a hypnotist come to campus and hypnotize some of our members, which led to many laughs and fond memories. Last spring also held our annual Mom's Weekend. The weekend began with cake decorating on campus, where girls and their mother's mingled with other girls from different pledge classes. The next morning, everybody met up at Torrey Pines park to go for a hike. To end the weekend, girls and their mother's went to brunch at a hotel in Pacific Beach. In the fall, we held Dad's weekend. The weekend started off with mini golf and a go karts outing, the next day featured a kayaking excursion and then the weekend ended with a beach harbor cruise.

Kappa followed through with its' commitment to philanthropy in 2012 by hosting many philanthropy events. We continued to hold our three main philanthropies: Ballers for Children, Journal Buddies, and Breastival. We held our annual Breastival in the fall. Breastival, a breast cancer themed carnival with activities such as "Nipple Ring Toss", "Milk Pong", and "Guess the Celebrity Cup Size". Throughout the semester we continued to hold our philanthropy, Journal Buddies, with underprivileged school children in the area. Each child is paired with a member of Kappa and they keep a journal throughout the semester in which they can communicate. At the end of the semester, we have a Journal Buddy Party, where the kids can meet the women that they have been writing to. We also held our Ballers for Children basketball tournament in the fall with the men of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Three on three teams compete in a bracket tournament to raise money for the Children's Hospital of San Diego. We had a great turn out, and many dressed up their teams with themes.

This year, Kappa also held a new philanthropy event with the men of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Called Survivor, teams could register to participate in an obstacle course race at Mission Bay Park. Although it was helf on a windy day, we managed to raise over $10,000 to benefit Orange County Children's Hospitals. We also held a raffle that benefited charity with prizes like giftcards to local restuarants and shops. We also participated in Greek Week with FIJI fraternity along with Sigma Theta Psi, the multicultural sorority, where all proceeds benefitted St. Jude's Children's Hospital. We got second place in Greek Week skits overall, and were a heavy contender in Penny Wars, with a light and friendly rivalry with Alpha Phi. Our skits were to the theme and music of the 80's, 90's and today. With the participation of FIJI men, we had a great time doing our skit, with costumes and fun backgrounds.

As always, we were eager to help other fraternity's and sorority's with their own philanthropic causes. We had a team of girls compete in Alpha Chi Omega's Kick It tournament, girls who walked in Alpha Delta Pi's fashion show, and a large team of girls who competed in Alpha Phi's powderpuff football tournament. We also had our president, Kendall Gilmore, be nominated for Beta Theta Pi's Sweetheart,

With so many great accomplishments, our Kappa chapter finished off the year strong. We grew as a chapter, both physically and figuratively, and became a lot closer. We worked hard and celebrated our academic accomplishments as well as each an individual member and the assets that she brings to the chapter.

This year, USD Greek Life was joined by Kappa Delta. Our chapter was eager to support them in their colonization, by attending their socials and informationals. Another exciting change was that our chapter was asked to be the "Big Sister" chapter to Kappa at Chapman University. Sisters are already planning how to help them during their recruitment and are thrilled to have the opportunity to create an entirely new Kappa chapter.

This past year, our chapter was put under an Academic Focus Plan. However, our sisters rose to the occasion and spent countless study hours together in the library and coffee houses on campus. This plan inspired a permanent change in sisters study habits- mandatory study hours became fun in library when groups of sisters were there. We finished the year second in GPA in all sororities on campus and third overall in all of Greek Life. It was a goal of ours to improve academic excellence in 2011 that was accomplished in 2012. It has helped us to become closer and to recognize our sisters' academic strengths.

Our chapter excelled this year on campus, and was awarded University of San Diego's chapter of the Order of Omega's Dean Trophy. This trophy is given to the best chapter on campus based in five different categories: academic excellence, social justice and selfless service, leadership, sisterhood and high social standards. Award winners are evaluated on how well these values are incorporated into the everyday life of our members. With a lot of hard work, our registrar, Kalie Flansberg, compiled a profile of every single member in our chapter to show just how great we are. It was an enormous accomplishment and something to truly be proud of.

Eta Gamma was also awarded the privilege of The Gracious Living Award at Convention this year. It was another achievement to be celebrated in 2012.

==Highlights of 2014==

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2014! Our spring recruitment brought us 52 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. The following weekend, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat was a sleepover at one of the active's house where our members talked, ate dinner, learned Kappa songs, and watched movies.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Ballers for Children, Survivor, and a brand new Surf for the Cure Event. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Ballers for Children is the basketball tournament that we host with Lambda Chi Alpha to raise money Reading is Fundamental. This year we were thrilled to welcome a new event, Surf for a Cure, which our chapter hosted with Beta Theta Pi down on Mission Beach. This event combined our chapter’s Breastival and Beta’s Surf as One event. A fun day with music, carnival information games, and a surf competition the money raised helped support the Shades of Pink Foundation, the Scripps Foundation, and Life Rolls On Foundation. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Famous talent show, Sigma Phi Epsilon Soccer Tournament, Sigma Phi Epsilon Bowling tournament, Beta Theta Pi Surf Competition, and Sigma Pi Inner tube water polo. Kappas also showed their dedication by joining in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. This year with 9 girls (the biggest team yet!) walked 60 miles from Del Mar, CA to Petco Park in Downtown San Diego. As a team they raised over $30,000 and had sisters cheering them on every mile. show including a beautiful background, great costumes and props, catchy music, an adorable theme, and fun choreography.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Winter Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Beta Theta Pi with a fun theme of "Stepford Wives&Saving Lives" and Fiji with "80’s Flicks and Kappa Chicks" and a theme of "Welcome to the Jungle" with Phi Kappa Theta. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, dinner and a hypnotist show, and a sisterhood retreat. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring, where we started off the weekend with moms coming to a photobooth and then painting frames together. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a zumba class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday at the Hotel Del Coronado. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day of Nerf Gun Wars, a classic viewing of “The Sandlot” and brunch on a cruise around the San Diego Bay. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We attended Founders Day Tea on the University of California, San Diego's campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

With so many accomplishments, Eta Gamma ended 2014 on a very positive note. Not only did we strengthen our chapter while having fun, but we also celebrated our academic achievements. As of Spring 2015, Kappa ranked second out of all of Greek life for our overall GPA with improving from a 3.22 to a 3.46!! Our Smarty Panties, Geek of the Week and Kappa Academic Resource list helped us attain this accomplishment.

Chapter-
Our chapter is comprised of 170 kind, funny, intelligent, and talented young women. Many of us have discussed how we did not know each other until we met in Kappa, but we are so glad that we are friends now. Through the latest recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We embrace each other's differences and strive to bring out the best in one another. We support each other by engaging in weekly "fleur-de-lis" friends, where members get paired up with other members and choose an activity to bond over, and learning about and understanding the positions on Chapter Council by utilizing our committees. Finally, we value the strengths of the five other panhellenic sororities on campus, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta and Sigma Theta Psi USD's multicultural sorority.

Campus-
The recent changes to our campus are the addition of a new wonderful chapter to the greek life at USD. Sigma Pi has been added to the greek system in order to help create a more inclusive greek life for more students at USD. Pi Beta Phi is colonizing Spring 2015 and Kappas have helped with tabling for information and meeting alumni at Sorority Recruitment Informationals. We are overly excited to welcome these chapters and make them feel at home at USD.

Our chapter meetings are held in our campus's University Center Forum B. The UCs hold a lot of campus life including the school's main dining hall (The Student Life Pavilion-SLP), the to-go food market, Offices, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, USD's own restaurant and soon USD's new bookstore.

At USD there is no Greek housing, however, much of our chapter lives together on and off campus. Whether it's the dorms on campus, having your RA be a Kappa sister, or living with 7 other girls down at a house on Mission Beach there is no shortage of Kappas spending mornings cooking breakfast or sharing a laugh at dinner together at the SLP.

==Highlights of 2015==

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2015! Our spring recruitment brought us over 50 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. Following in February actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat held on campus and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Kappa’s Kampus Feud, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Kampus Feud was brought to the USD campus as a Family Feud style game show to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $4,500. A fun day with music, walking around Mission Bay the money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas along took a Friday afternoon to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read Curious George to classrooms of first graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Eta Gamma had an amazing 2015! Our spring recruitment brought us over 50 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. Following in February actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat held on campus and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Kappa’s Kampus Feud, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Kampus Feud was brought to the USD campus as a Family Feud style game show to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $4,500. A fun day with music, walking around Mission Bay the money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas along took a Friday afternoon to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read Curious George to classrooms of first graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Famous talent show, a 5k run for the Ronald McDonald House, and Sigma Pi’s Dancing with the Greeks.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Winter Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Theta, and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, and a sisterhood shopping event. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a yoga class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday in Downtown San Diego. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day Go-Kart Racing, a sunny day of Kayaking in La Jolla and a morning of breakfast burritos at the driving range. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We attended Founders Day Tea on the University of California, San Diego's campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

With so many accomplishments, Eta Gamma ended spring 2015 with awards from the most improved GPA and the most improved chapter awarded by Panhellenic.

==Highlights of 2016==

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2016! Our spring recruitment brought us 34 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over a game of Escape Room. Because of this, we learned how to work together and really bond. Following in February, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the active members wore black dresses and the new members wore white. A few weeks after, the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat was held at an active member's house and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had hour different Sapphire Sister dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March, Kappa holds a small ceremont in chihc the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us in Kappa. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The weeks leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 34 new members were initiated--avery exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter!

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Field Day, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at the end of the semester. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Field Day was put on with the fraternity Phi Kappa Theta to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall and the well-respected Children's Hospital of Orange County. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $3,200. This fun day was full of music and walking around Mission Bay. The money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas also took two Friday afternoons to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read books to classrooms of kinder to fifth graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Phi Gamma Delta's Knockout, and a 5k run for the Ronald McDonald House.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Sapphire Ball Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta, Beta Theta Pi, and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, and a sisterhood shopping event. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a yoga class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday in beautiful La Jolla. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day of Go-Kart Racing and a morning of brunch in La Jolla. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We hosted Founders Day Tea on campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

Our chapter is comprised of kind, funny, intelligent, and talented young women. Many of us have discussed how we did not know each other until we met in Kappa, but we are so glad that we are friends now. Through the latest recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We embrace each other's differences and strive to bring out the best in one another. We support each other by engaging in weekly "fleur-de-lis" friends, where members get paired up with other members and choose an activity to bond over, and learning about and understanding the positions on Chapter council by utilizing our committees.

The recent changes to our campus are the addition of a new wonderful chapter to the Greek Life at USD. Last year Pi Beta Phi colonized in the Spring of 2015, and Kappas have helped their transition here on campus. Unfortunately, one of the chapters here on campus lost its charter. Because of this, however, Eta Gamma has learned to really value our chapter and the amazing women we call sisters.

Our chapter has continued to donate money to the KKG Foundation. We have also held an event called Strides for Survival, which is a 5k run/walk on Mission Bay. There were over 300 people in attendance. Over $5,000 was raised for the Shades of Pink Foundation. In addition, our Reading is Key event was a major success! We read a book to all students of kindergarten to fifth grade at a local elementary school, Sherman Elementary School. Afterwards we did an art project with the students, and each child received a book. To raise money for these books, our chapter put on an event called "Field Day," where we invited the entire student body and the middle school class we were writing back and forth to (Journal Buddies!), to participate. There was outdoor events where each team competed and all money raised in sign-up fees, raffles and through a dunk tank went to RIF. The amount of money raised for RIF was $10,000. In addition, our chapter has also put on various community service events such as making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, making blankets for the Ronald McDonald Foundation, hosting beach cleanups, and writing letters to soldiers for the holidays.
We are also very proud of sisters who participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk. This 3- day walk is 60 miles long, where women and men walk to fight to end breast cancer. We had three of our members participate in this walk this year.

Eta Gamma is very passionate about helping fight to end breast cancer. The Shades of Pink Foundation support more than 115 women in five counties. Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have extra financial burdens places on them during treatment and recovery. Common issues are insurance payments, food, transportation, childcare, and other essentials of daily life. This Foundation offers temporary financial assistance during their time in need. We chose to support this organization because it is a local philanthropy that we are really passionate to help.

==Highlights of 2017==

[[File:Eta Gamma1.png|thumb|Eta Gamma Chapter, 2017]]

Eta Gamma has had an outstanding 2017! Our spring recruitment brought us 34 new members who were eager to get involved and participate right from the start. Our eventful Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over fun sisterhood games and delicious food. In March, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where active members wore black dresses and the new members wore white. This is always such a special and fun event for both actives and new members.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during “Sapphire Sis” dates. Actives and new members were paired up so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sis dates, in which active members treated the new girls to dinner, coffee, frozen yogurt, or just meeting up on campus. After dates were done and girls were matched up, Kappa holds a Big-Little ceremony to introduce the big sis and the rest of the family to the little sis in a fun way. Afterwards, families go and get dinner together and bond! Big Sis reveal is a very special and memorable time for us in Kappa. Having a Kappa “family” allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters.

The weeks leading up to initiation are called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member’s big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sisters exchange pillows and decorated keys, and actives have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to them. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning and value that Kappa holds to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation, and the next morning the new members were initiated. This is always such an exciting and momentous day for our chapter!

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year, we put on three main events: Field Day, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Kappa Koncert. Kappa’s Field Day was put on in order to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the Fall semester. We ended up raising $2,400 for Reading is Key! Our Kappa Koncert featured students at USD displaying their vocal talent, and ended up raising $3,000 for Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas also went to Sherman Elementary School on a Monday morning to read books to elementary school students. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations.

Apart from philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also has had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Sapphire Ball Formal, we also had many exciting events such as exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events, such as going to a pumpkin patch, having a kappa “Friendsgiving” with a catered thanksgiving meal, Disneyland, and planned dinners. We also have surprise sisterhood activities after some chapter meetings, where we play fun games and bond. Mom’s Weekend was in the spring, and featured a cooking class, a workout class, and a beautiful beachside brunch. Dad’s weekend was in the fall, and featured go cart racing, shopping at the Little Italy market, hanging out at the beach, and a fun brunch. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We hosted Founders Day Tea on campus, which was an incredibly special experience. It was so amazing to hear from so many alumni about their special experiences with Kappa and how many continue to participate in Kappa after graduation. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming activities such as yoga and sampling wines at a local winery.

[[File:Eta Gamma2.png|thumb|Class of 2017, Eta Gamma Chapter]]

Eta Gamma has also encouraged all members to donate to help Las Vegas shooting victims and victims of the California fires. Some members have been affected by these tragedies, and Eta Gamma’s Chapter Council has offered emotional support to these women.

There was an addition of a wonderful new sorority, Pi Beta Phi, which was colonized in Spring 2015. Kappas have greatly welcomed their transition here on campus, and now they have grown into a flourishing chapter here at USD. Unfortunately, one of the chapters here on campus lost its charter last year. Because of this, however, Eta Gamma has learned to really value our chapter and the inspirational women we call sisters.

Our chapter is comprised of kind, funny, intelligent, strong, and talented young women. Through the latest values-based recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We strive to continuously embrace each other’s differences. The Senior pledge class has gotten to know the new pledge class, as many of the Junior pledge class is abroad. Overall, we are always trying to plan sisterhood events to increase bonding, as this is very important to our chapter as a whole!

Our chapter has continued to donate money to the KKG Foundation. We have also hosted an event called Kappa Koncert, which was held at USD and featured many talented student singers from the USD student body (along with some of our own kappa sisters!). It was an amazing night, with beautiful pink decorations, Chipotle catering, raffles, photo booths, and great music. $3,000 was raised for the Shades of Pink Foundation. In addition, our Reading is Key event was a major success! We read books to students at a local elementary school, Sherman Elementary. We also were able to donate books to this school! To raise money for these books, our chapter put on an event called “Field Day,” where we invited the entire student body to participate. There were outdoor events where each team competed and all of the money that was raised in sign-up fees, raffles, and other activities went to RIF. The amount of money raised for RIF was $2,400. In addition, our chapter takes great pride in supporting other chapter’s philanthropy events, such as running in Alpha Delta Pi’s 5k run to support the Ronald McDonald House, and making teams in Delta Tau Delta’s Dodgeball tournament to raise money for JDRF (among many more!).

Eta Gamma is very passionate about helping fight to end breast cancer. The Shades of Pink Foundation supports more than 115 women in five countries. Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have extra financial burdens placed on them during treatment and recovery. Common issues are insurance payments, transportation, childcare, food expenses, and other essentials of daily life. This foundation offers temporary financial assistance during their time in need, so they can focus on improving their health and fighting cancer. We chose to support this organization because it is a local philanthropy that we are very passionate about. So many women are affected by breast cancer, and Eta Gamma strives to help!

Our chapter meetings are held in USD’s University Center Forum C. The UCs are the hub of campus life at USD, which includes the main dining hall in the Student Life Pavilion, a to-go food market, various offices, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, USD’s own restaurant, USD’s bookstore, and a lounge for students to enjoy.

==Highlights of 2018==

Program Meetings:
1. Nutrition and Mindfulness – We welcomed a life coach, Sarah Andersen, and a
Nutrition and Health coach, Kayleigh Clark to our chapter meeting. We learned about healthy eating habits, exercising, managing stress, and maintaining confidence and a positive body image
2. Fitness - Our Education Chair had an instructor come into our meeting to show us some moves we can try at home to promote a healthy lifestyle.
3. Kappa Careers - There were speakers from the Humane League, MeTyme Network, Ecology Center, and IPJ at USD. It was fascinating and inspiring getting to explore various careers, with some in nonprofit organizations and start ups.

Philanthropy:
Spring: Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Kappa Theta Field Day We raised $1,193.39 for Reading is Fundamental during our Field Day at Mission Beach! There were relay races, tug of war, flag football, and other events. Field Day is a well known and anticipated event
Fall: Kappa Koncert
Our fall philanthropy event raised $3,252 for the Shades of Pink Foundation through an on campus concert. Members of our chapter as well as student performers from USD put on a wonderful night of
music, food and friends.

Events:
1. Advisor and Officer BBQ:
a. At the start of spring semester, our advisor, Deanne Palmer, and our Chapter Council had a BBQ to kick off the semester, set goals, and plan upcoming events.
2. Greek Week:
a. Eta Gamma participated in USD Greek Week teamed up with Phi Gamma Delta. While we did not win, we had an incredible week of philanthropy and Greek companionship. Rehearsal for Friday Skits went by
quickly with the wonderful FIJI men.
3. Exchanges:
a. We had exchanges in the Spring with Phi Gamma Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha. Our themed exchanged are a great time to dress up and interact with other members of the Greek community
4. Inspo Week Sisterhood Dinners:
a. One night of Inspiration week, members went to dinners around San Diego with sisters to get excited about initiation and spend some quality time with their new families!
5. Kappa Mom’s Weekend:
a. Before Mother’s Day, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa mom’s on campus and around San Diego for a cooking class, spin class, and brunch!
6. Kappa Dad’s Weekend:
a. In the fall, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa dad’s on campus and around San Diego for go karting and brunch!
7. Kappa Christmas Party:
a. In December, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at a restaurant downtown to spend some quality time with each other before the stress of finals!

Eta Gamma News
This fall, Eta Gamma introduced a new position on Chapter Council, Diversity Chairman. The position is currently filled by Lexie Rollings, an active member in the USD Women’s Center, USD LGBTQIA commons and a passionate member of the USD community. The Chapter Council nominated Lexie due to her compassion, commitment and grace. Every week during chapter, Lexie presents a few slides on relevant issues involving diversity. She presented on trans awareness, the sexuality spectrum and on the importance of hearing people with different opinions. Lexie will be working closely with our Membership Officer to ensure the members of Eta Gamma are well educated going into Spring 2019 recruitment.

Last spring, Eta Gamma welcomed 34 new members to our chapter. After a terrific new member series, we had our Big Little Reveal at the Immaculata Fountain on campus. It was a beautiful event and we welcomed our littles into our families. Initiation soon followed, and we initiated all 34 new members into the chapter.
This summer, 4 of our chapter council members attended Convention in Denver, where they brainstormed, networked and had a blast meeting sisters from around the country. The creation of Diversity Chairman came from Convention.

==Highlights of 2020s:==
The Eta Gamma Chapter had an extremely eventful and positive calendar year. We started with recruitment in January before classes began and got a fantastic group of girls that the whole chapter was so excited to welcome. Our bid day was a smashing success, and the theme was Great Gatsby, which all the new members adored! We transitioned to our new officers in February and worked closely with our chapter advisors to ensure everything was running smoothly. We continued having chapter, committee meetings, bid night, a sisterhood event, and even new member training meetings. Our chapter was recognized by nationals and received the new member education award. This award is given to the chapter that educates their new members extremely well and supports them to the best of their ability. Our chapter also received an honorable mention for the Communications/ Public Relations Award Association. This award is for chapters that best exemplify a well-rounded philanthropy program that develops member awareness of a commitment to the community. We also had a handful of girls within our chapter receive scholarships from nationals last spring. We were in the midst of planning numerous things for the chapter, such as our presents event and initiation ceremony. However, everything changed when the coronavirus pandemic hit in the middle of March.Most girls returned home for the remainder of the semester. We were able to initiate all of our new members virtually last May to ensure everyone in the chapter was an official member come the end of the school year. As a chapter council, we took the time from March-May to really re-solidify our chapter goals. We wanted to focus on sisterhood and build connections with one another when that was really all we had to lean on. One of our chapter members suggested a book that would be sent around from Kappa to Kappa within our chapter inspired by the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." During quarantine and throughout the summer, the book was shipped from one member to the next and filled with anything from stories to recipes, words of wisdom, to a member's favorite memory in Kappa. In the chapter, several girls expressed that receiving the book lifted their spirits and allowed them to feel connected to their sisters during a time of isolation. During the fall 2020 semester, we chose not to gather as a chapter in person and held all of our chapter meetings via zoom. We had a total of three formal meetings via zoom as well. Since a moratorium was implemented for a select period (30 days) by Nationals, we held no in-person events as a chapter. We chose not to do so for the remainder of the semester for health and safety reasons.Regarding philanthropy, for our Perkins Elementary School Fundraiser event, which was all done remotely, we marketed through different social media platforms. We shared a video we created with our friends and family of the Perkins Elementary principal and the Philanthropy Chairs of the fraternity and sorority, explaining the demand the students and faculty need. In addition, the Eta Gamma Chapter at the University of San Diego donated $311 to the SD NAACP to address the political unrest our country has endured this past year. We wanted to help promote their mission to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of minority citizens of the United States and eliminate race prejudice. Despite the many obstacles the coronavirus pandemic caused our chapter to face this past calendar year, I believe we were still able to accomplish our main goals as a chapter. These include initiating our new members and teaching them how our chapter functions, pulling off a very successful philanthropy event and expanding our chapter's diversity and inclusion position. Lastly, and most importantly, we kept our sisterhood strong ensured that every member knew they could reach out to a sister anytime if they needed support. The University of San Diego used our chapter as an example of doing a fantastic job supporting their members during these trying times. We are so proud of everything the Eta Gamma Chapter has accomplished in the 2020 calendar year and look forward to what 2021 holds!

The Eta Gamma Chapter at the University of San Diego chose to pair with another fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, at the University of San Diego to support a local elementary school called Perkins Elementary School in San Diego, CA. 40% of the students in attendance at Perkins are homeless and 100% qualify for free or reduced lunch. We raised $18,800 remotely through Crowd Change over the course of a one week period to fund for new academic learning materials and school supplies as they navigate through these unprecedented times of COVID-19.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Before this past summer, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive of
everyone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/or socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, I had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, we were able to crowd fund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations,bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus to present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapter and the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the Anti-Racism newsletter this semester- a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter on anti-racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, I am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.

For our celebration of 150th KKG anniversary we,during one of our chapter meetings, had girls come forward and speak about their favorite memories in Kappa and what Kappa has meant to them. We also organized a trivia night over zoom during chapter where we asked questions about Kappa’s history! It was a fun and memorable way to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary.

==Highlights of 2021==
Chapter Summary
This past year, the Eta Gamma Chapter was able to reach major milestones while operating under the limitations of Covid-19. As my time as Marshal, I have worked hard to educate the chapter on tradition, ritual, history, and instill Kappa values within our chapter. The first term in my position we were virtual, which made this difficult, especially pertaining to formal meetings. I started a “Keeping up with Kappa” segment of my announcements in addition to the inspirational reading, which I usually get from initiation script or excerpts from The Key articles. The Keeping up with Kappa segment allows me the time to delve deeper into ritual, Kappa values, history, and tradition. Sometimes I include fun facts, like a quote about the first Kappa event ahead of our Mortician’s Ball which is also Halloween themes. I also showcase Kappa alumnae doing important work in society and achieving success in their aspirations. Goals of the chapter include being knowledgeable of Kappa ritual/values/history which we lost during the pandemic and getting comfortable with formal meeting process again, reestablishing connections and friendships within the chapter and strengthening bonds of sisterhood, continuing our work in supporting social justice causes, maintaining and continuing to improve our academic performance, and learn more about our new national philanthropy. One of our members received the panhellenic scholarship which provides financial support towards Chapter dues to women embodying Panhellenic values.

Special events
Last semester, all events and chapters were held virtually. This semester we have been able to have in person events. We have had two sisterhood events, Pizza in the Park, and roller blading. In October we were able to have our first social event since the pandemic, Mortician’s Ball. Saturday, the fourth of December, we will have Sapphire Ball. This semester we celebrated Founder’s Day Tea during formal chapter, performing the Founder’s Day ritual, and concluding with snacks, beverages, and had decorations set up.

Sisterhood, Lila Paul, on virtual sisterhood events –
We did a candle pass via zoom last semester towards the end so that the new girls could feel included in a long-standing kappa tradition. Although it was virtual, people said some really meaningful things about their time in Kappa and we got some great feedback from it. Another thing we did is at the end of virtual chapter meetings we would do “Hot Seat”, which is when we choose a random girl and ask her questions about herself. This was a fun way to get to know girls in the sorority especially new members. Finally, we had a “virtual game night” for the new members and sophomores at the time, this was to help the girls bond with each other because they would be each others future bigs/littles. They played kahoot trivia which was really successful because all girls were able to participate equally and get to know one another

In Spring 2021, Kappa in conjunction with Delta Tau Delta raised over $6,000 and collected over 100 food cans for Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, a thrift store dedicated to feeding and clothing the homeless population of San Diego. Over the summer I had planned many opportunities for our chapter to be involved with Reading is Fundamental and Sherman Elementary, a local school we used to tutor in the past. However, with nationals changing our philanthropy to Mental Health and Wellbeing, I had to scrap all of my ideas and start over in September. We as a chapter decided to support the JED Foundation. In the final week of classes, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including: friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs. To support the Susan G. Komen foundation, five Kappas set out to raise $2,300 each in order to participate in the 3-Day Walk, an event that consists of 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research. Our team did a 10 mile training walk in Torrey Pines to prepare. By asking our fellow Kappas, family members, and members of our community, all five of us managed to raise over $2,300 each. Our chapter participates in the walk every year.

Education chairwoman, Riley Steinly –
As Education Chairman this semester, I worked on strengthening relationships with campus organizations such as the newly founded Gender Equity and Sex Positivity club. I met with our campus FSL director to design an alcohol and drug awareness program meeting for February that addresses the specific needs of our chapter. I reached out and developed stronger relationships with the senior class to better craft the senior experience in a way that was beneficial for all. I planned and put together an individual Founders Day Tea event for our chapter that expressed the significance of our founding sisters while bringing our girls together in a way that followed covid protocols. Our chapter also met or surpassed the necessary attendance for all Kappa mandated programs this past year. Most recently, we were able to support one of our own on her journey for Miss Volunteer America by giving her a platform to educate us on the ties between gut health and mental health. Throughout the year I’ve done my best to keep the girls updated on pressing social and environmental issues on a national and campus level

VP Academic Excellence, Emma Jesanis –
As VPAE this year it has been amazing to see the academic accomplishments we as a chapter have made. Our biggest accomplishment as a chapter is our GPA improvement. From last year, we had a significant increase in our overall average chapter GPA. This resulted in us being second overall in ranking for sorority GPA’s on campus this year! This is huge for Kappa Kappa Gamma because it shows how much our women value education and how much everyone’s hard work pays off. I know everyone is working their absolute hardest and have no doubt that grade reports will be great again after this semester comes to a close!
Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why? Every year we change our local philanthropy to support causes that our chapter members care about and are passionate about. This way we can best represent the needs and current interests of the chapter. In the Spring, we decided to support Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, to help the homeless community in San Diego, which is significant within our city, and was especially in need during the pandemic.

This semester, our chapter as a whole, voted to support the Jed Foundation. We felt it was the best fit for our chapter as it is centers around mental health of teens and young adults, with many if not all, of us young women having struggled in some way in regard to mental health in our lives. It is a cause we deeply care about and feels personal to us. We were extremely excited to hear about the change in Kappa’s philanthropy to mental well being, with many of us feeling heard and supported by the decision. Next week, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including: friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs

Previous DEI chair, Astrid Najarro –
As the first official DEI chair not only of Kappa nationally, but of all of FSL at USD, there were many things I had to learn on my own. Before the summer of 2020, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive of everyone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/or socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, I had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, we were able to crowdfund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations, bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus to present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapter and the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the weekly Anti-Racism newsletter this semester- a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter on anti-racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, I am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.
Current DEI chair, Lena McZeal –
My goal is to have all members feel like this chapter is a safe place to be themselves and accept all members of the sorority for who they are. AS the DEI chairwoman, I work to combat issues of racial and identity discrimination not only within the campus community, but in our world today. I work to educate and support all members and love all the womxn in this sisterhood!
Our weekly DEI newsletter is emailed to all members, as well as posted on social media for the wider community and public to access. We also post Instagram stories pertaining to and educating on current social justice issues and sexual assault + relationship violence.

Panhellenic Respresentative, Avery Barrett -
The Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee (RSVA) focuses on ensuring the safety of the members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Panhellenic, and the FSL community as a whole. We implement new ideas and forms of protection for our sisters, as well as meet with community leaders to create FSL wide legislation on protecting survivors and preventing relationship and sexual violence. Some of the things we have done so far are work to create sexual assault prevention trainings that will be put in place in Spring 2022, establish an event safety form to ensure someone’s abuser is not allowed to come to a date event, and plan for healing and care for survivors on campus.

Spring of of 2021, we were all virtual due to COVID-19. Recruitment, initiation, chapter, and sisterhood events were all held virtually. It was difficult to maintain connection and grow relationships within Kappa as we couldn’t all be together in person. This semester has been a breath of fresh air as we are able to hold chapter in person and have in person events. Since being back in person, I have been able to educate and teach the chapter ritual, tradition, and Kappa values fully and in depth. Other than our pledge class, no other class has been able to experience in person Formal Chapter. I have done my best to get us back to our Kappa roots, but there is much more to be done and am hopeful the new Marshal will be able to continue the work I have begun.

Eta Beta

2021-12-22T17:51:18Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Beta
|GreekSymbol= HB
|Image= [[File:Eta_Beta.jpeg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1996|10|05}}
|College= [https://www.pepperdine.edu/ Pepperdine University]
|Location= Malibu, CA
|Homepage= [https://pepperdine.kappa.org/ Eta Beta Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Beta Media related to Eta Beta Chapter]}}

'''Pepperdine, established 1937'''

'''Chapter Founded in October, 1996'''

'''636 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Eta Beta’s Outstanding Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)'''

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Eta Kappa Alumnae:''' 
Jillian Frank (Bibb) Chicago Loop Group Alumnae Association President 2006-10, Treasurer 2007-11, Vice President 2010-11 
Lauren Parsekian (Paul) Founder of The Kind Campaign 
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==The Early Years==

'''Colonization:'''

Kappa Kappa Gamma came to the shores of sunny California on April 1, 1996, as the Fraternity pledged 60 young women of the local sorority Zeta Kappa, and four alumnae, at Pepperdine University establishing the colony that became the Eta Beta Chapter. The pledging ceremony took place in the Pepperdine Chapel overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Alumnae in the Malibu, Calif., area joined chapter members from UCLA, USC (Calif.), and Cal. State, Northridge. Before pledging Kappa Kappa Gamma, the group was a longstanding local sorority-the largest on campus. At the University's request, the entire sorority system sought national affiliation. Other National Panhellenic Conference members colonizing on the Pepperdine campus were Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Kappa.

The previous information was excerpted from The Key, Volume 113, No. 2, Summer 1996.

'''Installation:'''

The fog rolled off the Pacific Ocean as 37 undergraduates and 24 alumnae were initiated to the Eta Beta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity October 4-5, 1996 at Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif. Cal. State Northridge, assisted by UCLA, and USC (Calif.). Other Panhellenic groups on campus included Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Kappa.

The previous information was excerpted from The Key, Volume 113, No. 4, Winter 1996.
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The information that follows has been gleaned from available resources including Chapter History Reports, chapter meeting minutes, letters and comments from chapter members and alumnae, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Archives, and The Key. Each chapter is expected to update its history record annually. Contact Fraternity Headquarters at kkghq@kkg.org with questions.
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==Highlights of the 1990s==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

The biggest event of 1996 was the colonization of Eta Beta in April, and the installation of Kappa’s 125th chapter in October. Actives and alumnae from northern and southern California participated in the ceremony as well as Fraternity President Cathy Thompson Carswell, Illinois Wesleyan, and former Fraternity President J.J. Fraser Wales, Ohio State. The new chapter added 18 members in late 1996 with its first pledge class which was above the All Sorority Average GPA and won the Homecoming spirit cup.

Eta Beta was challenged to incorporate Kappas rules and traditions with the traditions they cherished from their Zeta Beta days, but did so beautifully with continued support from Kappas nationwide and their advisers. The chapter adopted the Fraternity Challenge to Excellence as the chapter goal.

Socially, the chapter enjoyed their Spring Formals, Presents, Fall Balls, and winter Kappa Krush and Mad Hatter parties.

The chapter celebrated its one year anniversary in April 1997 by winning the Best New Chapter award at the 1997 Kappa Province meeting. Also in 1997, Eta Beta was honored to travel to San Diego to help install Kappa’s 126th chapter at the University of San Diego. Informal rush in the fall of 1997 added six more members to the chapter

Eta Beta continued it’s academic excellence into the late 1990’s and had the highest GPA of Greek groups on campus in fall 1998. During this time, the chapter also successfully challenged itself to inrease participation to 80% at mandatory events and to have one sisterhood event a month.

'''Philanthropy:'''
The new chapter participated in Stepforward Day, a campus wide event to clean up highways, beaches and public schools in the Malibu area. They also participated in the Malibu Chili cookoff, and delivered food to needy families through a local church. They continued their participation in the chili cookoff and Stepforward events throughout the rest of the 1990’s.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

On campus, Eta Beta was involved in many activities including Songfest and Homecoming, while maintaining excellence in academics. At the Annual Campus Greek Awards in 2004, the chapter received the Rock of the Year Award and the Inter-Sorority Spirit Award. Yearly goals included working on improving attendance and chapter involvement, moral and sisterhood, organization and timely payments, adviser relations and Panhellenic spirit.

In 2006, Eta Beta hosted the Kappa Province meeting. At the Pepperdine Greek Awards in 2008, Eta Betas won Officer of the Year, and President of the Year. In 2009, one quarter of the chapter studied abroad in one semester. The remaining members bonded by getting together for pledge class dinners and to watch the show Gossip Girl together. Weekly study hours and weekly Bible Study were a part of this chapter's traditions.

To recognize the tragedies of September 11, 2001, Eta Beta participated in a school wide prayer which took place to pray for the victims and their families. The convocation was also dedicated to those lost on September 11.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Eta Beta participated in Step-Forward Day, and campus wide community service project where they spent the day at St. Monica's Parish. Chapter member also went down to Melrose in Los Angeles to represent Kappa in the annual AIDS Walk. Eta Beta held a Kappa King competition among the fraternities with the proceedes donated to the Special Olympics. Eta Betas participated in City of Hope's Walk for Hope for breast cancer awareness.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''
2008 Rose McGill

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2012==
One of the biggest achievements regarding philanthropic Involvement is that this past year, our chapter won 10 years of Sigma Chi Derby Days supporting City of Hope. In addition, we successfully put on Kappa Karaoke, our philanthropy that supports School on Wheels. Eta Beta participated in Step Forward Day, a campus wide community service project.

Secondly, we have come up with new chapter goals and successful ideas of implementation. We are aiming to reallocate burdget accordingly and increase understanding of Kappa Foundation and Kappa Ritual. One example of a challenge we are planning to overcome is creating new fun ways to be involved in the chapter, such as 6 Kappa Founder Awards so that we can increase chapter attendance.

New Greek Panhellic Leader: Alex Nicandros
Overall Nature of the Chapter: With the new installation of the chapter council, the environment takes on a feel of excitement. We are very optimistic for this upcoming year because of the amount of involved women that are prepared to continue old traditions while still bringing new ideas to the table.

==Highlights of 2013==

The Eta Beta Chapter had a very successful 2013. We improved to the 3rd place sorority ranking for academics, we began conducting trips for RIF to read to children in Santa Monica, we won the Most Improved Chapter award at Province, and we held a very effective “Kappa Klassic” philanthropy event. In addition, our recruitment was wonderful and had very high retention rates of potential new members throughout the process. Since coming off of our focus letter, our chapter has improved tremendously and become very involved.

Greek Life on the Pepperdine campus has become a lot more involved with other groups including athletics and various clubs. There have been more events promoting unity as an entire student body. The Eta Beta chapter has been very involved in these events as well as the philanthropic events of the other sororities and fraternities. The chapter is very hard working, passionate about Kappa, and possesses strong leadership qualities. We have a very strong sisterhood, which has created a great deal of Kappa pride.

==Highlights of 2014==

In the past year Kappa has put together their annual philanthropy Kappa Kappa Gameday to support the Ebenezer Foundation, which was started as a non-profit foundation by, recently graduated, Alex Chistolini. Our chapter has also participated in Sigma Chi's Derby Days where our chapter of Eta Beta received a recognition from the City of Hope Hospital for our continuous hard work over the past ten years. Also, several Kappa's volunteered at Pepperdine's Step Forward Day to support and help out less fortunate areas of Pepperdine.

The chapter of Eta Beta has become more involved on our campus and philanthropies. Everyone is involved in all aspects of the Pepperdine community. Our sisterhood has also grown stronger over the past year.

Our chapter holds meeting in the University owned rooms. Our chapter does not own a house, therefore many sisters room together in off campus apartments. These apartments are rented by the girls separately and are not owned by the chapter. Some apartments only have two sisters living there but other apartments have more than two sisters living in them.

==Highlights of 2015==

Our chapter has had high attendance at most philanthropy events organized by other sororities and fraternities. Thus we received great amount of support for our annual philanthropy in the Spring semester. This allowed us to raise money for the Kind Campaign. Additionally, a few of our members, our President, and one of our advisors attended a regional meeting this year. Another Eta Beta member also attended the Leadership Academy in September. This year we also decided to support a fellow Kappa through the Rose McGill foundation. Our whole chapter donated enough money to be able to buy gift cards for a Kappa in need. Overall our chapter has set goals to improve and grow every year.

Our campus has begun to push for athletes and Greek life to become more involved with each other. Our chapter supported the athletes by attending athletic events to support this movement. Also, our campus has been a place of recent social movements by some students. Our president of the university addressed this by assuring the students that there will be less inequality and more diversification in the future. Overall our chapter is always willing to help where is needed whether it’s showing up to other philanthropies or supporting our campus.

Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? The Eta Beta chapter has supported Reading is Fundamental by raising money and organizing a book drive for donations. Also, the Eta Beta chapter donated $200 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Additionally, we have raised $5,000 for our annual philanthropy, the Kind Campaign, which supports girls who have been a victim of girl-on-girl crime. This fall we have also participated in our universities annual Step Forward Day where we volunteer in our community. We had the opportunity to volunteer for School on Wheels in Ventura.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support? Traditionally, we have participated in the Kappa Kares program by selecting a new philanthropy each year for our chapter to support. Although the philanthropy normally changes every year, Eta Beta is constantly focused on supporting sisters through philanthropy. We have supported multiple sisters’ philanthropies through the years and will continue to do so for years to come. We chose to do the Kind Campaign for our philanthropy this year because it was co-founded by an Eta Beta alumnus, Lauren Paul. The Kind Campaign is a movement against girl-on-girl crime. Thus we felt a close connection to the organization and the cause.

==Highlights of 2016==

This past year the Eta Beta chapter was presented the New Member Programming Award at the Kappa convention as well as receiving honorable mentions for Gracious Living for an Unhoused Chapter, Recruitment, and Chapter Management. These awards and honorable mentions were a huge honor and accomplishment for the Eta Beta chapter and have encouraged the chapter to continue to grow and strengthen.

In 2016, the Eta Beta chapter also improved its philanthropic attendance and involvement within the university’s Greek Life. In fact, the chapter won the 2016 Alpha Fifa philanthropy, a soccer tournament presented by Alpha Phi. Additionally, the chapter actively participates in weekly Greek organizations’ philanthropic events, such as attending university supported Convocations, auctions, skit nights, Coffeehouse music events, as well as each fraternity and sorority’s official philanthropic events.
The chapter has also improved interfraternal relations as Eta Beta designates ambassadors for each fraternity and sorority on campus in order to make announcements of upcoming events as well as maintain and strengthen fraternal relations. Eta Beta has also strengthened their Panhellenic involvement as a member of Eta Beta serves as Pepperdine’s Panhellenic president.

Additionally, the chapter has made good use of designated Committee Chapter nights, in which the chapter as a whole is broken into committees to address ways to improve the chapter and set semester and year-long goals.

Eta Beta also continued its biannual Academic Teas which feature a panel of accomplished women in differing job fields who offer advice and encouragement to the chapter in regards to academics. The Academic Teas also recognize chapter members who have earned high GPAs during the semester. In the Fall of 2016 more than 15 girls were recognized for receiving a GPA of 3.6 or above. Additionally, in 2016 two girls were presented with a pearl dangle to be worn on her badge. The pearl dangle represents the highest achievement of academic excellence and are only awarded to girls who receive a 4.0 GPA.

In 2016 Pepperdine University’s campus experienced many pushes in increasing on-campus diversity and cultural acceptance. Events for this movement included open forum discussions led by the university’s president and topics included the US presidential election and racial diversity awareness on-campus. This proactive push on campus has been well accepted by the student body as a whole and has increased sentiments of mutual understanding and acceptance among students.

The overall nature of the Eta Beta chapter has improved in the areas of sisterhood and fraternal involvement in 2016. Sisterhood and participation have been a focus during 2016 and the chapter experienced an increase in interfraternal involvement on campus and experienced a increase in members being engaged in Kappa events and wanting to participate on Eta Beta’s chapter council. Additionally, members of the chapter are involved in all aspects of campus life and participate as leaders in the community through their positions in on-campus jobs and positions on the Panhellenic board.

Historically members of the Eta Beta chapter have participated in service hour opportunities through organizations such as Jumpstart and Project Serve. Additionally, every year the Eta Beta chapter as a whole participates in Pepperdine’s annual Step Forward Day, in which service groups orchestrated by the university go out and serve underprivileged communities in the LA area. This year one of the members of the Eta Beta chapter was the event planner of the entire Step Forward Day event. The chapter was honored that one of their own put on such an amazing event that benefited so many people in our neighboring communities.

Additionally in keeping with Kappa tradition, the Eta Beta chapter supports Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) as well as the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This year the chapter was able to donate $175 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Additionally, Eta Beta supported RIF through funds raised during its annual philanthropic event Kappa Kappa Gameday, book drives throughout the year, as well as an event called Kappa & Queso which featured a queso cook off competition and book drive. Through Kappa & Queso, the chapter was able to raise $1,406 and 26 books for RIF. The chapter also participated in a RIF trip in the Spring of 2016, in which the girls visited an underprivileged elementary school and encouraged literacy by reading books to the students and donating books to the school. Eta Beta also upheld their tradition of supporting the Rose McGill Foundation with a Christmas donation for $200 to a family in need during the holidays.

During 2016 Eta Beta had the privilege of supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation for their annual philanthropy event; Kappa Kappa Gameday. Kappa Kappa Gameday included an auction night and an inspirational speaker, who was a breast cancer survivor, and concluded with flag football tournament all benefitting the Susan G. Komen foundation. In total the chapter raised $9,635.91 for Susan G. Komen.

Members of the Eta Beta chapter decide to participate in individual service hours and projects based on their own personal preferences as well as the traditions and overall pro-service environment of the chapter and university. The chapter’s involvement with RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation is built from fraternity tradition as well as the Kappa nationals’ philanthropic requirements. As far as Eta Beta’s involvement with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, this involvement came freely from the members of the chapter as the ladies deemed the organization to be an upright and worthy cause to support for their annual philanthropy event.

The Eta Beta chapter is an unhoused chapter of Kappa that meets in the Fireside Room on Pepperdine’s campus. This spacious multi-purpose room boasts panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and serves as a lovely unofficial home for the chapter and accommodates the entire chapter with chairs and tables.

==Highlights of 2017==

[[File:Eta Beta1.JPG|thumb|Eta Beta Chapter, 2017]]

2017 was a year full of friendship, sisterhood, and memories for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Eta Beta chapter at Pepperdine University. To start the year off in January, the Eta Beta chapter transitioned it Chapter Council positions passing on its traditions and leadership to a new group of strong and hardworking sisters. Following this, the chapter was heavily involved on campus attending and raising money for all of the philanthropies hosted by the other Greek life chapters on campus. The chapter worked hard and achieved placing top 3 in numerous events throughout the first semester of the year. The Eta Beta's philanthropy came nothing short of amazing as our Philanthropy Chair, Elizabeth Ford, hosted our annual Kappa Kappa Gameday, a flag football tournament and tailgate. Gameday was a huge success and the chapter ended up raising just over $10,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The Eta Beta Chapter continued with their philanthropic achievement by having a semester annual RIF book drive where the members donated books to an underprivileged elementary school in downtown Los Angeles and even got to spend the day reading these books to the kids. Overall the RIF event brought in almost 60 books.

Towards the end of the semester our chapter studied hard as they prepared for finals week. Our events chair Mikaela Bisson thought it would be a good idea to have an event to help the Eta Beta chapter relax during this stressful time. So, our chapter had a Kappa study break at one of the member’s homes in the Pacific Palisades where the girls hung out, talked, and ate a lot of yummy baked goods. This sister study break brought the chapter together and even relieved some of the stresses that come with the end of the semester.

Even though the summer time is a chance for relaxation and leisure the Eta Beta chapter was still working hard where numerous members started incredible internships across the country. Just to name a few of these incredible internships our chapter has held this summer: our sister Haley Bekins interned with the presidential campaign for Donald Trump at his campaign headquarters in Nebraska, Elizabeth Ford interned with E! News in their Publicity department in Los Angeles, Shannon Hansen interned with Buzzfeed in their Journalism department in Los Angeles, Julia Latimer interned in the White House at the Presidential office of the United States Trade Representative, and Lauren Gottschall interned with the Los Angeles Dodgers in their Athletic Training department. This is just a short list of the numerous internships our sisters held this summer.

[[File:Eta Beta2.JPG|thumb|Eta Beta Chapter (Pepperdine), 2017]]

When the Fall season came around so did recruitment. This years recruitment theme was Kappa, Love, and Rock N’ Roll, a fun a playful theme we thought represented our chapter. A great new edition to the chapter’s recruitment room this year were the new 6 foot painted wooden letters done by our very own house chair Kat Perry. With the leadership of our philanthropy chair, Kaitlin Rassi, the Eta Beta Chapter grew with 23 new members. The Chapter made the new members feel right at home by hosting events like Senior-New Member brunch, Big- Little reveal, and Blue and Blue dinner. Things like these brought about a new sisterhood that lead to our incredible initiation which was held at the USC Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Delta Tau Chapter on November 11th.

This fall the Eta Beta Chapter held its first ever parents weekend event during Pepperdine annual weekend. ‘Kappa Hour’ was an incredible success! Hosted by our incredible House Chairman, Kat Perry, sisters got a chance to mingle with the Chapter’s parents, eat a delicious lunch, and inform the parents on how Kappa has impacted their daughters over the years. Overall this event will become a tradition for Eta Beta for years to come.

Another new event our Chapter got to have this year was a bonfire sisterhood event held by our Standards Chair, Julia Latimer. This event was at the beautiful Point Dume Beach in Malibu. The Chapter got to crowd around a fire, roast marshmallows, and take part in numerous interactive sisterhood games all while soaking in the stunning view of the sunset. The evening was full of smiles, laughs, and memories with sisters that the chapter will not forget.

Our philanthropic involvement continued during the fall semester for the Eta Beta chapter. The semester started off on a high note as the chapter participated in Pepperdine’s annual Step Forward day, an event held by the school where groups go out into the Los Angeles communities and serve numerous different organizations. This year Kappa got to volunteer at the Malibu Boys and Girls Club where they organized and help clean the entire facility. Another amazing thing our chapter participated in this Fall was the Out of the Darkness Walk hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the same foundation we had support in the spring for our main philanthropy event. This was a time devoted to bringing awareness to the community about mental health and our sisters were proud to represent such an incredible cause. The Eta Beta chapter hosted a new RIF event this fall called Books and Bowls with Kappa. This event was hosted on campus where our chapter sold acai bowls to the Pepperdine community. In total we raised $800 thanks to the help of Backyard Bowls who donated 100% of their services to help with our cause. Our Chapter also gave back to the Rose McGill Fund this year by raising $200 towards the hurricane relief. Lastly, our chapter continued to be heavily involved in the Pepperdine Greek community by participating, again, in every event on campus as well as placing top three in numerous events and even won the overall title for Sigma Chi Derby Day’s powderpuff tournament.

Overall 2017 was filled with so many laughs, smiles, and memories our sisters will cherish for a lifetime. From the philanthropies, to the internships, to the sisterhood events each and every sister can walk away with a smile on their face knowing they made a huge impact on the Eta Beta chapter this year. We look forward to seeing what 2018 brings our sisters.

This year our chapter continued to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), and the Kappa Kares Program; For the Kappa Kares Program our chapter chose to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The Eta Beta chapter chose to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention after being presented this charity during chapter in the fall of 2016. This foundation was presented by Juliette Bai who had close ties with the AFSP. She shared the tragic story about how her best friend from high school died from suicide the year prior. She also discussed how mental health is one of the top issues in the country and numerous sisters agreed that this foundations mission was moving and personal to our chapter. For these reasons the chapter agreed that AFSP was what the sister wanted to raise money for the following year.

The Eta Beta Chapter meets every Sunday at 6pm in the Fireside Classroom on Pepperdine's Campus; Chapter Council meets one hour prior to our regular chapter meeting (5pm).

==Highlights of 2018==

2018 was a testing time on the Malibu community. Faced with the devastating Woolsey Fire that affected Malibu, the Eta Beta chapter cancelled fall formal and donated the chapter's funds for formal to help relief efforts instead. The fires forced our campus to close for a week before Thanksgiving and all students had to evacuate. The members of Kappa Kappa Gamma all came together to support one another through this time. In 2018, Alex Case was the Vice President of Recruitment for Panhellenic. Sydney Sauter was elected as Panhellenic President for 2019. In the spring and fall, four members had a 4.0 GPA.

Pepperdine University has had an increasing freshman class the past few years. As the campus grows, the number of new members has increased as well. This year we had 25 new members. This year we focused on being more engaged and active on campus within other Greek Life philanthropies, campus events, etc. We had this same goal during recruitment as well.

Our chapter supports Lung Cancer Alliance in support of our sister, Sarah Landers, who presented this organization to the chapter because her father passed away from lung cancer.

==Highlights of 2020s==

This year was filled with many challenges due to COVID-19. However, with those challenges our Chapter was able to come together, rise to the occasion, and adapt to our new circumstances. Pepperdine University went completely online on March 13, 2020 and from that day on our chapter operated completely virtually and will continue to do so in the coming year. While the shift to virtual was less than desirable, I am proud of our chapter for our ability to adapt to our new circumstances successfully.In March when our University went unexpectedly online, our Chapter Council’s goal was to ensure that our sisterhood remain connected and continued to offer a support system to all of our sisters for the duration of the semester even if we could not physically be together. As a chapter we held virtual yoga classes, virtual movie nights, virtual chapter events and zoom mental health check ins.Over the summer our Eta Beta President, Leila Anawalt attended the Kappa convention which had to be virtual this year due to COVID-19. Our head of membership and chapter President worked diligently to prepare for virtual recruitment. They held a virtual recruitment training session to prepare everyone how to maneuver breakout rooms and foster authentic and valuable conversation with PNM’s on zoom. Our virtual recruitment began on September 4thand our virtual bid night took place on September 7th. We had two nights of sisterhood, pref night and then bid day. While everyone wished we could have been in person for recruitment,we still managed to develop authentic connections and have great conversations with so many girls. On pref night we were still able to highlight what makes Kappa so special to us each and every member. We had individual members speak to the friendships and bonds they have found throughout their time in Kappa and we wrote and shared a few sentences about what we saw in each girl we invited back to pref night and our hopes for what they too will find in Kappa. Usually on Bid day there is screaming and jumping and hugging and while I wish more than anything we could have had that this year, there was still screaming, and jumping and*virtual* hugging via zoom. The same level of excitement for new members joining our sisterhood was still present through the screen. Since COVID-19 did not allow us to have an in-person celebration with food and balloons and so much more, our new member mom Lauren Graney sent each new member a card and special package to formally welcome them to Kappa. After completing their new member education requirements, the new members were ready and excited to be initiated. As Marshal I attended multiple virtual training sessions where I learned the guidelines and expectations for virtual initiation. On the morning of October 31st, we held a virtual initiation for our new members where they were able to learn more about the ritual that makes Kappa so special! Throughout the duration of the Fall semester we held virtual sisterhood events,virtual philanthropy events, had guest speakers come to chapter and held a virtual pumpkin carving mixer with Delta Gamma!

As a chapter this year we supported RIF and the JED Foundation.This year we chose to support the JED Foundation in addition to RIF because it was a foundation near and dear to our sister Fernanda’s heart. The JED Foundation is a non-profit organization works to protect emotional health and prevent suicide for teens and young adults in the United States. JED’s work is so important particularly in today’s society due toCOVID-19 where millions of people are feeling more isolated, alone and depressed than ever before. The JED Foundation partners with local schools and universities to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs.While we could not hold an in-person philanthropy event like we normally would, we decided to adjust and hold a virtual philanthropy campaign via our social media. As a chapter we were able to spread awareness about the importance of mental health and resources for those struggling and we were able to raise and donate $450 for the JED Foudnation and we donated $350 to RIF. We made our donation on “Giving Tuesday” and our donations were each then doubled by the organizations!Other philanthropic efforts our chapter made this semester did not directly go to an organization rather it went to better our local community. On October 25th and October 30thour head of philanthropy, Olivia decided to launch a “Kappa Klean Up” initiative where she encouraged sisters to get outside and pick-up trash in their community (with gloves and proper sanitary equipment)!

Over the summer in the aftermath of the atrocity committed by the police officers who murdered George Floyd our chapter council met and discussed how to best educate our chapter on the racial injustices taking place today and how our chapter could get involved. We decided to hold a virtual discussion as a chapter in order to foster an open dialogue. Our virtual gathering over the summer about racial injustices allowed sisters to share their own experiences, ask questions and make suggestions on how we can get involved as a chapter. Asa chapter we launched a social media campaign showing Eta Beta’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraging others to get involved and individually make donations to the Black Lives Matter Foundation, sign petitions and join marches in their individual communities. We had so many sisters in the streets peacefully protesting and marching and making donations to the BLM Foundation.Later in the semester we appointed our first ever DEI chairman named Sydney and we hope to continue and grow that position every year going forward!

This year was Kappa’s 150th anniversary! Since COVID-19 prohibited our chapter from gathering in person, we had our education chairman Megan give a presentation in chapter about Kappa’s history and as a chapter on October 13th our chapter attended the Kappa National’s Virtual Founders Day Facebook Live celebration!

Photographs Our sisters supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement this summer!
Virtual Yoga class as a chapter!

[[File:Etabeta.png|thumb|sisterhood]]

Eta Alpha

2021-12-22T17:50:27Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Eta Alpha
|GreekSymbol= HA
|Image= [[File:Eta_Alpha.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1994|03|29}}
|College= [https://www2.furman.edu/Pages/default.aspx Furman University]
|Location= Greenville, SC
|Homepage= [https://furman.kappa.org/ Eta Alpha Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Alpha Media related to Eta Alpha Chapter]}}

'''Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, established in 1826'''

'''Eta Alpha Founded March 19, 1994'''

'''63 Charter Members'''

'''755 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

----------------
'''Some of Eta Alpha’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:''' Libby Weith, Leadership Consultant 2006-2007

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

==Early Years==

Furman University, founded in 1826, is the third-oldest university in South Carolina. The school is named for Richard Furman, a clergyman considered the most important Baptist leader before the Civil War. Furman was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., and became the first president of the Triennial Convention, the first national body of Baptists in America.

The South Carolina Baptist Convention established Furman’s original campus in Edgefield, S.C., but over the next three decades, the campus changed locations three times before arriving in downtown Greenville, S.C., in 1851. Originally founded as a men’s academy and theological institute, the theological school broke away from Furman in 1858 to become the Southern Baptist Seminary.

In 1924, Furman was named one of four collegiate beneficiaries of the Duke Endowment. Duke Endowment grants sustained Furman through the Great Depression, helped the university merge with Greenville Woman’s College in the 1930s and bolstered the university’s effort to pursue a new campus location. Furman broke ground on its current location north of its home city in 1953. The school would also become independent in 1992, breaking ties with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

Today, Furman’s 750-acre campus features an Asian garden, a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin, the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability, a Florentine bell tower, a spring-fed lake, 13 miles of paved trails through the woodlands and an 18-hole golf course. It enrolls approximately 2,700 undergraduate and 525 graduate students.

'''Colonization and Installation'''

Kappa Kappa Gamma established Eta Alpha Colony at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. Fifty-one members were pledged to Fraternity membership on January 9, 1994. Eta Alpha Chapter was installed on March 19, 1994, becoming the Fraternity’s 125th chapter. Epsilon Kappa, South Carolina, and Epsilon Mu, Clemson, served as big sister chapters.

Before joining the Fraternity, the colony was a local sorority called Kappas. Founded in 1993, it was one of the newest of the seven local sororities that sought affiliation with National Panhellenic groups. Other NPC organizations on the Furman campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Delta.

The installation team included Fraternity President Juliana (J.J.) Wales, Ohio State; Vice President Janice (Jan) Harrenberg Stockoff, New Mexico; Extension Chairman Sally Moore Nitschke, Ohio State; and Chapter Consultant Annaliese Limb, North Texas. Between pledging and installation the colony had grown from 51 pledges to 63 pledges.

==Highlights of the 1990s:==
Two months after the celebration of the chapter’s installation, it suffered the loss of one of its members Jennifer Ruth Prevette who died in a car accident. Jenni had touched everyone lives with her strong spirit, enthusiasm and love of life.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==
After two successful weekends of formal recruitment in January 2005, 26 new members were pledged. New members attended a retreat and completed new member education during January and February. The initiation banquet was held in the University Center. Also, in February, Eta Alpha held a masquerade-themed social function at Green Valley Country Club.

Three Kappas were elected as Panhellenic Council officers. In April, Eta Alpha held its annual sand volleyball tournament, raising $250 for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and the Bobby Pearse Community Center, an after-school center for underprivileged children where Eta Alpha donated books and read to children. Eta Alpha built a book corner at the Bobby Pearse Community Center, donating more than 500 books to the center and presenting each child with a book of his or her own.

In May, Eta Alpha held a joint Academic and Senior Banquet on campus with a pizza party, senior wills and academic recognitions awarded. It held its annual Sapphire Ball with a black-and-white theme at the Greenville Hilton.

In September 2005, Eta Alpha Chapter Council hosted a leadership workshop day with chapter councils from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. The Kappas did the low ropes course at Furman in the morning and a leadership workshop with PDC Anna Edwards in the afternoon.

October was a busy month for Eta Alpha. It held the fall sisterhood retreat in the University Center where everyone watched movies, ate brownie sundaes and made shakers for Homecoming. The chapter held a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville-themed function called Kappa Rage where each sister invited three friends. A tailgate was held in conjunction with Furman’s Family Weekend.

The Founders Day celebration held by the chapter included refreshments and a program from its Education Chairman. During Homecoming week, the chapter paired with Sigma Nu fraternity and came in second place overall in Homecoming.

The chapter held is fall philanthropy event, Ready, Aim, Read! during October. Sisters sold tickets to throw darts at a balloon board set up in the University Center, and coupons inside the balloons were worth prizes. Ready, Aim, Read! earned more than $260 for our philanthropy projects.

In November, Eta Alpha’s Chapter Council implemented monthly email updates from each officer to its advisory board, PDC and RDC to keep everyone informed of its goals, progress and events.
The members held the semi-formal in Furman’s new Younts Conference Center. This function was the first Greek social function on campus, and university officials were extremely pleased with Kappa’s classy, well run event. Also in November, Eta Alpha held a Recruitment event where we wrapped books and made holiday cards to give to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center.

Eta Alpha finished second-place in Chi Omega’s dance-a-thon. The chapter made it to the semifinals in intramural soccer for the first time in several years. During the course of the year, the chapter donated more than 100 books to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center to help the children start home libraries, ending the year with age-appropriate books or magazines for each child as a holiday present.
The social chairman planned several amazing functions in 2006: formal in the spring and semi-formals in the fall and winter. The chapter also hosted Kappa Rage with the theme of Kappa Kappa Gangsta in the fall where each sister could bring three guests.

Philanthropy was very successful this year, raising money through fundraisers such as Kappa Krush and a school-wide volleyball tournament. The money raised went to support the Bobby Pearse Community Center’s after-school programs via Ready, Aim, Read! In the spring, we had enough money to open a book corner at the community center, and Kappas throughout the year spent the afternoons reading to the children.

The VP Academic Excellence worked hard to keep the chapter GPA high through study groups and nerd-of-the-week awards, and the chapter was third place among the sororities. The VP Organization created a chapter survey that helped determine the chapter’s goals for the year. The Leadership Consultant visited in November, and during her visit she met individually with the officers and recruitment chairman. The advice she provided during both her visits was invaluable as the chapter planed and set goals for 2007.

The biggest achievement in 2007 was probably planning and putting together a very successful fall fundraiser. Contestants from each of the fraternities and some student organizations competed in a comical male beauty pageant. The whole campus got really involved, and the event raised more than $1,000 – half was donated to RIF and half to the pageant winner’s philanthropy of choice. The chapter was also proud to have gotten better involved in helping the Bobby Pearse Community Center again. Every week, the members helped kids with homework in the afterschool program, and at the end of fall term the chapter hosted a pizza party for them.
Recruitment was very successful this year. The chapter pledged its first full pledge class since 1998, and we are definitely enjoying getting to know all the new ladies.

VP Academic Excellence did a great job this year, too. The chapter had the second-highest GPA on campus, and hoped to be in first place the following year.

The new member period saw great improvements and won an award for it at the 2007 Province Meeting.
Eta Alpha’s functions this year were all very successful. Formal was held at the Commerce Club downtown and was enjoyed by everyone. In the fall, two functions were held: Rage and semi-formal. Rage was held at the Handlebar and was themed “Every Guy Loves a Girl in a Uniform.” Semi-formal was held in a new conference center on campus.

Chapter members were excited to attend the 2008 Mu Province meeting in Atlanta. They enjoyed meeting Kappas from other chapters and learning more about our organization. The chapter was excited to receive the Recruitment Award, Academic Achievement Award and the Standard of Excellence Award!

The third-annual Kappa Krush Pageant was very successful. One contestant from each of the campus fraternities competed in this comical male beauty pageant. Each fraternity was paired with one sorority for the event, and the contestants raised money throughout the week leading up to the pageant. More than $2,000 was raised and half of the proceeds went to RIF and the other half was donated to the winning fraternity-sorority pair’s philanthropies—Make-a-Wish and Children’s Miracle Network. The event was well attended by Furman Greeks and non-Greeks. Everyone was thrilled by the dedication that the participating groups demonstrated. This year’s pageant raised approximately $500 more than the previous year.

This year, the chapter was also involved with the Greenville Boys and Girls Club. Every Monday, Kappas played with the children and assisted them with homework. Chapter members looked forward to participating in its Reading is Key philanthropy, a book drive for the children at the Boys and Girls Club. The entire chapter visited this afterschool center one afternoon, and gave each child a book. The children were able to participate in a variety of activities related to reading during the event.

Eta Alpha also had great success in other Greek organizations events on campus: won Pi Kappa Phi’s War of the Roses where the members competed in activities and raised the most money for their philanthropy, PUSH America; the chapter also won Pi Kappa Phi’s No Boundaries week which also benefited PUSH America; finished second in Sigma Nu’s flag football tournament benefiting Relay for Life.

The chapter had a very successful Homecoming where it was paired with a campus fraternity and competed in a variety of activities against the other Furman Greek groups. At the Homecoming game it received first place in the category of float and chalking and came in second place overall for the Homecoming events. The chapter’s dedication and commitment to Homecoming definitely paid off. A senior Kappa was named Furman’s Homecoming Queen.

During 2009 the chapter celebrated the 15th anniversary of Eta Alpha’s founding at Furman. Kappa alumnae were invited to join the members for a tailgate before the football game. Everyone had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the heritage of our sisterhood.

Recruitment was a great success this year, and the chapter was thrilled to get a full pledge class of 36 wonderful women. The recruitment committee worked extremely hard throughout the fall, and the chapter worked hard to polish its skits, dances and songs so that the rounds would be polished and entertaining.
Academic Excellence put in a tremendous amount of effort this year to encourage everyone in their studies. Everyone was very proud to have the highest GPA among the seven sororities on campus.

There were several outstanding functions this year. The beautiful spring formal took place at the Gassaway Mansion in May 2009. The fall functions included: Rage and Western Date Night. The theme for Rage was GloKappa, and everyone enjoyed dressing up in neon colors and wearing hundreds of glowsticks. Western Date Night was held at a local barn and included a bonfire, s’mores, cornhole and a lot of fun country music.
A new function was introduced this year. Previously the semi-formal had been replaced with the Western Date Night, so the chapter decided to bring back the semi-formal atmosphere with Kappa’s first Christmas function which was held at the beautiful Huguenot Mill. The members spent the night dancing to Christmas music and enjoying the last weekend before Winter Break.

==Highlights 2011==

The year was one of involvement, reflection, and improvement for Eta Alpha. We were able to take a look at our strengths and weaknesses, as a chapter, through two LC visits and a focus letter from headquarters. We had 30 new members initiated in March and two initiated in the fall with the Clemson University chapter. We held the traditional philanthropy events: Reading is Key at the Boys and Girls Club, our Kappa Pageant in the fall to raise money for RIF, and coordinated a change in schools for our weekly philanthropy visits. We participated in Homecoming float and parade on campus with Sigma Nu fraternity. In March we hosted Province for the Mu North province and representatives from all chapters attended. We won the Best Standards awards for all the chapters in Mu North. We were awarded the Andrus Stale Roberts Trophy for the 2010-2011 school year--a trophy presented to the sorority that makes the greates contribution to Furman University, specifically in the areas of scholarship, leadership, religion, athletics, and general excellence. Our sorority moved from third to second highest GPA on campus.

'''Campus:''' In 2011 Furman University was adjusting to a new president, larger freshmen classes, revised alchohol policies, a continued emphasis on sustainability, a new bookstore and new housing opportunities, and more student voice in Strategic Planning of campus activities and policies.

'''Chapter:''' Eta Alpha feels that it represents the ideals described in the mission statement of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The members of this chapter are genuine, down-to-earth, and warm. Within the chapter, sisterly support is one of our biggest priorities. The chapter is well-respected on campus and shows its commitment to the campus as a whole by being involved in various activities from hall staff, sports and intramurals, religious organizations, student teaching, volunteering, academic clubs and honor societies, and more.

In an effort to help Eta Alpha improve its chapter communication and overall functionality, the RDC and former PDC issued a Focus Letter that outlined several goals for Eta Alpha and recommendations for promoting chapter organization. The Letter also highlighted some areas of concern from the past to help guide Eta Alpha forward, giving suggestions for improvement as needed. In the fall, we took a chapter survey completed by each active member and the results were compiled. Areas that needed greatest improvement were in chapter efficiency and public relations As a response to the Focus Letter and the Chapter Survey, Chapter Council wrote, and the chapter approved, a Leadership Action Plan to address these areas and implement reasonable steps to achieve greater chapter efficiency as well as other goals. Also, the Chapter Council planned to revise the Bylaws and Standing Rules in the semester to come. Another goal we, especially our Recruitment committee, decided to address was our energy and attitude regarding the recruitment process. We worked as a chapter to make recruitment a more positive experience for active members as well as potential new members. In the fall, we had more workshops and focused on informal recruitment more than we have in the past.

==Highlights 2012==

2012 was a year of excitement and improvement, within Eta Alpha and the Greek Community as a whole. Our most noteworthy accomplishment was a brand new philanthropy event. To replace our outdated fraternity pageant, we started the first annual Kappa Cook Off. Teams of fraternities competed for the best burger recipe and sororities competed for the best dessert. We charged admission for teams and for anybody in the Furman/Greenville community to eat and enjoy live music, and raised $1300. We were happy with the involvement of non-Greek students, professors, and other on-campus organizations and it was great publicity.

This year we participated in Homecoming week activities with Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Our hardwork and involvement with float-building paid off in great PR (photo on the Furman homepage) and the first prize trophy for floats! Kappa participated in many other Greek organizations' philanthropy weeks--coming in second place for both Sigma Chi Derby Days and Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash.

Internally, Eta Alpha made so many improvements that we were able to get off the focus letter that we were put on in 2011. This was achieved by every sister's own effort, as well as the hard work of chapter council and VPO, who came up with the Leadership Action Plan to follow. Areas we made great strides in were chapter efficiency, committee organization, and knowledge and appreciation for ritual. Similarly, we got overwhelming positive feedback on initiation in March, after adjustments were made to keep it more in accordance with ritual while also being a special sisterhood retreat. According to a chapter survey in December, ritual and anti-hazing policy rank highest among Eta Alpha's strengths.

Chapter council would also like to mention that this year we benefitted greatly from our LC visits and Kappa trainers, especially as our advisory board was going through many changes.

The Greek community at Furman started to undergo many changes in 2012. With the installation of a new Greek Life adviser, Cameron Smith, several aspects of informal and formal recruitment were adjusted this year. Informal recruitment rules were improved to allow us to better get to know potential new members. Our panhellenic counselors, previously called Alpha Zetas, were renamed Pi Chis. Pi Chi groups started doing bonding activities together earlier in the fall. Recruitment rules were very specific for sororities this year--more rounds, each one smaller, were added in order to make the parties less overwhelming for potential new members. Panhellenic has also become more interested in raising official quota for sororities on campus, in order to make chapters more equal in size.

As a chapter, Eta Alpha feels its members are genuine, warm, welcoming, and supportive. Our chapter is extremely diverse in our academic and personal interests, extracurricular activities, and backgrounds. We feel our chapter is strengthened by this diversity and the phrase "individually unique, together complete" fitting.

==Highlights of 2013==

2013 was a year of excitement and improvement, within Eta Alpha and the Greek Community as a whole. We initiated 41 women in the spring. In our Second Kappa Cook Off, we raised over $1100 for RIF. Our chapter sent members to help tutor kids at a local Elementary School, Armstrong Elementary. In our Reading is Key event, the chapter as a whole went to the school supplying books, doing crafts, and helping students with their homework.

This year we participated in Homecoming week activities with Beta Theta Pi. The Kappa/ Beta team made it to the semi finals of the Student Alumni Council’s Homecoming cornhole tournament. Kappa participated in many other Greek organizations' philanthropy weeks--coming in first at Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash and placed second in Sigma Nu’s flag football philanthropy for Relay for Life. We also volunteered at service events like Relay for Life and Dance Marathon.

Since the revamping of our Panhellenic Council, we had one member serve on executive council, another as a delegate, and four members participate as Pi Chis. Unlike past years, sorority women could now go off campus with Potential New Members, were able to communicate through phones, and could ride in cars with them. Panhellenic sponsored “Panhellenic Nights” where two sororities combined to make an informal night to meet PMNs.

As a chapter, Eta Alpha feels its members are genuine, enjoyable, welcoming, and supportive. Our chapter is extremely diverse in our academic and personal interests, extracurricular activities, and backgrounds. We feel our chapter is strengthened by this diversity and the phrase "individually unique, together complete" fitting.

==Highlights of 2014==

For Eta Alpha Chapter, 2014 was a year full of sisterhood and campus involvement boasting 101 members. In March 36 new sisters were initiated, including four Kappa legacies, two in-house, as well as four Chinese international students. Eta Alpha’s proudest accomplishment from 2014 was the Honorable Mention for Ritual by Kappa Kappa Gamma National Headquarters at Convention in June. With the combination of our two philanthropy events we raised $1,938 for Reading is Fundamental. Kappa Kickball was held in April and featured a competition between sorority and fraternity teams kicking for the win. Our notorious Kappa Cook Off held in October is a faculty judged event where fraternities grill their best burger and sororities bake their favorite dessert for the Greek and the non-Greek community alike. It is always a success day out on the field with live a cappella performances and raffles.

Branching into Kappa’s involvement in the local Greenville school system during recruitment about 250 children’s books were signed with encouraging and heartfelt messages to be given to the kids at our new elementary school. In the fall, Kappa was reached out to by the community of Duncan Chapel Elementary, asking for volunteers in the need-based after school program. Twice a week sisters spend an hour tutoring students and giving service to the community. In the beginning of December, Eta Alpha felt the need of those without proper clothes for the winter months and put on the Kappa Klothing Drive for several days collecting winter items from Furman students, faculty and staff. The need was met with enormous gratitude as the chapter collected ten large boxes of clothes for the local homeless shelter, Miracle Hill.

In September, Eta Alpha proudly participated in Haze Free KKG by making a banner in the dining hall and hash-tagging our personal beliefs as to why we do not haze our new and current members.

At Furman Kappa’s have a large presence within the PanHellenic Greek community. Boasting five Pi Chis during recruitment and three members on the council. In the fall Eta Alpha participated in informal PanHellenic recruitment events were we shared meet-and-greets with Chi Omega and Alpha Delta Pi and well as the colonization staff of Zeta Tau Alpha. In March Kappa won War of the Roses held by Pi Kappa Phi benefiting Push America. Our chapter was represented with six runners in Kappa Delta’s Shamrock & Roll in November. During Derby Days put on by Sigma Chi in April Eta Alpha came in second place. There was also Kappa representation at Delta Delta Delta’s D-Hop event in September and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash Week in October. At one of Furman’s most attended Greek events, Stroll, hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha in March one of two Kappa teams came in third in the all sorority and fraternity choreographed dance off. During Greeks for Greenville in March, involving not only the Furman Greek community but that of Clemson and other local Greek organizations, Eta Alpha participated at Alexander Elementary in great numbers. There was much to do such as cleaning up the property, planting trees, pulling weeds from the playground, building path ways and painting a map of the USA on the basketball court as well as chalking fun designs for the children.

Outside of Greek Life Kappa’s are very involved in their own personal pursuits within the Furman community. The Furman University Equestrian Team proudly represents eight Kappa sisters, making up 2/3rds of the team. The Furman Belles, an all women’s a cappella group, is headed by a sister along with two other members. This year’s theater performance in November, The Drowsy Chaperone, was directed by a sister and included three others on the cast. The intramural Kappa basketball team continued to kick butt in 2014 with many wins. Kappa was proud to send a sister on the Furman Cycling team to the Collegiate Cycle Cross Championships where the Furman team placed fourth overall. For Halloween the Athletics Department hosted Fan Jam for children who cannot trick or treat in their neighborhoods, Kappa showed their support by dressing in costume and holding a game for kids to play and get candy.

Parent’s weekend in September was a fun filled event where Kappa hosted their very own catered tailgate. We got to enjoy family, sisters, and good food under our brand new KKG tent and music on the new speakers. Everyone was throwing what they know and taking pictures with our letters.

Homecoming was a blast at the end of October where our football team played Sanford. Kappa Kappa Gamma was paired with Kappa Alpha Order for the Greek Week competitions preceding the weekend. Our theme was “Pirates of the Caribbean” there were skits and chalking and pomping galore. Our float was skillfully constructed by the KA brothers to be the black pearl and was pomped to perfection. The evenings consisted of corn hole and music with cupcakes and hot chocolate provided by the Resident Life Council. In the end our combined efforts won the best tee-shirt competition, first in spirit and third overall. Of course it was lovely seeing our Kappa Alum and newly graduated sisters again.

Furman University gives their students’ opportunities to travel the world and explore beyond the campus gates. Eta Alpha members are unique girls and take great advantage of the wonderful experiences. In November four sisters traveled up to Charlotte North Carolina to participate in the Color Run. Even though it was freezing cold and snow covered the ground our girls pulled through and ran the race with full hearts. Later in that month two sisters made the trip to Orlando Florida to attend a Peer Health Educator Assembly and on their return gave presentations to students in the Health Science Department. During the spring and fall semester the chapter had some sisters in our minds and hearts as they attended school abroad and traveled. We had 9 sisters abroad in Edinburgh, China, Spain, the British Isles, France and Italy.

Eta Alpha achieved an increase in GPA by .042 points this year, however, we were put on academic probation by headquarters. Our outstanding Academic Excellence chair and committee have been working very diligently to come up with innovative ideas to encourage and help members with their workloads and studying ideas. They have individualized meetings with members to understand their situations and hold two Kappa study halls a week where all members are encouraged to study with sisters. There is also a competition between classes to hold the highest GPA with a reward for all class members, won by the seniors this year. The chair has also just put into place “geek of the week” where whoever gets the most pictures taken of them studying wins a prize.

A visit from our LC Caroline Washnock in September and Kappa Trainer Audrey McCall in November gave us great ideas and motivation for the next semester and for our chapter in the future. They encouraged and supported our weaknesses in the chapter’s involvement and being held accountable as sisters, as well as being more of a presence on campus. They also highlighted our chapter’s strengths and brought to light how close our bonds in the sisterhood are. They noticed what an aspiring group of young talented women we are, clearly noticing how Kappa values are represented within the chapter.

==Highlights of 2015==

For the year 2015, Eta Alpha chapter started the fall semester with 95 members and a revamped public relations committee. Our continually successful philanthropy event, Kappa Cook Off, held in October raised $1,399 for Reading is Fundamental. We welcomed the Greek and non-Greek community alike to enjoy homemade burgers, desserts and live a cappella out on the field. An addition to our philanthropic involvement, due to our dedicated philanthropy chair, has been volunteering at Duncan Chapel Elementary School. Each week since the beginning for the year Kappas have been helping low-risk students in the after school program with homework and reading skills. In October, after the flooding that devastated South Carolina, Eta Alpha donated $300, won from attending a Tri Delta event, to the Kappa Foundation to help fellow SC sisters.

Kicking off recruitment in January, Kappa had four Pi Chis and a fun filled jungle themed bid day. In February, Eta Alpha initiated 34 new sisters, including one in-house legacy, one Chinese international student and one Mongolian international student. We also hosted members from Epsilon Kappa chapter who initiated 8 new sisters. On Furman’s campus, Zeta Tau Alpha accepted their first new member class after formal recruitment and Tau Kappa Epsilon started a new chapter on campus. On Valentine’s Day, Kappa sisters passed out love and hershey’s kisses for Kappa Kisses. In March, Furman inaugurated our new university president, Elizabeth Davis. Also held in March one of our very own sisters helped organize Furman’s annual Water Walk, which raises money for a water project and awareness for those lacking clean water and sanitation. She also is the Shi Center for Sustainability fellow, Alternate Transportation fellow, and a member of the Environmental and Sustainability Science Club. For no lack of brains, a senior sister presented her chemistry research in Memphis, TN.

Spring semester included a large and appreciated turn out to Relay for Life where Kappas supported sisters and their families, as well as the surrounding community. On April 9th our annual Reading is Key philanthropy event was a fun and heartwarming event where sisters read donated books to elementary students. Study day for finals Eta Alpha sponsored a stress free snow cone truck that provided free cones to Furman students. For Greek Week, Kappas handed out cheesy macaroni to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. We strive to be involved in philanthropy and that includes supporting other Greek philanthropies. Kappas had an amazing stroll team this year held by AKA where sororities and fraternities perform in a dance competition. Eta Alpha took second in Tri Delta Triple Play softball game for their philanthropy St. Jude’s Hospital. We also supported Kappa Delta in their first ever Kappa Quesadillas in September and the Delta Gamma Anchor Splash. Eta Alpha also attended Tri Delta Dhop with our fellow sister and Leadership Counselor Katherine Latta who was visiting at the time.

The 2015 fall semester was an exceptional one for Eta Alpha chapter. We proudly supported National Hazing prevention month in September by attending a campus wide prevention speaker with almost 100% attendance and by making a banner for the dining hall. We put on our very first Kappa Kappaccino where our sisters handed out free coffee and awarded coffee mugs and stickers to those who found golden tickets hidden around the library. Thanks to our phenomenal recruitment chair it was so successful that we hosted Kappa Kappaccino again during finals in December. Homecoming this year was highlighted by having our cherished recruitment chair be nominated for Homecoming court where she was escorted by her adorable brother. Our Homecoming partners were Sigma Chi and ZTA, our theme was Clue and we won overall spirit in the Greek competitions. Founder’s day this year was celebrated with alumni who afterward helped us practice conversation for recruitment. In October, a handful of sisters participated in Furman’s Halloween Fall Fest, which brings underprivileged children to trick or treat in a safe environment on campus. Kappas are a presence in the PanHellenic community where we shared a successful evening with Chi Omega meeting potential new members as wells as an all sorority PanHellenic night. Apart of our PanHellenic relations in September we enjoyed a Night Owls mixer with Chi Omega, our recruitment partner. We also participated in Eta Alphas very first fraternity mixer with Sigma Chi over homecoming, which was so fun we held a second mixer with Beta. Kappas also made it to intramural sand volleyball championships and got second place out of all the sororities this year.

Outside of the Greek community Kappas are also very active. At this year’s Dance Marathon for Greenville Children’s Hospital there was great Kappa involvement where one sister organized a Kappa team. Over family weekend, despite the rain, the Kappa tailgate was a blast with good friends and family, food and cute tee shirts. Eta Alpha also has a large presence during football games where four sisters represent in the Furman Marching Band where one sister serves as trumpet section leader for marching band. We have other musically inclined sisters, with three in the Symphonic Band where the Principal Flute is a Kappa. We also have one sister representing in the Wind ensemble and another in the Furman Symphony Orchestra. Another achieving sister is an officer for FUISA, which won club of the year. One of our most athletic sisters competed in the Collegiate Cycling Nationals and had finish in the top ten. Eta Alpha is also very proud of our many sisters who were initiated into Phi Eta Sigma honors society this year. A particularly dedicated sister volunteers with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This year she participated in an Out of the Darkness walk and for the third time planned the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day in her hometown to help those who have lost someone to suicide. In the philanthropic manner, for the second year, Eta Alpha hosted Kappa Klothing Drive to collect winter clothes for Miracle Hill in great quantity. At the beginning of the 2015 fall semester Eta Alpha encouraged academic success with Kappa pencils handed out to the Furman student body.

Kappas take Furman’s opportunities to travel to further their educational experience. In the spring we had a sister in Copenhagen Denmark, one in Edinburgh, and another in China. Also in the spring for a little less than a semester six Kappas traveled to Africa for an immersion course in the study of poverty. This fall we had two sisters in Australia, two in Japan, and two in the British Isles. Back on campus, Eta Alpha was diligently working on improving our academic success with study hall ideas and studying incentives from our Academic Excellence chair. A visit from our LC Katherine Latta, Kappa Trainer Marcia Shearer and Kate Steiner in November gave us encouragement and motivation for the next semester and our incoming officers. They supported our strengths and had suggestions for our weaknesses. We collaborated on ideas about sisterhood and making chapter meetings more fun, as well as time management and public relations on campus. As a chapter Eta Alpha is an aspiring group of women who are individually talented and represent Kappa values as a whole.

This year Eta Alpha has experienced a structural makeover, or face lift, if you will. Sisterhood within the chapter ahs been a focus as well as improving public relations and our academic excellence. Informal preparations for recruitment in January have been tip-top, setting strong groundwork for 2016 and our new members.

Chapter Philanthropy:

Towards the end of 2014 Duncan Chapel Elementary approached Eta Alpha looking for volunteers to help tutor their underprivileged students after school who required extra attention. In 2015 Kappas helped tutor each week on Wednesday and Thursday.

We were excited about the opportunity and flattered by the invitation to personal make a difference. Duncan Chapel being just around the corner is near to our hearts and allows Eta Alpha to give back to the community we are so close to. It feels appropriate for Kappas to be helping kids with homework as we promote RIF and kids learning to read.

==Highlights of 2016==

The year 2016 has been a fun year full of sisterhood and new developments for our chapter. In January we welcomed 30 new sisters to their “Kappily Ever After” on bid day. They were initiated on February 27th. Our chapter once again took the opportunity to pass out some love on Valentine's Day with Hershey’s kisses, more fondly known as “Kappa kisses.” We received our chapter grade report from 2015 and we were proud to learn we made the all sorority average. We held our annual Reading is Key event and our sisters gathered together to read books with elementary school students, and continue to send sisters to Duncan Chapel to read with kids every week. Our philanthropy chair also introduced a new fundraising event, Kappa Kornhole, for the spring with teams from other sororities and fraternities for a kornhole competition. In addition, we donated 60 books to Reading is Fundamental through Book Bunnies. Our Event chairmen put together a great event for our Hawaiian themed Kappa Krush.

Our Academic Excellence chairman has been working hard this year and initiated a new event called “Sweet Tea with KKG.” During this event we invite a few professors to join our sisters for tea and refreshments to give professors and sisters a chance to get to know each other and make connections. Towards the end of the semester a wonderful sister of ours was considered for an LC position. We wrapped up the spring semester with a beautiful Masquerade semi formal before finals. Kappa Kappaccino was again a successful and appreciated event during finals.

Fall semester was full of new and exciting events! Our Vice President of Standards worked hard to put together our chapter’s first Mother Daughter event. A huge success, we got to welcome our mothers onto campus for some quality time and crafts. Two of our sisters became Pi Chis to support potential new members going through recruitment. Due to changes in the recruitment set up we are substituting our usual skits with a sisterhood video. Two of our wonderful sisters put together a two-day photo shoot filled with cute poses, props, and lots of laughter to produce a great video that showcases our beautiful and loving sisters. Our chapter website has also received a full makeover thanks to one of our talented sisters. Our first function of the semester took place at the local baseball field, perfect for our “Draft a Date” theme. We also started a partnership with the Furman basketball team! Through this partnership we attend their games, host a book drive during half time for certain games, and members of the team join us on our Duncan Chapel visits each week to read with and tutor students.

Kappa Cook Off was a success once again in raising money for Reading is Fundamental. Founders Day this year included a new history presentation that contained lots of information about our Fraternity's beginnings and the lives of our founders. Kappa rocked homecoming this year with our partner fraternity Phi Kappa Phi. We built a float dedicated to “Hey Arnold” for our Nickelodeon homecoming theme. We were delighted to win first place in the annual horseplay skits and third place in homecoming overall. This October our chapter hosted “Trunk or Treat” for children with autism. Our philanthropy chair organized sisters to bring their cars and decorate the trunks full of candy. All the sisters stationed with their cars were dressed up for the event. We also provided games and a face painting station. The children and our sisters had a wonderful time and we are so grateful for the experience. An alumna of ours got in touch with the founder of Kappa Keys and was moved to bring the group back. Originally a bible study our sister has re-introduced Kappa Keys as a place to be in a community of faiths and support for each other. During December we took part in the Berea Christmas Project and sisters donated money to buy Christmas presents for a fourteen-year-old girl. We wrapped up the fall semester with a Blue on Blue Tie Semi Formal event and headed straight on into finals.

Outside of Kappa we had many sisters involved in Relay for Life and the Red Cross Blood Drive. Our sisters often call on the chapter to support them in the work they do outside of Kappa such as the Cinderella Project and Harvest for Hope. The Cinderella Project collects dresses for young girls who cannot afford one for their prom. On November 18th several sisters went to work at Harvest Hope food bank.

This year Kappa has striven to commit to sisterhood and participation. We have worked on making chapter meetings more fun and informative by starting history blurbs and study tips along with our usual supportive sister award and snaps to acknowledge those who have been a blessing throughout the week. This year we were also delighted to receive the Kappa Heritage award. This year Eta Alpha has continued to work on sisterhood and communal participation. Academic excellence has also been a focus with more study halls and a presentation on helpful study techniques. Due to changes in the recruitment process, our sisters have worked hard to prepare a meaningful and fun experience for our new members. Overall we are continuing to strive to support each other and our community. We are excited to see what the next year brings!

==Highlights of 2017==

The 2017 year has been filled with many success for our sisterhood. In the spring, we had a successful rush and welcomed 19 beautiful new members. We raised our cumulative GPA so that we now have the 4th highest our of all of the sororities. Eight sisters earned 4.0 for the semester. Our true accomplishment of the year was winning homecoming with our partners Kappa Delta and Beta Theta Pi. The overall theme was “A Land before Furman” and our theme was Pirates. Our sisterhood came together and worked hard in each event. Our hard work and dedication was rewarded, as we came in first in skits and first overall. This boosted moral, encouraged sisterhood unity, and showed what we can achieve if we work together a whole. The Event Committee put on four dances this past year: Kappa Constellation Crush, Formal, Rave, and Kappa Kingsmen Semi. We also held successful study halls including an all day study hall with Chick Fil A and pizza during finals week in the sprig and in the fall. However, sisterhood reached beyond the boundaries of Furman’s campus, and sisters went apple picking at Sky Top orchard in North Carolina. One interesting factoid: our incoming President Jessica Greene has two twin sisters, and they have both joined Kappa this year - one at Oklahoma University and the other at the University of Georgia!

'''Philanthropy'''

This year was all about trying new things. In the spring we partnered with the basketball team and put on Hoops for Hope book and clothing drive. We also hosted the first ever Grilled Cheese with KKG. Sisters sold unlimited warm grilled cheese, snacks, and homemade desserts. The event was a huge success and we raised over $1100 for reading is fundamental. In the fall we hosted a number of small events including Lemonade for Literacy Bake Sale outside the library, Lollypops for Literacy consisting of raffling off a yeti cooler in which sisters sold lolly pops for a dollar, and a Chipotle fundraiser. In total was raised $500. In the fall we also threw our second annual Trunk or Treat. This event partners with Agapi, a behavioral consultant organization for children with mental disabilities, in order to allow kids who would not be able to go trick or treating on Halloween night to have a fun halloween experience. Sisters handed out candy from the back of their halloween decked out cars. It was a big success and kids, parents, and sisters alike all had fun.

==Highlights of 2018==

The 2018 year has been filled with many successes and accomplishments for our sisterhood. In the spring, we had a successful rush and welcomed 27 beautiful new members. Our bid day theme was "Pajama Party". At the spring 2018 Greek awards we won most improved chapter GPA and moved up two slots in the all-sorority average. We also had members attend a Kappa Convention. This year for Homecoming, we were paired with Delta Delta Delta and Tau Kappa Epsilon. Our overall theme was Jet Setters and our theme was London. All of our hard work and dedication paid off, as we came in first in horseplay skits and chalking. These awards boosted our moral and showed that we can come together and show our appreciation for our Greek members and Furman University. The event committee put together four dances this past year: Kappa Crush, Formal, Rave, and Kappa Kasino Semi. During the spring and fall, we also held study halls including breakfast and dinner.

In regards to recent changes, we had a large shift in attitude within the chapter. Our sisters are coming together, attending and putting on great events, and doing an amazing job in showing their support for Kappa. We were also received an action plan, which has been a great opportunity for our chapter. This action plan has given us guidance, support, and feedback, for strengthening our chapter communication and overall functionality. This semester we also initiated a COB into our chapter.

Over the summer, we lost a newly initiated member, Reilly Simmons. The Furman University community and our chapter held beautiful memorial services for her. Our chapter came together and celebrated her life. We received many letters from other Greek organizations, as they sent their thoughts and prayers to her and her sisters. She was truly a sapphire sister and she will be deeply missed by her friends, family, and sisters.

'''Philanthropy'''

Our chapter supports Duncan Chapel Elementary, our local organization philanthropy. Through large campus events this year, we raised over $7,000 for RIF. During parents weekend, we held a silent auction and raised $500 for the Foundation. Overall, we donated 60 hours to Duncan Chapel, donated 100 hours to campus service projects, and 853 hours donated to community service projects. We also collected 79 books through small events and donations. Regarding philanthropy, in the Spring semester, we hosted Grilled Cheese with the KKGs for the second time. Our sisters sold unlimited warm grilled cheese, snacks, and homemade desserts. This event was a wonderful success, as we raised over $5,000 for Reading Is Fundamental. In the spring, we hosted Kappa Kupcakes, in which our sister's made cupcakes and the student's who bought tickets got to come and decorate their cupcakes with toppings. From this event, we raised over $2,000 for Reading Is Fundamental. Also in the fall, we hosted a small event, a Lemonade for Literacy Bake Sale, outside of the library. Sister's baked homemade desserts that were sold to students. We raised $100 for our local philanthropy, Duncan Chapel Elementary. In the fall we also hosted our third annual Trunk or Treat event in which we partnered with Agapi, a behavioral consultant organization for children with mental disabilities. This was a wonderful chance for kids with mental disabilities to Trick or Treat in a low-maintenance environment. Sisters had a great time decorating their cars, dressing up, speaking to kids, and handing out candy. We chose this organization because our sisters appreciate getting to work with kids one on-one, as we are able to get to know the kids and spend quality time with them. We appreciate getting to do hands-on work with the kids by reading, talking , and doing activities with them.

[[File:HA 2018.jpg|thumb|HA 2018]]

==Highlights of 2019==

In 2019 Eta Alpha received 7 total Panhellenic awards for the 2018 calendar year during the Greek Awards ceremony in April, including the Founder’s Award that went to Kirstin Mintun.

Leadership Consultant Hannah Greene came for two extended stays to assist the chapter with its development.

This year, the Eta Alpha chapter celebrated Founders Day by renting out J300 and providing sisters with refreshments. This included a variety of Brickstreet cakes, snacks and sodas. After welcoming the sisters to the 149th Founders Day and telling everyone what an important day this is for Kappa’s history, the Marshal conducted the candle lighting ceremony with six seniors. Secretary also brought some past composites for us to look at previous Kappa sisters at Furman. Our semi-formal this November was themed “Sapphires are Forever” in honor of our upcoming 150th anniversary, and we've been promoting the Herff Jones 150th anniversary jewelry to the chapter.

The Panhellenic Council has changed the bylaws to have better representation of sororities during the Panhellenic Council slating process by having a representative from each chapter be present during the interviews, and all convening to decide the slate for the new Panhellenic council. We also coordinated our spring philanthropy event with Zeta Tau Alpha’s Big Man On Campus and promoted attendance of their event as it took place right after ours. We won 3rd Place in homecoming this fall, and partnered with Chi Omega and Beta. During homecoming, we had a bake sale with our homecoming partners to raise money for our philanthropies. We have also held mixers with Tri Delta, to foster positive Panhellenic relationships, and Beta, to foster positive relationships in anticipation of homecoming.

'''Philanthropy'''

The chapter held Grilled Cheese and Kappa Kupcakes philanthropy events in the Spring and Fall semesters, respectively. Proceeds from the events benefitted Reading is Fundamental. We support Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation nationally. This year we have been in the process of finding a new local philanthropy that represents our values and goals
as a chapter and is willing to work with our philanthropy chair to schedule events.

==Highlights of 2020:==

During Covid-19, we are preparing for recruitment in 2021 to be totally virtual. Rounds will take place over zoom and will utilize breakout rooms. All meetings and events have been switched to virtual, including chapter. Some of our virtual events include virtual game nights, homecoming, senior programming, Founders Day, AE Banquet, and COB Initiation. We developed extra programming for Covid-19 and mental health during a pandemic, and we created an action plan for Covid-19 scenarios and expectations. We have two members of our chapter that have received Kappa scholarships. Our chapter received Convention recognition for: Honorable Mention: Heritage Award and Honorable Mention: Panhellenic Award for the 5-7 Panhellenic groups category.

We also requested and implemented an action plan created by the District team and created several internal actions plans as well, relating to campus connections, alumnae connection, and sisterhood within the chapter. This year we partnered with the Hilton Head alumnae association. We are planning several programs with them, including career mentorships, alumnae panels, and sisterhood events with members of both our organizations.

[[File:Eta Alpha 2020 (before COVID-19).JPG|thumb|Eta Alpha 2020 (before COVID-19)]]

'''Philanthropy'''

As well as the KKG Foundation, we support Neighborhood Focus, Reading is Fundamental, and Loaves and Fishes.

For Neighborhood Focus, we chose this organization because they work with kids of all ages, from elementary to high school, providing a safe space after school to work on language skills, reading skills, and their homework. We also have been in close contact with this organization about potential volunteer opportunities in the future or ways to help raise money for them. We will also be donating money to the Kappa Foundation. For Reading is Fundamental, we chose this organization because not only is it our national philanthropy, but it also provides learning materials and books to teachers, parents, and children, which is especially important during this pandemic since it has led to isolated learning. We held a virtual 5k in support of RIF which raised almost 1,700 dollars. For Loaves and Fishes, we chose this organization because they provide canned foods for those in need in Greenville, which is important during the economic strain caused by the pandemic.

'''Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion'''

We held a program over the summer lead by the Furman Justice Forum about identity and supporting racial differences through Greek Life. We worked to overcome gendered language in our programming in order to support non-binary sisters in our chapter and all of Kappa. We supported and advertised a petition created by the Furman Justice Forum that pushed for increased diversity measures on campus, including religious diversity initiatives in recruiting/hiring, a diversity focused general education requirement, and a requirement for students to attend a certain amount of diversity focused programming on campus.

'''Sesquicentennial Celebration'''

We held a virtual Founders Day celebration through Zoom where we invited chapter alumnae from the past 10 years as well as alumnae from nearby alumnae associations. After conducting the candle lighting ceremony, we split off into breakout rooms (in a mix of active sisters, recent alumnae, and older alumnae) for a Kappa history trivia game. We then split off into a series of several randomized breakout rooms for additional conversations, games, and activities about Kappa’s history.

------------------------

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Omega

2021-12-21T20:00:06Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Omega
|GreekSymbol= ZΩ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Omega.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1994|01|08}}
|College= [https://uwaterloo.ca/ University of Waterloo]
|Location= Waterloo, ON
|Homepage= [https://uwaterloo.kappa.org/ Zeta Omega Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Omega Media related to Zeta Omega Chapter]}}

'''University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada'''

'''Founded January 8, 1994'''

'''Charter members: 27'''

'''342 initiated members (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Zeta Omega’s Outstanding Members:'''

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

==The Early Years==

In 1957, innovation and entrepreneurship brought University of Waterloo into being, as a group of business leaders imagined a new university built to tackle some of the world’s most daunting challenges.
It was the age of the Cold War and the space race, when a single computer filled a room. Discoveries in science, medicine and engineering were coming fast and furious. Industry leaders in Kitchener-Waterloo knew moving forward meant more than just training people in the technology of the day.

Together with J. Gerald Hagey, Waterloo’s founding president, and Rev. Cornelius Siegfried, who brought St. Jerome’s University into federation with Waterloo, Ira G. Needles helped lay the foundation for a new kind of purpose-driven education. Waterloo was built to teach people to think in new ways, constructed on a foundation of science, engineering and math.

University of Waterloo, commonly referred as Waterloo or UW, is a public research university whose main campus is located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is in Uptown Waterloo, adjacent to Waterloo Park. The university offers a wide variety of academic programs, administered by six faculties and ten faculty-based schools. The university also operates four satellite campuses and four affiliated university colleges. Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.

The University of Waterloo was created as a non-denominational board established by Waterloo College (the present-day Wilfrid Laurier University) to obtain government grants to run expanded science programs under the name Waterloo College Associated Faculties. The university was established in response to community demand for improved education facilities, particularly in technical and scientific fields of study. The first 74 students began classes in 1957. In 1959, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed an act which formally split the board from Waterloo College and reestablished it as the University of Waterloo.Renowned for the success of its cooperative education programs, Waterloo now has the largest engineering school in Canada. The university enrolled approximately 240,000 students in 1994.

==Highlights of 1980s==

In 1986, there was one fraternity at Waterloo. This fraternity was Delta Omega Chi which became Theta Psi chapter of Sigma Chi in March of 1987. At that time there were no other Greek societies. A woman student who had been associated with Delta Omega Chi realized the advantages of this type of society and decided to begin one for women. She put an ad in the campus newspaper asking if there were other women on campus who would be interested in starting a sorority. She received several responses.

On November 2, 1986, the first meeting of Waterloo’s first sorority was held. This meeting was attended by Delta Omega Chi’s Thomas White who acted as an adviser during the early stages of Kappa Gamma Phi’s development. In the fall of 1988, due to his assistance in founding Kappa Gamma Phi, Mr. White became the sorority’s first honorary member. When the local chapter started, the members had hopes of someday becoming a part of an international fraternity.

Kappa Gamma Phi was the first sorority at the University of Waterloo. Its flower, appropriately, was the white iris, and its motto, Unum Ex Diversitas (Unity Through Diversity). Chapter goals included the growth and development of each member, friendship and service to others. The commitment of the membership to the organization resulted in the establishment of a flourishing alumnae association.

==Highlights of 1990s==

In 1993, Kappa Gamma Phi decided to petition some international sororities for membership. The members assembled packets with information about Waterloo, the UW campus and Kappa Gamma Phi. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Delta Delta both responded and came to the campus to make presentations. The chapter members thought the values of KKG were similar to those of KGP and voted to become a Kappa colony.

Kappa Kappa Gamma colonized its first Canadian colony in 60 years at the University of Waterloo on August 18, 1993, when the 24 members of the local sorority, Kappa Gamma Phi were pledged. Installation of the new chapter was scheduled for January 8, 1994.

Kappas from the Waterloo and Toronto areas gathered at the campus to welcome Zeta Omega. Fireside was held in Hagey Hall, and the installation held at the Walper Terrace Hotel. Margo White, Toronto, served as the Coordinator of Chapter Development for the Fraternity’s 124th active chapter. Sandi Snyder, McGill, was Zeta Omega’s first Chapter Consultant and worked closely with the group for the 1993-1994 school year. ''The Key'', Winter 1993, page 47

The spring 1994 issue of The Key, page 31, welcomed “The 27 charter members and eight alumna initiates of Zeta Omega Chapter, Waterloo University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, January 8, 1994. Big sister chapters were Beta Psi, Toronto, and Delta Delta, McGill.” Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first National Panhellenic Conference member to establish a chapter on this campus.

The 1994 calendar year was very exciting for Zeta Omega beginning with its installation and ending with a retro ‘80s sleepover. It hosted Kappa Decadence for the other four Greek groups in the city. The members displayed their culinary expertise by cooking multiple flavors of cheesecake. The members also hosted an all-Greek food night and dating game. It held its second-annual swing-a-thon to raise money for a local charity. The swing lasted 24 hours and motion sickness was minimal. Zeta Omega held its first Founders Day ceremony which was an afternoon drop-in event.

The chapter had 14 active members, six pledges, one special active and one associate member in 1994. It was the only all-female Greek group on campus along with one all-male group, Sigma Chi. Laurier University, down the street from Waterloo, had three Greek organizations. Zeta Omega comprised .0008 percent of the university population this year, but the chapter played an active role in the respective student unions.

Greek-letter organizations were not officially recognized at Waterloo, but the chapter and Sigma Chi worked to change this. However, the university did allow the chapter to use university facilities. The chapter continued to adjust and readjust to the Kappa ways. Transition was difficult, and it had its share of problems but managed successfully to make changes. Group discussions were held where all members were encouraged to discuss openly their thoughts an any chapter subject. Resolutions were always discussed before the meetings closed.

Morale was another challenge. The chapter established a sisterhood key which was given to a deserving member. The chapter members could vote for the member to receive sisterhood recognition by placing deserving members’ names in a sisterhood box. Names were drawn from this box, and the member given a prize.

In 1994, Zeta Omega began to start its own traditions: the swing-a-thon, Kappa Decadence and the all-Greek food nights made the chapter well known within its small Greek community. The chapter held its second annual Sapphire Ball following this term’s initiation ceremony.

The chapter reported that the Fraternity and Sorority Awareness Club was up and running. There had been several meetings. What is this organization? Since sororities and fraternities were not recognized on the Waterloo campus because their membership was only open to those who had been initiated, the two Greek organizations formed this club. The club is open to anyone who wishes to come. It is through this organization that each group books the rooms and booths on campus to use for events. Without FSAC, rush would have had to rely on word-of-mouth and all chapter meetings would have been held at the houses of members because there was not a Kappa facility at the time.

One of the highlights of 1997 was the chapter’s Recruitment turn-out. Zeta Omega was extremely successful in the fall of 1997, and it pledged 10 new members. This brought the chapter size to approximately 21 members with three special actives.

Kappa Decadence was also a success and was an event that the members remember with great pride. Kappa Kappa Gamma developed a positive image on the waterloo campus and in the community with its philanthropy events that were targeted in broad areas rather than focusing on one specific charity.
On October 19, 1997, the chapter celebrated Founders Day. The celebration included Ritual, talking about the Founders and what they did for Kappa during its founding months and as alumnae. Treats were served, and the members looked through scrapbooks.

The chapter changed its time of election to the first term. November 1997 was a busy month for the chapter. It held initiation, elections and installation of officers during the month Zeta Omega’s challenge was to generate campus awareness of the chapter. After that challenge was addressed, it aimed to promote a positive image of Kappa both on campus and in the community. The members worked to meet these challenges by being involved as a group in activities on the campus and in the community. They promoted Kappa through philanthropic events such as involvement in wheelchair hockey and Habitat for Humanity.

Chapter events included Kappa Decadence and Greek mixers where other fraternities in the Waterloo region and surrounding area were invited to a social event. Both events were very successful. Zeta Omega had an excellent winter 1998 Recruitment and pledged five women. This was the first class to participate in the Fraternity’s new member program.

This year’s Kappa Decadence Cheesecake social/philanthropy was a great success with a large turnout from the local Greek groups as well as those from nearby cities. The Kappa Ball held in March was well attended by alumnae and activities and everyone had a great time. Because we had enough members to have a separate Public Relations Chairman, for the first time in a few years the chapter newsletter was produced and distributed.
During fall term 1998, eight chapter members took a trip to visit the McGill chapter in Montreal, Quebec. Everyone arrived in time to take part in some of its Recruitment, had a chance to visit with the members and also pick up the Traveling Consultant who was going to visit Zeta Omega the following week.

The University of Waterloo campus stayed mostly the same although the Engineering 1 building was renamed the Douglas Wright Engineering Building. This confused some of the students when their schedules assigned them to the DWE in the fall. A proposal to build a new Computer Science/Engineering building in one of the parking lots on campus was approved.

The chapter pledged several new members during the fall recruitments in 1997 and 1998. Previously it had approximately eight members who doubled and tripled up on chapter positions in order to get everything accomplished. After Recruitment, the chapter was bigger than ever but very young and not trained. A successful leadership training event was held and with help from Province Director of Chapters Sandi Snyder, McGill, and some dedicated alumnae the transition was much easier.

The first Kappa Twist-a-Thon was held fall term in the Student Life Centre. More than $260 was raised during a 12-hour period to help support the Children’s Wish Foundation. During winter term, the members helped in soup kitchens and some of them were involved with the local Habitat for Humanity activities. The chapter goal for 1998 was to have 80 percent attendance at all mandatory meetings and events as posted on the master calendar.

Chapter members participated in dramatic productions on and off the campus. One Zeta Omega had excellent marks and graduated in chemical engineering. Five other members were on their respective faculties dean’s lists.

During the winter of 1999, Zeta Omega helped host the Alpha Province Meeting with the local alumnae association. That fall, six new members were initiated. The chapter started a new scholarship reward program with the kore groups.

In 1999, Waterloo had approximately 22,000 total students, with 16,000 undergraduate full-time students. New president David Johnston was hired.

Zeta Omega had nine active members, three special status members and four associate members; two freshmen, five sophomores, eight juniors and one senior. Recruitment in 1999 was disappointing, and the chapter made plans to condense its Recruitment activities. The new officers weren't sure of their jobs, but key advisers helped train them.

In fall 1999, many of the actives graduated leaving a small, young chapter. Also at that time, the advisers changed, and it was difficult to keep in touch with the alumnae association. Following a very helpful visit by the Traveling Consultant, the chapter began working on better organization.

Chapter activities included Kappa Decadence which was held in February. This cheesecake social helped raise money for the foodbank. Another very successful Twist-a-Thon raised money for the Children’s Wish Foundation, held in March. The academic year ended with the Kappa Ball, a formal for actives and alumnae. The chapter goal for 1999 was to complete and hand-in reports in a more timely manner.

==Highlights of 2000s==

In November 2005, the chapter combined its archives display with the heritage workshop and also showed the items from the Museum in a Box from Fraternity Headquarters.

During winter term, four new members were initiated, and the members attended the Alpha Province Meeting in Toronto. It was nice that it was held so close so numerous members could attend. The Province Meeting was a success, and Zeta Omega took more girls to participate than the chapter that hosted it. The Province Director of Chapters visited the chapter after Province Meeting.

Summer 2005 marked the first of the chapter’s annual alumnae picnics. Although the chapter had trouble maintaining contact with its alumnae, there was a surprisingly good turnout, and the alumnae asked to have the picnic again. This summer also marked the second active-only summer. The chapter did not recruit or initiate during this term because so few members were on campus.

Fall term 2005 was a huge success. A Kappa trainer visited prior to Recruitment and helped get the chapter organized and excited. A Leadership Consultant visited for Recruitment, and she helped a lot as well. Zeta Omega pledged nine girls.

The philanthropic activities this term were the chapter’s greatest area of pride as they raised tremendous amounts of money for numerous charitable organizations and there was great participation from the campus.
The chapter attended the Greek Leadership Conference organized by one of its members. The keynote speaker was a woman who was a professional speaker and the mother of one of the chapter members. The conference was hosted by the Fraternity and Sorority Awareness Club, the group that united all the Greek organizations on campus.

During this year, the chapter increased its membership and created strong ties with the other Greek organizations on campus.

In 2005, there were approximately 20,000 students enrolled at Waterloo. The overview of the university on its Website stated that “The University of Waterloo played a key role in the City of Waterloo being named by the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF) as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2006 in the world.” The University of Waterloo was the only Canadian stop on philanthropist Bill Gates’ tour of six North American universities which took place in October. UW was named the number-one college in Maclean’s magazine which was an honor the university earned for many consecutive years.

One of the unique aspects of UW was the large number of students who participated in the Co-op Program. This program is designed for students to spend approximately every other term in a paid job gaining experience to prepare them for their after-university careers. This experience provided these students with good references and a solid base on which to stand upon finishing their degrees.

In addition to Kappa, UW was home to Sigma Chi, Zeta Psi and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities and a local sorority, Sigma Lambda Gamma, which is not affiliated with the U.S. organization by the same name. Even though each of these groups has very different goals, they all shared a common interest of increasing the unity between the Greek organizations on campus.

Although the UW didn’t recognize each Greek organization, it did recognize them as one school club, the Fraternity and Sorority Awareness Club (FSAC). The FSAC community held meetings which were attended by a delegate from each Greek organization and were open for anyone within the university community to attend. The organization planned fundraisers, discussed issues that might impact the Greek community and found ways to build a strong bond between the different organizations.

In 2005, Zeta Omega consisted of 30 members. The chapter worked to strengthen its sisterhood and promote itself on campus. Because the university didn't recognize each Greek organization, Zeta Omega struggled with advertising and promotion.

The major challenge for the chapter was keeping in touch with its alumnae. After graduating, many of the members found jobs in Toronto, a 90-minute drive from campus which made it very difficult for them to attend events. To maintain close ties with its alumnae, the chapter established an alumnae appreciation event each term which encouraged them to stay in touch with the chapter and each other. The chapter made sure there was a fun activity following initiation so that the newly initiated members would immediately get to know all the members in the chapter.

Stronger officer training was held so the new officers were thoroughly trained and prepared for the next year. The storage of chapter and ritual items was a challenge. At this time, chapter and alumnae members housed the initiation materials and archives.

At the 2009, Alpha/Rho Province Meeting, Zeta Omega was presented with the Alpha Province Award of Merit for outstanding leadership for the 2008 calendar year.

Winter term 2009 was very productive for Zeta Omega. This term, a new philanthropic endeavor began. The members learned to knit and knit squares to create blankets to donate to Blankets for Canada. At the annual Decadence dessert event, the chapter raised $536.77.

At the Sapphire Ball, a Zeta Omega was chosen to be Sigma Chi Sweetheart. At the same event, the chapter named its first Key Man and several other chapter awards: Sisterhood, Chapter Goal, Philanthropy, Academic Excellence, New Member and President’s Award. Four new members were initiated.

During the summer season, the chapter held several events to reunite sisters who had been on study term or summer break. Another alumnae picnic was held to celebrate the gorgeous weather and honor the members who graduated. Members participated in the Annual Relay for Life and raised $2,075 for the Canadian Cancer Society. The first camping trip to Sauble Beach was held during the Civic Day long weekend. In September 2009, one of Zeta Omega’s members attended the Fraternity’s Leadership Academy. This term, seven new members were initiated by the chapter.

The chapter’s annual Halloween philanthropy event was a Meal Exchange Trick-or-Eat program with other Greek groups on campus that collected a lot of non-perishable foods. This year’s Decadence event raised $547.06 to donate to the Kappa Foundation’s Rose McGill Fund and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Again this year, Waterloo ranked as one of Canada’s top universities in Maclean’s magazine. It placed first in the highest quality, most innovative, leaders of tomorrow and best overall university categories. The university continued to be known for the co-operative program that is offered. It attracted students from 141 different countries. The program was the largest post-secondary co-op education program in the world. Waterloo’s motto is concordia cum veritate which means “in harmony with truth.”

In 2009, UW was home to three sororities, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Omicron Pi and Sigma Lambda Gamma, a local sorority, and one fraternity, Sigma Chi. Since these groups were not recognized as individual organizations on campus, they all worked together under the name of the Fraternities and Sororities Awareness Club to promote awareness and recognition on campus. Three Zeta Omega members were columnists for the weekly campus newspaper, the Imprint.

During fall term, there were 25 active members of the chapter who worked to build their sisterhood bonds and create awareness about the chapter on campus. The weekly chapter meetings were held at a member’s home on Albert Street.

The biggest challenge in 2009 was the implementation of the National Panhellenic Council’s college at Waterloo. When another international fraternity, Alpha Omicron Pi, established a chapter on the campus it was important to work together to plan Recruitment. With work by the Panhellenic delegates, the advisers and chapter presidents, the first Panhellenic Recruitment went smoothly. Everyone was aware that there would still be some adjustments to the new style of Recruitment which would benefit all Greek organizations.

The 2010 year began with pledging three new members. The chapter held its first Decadence of the year which raised money to fight prostate cancer. It also held Kappa Krush with many other Greek groups in attendance.
In March of 2010, the members held the annual Mother/Daughter Tea and played board games their moms. The Sapphire Ball was also held this month. Throughout the summer, the members took part in several other activities. One was a Relay for Life held at a local high school to raise money for cancer research. Two new members were pledged during the summer, and a Sigma Chi/Kappa social was held where they roasted marshmallows and caught up. At the end of the summer, the annual alumnae picnic was held. This picnic brought together the actives, new members and chapter alumnae. Four chapter members went to the Fraternity Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. They brought back several ideas for the chapter to use.

In October 2010, nine new members were pledged. The Recruitment activities included a sisterhood event where everyone made squares for a quilt, a philanthropy event where everyone created book bags for school children and a coffee date at Williams.

At the end of October, the members held a Halloween party. The women dressed as hippies. The night included delicious snacks. Guests from the other Greek organizations at Waterloo and Laurier attended the party.
The annual Dad/Daughter Day took place in November. Everyone got to watch the Waterloo Warriors vs. McMaster hockey game. This continued to be a busy month. Decadence was held raising more than $500 for AIDS charities in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. To close the semester, the members held a Touch of Klass event at Caesars and many Sigma Chis attended. Finally as exams grew closer, the members held elections and a sisterhood send-off which included making bottlecap necklaces.

The university prides itself in constantly finishing near the top of Maclean’s annual universities ranking issue. Waterloo is also very well known for the co-op education program.

One of Zeta Omega’s greatest challenges during 2010 was not being able to hold events on campus. The chapter needed to be recognized by the university as part of the Fraternities and Sororities Awareness Club. Fortunately by the end of the year, the chapter had success in booking rooms for its formal meetings and was fortunate to have informal meetings at a member’s home on Albert Street.

==Highlights of 2011==

Zeta Omega had a roaring year in 2011. January included many successful Recruitment events including a sisterhood when the women constructed squares for a chapter quilt. Nine wonderful new members joined the chapter.

March was an especially busy month for the chapter and started with the chapter’s annual Mother/Daughter Day with tea and treats. The women played games, and the sisters introduced their mothers to the meaning of Kappa sisterhood at Waterloo. Next the chapter hosted Decadence on campus in the Student Life Centre and raised more than $600 for the Sexual Assault Centre of Quine and District.

The same weekend a new member retreat was held that further strengthened a strong bond between the eight new members. With this great kick-off to Inspiration Week, the members held an intense quiet night where tears and laughter were shared. Fireside and Initiation that weekend were the best-attended by actives and alumnae in several terms. Finally the members topped off their term with an immensely successful Sapphire Ball that was also a fabulous send-off for the chapter’s several seniors.

The chapter returned in the fall with a new membership chairman and more women came out for Recruitment than who had taken part in it before. The chapter activities included everything from kite-flying to bracelet-making for the actives and potential new members. Eleven women pledged Kappa and eight were initiated.
The annual Father/Daughter Day was hosted at the campus arena where the members and their fathers watched a varsity hockey game.

The term’s main philanthropy event was Holiday of Hearts. Many gifts were donated, raising more than $450 for the Because I am A Girl Campaign which was provided by Plan Canada on behalf of Zeta Omega. Sisterhood also brought a lot of crafts and sewing for the term with new letters and owl pillows for all members.

The visit from the Fraternity Leadership Consultant complemented the chapter’s inspiration period in the fall of 2011, and she helped the chapter host a successful Quiet Night. The chapter held an amazing Fireside and Initiation in an off-campus location where the beautiful voices of the chapter members sang loudly and often.
Nearing the end of November, getting closer to exams and the holiday season, the social chairman hosted Touch of Klass with delicious appetizers and the well dressed company of other campus Greeks. The Zeta Omegas were invited to attend Wilfred Laurier University’s Greek Gala. Several members proudly attended as delegates.
In 2011, the University of Waterloo continuously endured the largest campus construction and building boom since it was established in 1957. The university fully embraced a new marketing campaign. It also began to search for many new administrators in 2011 as many of the senior administrative staff and faculty position contracts would end in the beginning of 2012. It was hoped that the exodus of these older campus administrators in 2011 and 2012 would bring a more positive attitude to the administration regarding Greek life at Waterloo.

The chapter had many members graduate in April which left a very young chapter to return to campus in the fall of 2011. In 2011, Zeta Omega struggled slightly to complement the Recruitment process of the other Panhellenic sorority at Waterloo. The chapter consistently worked to overcome this challenge as it prepared for a more in-depth coordination in the 2012 Recruitment.

==Highlights of 2012==

Another great year has passed in the Zeta Omega Chapter and we have learned lessons, grown as a chapter, and welcomed new sisters along the way. The 2012 year got off to a great start with Alana as recruitment chair. After 4 successful recruitment events, new member chair Samantha Gilchrist began preparing the new class for their Zeta Omega careers. With inspiration week brought wonderful sisterly bonding that finished with the Alpha Lambda class becoming sisters. We were so happy to welcome Alanna, Molly, Erica, Tonima, and Melissa into the chapter! Credit must also be given to Minny, our fearless Marshall, and Sunny, our standards chairwoman. Their dedication hard work throughout inspiration week was noticed and greatly appreciated by everyone in the chapter.

The chapter held their signature social event, Sapphire Ball later that month. This year's theme was "masquerade" and was spearheaded by our events chair Lisa. Sapphire ball always presents a wonderful opportunity for alumni, special actives, associate members, and active members to come together and celebrate. Awards were presented to those deserving sisters who the chapter felt put in extra time and effort to help the chapter reach it's full potential.

The Zeta Omega chapter gave back to the community in the Winter 2012 term by holding our annual Reading is Fundamental event. Sisters went to local elementary schools and worked with young students to help them read books. Paired with a craft, it was a great day for all. We also promoted philanthropy at the Waterloo campus with our bi-annual bake sale: Decadence. This is a great event that students look forward to each term.

Two sisterhood events were also held in the Winter 2012 term. Braving the cold together, the sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter went skating at the outdoor rink in uptown Waterloo. For our second sisterhood event, everyone got together to make masks for Sapphire ball! What girls lacked in artistic skills, was certainly made up for with laughter and new memories. After the last meeting of the term, the girls said goodbye as they began studying for exams and leaving for the summer.

Although the Zeta Omega chapter is not active during the Spring term, there were a few sisters enrolled in a full course load who wanted to maintain contact. In spite of their busy schedules, they made an effort to spend time together, often having lunch, studying, or having sleepovers. In June, sisters in the Waterloo area participated in the Kitchener/Waterloo Relay for Life. As a team they were able to raise 700$ for the Canadian Cancer Society!

With the beginning of the Fall academic term, the Zeta Omega chapter was once again active. Kris, the membership chairwoman, started off the term with 4 successful recruitment events. Ulanna, new member chariwoman, helped guide Maddie, Katie, Gloria, Fallon, Alex, Theenu, Koren, and Carol through their journey to becoming sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter. Inspiration week flew by and finished with initiation held at Neera's home in Guelph, Ontario. She was a graceful host, and her home was the perfect venue.

Neera also contributed to the chapter as events chairwoman. Her efforts for Touch of Klass should be noted as she used her problem solving skills to find a venue at the last minute. The event was held at a local restaurant called Wildcraft. The hors d'oeuvres disappeared as soon as they were put on the table, and everyone mingled and had a great time. The event was well attended in spite of the horrible storm that day!

Our standards chairwoman, Natasha, held three wonderful events throughout the term. The first was a board game night and Founder's Day celebration at a local restaurant. The next was a sleepover after Fireside. The third was a Secret Santa potluck following the last meeting of the term. Though the events were wonderful, attendance could have been improved. As a chapter, we are currently working towards better attendance of events.

We held 4 philanthropy events during Fall 2012 term. Decadence, once again, was well attended. To prepare, many sisters baked together as the excitement grew for the much anticipated event. In October, the sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter, along with police officers and members of the community, volunteered to pick up litter following a rowdy Homecoming weekend. It was great to see sisters making a positive difference in the community, especially when it was on the local news later that day! Around Halloween, very few girls participated in Trick or Eat, collecting canned goods for local food banks. Our final philanthropy event of the Fall 2012 term, Food not Bombs Soup Kitchen, was also poorly attended. Although the term got off to a great start, things got a little rocky towards the end. One of our goals for the 2013 year is to improve attendance at Philanthropy events!

In Fall 2012, the University of Waterloo opened their Nano Technology building. This was a great joy for the Nanotech engineers, and students of Waterloo, as the building had been under construction for 3 years!

The nature of our chapter is ever-changing. Between new members, graduates, and co-op students, the chapter can feel completely different from one term to the next. As a result, leadership roles will sometimes fall onto the shoulders of newer members. To ease these transitions, members of the chapter are working to update the leadership binders and improve training methods. In doing this, sisters can feel more confident in their leadership roles, allowing the chapter to reach their goals without anyone feeling overwhelmed.

In the Winter 2012 term, the chapter was in good spirits. Unfortunately this changed with the Fall 2012 term. The standards committee was put to work, quietly dealing with interpersonal issues in a professional manner. Attendance was also poor at many events. To improve this, we are increasing communication within the chapter, holding monthly open forums, and creating incentives to hold sisters accountable for their actions. We all believe in Kappa, and the oath we took during initiation and are actively trying to work towards making the Zeta Omega chapter the best it can be!

==Highlights of 2013==

Another wonderful year has come and gone in the Zeta Omega Chapter and we have learned lessons, grown as a chapter, and welcomed new sisters along the way. The 2013 year got off to a different start than usual. We only had one sister graduating so we did not hold any recruitment events in order to get new sisters as we were at our cap. Instead we focused on improving our sisterhood by holding open forums in which girls could talk about frustrations with the chapter. It was mediated by alumni Courtney and Liz and we took turns talking by having a talking stick. This got frustrations out of the way so we could focus on being more sisterly.

The chapter held their signature social event, Sapphire Ball later that month. This year's theme was "Night in Paris" and was organized by our events chair Molly and Katie. Sapphire Ball always presents a great night past and present Kappas to come together and celebrate in classy attire. Awards were given to those commendable sisters who the chapter felt put in additional time and energy to help the chapter reach it's full potential. The awards were as follows:

Academic Excellence -- Winnie Sham
Chapter Goals ------------- Carmel Rahmanian
Sisterhood ------------------ Erica Schellenburg
Philanthropy --------------- Emily Moore
President Award ---------- Carol Nguyen
Allumni Award ------------ Liz Wong
Senior Award--------------- Natasha Kwiatkowski and Ulana Zadarko
New Member Award ---- Maddy Spicer

The Zeta Omega chapter gave back to the community in the Winter 2013 term by holding our annual Reading is Fundamental event. Sisters went to local elementary schools and worked with young students to help them read books. Paired with a craft, it was a great day for all. We also promoted philanthropy at the Waterloo campus with our bi-annual bake sale: Decadence. This is a great event that students look forward to each term. There were many yummy treats and goodies that students could purchase – we decided to donate our funds to Strong Start and raised 580 dollars!

Two sisterhood events were also held in the Winter 2013 term. Avoiding the cold together, the sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter made bracelets at Stephanie Jin’s house. The night was spent being crafty and chit chatting. For our second sisterhood event, everyone got together and bused to Marble Slab in Kitchener! With the weather getting warmer – everyone was craving some ice cream. We visited a sister that was working and had fun getting creative with our yummy treats. After the last meeting of the term, the girls said goodbye as they began studying for exams and leaving for the summer.

Other events held during the Winter term included a Valentine’s Day Mixer with the Sigma Chi’s where we played games and socialized while eating yummy snacks and appetizers. We also had a pajama party with the Sigma Lambda Gamma’s the local sorority on campus where we spent the night playing games like catch phrase and made awesome sweet and salty popcorn and homemade cookies.

Along came fall and Zeta Omega was back in full swing. Kelly the membership chairwoman, started off the term with 4 successful recruitment events. We had great weather and some were held outside which was a nice change! Erica, new member chairwoman, helped guide our beautiful Alpha Nu class through their journey to becoming sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter. Alpha Nu had 18 new members which grew our chapter immensely and excited everyone. Among this group included Allison, Annaijah, Bailey, Delphine, Eleni, Jessie, Joycelyn, Julena, Karen, Kayley, Kimberley, Miya, Shannon, Supriya, Taylor, Tearney, Uma, and Valerie. Inspiration week flew by and finished with initiation held at Neera's home in Guelph, Ontario. She was an incredible host, and we were very thankful for Neera and her family for letting us use their beautiful home for our special event.

Katie also contributed to the chapter as events chairwoman. Her efforts for Touch of Klass should be noted as she used her organization skills to book a great venue well in advanced. The event was held at a local restaurant called Shoeless Joes. The hors d'oeuvres disappeared as soon as they were put on the table, and everyone mingled and had a great time. We had some Christmas trivia that got everyone in the Christmas mood.

We held 3 philanthropy events during Fall 2013 term. Decadence, was well attended and was nice for the new sisters to come and help out to raise money. Sisters baked together in order to get ready for the event. We had lots of yummy cupcakes and it was nice interacting with other students on campus. Close to Halloween, a couple sisters participated in Trick or Eat, collecting canned goods for local food banks while dressed up in costumes. We want to have a better attendance for this event in 2014. Our final philanthropy event of the Fall 2013 term, helping out at a local Soup Kitchen, was also poorly attended. One of our goals for the 2014 year is to improve attendance at Philanthropy events by setting more specific goals and getting sisters to come out!

There were very few interpersonal problems between sisters in the Fall 2013 term. This gave the standards committee a break. As a chapter, we are working towards improving sisterhood and philanthropy by working together and setting more specific goals as a chapter. We are all dedicated members and want Zeta Omega to be the best tat it can be by constantly keeping. Zeta Omega has a diverse collection of sisters that compliment one another very well. A quote read that represents Zeta Omega reads – we create women out of girls, sisters out of friends, and confidants out of strangers.

In Fall 2013 University of Waterloo is very proud to offer a professor job to Chris Hadfield – the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space. He called the university “world class” and is going to be teaching starting in the fall. This is exciting for our members (past, present, and future) who are in engineering.

==Highlights of 2014==

Another wonderful year has passed in the Zeta Omega Chapter. One filled with great achievements, important lessons, chapter growth, and strengthened friendships. The 2014 year started strong with Lisa as recruitment and new member chair. With her leadership and guidance, we welcomed 9 new members into the Alpha Xi class: Angelica, Jessica, Kiki, Monica, Roze, Simran, Stacy, Sydney, and Uthi! The dedication and hardwork of Neera and Sunny, our President and Marshall, made for an extremely successful inspiration week. Neera graciously offered to host initiation at her beautiful home once again. The Alpha Xi class prepared a humourously entertaining rap for the chapter at our last meeting.

The chapter held their signature formal, the Sapphire Ball, later that month. This year's theme was "Great Gatsby" and was organized by our events chairwomen, Katie and Taylor S. The Sapphire Ball is a wonderful way for alumni and collegiate members of Zeta Omega to reunite and celebrate sisterhood in classy attire. Awards were presented to those admirable sisters who the chapter felt remarkably contributed in helping Zeta Omega reach it’s full potential. The awards were as follows:

Academic Excellence ---- Valerie Cheung
Chapter Goals ------------ Lisa Nguyen
Sisterhood ------------------Erica Schellenberg
Philanthropy -------------- Melissa Yeung
President Award ---------- Laura Sevick
Alumni Award ------------ Beth Stamer-McAllister
Senior Award-------------- Erica Shellenberg
New Member Award ---- Taylor Smith, Simran Nanda
Outstanding Officer ----- Erica Schellenberg

Under Melissa’s lead, Zeta Omega put forth many efforts to serve the community in the Winter 2014 term. Annually we support Reading is Fundamental by encouraging sisters to visit local elementary schools and read to the younger children. We also provided them with brand new school supplies. We promoted philanthropy at the Waterloo campus with our annual bake sale, Decadence. Each term students look forward to the yummy treats that the sisters of Zeta Omega bake and provide in the Great Hall of the Student Life Centre. Our sisters also visited a local soup kitchen to serve members of the Waterloo community.

Several sisterhood events organized by Fallon and Erica were also held in the Winter 2014 term. Our sisters spent one evening braving the cold together, skating and enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. For our second sisterhood event we crafted our own Kappa swag, by putting our letters on shirts, sweaters, bags, and other casual apparel. One of our favourite unofficial sisterhood traditions is to eat icecream after meetings, even in the winter! Some other memorable moments include touring the campus observatory, attending trivia night at Bomber, and having movie and games nights.

Zeta Omega built relationships within the Greek community through other fun mixers too. Events held during the Winter term included making sugar cookies with the Delta Gammas from Laurier, watching Insidious on Valentines Day with the Sigma Chi’s, and participating in a clothing drive with the AOIIs. We also created more Greek life awareness on International Badge Day by wearing our badges with the AOIIs and posting pictures of them on social media. Study group sessions were planned regularly throughout the term, so sisters were able to study and support each other academically, while also snacking on table treats! Valerie was awarded a small prize for being the sister who attended the most study groups. In the fall, Valerie claimed the prize once again, along with our newer member Jordana!

With the beginning of Fall 2014, four successful recruitment events welcomed our biggest pledge class yet! Of our 19 new members, we had Abby, Ally, Ashley, Cassia, Diane, Emily, Hayley, Jordana, Katrina, Kavita, Marium, Nikelle, Parminder, Parnum, Sandyha, Sarah, Sophie, Taylor H, and Victoria. Lisa once again guided our lovely Alpha Omicron class through their journey to becoming sisters of the Zeta Omega chapter. They presented the chapter with handcrafted sisterhood bracelets at our last meeting. Kelly became our new president and did a wonderful job collaborating with Sunny on initiation, and with strengthening our bond with the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Katie and Taylor S helped plan the socials for Fall 2014 as well. In October we made a trip to a local corn maze with the Pi Kappa Alphas from Laurier. Everyone really got into the autumn spirit, and took adorable photos with pumpkin patches, haystacks and tractors. For Halloween, we went to see the new horror movie Annabelle with the Sigma Chis. Our end of year formal, Touch of Klass, was hosted at Shoeless Joes. We all dressed in classy Christmas attire and shared a special night of sisterhood and memories with our dates, close friends and family.

Emily and Louisa significantly improved our chapter’s philanthropy efforts in the Fall 2014 term. The duo held numerous events and introduced term long activities to the chapter, including Kappa Kares, an effort to log personal volunteer hours and compete in teams for a prize. The individual award for top hours went to Miya, logging a record total of 115 hours! The group award went to Team 7, which included Jordana, Kim, Marium, Monica, and Valerie. The chapter also participated in a Terracycle recycling initiative, aiming to collect conventionally un-recyclable items and recycle them, such as tassimo discs and stationary supplies. For Mental Health Awareness Week, sisters handed out informational material and off-campus resources. Helium balloons with encouraging words were distributed to create a positive mental space for students and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. Sisters also took to social media to share insightful and personal approaches to staying mentally healthy. Decadence went under way once again, raising over $500 from baked goods to put towards the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo. Lastly, sisters wrote heartfelt letters to the Canadian Armed Forces and collected items to fill shoeboxes for the Christmas Child campaign. Our chapter hopes to carry these strong efforts into the next year.

As our Standards chair for the Fall 2014 term, Theenu planned 3 wonderful sisterhood events. Sisters gathered one evening to make small crafts for Bid Day for all of the new members. We crafted tote bags with KKG letters and symbols, and enjoyed an icecream bar supplied with lots of different toppings. Our second sisterhood was spent Go Karting at Erbsville Kartway. Even though it was really chilly outside, everyone was able to do two laps around the track! Sisters got a good workout when we finished the term by rock climbing at the Grand River Rocks.

After an amazing year, we are proud to announce that Kelly, Taylor H, and Jordana won positions on FSA for 2015. With the welcoming of so many new members and strong leaders in the past year, our chapter has really taken a positive turn. Our events have been amazingly memorable and our sisterhood and philanthropy has been stronger than ever.

Recent changes on campus:

The University of Waterloo has been named Canada’s Top University for Innovation for the 23rd consecutive year and Best Overall for 2015, according to Maclean’s magazine.

The Board of Governors has approved the construction of an $88-million Engineering 7 (E7) building this year. The seven-story building will deliver education to Waterloo’s Engineering students, and will enable the university to attract even more of the best and brightest students who will undertake research here.

The Warrior Tribe is a new FEDS club that began in June 2014. It aims to revitalize school spirit within the University of Waterloo community through lively attendance at club and sporting events. The Tribe hopes create a sense of unity through study, sports, and most of all, spirit.

In November 2014, FEDS held a referendum which resulted in 73.8% of 6,000 students voting in favour of a fall reading week. However, in contrast to other schools who have successfully implemented this, administration says that the demand of the school’s world-renowned co-op program could create complication. The senate will vote officially on the idea next year.

==Highlights of 2015==

The 2015 year has been a memorable one for the ladies of the Zeta Omega Chapter. It certainly began with hardship, but this was overcome and our sisterhood became bonded closer than ever as a result.

Zeta Omega did not recruit in the winter semester due to the size of the previous Alpha Omicron chapter, but they did still participate in the campus Greek Promotion week. That same month there was also a skating social with the Sigma Chi Fraternity, organized by events chairmen Carol, and a sisterhood event at a Waterloo Warriors basketball game, followed by appetizers at Crabby Joe’s, organized by Vice President Standards Tearney.

Unfortunately, January was also a very difficult month for Zeta Omega. January 18th marked the tragic loss of one of our incredible members. The girls came together to offer one another support during this period of hardship, which including holding a ceremony in her memory and offering transportation to the visitation.

The month of February began with a visit from Caroline, a Kappa LC, organized by Vice President of Organization Stacy. That month there was also a Healthy Hearts Sisterhood event (in which sisters went for yoga and smoothies), a Pool & Darts Social with the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, a study date with the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority (organized by Panhellenic Delegate Hayley), and a Breakfast at Tiffany’s themed brunch for Mother-Daughter Day (organized by Public Relations Chairmen Taylor H). For Valentine’s Day the girls exchanged Secret Cupid anonymous Valentine’s cards.

In March, Zeta Omega focused largely on their philanthropic efforts and sisterly relationships. The Decadence bake sale was organized, as well as a post Saint Patrick’s Day garbage clean up that chapter members received local recognition for in the news. The girls bonded over a makeup tutorial for their chapter programming organized by Education Chairman Valerie, and a much needed informal Quiet Night.

Of course, March also meant the holding of the annual Sapphire Ball, in which Zeta Omega members were able to dress in formal attire and bring dates for a dinner and dance at The Crowne Plaza. This year’s theme was Kate Spade, and the awards were as follows:

New Member Award - Ashley Power

Academic Excellence Award - Valerie Cheung

Chapter Goals - Kelly White

Sisterhood Award - Tearney Johnston-Jones

Philanthropy Award - (I believe it was Emily Moore but you may need to verify this one, Jordana rings a bell too)

Senior Member Award - Lisa Nguyen

President's Award - Stacy Law

Alumna Award - Sam Gilchrest

Outstanding Officer Award - Laura Sevick

It was a great winter semester, finished off with a leadership brunch for the girl’s of the Fall 2015 Chapter Council and a senior sendoff to Sunny, Louisa, Emily, Lisa, Kelly, Nikita, Nicolette, Laura, Carol, Molly, Melissa, Jessie, and Kimberly.

The Fall semester was a busy one, but due to the commitment and collaboration of all the sisters it was an undoubtedly fun one as well. The term kicked off with recruitment, which involved participation in recruitment workshops with the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, hosting a booth in the Student Life Centre’s Vendors Ally and during the university’s Club’s Day, and of course the events of recruitment itself. Recruitment was organized by Membership Chairman Taylor S, who put together five days of magical reading-themed events, complete with beautiful decorations and delicious baking. Alyssa, a Kappa LC, was also present during this sometimes stressful week to give advice and strengthen the bonds of our sisterhood. Thus, we welcomed 12 new members as our Alpha Pi class: Niha, Meera, Maddie, Kristin, Mia, Ravina, Arista, Nicole, Sunny, Mackenzie, Erin, and Glenda. We were also delighted to embrace another new member – Katie –several weeks later in order to meet our quota. Prior to being joined by our impressive new pledge class, Tearney organized a Kolour Me Kappa sisterhood event involving a paint-balloon filled game of Capture the Flag.

With recruitment ending in October, Zeta Omega was able to focus on getting to know the new members and introducing them to what it means to be part of the Greek Community at the University of Waterloo. A pumpkin painting sisterhood and a corn maze social with Pi Kappa Alpha were held, and the girls also worked a mental health awareness booth in the Student Life Centre in which students wrote on a whiteboard about what keeps them mentally healthy and took pictures. This is a cause that has come to mean very much to Zeta Omega, as well as all youth of our generation, so it was truly phenomenal to see the effect the chapter had in brightening people’s day with such a simple gesture. The month finished off with Daddy / Daughter Day, which took place at a Warrior’s women’s hockey game.

November was a very exciting month due to Initiation, which was held at Taylor H’s home in Kitchener. It was preceded the night before by Fireside, held on campus, and followed by the standard alumni brunch at Angie’s Diner. Under the guidance of New Member Chairman Karen, the girls had blossomed into ideal representations of everything that Kappa Kappa Gamma stands for. November also marked the holding of Decadence (organized by Philanthropy Chairman Jordana), a tri-sorority clothing swap, a workshop from a Kappa trainer, some informative programming on sexual assault, a Murder Mystery Social with the Sigma Chi Fraternity, a Peaceful Minds sisterhood in which the girls returned for yoga and smoothies, and a casual Christmas sisterhood in which the girls decorated gingerbread cookies baked by the one and only Parnum. The year came to a celebratory ending with Touch of Klass at the Waterloo Inn and a senior send off to Theenu.

In context of the university that Zeta Omega is located at, the University of Waterloo ranked first for innovation for the twenty-fourth year in a row and first for reputation this year according to MacLean’s. It also raised 17 places in terms of word rankings. Regarding changes to the campus, the university opened a Science Teaching Complex, began construction on a new student residence, opened it’s Center of Excellence for Innovation in Aging, and expanded it’s entrepreneurship program, Velocity, to become North America’s largest startup incubator. Hopefully next year is as progressive and exciting as this one!

==Highlights of 2017==

In 2017, the Zeta Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Waterloo had an
incredible year due to our commitment to our chapter goals and our focus on sisterhood. The year
started off with an incredible and enthusiastic Chapter Council with Supriya Sethi leading as our
President. As a Chapter with our VPO Mariam Khattak, we focused on and worked hard to
accomplish our Chapter Goals: remember our "Whys"; improve Risk Management Education;
Improve Academic Excellence; improve sisterhood; and increase accountability. We kept these
goals in mind throughout the year and strived to accomplish them in everything we did as a
chapter.
The Winter Term was filled with incredible Sisterhoods planned by our VPS, Uma Chowhan that
kept us active when we went to Skyzone, allowed us to explore our creative side when we did a
painting workshop, and brought us together as we crafted new Kappa t-shirts together. In the Fall
Term we participated in Sisterhoods planned by our VPS, Simona Iancu including a mug crafting
event perfect for holding hot drinks we would need in the coming cold weather, and a holiday
themed meeting where we decorated gingerbread figures and exchanged Secret Sister gifts! A
perfect way to end a great year. In order to further our goals of improving sisterhood, remembering
our "Whys", and increasing accountability, we as a chapter worked hard to reach out to sisters we
don't know as well and share what we admire about each other through our Clothespin Dates,
Sister of the Week and Pen Pals. We also worked on self-mediating issues we had through Koffee
for Konversation - an informal way to solve personal issues between sisters without going through
Standards that also helped make meaningful connections between sisters.
As a Chapter we participated in many Philanthropy events that were focused on giving back to our
community and becoming more visible on campus. In the Winter we ran Movies and
Marshmallows where we took over the main Student Life Centre on campus and served hot
chocolate and played movies for our fellow students to help them through midterms. In the Fall
term our Philanthropy Chairwoman Kayley Marner continued our great philanthropy efforts with a
RIF-themed philanthropy by organizing for our chapter to help the program coordinators of Strong
Start's Get Ready to Read Program pack and sort materials. Our last philanthropy event of the year
was in support of World Kindness Day! We crafted and distributed lollipop flowers with words of
encouragement to students all over campus. It was even featured in an article written for our
Federation of Students website!
As our Risk Management Chairman, Mia Chan worked endlessly to accomplish our chapter goal of
increasing Risk Management Education by putting together great Risk Education workshops that
we participated in during General Meeting. Mia helped chapter when the new Risk Management
policies came into place and helped us as a chapter understand the important changes!

In Winter 2017 we hosted our annual Sapphire Ball! This year it was organized by our Event's
Chairman, Kiki Ghandour, and was held at the Delta Hotel in Uptown Waterloo. This incredible
yearly event celebrates the wonderful academic year before us and the accomplishments of our
sisters. As a chapter we hand out awards to some of our sisters to highlight everything they have
done for us! Here were the awards and the recepiants: Academic Excellence Award: Eleni Zaptses;
Chapter Goal Award: Supriya Sethi; Sisterhood Award: Mia Chan; Philanthropy Award: Mackenzie
Noble; Abby Shanmuganathan Memorial Award: Patricia Su; Alumna Award: Brittney Van Nood;
Senior Member Award: Uma Chowhan; New Member Award: Brett Doane; Outstanding Officer
Award: Mariam Khattak; President's Award: Maddie Braun.
In order to improve our Academic Excellence as part of our Chapter Goals, our VPAE Claire
Quong worked hard to encourage sisters to share their academic accomplishments, and work in
study groups based on their majors/programs. Another way to encourage sisters to strive for
academic excellence was the introduction of our Scholarship Pearls. For Winter 2017, two
Scholarship Pearls were given out: Most Improved: Meaghan B; and Most Inspirational: Tearney
Johnson-Jones. We look forward to continuing Scholarship Pearls and celebrating academic
accomplishments into the 2018 year!
In the Fall of 2017 our Membership Chairman Brett Doane and our New Member Chairman Niha
Amin welcomed our incredible Alpha Sigma Pledge Class. After a week filled with incredible events
all centred around our theme of "A Fleurishing Sisterhood", we welcomed 14 new sisters into our
sisterhood: Alezeh, Sydney D., Ekaterina, Grace, Ailish, Celina, Shannel, Alexandra, Hannah,
Lyana, Danielle, Pauline, Jamie, and Alicia. As a Pledge Class they participated in our sisterhoods,
philanthropies, and showed great enthusiasm towards building our sisterhood and being active
members of our chapter, all volunteering to help any officer wherever she was needed. We couldn't
be more thrilled they chose to join us and will be continuing our chapter and this Fraternity's great
legacy!
While welcoming new sisters is always incredible, saying goodbye to our seniors is always bitter
sweet. In 2017 we wished our senior sisters the best of luck as they continue their lives postgraduation
from the University of Waterloo and the Zeta Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
We know our graduating sisters Meera, Ally, Kavita, Taylor H., Parnum, Diane, Kiki, Uthi, Valerie,
Uma, Karen H., Tearney, Eleni, Miya, Maddy and Jordana will do incredible things and we can't
wait to hear about all their successes! In the Winter our seniors spent quality time together in an
escape room! In teams they worked to escape by solving puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and
strategy to complete to objectives at hand. Clearly these wonderful women are well-prepared to
take on post-grad life! In the fall, our seniors participated in a paint night, where they relaxed and
explored their creative side. As senior sisters they participated in senior programming learning all
about financial management, how to save post-graduation, and about investing in TFSAs and
RRSPs.
We are so proud of our 2017 year and all our sisters, active and alumna, who helped make it an
incredible year! We look forward to 2018 and what the new year brings!

==Highlights of 2018==

Throughout 2018, zeta omega has grown a significant amount, not only in the size of its membership, but also in the sisterhood, leadership and overall individual growth. Led by our President Ashley Powers, focus was put on empowering, supporting and strengthening the chapter and each of its members. The winter term saw an amazing start with a Leadership Consultant visit two days after the official start of classes the term! We greeted Sena with a Chapter dinner at a nearby restaurant and spent the learning about different ways to improve chapter as well as sisterhood. The visit gave us a lot of insight and new perspectives going into the year which ultimately resulted in several positive changes to the structure of chapter council and each individual sister’s involvement. In winter, our VPS Maddie Braun organized some wonderful sisterhoods, first at our local diner Mel’s where sisters enjoyed milkshakes and getting to know their chapter committees and made plans for the rest of the term. Sisterhood was a game of laser tag with the sisters where sisters could bond and catch a break from sitting in lecture halls by getting some exercise. Our last sisterhood was a daylong event with team building games. On top of the sisterhoods she also created a way for sisters to share their concerns in an anonymous manner called kappa konfidential which aided in creating a more open chapter. In the fall term, our VPS Sydney DiTomasso encouraged her committee to contribute to the planning of the sisterhoods, sisterhood one was in a cozy setting where sisters got to paint canvases with our letters; the second sisterhood was a fun outdoor event with hot cocoa and tie-dying shirts, finally our last sisterhood of the winter was a cozy movie night.
Our Vice Presidents of Organization, Mia Chan and Emily McTeague, helped incoming officers transition into their new roles by organizing a Leadership Day in which officer expectations and duties were outlined. They also helped our Leadership Consultants feel right at home on their first trips to Ontario, allowing them to provide guidance and suggestions for improvement to our Chapter. Finally, they encouraged members to become more involved with Chapter by using the committee system and providing a collective goal to work towards, which was achieved and rewarded with an end-of-term movie night.
Alicia Tuck, was our philanthropy chairman and did a stellar job with planning and executing events that benefited our community. For the first philanthropy the chapter made no sew blankets out of fleece to donate to the Kitchener Waterloo shelters in order to help them out with the colder winter months. The next philanthropy was crafting and doing activities with a local special needs group. Our final philanthropy of the winter term was making and selling grilled cheese that was then donated to the mental health association.
Risk Management officer, Grace created fun trivia activities to help members understand the different procedures and regulations sisters have to follow to ensure their (and the chapter’s) safety, this played a large role in allowing the chapter to fully understand the importance of following the risk management policies as well as submitting all required forms on time.
Claire Quong was once again out VPAE and did an amazing job bringing programming to chapter on improving academics and academic habits.
In Winter 2018 we once again had our Sapphire Ball, this time at the Fed Hall on our Campus! Niha Amin, organized the event and worked hard on creating decor and backdrops for the Ball with the help and teamwork lent by our sisters.

==Highlights of 2019==

The year 2019 marked a tremendous amount of growth within our chapter, both individually and as a whole. In the winter, we spent time giving back to the community through a variety of creative avenues. Starting off we ran an information booth in the University’s Student Life Centre with information on cervical cancer and resources on reproductive health. The booth also included an interactive component of a spinnable wheel with colour coordinated envelopes that contained a small candy and an important fact.

We then worked with another sorority on campus to help create care packages that could then be donated to homeless shelters. To the end off the term, we held a bake sale and donated all proceeds to the kids’ reading program at our local public library. We later went back to the library to spend time with kids and read with them as a chapter.

Zeta Omega also took care in playing a role in helping the environment by attending a park clean up with another sorority. Outside of official philanthropies, our chapter also had many sisters volunteer around the community, including our sister Mia Chan going above and beyond by starting a social media campaign called ‘Behind My Mind’ which aims to provide mental health tips as well as destigmatize mental health and “shine light on the realities of mental health and illnesses, one mind at a time”.

Our Saphire ball was held at the Delta Hotel in Waterloo and featured beautiful decorations, the most delicious appetizers, a lot of lovingly written speeches and chapter awards.

After our summer break we came back together and got ready for another great year of recruitment. Under the leadership of our powerhouse membership chair Shannel Nguyen, we had an amazing and well organized recruitment that ultimately resulted in recruiting 21 amazing ladies that became
perfect editions to our ever growing chapter after a well executed inspiration week.

This year we participated in sisterhood events that acted as stress relievers from our busy academic schedules, but also played an important role in strengthening our chapter’s sisterly bonds. Some of the highlights include a trip to Skyzone, yoga, destressing spa days and board game days. We also had an amazing Touch of Klass to end off the term which was run by Isabelle Lavallée-Gordon at an anticafe that featured lots of desserts and many opportunities for sisters to bond with each other and reflect on the past term.

==Highlights of 2020s==

==Highlights of 2020==

2020 was an interesting year for everyone, but Zeta Omega took its challenges with grace and used them to improve ourselves as a chapter and as individuals.

Zeta Omega started 2020 strong with Chapter Meeting restructures and increased educational programming led by Erin Murray as Chapter President. Erin gracefully led Zeta Omega through the shift to virtual formats amidst the pandemic.

Our winter 2020 Vice President Standards, Josie Hiddema, planned two amazing sisterhoods. The first sisterhood involved a night of crafts, candy and cuddles as sisters watched movies in their pajamas. For sisterhood 2 we trekked to Elmira to paint mugs at Maggie’s Mudroom, where sisters were able to take home their mugs!

Our winter Leadership Consultant, Hannah Cho, visited us in early January. With the planning and communication done by Vice President Organization, Grace Flanagan, Hannah stayed with us for 4 days where she met officers, explored Waterloo and hit the in boutiques Uptown Waterloo with sisters.

At the 2020 Kappa convention Zeta Omega won the Academic Excellence award and had our first term where every sister met the grade requirement! Vice President of Academic Excellence, Shannel Nguyen, introduced a study hours competition using the app Flora where sisters could track their study hours in friendly competition. Shannel hosted in-person study sessions which she changed to virtual drop-in study sessions once the Covid-19 pandemic caused the University to move online.

Chapter Marshal, Jade Dayman, created monthly Ritual Reviews in the forms of Jeopardy-style games and presentations in an effort to re-engage chapter with ritual and re-establish our connection to our history. Jade planned our Quiet Night event which involved lots of bonding, self-growth, and fun activities. She also started a recruitment tee archive where one recruitment shirt from each year starting in Fall 2018 was kept and stored.
Before everything went virtual, our Philanthropy Chair Briana Clark organized a philanthropy where sisters packed homeless relief kits for the Friendship Centre of Waterloo.

In March, the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak as a pandemic and school went online. During this tough transition, Chapter Council successfully migrated online and supported our sisters in the process. Sapphire Ball 2020 was unfortunately cancelled as a result, but we closed out the term by virtually sending off 10 senior sisters.

Chapter Council continued to meet biweekly via Zoom during the summer months to prepare for a fully virtual fall term, including virtual recruitment as well as the implementation of a new position on Chapter Council: The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chairwoman.
Fall Vice President Standards, Ayesha Khan, fostered sisterhood and boosted morale through virtual sisterhood events. Our first fall sisterhood was a virtual Halloween Netflix party! For the second sisterhood Ayesha worked us to the bone with an online fitness class with The Fitness Junction in Guelph.

Membership Chair Zoe Whitman planned a successful virtual recruitment and work week as New Member Chair Sarah Mazen welcomed home 13 new members in Member Class 2020 with a virtual bid day!

Chapter Marshal, Jade Dayman, organized a fully virtual inspiration week including sending out inspiration week boxes, hosting our annual Quiet Night with bonding activities and friendship bracelet making and ended the week with virtually Initiating 10 members over Zoom in the presence of Zeta Omega alumnae, the Alpha District Team and Chapter advisors on November 8th, 2020.

Willow Glicksohn, Fall Philanthropy Chair, planned a virtual letter writing session where sisters wrote letters of thanks and gratitude to front line workers. Willow, in collaboration with Erin Coughenour, our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair, donated the philanthropy budget for the fall term to three organizations: Reading is Fundamental, Kitchener-Waterloo Community Covid Fund and an Indigenous Women of Canada Fund.

Events Chair, Chantel De La Courneuve, organized two virtual socials during the fall term. Social 1 was a Kappajama event with the Toronto Chapter, Beta Psi, over Zoom. Social 2 was with the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi, another sorority on campus. Chantel planned a virtual Touch of Klass where sisters dressed up, ordered dinner and sat on Zoom for awards, appreciations and 5 senior send offs. Since our Annual Sapphire Ball was cancelled due to Covid-19, the Sapphire Ball awards were presented at TOK instead. There were 9 awards given out that night. The recipient of the President’s Award was Jade Dayman (MC 18’), the recipient of the Outstanding Officer Award was Alice Sandiford (MC 19’), the recipient of the Sisterhood award was Payton Ford (MC’ 18), the recipient of the Academic award was Ayesha Khan (MC 19’), the recipient of the Chapter Goals award was Erin Murray (MC 16’), the recipient of the New Member Award for Member Class 2019 was Erin Coughenour (MC 19’), the recipient of the Philanthropy award was Sarah Mazen (MC 18’) and finally the recipient of the Abenaya Shanmuganathan's Award was Zoe Whitman (MC 19’).

2020 was truly an important year for finding our sisterhood, as it is only through the unpredictable struggles, we faced together amidst the pandemic that we truly grew as a Chapter and as women.

The chapter supports Reading is Fundamental, House of Friendship, Kitchener-Waterloo Community Covid Fund and an Indigenous Women of Canada Fund. The House of Friendship, the Kitchener- Waterloo Community Covid Fund and the Indigenous Women of Canada Fund are all local organizations that hold a place in our hearts.

The chapter implemented and installed the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chairwoman, Erin Coughenour, under Vice President Standards. The DEI chair worked with the Membership chair, Zoe Whitman to address unconscious bias and improve our recruitment practices. DEI chair also partnered with the Education chair, Alice Sandiford, to provide LGBTQ+ safety, equity and inclusion training. In addition, $1000 was donated between Black Legal Action Centre, Healing Collective, Black Health Alliance and Black Lives Matter Toronto. Erin partnered with the Philanthropy Chair, Willow Glicksohn to donate the Fall Philanthropy budget to the Reading is Fundamental, Kitchener-Waterloo Community Covid Fund and an Indigenous Women of Canada Fund.

Zeta Omega sisters tuned into the Kappa 150th Anniversary Facebook Live event from all over the globe. On October 18th, 2020 the Marshal, Jade Dayman, and the Education chair, Alice Sandiford organized the Founder’s Day Ceremony, led by Chapter President Erin Murray.

Zeta Psi

2021-12-21T19:59:19Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Psi
|GreekSymbol= ZΨ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Psi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1993|12|04}}
|College= [https://www.wfu.edu/ Wake Forest University]
|Location= Winston Salem, NC
|Homepage= [https://wfu.kappa.org/ Zeta Psi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Psi Media related to Zeta Psi Chapter]}}

'''Wake Forest University, established 1834'''

'''Zeta Psi founded December 4, 1993'''

'''1,272 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

--------------

'''Some of Zeta Psi’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council'''

'''Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award'''

----------------------------

== Early Years - Founding:==

Located on 320 wooded acres in Winston-Salem, N.C., Wake Forest is a private, liberal arts university with an enrollment of approximately 5,600 in 1993 and more than 150 years of
academic integrity and spiritual heritage. Proud of its Baptist beginnings, the university is sensitive to the personal development of all students of all beliefs. Responsive to the needs of its students, the university's admissions policy is "need blind." Students are admitted based on
their ability, and financial aid is awarded to commensurate with each student's need.

Promoting excellence both in the classroom and in the sports arena, Wake Forest
is continually placed among the top ranked universities in the country. Strong academic programs and superior graduate departments attract students from all over the world. The university’s curriculum emphasizes literature, the arts, the natural sciences and mathematics, history, religion, philosophy, the social sciences, physical education, foreign language, and health and sports science.

The S.O.P.H. Society was established on October 10, 1956. S.O.P.H society was founded by five undergraduate women. The University did not officially recognize it until 1964. In 1993, the organization sought national affiliation to enhance the character of the society and ensure a successful future. The group ideals include honor, loyalty, and integrity and it has a heritage spanning exactly 37 years of scholarship, fellowship and philanthropic services. The society's colors were light blue and white.

Wake Forest University became the home of the Zeta Psi chapter when 77 charter members and five alumna members of the S.O.P.H. society chose international affiliation and pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma on October 11, 1993. Actives from the University of Richmond and the University of North Carolina joined area alumnae in welcoming the members of this new colony. Installation of the Fraternity's 123rd active chapter was held December 4th. The chapter joined Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Pi Beta Phi and Chi Omega chapters on the campus.

==Highlights of the 1990s:==

In 1995, Zeta Psi was second on campus in overall scholarship. Zeta Psi’s formal, Out of the Blue, was held at Tanglewood Park. The first annual Kappa Kaddies golf tournament was held which raised over $2300 for Wake Forest’s main philanthropy, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund. Zeta Psi looked to improve scholarship by recognizing special accomplishments each week at chapter meetings. The chapter goal of 1995 was philanthropy.

Zeta Psi’s formal, Out of the Blue, was held at a local arts center. The second annual Kappa Kaddies golf tournament raised $5000 for Wake Forest’s main philanthropy, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund. Zeta Psi was recognized by the University for raising the most money of any Greek organization. The chapter goal of 1996 was sisterhood. Zeta Psi participated in many activities to promote sisterhood such as: bowling, roller-skating, rock climbing, ice skating, and playing pool.

After initiation, there was a banquet held on the Magnolia Patio for the sisters. During rush, there was an event at Discovery Zone. A banquet to honor seniors was held where breakfast was served and the sisters were given a chance to offer a parting statement to the sisterhood. Cookouts were held on the patio and gatherings were held in the Reynolda Gardens on sunny days. Zeta Psi had eight members of student government, one member of the University Orchestra, four presidential scholars, four members of the Harbinger Corps, and two members of the Old Gold and Black.

Zeta Psi ranked third overall academically among Greek women’s groups on campus in 1997. Zeta Psi’s formal, Out of the Blue, was held at the Twin City Club in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. Zeta Psi held its semi-formal, Rose and Candle at the Millennium Center. Other social events included a Mystery Date. The third annual Kappa Kaddies golf tournament raised over $5000 for Wake Forest’s main philanthropy, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund. Once again, Zeta Psi was recognized by the University for raising the most money of any Greek organization. Zeta Psi was the Derby Days champion.

Ritual was the chapter goal for 1997. Zeta Psi attempted to underscore its connection with every other Kappa chapter in the United States. Zeta Psi’s Marshall held various workshops throughout the year focusing on ritual, its meaning and history. Zeta Psi sisters participated in games and reenactments. Zeta Psi had one Greek Women’s Scholar, five hospital volunteers, two members of the pre-med honor society, and two members of the Judicial Board.

Zeta Psi’s cumulative GPA in 1998 was 3.285. Kappa Kaddies golf tournament raised over $5000 for Wake Forest’s main philanthropy, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund. Once again, Zeta Psi was recognized by the University for raising the most money of any Greek organization. Social event included: Out of the Blue (formal), Rose and Candle (semi-formal), Monmouth Duo party, co-sponsored with Pi Beta Phi who were also founded at Monmouth, and a Mystery Day. Zeta Psi was a runner-up in the Derby Days competition. Ritual was the chapter goal. Zeta Psi had 114 members on the Dean’s List, one member of the varsity cross country/track team, a member of the National Pistol Shooting Team, four Peer Health Educators, and one Resident Adviser.

In 1999, Zeta Psi won most improved in scholarship standings among all Greek women’s groups. Kappa Kaddies golf tournament raised nearly $4000 for Wake Forest’s main philanthropy, the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund. Zeta Psi were Derby Days champions. Social events included formal, Out of the Blue and semi-formal, Rose and Candle, Monmouth Duo Party, a Halloween Party with Kappa Sigma fraternity, and a crush party.

Sisterhood was the chapter goal. Zeta Psi planned an abundance of special activities to promote spirit and sisterhood including bowling, dinner after chapter, and lounge get-togethers. There was a banquet on the Magnolia Patio after initiation and a senior banquet. Each class plans one sisterhood event throughout the year. Zeta Psi had one member of the Honor and Ethics Counsel, four members of the Golden Key National Honors Society, seven members of club sports, seven members of the Volunteer Service corps, two members of the dance team, and four members of student government.

'''Philanthropy:'''

1995: Adopt-a-Highway, Kappa Kaddies, joint school supply drive “Students Helping Students” with Alpha Kappa Alpha;
1996: Adopt-a-Highway, Kappa Kaddies, Easter egg hunt with children from the local community, Project Pumpkin booth;
1997: Kappa Kaddies, Easter egg hunt with children from the local community, Project Pumpkin booth;
1998: Kappa Kaddies, Easter egg hunt with children from the local community, Project Pumpkin, “Adopt a Grandparent” at the Brookridge Retirement Home;
1999: Kappa Kaddies, adopt a grandmother, Breast Cancer Awareness Fashion Show, Project Pumpkin;
Events:Mai Tai Mystery Date and Rose and Candle Semi-Formal

==Highlights of 2000-2010:==

In 2000, Zeta Psis participated in a variety of events sponsored by Wake Forest and the surrounding community. These events included a traditional Chinese New Year celebration which consisted of performances, games, and food and traditional Moravian festivities at Old Salem, the Moravian founding community of the present day city of Winston-Salem.

'''September 11, 2001'''

Members of Zeta Psi participated in a campus-wide memorial service held in honor of the victims of September 11th. Wake Forest Volunteer Service Corps, in conjunction with the Student Government, immediately launched a university relief effort which included a Red Cross-sponsored blood drive and campus-wide fundraising. A Zeta Psi was chairwoman of the Volunteer Service Corps at the time and played a large role in the fundraising effort which raised more than $10,000.

During the spring 2004 semester, Zeta Psi earned the top GPA for all sororities on Wake’s campus with an average of a 3.347 GPA among its members. Zeta Psi placed second for the amount of money raised during Hit the Bricks, the all-Greek Brian Piccolo fundraiser in the fall of 2004. Zeta Psi has also began a new philanthropy event, Planting for Piccolo, to support the Brian Piccolo cancer fund at Wake Forest University. Along with Sigma Pi fraternity, Zeta Psi sold and planted tulip bulbs as a living memorial to Brian Piccolo. Zeta Psi plans on continuing to work with Sigma Pi in the preservation of this garden. In community service, one of Zeta Psi’s members began a tutoring project with one of the local low-income elementary schools which has now expanded into a steady effort among many of Zeta Psi’s members. Lastly, Zeta Psi’s former Chapter Council adviser was named Outstanding Adviser and a senior Zeta Psi was named Greek Woman of the Year by Wake’s Panhellenic Council.

Zeta Psi chapter has 184 active members. As of January 10, 2005, Zeta Psi added its newest pledge class of 47 girls. Zeta Psi members come from all different parts of the country and participate in a variety of activities including varsity sports, tutoring, volunteering, and academic research.

This year Zeta Psi's philanthropy committee instituted a new fundraiser for RIF during the fall of 2005. Zeta Psi partnered with the Princeton Review to offer a Practice MCAT and LSAT, and all of the money collected went straight to RIF. As a chapter, Zeta Psi participated in the "Hit the Bricks" activity in the fall to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. Zeta Psi was able to compete well and donate a significant amount of money to this cause which is so dear to the hearts of all at Wake Forest. Finally, in the spring of 2005, Zeta Psi worked at Diggs Elementary School in their after school program as tutors.

The chapter began the process of evaluating that experience and implementing more volunteer activities in the community as a group, while also recognizing individual Kappas who serve this community so well. Additionally, serving Wake Forest Greek life, member and former Zeta Psi Panhellenic chairman is currently President of the Panhellenic Council for the university. Lastly, this past year Zeta Psi increased bus attendance to Zeta Psi social events from 84% in February 2005 to 97% in November 2005.

Zeta Psi had a very successful and meaningful year in 2006. Zeta Psi was honored with the Academic Excellence Award at the 2006 Convention during the summer and additionally was recognized with four honorable mention awards.

On Wake’s campus, Zeta Psi was very active in philanthropic events including “Hit the Bricks” to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, and DESK to decorate and donate school desks to children in need. In addition to participating in these campus wide events, Zeta Psi showed great initiative and desire to help the community by organizing an Easter egg hunt for children of the Wake Forest faculty.

As a chapter, Zeta Psi also took part in a school supply drive and sent a great deal of essential items to the classroom of a Zeta Psi alumna who is currently working for Teach for America in Philadelphia. Additionally, a junior Zeta Psi brought the national organization "Queen for a Day" to the chapter and organized a special day for young girls in the cancer ward of the local children's hospital. A Senior Zeta Psi was honored with a Panhellenic Leadership Award, and another Senior Zeta Psi organized the first annual "Wake N'Shake" dance marathon which raised a great deal of money for the Brian Piccolo Research Fund. Zeta Psi is extremely proud of her for her involvement in this event and the chapter showed its support by dancing in the marathon in high numbers. Finally, Zeta Psi’s Kappa intramural soccer team was crowned champions of this past season.

It was a productive and meaningful 2007 year for the chapter as our members participated in a wide variety of activities both on and off campus. Zeta Psi’s President was honored by receiving the esteemed Greek woman of the year award for 2007. Several members of our chapter completed service projects outside the country to help those less fortunate. A Senior and a Junior Zeta Psi traveled to India this winter to aid many impoverished communities, while another senior and junior pair traveled to Russia this past summer to teach at an orphanage in need.

On campus, a senior Zeta Psi brought the organization "Queen for a Day" to the chapter where she and many of the members treated the little girls in the cancer ward of the local children's hospital to a day fit for a princess. Zeta Psi also participated in other philanthropic events such as "Hit the Bricks" to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, and DESK, a program which decorates desks and donates school supplies for children in need. Recent Zeta Psi graduate contributed to the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund by starting the first ever dance marathon at Wake Forest called "Wake and Shake" a few years ago. Many other members of the chapter participated in planning and running this event in support of their sister as well as cancer research.

As a chapter, Zeta Psi also put on the annual Kappa Easter egg hunt for the children of the Wake Forest faculty and staff. Aside from Zeta Psi’s philanthropy, the chapter is also proud to have members involved in athletics and the arts like a senior who is member of the Wake Forest women's soccer team and another senior who participates in Wake's all female a capella group, the Demon Divas. Zeta Psi was very proud of its members and their accomplishments in 2007 and plans to carry on this success in 2008.

Zeta Psi chapter consisted of 161 total active members and will soon welcome 37 more this February. Zeta Psi’s members are well rounded individuals who come from all different areas of the country. Members of Zeta Psi are involved in campus and community activities such as varsity sports, clubs, student government, volunteering, and the arts.

In 2008 the members participated in a wide variety of activities both on and off campus. Three Zeta Psi members represented the chapter at the Kappa Convention in Arizona, while a sophomore Zeta Psi went to the Kappa Leadership Academy. Several members of Zeta Psi completed service projects outside the country to help those less fortunate. One Zeta Psi traveled to Belize this winter to aid many impoverished communities, while two juniors went to Brazil on a service trip to build a school for local children.

On campus, a senior Zeta Psi continued the tradition of "Queen for a Day" with the chapter, where she and many of our other members treated the little girls in the cancer ward of the local children's hospital to a day fit for a princess. Zeta Psi also participated in other philanthropic events such as "Hit the Bricks" to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, and DESK, a program which decorates desks and donates school supplies for children in need. A recent Zeta Psi graduate contributed to the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund by starting the first ever dance marathon at Wake Forest called "Wake and Shake" a few years ago.

Kappa members continued to have a strong representation last spring with planning and running the event in support of Jillian as well as cancer research. As a chapter, Zeta Psi also put on the annual Kappa Easter egg hunt for the children of the Wake Forest faculty and staff. Aside from philanthropy, Zeta Psi was also proud to have members involved in athletics and the arts like the junior Zeta Psi who was the captain of the varsity women's golf team and the sophomore Zeta Psi who was a member of Wake Forest's dance team. Zeta Psi was very proud of its members and their accomplishments in 2008 and plans to carry on this success in 2009.

2009 was a very productive and successful year for the chapter as the members participated in a wide variety of activities both on and off campus. A sophomore attended the Kappa Leadership Academy this fall.

The Philanthropy chair successfully added a new philanthropic event to the Zeta Psi chapter; "Kappa Kisses" an on campus valentine fundraiser for RIF. Also "Kappa Kaddies," the annual golf fundraiser, was a great success. Parents and Zeta Psi members enjoyed a round of golf at the local Tanglewood course. On campus, a senior Zeta Psi continued the tradition of "Queen for a Day" with the chapter, where she and many of the other members treated little girls in the cancer ward of the local children's hospital to a day fit for a princess. Zeta Psi chapter also participated in other philanthropic events such as "Hit the Bricks" to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, and DESK, a program which decorates and donates school supplies for children in need.

In addition to philanthropy, Zeta Psi was also proud to have members involved in athletics and arts like the senior Zeta Psi who is the captain of the varsity golf team and the junior who is member of the Wake Forest cheerleading squad and the senior Zeta Psi who is a member of the Wake Forest dance team. Zeta Psi had two members with a 4.0 GPA and had a chapter GPA at or above the all-sorority average. Zeta Psi was very proud of its members and their accomplishments in 2009 and plans to carry on this success in 2010.

In 2010, the members participated in a wide variety of activities on and off campus. The Chapter received the Gold Standards of Excellence Award from Wake and the President received Senior of the Year. A sophomore attended the Leadership Academy and another sophomore Zeta Psi represented Zeta Psi at Convention in Arizona.

Last year Zeta Psi was involved in many philanthropic events. In February, Zeta Psi had the annul Kappa Kisses philanthropy event where it sold candy grams and the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. Many of the girls in the chapter participated in Wake N' Shake, 12 hour dance marathon and three girls from the chapter were on the entertainment committee. Finally, in the spring Zeta Psi organized its annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty children.

This fall Zeta Psi had the first Kappa Takes the Kourt philanthropy event where all of the proceeds went to Susan G. Komen. Zeta Psi also had girls participate in the Delta Zeta Dodgeball event and Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash. Zeta Psi also had several girls involved in the Breast Cancer Fashion Show run by Panhellenic. Zeta Psi were very proud to come in second place out of all Greek organizations in “Hit the Bricks,” a campus wide event raising money for Brian Piccolo. Zeta Psi also has members involved in athletics and the arts like a sophomore Zeta Psi who is a member of Wake Forest's cheerleading squad, a junior who is on the track and field team and two juniors who are very involved in studio art. Zeta Psi is very proud of the members and their accomplishments in 2010 and plans to carry on this success in 2011.

'''Archives:'''

The archives consist of various scrapbooks and memorabilia from years past. A few years ago, we began compiling a book of "People Pages," in which each member creates a page about herself. These pages include pictures, favorite Kappa memories, and meaningful quotes. The pages have been put into a notebook for the members, especially the new members, to browse. Pages of girls who have graduated are kept in the book, and it is also updated every year with pages from the new girls. This is something we thought would be a great way to preserve the chapter's history and memories of the outstanding women.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

At the KKG Biennial Convention (2004), Zeta Psi received Honorable Mention for its Outstanding Treasury work.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==
From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2011==

2011 was a productive and meaningful year for our chapter as our members participated in a wide variety of activities on and off campus. Junior Desiree Sanchis attended the Leadership Academy and sophomore Anna Willaford represented Zeta Psi at Convention. Last year we were involved in many philanthropy events.

In February we held our annual Kappa Kisses philanthropy event where we sold candy grams and the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. Many of the girls in our chpater participated in Wake N' Shake, a 12 hour dance marathon and three girls from our chapter were on the entertainment committee. Katie Blackburn, a senior Kappa, is the head of the D.E.S.K. event on campus, and Katie Van Dorsten is in her event committee. Junior Mary Grace Thomas is co-head of Student Union Springfest week that takes place here at Wake Forest. Finally, in the Spring we organized an Easter Egg Hunt for faculty children, an event that we do every year.

This fall we had our second Kappa Takes the Kourt philanthropy event where all of our proceeds went to Susan G. Komen. We also had girls participate in the Delta Zeta Dodgeball event and Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash. We also had several girls involved in the Breast Cancer Fashion Show, run by the Panhellenic committee. We were very proud to come in second place out of all greek organizations in Hit the Bricks, a campus wide event raising money for Brian Piccolo. We also have members involved in athletics and the arts. Sophomore Bailey Jennings cheers on the Wake Forest cheerleading squad and senior Michelle Lange is on the track and field team. Cori Ward and Chrissie Morrison are very involved in the arts on campus. Zeta Psi is very proud of our members and their accomplishment sin 2011 and plan to carry on this success in 2012.

'''Campus:''' Wake Forest University is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is a private, liberal arts university, with about 4,500 undergraduate students and about 2,000 graduate students. Wake Forest is currently building a new Business school.

'''Chapter:''' The Zeta Psi chpater consists of 117 total active members and will soon welcome 43 more this February. Our members are well rounded individuals who come from all different areas of the country. We are proud to say the majority of our members are involved in campus and community activities, such as varisity sports, clubs, student government, volunteering, and the arts.

One of our biggest challenges as a chapter is ritual. This year to improve our initiation, we practice songs at the end of each chapter. We also struggle with maintaining the Panhellenic gpa average. While our gpa is not low in comparison to other chapters, our gpa is one of the lowest on campus. In order to fix this, we recognize everyone who gets an A during chapter, and at the end of the week, their names get pulled from a hat for a prize. Also, we had study breaks planned during exam week, where the girls could meet in the lounge and eat snacks. Finally, a challenge we have face was improving our overall presence on campus and being more involved in other organization's events.

==Highlights of 2012==

2012 was a productive and successful year for our chapter as our members participated in a wide variety of activities on and off campus. We are proud to announce that our chapter received the Academic Achievement Award at the Mi Province meeting this year. This past year we were involved in many philanthropy events.

In February, we held our annual Kappa Kisses philanthropy event where we sold candy grams and the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. The entire freshman class and a large majority of the upperclassman participated in Wake N' Shake, a 12 hour dance marathon supporting the Brian Piccolo Cancer fund, and Senior Elizabeth Ruane was on the executive committee. While we focus a great deal of our philanthropy on our
own events and charities, we also strive to help our fellow sororities on campus.

We had a few members of our chapter hold a bake sale to help raise money for the Phi-Mu chapter at Wake Forest, who recently lost their charter. We also participated in the Delta Zeta Turtle Tug event and the Chi Omega Blood Drive. We also had several girls involved in the Breast Cancer Fashion Show run by Panehellenic where our Social Chair Lauren Hogan is XXX. We also have members involved in athletics and arts such as freshman Kasey Gardiner who is a member of the Wake Forest tennis team and sophomore Katie Green who is a
member of the acappella group Demon Divas. As 2012 has progressed, we have enjoyed watching our seniors lead the sorority to success both on and off campus. Zeta Psi is very proud of our members and their accomplishments in 2012 and plan to carry on this success in 2013.

==Highlights of 2013==

2013 was very eventful and productive for the Zeta Psi Chapter. Our chapter participated in a variety of philanthropic events on Wake Forest’s campus. All of our freshman and a majority of our upperclassmen attend Wake ‘n Shake, a 12-hour dance marathon which raises money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. Our former president, McKenna Begin, was a co-chair for D.E.S.K. which is an event that provides desks to children from lower class households. Our chapter had two teams which made desks for students and Zeta Psi also made up a majority of the executive committee. Other campus philanthropy events we participated in were Project Pumpkin, Hit the Bricks, and the Breast Cancer Fashion show. Members of Zeta Psi also took part in a variety of other sorority and fraternity philanthropies.

Our chapter’s philanthropy events were also very successful. In February, we had our annual Kappa Kisses event which raises money for Reading is Fundamental. In April, we had our golf tournament, Kappa Kaddies, which raises money for Brenner Children’s Hospital. We raised over $5000. In October, we had Kappa takes the Kourt and raised over $300 to donate to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fund. All of these events were a lot of fun and we hope to improve them for the next year.

One of our goals from the previous year was to improve our level of academic achievement. I am confident to say that we did and are ranked higher than the campus sorority average. We also one an academic achievement award at the Nu Province Meeting. Our Vice-President of Academics implemented new ideas to encourage girls academically and we are still continuing to use these.

Overall, 2013 was very successful and enjoyable for our sorority chapter. We are continuing to promote academics, extra-curricular events, and campus philanthropy.

In 2013, the panhellenic community unfortunately lost a chapter, Phi Mu, but Kappa Alpha Theta also established a new charter in February. Zeta Psi has done its best to welcome Kappa Alpha Theta while also supporting Phi Mu through their difficult time. These events have helped bring Zeta Psi closer together because it has reminded us how strong sisterhood is and how much we all support each other.

==Highlights of 2014==

Zeta Psi Chapter had another exciting and productive year in 2014. Our chapter organized and
participated in a variety of philanthropic events within the Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem
community. The year began with one of Wake Forest’s favorite philanthropy events—Wake ’n Shake—a
12-hour dance marathon that raises money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. All of the new
members along with many of the upperclassmen represented our chapter and attended the event. Two of
our members even helped organize and facilitate. In addition to Wake ’n Shake, our members actively
participated in many other philanthropy events. Our chapter had designated teams for Hit the Bricks,
Project Pumpkin and D.E.S.K. Each of these annual events are very special to us because they raise
awareness for good causes close to our hearts. We also had members organize and participate in the Breast
Cancer Fashion show, which is a school wide event that takes months of planning. Members also
frequently supported and attended a variety of other sorority and fraternity philanthropy events.

Further, Zeta Psi’s philanthropy events were especially successful this year. Beginning in February, we had
our annual Kappa Kisses event, which raised money for Reading is Fundamental. In April, we had our
annual golf tournament called Kappa Kaddies. This event raises money for our local philanthropy,
Brenner Children’s Hospital. The Hospital was very gracious for our donation of $7000. In October, we
hosted a brand new philanthropy event, Kappa Karaoke. The event was hosted at an on campus
restaurant and was a hit amongst the student body. This event raised money specifically for the Kappa
Kappa Gamma Fund. All of these events went over smoothly and we hope to improve and make an even
bigger impact in 2015.

Our goals for 2014 were to have better and more effective communication between Chapter Council
officers, Chapter Council and the rest of the chapter, our chapter and the school Panel and the Kappa
Kappa Gamma Headquarters. Next, we wanted to improve our understanding of the significance of
ritual and our membership in an international organization. Lastly, we wanted to improve Chapter
Council’s effectiveness by knowing when and who to ask for help. All of these goals helped drive new
developments that strengthened our chapter. We also learned how important it was to remember and
practice our valued traditions.

All in all, 2014 was a great year for our sorority chapter. As a chapter, we made a valuable impact on
campus as well as in the community and continued to promote academics and extra-curricular activities.
We also put an emphasis on communication, strengthening Chapter Council and tradition. We hope 2015
will be another successful year for Zeta Psi!

In 2014, our school completed a number of new additions and renovations. The university built a new
business school, new parking, a new dining hall and two new dormitories. To our pleasant surprise, our
chapter was able to get a new lounge space and reserved rooms for our members to live in the new dorm.
These spaces are very useful and give members a convenient place to meet, host meetings or study. These
new implementations have made our sisterhood even stronger and have given our member’s opportunities
to live with and be close to other members in the chapter.

We hold weekly chapter meetings on campus in an auditorium that Wake Forest University lets us use for
free. Our chapter does not have a house off campus. However, chapter members are able to live together in a
designated area of a dorm on campus during their Sophomore year. If there are openings, other grades
can choose to live there as well. In addition, our chapter has its own lounge on campus where we host
Chapter Council meetings and other members can hang out or study when not in use. This lounge is
located right next to our chapter’s designated dorm rooms on campus, which makes it very convenient to
use.

==Highlights of 2015==

Zeta Psi Chapter had one the most productive years in 2015 filled with positive changes and several
internal accomplishments. The chapter was very active in setting and achieving goals as well as making a
positive impact within the Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem community.

Our Chapter had several goals for 2015, which Chapter Council determined at the beginning of the year
and consistently worked on and revisited. First, we wanted to ease the transition for Chapter Council
Officers by providing a detailed binder about each position and hosting an extensive leadership day to kick
off the new year. We also sought to continue this onto next year by continuously detailing possible
challenges and situations for future officers and making note of who to ask for help. Next, we sought to
improve our understanding and appreciation of ritual and tradition. We learned it is extremely important
to practice our valued traditions. Lastly, we focused on academics and improving the chapter’s overall
GPA. Some ways we did this was by rewarding exceptional grades, helping those who were struggling and
scheduling study rooms throughout the school year. Overall, we continuously assessed our roles and the
chapter’s participation to ensure we were staying on track and improving wherever we could. All of these
goals helped drive new developments that strengthened the Zeta Psi Chapter and Chapter Council.

Philanthropy has always been very important to the members of the Zeta Psi Chapter and this year,
members were particularly passionate and engaged. Members participated and organized a number of
events within the greater community and also played a pivotal role in making our chapter’s events a
success. Some of Wake Forest’s favorite philanthropy events include, Wake n’ Shake, a 12 hour “danceathon”
that raises money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Foundation, as well as Hit the Bricks,
Project Pumpkin, Breast Cancer Fashion Show and D.E.S.K. Zeta Psi members have leadership roles to
organize and facilitate each of these beloved school events. They are very important to the Wake Forest
community and are very special to our chapter’s members.

In addition, Zeta Psi’s philanthropy events were especially successful this year. In February, we had our
annual Kappa Kisses event in which the Wake Forest community can send Valentines to other students.
This event raised around $640 for the KKG Foundation. Our chapter next hosted our annual golf
tournament, Kappa Kaddies, in April at a local golf course. This event always generates excitement
amongst friends and family. Unfortunately, due to detrimental weather conditions, the participation was
less than expected, but we were still able to raise $9572 for our local organization, Brenner Children’s
Hospital. The hospital was very gracious for our donation and we hope to be even more successful next
year. In October, we brought back a popular tennis philanthropy event, Kappa Takes the Kourt. This
event raised around $500 for Reading is Fundamental. Each of these events have been staples of the
chapter for years. Members love to help out with them and the greater Wake Forest community always
looks forward to participating.

Overall, this was a great year for the chapter. Our chapter made a valuable impact on campus as well as in
the community. We continued to promote academics and participation in extra-curricular activities. We
also put an emphasis on strengthening our Chapter Council’s effectiveness through communication and
organization. We hope 2016 will be another successful year for Zeta Psi!

The Wake Forest University campus has undergone a number of changes over the last year. The campus
is building a new athletic center, new dorms and a new Health and Exercise Science building. These new
additions give our members more opportunities and resources to take advantage of. The Zeta Psi chapter
is very active on campus. Chapter members are involved in many extra curricular activities, clubs and are
all different majors.

The Zeta Psi Chapter raises money for Brenner’s Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.

Brenner’s Children’s hospital is an adolescent medicine clinic located at North Carolina Baptist Hospital.
It was the first full-service children’s hospital in North Carolina and still one of the only of its kind. The
Zeta Psi Chapter is passionate about supporting the hospital in their commitment to saving children’s lives
and dedication to providing the best approaches to healing. This is a cause the chapter feels close to and
is passionate about helping through our philanthropic events.

==Highlights 2016==

NOTE: The time period covered with this report is January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.
Summary:

Over the past year our chapter has made some remarkable improvements. Our chapter raised its cumulative average GPA, making us the fifth highest of all sororities on campus. In addition to our academic achievements, Zeta Psi chapter was also able to raise almost 15 thousand dollars for our three philanthropies: Brenner’s Children’s Hospital, The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and Reading is fundamental. Chapter Council has done an overwhelming job with transitions, implementing new systems of communication so that we may be more organized in coming years. This year our chapter was also put on a focus letter, which motivated us to set goals for the following year. These goals were to change chapter leadership and be better examples for each other, while protecting the name of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Despite these setbacks, Zeta Psi received three awards from Panhellenic this year. First, Ashton Caudle, a senior member, was awarded with Greek Woman of the Year, while Alexandra Miller, a sophomore member, won Most Outstanding New Member. As a whole, the chapter also won an award for Leadership.

Campus Changes:
Over the past year, the Wake Forest Campus has undergone many changes. A new dorm has been constructed on campus, Maya Angelou Hall, and will house juniors returning from their semesters abroad. In addition to the new dormitory, WFU has constructed a field house for the football team, a new practice field, and they continue to develop the new fitness center. In addition to these updates, the Law School also underwent construction and updates and now houses the Health and Exercise Science department.

Chapter Meetings and Housing:
Each Monday evening at 7:30, our Zeta Psi holds chapter meetings in Pugh Auditorium, a room in the Benson Center owned by the University. The Benson Center is home to the food court, administration offices, the bank, the movie theater and the on-campus restaurant, Shorty’s.

Historically, there has always been a space for sophomore members to get the chance to live together. Currently, our members occupy suites in the Dogwood dorm on South Campus, which is University owned. Depending on the year, about 40 members are given the opportunity to live in the Greek block, and members are chosen randomly.

This is the fourth year that Kappa has been based in the Dogwood Dorm, with our lounge located in the back side of the building. Previously, Zeta Psi was located in Martin Residence Hall, which is currently occupied by another sorority. In May, our lounge was given a redesign by a member of our chapter, who worked along with the House Board Treasurer in order to make some updates. The lounge is now used constantly as a meeting space, as well as a fun place to go with friends.

Woman Behind the Badge:
As we look ahead to the Fraternity’s Sesquicentennial celebration in 2020, please tell us the story of any historical badge being worn by a member of your chapter. Such a badge might be worn by your chapter’s president, another officer or a member who is recognized for her high scholarship. We are compiling information about the fantastic women who have brought us to this point in our history, the Women Behind the Badge.
Do any of your chapter officers wear historical badges? Yes 0
No
If yes, please attach a photo of the front and the back of the badge to this report.
What is inscribed on the back of the badge?

== Highlights of 2017 ==

2017 was a year of tremendous growth and productivity for the Zeta Psi chapter at Wake Forest University. Zeta Psi’s dedicated Chapter Council provided strong leadership and support for members as it took great strides to improve the chapter.

Zeta Psi was very successful in its various philanthropy efforts throughout the spring and fall semesters. In April, we hosted our annual Kappa Kaddies golf tournament and were able to raise $6,536 for Brenners Children’s Hospital in Winston Salem. In the spring we also raised $400 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation through our yearly Kappa Kisses philanthropy event. Following the devastating aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the fall, Zeta Psi’s philanthropy chairman organized a fundraiser to support victims of the hurricanes, which raised over $300. In October, the chapter also hosted its first annual Kappa Kickball event to raise $520 for RIF. We are looking forward to continuing to grow this event in the coming years. In addition, the chapter also donated a number of books to local elementary schools on behalf of RIF.

Our chapter also made a huge impact on Wake Forest’s Panhellenic community this year. Zeta Psi had members holding the majority of positions on the Panhellenic Executive Board, with one member serving as Vice President of Finance, one serving as Vice President of Civic Engagement, and one serving as Assistant Vice President of Membership. One of Panhellenic’s largest philanthropy events, the annual Breast Cancer Fashion Show, was co-chaired by two Kappas, in addition to having 4 Kappa committee heads and 18 Kappa volunteers on various event committees. In total, the event raised $4,100 for Susan G. Komen, nearly $1,000 more than previous years. We are looking forward to holding the majority of Panhellenic positions again in 2018, with 3 Kappas having been elected to the incoming Executive Board.

This year our education chair introduced new education programming and a number of exciting events, all of which were well received by members of the chapter. Zeta Psi significantly increased Senior Programming efforts by adding events for seniors such as a pizza making workshop at Mission Pizza, and a dinner at local favorite Village Juice, where seniors heard from the owner on her experience as a female entrepreneur. The event chairman also organized a senior gift, which included a cookbook with recipes from every senior’s mother. These new programs showed a major improvement in keeping seniors involved in and passionate about Kappa throughout the course of their last year at Wake. Zeta Psi also hosted its first joint Founder’s Day celebration with the local Alumni Association to celebrate Kappa’s history in October.

Zeta Psi has spent the last year significantly improving its social media efforts through the work of the Public Relations Chairman and her committee. We now have a strongly established presence on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and VSCO, and continue to increase the amount of content posted on each page. We have significantly increased our number of followers on all of the aforementioned platforms. In addition, our website has been continuously upgraded throughout the year.

Other positive changes for our chapter included updating our Bylaws and Standing Rules to create a better attendance policy for the chapter. In addition, our New Member Chairman hosted the chapter’s first annual new member retreat with food and games to act as an icebreaker for new members. Our Marshal has worked hard to reach our chapter’s strategic goal of improving Zeta Psi’s knowledge of ritual by increasing the number of ritual reviews for the entire chapter, and the most recent member class in particular. She has also worked with the University to find a larger location on campus for our February initiation in order to make initiation run more smoothly. Our Reference and Membership Chairmen have also worked with the chapter to prepare for recruitment in the spring by implementing a number of recruitment workshops in the fall semester.

Our chapter meets each Monday at 7:30 PM in Pugh Auditorium, located in Benson University Center. Chapter Council meets each Sunday at 4 PM in the chapter lounge, located in Dogwood Residence Hall. Sophomore members are able to live in designated Kappa suites in Dogwood above the chapter lounge. Our chapter is enjoying our recently renovated lounge, which is a convenient meeting place for members and fun environment to relax with friends or to study with other members of the fraternity.

In conclusion, Zeta Psi is proud of the improvements our chapter has made this year. We are looking forward to continuing this progress in 2018.

==Highlights of 2018==

2018 was a great year for the Zeta Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Wake Forest University. Not only were we able to grow as a chapter, we also made impacts on Panhellenic at Wake Forest overall. Throughout the year we set a lot of goals, and with hard work we were able to achieve many of them. We had two very productive LC visits this year with Emily Quirk. We learned a lot about how to maintain our good standing with nationals and become a more cohesive Chapter Council. After meeting with each member of chapter council during each visit and various members, she helped us set goals to continue growing as a chapter.

The beginning of 2018 was an exciting time for Zeta Psi as we gained 57 unique, passionate, bright, and kind new members, bringing our chapter total to 151 girls. Because we reached quota, we were not able to hold fall recruitment. We look forward to recruitment in 2019, which will be January 9th to January 13th.

Zeta Psi’s education chair worked hard to put on impactful events for the chapter. Some of these events included a gender-based violence workshop hosted by two safe house directors, a guest lecture by Veronica Butler who spoke about becoming an alumnae, and a talk by local Village Juice owners who spoke about healthy eating happens and cost efficient ways to live a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, seniors were able to attend a fun painting event. The seniors also received a senior cookbook for graduation, which is a new Zeta Psi tradition. The cookbook includes all of the seniors’ favorite recipes and serves as a meaningful memory post graduation. Our Vice President of Standards also hosted a pre-exam movie day at the local theater to help members destress before finals.

Additionally, our members have shown great academic improvement. This year we moved up from ranked fifth out of eight for GPA among all sororities to number two. We are so excited about this progress and know our members worked really hard to achieve this. Additionally, our Vice President of Academic Excellence has started incorporating more career planning programming such as Career Trek announcements and helping to connect younger members with OPCD resources. Moving forward, we hope to continue incorporating more events like these because members have found them very informative and maintaining our GPA.

2018 was also a great year for Zeta Psi in terms of our philanthropy. Even though our Kappa Kaddies event had to be cancelled due to weather, we still raised $7500 for Brenners Children’s Hospital in Winston Salem. Additionally, we raised $800 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation through our yearly Kappa Kisses philanthropy event and collected hundreds of books for local elementary schools for Reading is Fundamental. Our members were involved in a wide variety of other campus philanthropic events too, including, Wake n’ Shake, DESK, Breast Cancer Fashion Show, Hydrating Humanitate, Hit the Bricks, and Project Pumpkin to name just a few.

Zeta Psi also hosted various fun date function events. The standards committee created documents for Kappa Krew and overall date function expectations that helped the events run smoothly. We are also excited because we have been approved to redo our Kappa lounge in Dogwood Residence Hall, so our house chair has been working on that. Public Relations has been working on maintaining our various social media platforms and has also been sending out chapter newsletters.

In terms of Zeta Psi’s role on campus, we had several members serve on Panhellenic. Alexandra Miller was the Panhellenic VP of Membership, Catherine Seher was the Panhellenic VP of Civic Engagement, and Remi Bohbot served as the Panhellenic VP of Community Development. We were so excited to have so many girls involved, and are proud that Mara Boston will serve as the Panhellenic VP of Operations next year! Our members were very active around campus in many other ways as well.

We were extremely impressed with how smoothly chapter council transitions went last year, and we hope that this year the transitions will go just as well. The previous chapter council worked really hard to create guides for new chapter council members to help guide them through their positions. This year we have been updating the documents with everything we think could help future council members. Transitions are especially important this year, as Corresponding Secretary and Registrar will no longer be their own positions.

This has been a really great year for Zeta Psi, and we are really proud of all of our accomplishments. We look forward to maintaining our good standing with nationals and continuing to grow as a chapter in coming years.

==Highlights of 2020s:==
From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

'''Housing:''' There has been no recent changes on campus in the previous year. Something very special about the chapter's overall nature would be the supportive aspect each girl feels when coming into the sorority. This is through many big/little events, senior sophomore dinner, and each member excited to meet with one another.

The year started out with recruitment. 54 new members joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, Zeta Psi. The whole chapter enjoyed pizza and went to a local roller skating rink to celebrate the new members. The next 3 weeks each sophomore was paired with different freshman key sisters and then paired with their bigs and then went to dinner with their family afterward. The following weekend was initiation where 54 members were initiated into Kappa Kappa Gamma with inspiration weekend. Alumni parents and siblings came to initiation their family members into Kappa and it was a wonderful event. Inspiration weekend included ice cream and batchelor in chapter, cupcakes from their big, a letter welcoming them into Kappa and what exciting things to come and finally room trash where they are given their gifts and their rooms decorated in all Kappa things.

Spring 2019 year had 12 Kappas who finished the semester with 4.0 GPAs, and our overall GPA was a 3.539 with an overall GPA of 3.528.

Founders Day: The chapter celebrated FD in chapter. There was cookie cake for the chapter provided by the marshal and each member did a fun quiz to find out which founding member they were. We did the Founders Day ritual for the chapter and celebrated the founding of this amazing sorority.

Sesquicentennial Celebration: To begin celebrating Kappa's 150th anniversary, we had 4 big cookie cakes for Founders Day and mentioning it to the chapter of the exciting news. Fun ritual "nuggets" about the founding of each ritual were read to learn about the past 150 years.

'''Philanthropy:'''The chapter philanthropy supports Brenner Children's Hospital. We wanted to give to children in a hospital that is close enough that we can see the differences that our money makes. We have reached $50,000 in donations to the Brenner Children's Hospital. "Kappa Kisses" was our first event of the year where Wake Forest students gave money to the chapter to wrap candies for other students. This was a week long event and the chapter raised $1,026 for the KKG Foundation and RIF. "Kappa Kaddies" was an additional philanthropy where each member's family would come into town for the weekend to play 18 hole captain's choice round of golf. This event raised 14,706 dollars for Brenner Children's Hospital.

The chapter also participated in Derby Days hosted by Sigma Chi which raised 1,948 dollars for Brunner Children's Hospital. The school had a 12 hour dance marathon in which we raised 20,758.10 dollars for Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. We participated in many philanthropic events around campus such as "Hit the Bricks" to help the Brian Piccolo Foundation raising 1,044 dollars, and "Project Pumpkin" where local elementary kids come to celebrate Halloween. The chapter had its annual "Kappa Kickball"l for Wake Forest students and we raised 360 dollars for RIF. A challenge in the past was the chapter participating in philanthropy events but our philanthropy chairman has exceeded the past and has had amazing participation raising a total of $39,842.10 for various philanthropies.

'''=Highlights of 2020='''

While this semester may look different from others, our efforts to keep Kappa Kappa Gamma a healthy and responsible organization has not stopped our chapter from being a place of sisterhood and community involvement! We held a socially-distanced sisterhood philanthropy event in mid-October with both Wake Forest University and North Carolina COVID-19 rules. We also plan to hold distanced sisterhood events, such as small outdoor gatherings amongst our sisters, so that we can continue to get to know each other during this time. We look forward to continuing to make the Zeta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma a place of leadership, philanthropy, and sisterhood, while continuing our efforts to remain safe, healthy, and happy.

Zeta Psi chapter supports Reading is Fundamental, Brenner Children's Hospital, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Although last semester was cut short, we were able to raise over $1,000 for Reading is Fundamental and Brenner Children's Hospital through our annual event Kappa Kisses. At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the Zeta Psi chapter banded together to serve the Winston-Salem community from afar by raising over $2,000 for the Second Harvest Food bank of Northwest North Carolina. Despite the uncertain nature of our fall semester, Kappa Kappa Gamma is as committed as ever to our philanthropic duties. We hosted a Socially Distanced Sisterhood Brunch at a local favorite, Village Juice Co., And a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation. Later in the month, KKG hosted a Virtual 5K, "Kappa Kicks" to raise money for Reading is Fundamental and Brenner Children's Hospital. Although these are challenging times, I am so proud to see our members coming together to help others.

'''=Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion='''
The Diversity & Inclusion committee of Zeta Psi was founded to increase the chapter's overall knowledge of and sensitivity to issues surrounding our differences and how they shape our individual experiences. As college-educated women, we must examine our privilege on an institutional, organizational. and individual level so as to better understand how to include and appreciate each member's diverse background. Founded this academic year, the committee aims to guide members through the education and acknowledgement of historic and systemic racism within the Greek-life system and to examine our current positions within this history. We will encourage members to reflect upon their own intersectional identities to recognize how we may use our privilege to better our society. The goal of this committee is to encourage education and to promote the pursuit of justice and equity within the chapter and within the broader context of our society. Along with the Diversity and Inclusion workshop facilitated by our National Chapter, we will continuously reinforce the importance of our conversations surrounding these themes through more workshops and presentations during chapter. The implementation and continuation of this committee within Zeta Psi chapter reveals our desire to establish and uphold the highest standards of social inclusion regarding all aspects of our unique identities. We commit ourselves to providing a safe space for all members to feel as though they can express themselves fully and unapologetically without facing indifference, discrimination, or intolerance.

=Sesquicentennial Celebration= During two of our virtual chapter meetings, chapter council shared the news of the 150th Founders Day celebration. We encouraged members to the virtual founders day celebration and listen to the Founders Day message. In addition, since we are not able to gather in person, I sent members of Zeta Psi organization the materials for award recognitions so members could individually celebrate safely. Finally, we worked together as a chapter council to encourage members to reflect on Kappa Kappa Gamma's values and principles on Founders Day.

'''=Highlights of 2021='''
----------------

Zeta Chi

2021-12-21T19:58:23Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Chi
|GreekSymbol= ZX
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Chi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1993|11|20}}
|College= [https://www.marist.edu/ Marist College]
|Location= Poughkeepsie, NY
|Homepage= [https://marist.kappa.org/ Zeta Chi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Chi Media related to Zeta Chi Chapter]}}
----

'''Marist College, established in 1929 in Poughkeepsie, NY.'''
Marist College was established in 1929 with the first college level courses offered that year. It was granted its charter as a four year college from the state of New York in 1946.

'''Zeta Chi founded November 20, 1993'''
Zeta Chi had 50 charter members and was a local sorority which petitioned KKG for colonization.

'''571 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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==Zeta Chi on Social Media==

The Zeta Chi chapter is very active on several forms of social media. We regularly post photos, upcoming events, fundraisers, and birthdays on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Zeta Chi also has a blog that sisters contribute posts to each several times each month. Topics that have been covered on the blog include study abroad experiences, big/little week, i-week, philanthropy events, and more.
In addition to these social media handles, our chapter also appeared in Poughkeepsie Journal last semester for the RIF event we held at an after school program.

[https://twitter.com/ZetaChiKKG Twitter]
[https://www.facebook.com/zetachikkg Facebook]
[http://instagram.com/kkgmarist Instagram]
[http://maristkkg.tumblr.com/ Tumblr]

To visit our blog please visit KKGmaristcollege on the Wordpress website.

== About Marist College ==

Over a century ago, the Marist Brothers came to New York's Hudson River Valley to train young men to continue the Brothers' vocation as great educators. What started as a seminary for the training of future Marist Brothers has developed into one of the leading colleges of the arts and sciences in the country.

Marist College is now home to approximately 4,100 traditional undergraduate men and women, 1,100 adult continuing education students, and another 1,000 graduate students. In 1947, the first graduating class of modern-day Marist College consisted of four Marist Brothers. Today, close to 30,000 alumni and alumnae call Marist alma mater. Marist has a proud tradition that laid the foundation for a state-of-the-art campus for students preparing to enter the work force of the 21st century.

Marist College follows in the tradition of great institutions like Harvard University and the College of William and Mary that were founded as seminaries and developed into independent academies of higher learning.

Marist can trace its roots to 1905, when the Marist Brothers purchased property and a house from Thomas McPherson along the eastern shore of the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, NY. The Brothers named the building and property St. Ann's Hermitage. In 1908, the Brothers purchased the Edward Bech estate to enable the Hermitage to expand. The College purchased additional property to the north and east and now consists of more than 150 acres.

In 1929, college-level courses were first offered. In 1946, the State of New York granted the institution an official, four-year charter under the leadership of founding president Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine, FMS. The Brothers set about to construct several buildings on the grounds of what was then called Marian College.

Dr. Linus Richard Foy became president in 1958 and became, at age 28, the youngest college president in the United States. Marian College became Marist College in 1960. In that same year, the mission of the College was broadened to include the wider community. Lay male students were admitted to pursue undergraduate studies. An evening division was also introduced to serve the educational needs of the surrounding communities.

Women were admitted to the evening division in 1966. In 1968, women entered the day division, making the College fully coeducational. Ownership of the College was transferred in 1969 to the Marist College Educational Corporation with an independent, predominantly lay board of trustees. Nonetheless, the Marist Brothers' legacy of service and striving for excellence continues to inspire and enrich the academic life of the College.

==Highlights from 2000-2009==

Chapter members were proud to have worked hard through diligent financial management to clear their debt to the Fraternity by fall 2004.

While the Zeta Chi chapter was small throughout most of this decade (25-31 members), they remained active on campus, promoting a positve impact of Greek life and sorority membership on the other students. They were consistent participants in Greek Week activities, winning the rope pull many times. There were 3 NPC groups on the Marist campus during this decade. In 2009 and 2010, Zeta Chi had their largest new member classes to date and grew their chapter total to 47 members.

Sisterhood events were an important part of the chapter’s activities. These included movie nights, picnics on the Hudson River, pasta parties, shopping trips, makeup parties, cosmic bowling and holiday dinners. Seniors completed a scrapbook page which was then placed in the chapter scrapbook as a part of the archives.
Zeta Chi members were active in philathropy activities throughout the school years. These included Relay for Life, Easter Egg Hunt with the Poughkeepsie Children’s Home, Alex’s Lemonade stand, school supply drives, formal dress drive for Cinderella’s closet, Miles for Medals, breast cancer walk as well as activities supporting RIF and raising funds for the Rose McGill fund.

The chapter held a Mother-Daughter brunch, Father-Daughter BBQ, Senior Sendoff, Sapphire Ball and celelbrated Founders Day each year. Early in the decade, Founders Day was held in conjunction with Parents weekend, allowing their parents to learn more about KKG. Later in the decade, Founders Day was celebrated with the alumnae association at a local alumnae’s home

==Highlights of 2010==

In 2010, Zeta Chi was awarded Honorable Mention for Standards at Kappa’s Biennial Convention.
Members were consistent recipient of Foundation Scholarships throughout this decade.

==Highlights of 2011==

Host of Alpha/Rho Province Meeting, NYU Installation, recognized for our new member program, Sisterhood and Morale Award, RIF event at a local children's center, top 10 fundraising teams for Relay for Life, second place in greek week, first successful off campus initiation event, exceptional growth in the chapter.

'''Campus:''' New Hancock Center for technology built on campus, as well as the underpass which connects the east and west sides of campus. Greek life is expanding rapidly, this past fall during informal recruitment, we gained 14 new members, which is a higher number than we have ever had for informal recruitment. Chapter: The chapter has grown phenomenally. We have 80 members now, where last year at this time we had around 45. Because of this, the chapter is very young. Most of our members are sophomores (more than half) and therefore most of those in leadership positions are very young - which has been great for our chapter!

The chapter struggles with the growth, but along with the growth, the chapter struggles with losing so many seniors in the coming year. We are overcoming these challenges by learning to accept the growth and understanding that growth is not a bad thing. We work hard to maintain the "small chapter feel" that we are all so used to.

== Highlights of 2012==

This previous year, the Zeta Chi chapter was very involved in philanthropy. Events we participated in included RIF events, Relay for Life, Marist Hunger Walk, The KKG Foundation, and The National Eating Disorders Association. This past spring Marist College's greek community also held their annual Greek Week olympic-style games, in which Kappa Kappa Gamma placed first out of four sororities. Individually, one of our members Robyn Crabtree made the 19th annual World Maccabiah Games and will be playing water polo for team USA.

Active member Amber also gave birth to healthy baby girl on December 19th! Unfortunately, the chapter also came together that same month after the Sandy Hook shooting, as two of our members were from the town and personally connected to many involved. Though a difficult time, the Zeta Chi chapter is a group of very supportive girls and has been helping the members to cope.

Marist College has been undergoing many changes on campus with the renovations to the Lowell Thomas Communications Center last spring and now the beginning of a major addition to the Student Center. Marist's student population is growing rapidly with each passing year, and so is the Zeta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. This past week we were proud to welcome 26 new members! The Zeta Chi chapter is a group of amazing girls who have all been very involved in making improvements to our chapter in areas including academics, philanthropy, and campus involvement.

==Highlights of 2013==

In the past year the Zeta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has become an even closer group of girls through scholarship, leadership, and philanthropy. At the Province Meeting in 2013, Zeta Chi was honored with the Sisterhood and Morale Award. Two members of the Chapter, Lauren Garner and Deanna Clark, also received the Undergraduate Kappa Scholarship for 2013. We continued our tradition of attending the Marist Singers and Marist Dance Ensemble shows in order to support our sisters, while we also had fun at other sisterhood events such as ice skating, having a picnic at the Vanderbilt mansion, taking a self defense class, and having a Kappa Kindergarten day where we distressed with coloring and other fun, nostalgic activities. Philanthropy events that Zeta Chi had the opportunity to take part in included visiting a nursing home within Poughkeepsie, taking the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics, having a Bake Sale for Relay for Life, running a RIF event at Clinton Elementary School reading to children, creating a reading carnival for Bridges to Hope tutoring program, hosting a Bake Sale for Breast Cancer Awareness, and donating Christmas gifts to children through participating with Marist’s Giving Tree program.

One of the challenges that the Zeta Chi Chapter had to overcome was the large group of new members in the Spring of 2013. The Chapter had never taken in so many new girls at once and it was difficult to get used to the larger pledge class size. The Chapter overcame this challenge by trying even harder to get to know one another, meeting with owl pals, bonding the pledge class of 25, and attending sophomore, junior, and senior events to get to know the girls in each grade even better. Activities put on by Standards in our Core Groups, like Jeopardy focusing on Kappa facts and history, brought the Chapter and the new girls even closer together.

The recent changes on the Marist College campus the construction of the new Marist academic music building. The construction included the addition of the following departments, offices, and committees: academic affairs, faculty affairs, student affairs, information technology, the Student Government Association, dining services, alumni, and the Board of Trustees.

The planning process for this project was guided by a keen awareness of and commitment to sustainable practices as evidenced by the inclusion in the project of features such as a vegetative roof and rain garden for storm water control and energy efficient lighting, windows, curtain wall, and appliances. The new academic building also includes: three classrooms, a band rehearsal hall, a choral rehearsal and recital hall, nine practice rooms, a string ensemble room, a music library, a piano lab, a computer lab, a conference room, and four faculty offices. There was also the addition of a new and improved dining hall where there are large wooden trusses that support the cathedral ceiling and plenty of seating to fit hundreds of more students compared to the previous cafeteria.

The overall nature of the Zeta Chi Chapter is welcoming. We strive to welcome in girls that have dedication to academics and scholarship, leadership potential, and characteristics of a loving and caring friend that will make a memorable lifelong sister. Going from 14 Chapter Council Positions to 16, represents our passion to be a leader within the Chapter that can positively affect and bring together each and every sister. We love to have fun, involving ourselves within Chapter activities, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

==Highlights of Spring 2014==

This semester, Spring 2014, our recruitment was "Kappa and the City!" We to highlighedt all of the great resources that Kappa has to offer internationally. Of course, we demonstrated to the PNMs the bonds of sisterhood and the strength of our sorority. Over the past year standards has created kore groups, passed around the hoots jar, supportive sister and celebrated sisters are announced each week, as well as weekly standards meetings to check in with the sisters. So far this semester we hosted a Kappa Kappaccinos sale in order to raise money for the Special Olympics and the Polar Plunge that we took apart in February.

The Spring 2014 semester was filled with events to welcome the new pledge class, the Alpha Pi’s, and to unite our growing chapter of 111 women! Sisterhood events of the semester included supporting our sisters apart of the dance ensemble at the MCDE Dance show, we had some delicious chocolate fondue, relaxed before finals week with a yoga class and participated in an Off-Campus Safety Seminar. An especially exciting time, for our new members was the superhero-themed Greek Week! After a week filled with eating competitions, an adorable talent show, and a few sporting and field events, Zeta Chi was victorious and came in first place for sororities! This was a great time for new members to bond and show some Kappa spirit. Zeta Chi sent off our seniors with best wishes and few tears down by the river with a picnic.

The chapter was extremely active when it came to philanthropy and community service. Zeta Chi made teams for both Relay for Life and Autism Speaks Color Run. At Relay for Life Kappa raised $4,795 for the American Cancer Society and was the second highest fundraising team! Other events included participating in the Polar Plunge and selling Kappa Kappacchinos to support the Special Olympics, a bingo brunch at a local nursing home, and a Poughkeepsie cleanup with Marist’s fellow Greek organizations. For our spring RIF event, our philanthropy chair, Amera Labib, used her creativity and organized our first annual Kappa Kickball Tournament. Teams donated one book per team member, which was then donated to our reading carnival. The reading carnival, at a local elementary school’s after school program featured face painting, coloring, and each child went home with several books, a bookmark of their own creation and a smile on their face.

==Highlights of Summer 2014==

Zeta Chi's president Lauren Garner and advisor, Kait Smith attended the Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention in Houston, Texas. Zeta Chi was very excited to receive honorable mentions in Panhellenic and Public Relations.

As the Fall Semester of 2014 progressed at Marist College, the Zeta Chi chapter continued to be as busy as ever. One challenge that our chapter had to overcome this semester was not holding recruitment and taking a new member class. However, the Zeta Chi chapter planned many events to keep the sisters involved and engaged! In September the Zeta Chi Chapter visited The Hudson Valley Animal Rescue Sanctuary (HVARS), which is a charity organization that specializes in rescuing and rehabilitating domestic wildlife as well as farm animals. The members of Zeta Chi helped with everyday activities such as cleaning, feeding, and playing with animals such as dogs, cats, and horses. Zeta Chi was also very active on the Marist Campus, having set up a booth at both the activity fairs and the parents weekend carnival.

Also in the month of September, Zeta Chi participated in their first sisterhood event, which was a private shopping trip to Francesca’s Boutique at the Poughkeepsie Galleria Mall. The girls found many cute owl, key, and fleur-de-lis items. During National Hazing Prevention Week, the Zeta Chi chapter along side other clubs at Marist College participated in a walk to raise awareness. All club members drew their hands on a large sign saying “These Hands Do Not Haze,” which is now hung up in the Champagnat (dormitory) breezeway.

In the month of October, the Zeta Chi Chapter participated in a philanthropy unity event with the other Greek organizations on campus called Habitat for Humanity Hut Awareness. This involved each Greek organization building a hut with cardboard. At the end, the cardboard that was collected by the Greek organizations was then recycled by the Habitat for Humanity club. Zeta Chi continued their tradition of having a Founder's Day event with alumni on October 13th, 2014. The education chair and registrar chapter council member planned the event on the Marist College campus in the Student Center. Members and alumni sat with their big/little family members and each family made a scrapbook page to be included in the end of semester scrapbook. Kappa also planned a sisterhood event for apple picking and pumpkin picking. The girls of Zeta Chi drank apple cider, picked apples, and took cute fall pictures with some pumpkins.

In the month of November, the girls of Zeta Chi were very busy. The next philanthropy event that Zeta Chi participated in was their annual Time to Be Thankful event. The girls of Zeta Chi visited the Pines Nursing Home in Poughkeepsie. They played games with the patients there and painted their nails. Kappa participated in another sisterhood event, Boxing, taught by Ron Lipton. There were two sessions of girls learning self defense and it was a great work out for all of those who participated. Another sisterhood event the girls participated in was going to Bounce, which is a indoor trampoline park. Also in the month of November, Leadership Consultant, Jo, came to visit. Many girls met with her and showed her the Marist College campus and the Poughkeepsie area. Zeta Chi participated in their semi-annual philanthropy event, Reading is Fundamental. This year, Zeta Chi held a Newlywed Game event between bigs and littles from all Greek organizations at Marist. We were able to raise $260 for Reading in Fundamental. The following weekend, Zeta Chi visited a local Poughkeepsie Youth Mission Outreach program and held a carnival for the children to participate in that included face painting, basketball, crafts, educational games and of course reading! Both events were very successful. On November 20th, Zeta Chi celebrated its 21st birthday. The girls of Zeta Chi walked around campus in their letters showing their love for their chapter, posted on social media and took pictures with a fun photo frame.

The first weekend of December, Zeta Chi held their annual Sapphire Ball at the Villa Borghese in Wappingers Falls. Each sister received a fun Kappa supperlative and enjoyed dancing the night away. Approaching finals week, we co-hosted a study break with Kappa Lambda Psi which included offering free coffee, hot chocolate and snacks to students in the library foyer. The weekend before finals, Zeta Chi held a holiday party which included a secret santa gift exchange and the first ever Kappa kash auction. Throughout the semester members earned "cash" for attending events and assisting chapter council members. They could then "bid" on various kappa goodies. The year was finished off with the election of a new Chapter Council.

Zeta Chi holds their weekly chapter meetings in a Marist College classroom in Donnelly Hall. Zeta Chi does not have housing for its members.

==Highlights of 2015==
'''Spring 2015'''

Zeta Chi started the spring semester off with a bang! In February we held recruitment and our theme was Garden/Lilly for the first and third night. This year Panhellenic decided to show greek unity by having each sorority select a decade to theme their second night of recruitment. We were excited to represent the 1920s. Simultaneously we were also pleased to have Jo, our Leadership Consultant return to Marist to assist us with recruitment and improving our chapter. Though we did have to change the dates of recruitment and a couple weekly meetings due to the tremendous amount of snow we received, we were happy to welcome 20 new members into our sisterhood. We held a new member celebration in the student center which included taking pictures with huge Kappa Balloons and socializing. To get to know the new members better, we held a sophomore event at which the sophomores and new members decorated cookies and played just dance. We also enjoyed ice skating at the Hudson Valley Civic Center as one of our sisterhood events. As for Philanthropy we raised $100 for the American Heart Association at our bake sale. Three of our sister, Kelly, Colleen and Emily also jumped in the river at the Polar Plunge in Fishkill. This semester the Standards committee started choosing a Kappa Klassy Value of the Week. This value is chosen from a list of qualities that we compiled as a chapter that every kappa should uphold.

We started March off with a sisterhood event which was a private shopping trip at Francesca's in the Poughkeepsie Galleria. We also continued to hold events to welcome and integrate our new members into the chapter. These included a Junior ice cream sundae social with the new members, new member picture day (take pictures of new members around campus wearing letters) and big/little week. This year for big little reveal the bigs left socks in their littles room on the last day of big little week. Then at reveal the bigs wore matching socks and lined up with blankets covering them. The littles stood in front of the person with matching socks and the bigs let down their blankets to reveal themselves. At the end of March we were excited to officially welcome them into our sisterhood at initiation.

In April we partnered up with Hoopla, a local frozen yogurt place, to donate some of every purchase one afternoon to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Christina our President, Meghan our VPO and Katie our head of Standards donated this money when they attended the Province meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. We had a lot of sisterhood events this month. The first was a tye dye event where everyone got the chance to tye dye a shirt. The sisters of Zeta Chi also attended the semi annual dance ensemble show, Serendipity which a large number of our chapter performed in. As the weather started to warm up, we went on a morning hike at Ferncliff Forest. The trail had a huge observation tower that we nervously climbed to the top of to the amazing views of the Hudson Valley. Our Philanthropy events this month included making crafts and playing sports at the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie as well as participating in Relay for Life. At Greek Week, we fought hard at the field games, eating contests, and trivia and placed third for our efforts.

In May Zeta Chi participated in their semi-annual philanthropy event, Reading is Fundamental. We held a Kappa Kickball event to raise money for RIF. Following the game we headed over to the Children's home of Poughkeepsie where we did crafts, distributed books, did face painting and plaid basketball with the kids. We were sad to bid our seniors farewell at our senior sendoffs. We shared memories, took pictures and celebrated all that our seniors have contributed to Zeta Chi over lunch. We certainly ended the year on a high note receiving the first ever Marist Greek Excellence Award.

'''Fall 2015'''

Zeta Chi started off the new semester much smaller than last year, we had about 30 seniors graduate and we had 13 of our sister studying abroad all over the world. We did not hold fall recruitment, this was a challenge for us because the sixe of our chapter seemed so small this semester but we grew closer as whole because of it. We held our first philanthropy event of the semester the day of move in which was to help at the Children’s Home or Poughkeepsie’s 5k race and hand our water bottles to the runners. Even through all of the chaos of move in we were able to have some of our sisters represent Kappa at the race.

We held our first sisterhood event in September at the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, NY. We had a lovely picnic on the grass and gardens outside the historic mansion. It was a great way to catch up with sisters from the summer break and start the semester off strong. Shortly after that Marist held their activities fair and we represented Kappa to potential new members for the spring semester. Also in September we held a video shoot for our recruitment video that we will play during recruitment in the upcoming Spring. At Marist we are located right on the Hudson River, so we filmed down by the riverfront on a beautiful Sunday morning. Our footage will show the potential new members everything Kappa is about. We also participated in Marist’s Campus wide hazing awareness week. Greek council held an Instagram contest with the theme these hand don’t haze. The person with the most creative post and most likes won a gift card to a local restaurant. One of our fellow Kappa’s Kacey O’Brien won the prize.

October rolled around soon and it was busy month for our chapter. We started the month off with another sisterhood event called “Paint Your Sisters.” This event was create to bnd our sisterhood together even close than it was before. All the girls who participated wore white t-shirts and sat in a circle. One girl would stand inside an they would touch a sister who inspires them most (etc.) with their painted hand. They went around a few times so every sister had handprints all over them, showing that they are loved by every single one of their sisters. We plan to make this annual event for our sisterhood. Shortly after that we had about ten of our members represent Kappa at taping of the Meredith Vieira Show in NYC, an alum from Marist reached out to Kappa to see if any girls wanted to see a taping of the show, we had a small number of girls go only because it was held during the week as classes were going on. It was great for Kappa to show support at the show.

We held our Founder Day celebration two days before Founders Day to ensure that, as many of our sisters could be present at the event. Our education chairman. Meghan Gleason and our registrar, Cara Guerin planned the event. We ordered shirts for the vent, made some adorable Kappa themed desserts and host a raffle with great prizes for our sisters. Also to show some history of the chapter we traced our chapters big and little trees as far back as we could and put the trees on display at our event. All of the sisters loved the idea and are excited to see most of those trees grow in the springtime.

Our second sisterhood event of the month was apple and pumpkin picking at a local farm. The girls of Zeta Chi drank apple cider, picked apples, and took cute fall pictures with some pumpkins.

We held our first Philanthropy event in October; we hosted a baked sale to benefit breast cancer awareness and partners with another sorority on campus Kappa Lambda Psi. Together we raised over $400 donated to breast cancer research. On October 22nd and 23rd we held our annual RIF Fundraiser. On the 22nd we hosted a pasta dinner and all the proceeds from the dinner were donated to RIF and on the 23rd Zeta Chi went to the Family and Children Center of Poughkeepsie and held a reading carnival for the kids in the after school program there. All of the girls enjoyed reading and doing crafts with the kids, we could tell that it brightened up their day because they brightened up ours. Our last sisterhood event of the semester was a paint party. Zeta Chi met up and recreated a picture of a sunflower on our canvases. It was a great fun and creative event to have and everyone walked home with a new piece of artwork to decorate their dorm with.

To start off November we had our first philanthropy of the month. Caitlyn Flynn, Philanthropy chair organized a workshop with a company called Bright Pink, they help educate women about their bodies and raise awareness for breast cancer and other women’s cancers. We also hosted a blood drive and partnered with another fraternity on campus, Zeta Psi for it. Many sisters donated and helped make sure all the people who donated had a good recovery. We had a few sisterhood event this month. One event that was not hosted by Kappa but many sisters take part in was the Marist College Dance Ensemble, one member of Kappa, Samantha Soprano is the president of the dance ensemble and she put on a great show with the talents of dancers from the entire school. Many other Kappas’ who are not in the Dance Ensemble went to the show to show their support. Another one of our sisterhood events we had in November was a mani pedi spa night. It was a great night to watch movies, paint our nails and hang with our sisters. As a senior sisterhood event we held a zumba class for all the seniors to participate in, it was a fun and healthy way for the seniors to get some of their last moments with their sisters.

Once we came back from Thanksgiving break, the end of the semester didn’t seem too far away but we had plenty events planned before the end. We hosted a hot chocolate sale on campus to raise money for a gift to buy for the giving tree here at Marist. One of our last sisterhood events as yoga and it was a great way to distress right before finals started. On the December 7th, we held our annual Sapphire Ball at Villa Borghese in Wappingers Falls. Each sister received a fun Kappa superlative and enjoyed dancing the night away. All of the sisters looked beautiful for the event. To end the semester we held our Kappa Kash Raffle and Holiday party. Kappa Kash is a point system we have and every event a sister attends they will get points and those points get transferred into raffle tickets that they can use at the party to get Kappa themed gifts. Almost all the sisters walked away with a gift and we did secret Santa between the sisterhood. Everyone had a great time exchanging gifts and hanging out right before finals. The year was finished off with the election of a new Chapter Council.

On campus Marist is just completing their new science building, which will be the home to the new science gradate programs and home to the biology department. Marist also began construction for a new dorming facility, which will house juniors and seniors. The hall will have four single dorms to a suite and also have a gym and new dining hall in the building too. The president of Marist College also announced his retirement at the end of the spring semester for this year in 2016. He has done a great job building up Marist College to what it is now and Kappa is sad to see him leave.

Our chapter is becoming relatively small due to the large amount of seniors gradating and the burden of not having fall recruitment due to our school’s policies. But we have prevailed and have become so close as a whole. We always support one another and try to attend other club events to support sisters who are in those clubs. Our chapter does not have a house but we always have fun meeting at other places on campus or other sisters suites on campus.

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

We typically raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

Our chapter chose these organizations because we would like to focus heavily on two organizations versus more so that we can give more to each because if we spread ourselves too thin its difficult to give a lot to each organization. These two organizations represent Kappa Kappa Gamma to the highest and we appreciate everything they do, which is why we donate to them.

==Highlights of 2016==

Zeta Chi started off our semester with Spring Recruitment! We welcomed 30 new members to our biggest new member class, Alpha Sigma. To unite our growing chapter of 68, we had many sisterhood events including: roller-blading, hiking, supporting our sisters at the Marist College Dance Ensemble spring showcase, and "Paint Your Sisters". We also participated in Philanthropy events including: Relay For Life, Autism Speaks Color Run, The Polar Plunge, a RIF Dinner Fundraiser, and our RIF Carnival. Over the summer Zeta Chi's president, Colleen Gaughran, attended the Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention in San Diego. We were excited to have won the Philanthropy Award for our RIF event for 2014-2016. As the fall semester of 2016 began, Zeta Chi planned for Fall Recruitment. We welcomed 12 new members. Together we participated in sisterhood events including: a picnic at the Vanderbilt Mansion, pumpkin/apple picking, supporting our sisters at the Fall dance showcase, cookie decorating, and celebrating Founders day together. We participated in philanthropy events including: a bake sale for the Socktober Drive, collecting Loose Change Jars and donating our proceeds to the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund, having a Burrito Bowl RIF fundraiser, reading to children at The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie every other week, and having a RIF Carnival at The Poughkeepsie Youth Mission Outreach. We ended the semester with our annual Sapphire Ball!

The Marist campus is growing along with our chapter! A new science building was built as well as two new dorm buildings. Our chapter is continuing to grow larger. We now have 80 members.

Zeta Chi has raised money for The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, The Grace Smith House, American Cancer Society, Reading is Fundamental, and Autism Speaks. We donated hours to The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie and The Poughkeepsie Youth Mission Outreach as well as volunteering our time at different events on campus.

We chose these organizations to support because we love helping our surrounding Poughkeepsie community, our campus community, and the organizations that are fundamental to Kappa Kappa Gamma's philanthropy. In addition, we choose to support those organizations that other Greek and non-Greek groups support on campus, such as the American Cancer Society and Autism Speaks in order to foster a sense of community at Marist.

Zeta Chi holds their weekly chapter meetings in a Marist College classroom in Donnelly Hall; this academic building is central on campus and includes several lecture halls as well as a newly renovated student lounge and cafe. Zeta Chi does not have housing for its members.

==Highlights of 2017==
During Spring Recruitment! We welcomed 30 new members to our chapter! This was one of our biggest new member class, the Alpha Upsilon’s. To unite our growing chapter, we had many sisterhood events, including Galentine's Day, an ice cream social, apple picking, the Walkway Over the Hudson hike, paint our sisters, cookie baking, as well as supporting our sisters in the Marist College Dance Ensemble spring and fall showcase. We also participated in Philanthropy events, such as the Polar Plunge, Relay for Life, Up Till Dawn to support St. Jude’s, and bi-weekly reading buddies at the Poughkeepsie Children’s home. Our annual RIF events included a taco dinner and a RIF carnival. The chapter also donated the loose change jar money to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We ended the semester with our annual Sapphire Ball!

The Marist campus is growing along with our chapter! A new science building was built along with a new art building. Marist is also in the process of creating a new fashion building.

Zeta Chi has raised money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, the Polar Plunge and St. Jude’s. We also donated hours to the The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie and Real Skills of Poughkeepsie. As a chapter we have also volunteered our time at different events on campus, such as Relay for Life.

We chose these organizations to support because we want to help our local community. We love to help the surrounding city of Poughkeepsie, our campus community, and organizations that are fundamental to Kappa Kappa Gamma. We also decided to participate in St. Jude’s Up Til Dawn to support our fellow sister who belong to this club.

==Highlights of 2018==
Zeta Chi started off the year with Spring Recruitment! We welcomed 35 new members to the chapter! This has been one of the biggest new member classes, the Alpha Phis. We had many sisterhood events that united the chapter as a whole, including a sisterhood hike, apple picking, movie night, flower pot decorating, an ice cream social and a holiday party. We also supported our sisters that were in the Marist College Dance Ensemble shows in the spring and fall. The chapter has participated in many philanthropy events, such as the Polar Plunge, St. Jude's Up Till Dawn, and bi-‐weekly reading buddies at the Poughkeepsie Children's Home. We also held our annual RIF events which included a movie night, a newlywed game and the RIF Carinval. The chapter also donated money from the loose change jars to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Zeta Chi also celebrated 25 years with a special Founder's Day event. We ended the year by celebrating our chapter with the annual Sapphire Ball!

==Highlights of 2019==

[[File:Zeta Chi 2019.jpg|thumb|Zeta Chi new member class 2019.]]

Zeta Chi began the year with our Spring recruitment! We welcomed 35 new members into the chapter! The new pledge pledge class is named the Alpha Chis.

We had many bonding experiences this year including the sister events such as apple picking, board game night, a picnic by the Hudson river and many more. Additionally, we supported our sisters that are in Singers as well as Dance Ensemble. On April 6th, the Alpha Chis were initiated as official sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

At the end of the Spring semester, we had a Senior Send off brunch for all of the graduating sisters in our chapter.

For Philanthropy, we raised money for RIF by donating children's books as well as creating a hot cocoa sale to donate to Reading is Fundamental. We also had reading buddies throughout the Spring semester. In January, we had a karaoke RIF event where each sorority and fraternity donated children's books to the local library.

This past year we had a few sisters attend the Leadership Conference as well as a sister attend the Leadership Academy.

In the Fall semester, we had our 150th Founders Day. Our chapter celebrated by holding a brunch for the chapter with photos and tokens of our chapters history.

For our 2020 celebration of Founders Day, we will hopefully have a larger group of attendance and welcome more alumni who can come to next year's Founders Day! The Zeta Chi Chapter ended the year with their annual Sapphire Ball!

==Highlights of 2020==

The Zeta Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has had yet another amazing year, despite the circumstances, showcasing the graciousness and resiliency of our sisterhood. This year, we learned that being sisters is more than weekly meetings or bi-monthly events. We showed up for each other in multiple ways - both virtually and in person. Guiding our newest (33) members that were initiated virtually in the Spring, sending off our graduating seniors even though their time on campus was cut short, and maintaining the bonds of sisterhood throughout the rest of the school year were no small feats. Zeta Chi persevered, got a little creative, and worked our way through to make the best of this year!

[[File:Zeta Chi CH 2020.png|thumb|A Zeta Chi, Marist, chapter event in 2020, before Covid hit and everything went virtual.]]

Jessica Gardinier won the Kay Beasley Martin 2020 Scholarship on behalf of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation in February for excellence in academics. Our chapter was awarded the Rosa Parks Raising the Village Award by REAL Skills Network in Poughkeepsie in February 2020. This award was given to us for our bi-weekly Reading Buddies program and book donations. There is an annual gala held to celebrate the recipients of the Rosa Parks awards, as they all honor community icons. Both the 2020 and former Philanthropy chairs were invited to attend. Kappa Kappa Gamma Zeta Chi was lucky enough to be included!

Zeta Chi was also awarded a Convention award this year. We were a recipient of the Gracious Living Award (Unhoused). Our amazing visit with LC Emma brought us all closer as a chapter. We consistently provide a warm and inviting environment for both sisters and guests both in and outside of campus.Kappa events quickly shifted to virtual events during the mid-spring semester and into the fall.

Virtual events were implemented to ensure everyone’s safety and included but are not limited to, meditation workshops, Netflix parties, virtual trivia, virtual Founder’s Day, and mental health checks with Behind Happy Faces. We made sure that events were accessible to everyone and would be enjoyed by all sisters. Mental health events were our top priority this semester because many of our sisters felt stressed and anxious due to the pandemic. Sisterhood involvement was supported and engagement was increased with trivia nights which allowed sisters to win a Kappa water bottle. Polls and Google Forms were sent out to gauge our chapter’s interests related to events.

[[File:Zeta Chi CH 2020 2.png|thumb|Zeta Chi, Marist, transitioned to virtual events after Covid hit in March 2020.]]

This year we supported the KKG Foundation, RIF, and St. Judes. For the KKG Foundation, we participated in the founders day giving challenge by reaching out to friends,family, and alumni and posting Instagram bingo boards on our stories and we raised $783. For RIF, we partnered with Everrow and did an online fundraiser where people who used our code at their website gave us 10% back to donate to our philanthropy. Through this, we raised $31.60 and we also created more read-aloud videos that were sent to the Poughkeepsie Children’s Homeand Real Skills Poughkeepsie to replace the reading carnival we usually have in-person. For St. Judes, we created Kappa teams to help fundraising in preparation for the Marist event in the spring.

This past semester the DEI committee was able to implement in-person and online learning with our Student Government DEI committee. We were able to let the chapter know about a Black Lives Matter Vigil run by the Student Government where we could take a moment as a community to mourn the lives lost not only over the past year but over the course of many years. Our committee made all of our sisters aware of where they could mail in their absentee ballots for the presidential election this year. We promoted DEI education for our Zeta Chi Chapter through Minerva, and also through our Marist’s Professors. The Student Government held a series of lectures over zoom addressing social justice, our college's history, reconciliation, and healing. We were able to inform our sisters about how Zeta Chi could raise money for a local organization called Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson. This organization helps people in the Mid-Hudson area with affordable housing, immigrant justice, climate and energy justice, and more civic engagement. Lastly, we made our chapter aware of the MISA petition, which raised awareness for international students who were having issues with winter housing at Marist.

In the future, we hope to permanently implement DEI learning for new member education as well as already initiated members. As a committee, we think our whole chapter could benefit from a sensitivity talk regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion before 2021recruitment. During recruitment, we would like to ask our sisters if they would feel comfortable sharing their pronouns in person or over zoom to encourage potential new members to share their pronouns.

To celebrate the traditions of Founder’s Day while maintaining COVID safety guidelines, we held our sesquicentennial celebration virtually through zoom this year. All active members, alumnae, advisory board members, and district team members were sent an invitation.We opened the ceremony with the virtual version of the Founder’s Day ritual provided by our district specialist. We also had two guest speakers that are Zeta Chi Chapter Alumnae, one of whom is a founding member of our chapter, and the other a former advisory board member.Following this, members who submitted their own “What Kappa Means to Me” shared how Kappa has affected their life and were able to ask questions to the Alumni who spoke to their own experiences. We wrapped up the event with an interactive trivia game that focused on the chapter’s members and the accomplishments we’ve achieved as a whole.

Zeta Phi

2021-12-21T19:52:52Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Phi
|GreekSymbol= ZΦ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Phi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1992|04|11}}
|College= [https://www.princeton.edu/main/ Princeton University]
|Location= Princeton, NJ
|Homepage= [https://princeton.kappa.org/ Zeta Phi Chapter]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Phi Media related to Zeta Phi Chapter]}}
----

'''Princeton University established in 1746, Princeton, New Jersey'''

'''Founded April 11, 1992 with 52 charter members'''

'''880 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Zeta Phi’s Outstanding Members:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Members:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Zeta Phi Alumnae''':
Melissa Gesell (Waterstredt), Chapter Consultant 1999-1999

==Princeton University==
Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, Princeton University is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton became a fully-coeducational institution in 1969 following a period of limited attendance by female students. Today, approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 2,500 students attend Princeton University. Fraternities and sororities are currently not officially recognized by Princeton University.

'''Colonization'''
On February 8, 1992, fifty-two young women gathered in the Prince William Room of the Nassau Inn to be colonized as the charter members of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey Area alumnae who had played pivotal roles in bringing Kappa Kappa Gamma to the Princeton campus or who would offer the chapter great support in the future the ceremony led by Marilyn Bullock, Kansas State, Director of Membership.

On that day, everyone was introduced to the Chapter Consultant who would guide the women through pledge education. Zeta Phi rented university classrooms for the weekly meetings where pages of Kappa’s mission, purpose, history, rituals, symbols, chapter and national organization, policies, and rules were discussed. The pledge retreat was held March 28-29 at a Firehouse on the Jersey Shore, led by alumnae who introduced the colonizers to the Kappa candle-passing traditions. Everyone put together the first pledge book of Zeta Phi—magazine clippings about the women in the colony, the world, and Kappa at Princeton. One of the most significant events of the pledge period was the great honor bestowed on us by the oldest Kappa Kappa Gamma alumna. Unbeknownst even to the Fraternity, she had in her possession a book of Kappa history signed by one of the Fraternity’s Founders. She presented this rare archive as a gift to Zeta Phi.

Since the Greek system was not formally recognized by Princeton University, difficulties arose for the sororities and fraternities seeking housing. No “official” off-campus fraternity houses existed and the sororities make due with a rented room or office space. However, since Kappa was colonizing and needed the Chapter Consultant to stay close to help the women take every step of the way, the Fraternity generous rented an apartment in Princeton at 72 Witherspoon Street and promised to support the apartment for the chapter’s first three years.

Close to our installation, we had begun to realize the great responsibility we had taken upon ourselves to start a new chapter. Still, at the end of the six week pledgeship, the most frequent to pass between the future sisters was: “Do we have to know the alphabet?”

'''Installation'''
Inspiration Week finally arrived, and with help from area alumnae, the Chapter Consultant acted as a big sister to all forty-nine of us (three of the original 52 would have to initiate in the fall). Monday, March 6 found us up early in the morning at the “Kappa apartment” for a bagel breakfast. The colonizers received antique hotel keys from one of the New Jersey Alumnae Associations, special notes to be opened each day, and other various gifts. On Tuesday the women decorated T-shirts; on Wednesday two alumna established the Zeta Phi candlelight reading ceremony; on Thursday the colony attended a formal meeting with the Fraternity officers; and Friday’s Fireside Ceremony was held at the Nassau Inn and attended by dozens of alumnae (“Alum Chums”), our big sisters from Dickinson College, and the mothers of our two charter legacies. Saturday, Installation was held at the First Reformed Church of Rocky Hill, led by Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity President Kay Smith Larson, Washington.

Now officially the 122nd active chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma in the Fraternity’s 122nd year. A reception was held at the Nassau Presbyterian Church, followed by a mock formal chapter meeting and an evening banquet at the Nassau Inn. Zeta Phi was presented with silver platters, banners, a punch bowl set, and other gifts from other chapters and alumnae. As a gift of gratitude to the alumnae and the Fraternity, a member composed a song expressly for the occasion. At the end of the evening we stood at our tables and sang:

Oh, we’re so glad to be here~
All womanly and true~
On April the eleventh~
Of 1992.

We’re psyched to be at Princeton~
We cannot tell a lie~
We’re thrilled that Kappa came here~
To start up Zeta Phi.

We love our orange and black clothes~
We’re tigers through and through~
But also wearers of the key,~
We love our blue and blue.

Sincerity and friendship~
And love and loyalty~
These are the things we promise~
To dear old K-K-G.

==The First Year==
While the Princeton women of Kappa had come together motivated by the common desire to form special friendships with women in a more structured activity at Princeton University, the other activities and interests of Zeta Phi’s first active members were very diverse. Nearly one third were involved in theater (Princeton Triangle Club, Princeton University Players, Theater Intime, and directing). Singers aplenty came from the Glee Club, Chapel Choir, and the student a capella singing groups (Tigerlilies, Roaring 20, and Katzenjammers). Half of the class was involved in some aspect of the Student Volunteers Council (Big Sisters, Young Mothers Outreach, Children’s After School Sports Program, English as a Second Language Program, Tutoring, Habitat for Humanity, Somerset Youth Shelter, and Interpreting). Club sports activities included soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, water polo, equestrian team, and skiing. Varsity sports practiced were crew, volleyball, soccer, and cheerleading. Princeton’s new Kappas also participated in Orange Key Tours, the Debate team, the Daily Princetonian, the Academics Committee, Eating Club Councils, yearbook, WPRB radio, the Women’s Center, the Honor Committee, the Rainforest Conservatory, Girl Scouts, and Student Government.
Monday, March 20, the members attended the chapter’s first formal chapter meeting and elected its first chapter officers. The last two months of school were a time of organizational learning for the council and members. The last chapter meeting was held on May 17. Kappa Kappa Gamma members began their summer vacations in June, excited and uncertain about the tasks that lay ahead of them, rush and having new pledges, and the role of a sorority in their lives.

The first thing to take care of upon returning from summer vacation was the initiation of the three women who had completed their pledgeship in the spring but were unable to initiate on April 11. It was difficult to be on the other side of Initiation for the first time, but we were grateful for the practice. Organized by its dedicated chapter council, Zeta Phi finally gathered together for normal chapter business in October. Kappa was off to a great start after an overnight retreat during the first weekend in October, attended by an alumna member and led by our new Chapter Consultant.

Soon it was time for Zeta Phi to prepare for our first RUSH. In a few mad days, the Kappas learned scores of songs and rotation patterns—almost perfected by our first party night. Rush Week was Sunday, November 8 through Saturday, November 14. Parties were held at the eating clubs Tower, DEC, and Dial. We made decorations and wrote songs for the themes “Kappa Under the Sea,” “A League of Our Own,” and “Silver Screen.” 130 young women rushed Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Pi Beta Phi. On Saturday, all was decided. Kappa pledged 16 wonderful pledges who reflected the diversity of the chapter. They were officially pledged on November 14. Since the charter members of Zeta Phi had not rushed to join Kappa, the chapter extended and opened the bids to a few selected young women who had not been able to take part in Rush Week. On December 4, three more pledges were welcomed into Zeta Phi’s circle. After all the excitement, the chapter presented an alumna with a gift certificate in deep gratitude for her time and dedication throughout the Rush period.
The pledges began their “Kappa education” on November 16. The pledge retreat was held at an alumna’s home. Most memorable were the personal stories the future sisters shared and trusted with one another. In the actives’ world, the chapter was honored with the visit of a Kappa alumna who was a former Advisor to President George Bush. Following her visit on December 4, the Nominating Committee presented the slate for the 1993 Chapter Council and the vote was taken.

Zeta Phi took part in philanthropic projects which included working for Isles in Trenton. The chapter gave donations to St. Peter’s Hospital and Womanspace. Members took part in Princeton University Players’ “A Chorus Line.” A Zeta Phi was elected USG Vice President (12/92) and Chairman of the Student Health Advisor Board (SHAB) and another Kappa made All Ivy League Crew for 1992. Two sisters, a violinist and a pianist, gave senior performances. One Kappa was accepted to Oxford University and left for England after graduation for a three-year program in Immunology.

In a short period of time, Zeta Phi was well on its way to establishing itself as a significant and respected organization at Princeton University. Both Chapter Consultants and alumnae commented on how far the chapter had come and grown as a sorority and as individuals in understanding the members’ roles. Friendships were strengthened, new friendships formed, and the Zeta Phis were eternally grateful for the overwhelming support and love given to them by the consultants and area alumnae. And now, they were full sisters in the bonds of Kappa Kappa Gamma, though still not sure about the alphabet!
(The preceding information was adapted from Zeta Phi chapter’s 1993 newsletter, “Zeta Phigest.”)

==Highlights of the 1990s==
Following Zeta Phi’s founding, the chapter continued to grow, regularly initiating approximately 30 members each year. To keep up with the needs of the expanding chapter, many sisterhood events were planned. The Kappas hosted sister-bonding retreats, a sightseeing and ice skating trip to New York City, game nights, winter semi-formals, and spring formals. The chapter paired with local alumnae for events such as Founders Day, Holiday Brunch, Chapter Weekend, and Senior BBQ. In 1995, Zeta Phi hosted Fraternity Vice-President, Cathy Thompson Carswell, Illinois Wesleyan, for Founders Day.

Zeta Phi provided programs and activities to improve the lives of members. The Kappas participated in campaigns to raise awarness for issues affecting women, such as eating disorders. The chapter also brought a Kappa alumna to campus to talk about the interview and job application process. Zeta Phi also hosted study breaks and sister dinners for chapter members.

'''Housing:'''

At Princeton, Greek-letter organizations do not have houses. For the first several years, Kappa maintained an apartment used for housing Chapter Consultants, holding social events, and maintaining records. When Zeta Phi no longer needed an apartment to house Chapter Consultants, the chapter obtained space a short distance from campus to store archives and other chapter possessions.

'''Philanthropy:'''
Throughout the 1990s, Zeta Phi emphasized the importance of philanthropy. The chapter hosted clothing and food drives for the needy, worked at a Trenton soup kitchen, painted houses for Habitat for Humanity, and visited a local nursing home. The Kappas also participated in events coordinated by other organizations: the Special Olympics; the Run for the Tiger, a 10k to raise conservation funds; and the annual Communiverity celebration, a festival hosted by Princeton town and university for local children and children from Trenton.

'''Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of 2000-2010==
Zeta Phi continued to strengthen both membership numbers and bonds of sisterhood as the chapter entered the twenty-first century. The Princeton Kappas added between 25-35 members to their ranks every year. In 2005, Zeta Phi took the initiative to learn more about the Fraternity’s history by utilizing the Archives in a Box program supported by the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Zeta Phi planned fun events through the decade, such as the 2006 semi-formal bowling event and the annual Sapphire Ball spring formal. Other chapter traditions included a Senior Roast held in May to say goodbye to the graduating sisters.

'''Housing:'''
Zeta Phi rang in the millennium with a house-cleaning event for the chapter office space near campus. The sisters came together to clean and organize the archives and memorabilia to make room for the next decade of memories and records.

'''Philanthropy:'''
Philanthropy remained important to Zeta Phi throughout the decade. Annual philanthropic events included the Valentine’s Day Crush Project and the Kappa Kappacino charity bake sale. The sisters also regularly volunteered at a soup kitchen and Trenton and went “Kappa Karoling” to a local nursing home at Christmas. The Kappas were always represented in events such as the Race for the Cure and the annual Powder Puff football game on campus, which raised money for charity through the sale of refreshments.

In response to the tragedies on September 11, 2001, Zeta Phi participated in Arts Alive, a University-sponsored program that took children affected by the events to cultural and artistic programs in New York City and surrounding areas. Because of Princeton’s close geographic proximity to New York, students were able to directly respond by raising money, helping children, and contributing to funds that benefited the families of victims.

==Highlights of 2011-2019==
(Information from chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2012==

'''Biennial Convention in Jacksonville, FL'''
The President Margaret Tait '14 , Autumn Waryjas '15 and Sooyeon Kim '15 were fortunate to attend the Kappa Kappa Gamma convention over the summer and this experience augmented their appreciation for and understanding of the workings of Kappa. Our chapter won the houseboards award for a chapter without a house. It was also a great opportunity to meet and get to know Kappa sisters from all over the United States and Canada.

More than 70 girls participated in Recruitment this fall. The number of undergraduates who participated in rush was higher than expected as the ban on freshman participation in sororities at Princeton went into effect in September, 2012 . We were pleased with the recruitment results and we welcomed 20 new members to the Zeta Phi chapter (our chapter surpassed the panhellenic minimum number accepting the most new members out of the three sororities.)

This past year the chapter council sought to shorten meetings and have a specific agenda set for each meeting to increase efficiency and enjoyment for all. We continued our philanthropic efforts with a spring panhellenic philanthropy event held at Neiman Marcus. The proceeds raised during this event were donated to the Kappa Foundation. In the fall, many of the members participated in the annual Princeton Disabilities Awareness conference and spent a day with children with disabilities.

Members of our chapter have been engaged in a myriad of extracurricular activities. To name but a few: Jillian Wilkowski '15 interned with the New Jersey Democratic State Committee--which campaign for every Democratic candidate from Obama to Senator Menendez to Congressman Holt to local officials. Diane Hu '15 was a fellow for Obama for America in Pennsylvania and volunteered there over fall break. Senior, Ashley Eberhart '13 and a fellow Kappa Rebecca Scharstein '12 received first place in The Princeton Entrepreneurship Club’s annual startup challenge. Megan Partridge '14 founded Stitch your Story that enables conscious consumers to design and purchase fashion products that support the organizations and causes that they care most about.

In December 2012 we elected new chapter council members and Kellen Heniford '14 was selected as our chapter President.

Our chapter is a member of a campus Panhellenic which includes 3 National Panhellenic Conference Groups. Our university does not formally acknowledge the Greek organizations on campus. Since September 2012, the university prohibited freshman from participating in the recruitment process and has imposed numerous restrictions on the sororities and fraternities to prevent them from affiliating with or offering bids to freshman.

Princeton University is a 4 year liberal arts college with approximately 5,000 undergraduate students. Princeton is a coeducational, independent and nondenominational institution.The Kappa Kappa Gamma Zeta Phi Chapter was founded in 1992. We do not have a chapter house and all of our members reside on campus in university housing. We are the 119th chapter founded and we are in Region 1 and part of the Beta East province. Our province Director of Chapters is Alicia Hayden.

==Highlights of 2013==

Throughout 2013, members of Zeta Phi were involved in a wide range of chapter and campus-wide activities. In April, Zeta Phi hosted Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Beta Province Convention under the leadership of Krystle Manuel-Countee ’13. At the Province Convention, Zeta Phi won the Risk Management Award (awarded to Risk Management Chair Lakshmi Davey ’15) and the Helen Kinslow Chapter Loyalty Award.

The following is just a brief list of some of the activities in which Zeta Phi members participated throughout 2013: Megan Partridge ’14 co-founded the startup company Stitch Your Story, Joan Cannon ’15 started a newsletter for the Princeton University Geosciences Society to help get freshmen and sophomores interested in joining the department, Clarissa Lotson ’16 attended a Princeton-sponsored Global Seminar in Rio during the summer, Emilie Burke ’15 was elected President of the Princeton University Women’s Rugby FC, Rebecca Zhang started a new club – The Princeton Film Society, Stephanie Rigizadeh ’15 interned at CBS News Washington working for CBS This Morning, and Katherine Pogrebniak ’14 won the Princeton Class of 1939 Scholar Award as well as the Churchill Scholarship.

One of Zeta Phi’s goals for 2013 was to increase the chapter’s philanthropic involvement. Under the leadership of Philanthropy Chair Yael Wollstein ’15, “Philanth Week” was created – a week during which the chapter participated in different philanthropic activities each day (ranging from making sandwiches for a homeless shelter to writing letters to soldiers). Increased philanthropic involvement was part of a larger effort to increase Zeta Phi’s interpersonal development. Other chapter goals included improved attendance at chapter meetings and greater unification between pledge classes. In addition to working on these goals, Zeta Phi excelled academically throughout 2013 and had a very successful Recruitment season in the fall. At the end of 2013 (in December), Zeta Phi elected new Chapter Council members, and Sooyeon Kim ’15 was elected President.

This year’s Recruitment was the second Recruitment after Princeton University’s ban on freshman participation in Greek life. Over 200 girls participated in Recruitment this year, and Zeta Phi successfully welcomed 48 new members to the chapter.

Increased philanthropic involvement, successful leadership, and a variety of meaningful sisterly social activities are just several indicators of growth that Zeta Phi has seen throughout 2013. Overall, the future of Zeta Phi looks very promising, and the Chapter Council is very optimistic about the direction in which Zeta Phi is heading.

==Highlights of 2014==

Zeta Phi members collected a large number of achievements both on- and off-campus during 2014. Stephanie Rigizadeh was awared the Sue Fream Scholarship, an award that covers one member's dues for an entire year. Other members were involved in a variety of other activities: Katherine Pogrebniak '14 was selected as valedictorian of the Princeton University Class of 2014; Joan Cannon '15 won an Ivy League Championship as a member of the Princeton Women's Tennis Team and was elected president of the Princeton University Geosciences Society; Miranda Rehaut '16 helped to campaign for Wendy Davis in Texas; Sofia Suarez '16 was project leader on two trips to Kenya to implement a rain water cachement system at a primary school in Muchebe village; Arianna Lanz '17 was awarded the Bell-Burnell prize in Physics; Samantha Lee '15 was elected president of the Princeton Student Chapter of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers; Divya Krishnan '16 was elected president of the campus dance group Naacho; Sophia Robertson-Lavalle '16 was named an American Chemical Society Scholar.

Our chapter goal of continuing philanthropic involvement also continued. Staying true to Kappa Kappa Gamma's emphasis on literacy, one philanthropic project was aiding in a Read Record Replay project. Read Record Replay is a group whose focus is on teaching English overseas. Members also participated in a panhellenic Powder Puff game, the proceeds of which were given to charity. In addition, a charity night was held at a local Lilly Pulitzer retailer, where a portion of all purchases was donated to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The chapter also beta tested a polling app, which raised money for philanthropic causes.

Recently the panhellenic community has become much more unified, as evidenced by the increase in panhellenic events. A panhellenic Powder Puff football game was held among all the sororities, the proceeds of which were donated to charity. Another panehellenic unity event was held at a local ice cream shop, where a portion of purchases made by Greek community members was donated to charity. There has also been promising discussion of adding another chapter to the Greek community, as the high interest in recruitment has indicated there might be enough women to sustain another Greek organization.

Zeta Phi continued to hold their meetings in rooms rented from the University, as they have in past years. The Zeta Phi chapter has never owned a house, lodge, apartment or suite. An off-campus storage unit is rented and maintained by the House Chair. Members may live together in University housing if they so choose.

==Highlights of 2015==
Zeta Phi members, as usual, have collected many awards, scholarships, and other achievements
this year. Vivian Mo '18 won 3rd place Hardware, Facebook's Favorite Hack at HackPrinceton this
fall. Regina Zeng'18 was awarded "Outstanding work by a Freshman in Theater" by the Princeton
University Department of Theater, Lewis Center for the Arts. Nicole Neville '18 was awarded the
Cape Cod Association Scholarship. Kate Maffey '16 was awarded the John Page Award for
leadership excellence in ROTC, Iron Mike Award for best physical fitness score in the battalion,
82nd Airborne Division Scholarship, ASIS Chapter Scholarship, and an FSPA Scholarship. Summer
Ramsay-Burrough '17 was awarded the Leach Summer Scholars Fellowship to fund her summer
chemistry research on nickel catalysts. Samone Blair '18 received the Judith Laffan Memorial Prize
from the NES department for exemplary work in elementary Arabic. Sophia Robertson-Lavelle '16
was named an American Chemical Society Scholar. Allyson Brown '18 was awarded a scholarship
by the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation and while working as a camp counselor this summer,
was also awarded the Rookie of the Year for teaching new subjects and dealing with tough
situations. Caroline Tucker '17 served as President of the Princeton Glee Club and Opera
Company. Valerie Wilson '18 received a $4600 grant to intern at an arts organization in Kampala,
Uganda over the summer; she also presented her writing seminar research at the Quin Morton '36
Freshman Research Conference. Kat Giordano '18 was elected the tour chair and events chair of the
Princeton University Wildcats. Clare Jeong '18 won Junior National Championships and competed
in Poland in the Junior World Championships for speed skating. Safeeyah Quereshi '16 was named
Arthur Liman Public Interest Undergraduate Summer Fellow , which funded her internship at the
Midwestern Office of the US Commission on Civil Rights; she is also a Center for the Study of
Religion Fellow and was awarded the Henrietta S. Treen Scholarship.

One of our goals was more active philanthropy work within the chapter. We participated in a
philanthropy event at Fruity Yogurt, a local bubble tea and froyo shop, where a percentage of all of
our orders went to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We also packed bags of cookies for
TASK, a local food kitchen, for Thanksgiving.

This year, we have faced some financial issues and some problems with member retention. We've
worked hard to ameliorate these problems, and our 2015 recruitment season was very successful
and has renewed the energy in our chapter.

Campus climate has been slightly tenser than usual with protests and discussions centered around
race and diversity, attracting nationwide media coverage. However, the chapter has been a refuge
of comfort, acceptance, and friends. Members have commented on the supportive, positive, and
welcoming environment they find in Kappa. For many, Kappa is a source of light in our campus
community. Our successful recruitment season has reinvigorated our members and brought us
closer together as a chapter. Princeton's rigorous schedule can be stressful but many sisters have
noted that Kappa is a destressing and refreshing aspect of their campus life.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in
your community?
Our chapter raises money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental, our national organizations. Within the community, our philanthropic commitments change as various organizations express their needs. This past year we have donated hours to TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen).

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
We chose to support TASK because they needed food and snacks for Thanksgiving. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to give back to our community, give thanks, and show our appreciation for our wonderful community.

==Highlights of 2016==

At convention, Zeta Phi Chapter received an honorable mention for Academic Excellence. In the
spring, the chapter took proactive steps regarding interpersonal and gender based violence by
participating in Princeton University's Public Safety self-defense class and bringing in speakers
from Womanspace. Zeta Phi faced low recruitment numbers, but worked to overcome this
challenge by placing a revitalized emphasis on sisterhood events, boosting morale and improving
member retention.

On December 11, 2016 Zeta Phi held a philanthropy event to stuff bears to
donate to Toys for Tots for the holidays. In the future our goals are to increase membership, to
continue to promote sisterhood by making our chapter a strong emotional and academic support
network and by getting to know our sisters better through more casual sisterhood events.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
As a result of increasingly open campus dialogues, the University has made several important
changes this fall.

On campus, some of the eating clubs have begun to have student read consent
pledges upon admittance to parties as part of an effort to address the problem of sexual assault
on college campuses. The University has moved to adopt gender inclusive housing options
beginning next spring. The University has also bent to popular demand and announced that final
exams will be held before winter break rather than in January in the near future.
In the words of our members, Zeta Phi chapter is warm, welcoming, open, smart, caring, laidback, diverse, inclusive, and generally a fabulous group of young women.

==Highlights of 2017==

One of our chapter goals for this year was to establish a strong pledge class of 2017 as part of our
continuous goal of building a stronger tradition of sisterhood and creating a more involved
chapte. To accomplish this, we dedicated a lot of energy and organization to Recruitment,
Continuous Open Bidding, and the New Member process. We made all new members feel
welcome by hosting study sessions and other activities where they could get to know each other
and the old members. We also elected Pledge Class Captains to continue the bonding within a
pledge class. All of the 2017 new members are active chapter members as of the writing of this
report.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
Campus is talking a lot about sexual misconduct, especially in light of national allegations
against high-profile figures like Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and more. At Princeton, several
graduate students have spoken out about harassment in their departments. According to the
third annual "We Speak" survey, which was distributed to all students in the spring of 2017 to
learn more about their knowledge and experiences of sexual misconduct at Princeton and their
awareness of the University’s policies, procedures, and resources, 1 in 5 undergraduate students
experienced sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence or
stalking during the 2016-2017 academic year.
In other news, University President Chris Eisgruber announced that a seventh residential college
would be built in the next 10 years as part of his initiative to expand Princeton's opportunities to
more students, especially students from underrepresented backgrounds. A bigger student body
would most likely increase the amount of women going through recruitment and diversify our
membership.
Zeta Phi has seen a surge in sisterhood in the past year. With our 42 new members, we surpassed
our expectations and welcomed an amazing and enthusiastic group of new sisters. Our members
characterize our chapter as chill, supportive, artsy, funny, kind, involved, accommodating,
respectful and considerate.
Our members believe that our chapter cares a lot about supporting each other in achieving our
goals, focusing on developing our academic, professional, and extracurricular interests. They
appreciate how their Kappa sisters are always willing to take time to support each another at
performances and competitions of all kinds. Members also believe that our chapter really values
philanthropy, from Kappa-related events/fundraisers to volunteering on our own time. Samone
Blair '18, Sonia Hashim '18, and Kristy Yeung '18 are Community Service Representatives for
their eating clubs on campus.
CR-08 Page 2 of 3 17.11.A
Our members see the purpose of our chapter as fostering a safe and welcoming space for women
of all backgrounds on campus, and standing for positivity and inclusivity under the banner of
sorority tradition. They view our chapter as an unconditional support system that encourages and
supports sisters in their diverse pursuits on and off campus, and alleviates some of the hardships
that can arise at a demanding environment like Princeton's.
Zeta Phi sisters have achieved considerable recognition for their skills and accomplishments. Kat
Giordano '18 is the President of the Princeton University Wildcats, Samone Blair '18 is the Music
Director and Claire Jones '18 is the Performance Chair. Meredith Hooper '20 is the Secretary of
Glee Club and Rosamond van Wingerden '20 is the Alumni Liason. Samone Blair '18 is the
President of the Princeton University Chapel Choir. Shriya Sekhsaria '18 won first place at Ivy
League Championships for archery. Maia Chamberlain '20 finished third place in NCAAs for
fencing. Kat Giordano '18 won the Princeton Silver Choice Award at Princeton Research Day
2017. Ashlyn Lackey '18 and Shriya Sekhsaria '18 entered their third year as TigerChallenge
Fellows. Claire Jones '18 is the Editor in Chief of the Princeton Historical Review.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in
your community?
In Spring of 2017, we did a Reading is Fudamental (RIF) event with the Princeton YMCA and we
also volunteered with them afterwards.
In Fall of 2017, we donated money to HomeWorks, an organization working to provide Trenton
girls with housing and academic enrichment.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
We chose to support the Princeton YMCA because they were a local organization who worked
with children. We chose to donate to HomeWorks because they are focused on young women
and the organization is founded and run by a Princeton student. This semester we also
volunteered with the Princeton Disability Awareness organization because a fellow Kappa,
Mayya Velitskaya '18, is president of the group.

The enthusiasm this year is exciting and there seems to be a renewed sense of purpose and spirit among the chapter as a whole.

'''Chapter Philanthropy:'''

Reading is fundamental is Kappa's national philanthropy.

We held meetings in lecture halls. This year, we moved our meeting to the campus art museum's
McCormick Hall to make the chapter feel more comfortable and homey.

==Highlights of 2020s==
(Information from chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

'''Housing:'''

'''Philanthropy:'''

'''Convention Awards:'''

------------------------

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Upsilon

2021-12-21T19:50:12Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Upsilon
|GreekSymbol= ZΥ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Upsilon.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1990|03|31}}
|College= [https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ Georgia Southern University]
|Location= Statesboro, GA
|Homepage= [https://georgiasouthern.kappa.org/ Zeta Upsilon Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Upsilon Media related to Zeta Upsilon Chapter]}}

'''Georgia Southern University established in 1906'''

'''Zeta Upsilon founded March 31, 1990 - 76 charter members'''

'''1,263 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

---------------

'''Outstanding Zeta Upsilon Alumnae''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Members'''

Kelcey Schmidt, Leadership Consultant 2011-2012;

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients'''

'''Additional Outstanding Zeta Upsilon Alumnae'''

Lynne Stanton Whinnem: Province Director of Chapters (2013-2016), Membership Specialist (2015-2021), Graduate Scholarship Reader (2019).

-----------

==History of Georgia Southern University==

On December 1, 1906, the newly appointed First District Board of Trustees convened in Savannah, Georgia. It was one of 11 such boards created for each congressional district by state legislation that year to build and oversee agricultural and mechanical schools for elementary and secondary students. The trustees listened to bids from local leaders who wanted the First District A&M School to be built in their communities and were willing to provide the funding to do so.

Among the bidders were 50 representatives from Bulloch County who had journeyed from Statesboro on a train called the “College Special.” Their bid of $125,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, including a donation of 300 acres for a campus, won handily. Early in 1908, just outside Statesboro (on a site called “Collegeboro”), the First District A&M School opened its doors with 15 students, four faculty members, and three buildings.

By 1920, the First District A&M School had 150 students and was fielding teams in football and baseball; the “Aggies” typically won more than half their games in any given season. But by 1921, a combination of rapidly growing debt and drastically declining enrollments almost spelled the end of the fledgling school.

Hard work and commitment prevailed, however, and by 1924, not only were the school’s finances and enrollments back on track, but the Georgia General Assembly upgraded the school to a two-year college for teacher training and retitled it the Georgia Normal School, one of three in the state. With this first change in the school’s status, “Principal” Ernest V. Hollis became “President” Hollis, Georgia Southern University’s first president. The following year, private donors funded the first scholarships for the campus.

In 1929, the General Assembly was persuaded that another major institutional promotion was due, and the Georgia Normal School became the South Georgia Teachers College via state legislation, converting the Statesboro campus from a two-year junior college to a four-year teachers college. The Aggies had receded, and the “Blue Tide” had rolled in, bringing programs not only in football and baseball, but also in basketball and track; basketball was played in a tobacco warehouse until the first gymnasium was built in 1931.

In 1939, South Georgia Teachers College became Georgia Teachers College by action of the Board of Regents. This new title represented less a change of status for the college and more a recognition by the Regents that the Statesboro campus was the statewide college for teacher education. Later, the “Blue Tide” receded, and “The Professors” became the official name of Georgia Teachers College’s intercollegiate teams.

When Eugene Talmadge was elected governor in 1940, he remembered, according to some observers, that the electoral district dominated by Georgia Teachers College had voted for his opponent. Within a year, the governor had initiated an effort to remove President Marvin Pittman on charges that included advocating “racial equality and teaching communism” (the latter conclusively disproved). President Pittman was fired, and as a direct result of his dismissal, all state-supported institutions of higher education in Georgia saw their regional academic accreditation withdrawn by what is now the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1942, a new governor was elected, and the Board of Regents was reorganized; a year later, Georgia Teachers College and the University System of Georgia were reaccredited, and Dr. Pittman was reinstated by the Board as president of Georgia Teachers College.

This incident, which received international media coverage at the time, was a formative and symbolic experience in the history of Georgia Southern University and a measure of its resilience in the defense of academic and institutional integrity, qualities that remain today.
In 1957, the college in Statesboro was authorized by the Board of Regents to offer its first graduate degree, a Master of Education. In some ways, that benchmark was the beginning of the ultimate evolution from a college to a university.

Only two years later, Georgia Teachers College was upgraded by the Board of Regents to Georgia Southern College, recognition by Georgia’s policymakers that the College was now a comprehensive institution with responsibilities well beyond the specialized mission of educating teachers. In 1960, the “Professors” was retired as the name of Georgia Southern’s intercollegiate teams, and by student vote, the “Eagles” was hatched.

The first fraternities and sororities were chartered on the campus in 1967 and 1968. In 1981, football was reintroduced to Georgia Southern after a hiatus of almost 40 years, inaugurating a new winning tradition of Division I intercollegiate sports.

Beginning in the early 1970s, a resurgent effort to acquire university status for the Statesboro campus emerged, culminating in 1989 with the Board of Regents’ vote to promote Georgia Southern College to Georgia Southern University.

When university status became effective on July 1, 1990, Georgia Southern received its sixth and final name. Georgia Southern University became the first new university in Georgia in 21 years and the third largest university in the state. In 1992, the Regents authorized Georgia Southern University to initiate its first doctoral program, the Doctorate of Education, which was the first doctorate to be offered by an institution located in South Georgia. In 2006, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classified Georgia Southern University as a doctoral/research institution.

==Colonization and Installation==

Zeta Upsilon Chapter was installed March 31, 1990, at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Georgia. Located near Savannah, Southern is a rapidly growing school with an enrollment of approximately 11,000 students. By fall, the college will have attained university status and will become the third largest state-supported school in Georgia.

Kappa Kappa Gamma is proud to join six other National Panhellenic groups on this campus: Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Omicron Pi, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu, and Zeta Tau Alpha.

The exciting festivities began on Thursday when the Installation Team became acquainted with the colony pledges. Zeta Upsilon was indeed honored to have three Fraternity Presidents participating in the installation: Kay Smith Larson, Washington, Fraternity President; Marian Klingbeil Williams, Missouri, immediate former President and now serving as Extension Chairman; and Jean Hess Wells, Georgia, President 1976-80 and Fraternity Ritualist. Other members of the Installation Team were: Carol Lash Armstrong, Miami (Ohio), Director of Membership and Council Officer for Zeta Upsilon; Frances Davis Roberts, Georgia, Mu North PDC; Ann Sappenfield Tuttle, William and Mary, Mu South PDC; Karen Anderson Gregorio, Arizona State, Mu North PDA; Karen Stevens Pinkney, Georgia, Mu South PDA; Martha Hay Streibig, Indiana, Coordinator of Chapter Development; Heather Hartmann, Massachusetts, Chapter Consultant; Linda Finnegan, Washington State, Sheri Gosliner, UCLA, Laura Hedges, Kansas, and Denise Rugani, UC Davis, Traveling Consultants.

Volunteering assistance during their spring breaks were Chapter Consultants Teresa Cox, South Carolina, CC at North Texas (who will be the new Zeta Upsilon CC for 1990-91), and Marnie O'Brien, Denison, CC at Washington and Lee.

In attendance were Mu Province Notables: Fraternity Treasurer Susannah Erck Howard, Florida State; former Council member Carol Engels Harmon, Miami (Ohio); and former Mu Province Officers Loraine Heaton Livesay, St. Lawrence, and Ann Treadway Henry, Mississippi.

Big sisters to the colony were members of the four Mu North chapters: Clemson, Emory, Georgia, and South Carolina. All chapters in Mu South - Florida, Florida State, Miami, and Rollins - also joined the festivities.

The Fireside Service was held on Friday evening, followed by a reception at which many lovely gifts were presented from Kappa alumnae groups, chapters, and friends.

Initiation for 75 members was held Saturday morning. In the afternoon Zeta Upsilon was honored at a reception given by the Fraternity and attended by more than 300 parents, relatives, friends, university administrators, and representatives of other campus Greek organizations.

At the Installation Banquet the Atlanta Alumnae Association presented the Fraternity with a lovely badge to be worn by Zeta Upsilon Chapter Presidents. The closing ritual ended the banquet and provided a perfect finish to a wonderful weekend and exciting beginning of Kappa's 121st active chapter - welcome, Zeta Upsilon! The Key, Fall, 1990

'''Chapter Traditions'''

Many events and activities were organized to celebrate our connection to one another. These activities were New Member retreats, Kappa Kampout, Big/little week, and Senior Picnic. The chapter was a strong supporter of the Eagles football team. The members loved to get dressed up in GSU gear and go to a variety of tailgates. At the games members enjoyed sitting together and rooting on the team as well as showing off Kappa pride with t-shirts and matching pins designed for football season.

Georgia Southern football has always been a favorite tradition for students, alumnae, parents and faculty. Game days began early with the loud chanting of "GEORGIA"... "SOUTHERN"... that can be heard across town. The Homecoming game is one of Kappa's favorite games of the football season! To celebrate, Kappa pairs up with a fraternity and participates in various Homecoming events in the week leading up to the game. On the game day Alum are invited to a quick visitation at the House before heading over to Paulson Stadium to watch the game!

Parents Weekend occurred each year in early October, and gave parents a chance to visit their daughters, attend an Eagles football game, and see what Kappa is all about! During Parents Weekend a tailgate was held at Kappa house where parents and daughters could enjoy getting to know other families while eating hot dogs and hamburgers.

Every year, Kappa hosted Mother-Daughter day. Kappas and their moms enjoyed a beautiful tea and pottery event hosted at the house. Mother-Daughter day is a great chance for Mothers to spend a fun day with their daughters as well as meet other Kappa moms.

==Highlights of the 1990s==

There are no chapter history reports in the chapter’s current archives from this time period except for the 1992-1993 report. In this report, the chapter claimed that the year was full of prosperity. The chapter had a chapter consultant that year, Jackie Moore, and felt after her term that their chapter had finally become established on campus. One Kappa won the "Greek Woman of the Year" Award in 1999.

'''Philanthropy:'''

In 1990, the chapter had a Halloween philanthropy at a local nursing home. The first annual Kappa Karnival was held in the spring of 1991 to benefit a group of handicapped adults. Kappa Karnvial lasted until 1993. In the fall of 1992, the chapter served a Thanksgiving dinner to the elderly through Concerted Services. In the spring of 1993, the philanthropy committee organized a large donation for “High Hope”.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

Gracious Living Award, Winner- Unhoused (1994-1996);
Chapter/AB Relations Award, Honorable Mention (1994-1996);
Fraternity Appreciation Award, Honorable Mention (1994-1996)

==A New Millennium - Highlights of 2000-2010==

'''Housing:'''

In the fall of 2000, Zeta Upsilon held a groundbreaking ceremony for the house on Greek Row. In the fall of 2002, the house was completed and the chapter held a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony. The two-story house accommodated 15 live-in members, the housemother and a commercial kitchen. The inaugural live-in class was in the fall of 2002.

Built in 2001, the Zeta Upsilon chapter house was the newest house on Greek Row at Georgia Southern University and has space for 15 live-in women. The house offers many things including a spacious chapter room for meetings and Tuesday night dinners, a study, guest room, back patio, double front porch, and comfy parlor for late night movie marathons. While the house provided a place to live, it means so much more to its members. While living in the house a member would develop life-long friendships, memories, and a permanent connection to Kappa. It wasn’t uncommon for women to describe their experience living at the Kappa House as “the best time of their lives.”

After being suspended by the Fraternity in 2004, Zeta Upsilon was reinstated to Georgia Southern’s campus in the fall of 2006. The Fraternity reestablished Zeta Upsilon chapter at Georgia Southern University. The Fraternity’s membership team, led by Elizabeth Bailey, Mississippi, Mu Province Director of Chapters and Mary Tileston Wagner, San Diego, Mu Province Director of Alumnae found women with leadership skills to get the chapter off to a bright new start. They looked for potential members on campus who were leaders within their communities who would carry on Kappa’s Tradition of Leadership. The challenges the women faced included: coming back to campus, finding respect among all members (officers and actives), chapter involvement, and how to have a positive attitude within Zeta Upsilon as actives.

In 2007, Georgia Southern was continued to grow rapidly and expanded the campus. There were many building construction projects such a brand new state of the art library and art building. During this period, Zeta Upsilon struggled with chapter efficiency and worked hard to pull it up its grade point to third on campus.

In spring of 2008, Zeta Upsilon had the second hightest G.P.A amongst the Panhellenic Association, and the spring pledge class had the highest New Member G.P.A.. In the fall two chapter women won Greek Woman of the Year and the GSU Greek Housing Scholarship which were both presented by the Panhellenic Association. On campus that year, Georgia Southern added a brand new recreational activities center. The chapter continued to grow in numbers as well as in their recognition on campus. Some challenges that Zeta Upsilon faced in 2008 was getting its name out on campus, working on grades, and participation by the chapter members.

In 2009, the chapter received the four-star-chapter award on the campus’ Five Star Chapter program. In 2009, the chapter faced challenges such as facing stereotypes on campus, becoming more active on campus, and improving chapter G.P.A..

In 2010, the chapter’s homecoming candidate was voted top four and made Homecoming Court. Zeta Upsilon, again, received four- star-chapter in the campus’ Five Star Chapter program. One of the actives won the Greek Merit Scholarship by the Panhellenic Association.

'''Philanthropy:'''

In the spring of 2000, the chapter visited local nursing homes and delivered handmade flowerpots made during Recruitment. A car-wash was held in the spring of 2000. That fall, Zeta Upsilon held a softball tournament for charity called “Kappa Klassic”.

In 2003, Zeta Upsilon started “Irises on the Green” putt-putt tournament benefiting Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

In 2008, the chapter held it’s first “Low Country Boil” that benefited Safe Haven women’s shelter. Zeta Upsilon organized a “Battle in the Boro” paintball tournament and the proceeds benefited the Savannah, Georgia, Imperial Sugar Refinery Victims. In the spring of that year, Books and Bunnies was held by the chapter. It was an Easter egg hunt for local children.

In the spring of 2009, Zeta Upsilon held it’s second annual “Battle in the Boro”. This year the proceeds benefited the local Boys and Girls Club of America and the Kappa Foundation. That fall, the women also held their second annual “Low Country Boil” and again benefited Safe Haven women’s shelter.

In 2010, the chapter sold sorority bracelets to the other Panhellenic Association organizations on campus in support of the Kappa Foundation. That fall, the third annual “Low Country Boil” was held. It benefited Safe Haven and the Kappa Foundation.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

Gracious Living Award, Honorable Mention (1998-2000);
Most Improved Scholarship (2000-2002)

==Highlights of 2011 – 2019==

==Highlights of 2011==
This past year was an incredible year for Zeta Upsilon. We added five lovely ladies in the spring to our chapter with a Dream Girls themed bid day. We collected recipes from chapter members to create a Kappa Cookbook for our Spring Philanthropy, which we sold to family, friends, and alumna. We also had a Mother Daughter tea in the Spring where sisters and their mothers painted pottery and enjoyed each others company. We closed out our spring semester with formal in Sylvania, GA at Shannon Vineyards. We had a wonderful recruitment once we returned from summer break where we welcomed the largest pledge class that Zeta Upsilon has ever seen. We held Big/Little week activities leading up to our reveal after which many of the new families went out for the latest craze of frozen yogurt.

In October, we held our fourth annual Low Country Boil with Sigma Chi to raise money for both of our philanthropies. Sisters also attended other Greek philanthropy events such as Alpha Delta Pi’s Burgers and Fries. Initiation was very successful and our newly initiated members were very excited about finally being sisters. Our founder’s day went off without a hitch with many alumnae in attendance for brunch and ritual. We went to homecoming this year with Sigma Phi Epsilon and many of our sisters were able to participate in the activities sponsored by Georgia Southern University. Our nominee for Homecoming Queen was Hayden Harrison and every member was so proud of how far she went! We concluded the semester by receiving a five star standing in the Five Star Chapter program put on by our Panhellenic Association. Our chapter was extremely proud that all our hard work paid when we received five star and how much that we have grown as a chapter.

'''Campus:''' Georgia Southern University is continuing to become one of the largest universities in the state of Georgia and is still growing. Our football team, the Georgia Southern Eagles, made it all the way to the semi-finals in the NCAA. Our campus has also invited another sorority to colonize on our campus this spring or next fall. The two sororities who have applied are Delta Phi Epsilon and Alpha Gamma Delta. With this new addition, our campus Greek life will experience growth. Even with this new addition there are so many different organizations on campus that every student can become involved in.

'''Chapter:''' Zeta Upsilon has continued to thrive in 2011. As a chapter we have become stronger and have a higher morale than in years past. In the fall, we welcomed the largest pledge class ever. Our Public Relations chair has done a wonderful job in getting our chapter involved on campus and she made a wonderful Zeta Upsilon website. As a chapter, we are becoming more recognized and involved with the other Greek organizations on campus. Aside from hosting our own philanthropy events, we attended other organizations on campus. Every semester we are growing towards reaching chapter total of 125, and hopefully will see this number reached very soon. Zeta Upsilon is continuing to grow and become more successful as a chapter and every member is proud to be a part of something so special.

Zeta Upsilon is still trying to overcome being the new chapter on campus and hopefully with the arrival of a new sorority it will help that transition more smoothly for both of us. Even though we have seen our chapter receive more recognition on campus we are still struggling with getting more and more actives to attend events. The same group of people continually are involved in all the activities and we are trying to motivate more members to get involved. To motivate members to come to more events we kept with the Sunshine Points system where the top three people with the most points received gift cards. The sisters really liked this method and more members showed up to events. We are still working on raising chapter morale with the newer pledge class with sisterhood events such as bunco nights, movie nights, family nights, etc. We also worked with Leadership Consultants in the beginning of the fall semester to help build our chapter morale as well. The results from recruitment showed how hard our chapter worked and really helped raise our spirits. As a chapter, we continue to increase our G.P.A. and are still utilizing our study hours with prizes for the three people who attended the most study hours. We all left 2011 behind us and are extremely excited for what 2012 holds for Zeta Upsilon.

==Highlights of 2012==
Our philanthropy in the past year has been good, but can be improved. Last spring we did Laughter and Lupis which was an event at Bliss Berry where 10% of the proceeds went to Walk for Lupus in Atlanta. This was in support of one of our sisters, Michaela Norman, who was diagnosed with Lupus. As always, we took part in other sororities and fraternities philanthropy events such as Sigma Chi's "Derby Days", Alpha Delta Pi's "Burgers and Fries", Zeta Tau Alpha's "Pack the House in Pink" . In the fall, we had our major event which is a Low Country Boil with Sigma Chi. This raised 3,726 dollars for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, RIF, and Children's Miracle Network.

We also volunteered at the Statesboro mall by giving away books and reading to children. Through out the year, we do Back Pack buddies where every month the chapter collects a certain item such as peanut butter to donate to local school children. Dealing with local and natural disasters, we created a t shirt for Hurricane Sandy victims and also sent letters to Kappa sisters affected by the Sandy Hook Shooting. We received the Five star Chapter award and Philanthhropy award from Greek life in 2012.

We were given the Heritage Award, House Board Advisory Award, and the Gracious Living Award at Mu Province.

As a chapter we love our special events and have attended many Greek Life Speakers, had various speakers come to our chapter, socials, and sisterhood events. During the fall we initiated 58 girls and are about to initiate one more of our new members at the University of South Carolina.

This year we were chosen to be the trial chapter for LeadToday and had the amazing opportunity to learn from them. From that, we have made new chapter goals and are striving to work towards them. Some of these goals include increasing involvement, improving grades, and having better communication.

==Highlights of 2013==

In Spring 2013, Zeta Upsilon started their semester off with the first ever Kappa Kappa Gamma LeadToday program in January. Kappas from headquarters gave us an unforgettable experience and opportunity to help improve our chapter. The chapter set goals to help us achieve better academic accomplishments and improve the involvement throughout the chapter. In February, we did our annual “Kappa Kisses” across campus during the week of Valentine’s day, which is where we pass out cups of Hershey kisses to promote positive PR on campus. We also had our Kappa Krush date night at Gnats Landing, a social with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and attended Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha’s “Pack the House in Pink” event during a basketball game during February. In March, we participated in SAE’s philanthropy event, Paddy Murphy, as well as Delta Phi Epsilon’s Color Run. During March, we also held a successful Mother’s weekend filled with bowling and dinner. During April, we had a successful formal in the outskirts of Statesboro. Also during April, we won Sigma Chi’s philanthropy event, Derby Days, for the first time ever which is a huge accomplishment as we helped them raised hundreds of dollars towards their philanthropy. We also co-hosted a 5K with Enactus in Statesboro called “5K to “Cap” Alzheimer’s” where participants wore all sorts of crazy and funky hats during their run.

During Fall 2013, our recruitment chair, Holly Ryan, held 2 weeks of successful recruitment workshops to help us achieve handing out 60 bids to potential new members in August. The bid day theme was NFL where we celebrated the new Kappas with a party at a local hotel. The new members had a popular new member retreat a Tybee Island during the day and a sleepover at the Kappa house for the night. In September, we hosted our annual Low Country Boil with Sigma Chi and were able to raise around $4000 for the Kappa Foundation and the Huntsmen Cancer Foundation. We also sent a member to Leadership Academy in September in Ohio and she had a great time getting to know sisters from all across that nation.

Zeta Upsilon initiated 55 members on October 12, 2013 with many fun I-Week activities the week before including cookie decorating, frozen yogurt, and a trip to the local corn maze. Also in October, we held our awesome semi-formal at 40 East Grill. Throughout the semester, we were excited to have had socials with the men of Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, and an extremely successful homecoming week with Delta Tau Delta. During homecoming week, we were able to donate hundreds of items towards the local food bank as well as have over 20 members donate blood that week. During the same week, our step team won 2nd place in the annual Doodah/Step competition held by Georgia Southern.

After extreme campaigning that week for our queen candidate, Jordan Conway, she was placed on homecoming court, which was a true honor for Jordan and Kappa Kappa Gamma. In November, we were lucky enough to win the 5-Star chapter award at Georgia Southern’s Greek Life Awards, which is the highest level of achievement for a chapter; we were able to earn that because of our involvement on campus, our philanthropy efforts, academics, and other categories. At the Greek Life Awards, Jordan Conway was also named “Greek Woman of the Year.” In November, we also held Parent’s Weekend with dinner at Van Gogh’s and a breakfast tailgate on Saturday before the football game. In December, we held our Tacky Christmas date night. Also in December, we were able to install the new council for the 2014 year.

Overall, we participated in many philanthropy events across town and improved our relations with other organizations in Greek life. Our grades still need improvement but we are on our way to a successful year with new ideas from the new chapter council.

In 2013, chapter total for sororities was increased from 125 to 171. Quota for fall formal recruitment was 59 and we gave out 60 bids. We have made many great strides throughout this past year and we are looking forward to constantly improving our chapter and maintaining the “nicest girls on row” reputation. Georgia Southern had around 22,000 students with 11% in Greek life.

One major change to our campus this year was the adding of a new sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon. This past fall, Georgia Southern had a large growth of students which in turn helped Kappa to have the biggest pledge class on row. Recruitment made major changes by deciding to change skit day to sisterhood day, and added more restrictive rules. At the end of the first semester, we elected new officers and also got a new Director Of Greek life. Over the past year our chapter has become more involved and determined to better our sorority.

==Highlights of 2014==

In spring 2014, the chapter set goals to help us achieve better academic accomplishments and improve involvement throughout the chapter. In February, we held our annual “Kappa Kisses” across campus during the week of Valentine’s Day, which is where we pass out cups of Hershey’s kisses to promote positive PR on campus. We also had Kappa Krush date night at South City, and attended Phi Mu’s and Zeta Tau Alpha’s “Pack the House in Pink” event during a basketball game in February. In March, we participated in SAE’s philanthropy event, Paddy Murphy. During April, we had a successful formal at the Hyatt on River Street in Savannah. Also during April, we participated in Sigma Chi’s philanthropy, Derby Days, helping raise hundreds of dollars towards their philanthropy. We also participated in Relay For Life in which we raised $4,125, the most raised by any Greek and non-Greek organization. Also, members of Kappa were awarded Panhellenic Merritt Scholarship and Panhellenic Southern Greek Housing Scholarship. In June, the President and Vice President attended General Convention where we received an honorable mention for membership and we also became part of the Adelphae Society for donating over $10,000 to Kappa’s Foundation since ZY’s founding.

During fall 2014, our Recruitment Chairman, Christian Lienmiller, held two weeks of successful recruitment workshops to help us achieve handing out 68 bids to potential new members in August. The bid day theme was “Destination Kappa” where we celebrated the new Kappas with a celebration located at the house. The new members went to St. Simons, where they stayed at Epworth By the Sea. In September, we hosted our annual Low Country Boil with Sigma Chi and were able to raise money for the Kappa Foundation and the Huntsmen Cancer Foundation. Zeta Upsilon initiated 66 members on October 11, 2014, with many fun I-Week activities the week before including cookie decorating, movie night, and a trip to the local corn maze. We participated in Trick or Treat on Greek Street, where we handed out candy to kids from the Statesboro community. Also in October, we held our semi-formal at 40 East Grill. We celebrated Founders Day at the house with a barbeque and had alumnae attend. With the help of an alumna, trips were taken to Memorial Hospital where groups of Kappa’s entertained and read to children there. Throughout the semester, we were excited to have had socials with the men of Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, and an extremely successful homecoming week with Pi Kappa Alpha. During homecoming week, our step team won second place in the annual Doodah/Step competition held by Georgia Southern. At the end of the week Kappa Kappa Gamma received first place overall. In November, we were lucky enough to win the 5-Star chapter award at Georgia Southern’s Greek Life Awards, which is the highest level of achievement for a chapter; we were able to earn that because of our involvement on campus, our philanthropy efforts, academics, and other categories. In November, we also held Parents Weekend with barbeque at the Kappa house before the football game and trivia at Retrievers. A responsible drinking program was held during November which was held by our President who is Serve Safe Alcohol Certified. In December, we held our Tacky Christmas date night. Also in December, we were able to install the new council for the 2015 year.

In addition to the Advisory Board, a committee was formed to plan the 25th anniversary of Zeta Upsilon which will be held April 24-26, 2015.

Our House Board made many updates this year, including beautiful new wooden doors, a redecorated parlor, and converted one bedroom into an upstairs lounge with a T.V. There are currently 188 members of Zeta Upsilon with 11 living in the house. Currently we are not able to fit into the chapter room comfortably for meetings so House Board has begun exploring opportunities to expand the house or build an addition.

Overall, we participated in many philanthropy events across town and improved our relations with other organizations in Greek life. Our grades still need improvement but we are on our way to a successful year with new ideas from the new chapter council.

In 2014, chapter total for sororities was increased from 171 to 188. Quota for fall formal recruitment was 66 and we gave out 66 bids. We have made many great strides throughout this past year and we are looking forward to constantly improving our chapter and maintaining the “nicest girls on row” reputation. Georgia Southern had around 22,000 students with 11% in Greek life.

==Highlights of 2015==
In spring 2015, we held spring rush and added 12 amazing new members to our chapter. In February, we held our annual “Kappa Kisses” across campus during the week of Valentine’s Day, which is where we pass out cups of Hershey’s kisses to promote positive PR on campus. We also had our Kappa Krush date night at a local Winery. Parents were invited to attend our Parents weekend, where they could attend a Georgia Southern baseball game and have brunch at the Kappa house.

In March, we participated SAE’s philanthropy event, Paddy Murphy. We helped raise hundreds of dollars throughout the week and won in the end. March 31, was the 25th anniversary of Zeta Upsilon chapter. During April, we invited over 150 alumnae to come celebrate 25 years of Zeta Upsilon with a weekend packed full of events. Our formal was held at the Mackey House Barn in Savannah. Also during April, we participated in Sigma Chi’s philanthropy, Derby Days. We also participated in Relay For Life in which we raised $11,000, the most raised by any Greek and non-Greek organization. At the end of April, Georgia Southern community suffered a tragic loss of 5 nurse’s students. We opened our Barbeque Blues event to all Georgia southern students, offering free barbecue and comfort to those who needed it.

During fall 2014, our Recruitment Chairman, Claire Dwyer, ran a successful recruitment where we handed out 74 bids to potential new members in August. The bid day theme was Madri Gras, with a celebration located at the house. Zeta Upsilon initiated 72 members on October 10, 2015, with many fun I-Week activities the week before. Also in October, we held our semi-formal at a local winery. Our chapter participated in an Aspen Heights Photo competition, where they would donate $1,000 to a foundation of our choice. We won the local competition and were entered into the national competition. Our chapter won both local and national levels of the competition. From the Aspen Heights competitions we won a total of $6,000 which will be put towards funding our GIRLS Academy event. At the end of October we held our annual “Trick or Treat on Greek Street” where locals from Statesboro could bring their kids to get candy and play games. Throughout the semester, we were excited to have had socials with the men of Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, and an extremely successful homecoming week with Sigma Nu. In November, we were lucky enough to win the 5-Star chapter award at Georgia Southern’s Greek Life Awards, which is the highest level of achievement for a chapter; we were able to earn that because of our involvement on campus, our philanthropy efforts, academics, and other categories. In December, we held our Tacky Christmas date night. Also in December, we were able to install the new council for the 2016 year.

Overall, we participated in many philanthropy events across town and improved our relations with other organizations in Greek life. Our grades still need improvement but we did move up in our GPA ranking. We are on our way to a successful year with new ideas from the new chapter council. One major change to out campus is the addition of another sorority, Chi Omega.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

The past few years we have participated in Relay for Life on our local campus. We donate books to local schools and libraries. We also go to these schools and libraries to have Reading is Key events. Within the past year we went to Savannahs Memorial Hospital to volunteer.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

Relay for Life became very important to our chapter, last year one of our active members found out she has cancer and has been battling it since. We choose to volunteer at Savannahs Memorial Hospital because they are alumnae that help coordinate the volunteer days and because of the short distance.

==Highlights of 2016==

The past year got off to a great start with our annual Kappa Krush date night at South City. During the week of Valentine’s Day, we held our annual “Kappa Kisses” event where we handed out cups filled with Hershey’s Kisses on campus to promote good PR. This was followed by our first time hosting GIRLS Academy in conjunction with William James Middle School in Statesboro. In March, we participated in SAE’s philanthropy event, Paddy Murphy, winning first place and $500 toward our philanthropy.

April was an exciting month because we hosted a formal at Savannah Quarters Country Club and held Parents Weekend with dinner at Meinhart Winery on a Saturday night and a Georgia Southern baseball game on Sunday. We also hosted a Reading Is Key event with reading and coloring activities at the local Books A Million store. We finished the semester with a sisterhood event at Sk8 City, a roller rink in Pooler, Georgia, which was an exciting and entertaining time as we watched each other attempt to skate the afternoon away.

Despite our busy schedules throughout the year, we made ample time to study and attend class, finishing the semester with a chapter GPA average of 3.11. This GPA was an improvement as we moved up from sixth to fifth place in grades, and the grade differential between organizations was very minimal.

In July, Allison McInerney, Chapter President and Abby Layfield, Vice President-Standards, attended Kappa’s General Convention in San Diego, California. While at Convention, Zeta Upsilon received an Honorable Mention for Philanthropy, as well as the Recruitment Award for our Panhellenic size! As the summer continued, our Membership Chairman, Abby Stegall, prepared for the upcoming Recruitment with recruitment workshops and sisterhood events, such as donut decorating and an afternoon to ourselves at Splash In the ‘Boro Waterpark.

Before we knew it, August arrived and formal Recruitment was in full swing. A major change to our campus was that Chi Omega was added as a Panhellenic sorority. The long days of singing, clapping and icebreakers finally paid off when we welcomed 73 new members home to Kappa on Bid Day and showed them just how “Wild About Kappa” we are. In September, we hosted our first annual Kappa Kon Queso philanthropy event at the Kappa house, where we sold bowls of nachos and queso cheese to raise money for the next GIRLS Academy we plan to host in fall 2017. We were excited to raise $3,000 at our first Kappa Kon Queso event and look forward to making it an annual event.

In normal Georgia Southern fashion, we cheered on the Eagles each game day. We were able to have parents and families join us one Saturday for another Parents Weekend in September. Parents were able to grab a bite to eat while listening to a local Statesboro band before heading to Paulson Stadium to root the eagles on to victory against Louisiana-Monroe. At the end of September, our new members bonded on Tybee Island for their New Member Retreat.

On October 13, we celebrated Founders Day by hosting a formal dinner at our house for our chapter members and alumnae. Originally, Initiation was scheduled of the beginning of October, but because of Hurricane Matthew, school was canceled and therefore we postponed Initiation until the end of the month. Fortunately, the Kappa house did not sustain any damage from the hurricane. Next, we participated in Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street, hosted for local children, as well as Downtown Statesboro’s Scare on the Square, a city-wide Halloween event. And finally, after months of learning Kappa’s values and history, Angelica Concepcion, our New Member Chairman, presented the new members to the chapter for Initiation on October 28 and 29, 2016.

November started out strong with campaigning for our Homecoming queen candidate, Natalie Morris. During Georgia Southern’s annual Greek Life awards, we took home the PHA Outstanding Leadership award as well as the 5-Star chapter award, which is the highest level of achievement for a chapter based on involvement on campus, philanthropy efforts, academics and more. Leadership Consultant Claire Kozel returned in November for a second visit and sisters enjoyed meals with her as well as doing online workout videos. After Claire left we held officer elections for the 2017-2018 Chapter Council and our new officers were installed at the end of November, with Megan Caudell installed as Chapter President. Also in November we held an appreciation week for our longtime house director, Ms. Fraser. This past year was amazing and exciting for Zeta Upsilon, and it is truly shocking how fast the time went by. We look forward to the upcoming semesters, especially the fall of 2017 when our house expansion will finally be complete! In December 2016, the live-in girls moved out so that construction of the remodel and addition can begin the day after the semester ends. Zeta Upsilon’s House Board is continuing to work on a fundraising campaign to complete this remodel that will enlarge our chapter room to accommodate our growing chapter. This year we soared well past 200 members and expect another large class in the fall of 2017.

On behalf of the members of Zeta Upsilon, we would like to personally thank all of the alumnae who have helped make this chapter grow and become the amazing home it is today for so many women. We hope you continue with us in the upcoming years on this journey of friendship, scholarship and leadership that we call Kappa.

'''Philanthropy'''

This year, as a chapter, we raised money for and donated hours to; Reading is Fundamental, GIRLS Academy at William James Middle School, Relay for Life, Backpack Buddies, and Scare on the Square. We choose to support RIF in our community because Bulloch County has many impoverished communities which leads to a decline in literacy rates. GIRLS Academy is important to our chapter because we have each encountered the struggles of being a woman and we are fond on empowering womanhood and helping young girls understand they can achieve anything one may set their mind too. Relay for Life is a philanthropy near and dear to our chapter because one of our sisters was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. Everyone knows someone that has been affected in some form or fashion and coming together for the cause unifies the Georgia Southern community. We choose to donate goods to backpack buddies each month because of the poverty levels in Statesboro. Some children leave school Friday and do not have another meal until Monday morning at school. It is important to us to reach out and help our community in whichever ways we can. Scare on the square was an event to celebrate halloween in Bulloch County. We chose to volunteer and assist in any way we could during the event to become more involved in the community and with other organizations.

==Highlights of 2017==

In the Spring of 2017, we started the semester off slightly different than normal. The Zeta Upsilon’s chapter house started construction for the expansion in January. It was quite the adjustment for the chapter. We did not get to have our weekly Tuesday night dinners and chapter was held in the Education Building on campus. But, we overcame that difficulty. We also held our annual Back to School Bash date night at South City in the month of January. In February, we stayed very busy. We held our annual, “Kappa Kisses”, across campus during the week of Valentine’s Day, which is where we pass out cups of Hershey’s kisses to promote positive public relations on campus. We also held our annual Valentine’s Day date night, Kappa Krush, at the Hall on Vine. Our philanthropy chairman, Jeanne Whitley, held a very successful Reading is Fundamental event at the downtown Statesboro library. She had snacks, raffles, games, and books for the children to participate in. Jeanne also coordinated a spirit night at Mellow Mushroom in the month of February, where a certain percentage of all sales were donated to GIRLS Academy. In the month of February, we had a visit from leadership consultant, Claire Kozel, and Mu district director, Barb Goettelman. During the visit, Zeta Upsilon was placed on a temporary focus letter. The focus letter was set in place to help guide the advisors, chapter council, and chapter members in the right direction moving forward. Each individual chapter council member had her own requirements involving the focus letter. In the month of March, our parents were invited to attend our Parent’s weekend. Where they could attend a dinner at South City and have brunch at Sweet Heart Circle. We held a Rhyme Without Reason date night, which was a lot of fun. We participated in Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s annual philanthropy event, Paddy Murphy. We helped raised hundreds of dollars throughout the week and won 2nd place at the end of the week. Our philanthropy chairman, Jeanne, planned a spirit night at Three Tree Coffee during the month of March, where the proceeds went to the upcoming GIRLS Academy. Our corresponding secretary, Michaela O’Larry, did a wonderful job promoting International Badge Day during the month of March. Also, our Vice President of Academics, Erin Moore, hosted the academic banquet, which recognized the chapter member’s academic success and the chapter members who received a 4.0 GPA were awarded with a pearl to go on her badge. During the month of April, our chapter stayed busy. Our social chairman and risk management chairman, Jacqueline Ferree and Julia Ling, planned a beautiful formal at the Richmond Hill Civic Center in Richmondhill, Georgia. We participated in Georgia Southern University’s annual Greek Week. During the week, different chapters of Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and Panhellenic Association are paired together to compete in different activities. Kappa Kappa Gamma was paired with Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Sigma Phi, and Kappa Alpha Psi. Our philanthropy chairman, Jeanne, stayed busy and hosted spirit nights at Gnat’s Landing and El Jalapeño, which benefitted Relay for Life. The chapter participated in Statesboro’s Relay for Life in the month of April, as well. We had a visit from the leadership consultant Kendall Michaud. During Kendall’s visit, our chapter held the first ever Kappa Karaoke philanthropy event at the Hall on Vine, which benefitted GIRLS Academy. Individuals, who purchased a ticket, were allowed to enter the karaoke contest and sing in front of a panel of judges and at the end of the evening the winner was announced, even Kendall got on stage with our Vice President of Organization, Lindsay Futch, and sang a song. In the month of April, we participated in Sigma Chi’s annual philanthropy event, Derby Days, where thousands of dollars were raised to benefit the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Our Vice President of Standards, Olivia Currie, planned the first ever Kappa Karnival sisterhood event. She had blowups, cotton candy, popcorn, and many other fun activities. Several of our chapter members participated in Phi Beta Sigma’s, Wiggle like a Sigma, which was a step competition that promoted their organization. Our Education Chairman, Kaylee Moody, planned a brunch at the Hall on Vine for the graduating seniors to educate the women on what it means to become an alumna of Kappa Kappa Gamma. During the spring semester, we held socials with the brothers of Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Kappa Sigma.

[[File:ZY Chapter Room.png|thumb|Zeta Upsilon House Renovation New Chapter Room]]

To kick off the Fall 2017 semester, our newly renovated house was reopened. Our Membership Chairman, Aubrey Garrido, planned a successful all member workweek prior to the week of recruitment. During that week, members practiced songs and recruiting techniques. We were lucky enough to have two leadership consultants with us, Natalie Kinder and Catie Ross. Our New Member Chairman, Rachel Clardy, planned an awesome Bid Day. The theme was, “Old and New, Blue and Blue Looks Good on You”, where chapter members were decked out in all blue. We welcomed 56 new members into our chapter on Bid Day. Chapter Member Amanda Haney pledged Kappa this past Fall and her mother Terri Bohmer Haney was a charter member for Zeta Upsilon. Chi Omega returned to our campus and participated in Recruitment for the first time in many years.

The following weekend the New Member Chairman, Rachel, hosted the New Member Retreat at the WW Mann Center in Statesboro. During the month of August, we held our annual Back to School Bash at Eagle’s Creek Brewery. Vice President of Standards, Olivia Currie, planned a Planner Party sisterhood and a “Donut You Want to be a Kappa” sisterhood in the month of August. Philanthropy Chairman, Jeanne Whitley, hosted a spirit night at Mellow Mushroom, which benefitted GIRLS Academy during the month of August, as well. The month of September was an extra busy month for ZY. The second week in September, Georgia Southern University students were encouraged to evacuate due to Hurricane Irma. We school was cancelled for 6 days. Once we returned, our Vice President of Standards Chairman, Olivia, planned a, Beauty and the Beast, movie night at the house, where we had a popcorn bar. She also planned a Tie-Dye sisterhood, where each chapter member was able to tie-dye a Kappa shirt. The Philanthropy Chairman, Jeanne, planned a spirit night at Chick-Fil-A and hosted our second annual Kappa Con Queso. Kappa Con Queso benefitted GIRLS Academy and we had a nacho bar, music, and games. During the month of October, leadership consultant, Natalie Kinder, returned to ZY for Inspiration Week. Chapter Marshal, Macy Collins, planned an exciting Inspiration Week, which included family pictures and a movie night at the local movie theater, where we saw, Home Again. Inspiration Week was followed by Fireside on Friday night and initiation on Saturday morning. Chapter President, Megan Caudell, did a beautiful job speaking at initiation. ZY was so excited to welcome the 56 new members as our official sisters.

House chairman, Tori Hiles, planned a beautiful House Dedication ceremony, where we had a ribbon cutting and snacks. ZY alumni were invited to join us for the ceremony. House Board President, Ellen Wooditch, and House Board Treasurer, Emily Cannon, worked countless hours making sure ZY’s new home was perfect. In the study, which is where the house girls spend most of their time, there are pictures of the ZY Kappas from the early 1990s displayed on the wall.

[[File:ZY Photo Display.png|thumb|Zeta Upsilon House Renovation Wall Display]]

The week of homecoming was an exciting week during the month of October. The brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon asked us to homecoming. New Member Chairman, Rachel, was ZY’s homecoming candidate. The week was full of lots of different homecoming activities and traditions. Panhellenic Delegate, Elizabeth Young, planned a successful Circle of Sisterhood with all 7 of the other Panhellenic Association organizations on campus during the month of October, as well as Trick or Treat on Greek Street. Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street is an annual Halloween event held on Greek Row where Georgia Southern University’s faculty and Statesboro local residents are able to bring their children to do fun Halloween activities at each sorority and fraternity house.

During the month of October, Education Chairman, Kaylee, planned a lovely Founders Day ceremony at the Kappa house, where we had Olive Garden and celebrated the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Vice President of Standards, Olivia, held the most successful sisterhood of the semester. She coordinated with Miss. America 2017, Savvy Shields, who is a Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Arkansas, Nu Gamma Chapter. Savvy spoke about body image, her reign as Miss America, and empowerment. She took the time to speak with every chapter member in attendance and take lots of photos. During the month of October, Social Chairman, Jaqueline, planned a fun Semi-Formal event at the Hall on Vine.

ZY wrapped up the month of October by hosting our second GIRLS Academy. Mu District Director, Barb Goettelman, and Leadership Development Specialist, Kelsey Ryan, who is a Zeta Upsilon alumni, joined us for the event. The GIRLS Academy event was held at William James Middle School in Statesboro. Our chapter members, as well as the middle school girls, had a busy, educational, and fun weekend. Our Philanthropy Chairman, Jeanne, did an outstanding job with the event, as well as all others involved. Hosting GIRLS Academy is always an eye-opening but heart-warming experience.

In the month of November, Public Relations Chairman, Marissa Rubin, planned a successful Fall Parents Weekend. The weekend was full of good food and Georgia Southern Football. Education Chairman, Kaylee, planned a movie night senior sisterhood, which was held at the Kappa house. Kaylee also coordinated an alumna education event for the seniors who are graduating in the month of December. In the month of November, we held our annual Thanksgiving Tuesday Night Dinner. The nominating committee presented the slate for the upcoming council during the month of November and the current council was able to install the newest chapter council. The month of December was jammed packed with studying and finals. During the fall semester, we had socials with the brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu, and Delta Tau Delta.

The overall nature of our chapter is involved. Many of our members are involved in other organizations across Georgia Southern University's campus, some of which include, Phi Alpha Delta (Pre-Law Fraternity), Pre-Physicians Assistant Association, Public Relations Society of Students in America, and Phi Delta Epsilon (Pre-Medical Fraternity).

'''Philanthropy'''

Reading is Fundamental -- our chapter held RIF events at the local Statesboro Library. We donated books and played games with the children.
Relay for Life -- our chapter participates in Statesboro's Relay for Life each year. This year our tent's theme was Dr. Seuss.
GIRLS Academy -- our chapter held our second annual GIRLS Academy event at William James Middle School.
Reading is Fundamental and GIRLS Academy are Kappa's national philanthropies. We began participating heavily in Relay for Life starting in 2015 when one of our members was diagnosed with cancer.

==Highlights of 2018==

Coming back to school in January we jumped right back into things. On Sundays we would have chapter council meetings and Mondays we would hold chapter, both at the kappa house. Our Standards chair planned a sisterhood the second week of getting back where sisters all got together and enjoyed a planner party. Then we got right into spring recruitment with 3 nights of recruitment rounds and then a bid day. The bid day was baseball themed and we welcomed 5 new members. The new girls got to enjoy a new member retreat where they got to know each other more while bowling! Then our Philanthropy chairman planned a service day at Haven House. At the service day we were able to help renovate the facilities for the women in need. With February and valentine's day feel in full swing our Public Relations chairman planned a PR event called Kappa Kisses where we were able to hand out sweet Hershey kisses to the University. Following that our Event chairman planned our annual Kappa Krush event where girls were able to bring a date and dance the night away. Soon after we had our first social event that semester with the men of Theta Xi Fraternity and we were able to get to know each other all decked out in a Mardi Gras theme clothes. The next day we had a trivia sisterhood where teams won prizes and were able to test their fun fact knowledge together. We also participated in Pi Kappa Phi Fraternities philanthropy event called War of the Roses where we ended up winning the whole week and winning money for our philanthropies. Ending the month we had big little week where the spring new member class was able to be surprised by their bigs at the end of the week. March quickly snuck up on us but we were happily busy. We had a group of girls compete in Kappa Sigma Fraternities annual lip sync competition. Girls then got a week break for spring break where we went all over including Disney, the beach, and even just home. St Patrick's Day finished off the week of spring break and many celebrated all over including in Savannah. When we got back from the week we had initiation for the spring new member class. Sisters were able to go to Tuesday night dinner and have their Kappa family pictures taken, as well as, a study night because academics were in full swing. Our Membership chair was able to have a movie night to film our sisterhood video and we watched The Greatest Showman. The following week we participated in Greek Week where we were paired with Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Sigma. Throughout the week we participated in many events including field day where we played games like bubble soccer and tug of war with the organizations we were paired with. Also during that week we had Frazier Appreciation day which was a dinner where we celebrated our house mom and all she does for us. We also had a senior sisterhood for the 2018 spring graduates put on by our Education chairman, they got to make banana pudding. April then started with Easter Sunday. We had a Backyard BBQ philanthropy event with Delta Tau Delta Fraternity to benefit Girls Academy and JDRF. Formal was at the end of that week and everyone had a great time dancing in the rain. Then mid April we had spring parents weekend where girls were able to hang out with their families in and out of Statesboro. We then had a few more weeks and all the sudden it was finals week and graduation, just like that we were on summer break. Over the summer, girls in our chapter did many things. Some girls studied abroad (even together), worked at home, had internships, went on new adventures, and everything in between. The end of July came fast where we had one work week for the newest pledge classes and then we had work weeks for all members for recruitment. Recruitment then happened where we worked hard together to bring in the new member class of fall 2018 where we welcomed 62 girls. Bid day rounded out the week where we got to celebrate with the new members themed in the 70s. Right after bid day we jumped right back into school. We happily had another planner party where girls got to fill out their new planners together to get ready for the semester. Then we had our annual Back to School date night and everyone got to bring a date and all hang out together. We also started having our weekly Tuesday night dinners again which included food from places like Chicken Salad Chick, Rjs, Honey Cafe, and more. In September, we had Labor Day and got a day off of school and at the end of that week we got to have our fall Parents Weekend. We got to hang out with our parents and show them Georgia Southern spirit at a football game that Saturday. We then had a Kappa only social to hang out and get to know each other with a vine theme and all had a good laugh. Then came a busy week with Big/Little week for the new members we gained in the fall. In the same week we had our annual Kappa Con Queso philanthropy event where we raised money for Girls Academy. Then it was already October. We kicked off the month with Homecoming week where we did events with the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Some events including can sculpture contest, lip singing competition, sheet sign contest and many more. We also ended up placing 1st in GSU annual Doodah dance competition where we were awarded money to benefit our philanthropies. Other events we did throughout the week included Social events during the week with SAE and we all got to enjoy homecoming. We then were supposed to have initiation but Hurricane Michael came through Statesboro giving us days off school. Then we had semi formal which was at Eagle Creek Brewery and were able to hang out with sisters. Then we jumped right into November where we had Fireside and Initiation, we ended up initiating 57 new members. Then we had to have a mini Initiation where we initiated the 5 other new members rounding our Fall 18 pledge class out to 62 newly initiated members. To round out the year we elected a new chapter council and had 11 fall graduates. We ended the year off with a Tacky Holiday date night to celebrate the holidays!

Georgia Southern University expanded their campus to now owning Armstrong in Savannah, Georgia. We also had a new building open up that holds classes for language classes, fashion classes, and many more. Overall, Students had to adjust to the addition of the other campus because it has changed many aspects of our campuses. With Kappa we have grown stronger and have been doing well as a chapter. Whenever there has been hard times we have been there for one another. Overall, it has been a great year for Zeta Upsilon and we cannot wait for the next one.

'''Philanthropy'''

GIRLS Academy, Reading Is Fundamental

[[File:Zeta Upsilon House.jpg|thumb|Zeta Upsilon House]]

==Highlights of 2019==

Throughout the past calendar year, the Zeta Upsilon chapter has been very active both on and off campus to promote not only our chapter’s ideals, but also to promote community, unity and teamwork within our chapter and with others outside of our chapter. Through our involvement and passion for growth with our school, ZY was awarded a Platinum WINGS award, which was only given to 3 organizations out of the hundreds that are on our campus. To receive this award, organizations must attend a certain number of informational sessions hosted on campus throughout the year. Sisterhoods were held every month of the year to help the chapter feel included and welcomed, including painting sisterhoods, a yoga sisterhood, and our annual t-shirt tie dye sisterhood. Our philanthropy chair offered service opportunities every month to help women take advantage of outside opportunities and be able to give back to our community. Ritual and recruitment practices were also held throughout the semester to prepare for upcoming Initiation services and recruitment. Chapter meetings were held every Monday at 7 p.m., Chapter Council was held every Sunday at 6 p.m., and weekly dinners were still held on Tuesday nights.

In January of this year, we welcomed 7 new women to our chapter with our Spring 2019 pledge class. They were able to grow and learn what it truly means to be a Kappa woman throughout their new member period and were initiated on April 6 after experiencing Fireside and a pledge class sleepover the night before.

In February, our Public Relations Chairman coordinated our annual Kappa Kisses event, where we passed out cups full of Hershey’s kisses on campus. Additionally, we had our annual Kappa Krush, which was planned by our event chair and is a date night that embodies the spirit of Valentine’s Day, with most members dressing in some variety of pink, red or purple and taking photos with props that add to the Valentine’s Day feel. Our chapter hosted GIRLS Academy on February 9, where we were able to guide middle school girls and mentor them in various ways.

March and April are busy months for ZY, as we participate in other chapters’ philanthropy events, prepare for initiation of our new members, support Greek Life with our PHA, NPHC and IFC partners during Greek Week, go on spring break, have formal and study for finals. Some of the philanthropy events we participated in were Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Paddy Murphy Week, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Sigma Nu’s volleyball tournament, Kappa Delta’s War of the Wings, Alpha Omicron Pi’s “Strike Out for Arthritis" and so many more. We had a social with Delta Chi that was themed "Throw Down for Your Hometown" where everyone dressed in old high school uniforms or other costumes that reminded them from their hometown. Our sisters spent their spring breaks in so many fun places, including destinations in the U.S. as well as abroad. Formal was held in April as well as our spring Parents Weekend, which are two of our chapter's favorite springtime events!

In May, many of our sisters became Alumnae of Kappa Kappa Gamma and started their lives outside of Statesboro. Over the summer, our active members took classes, studied abroad, went on service trips, had internships and everything in between. Work Week and recruitment snuck up on us quickly, and we were all back together in late July to prepare for Fall 2019 formal recruitment.

In August, Zeta Upsilon broke chapter and school records by welcoming an amazing pledge class of 102 women. We celebrated our hard work and new members on Bid Day with a "Kappa World" bid day theme, which was a homage to the Spice Girls and everyone had a great time getting to dress up as a different member of the group. Right after bid day, the academic year was back in full swing and our members got right back into the routine of school. We had our annual Back to School date night and football season was upon us, which everyone always loves!

In September, we held our annual philanthropy event which has been named Chips, Cheese and KKGs where we had a nacho bar, music and raffle gifts to help raise money for RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The event, as usual, was a huge success and we raised over $5,000.

Big Little Reveal was the first week of October, where all of our amazing new members were able to find their families within our chapter. It was held at Paulson Stadium and was a great time. Shortly after, we welcomed our Fall 2019 pledge class into membership with initiation on October 12 and celebrated our Founders Day the same evening with dinner from Longhorn, cake, and a beautiful ceremony that was coordinated by our Education Chairman. Homecoming came right after that, where we worked with Delta Chi (our homecoming partner) to support our candidates and promote our platforms of diversity and inclusion around campus. We tabled during the day, went to competitions in the afternoon and were able to have some fun at night with a few date nights that were planned for homecoming week.

In November, the semester started to wind down. Semi-formal was held and chapter council prepared for voting and training the new council that would shortly take over. We ended our semester in December with our annual Tacky Holiday date night, elections for the new chapter council and celebrating our sisters' achievements. Beyond our sisters who graduated in December, two of our members were elected to the school's Panhellenic Council. Hannah Conway, our former secretary, was elected to serve as PHA President and Elizabeth Baney, our former House chairman, was elected to serve as Vice President of Finance. We are very proud of all of our sisters' hard work and dedication and are excited to see what they do next year!

We celebrated Founders Day the same day of Fall Initiation (October 12). We chose this day because it is the day before Founders Day and was the perfect weekend to celebrate because our newly initiated members would be able to participate in the ritual that occurs during Founders Day.

The biggest changes on campus have come from recruitment. With changes in how houses recruit and the number of chapters that are recruiting/the number of members they currently have, chapter totals were changed and affected recruitment.

'''Philanthropy'''

RIF, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, GIRLS Academy are organizations near and dear to our hearts. Supporting GIRLS Academy is so important to us because we see and hear the impact it has on the young women in our community.

==Highlights of 2020:==

Spring Semester 2020 was cut short due to a virus outbreak that shut down in person school starting after spring break (March 15th) and finished out the semester virtually. This required the 8 new members who had joined Kappa in the spring to be one of the first ever virtual Invitations, and it went very smoothly. We were also planning a 30th anniversary for our chapter, which unfortunately had to be cancelled. On a positive note, to stay in touch with our sisters we have started a pen-pal letter writing activity between sisters, so that we can write each other letters and stay close through the pandemic.

This year we had our first ever fully virtual recruitment and work week. Our recruitment chair worked extremely hard to pull off a great work week and prepared the chapter for recruitment. It was a success, and we got a new member class of 77 girls. Since COVID-19 was still prevalent during the fall semester, Initiation was virtual again and was done in multiple sessions. It was again a successful Initiation. Since we had some experience with virtual Initiation, we had the opportunity to allow members of the chapter to be more involved in Initiation, reading the various ceremony roles as they normally are done.

[[File:Zeta Upsilon 2020.png|thumb|Zeta Upsilon 2020]]

'''Philanthropy'''

Our philanthropy chair also wanted to have philanthropy events, despite the pandemic restrictions. We were able to hold a virtual book drive and donated about 100 books to our local elementary school, Julia P. Bryant. We also held a wonderful safe in-person Chips, Cheese and KKGs, where we raised about $700. Another philanthropy opportunity we had was to have a percentage night with a multicultural organization at a local business, Rolling Monkey. A very popular sisterhood we have annually is a t-shirt tye dye, and this year we decided to try something new and instead of tye dying, we bleached the shirt.

We support our local elementary school because it allows us and the kids to have hands-on experiences that will last a lifetime. When we have had the chances to host G.I.R.L.S academy the impacts we have in the girls at the local middle school are amazing. It is an inspiring experience for members of our chapter as well as the young girls who get to be involved.

'''Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion'''

We appointed a DEI officer who was also our Education chairman. She reached out to multicultural organizations on campus to establish good communication between each other. We also hosted a philanthropy event with a multicultural sorority that was very fun and successful.

'''Sesquicentennial'''

Our chapter held a small virtual ceremony over Zoom during our chapter meeting on October 12th. Our education chair put together a wonderful slide show to play for the members and alumnae who attended and had members of the chapter read the script of the Founders.

------------------------

'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Tau

2021-12-21T19:49:08Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Tau
|GreekSymbol= ZT
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Tau.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1989|05|01}}
|College= [https://www.wlu.edu/ Washington and Lee University]
|Location= Lexington, VA
|Homepage= [https://wlu.kappa.org/ Zeta Tau Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Tau Media related to Zeta Tau Chapter]}}

'''Washington and Lee, Lexington, Va. Founded in 1749'''

'''Zeta Tau founded May 1, 1989 -- 84 Charter Members'''

'''991 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of the Outstanding Zeta Tau Alumnae''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Members'''

'''Loyalty Award Recipients'''

'''Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients'''

----------------------

Washington & Lee is a small, private, liberal arts university nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains in Lexington, Va. It is the ninth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation.

In 1749, Scotch-Irish pioneers who had migrated deep into the Valley of Virginia founded a small classical school called Augusta Academy, some 20 miles north of what is now Lexington. In 1776, the trustees, fired by patriotism, changed the name of the school to Liberty Hall.

Four years later the school was moved to the vicinity of Lexington, where in 1782 it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Virginia legislature and empowered to grant degrees. A limestone building, erected in 1793 on the crest of a ridge overlooking Lexington, burned in 1803, though its ruins are preserved today as a symbol of the institution's honored past.

In 1796, George Washington saved the struggling Liberty Hall Academy when he gave the school its first major endowment--$20,000 worth of James River Canal stock. The trustees promptly changed the name of the school to Washington Academy as an expression of their gratitude.

In 1813, the name of the academy was changed to Washington College. By then, the college was established on its present grounds in Lexington.
General Robert E. Lee reluctantly accepted the position of president of the College in 1865.
Because of his leadership of the Confederate army, Lee worried he "might draw upon the College a feeling of hostility," but also added that "I think it the duty of every citizen in the present condition of the Country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony."

After Lee's death in 1870, the trustees voted to change the name from Washington College to Washington and Lee University. Once an all-male institution, Washington and Lee first admitted women to its law school in 1972. The first undergraduate women matriculated in 1985. Since then, Washington and Lee has flourished.

Washington and Lee University observed its 250th Anniversary with a year-long, national celebration during the 1998-99 academic year.

Washington and Lee, Lexington, Va. Founded in 1749, a Liberal Arts College in a small town a Liberal Arts College in a small town with a population of 7,000, and a Student Faculty ratio of 10:1. Originally a male-only institution, women were first admitted in 1985. Six Panhellenic sororities are present: Alpha Delta Pi, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta and Chi Omega.

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==The Early Years==

Zeta Tau Colony of Kappa Kappa Gamma was established at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, with the formal pledging of charter members on January 28, 1989.

Presentations were made to a committee of administrators and students on January 5 by a team of Fraternity representatives. Invitations were extended on January 11 to three NPC groups who conducted a colonization rush beginning January 22.

KKG is joined by Kappa Alpha Theta and Chi Omega as the first women's fraternities to be established on this previously all-male campus. Women were admitted as undergraduates in 1985, breaking a 236 year tradition.

Zeta Tau was installed May 1, 1989, as Kappa's 119th active chapter. The chapter was installed with many Fraternity officers, Kappa relatives and Big Sisters from other chapters in Lambda Province in attendance. All but four members of the pledge class, who were abroad, were initiated. Members of the Virginia chapter served as Big Sisters. Installing officers from the Fraternity included Fraternity President Kay Smith Larson, Washington; Jennie Miller Helderman, Alabama; J. Dale Brubeck, William and Mary and Marian Klingbill Williams, Missouri.

On Sept. 19, Zeta Tau began its first informal rush and welcomed eight new members on Sept. 30.

==Highlights of the 1980s:==

The first group of 87 members in January of 1989 went on to become charter members of Zeta Tau with initiation and installation in May 1989. An informal rush was held in the fall of 1989 and Zeta Tau gained eight new pledges. The main challenge was actually becoming a chapter, learning the responsibilities of the officers and of the chapter as a whole. The chapter goal was Unity.

Some of the events held included a Fancy Dress dinner, Grab-a-Date bowling party, Kite and Key party with Kappa Alpha Theta, Parent's Weekend cocktail party, Big/Little sister drive-in movie, Bowl-a-Thon for United Way and Senior's Night Out. Kappas were active on campus in many activities, sports and honor societies, such as Phi Beta Kappa.

'''Housing:'''

Since the colonization of sororities on the Washington and Lee campus, the Panhellenic Housing Committee has been actively working with faculty, and a poll was conducted as to the long term and immediate needs of the sororities. Results showed a desire for houses comparable to the fraternity houses, followed by a desire for a permanent space for storage and ritual. The housing committee will continue to seek alternatives to Kappa housing.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Bowl-a-Thon for United Way, weekly visits to the Mayflower Retirement Home, Babysitting to benefit the Adelphe Campaign.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of the 1990s==

The early '90s consisted of learning the rules and rituals of Kappa, attending our first Biennial Convention in Dallas, and welcoming a new sorority on campus, Delta Gamma, which has since dissolved. With the help of Chapter Consultants to guide us, we stayed near the top academically with a 3.0 and socially with campus activities. 1990 will be remembered by the completion of our first formal rush, pledging 33 girls. We returned from Convention filled with ideas. At Province Meeting in Chapel Hill in 1991 we received honorable mention for Social Awareness and our Pledge Program, plus the Trendsetters Award for overall excellence. In the wake of the failure of Delta Gamma, Zeta Tau worked especially hard with Panhellenic to see that Pi Beta Phi was established. New activities were the Jump Rope for the Heart for the American Heart Association, sponsoring a foreign child and collecting Christmas presents for Lexington-area underprivileged children.

In 1996 we had our first ever “Kappa Kickoff” retreat and continue our commitment to academic excellence with sisters on the Honor Roll, Dean's List, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma. We welcomed a new sorority, Kappa Delta, helped at a retirement home and in building a Habitat for Humanity house. In 1997 at Province Meeting in Williamsburg we placed in the Founders' Circle for achieving excellence in all aspects of Kappa life as outlined by the Challenge to Excellence. We also received the Membership Award and honorable mention for finance and trendsetting chapter.

In 1999, we celebrated the colonization of Kappa, Theta and Chi Omega ten years ago. The switch to the New Member program went smoothly and we received a Philanthropy Award at Province Meeting for supporting an underprivileged boy in Mexico. For several years our chapter goal was enthusiasm which increased attendance at chapter events.

'''Housing:'''

By 1994 the University gave each of the four women's groups a campus suite in a residential hall for storage space, a guest room and office and meeting area. It is discouraging that at the same time two fraternities received new chapter houses, showing male/female disparities are still evident.

In 1997, the former Delt house has become a Panhellenic dorm annex for Greek women, housing 19 girls and a student RA. We have an option to put four sophomore girls in the house by 1998. Also, in 1998, the news is out about a proposal for the construction of five sorority houses to go before the Board of Trustees. They will be on a wooded site, close to campus and able to house 20-25 girls and a house mother, have a common room and a meal plan for the entire chapter.
August 1999 saw the completion of the new Kappa house, which would house 20 women and host all of Zeta Tau's activities. Finished in August, all the Greek women at Washington and Lee finally had a place of their own.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Projects such as co-sponsoring the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart, sponsoring a foreign child, faculty baby sitting, Christmas gift collection for Lexington area underprivileged children; Balloon Sales Parents' Weekend, annual Bowl-A-Thon benefiting United Way, activities at Mayflower Retirement Home, participating in the Rose McGill Holiday Sharing Program and many activities supporting other Panhellenic philanthropies kept us busy in the community and campus.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

1996 – Tarpon Springs Convention, Honorable Mention for membership and Panhellenic.

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

In the Fall of 2000 the women of all five sororities became the first to move into the incredible new houses. Panhellenic was also focusing on the possibility of the future colonization of a sixth sorority on campus.

In 2005, Zeta Tau welcomed 39 new members and had an impressive 3.364 GPA for the 2004-2005 school year. Members are involved in varsity athletics, the Student Recruitment Committee, Williams Investment Society, Fancy Dress Committee, school newspaper staff and 40 Kappas were on the Fall 2005 Dean's List. Our “Senior Star” program for upperclassmen gave incentive to participate in Kappa events.

Some challenges have been keeping upperclassmen participation high. The implementation of a “senior star” system as well as increased enforcement by the standards committee has helped our upperclassmen find new incentive to participate in Kappa events.

In 2009, Zeta Tau ranks number one for the highest GPA of all sororities on campus. The addition of Apha Delta Pi extended a sixth sorority to W & L's row. Most of the challenges faced this year were within the realm of recruitment. But we had great participation and the process went smoothly. With the addition of a sixth sorority, more competition is always challenging.

'''Housing:'''

Campus built houses on sorority row house the Panhellenic chapters.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Supporting a foreign child, Pictures with Santa, volunteering at a retirement home, pumpkin carving at an elementary school, an annual Race for Charlie to benefit neuroblastoma cancer research, powderpuff football to benefit the Children's Miracle Network, support of other groups' philanthropies.
Chapter Convention Awards:

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2012==

The Zeta Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a great year in 2012. We began with a very successful recruitment in early January. In the spring, we initiated 33 excellent new members into the chapter. This was a great source of pride for our chapter. Our members continue to be actively involved all over Washington and Lee's campus in extracurricular and service-oriented activities.

Our members excelled on varsity athletic teams, as Bonner Leaders, as Johnson Scholars, and as leading members of a variety of campus organizations. The Executive Committee, Fancy Dress Committee, Mock Convention, Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, Student Recruitment Committee, Panhellenic Council, and Kathekon all benefit from leaders and members who belong to Kappa Kappa Gamma.

In the spring, we hosted a successful concert that benefitted the charity "One Love" and involved participants from all over campus. In the fall, we hosted a fun event with first-year women to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Additionally, we enjoyed a number of sisterhood and social events, including a spring formal in Charlottesville, VA, and a fall formal in Charlottesville, VA. Our chapter continues to thrive and maintain a strong presence on Washington and Lee's campus. We look forward to growing as a chapter in the coming year.

Greek life continues to be extremely popular on Washington and Lee's campus. Alpha Delta Pi, the most recently colonized sorority at W&L, is our next door neighbor. Having an additional sorority on campus has continued to promote Greek Life on campus, as well as make recruitment more competitive. In the past year, we have seen many changes to W&L's Panhellenic Council, which has had a positive impact on all of the sororities; we have a new head of Greek Life. Panhellenic Council is currently working to improve sorority life in ways like discussing updating W&L's recruitment process.

==Highlights of 2014==
The Zeta Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, on Washington and Lee University campus, had an excellent 2014 year. In March, we initiated 30 new members into the chapter. This was an exciting moment for the chapter after all the hard work put into informal and formal rush. Since that initiation, one member has transferred schools, leaving the chapter with 29 members of the class of 2017 pledge class. As a group, the night before initiation, during our Big-Little Reveal, the sophomore and freshmen pledge classes walked together with their big/little in the Relay For LIfe walk on campus. Our members are active leaders and participants in all aspects of campus, both extra-curricular and service-oriented.

Last spring a member of our chapter was elected to be the president of the Executive Committee on campus. This is one of the highest accomplishments and honors one can receive at Washington and Lee, and she has proved this fall to be an excellent leader of the student body. In addition to this most esteemed post, we also have Johnson Scholars, Bonner Leaders, and varsity athletes. Members of our chapter actively participate in many groups and organizations on campus such as Fancy Dress Steering Committee, Mock Convention, Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, Student Recruitment Committee.

In the spring we hosted the first annual Concert For Kelsey, raising money for the Kelsey Durkin foundation. Kelsey Durkin was a member of our chapter who passed away in a fatal car accident last winter. The chapter has spent the last year recovering from this horrible accident, and raising awareness on campus about the harms of drunk driving. This coming spring we will host the second Concert for Kelsey, continuing to remember her legacy. This summer our president attended the Kappa National Convention in Houston. She learned a lot about Kappa and has helped our chapter implement many new ideas. Following that convention, a member of our new pledge class attended the Kappa Leadership Council. She enjoyed getting to meet Kappas from all over the nation, sharing ideas, and exchanging Kappa memories.

This fall we hosted a philanthropy event called "Tye Dye and Blue Sky" where students were invited to come make Tye Dye shirts and eat cookies from a favorite local restaurant. This was a successful event and we raised $750. As a chapter council, and an entire chapter, we are constantly working on improving our image on campus through social media, attendance at events (especially other sororities' events), and generally just playing a more positive role throughout the campus. Our chapter has been focusing a lot in recent months on changing the overall nature of the chapter. We have been implementing new attendance policies and incentives for members to attend chapter meetings and other events, which have proved to be very effective. We also have extended the time allotted for chapter council, allowing more in-depth discussion about current issues, events, ideas, etc. We have also implemented a program called Professor of the Month. Each month members of our chapter nominate their favorite professor, and the winning professor is invited to dinner at the house where he or she is able to socialize with our chapter and get to know students he or she may not have had in their classes. We are also working on improvement of our rituals. We are working up towards memorization of the formal chapter sequence, and practice for initiation events. We have also implemented a better new member education program, with more in depth learning about Kappa Kappa Gamma, and our chapter as a whole.

Chapter meetings are held in the Kappa Kappa Gamma House, on campus. This is a university owned facility, rented out to the chapter for living and eating purposes. Our chapter has a house on Washington and Lee's campus. Each year 20 sophomores are selected to reside in the house. The house is university owned, and the chapter leases the house from the university. This is the only house that the chapter has ever lived in.

'''Nature of our chapter:'''
Our members participate in a number of varsity athletic teams including the equestrian, soccer, field hockey, and tennis teams. We have members who participate both in the dance company and other dance organizations on campus. Our members are involved as student tour guides, volunteers, and members of organizations across campus. They continue to pursue academic excellence. Our involvement leads to a strong and positive presence on W&L's campus. Our presence really reflects the united and caring nature of our chapter.

==Highlights of 2015==

The Zeta Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, on Washington and Lee University campus, had
an excellent 2015 year. In March, we initiated 32 new members into the chapter. This was an
exciting moment for the chapter after all the hard work put into informal and formal rush. The
Kappa Kappa Gamma Zeta Tau Chapter was recognized as Washington and Lee’s Chapter of the
Year at the annual Lead Banquet. Our members are active leaders and participants in all aspects
of campus, both extra-curricular and service-oriented. They are Johnson Scholars, Bonner
Leaders, varsity athletes. Members of our chapter actively participate in many groups and
organizations on campus such as Fancy Dress Steering Committee, Habitat for Humanity, Relay
for Life, and Student Recruitment Committee. A member was elected Panhellenic President for
the coming year. Members have been selected as state chairs for Mock Convention. In April, three
members were selected as Peer Counselors and a member was selected as Head Peer Counselor.
A member was elected by the student body to serve on the Executive Committee, one of
Washington and Lee’s greatest honors.

In the spring we hosted the second annual Concert For
Kelsey, raising money for the Kelsey Durkin foundation. Kelsey Durkin was a member of our
chapter who passed away in a fatal car accident. The chapter has dedicated a great deal of time
and energy raising awareness on campus about the harms of drunk driving, a cause very near to
their hearts. This coming spring we will host the third annual Concert for Kelsey, continuing to
remember her legacy. This fall, a member of the new pledge class attended the Kappa Leadership
Council. She enjoyed getting to meet Kappas from all over the nation, sharing ideas, and
exchanging Kappa memories.

This fall we hosted a philanthropy event called "Tye Dye and
Blue Sky" where students were invited to come make Tye Dye shirts and eat cookies from a
favorite local restaurant. This was a successful event and we raised $2,864, a huge increase from
last year’s $750. As a chapter council, and an entire chapter, we are constantly working on
improving our image on campus through social media, attendance at events (especially other
sororities' events), and generally just playing a more positive role throughout the campus.

Our chapter has been focusing a lot in recent months on changing the overall nature of the
chapter. We have been implementing new attendance policies and incentives for members to
attend chapter meetings and other events, which have proved to be very effective. We have also
implemented a program called Professor of the Month. Each month members of our chapter
nominate their favorite professor, and the winning professor is invited to dinner at the house
where he or she is able to socialize with our chapter and get to know students he or she may not
have had in their classes. We have implemented “Polished Kappa,” a program in which each
week, a sister of Zeta Tau is recognized for an achievement or act of kindness. The “A basket” is
passed around at every chapter so that those excelling in academics can be recognized. We are
also working on improvement of our rituals. We are working up towards memorization of the
formal chapter sequence, and practice for initiation events. We have also implemented a better
new member education program, with more in depth learning about Kappa Kappa Gamma, and
our chapter as a whole.

==Highlights 2016==

The Zeta Tau Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, on Washington and Lee University campus, had an action-filled 2016 year. Our members are active leaders and participants in all aspects of campus, both extra-curricular and service-oriented. They are Johnson Scholars, varsity athletes, team captains, and Appalachian Adventure trip leaders. Members of our chapter actively participate and lead in many organizations on campus such as Fancy Dress Steering Committee, Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, and Generals’ Activity Board, University Ambassadors, LEAD, Williams’ Investment Society, and Real Estate Society. They participate in University Singers, Washington and Lee Dance Company, Jubilee Acapella group, Reformed University Fellowship, YoungLife, LIFE, and the University Big Program. Members have rejuvenated the Students’ Arts League on campus. Members serve as Panhellenic delegates and Peer Counselors. In March, we initiated twenty-nine new members into the chapter. This was an exciting moment for the chapter after all the hard work put into informal and formal rush. At the start of this academic year, we welcomed in a new house director. Out House Chair has done an incredible job getting her settled and acquainted to the Washington and Lee community, the members, and the advisors. We’re glad to have Mrs. Mary on board! Third Annual Concert For Kelsey, raising money for the Kelsey Durkin foundation. Kelsey Durkin was a member of our chapter who passed away in a fatal car accident. The chapter has dedicated a great deal of time and energy raising awareness on campus about the harms of drunk driving, a cause very near to their hearts. This coming spring we will host the Fourth-annual Concert for Kelsey, continuing to remember her legacy. This summer, three members attended the Kappa National Convention. They learned a lot about Kappa and have helped the Zeta Tau chapter implement many new ideas. They especially enjoyed the opportunity to take a photo with Beth Black! Following that convention, a member of the new pledge class attended the Kappa Leadership Council. She enjoyed getting to meet Kappas from all over the nation, sharing ideas, and exchanging Kappa memories. This fall we hosted a philanthropy event called "Tye Dye and Blue Sky" where students were invited to come make Tye Dye shirts and eat cookies from a favorite local restaurant. This was a successful event and we raised $1,558. As a chapter council, and an entire chapter, we are constantly working on improving our image on campus through social media, attendance at events (especially other sororities' events), and generally playing a more positive role throughout the campus.

Many improvements in organization and the general atmosphere of the chapter have been implemented in the past year. Our House Chair has made a huge effort to establish and clarify the rules for the house—a project that the entirety of the sorority has benefited from. The House Chair also planned a “Staff Appreciation Day” in which the cooking staff, cleaning staff, and House Director were given the day off of work and a well-deserved appreciation gift of cards and flowers. The Recording Secretary promoted and encouraged better attendance at chapter and all Kappa related events. Consequently, there was a huge improvement in attendance. She has also adjusted very well to the new system on KeyReports and encourages all of the chapter to review her minutes that she posts! This helps to keep all of our members on the same page when it comes to meeting details.

We have further developed relationships with other sororities on our campus. In fact, this year, our Panhellenic delegate coordinated with Pi Phi to coordinate our chapter’s first ever Monmouth event! The event was a huge success. Because both philanthropies have to do with childhood literacy, we decorated bookmarks for children as we enjoyed some hot apple cider and local doughnuts. We also contributed to and participated in “Meet the Greek” events such as bonfire smoores, dinners at houses, and ice cream socials!

We made huge improvements academically—we shot right up to the second highest GPA on campus, with an average of 3.535. Our Academic Excellence chair supported us in raising this GPA by passing around an “A” basket during chapter—a name is drawn out of the basket and awarded with candy. She also had pizzas delivered to the library during exam crunch time!

Our events and risk chairs have worked very hard to orchestrate safe and fun formals for us! We had a winter formal at the Robert E. Lee, a Spring formal at the Lime Kiln theater, and a fall formal at the Coupes Bar in Charlottesville. We’ve had sisterhood dinners—pizza at Salerno’s! Our chapter has had adapted well and accepted the new standards we have set for formals and Kappa events. The sisters of Zeta Tau most definitely make their positive mark on the Washington and Lee Campus. We are leaders, scholars, and athletes. It will be exciting to see where these women go next!

The Nature of the Zeta Tau Chapter has changed drastically this past year. Our Probation Status has called us to re-evaluate our Chapter's traditions and day to day organization. Our President, Vice President of Organization, Vice President of Standards, and Chapter Council as a whole have set a very positive tone as we strive to make these beneficial changes. Our LC visitors have helped to point us to specific ways we can continue to improve, whether large or small. We still have improvements to be made; however, we are getting there! It is our goal to continue our positive progression, to continue to make the overall nature of Kappa a healthier place where each Zeta Tau sister can be her best self!

Students Against Rockbridge Area Hunger (SARAH)
-Participate in Lip Sync (organized by the Fraternity Pi Phi)
-Members of the new pledge class are organized into random groups; each group makes up a dance performs it on lip sync night.

Project Horizon
-Through "Kappa Kollection," members donate used clothes and toiletries.
-All of the Donations go to Project Horizon, a women’s shelter in town for domestic abuse victims.

Reach out and Read (community engagement)
-Members meet with children at Rockbridge Health PLLC to read to them every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4-5 through a partnership with Dr. Schirmer
-Members donate books two times each year to Rockbridge Health PLLC
-We participate in this philanthropy because it perfectly aligns with out national philanthropy: Reading is Fundamental. Through promoting childhood literacy, we can connect with Kappas nationwide!

John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Research Center
- In "Love for Liza," members sell Chickfila heart shaped biscuits in commons every February in honor of our former Zeta Tau member, Liza Haynie, who passed from a synovial sarcoma last year. Participating in this philanthropy is our way of remembering Liza and supporting Liza's family and those who are currently battling synovial sarcoma.
-The money we raise goes to the “Love for Liza Fund,” which goes towards the John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Research Center. Last year was our first time holding the event, and we raised $1,083.11.

Kelsey Durkin Foundation
-Concert for Kelsey, Zeta Tau Chapter's biggest event of the year, is helf each spring. The chapter's third annual “Concert for Kelsey” was held last year. Kelsey was a member of the Zeta Tau chapter who died in a drunk driving accident in 2013. The concert honors and celebrates Kelsey Durkin’s life and promotes the prevention of drunk driving.
-Donations help fund the event which spreads drunk driving awareness. They are also donated to the Kelsey Durkin Foundation, established in Kesley’s honor. Through selling tickets, t-shirts, and receiving general donations, we raised $3,849. 44. We donated 90% to the Kelsey Durkin Foundation, and 10% to the Kappa Foundation.   Relay for Life
-Each year, Zeta Tau members participate in the Relay for Life walk on Canann green.
-Additionally, members participate in the banner challenge and cupcake challenge.
-We participate in this philanthropy in an effort to support other meaningful philanthropies that are happening on the Washington and Lee campus.

Komen Give Day
-Every October we set up a swipe machine and encourage students to swipe home donations for Breast Cancer research in an effort to support Breast Cancer survivors and help the mission to end Breast Cancer.
-We received over 800 donations last year, totaling approximately $23,000.

Reading is Fundamental
-At "Tie Dye and Blue Sky," our biggest event of the fall, we tie-dye tshirts and enjoy local Blue Sky pastries.
-This year we raised $1,558.20, which we donated to Reading is Fundamental  
-We are also working on creating an event with a local Reading is Fundamental participant organization, such as the local elementary school, to create an annual event with community engagement and reading.  
We meet in "The Chapter Room," which is in the bottom floor of the Kappa House.

==Highlights of 2017==

The Zeta Tau chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has spent 2017 focusing on academics and working hard to get off of our focus letter. Our chapter accomplished an average 3.519 GPA, which we are extremely proud of. Our Concert for Kelsey philanthropy event in May was a success. We had the largest turn out and raised the most money out of any year of the event. This event is to honor the life of Kelsey Durkin, a Zeta Tau member who was killed by a drunk driver.

Our chapter promotes sober drivers and has a zero-tolerance policy for drunk driving. We are hoping to reach an agreement with Kappa nationals to promote sober drivers for all weekend nights. We have to work out insurance logistics with nationals though. Our philanthropy event Tie Dye and Blue Sky raised lots of money this year and allowed us to meet many new potential members of Kappa. Over the past year, we as a chapter were devoted to bettering ourselves, our school, and our chapter. We hope to be off our focus letter come May.

==Highlights of 2018==

Events – 5 chapter members went to Kappa Leadership Convention in Atlanta in February (pictured): Evy Verbinnen (VPS), Adele Petagna (president), Kathryn Williams (education), Lexie Gottsegen (VPO), and Ally Chebuhar (recruitment chair).

[[File:Zeta Tau chapter members.jpg|thumb|Zeta Tau chapter members.]]

Scholarships -- 2 junior Kappas received grants to do research in South America this Spring/Summer.

Awards -- One junior won an award at W&L's leadership baquet for her work as editor and chief in a new diversity magazine called Diverge.

Traditions -- Concert for Kelsey is always a nice tradition. We also are holding a senior dinner in the spring to wish the senior's goodluck after graduation! We usually try to do it outside since we have such pretty nature to enjoy in Lexington.

Philanthropy Involvement -- In March we had a "women's service day" and we had a bunch of different members participate in different service projects led by W&L Greek women. They worked with a bunch of local organizations such as Campus Kitchen, Project Horizon and Habitat for Humanity.

Reading is Fundemental is the national philanthropy organization of Kappa so we want to support the overall chapter's support in educating local children and promoting literacy.
We also chose to donate to the Kelsey Durkin foundation because our chapter has a special connection to this woman. Kelsey was a W&L Kappa who tragically died in a drunk driving accident on campus in December of 2013. Every year we host a concert in the spring and have local bands play, have food, and sell teachers to raise money for Kelsey's foundation and celebrate her life. The W&L business office just sent me a report on how much money the Kelsey Durkin foundation has raised. Thousands of dollars have been donated to the foundation just in this past year. We also hold an event every year called Love for Liza where we sell Chic Fil A sandwhiches (they are very popular at W&L since we don't have a Chic Fil A in town) and donote the proceeds to the Love for Liza Foundation at John Hopkinds that helps to fight synovial sarcoma. We hold this event because Liza was a Kappa at W&L a while back who passed from this tragic disease.

Chapter goals -- We have been working on better communication (specifically in chapter council but throughout the whole chapter as well). We also want to continue to do more sisterhood events! While we feel very connected and close, sometimes people can get too caught up in their friend groups. We recently worked with a new local fitness studio to hold spin classes!

Highlights of 2019

The current members of Zeta Tau chapter are smart, caring, outgoing, and funny women. The women of Kappa are highly regarded throughout campus and are involved in campus life in many ways, including membership in the Williams Investment Society, the Outing Club, the choir, D3 athletics, and more. Five of our members are Peer Counselors, which are students chosen for their leadership and communication skills to guide and advise freshmen who are struggling with aspects of college life. Ultimately, our chapter is made up of many different kinds of people. There are the artistically gifted, the athletes, the outdoorsy types, and the book-worms. Ultimately, our chapter is a group of girls who support and love each other despite our many differences.

We started the year off with welcoming new freshmen women into our chapter. We had a very successful Fireside Ceremony and initiation.. Four mothers of our initiates, Kappa alumnae, even surprised their daughters during the initiation ceremony. The rest of the year continued to be a success. Our new members felt at home right away. We had a sisterhood event in the Spring where we all went to a local fitness studio and took a workout class together. Also in Spring was our annual Concert for Kelsey, honoring a former member of Zeta Tau chapter who was killed in a drunk driving accident a few years ago. We sold t-shirts and tickets for the concert to raise money for the Kelsey Durkin Foundation and ended up raising around $1,119.

We held a pizza party as our first Sisterhood event of the fall. Members from all four grades came to the Kappa house to catch up over pizza. Our annual fund raiser "Love for Liza" was held. We sold Chick-fil-A on campus, which was a huge success and raised about $!,133 for Love for Liza, which supports synovial sarcoma, the type of cancer a former member of our chapter died from. Additionally, we held our annual Tie-dye and Blue Sky event, which raises money for Reading is Fundamental. We sold t-sahirts and tickets for the event, and people from all around campus came to tie-dye shirts and snack on baked good from BlueSky Bakery. In the end, we raised $1,410.

We concluded 2019 with the lighting of the Christmas Tree in honor of Kelsey Durkin. Every year we light a huge Christmas tree in front of the President's house, and member of the community all come to show their support. It truly is a special moment and one that really bonds our chapter as we remember the life of Kelsey.

Philanthropy: Love for Liza, Kelsey Durkin Foundation. Both hold a special place in the heart of our chapter. Liza and Kelsey were both former members of our chapter until their untimely deaths. Support and fundraising for these organizations is a way for us to remember and honor the lives of two wonderful members of our sorority.

Founders Day: We did not celebrate Founders Day. I did forward the email I received from the National Sorority regarding Founders Day is case anyone wanted to watch the live stream on Facebook.

=='''Highlights of 2020s''':==

This past year, the Kappas at Washington and Lee have done a lot of great work amidst the pandemic. In January, we rushed 23 women into our sorority. Bid day welcomed our new sisters to the sorority. Following bid day, we had initiation, which I was in charge of. With the help our past president,Emily Moran, we had a successful initiation and fireside ceremony. We welcomed in four alumni to help host the initiation. As chapter marshal, it was my duty this past year to teach chapter ritual and tradition. After initiation, I hosted a ritual review with the new pledge class, so they could better understand the history of the ceremonies they just experienced. We went over the handshake, the password, and the different ritual songs. I also shared ritual nuggets with the pledge class. Thankfully, we were able to have initiation before we were sent home early in March. Because initiation happened before we were sent home, my job wasn't effected as much as the other jobs in the sorority. During the pandemic, things slowed down a bit, but people were still involved in chapter and philanthropy. This past semester, our sorority focused a lot on spending meaningful time together in a safe and covid-friendly way. Our event chairman hosted a wonderful outdoor dinner with catered food. In addition, we did a drive-in movie event at one of the local theaters in Lexington. Because of the pandemic, all of our chapter meetings were held virtually each week. Chapter has been great way for all of us to get together virtually, once a week to discuss expectations and schedules. One learning experience we all had this year was the seminar on sexual assault held by a Kappa volunteer. This was a great way for the women to have open conversations about sexual assault on our campus. This year, our chapter has also made diversity and inclusion a major goal of ours. We had open conversations about changes that would need to be made to rush, so our sorority would be more inclusive to people of all races. We have a new diversity committee led by a woman in our sorority, and we plan on creating a new diversity position on chapter council next semester. Our sorority also has created a new resource this year for women struggling with mental health. During the pandemic, it is more important now to address mental health issues on campus. Alice Gooding hosts a weekly meeting for anyone to join if they want to discuss how they feel, or if they are worried for friends. Our standards committee has also worked on making their committee more open to positivity. The Kappas at Washington and Leedon't want to view standards as a place to go when you are punished, but as a place that is welcoming and there to help. Overall, it has been a great year despite the challenges of making things virtual.

''Philanthropy:''' The chapter supports Reading is Fundamental (RIF). In addition the chapter helps combat drunk driving through Concert for Kelsey. We chose RIF because of its mission. This organization's mission is to encourage and motivate young children to read. Through this organization, Kappas can help make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life for children who don't have exposure to books at home or at school. Concert for Kelsey supports the Kelsey Durkin Memorial Fund. Kelsey was a member of the sorority who died tragically in a drunk driving accident. We host a concert every spring term in order to raise awareness.

"Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" - Our chapter made diversity, equity, and inclusion a major goal this year. Led by one of our junior Kappas, Nico Sacci, we have created an open environment to discuss diversity and inclusion. As we rushed girls this past semester, Nico encouraged the whole chapter to extend friendships to people of all races. We plan on adding a new position to our chapter council that will be the head diversity and inclusion (DEI Officer). This position should go into effect next semester. In addition, the whole chapter participated in a diversity and equity seminar hosted by Washington and Lee. This training seminar helped make people aware of the current problems and gave ways to increase our inclusion.

"Sesquicentennial Celebration" - In order to celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary, our chapter decided to make posts on the social media. Many women in the chapter posted on Instagram, and our PR chairman made lots of posts on the Washington and Lee Kappa Instagram as well. Because we couldn't do any in person celebration because of there pandemic, our chapter thought the best way to celebrate would be through social media. We spread the word about 150 years and emphasized the importance of history. In addition, we spent time in chapter going over the history of KKG at Washington and Lee and the history of Kappa as a national foundation.

'''=Highlights of 2021='''

'

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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of ''The Key'' to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Sigma

2021-12-21T19:46:20Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Sigma
|GreekSymbol= ZΣ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Sigma.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1989|04|22}}
|College= [https://www.unt.edu/ University of North Texas]
|Location= Denton, TX
|Homepage= [https://unt.kappa.org/ Zeta Sigma Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Sigma Media related to Zeta Sigma Chapter]}}
----

'''University of North Texas, Denison, Texas'''

'''Zeta Sigma Chapter: Founded 1989'''

'''Charter members:'''

'''1,035 initiates (as of December 2020)'''

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'''Some of Zeta Sigma’s Outstanding Members:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Officers:'''
Amy Benbow (Riccardi), Traveling Consultant, 1995-1996

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Zeta Sigma Alumnae:'''
Annaliese Limb, Chapter Consultant 1992-1994; Courtney Russell (Chamblee), Chapter Consultant 2003-2004

==University of North Texas History==
The University of North Texas (UNT) was founded in 1890 as Texas Normal College and Teachers’ Training Institute. Joshua C. Chilton, the founding president, leased facilities above a hardware store on Denton’s square to establish a teacher training institute.

The university has had seven names through the years:
1890 Texas Normal College and Teachers’ Training Institute
1894 North Texas Normal College
1901 North Texas State Normal College
1923 North Texas State Teachers College
1949 North Texas State College
1961 North Texas State University
1988 University of North Texas

Incoming students score well above the national and state averages on the SAT, and choose UNT for the quality of its programs, many of which are nationally and internationally recognized. UNT “firsts” through the years include the first jazz studies program in the U.S., the first accredited master’s program in applied behavior analysis in the world and the first and only PhD program in art education in Texas.

Denton is a college town of about 122,000 people located 40 miles north of Dallas and Fort Worth. The 900-acre campus includes 168 buildings and Discovery Park, a 300-acre research facility.

==The Early Years:==

On November 28, 1988, Kappa Theta Delta local sorority at the University of North Texas (formerly North Texas State University) became Zeta Sigma colony of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Eighty-three young women began their Fraternity education program in preparation to be installed as Kappa’s 118th chapter during formal ceremonies on April 21-23, 1989.

UNT’s enrollment in 1988 was 23,000 with new facilities and programs being added to meet the ever-expanding student population.

The Greek system began as locals in the late 1940s. In 1988, there were seven National Panhellenic Conference sororities: Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Zeta, Pi Beta Phi and Zeta Tau Alpha; two Pan Hellenic Conference sororities: Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta and one colony.

In the first expansion effort in a dozen years, Kappa Theta Delta formed in 1986 and quickly developed as a chapter with high standards, community and campus service, good scholarship, philanthropies and high ideals.
The Panhellenic voted to expand its fine organization by selecting three NPC groups to make formal presentations to the Expansion Committee and Kappa Theta Delta. Kappa Kappa Gamma was selected and was proud to welcome such outstanding women into its circle of friendship.

==Highlights of the New Millennium==

Zeta Sigma held a car wash at the local Chili’s in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The members raised more than $2000 which was donated to college-age children whose parents were hurt in the tragedy. The good deed was then mentioned on local television news broadcasts.

The year of 2004 proved to be a noteworthy and eventful year for the Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The spring started out with a bang. The chapter participated in the annual Greek Week with Sigma Chi. The chapter excelled at the spring Greek Awards Banquet where it ranked first in intramurals, received runner-up in academic excellence and, most importantly, was named chapter of the year.

The members participated in an adventurous mixer with Sigma Nu. The theme was a scavenger hunt, and it was mounds of fun. The date party for the spring was held at Trail Dust and proved to be a hit. Sisterhood had an enormous impact on the chapter, and the members had the privilege to join with its sister sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. The chapters came together and attended a North Texas basketball game which was filled with action and excitement.

In January, the chapter presented the Denton Police Officers with cookies, labeling it “cookies for cops.” It was felt that it was necessary to recognize the officers for their hard work and dedication in the Denton community. The members also personally designed valentine cards for residents at a Denton nursing home. The elderly were overwhelmed with joy when they received their special cards. Spring semester wrapped-up by having an event with Sigma Phi Epsilon. We went to Parkland Hospital and engaged in recreational games with the children. It was a fun and rewarding experience all around.

The summer of 2004 was downtime for the majority of the chapter members, but Zeta Sigma was definitely not in the shadows. At the National Convention, Zeta Sigma excelled among the chapters who attended. It received the Ritual Award and runner-up for both Recruitment Excellence and Panhellenic Involvement. Since Zeta Sigma was one of the youngest and smallest chapters there, this was an incredible honor and even more special.

In the midst of a lot of excitement, the building of Sorority Row at North Texas was in the process of becoming a new home for the chapter. The chapter members moved in at the first of August and were surrounding by chaos, yet worked through it and made the 2004 Recruitment one for the record books, taking 31 new members.
Immediately after, Zeta Sigma leaped into the fall gracefully. The members had the pleasure of visiting with Leadership Consultant Elise Hammond for several days. She consulted with the members in the areas needed, and left each one with a positive outlook on the remaining semester.

Homecoming was a huge success. Zeta Sigma participated with Delta Sigma Phi. The chapter’s overall spirit and creativity paid off, when it won the Scrappy Award and $500. The chapter house dedication and opening ceremony soon followed which was memorable and fun.

The chapter participated in a paint war mixer with Lambda Chi Alpha. Sisterhood was strong, and having the new home helped make it outstanding. Members had a slumber party/movie night which was a success. Zeta Sigma’s sister sorority was Chi Omega, and the two groups attended a soccer game together.

The chapter’s philanthropy was a whole new ball game in the fall, having been changed at National Convention to RIF (Reading is Fundamental). The chapter had the opportunity to read to young children at the local Barnes and Noble. Bar-B-Que for Books was the chapter’s main fundraiser, providing bar-b-que for guests in exchange for a friendly donation. More than $1000 was raised for RIF.

The chapter participated in Kappa Sigma’s Adopt a Block event. Once a month, the two groups came together to clean up campus, making sure it continued to look beautiful. Zeta Sigma’s intramural teams once again proved to be excellent by placing second in basketball and football.

The year ended with Kappa Formal, hosted at the Texas Motor Speedway. Overall, 2004 left memorable tracks on the heart and foundation of Zeta Sigma Chapter. Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was established in 1989, making it the youngest chapter on the North Texas campus.

Although it remains the youngest sorority out of the six groups on campus, Kappa definitely has made its mark and held its own among the rest, winning Chapter of the Year, Chapter Progress, and Chapter Involvement awards at the annual Greek Awards Banquet. The chapter was one of the largest on campus and continued to shine amongst the rest.

The year 2005 was an amazing one for the Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Members participated in Greek Week with Lambda Chi Alpha and received much recognition at the Greek Awards Banquet. The chapter was honored with the Involvement Cup, Spirit Award and Advisers of the Year Award.
Kappas held a mixer with Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Phi and Sigma Chi. Also, a good time was had by all at the Texas Rangers game date party. In the fall, Zeta Sigma had a Mardi Gras-theme date party with sister sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. The chapter also had an outdoor adventure with the Sigma Phi Epsilon with a camping-theme mixer. The chapter closed 2005 with a fabulous formal at City Place Convention Center in Dallas. The event was themed “A Night at the Oscars.”

Philanthropy events thrived this year. The chapter participated in a mentoring program at Hodge Elementary in both the spring and fall. Through our Bar-b-que for Books event, the chapter was able to donate more than $700 in games, books, activities, supplies and crafts to the children at Hodge, as well as $1,200 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation in Zeta Sigma’s name. Because of our service at Hodge Elementary, Denton Independent School District honored the chapter with an Adopt-a-School plaque.

February proved to be a very exciting month for the chapter’s philanthropy. The chapter organized Kappa Kisses in which members filled buckets with Hershey’s kisses and gave them to the Denton Police Department and Denton Fire Department to show appreciation of all the wonderful things they do. Members also donated supplies such as trash bags, toilet paper and laundry detergent to Cumberland Children’s Home. The chapter also hosted an Easter egg hunt for the children of UNT’s faculty in March and a good time was had by all who attended.
In fall, the first chili cook-off was held in conjunction with parent’s weekend. From the proceeds of the chili cook-off, the chapter was able to donate $210 to Reading is Fundamental. Chapter members also collected baby supplies such as diapers, formula and food for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Sisterhood was also very strong this year. Two sisterhood events were held – a comedic hypnotist show in the spring and movie night at Denton Movie Tavern in the fall. At both events, the chapter had a fabulous time and grew closer as sisters. Zeta Sigma also participated with its sister sorority, Alpha Phi, in the spring by painting flower pots for nursing homes.

During fall recruitment, the chapter gained 34 beautiful new Kappas. The chapter was visited by Leadership Consultant Amelia Roudebush. She was a great help to the chapter in the areas of New Members, Standards and Vice President of Organization. She also helped the chapter’s election process – going over the election of the nominating committee as well as parliamentary procedure. Her visit was most enjoyable.
Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in homecoming activities this year with Sigma Chi and Alpha Tau Omega, includingYell Like Hell, which was a very fun and spirited event. The three groups also built a fabulous float, and their hard work and creativity paid off when they won Most Outstanding Greek Entry. The chapter held a Founder’s Day celebration at the chapter house. The event educated, as well as offered a good time, to the members of KKG.

One of the main challenges Zeta Sigma faced this year was maintaining members. The chapter really worked on member retention this year by updating the new member program which had a really positive affect. Also, members attended a recruitment and retention workshop hosted by the university. This workshop brought insight on how to keep your organization at a high point while keeping members active and happy. The chapter was very successful in mastering this challenge as 33 out of the 34 fall 2005 pledge class members returned for the spring

Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a great 2006. The chapter participated in Greek Week with Sigma Nu and received much recognition at the Greek Awards Banquet. The chapter was honored with the excellence in service award and also earned the highest Panhellenic grade-point average for 2005.
The members had a fabulous time at the date party, a semi-formal on a boat. Zeta Sigma also had a fun mixer with Sigma Nu before Greek Week. It was a great way for the chapter to meet all the men before the week of festivities. Another mixer was held with Delta Sig.

In the fall, Kappas had many social events to keep their calendars booked, starting with the Owl-O-Ween date party. Everyone enjoyed dressing up in costumes and dancing the night away. Members also carved pumpkins with Theta Chi. The pumpkins added a spooky touch to Zeta Sigma’s beautiful chapter house.
Homecoming festivities kept the members very busy. Kappa partnered with Sigma Phi Epsilon to build an amazing float, commemorating Denton’s famous Fry Street. The group also participated in Yell Like Hell at the homecoming bonfire, which was fun and exciting. The chapter held a mixer with Sig Ep to get to know them better before homecoming.

Lastly, the chapter closed out 2006 with an amazing formal at the Fort Worth Zoo. Kappa kicked off the philanthropy events in February with the delivery of hand-made valentines to nursing homes in Denton. April was a colorful month with our Easter egg hunt in front of the UNT Willis Library. In order to benefit Reading Is Fundamental, children’s books were donated by each participant.

September was a very busy month for Kappa’s philanthropy events. Book bags were painted and filled with books for children in Denton. In addition a jar was passed around at each meeting to donate half of the proceeds to RIF and the other half raffled off to one of the members as a donating incentive. October was equally as busy with Boo Bash. Even more books were collected when it was a required pass to attend the Owl-O-Ween date party.
Beginning with the second-annual Kappa Chili Cook Off, the chapter raised more than $1,500 as well as collected hundreds of books. Follow this landmark event, Kappa donated three full Thanksgiving meal baskets including gift cards for a turkey for families in need. The chapter ended the year by delivering more than 30 dozen cookies to local police and fire departments in decorated containers and baskets.

Sisterhood was very strong. Standards put on two amazing sisterhood events. In the spring, the chapter had a 1970s-theme meeting and were surprised with a sisterhood event – roller-skating! Decked out in ’70s gear, the ladies of Zeta Sigma had a fabulous time skating and eating junk food. Also, in the fall, the chapter had a movie night. The members had fun sitting around in their pajamas watching Christmas movies.

Zeta Sigma also participated with its sister sorority, Pi Beta Phi, in the spring by having a pool party. The ladies enjoyed getting to know one another and laying out in the sun. In the fall, the chapter hosted a Panhellenic bingo night and enjoyed meeting girls from the different chapters on campus.

During recruitment, the chapter worked hard and gained 28 beautiful new members. The chapter was visited by Leadership Consultant Mary Sheridan. She was a great help to the chapter and really helped in updating the chapter’s bylaws and standing rules. Her visit was most enjoyable. A Founder’s Day celebration was held at the beautiful Kappa chapter house. A pinning ceremony that included several alumnae made for a memorable occasion. Adding to the excitement, it was discovered that one of the alumnae is a direct descendent of Founder Hannah Jeanette “Jennie” Boyd! Everyone present felt connected to Kappa’s history, and it was a day to be remembered.

In 2007, Zeta Sigma Chapter excelled in all aspects that encompass Greek life. The year started out with a bang with Greek Week in which Kappa partnered with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Delta Sigma and Kappa Alpha Order fraternities. The groups’ team won the Greek Games aspect of the week and got to know each other very well. The chapter excelled at the Greek Awards Banquet where it won awards for All-Sorority Academic Excellence, Spring and Fall Semester Academic Excellence, Best New Member Class GPA, Excellence in Service and Intramurals. The chapter also received awards for President of the Year, Greek Woman of the Year and Chapter of the Year. Zeta Sigma won Most Outstanding Chapter in Theta Province at Province Meeting, the chapter’s most prized award during year.

In the spring we put on life programs dedicated to helping the members succeed. These programs ranged from a discussion on women and alcohol where a local police officer and doctor came in to discuss the effects of alcohol, to a question-and-answer period with a local gynecologist discussing the new HPV vaccination. In the fall, the chapter presented the Museum in a Box from Headquarters to show Kappa history to the new member class.

Social events for 2007 were unique and memorable. In the spring, the chapter held an ‘80s-theme bowling mixer with Theta Chi. Everyone’s outfits were naturally hideous and should have been left in the ‘80s. Later in March, the chapter had a casual date party at a Texas Rangers baseball game and a popsicle party with Zeta Tau Alpha before the North Texas spring football game as we supported our team.

The chapter continued its tradition of Owl-O-Ween with Chi Omega and held a fantastic Halloween-theme date party and mixer in one. A Twister-themed mixer was held with Kappa Sigma and a tasty Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyed with Sigma Chi. Both were great, and the chapters got to know each other better. The chapter hosted a wonderful “Pretty in Pink” party with Alpha Delta Pi and Delta Gamma, its sister sororities. The members socialized and looked over Mary Kay products while getting to know the ladies from other chapters. The last event this fall was the chapter formal, called Twilight Ball. It was held at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. The night was filled with delicious food, beautiful scenery and great dancing.

This past year Zeta Sigma participated in numerous philanthropy events. In the spring, the members participated in the campus Shack-a-Thon. The chapter built a shack out of cardboard and lived in it for 24 hours to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Zeta Sigma won Best Greek Shack at this event. Zeta Sigma with the help of Alpha Phi Omega put together a wonderful past favorite, Battle of the Bands. The groups brought in great bands and helped raise awareness for Friends of the Family, a local battered women’s shelter. Another memorable moment was the fourth-annual Easter egg hunt which included a petting zoo. It was great to see all the children’s faces when they hunted for more than 300 eggs in the chapter house backyard.

Kappas also donated books to a local elementary and even helped stuff a bus for a local school district. In the fall, Zeta Sigma hosted its third-annual Chili Cook-off which raised more than $2,000 and more than 500 books which were donated to Reading is Fundamental. Kappas participated in many collection drives ranging from book donations that helped local schools, to Barbie and toy drives to donate to local abuse shelters. The chapter collected canned food to help local food banks and created reading kits to help English-as-a-second-language students. Zeta Sigma members wrote pen pal letters to an entire third-grade class at a local school to help with their reading and writing skills and baked cookies for the Denton police department. This year Zeta Sigma was very involved with giving back to its community.

This year was also big for sisterhood including a movie night and the senior pledge class’ wine tasting night. This allowed the members to bond during a relaxing evening with their sisters. The chapter created the Support Bra Award and gave this to a sister who went above and beyond and supported her sister. This year, the members pushed to make an overnight sisterhood retreat and created an amazing night at Kamp Kappa which saw the whole chapter sleepover at a sister’s ranch where members bonded over the campfire while making s’mores.

In the fall, Zeta Sigma had an amazing Barbie-theme recruitment. The chapter pledged 26 wonderful women and was able to keep all of them through initiation. Zeta Sigma hosted an inspiring Founder’s Day where six alumnae received their 50-year pins. The event educated, as well as offered a great time for all ladies of Kappa.

The chapter participated with Sigma Nu for a James Bond-theme Homecoming and received honorable mention for their amazing float. The intramurals teams were unstoppable. In flag football, Kappa won the sorority league and played hard in the final all-campus championship game. This was the only game in which the team was scored upon. In volleyball, the team had a record of 7-0 in the regular season, and made it to the final game of the sorority playoffs. In soccer, the team was 6-1 in the regular season, and won the sorority championship game, 5-0.

The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma experienced another fun-filled and excellent year in 2009. Starting off the year, Zeta Sigma participated in a Valentine’s Day mixer with FIJI in which they played bingo and other games. Zeta Sigma also participated in all of UNT’s annual Greek Week events with Alpha Tau Omega, Sigma Chi, Sigma Gamma Rho and Omega Delta Pi and was awarded prizes for the best banner contest and also for giving 100 percent in Greeks Give. During the Greek Awards, the Zeta Sigma Chapter was honored for Academic Excellence, New Member Academic Excellence and the Intramural Award and was also named Organization of the Year on the UNT campus.

Zeta Sigma was the recipient for Outstanding Achievement in Active-Alumnae Relationships for Theta Province in 2009 and was also proudly represented by a finalist in Ms. Greek UNT, benefitting the philanthropies of Phi Kappa Sigma. Zeta Sigma also participated in a wonderful Board Gamer Mixer with the members of UNT’s lacrosse team and teamed up with Chi Omega for its annual Halloween mixer termed “Owl-o-Ween.”

The spring semester was very eventful in terms of philanthropy for Zeta Sigma. In January, Zeta Sigma donated 600 books to The Nelson Center and read with the children there and also made a donation of 900 books to Success for Life Through Reading; a campus-based group at UNT. In February, Zeta Sigma participated in its annual Reading Is Key event to benefit RIF. In March, Zeta Sigma participated in The Missy Project, a foundation dedicated to raising money for research on brain aneurysm diseases also known as BAD. Members took shifts taking donations and selling bracelets supported by the foundation to help raise money. Zeta Sigma raised $2,000 and was featured in the Missy Project Newsletter as Silver Level Sponsors. Zeta Sigma also collected donations and supplies for Camp Cope, a camp that benefits children from military families by teaching them coping skills while their loved ones are away. Zeta Sigma also held its annual Easter egg hunt in April for members of the Denton community as well as Kappa alumnae in the area. Zeta Sigma also participated in many other philanthropy events for other Greek organization such as Alpha Phi’s red dress gala, Delta Gamma’s Anchor Bowl event, Chi Omega’s Frats at Bat, Alpha Delta Pi’s Mock tails, Zeta Tau Alpha’s Skate-a-Thon, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days and Kappa Sigma’s Scottish Rite Christmas Decorating. Other areas of Greek philanthropy in which Zeta Sigma participated were Alpha Phi’s Pancake Phiest where Zeta Sigma was named Queen for the most participants as well as Shack-a-Thon which benefitted Habitat for Humanity.

The Zeta Sigma Pickers also had a very eventful year this year. The lovely picker ladies sang at the Mr. Pi Phi pageant, at Founders Day at the Southern Methodist University Kappa chapter and at Barnes and Noble in Highland Park for the Dallas Alumnae Association, benefiting RIF. The pickers were also very fortunate to sing in benefit of the ASPCA, even meeting Doris Roberts from the hit show “Everybody Loves Raymond.” In the fall, Zeta Sigma held its annual Chili Cook-off benefiting RIF as well as Couture for a Cause, a discount designer purse auction that also benefited RIF.

Twenty-nine beautiful ladies were added to the Zeta Sigma Chapter this year. Recruitment was revamped with new songs, an extra day of recruitment and ‘80s-theme decorations based on the “Love Kappa” recruitment theme.
The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year in 2011. The spring semester started with Greek Week events. KKG was paired with Sigma Phi Epsilon and Omega Delta Phi. At Greek Awards, Kappa received the involvement cup, the intramural award for the seventh year in a row and the excellence in service award. The chapter’s annual Reading is Key event was held at Riviera Elementary School, benefiting Reading is Fundamental and the local children of Denton who participated.

The chapter held the annual Easter egg hunt where children from around Denton came to a local park and enjoyed a petting zoo, costumed bunny, and of course an egg hunt! The ladies of Zeta Sigma stayed busy during the spring by participating in, and winning first place in, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days. Zeta Zigma also participated in many other events such as Shack-A-Thon where the chapter partnered with Sigma Chi and won.

After such an exciting spring, fall was just as eventful. The semester started with a great recruitment where the chapter added 25 new young ladie. Next up was a super-hero-theme Homecoming where we partnered with Delta Sigma Phi and Phi Kappa Tau. Kappa performed a Superman-theme dance, made a beautiful spirit wall and constructed a Super Scrappy-theme float which received honorable mention in the spirit parade. Owl-O-Ween, which was hosted along with Chi Omega, was so much fun and showcased some of the most inventive costumes ranging from a bag of jelly beans to the Spice Girls.

KKG also held the seventh-annual Chili Cook-off that included live music, a pie-eating contest and of course plenty of chili to taste. The event was held before a UNT football game during tailgating, and all entry fees and book donations went to support Reading is Key. Next, the chapter competed in the Josh Abbot Band sorority contest where sororities from across the country competed to win a private concert and a contribution to their philanthropy. Zeta Sigma was overjoyed to win second place and receive a $1500 contribution to our philanthropy! Many members also attended Alpha Phi’s Pancake Phiest and Kappa Delta’s Quesadilla Night to help support these other sororities’ philanthropies.

A holiday-theme sisterhood event, complete with cookie decorating and watching the movie “Elf,” helped the members to get into the holiday spirit and to grow closer as sisters. The year came to an end with a truly spectacular Alice-in-Wonderland-theme formal held at Texas Motor Speedway. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious, the music was good and the time spent all together was even better.

==Highlights of 2011==

The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year in two thousand and eleven. The spring semester started right away with Greek Week events. KKG was paired with the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Omega Delta Phi. At Greek Awards, Kappa received the involvement cup, intramural award for the seventh year in a row, and excellence in service award. Our annual Reading is Key event was held at Riviera Elementary school, benefiting our philanthropy and the local children of Denton who participated. We also received two Eagle Awards. We then held the annual Easter Egg Hunt where children from around Denton came to a local park and enjoyed a petting zoo, dress up bunny, and of course an egg hunt!

The ladies of Zeta Sigma stayed busy during the spring by participating in, and winning first place in, Sigma Chi's Derby Days. We also participated in many other events such as Shack-A-Thon, where we were partnered with the gentlemen of Sigma Chi and won. After such an exciting spring, fall was just as eventful.

The fall semester started off with a great recruitment where we were blessed to add 25 new young ladies to our chapter. Next up was a Super Hero themed homecoming where we were partnered with the gentlemen of Delta Sigma Phi and Phi Kappa Tau. Kappa performed a Super Man themed dance, made a beautiful spirit wall, and constructed a "Super Scrappy" themed float which received honorable mention in the spirit parade. Owl-O-Ween, which was hosted along with Chi Omega, was so much fun and showcased some of the most inventive costumes ranging from a bag of Jelly Beans to the Spice Girls.

KKG also held the 7th annual Chili Cook Off that included live music, a pie eating contest, and of course plenty of chili to taste. The event was held before the UNT football game during tailgating and all entrée fees and book donations went to support Reading is Key. Next we competed in the Josh Abbot Band Sorority contest where sororities from across the country competed to win a private concert and a contribution to their philanthropy. The ladies of Zeta Sigma were overjoyed to win second place and receive a $1500 contribution to our philanthropy! Many of our members also attended Alpha Phi's Pancake Phiest and Kappa Delta's Quesadilla night to help support these other sororities philanthropies. Then a holiday themed sisterhood event, complete with cookie decorating and watching the movie Elf, helped us all to get into the holiday spirit and to grow closer as sisters. The year came to an end with a truly spectacular Alice in Wonderland themed formal held at Texas Motor Speed Way. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious, the music was good, and the time spent all together was even better. The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma truly had an amazing year and all the hard work paid off. Sisterhood was strengthened, philanthropy went above and beyond with raising money and awareness, and Kappa's presence at UNT and in the Greek community was at an all-time high.

'''Campus:''' The University of North Texas is a steadily growing and exceptionally diverse university. It is composed of students from all walks of life making for a very friendly, open minded, and intellectual student body. UNT offers many different programs for students to get involved in and many resources for students to better themselves and their academic career. '''Chapter:''' The Zeta Sigma Chapter has become a very successful and well known chapter on the UNT Campus. We are constantly working to better ourselves and this chapter in order to make Kappa the very best it can be.

During this past year, Kappa has been very successful when it comes to philanthropy and sisterhood bonding. However grades have sometimes posed a problem for this chapter. Kappa has made many changes and is working harder than ever to ensure that Zeta Sigma understands the importance of maintaining high grade standards and understanding the consequences for the chapter as a whole when we do not meet these goals. We have three required study hours a week with a log to keep track of the hours. Signatures of whoever we are studying with are also required on the log. We have a no "skippy jar" which is an incentive to not skip class. You may enter your name into the jar with a chance of winning a prize if you have not skipped class that week. You are also recognized at the end of the semester if you have not skipped any classes. This chapter is doing everything possible to make sure our grades are higher so we can continue to excell as a chapter.

==Highlights of 2012==
The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year in two thousand and twelve. The spring semester began right away a successful bid day, welcoming 4 beautiful new members to Zeta Sigma! We continued the semester with Greek Week events. Kappa was paired with the gentlemen of Kappa Alpha and Phi Gamma Delta for a “Greek out the Holidays” theme, competing as Valentines Day. As a team, we received second place in Greek Games. Kappa participated in Josh Abbott Band’s Sorority Spirit contest, and won second place overall, winning a private concert at our home and $1,000 donated to our philanthropy. The ladies of Zeta Sigma also participated in other Greek Life events, such as ADPi Mocktails, Sigma Chi Derby Days, and Kappa Alpha’s Sorority Showdown, as well as university wide events, such as the Big Event community service day, participated in the Orientation PlayFair, and we were awarded the “We Mean Green” award for our excellent environmental efforts. We held a “Zumba” sisterhood event, with an instructor who came and did a fun Zumba workout with us, followed by healthy snacks.

Zeta Sigma held their annual spring date party, with the theme being Casino Royale, a fun night filled with casino games and dancing. The Zeta Sigma chapter is also proud to have won the 2012 Finance award at the Kappa Kappa Gamma convention this past year.

The fall semester began with our biggest bid day yet, welcoming 41 beautiful new members to our chapter, expanding it to the largest chapter we’ve had. Our 8th annual philanthropy event, Kappa Chili Cookoff followed, which included plenty of chili to taste. The event was held before a UNT football game during tailgating and $2,000 and and over $100 in book donations went to support Reading is Fundamental. We held our first annual Kappa Kolor Run, which was a philanthropic 5k which benefitted one of our active sisters who was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma, and raised over $10,000. We had a great turnout with over 300 participants, and everyone enjoyed the fun atmosphere.

==Highlights of 2013==

The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year for two thousand and thirteen. The spring semester started right away with Greek Week events. KKG was paired with the gentlemen of Pi Kappa Alpha. Greek week was a huge success! On top of winning Greek week, the chapter also won awards for the chapter progress award, program of the year award and runner up for the involvement cup award. We then held the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Cumberland Children’s home in Denton, where we gave out candy to children, played games with them, and had plenty of coloring and fun to go around. We also had a mixer with Chi Omega making Easter cards and filling eggs. Later in the spring we participated in Fashion Speaks Autism in which we brought in vendors such as Lilly Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines, Brown Bag, and Mad Jewels and they sold their merchandise, donating some of their profit to Autism Speaks which is an organization that benefits autism research.

KKG also participated in Alpha Delta Pi’s Mocktails which is a philanthropy event where teams participate to make the most tasteful alcohol free drink along with the theme. Kappa also participated in UNT Big Event which is a campus-wide community service event that we participate in, and it's always a lot of fun! We were assigned to help at spirit horse therapeutic center where we helped them with landscaping. Another highlight from the year was our second place win for the Josh Abbott Band contest we won $3,000 and t-shirts and Josh Abbot Band came to our house and performed! Kappa held many sister sorority events that bonded the entire chapter.

The first sisterhood event where the girls went camping and bonded over s’mores, creating fun kappa related songs and other such fun memories. Then Kappa had a sisterhood event where they had a blast roller-skating and got to know one another. After such an exciting spring, fall was just as eventful.

The fall semester started off with a Top Gun themed Homecoming where we were partnered with the gentlemen of Sigma Chi, Omega Delta Phi and Iota Phi Theta. Kappa performed a Top Gun themed dance, and constructed an amazing Top Gun float in the shape of an airplane which received honorable mention in the spirit parade. Kappa also participated in Spooktober held by Phi Kappa Tau in October. We got most participation and third place overall! Owl-O-Ween, which Kappa hosted along with Chi Omega, was so much fun and showcased some of the most inventive costumes ranging from a bag of Jelly Beans to a couple dressed up as Cat-Dog.

KKG also hosted the 9th annual Chili Cook Off that was hosted at Rockin’ Rodeo including raffle ticket winners, a pie eating contest, and of course plenty of chili to taste. All of the entrée fees and book donations went to support Reading is Fundamental. Our chapter had a total of over 2,500 hours of community service this semester! KKG also held a prom dress drive in the fall with Sigma Lambda Gamma. We also had a roller skating mixer with the gentlemen of Alpha Tau Omega!

Kappa went to Denton’s after school program and read to the kids a book of their choice and had fun coloring afterwards. Kappa also held an All-Greek Scholarship presentation with the gentlemen of Phi Gamma Delta to help students with their upcoming finals and tips for studying. The year came to an end with a truly spectacular Winter Wonderland themed formal at Texas Motor Speed Way. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious, the music was good, and the time spent all together was even better. The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma truly had an amazing year and all the hard work paid off. Sisterhood was strengthened, philanthropy went above and beyond with raising money and awareness, and Kappa’s presence at UNT and in the Greek community was at an all-time high.

'''Campus:'''The University of North Texas is a steadily growing and exceptionally diverse university. It is composed of students from all walks of life making for a very friendly, open minded and intellectual student body. UNT offers many different programs for students to get involved in and many resources for students to better themselves and their academic career.

'''Chapter:''' The Zeta Sigma Chapter has become a very successful and well known chapter on the UNT Campus. We are constantly working to better ourselves and this chapter in order to make Kappa the very best it can be.

Owl-O-Ween, our fall date party hosted with the ladies of Chi Omega, featured sisters and dates in creative costumes such as garden gnomes to a bobsled team. Homecoming followed, where we were paired with the gentlemen of Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Phi. Our theme this year was Once Upon a Homecoming, and our team created a float and a dance routine to the theme of the Brothers Grimm. Kappa held a great sisterhood event, featuring an etiquette teacher who showed us the ropes of business etiquette. We learned how to dress for interviews and how to network with professionals.

Our year came to an end with our fall formal, held at Ashton Gardens, with a beautiful Night in Paris theme. The food was great, and spending time with sisters was even better. The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an amazing year and all of the hard work paid off. Sisterhood was strengthened through sisterhood events, philanthropy went above and beyond with raising money and awareness, and Kappa’s presence at UNT and in the Greek community was outstanding.

The University of North Texas is a steadily growing and exceptionally diverse university. It is composed of students from all walks of life, making for a very friendly, open minded, and intellectual student body. UNT offers many different programs for students to get involved in and many resources for students to better themselves and their academic career.

==Highlights of 2014==

The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an extremely successful and rewarding year for two thousand and fourteen. The semester started right away with Greek Week Events. KKG was paired with the gentlemen of Alpha Tau Omega and Phi Kappa Sigma. The chapter won for the most participation at the food fundraiser that was held at Fuzzy’s.

In February, the chapter held a Valentine’s Day sisterhood event. We decorated cakes where half of the room was anti-valentines and the other side was pro-valentines; the girls had a lot of fun and there was plenty of sweets and sisterly bonding to go around. Zeta Sigma won basketball intramurals for the second year in a row! The ladies of Zeta Sigma participated in The Big Event where we helped plant new grass around Lake Lewisville for community service. The chapter also held there first annual Kappa Krawfish. Kappa Krawfish is a late night food event held to raise money for our philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. We are proud to say that the event was a huge success!

The last thing we did before the spring semester came to an end was have our date party at the Dallas Stars game where they cheered them to victory. After an exciting spring, fall was just as eventful. The fall semester started off with rewarding the entire chapter with getting to throw pie at the chapter council members since they met their GPA goal of a 3.14. After a long and tedious week of recruitment, Zeta Sigma also got forty-two beautiful new members.

The first big event the chapter took part in, the new member/ scholarship/ parent appreciation banquet, allowed the the 14 girls who received 4.0s to be honored with pearls for their badges. The chapter also joined with their sister sorority, Delta Gamma, to support their philanthropy Service For Sight by making Braille Books for children. During the National Hazing prevention week at UNT, a banner competition took place, where we won first place. The chapter went above and beyond our previous semesters of athletic accomplishments winning first place in football intramurals, 1st place in soccer intramurals, and second place in volleyball intramurals.

The chapter also had their most successful homecoming to date with placing third overall! During the circus themed homecoming week, each girl participated in events all over the campus, placing first in the powderpuff football game, third in the homecoming float, and third in construction. The girls were very proud of Maria Perez, and the President of Kappa, Laura Peavey, who were nominated for Homecoming court for UNT. This is the first time two women have been nominated from the same sorority, and the chapter was proud to announce that are very own Maria Perez won homecoming Royalty.

This year we also celebrated our 25th anniversary on campus, and we had a reunion at the house for all the alumni to join all of us and reminisce on all the reasons we love Kappa. Zeta Sigma is also pleased to announce our second annual Kappa Kolor Run was a huge success, raising over $1000 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This year came to an end with a truly spectacular Sapphire Ball at The Stonegate Mansion in Fort Worth, where the girls had a wonderful time and were asked to come back for future events!

Lastly, but certainly not least, one of our very own sisters, Andrea Lefton, was elected first Vice President for the University of North Texas Panhellenic council. The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma truly had an amazing year and all the hard work paid off. Sisterhood was strengthened, philanthropy went above and beyond with raising money and awareness, and Kappa’s presence at UNT and in the Greek community was at an all-time high.

Campus:

The University of North Texas is a steadily growing and exceptionally diverse university. It is composed of students from all walks of life making for a very friendly, open minded and intellectual student body. UNT offers many different programs for students to get involved in and many resources for students to better themselves and the community.

Chapter:

The Zeta Sigma Chapter has become a very successful and well known chapter on the UNT campus. We are constantly working to better ourselves and this chapter in order to make Kappa the very best it can be.

The Zeta Sigma Chapter holds their weekly meetings in the Chapter Room of our sorority house. The House is owned by the University of North Texas. The Kappa Kappa Gamma house at the University of North Texas was built in 2003. The house is owned by UNT and 24 girls, including the president, can live in the house. Every girl gets the opportunity to live in the house. The house at UNT is the only house that the Zeta Sigma Chapter has had.

==Highlights of 2015==
The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year for two thousand and fifteen.

Here at Zeta Sigma we have had plenty of accomplishments this year. When it comes to holding our sisters accountable for their actions, we excel in that because there is equal treatment of all members when it comes to standards. Positive standards and the reinforcement of positive spirit and morale we have noticed has been on the rise this year, whether it be through rewards or spotlighting a sister for her actions. Through interactive and exciting sisterhood events we have see new friendships flourish and grow strong with the bonds of Kappa.

2015 was a wonderful, philanthropic year for the ladies of the Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In January, the ladies passed out pencils that were blue and said “Have a Great Semester-KKG!” They handed them out on the Onstead Promenade and were able to provide UNT students with something on their first week on classes to wish them well! In February, the Kappas sold carnations on campus for those last minute Valentine’s Day shoppers and wrote Valentine’s to Veterans during their weekly chapter meeting.

In March, the annual University of North Texas Big Event was held where UNT organizations are assigned a task to help out the Denton community all on one day. Our chapter was assigned to help replant a garden in Lewisville and clean up the area surrounding it. March was also the month that the 1st Annual Kappa Kookout took place! It was an exciting late night food event at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House. Guests were treated to a brisket sandwich, potato chips, a pickle, brownies, and a drink! The chapter room was decked out in BBQ/Texas theme and the ladies wore their cowboy boots and bandanas. We had a blast hosting over 300 students in our home and raising over $3,000 for Reading is Fundamental! We also had a book drive at the event to lower the price of admission and raised around 75 books.

In April, Hawk Elementary in Denton helped Kappa host their very first Reading is Key event. In the library of the school, first graders were invited to participate in several reading and writing stations that the Kappas were in charge of. They read “The Duckling Gets A Cookie?!” to the students and helped them make bookmarks and Venn diagrams. At the end of the event, they got to pick out their very own “Click, Clack, Moo” book to take home for themselves. The 2nd Annual Kappa Krawfish was hosted at the end of April in the UNT Sorority Courtyard on a Friday evening. Advisor, Veronica Abshire, and her father and sister helped to cook the 200 pounds of crawfish for the guests and did an excellent job! Homemade seasoning, the outdoor game cornhole, and a table full of desserts helped make the night a success. $2,000 was raised for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation! The spring semester closed out with the Kappas completing over 1,300 hours of community service, the most we have had in several semesters. Over the summer, several girls continued their philanthropic efforts by volunteering at summer camps and church camps.

When the fall semester started, the ladies hit the ground running! During work week for Fall Recruitment, they collect canned goods to be donated to the Denton Community Food Shelter. They “adopted a block” through the Adopt-A-Block program at UNT and were assigned the area near the Athletic Center to clean up throughout the year. In September, a family weekend brunch was held during the University’s Family Weekend. They had a wonderful spread of breakfast foods for family members, friends, and boyfriends to eat while they waited out the rain that was happening outside! The brunch was philanthropic because they asked family members to bring canned goods in lieu of a payment for the food. These cans would be used during the Homecoming community service event, “Canstruction.” Kappa Kappa Gamma was partnered with Pi Kappa Phi and successfully built a replica of the McConnell Clock Tower out of over 2,500 packages of ramen and canned goods. During the Homecoming Parade, instead of passing out candy to the children watching with their parents, books were passed out! There were over 300 books passed out that day and it was wonderful to see the children get so excited about getting their very own book to take home!

In October, the ladies partnered with Delta Sigma Phi to help them pull off the 3rd Annual Frightmares at the Maple Street Sanatorium. The haunted house took place on Thursday and Friday night and the overarching theme was an insane asylum. The Kappas dressed as patients, nurses, and children and donned bloody makeup that made them look extra scary. The event nights were a success and over $1,500 was raised for Reading is Fundamental. Also in October, the Kappas volunteered back at Hawk Elementary at their Literacy, Math, and Science night, once again being in charge of several stations located throughout the school. The last event that the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted in the fall semester was the Project Linus event. On December 1st, the Kappas opened their home to all of the Panhellenic women on the North Texas campus to help make fleece tie blankets for children around the Denton and Dallas area. They had a hot chocolate bar, sweet treats, and watched a holiday movie as they tied blankets with their Panhellenic sisters. There also was an area for ladies to make donations to the Presbyterian Night Shelter to help them during the holiday season. The Kappas ended the semester with over 1,500 hours of community service completed! They had an amazing year and can’t wait to continue giving back to the local community and to the national philanthropies, Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.

For events, Kappa Kappa Gamma had a date party at Hyennas Comedy Club in Downtown Dallas. The ladies enjoyed listening to Heather McDonald, who is known for her role in White Chicks, and her appearances on Chelsea Lately. During football season, we tailgated with many different fraternities such as Delta Sig, Sigma Chi and many more! We loved the food, friends and fun times that we had while during the Mean Green football season! We finished the year at The Stonegate Mansion in Fort Worth, for the Fall Formal that was themed “Poker and Pearls”. There was a DJ, photobooth and different tables to play at such as blackjack, roulette and slot machines. This year was filled with fun events for Kappa Kappa Gamma!

This past year for Zeta Sigma has been the best yet in the area of academics. The chapter achieved its highest GPA yet with a 3.18, which was a 0.04 jump from the previous semester. All together, we had a total of 36 girls make a 4.0 over the last year as well! Since this has been our highest GPA so far, the VPA surprised all of the girls with a donut party one of the mornings during work week. In the spring of 2015 there was a smart cookie party where all the girls were divided up by major and then they could meet with each other and eat cookies! This allowed everyone to get to know and exchange contact information with other girls in their major so they could use each other as a resource. Lastly, in the Fall, the chapter had their annual banquet. All the families and friends were invited to a nice dinner to recognize the girls who made the Dean's List and President's List. For the girls who made the President's List, they were rewarded with a pearl for their badge. Overall, it was a very successful year for the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Throughout the year, the chapter strived to stay very involved in other Panhellenic events besides just our own. This was done by attending different philanthropy events such as Alpha Phi’s Pancake Phi’st and Chi Omega’s Chiochella. The chapter also held a sister sorority event with Alpha Delta Pi. During this event we bonded with our Panhellenic sisters by painting balloons filled with paint and throwing them on banners that said “ADPi loves KKG” and another saying “KKG loves ADPi”. This made an cute decoration that both chapters hung outside their houses. We all had a great time this semester getting to know other people and always look forward to meeting new girls throughout Panhellenic.

The University of North Texas recently had a soft opening for the new Student Union. The Union is place for students to study, eat, have classes, and much more.

The Chapter’s House is currently getting updated. The house has received new furniture in the foyer and new chairs in the chapter room. In the near future, the house will also be getting a coach and curtains. The ladies are excited and thankful for these new additions.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

National Philanthropy

==Highlights of 2016==
Kappa Kappa Gamma had over five girls service on the recruitment team this past summer. We held our annul events as well as participated in many different Pan, IFC, and other Greek councils events. Our overall goal this was to grow in our sisterhood, to achieve this goal we held multiple different sisterhood events that were a big hit!
Our campus this year was overall stable, not much change. The overall nature of our chapter is great. We are involved on and off campus and have really created a positive name for Kappa Kappa Gamma on the UNT campus.
Our chapter is very involved with the Adopt a Block program that is offered at UNT. We spend about 2-3 hours each Friday cleaning and picking up trash in our spot on campus.
Our chapter meets right in our Zeta Sigma house in the chapter room every Monday night at 6:30.
I would recommend our most recent president Christa Irvin. She did an amazing job as our president this past year and I believe she has some great stories to tell.
We have a ton of awesome photos from this year on our social media accounts. We try to highlight all our events and special sisters on our Instagram each month.

==Highlights of 2017==

During the spring semester of 2017 we got a wonderful pledge class of four super involved and amazing ladies. We had an event at the house called Kappa Kookout where we sold tickets to the community as well as the UNT campus for barbecue served at out Chapter house. At this event we also accepted donations of children's books for us to donate! We held our first Kappa Kappa Chino event on the UNT campus where we handed out coffee to students and took donations for the KKG Foundation. As for social events, we had a super fun date party where sisters and their dates dressed up as their favorite TV show characters. Everyone had a great time and amazing costumes! Overall this semester was a success and left everyone feeling excited and positive for fall recruitment.
This past fall the Zeta Sigma chapter got the most amazing pledge class we could ever hope for. The 32 ladies have already made a huge impact on our chapter by being involved, dedicated and passionate. Throughout the semester we have done numerous philanthropic events benefiting RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We held our second Kappa Kappa Chino event on campus where sisters handed out coffee to students on campus and accepted donations for the KKG Foundations. We held our first annual Kappa Kabana event at our house where we served tacos to the public after them buying tickets and/or donating a children's book. The event was super successful! We also had some great social events this fall semester including Owlween (a joint date party with Chi Omega) and our annual Sapphire Ball Formal. Our Event Chair did an incredible job with both events. Our chapter has continued to be heavily involved on the UNT campus in a variety of organizations and leadership positions.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
The University of North Texas campus is ever growing and changing. There is construction going on all around campus for new buildings and dorms. Our chapter is excited for the various changes happening on campus. The overall nature of our chapter is happy, dedicated and involved. Which is shown through our positive recruitment and our successful events.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
As a chapter we have spent a lot of time volunteering at a local elementary school by reading to second graders and working events that the school puts on for the students, including books fairs and literacy nights. We also do donation drives for children's books that we then use to read to the students and donate to the school's library.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Being involved in the Denton community is just as important as donating our efforts to organizations around the country. Volunteering at Ginnings gives Zeta Sigma the opportunity to take 30 minutes out of their day to pour into the life of a student, share their love for Reading, and encourage them that they can do anything they set their mind to do.
Chapter Facility:
In what kind of a facility does your chapter meet? Please attach a clear photo of where you typically hold chapter meetings – whether in a classroom, chapter house or elsewhere.
We hold chapter meetings and other events on our house on the UNT campus. Attached is a photo of the outside of our house.
Oral History
Are there any current members, alumnae or advisers from your chapter that you recommend for the Fraternity’s oral history project? We are looking for Kappas with stories to tell – funny chapter memories, great professional achievement stories, heartwarming stories of how Kappa has helped them, etc.
We would recommend Ashley Hagrove, Julianne Bergen, Paige Sennet, Murae McCumber, Lexi Skjolsvik, and Veronica Abshire (advisor).
Photographs
Are there any interesting photos in your chapter’s archives that you would like to share with us?
I have attached a few photos that we would love to share with you all!

==Highlights of 2018==

In the year of 2018, the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma grew in unimaginable and exceptional ways. We won awards at our university for New Member of the Year awarded to Ivalis Guajardo (the second year in a row Kappa has won this award!), Cross Council Unity, and Academic Excellence Spring 2017. At the national level, we took home the Risk Management award as well as notable recognition and mentions in a other categories. We hosted a wide range of philanthropy events this year including our third Kappa Kappa Chino event for the KKG Foundation, Kappa Kookout benefiting RIF, and we brought back Kappa Kolor Run where we raised thousands of dollars for RIF through Crowd Change! We faced some challenges this year right at the start, when we were unable to take a spring new member class, which stalled recruitment season until the fall, but we came back with a heightened moral and stronger sisterhood and recruited a fall new member class of 29 girls. A great accomplishment by itself followed up by an amazing initiation season where all 29 girls of our new member class were initiated into the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We became more involved this year with the other four Greek life councils that exist at UNT and began building and strengthening our bonds by participating in each others events and supporting each others philanthropies and causes. We worked hard to improve Greek unity on our campus, and we can proudly say that hard work is paying off. This year's political climate really encouraged the sisters of Zeta Sigma to get involved, speak up, and educate themselves on their environment and what ways they can make a positive impact in the community. We really wanted to focus on preparing our members for the world beyond Kappa, and with the encouragement of our Chapter Council members and the educational resources provided by our university, we are able to better prepare and inform our sisters in ways never seen before.

UNT is a very diverse campus, and from that diversity, our members have a unique position where they can see various perspectives. Our faculty and staff have been increasingly committed to making sure student voices are being heard, and they are constantly engaging with Greek life to find ways in which they can improve to be more accepting and inclusive. As a chapter, we are full of girls from many different backgrounds. Each member is unique and comes from a different upbringing, with their own views, and various passions. With such diversity, there is always worry it may cause tension, but our girls are very accepting and respectful about the differences between them, and we admire each other more because of those differences. When there is a disagreement, it becomes a positive learning experience. Being this way is not only helping us move towards being a more inclusive chapter, but also preparing girls with the necessary skills to excel later in life. Our campus and chapter community is a common reason as to why these girls go Kappa and stay Kappas.

Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental are our two philanthropies.

We chose these Philanthropies, not only because they are the philanthropies supported by Kappa at the national level, but also because we can see the impact that our service provides right here at home. We get to read to children at a local elementary school and build not only their literacy skills but also their self confidence and self esteem through Reading is Fundamental. We also are very thankful to the KKG foundation because it has provided to many of our own sisters who have been struggling personally and financially. We will continue supporting these causes, as they do so much for the communities that we live in that unfortunately would otherwise be overlooked.

Chapter Facility 903 W Praries St. Denton, TX -

Oral History

We are looking for Kappas with stories to tell (e.g., funny chapter memories,professional achievements, heartwarming stories of how Kappa has helped them, etc.).Abby Batterton, Paige Sennet, Charlotte Loewes, Ashley Hargrove, Megan Brackeen,Veronica Abshire, Ivalis Guajardo, Lexi Rutter, Hayley Worstell, Alexis Owens, Julianne Bergen, Kendall York, Allie Pope, Kaitlin King, Paige Lowe, Jena Williamson,

==Highlights of 2019==

In the year 2019, the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma shined at the University of North Texas under Erin Gossett’s Presidency. We received The Chapter of the Year Award, Most Improved Scholarship, Program of the Year (Kappa Kolor Run), Cross Council Unity, Fall Academic Excellence, New Member Academic Excellence, Greek Woman of the Year (Paige Sennet), and New Member of the Year (Rachel May), with Kappa receiving the New Member of the Year award for the third year in a row! These are all awards given to us by the University of North Texas Greek Life, an extremely high honor! Seniors Paige Sennet and Charlotte Loewes also each received the Golden Eagle Award,the highest honor a student can receive by the University of North Texas! In the Fall, Charlotte Loewes was also given the honor of representing the Student Alumni Ambassadors on the UNT homecoming court! We are so proud of our amazing, and high achieving Kappa Kappa Gamma members. By the community, we were awarded the “Adopt A School” award from Denton ISD for our philanthropic relationship with the local elementary school, Ginnings. With the Spring of 2019, we gained 13 Zeta Sigma Alumnae! We are so proud of Kelly Burke, Abigail Batterton, Kennedy Garinger, Megan Brackeen, Rachel Duban, Paige Sennet, Samantha Lawson, Kendall York, Allie Pope, Katy Baca, Rachel Dean, Kristian Cardenas, and Rachel White. Many of these amazing women have started careers in their respective fields or have continued their higher education in graduate school! In August of 2019 we recruited 29 amazing new members and then initiated all 29 sapphires into our chapter that October. Our Membership Chairman, Haley Arnold put on an amazing 2019 recruitment that ensured multiple legacies coming home, and women of value finding their place in Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our Marshal, Ivalis Guajardo put on the ultimate inspiration week, filled with a Big and Little Dinner honoring our new members, inspiration week shirts, and general education about what being a Kappa woman means. In the Fall, we also gained 6 beautiful alumnae members, Lisbeth Giron, Lindsey Whitt, Charlotte Loewes, Baylee Dehoyos, Noor Geoffery, and Nabha Tariq.

In regards to our philanthropic efforts, Kappa volunteered over 1400 hours. Many of these hours were spent at Ginnings Elementary in Denton, Texas. This is a local title 1 school close to our campus, at the elementary school, bi-weekly Kappas will go and read to the second grade classrooms. Weekly, Kappas will also go and volunteer at their GEMS program, where we mentor the 5th grade girls about morals, growing up, being kind, confidence, and the value of education. We also volunteer at the school dances acting as chaperones/dance partners/ decorating committee/food servers. Being active and contributing members of our community is extremely important to us and we are so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to be hands on while making our difference. Kappa has made tremendous connections with the children at this school, with both our lives and the children’s lives changing for the better. In April we held our first ever Grilled Cheese and KKGs event! This event was hosted at the Kappa house and helped us raise over $1878 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental. In the fall, Kappa hosted Kappa Kolor Run for the second year in a row, with an amazing turn out! The 5K was hosted on campus with many people in attendance, raising over $4100 for both RIF and the KKG foundation. We were so proud of our philanthropy chairman, Kaylie Davila, and the efforts of our entire chapter to raise a huge amount for the philanthropies we care so much about! Prior to the Kappa Kolor Run event, we also had a Reading is Key event at Ginnings Elementary. The entire 2nd grade was able to come to their library and have Kappas reading to them while they enjoyed snacks provided by our chapter. We sent every child home with a book, with over 120 children in attendance. Everyone had so much fun and it was a great way to start the week! Socially, we enjoyed many great times together as a chapter! We had our first ever KKJean date party, hosted by our amazing event chairman Michelle Olvera. Everyone wore all jean attire and went to the LSA rooftop to enjoy a meal and dancing! This April date party was a final hurrah for many of our graduating seniors, and a great way to connect before summer came. In the Fall, we had our beautiful November formal at the Reunion Tower hosted by our event chairman Megan Taylor. This was so much fun and the food was a hit with all of our Kappa sisters and their company! Many funny superlatives were given out and it was a great night for all of us to have time together. In December, we joined Sigma Chi in a holiday themed mixer! This included a bonfire to roast marshmallows, snacks, and the movie Elf on a projector. Our Vice President Academic Excellence, Lisbeth Giron, hosted an amazing end of semester event for us at the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater in December as well! We got to enjoy a meal together and watch the Grinch in our pajamas after a long semester of hard work! Within the Kappa Kappa Gamma walls, our connections with each other grew stronger than ever. This is something we have at times struggled with, but have gained so much peace and understanding among each other. Our above and beyond education chairman Cassandra Leissler put on multiple amazing programs for us this year. We participated in the EME program, Aspiring to a Higher Ideal of Sisterhood. This presentation really made a difference in our chapter, and many girls felt comfortable speaking their mind in this safe space. We also had our own University’s office of diversity and inclusion come and speak to our chapter as well. These programs expanded our chapters minds, hearts, and ears to what kind of support our sisters need. It is not always to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but in order to gain perspective, we must sit and listen to those around us, something the Zeta Sigma chapter has gained and benefited from so much over this last year to ensure we are a chapter everyone is proud to say they are a part of. Cassandra consistently went the extra mile for our chapter, so that the women in our chapter and the women we strive to recruit display the values of Kappa Kappa Gamma in such a way that every sister feels needed, necessary, and loved in that space. We have surely cultivated a sense of empathy, kindness, and compassion towards one another in this 2019 year that will last beyond it.

With the University of North Texas consistently undergoing construction, the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma often can be found in every nook and cranny of the campus that isn’t under construction. Some of our favorite spots include the University Union, the BLB, Willis Library, and newly redone Sage Hall! Within our own space, the Kappa house chairman, Carson Harrington has been consulting her decorating committee about the renovations that will be done to our house kitchen in the summer of 2020!

The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma supports Reading is Fundamental, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.Why did the chapter choose this organization? Although these are both organizations allocated to us by nationals, we have a great sense of pride and love for them both. We have made RIF into our own, and feel the impact we make through our volunteers at the local elementary school.

Our outstanding Education chairman Cassandra went all out for our Founders Day celebration! While celebrating 149 years of Kappa, we also celebrated our own 30th anniversary of the ZetaSigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma! Cassandra rented out tents that were put in the sorority courtyard, catered Jersey Mikes, and provided decorative cookies. Our entire chapter was in attendance, including many alumnae members that returned for our celebration. We hosted our Founder’s Day celebration the day after our Fall ‘19 class was initiated, so they also got to participate in their first closing ritual, and what a special one it was!

We are so excited to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary next October! We are already gaining excitement as we have learned that the Minnie Stewart Van will be visiting us the first week back to classes this upcoming January 2020! Everyone is excited to come and kick off this 150th year with the Van! We have elected a wonderful Education Chairman, Gabby McComb for the 2020 year, and we know she will put on a beautiful 150th Founders Day for our Zeta Sigma Chapter!

==Highlights of 2020==
During 2020, the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was presented with many new obstacles as we faced a global pandemic. However, our sisterhood only grew stronger under Sheridan Smith’s Presidency. This year we received Chapter of the Year for the second year running, Program of the Year (Reading is Key), Greek Women of the Year (Ivalis Guajardo), Spring 2019 Academic Excellence, 2019 All Sorority Academic Excellence, and Standard Fraternal Excellence. These awards were presented to us by the University of North Texas Greek Life. Senior Ivalis Guajardo was also crowed Homecoming Queen while representing North Texas 40. These members are known as the “Top 40 Leaders” on UNT’s campus. Zeta Sigma takes pride in Ivalis for her dedication to this chapter and her love for campus life.

As Zeta Sigma took on fall 2020, we experienced an all new virtual recruitment. However, New Member Chairman, Madeline Menefee held a wonderful bid day over zoom. We celebrated our new members with the theme House of Blues. After bid day, Madeline Menefee went the extra mile to hand deliver goodie bags to our new members to make them feel special during this time. Shortly after, Madeline and Marshal, Hannah Gonzales set up a drive-by where new members could safely pick up their new member pins. That following October, Hannah Gonzales held a virtual initiation where we welcomed 21 sapphires into Zeta Sigma. This fall, we also gained one new alumna, Emma Cawthon who previously served as Public Relations Chairman in 2019.

In 2020, the Zeta Sigma Chapter at the University of North Texas continued to support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental (RIF). While these two organizations are allocated to us by nationals, we continuously are impacted by them and take pride in both organizations. To raise money for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), our sweet Philanthropy Chairman, Emery Nolan set up a Kendra Scott giveback where 20% of the proceeds went to RIF. This was a nifty way for family and friends to shop virtually or visit the Kendra Scott store, while following CDC guidelines. From this event, we raised roughly $400. Zeta Sigma also actively volunteers at Ginnings Elementary which is a title 1 school located in Denton, Texas. Typically, Kappa’s visit the campus bi-weekly to read to second grade classrooms or volunteer at numerous events (e.g. school dances or the GEMS program). Although, due to COVID-19, visitors were not allowed to visit campus this year. However, this obstacle did not stop Philanthropy Chairman, Emery Nolan. She found a new way to impact the students at Ginnings, where she set up an Amazon Book Drive with books selected by the Ginnings librarian.

This year Education Chairman, Gabby McComb put together an exceptional Founder Day’s, celebrating 150 years of Kappa. During this virtual event, Zeta Sigma also celebrated 31 years here at UNT. It was a special event where we reconnected with alumnae and advisors, paying tribute to the women who created our favorite things about KKG. Although we did not hold a date party or formal this year. Event Chairman, Maggie Morley continued the tradition of superlatives by presenting them at our last chapter of the year. This was a fun way to include Zeta Sigma’s traditions while we experienced an altered school year.
This year, due to COVID-19 most events were held virtual, through zoom. Although we made the best out of it by holding vitual sisterhood events (e.g. virtual movie nights, game nights, and trivia). This semester we also revised the chapters standing rules which was orchestrated by secretary, Gaylee Goldston. Gaylee also safely held composites in the house. This was the first time PC 20 viewed the house since Recruitment was held virtually. However, New Memember Chairman, Madeline Menefee held a wonderful bid day over zoom, where our theme was House of Blues. Even though we did not have a formal this year, Event Chairman, Maggie Morley continued the tradition of superlatives by presenting them at our last chapter. Initiation also looked different this year, as it was held virtual. This Fall, we initiated 21 new members into Zeta Sigma. Not to mention, the 2018-2019 Marshal, Ivalis Guajardo was crowed as Homecoming Queen, while representing her organization North Texas 40. Plus, Ivalis is also the President for this organization. We are so proud of Ivalis for her dedication to her impact project and her love for campus life. Last but not least, our philanthrophy event, Reading is Key was awarded Program of the Year. Other Greek Awards that we won were Spring 2019 Academic Excellence, 2019 All Sorority Academic Excellence, our very own Ivalis took home Greek Women of the Year, Standard Fraternal Excellence, and last but certainly not least Chapter of the Year.

Chapter Philanthropy

We support Reading is Fundamental and Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. While these two organizations are allocated to

us by nationals, we continuously are impacted by them and take great pride in both organizations. To raise money for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), our sweet Philanthropy Chairman, Emery Nolan set up a Kendra Scot giveback where 20% of the proceeds went to RIF. This was a nifty way for family and friends to shop virtually or visit the Kendra Scott store, while following CDC guidelines. Zeta Sigma also actively volunteers at Ginnings Elementary which is located in Denton, Texas. Due to COVID-19, visitors were not allowed to visit campus. This obstacle did not stop Emery. She found a new way to impact the students at Ginnings, where she set up an Amazon Book Drive with books selected by the Ginnings librarian.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

VPO, Amanda Zimmerman and Panhellenic Delegate, Sophie Barrera constantly provided educational and inclusive opportunities to the chapter. For example, we had a Pride Alliance Training, a Hazing Awareness Presentation, and a Be Bold Leadership Workshop. During Domestic Violence Awareness month we were presented with a PowerPoint. This included helpful resources, statistics, and warning signs.

Sesquicentennial Celebration

Zeta Sigma celebrated Kappa’s 150th anniversary over zoom. Our Education Chairman, Gabby McComb held this special event where alumna and advisors were welcomed. During this event we paid tribute to the women who created all our favorite things about KKG, while reminiscing on old times.

Photographs
[[File:41DAF492-0D49-413B-887F-6B44E0551433 Zoom Days.jpeg|thumb|Zoom Days]]
[[File:21A74FC0-23E8-4565-AAFE-60A164CCD7C1.jpeg|thumb|Kappa times]]
[[File:BDB8B4CF-679B-48AD-A543-031A5427902A.jpeg|thumb|Big Sis]]
[[File:6226319F-7F14-4CAE-8DBA-BCA73C5C8E0E.jpeg|thumb|Sisterhood]]

Zeta Rho

2021-12-21T19:45:22Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Rho
|GreekSymbol= ZP
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Rho.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1988|03|19}}
|College= [https://www.colgate.edu/home Colgate University]
|Location= Hamilton, NY
|Homepage= [https://colgate.kappa.org/ Zeta Rho Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Rho Media related to Zeta Rho Chapter]}}
----
'''Zeta Rho, Colgate'''

Founded March 19, 1988

Colgate established in 1817

80 charter members

1,564 initiates (as of June 2018)

'''Some of Zeta Rho’s Outstanding Members:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Convention Awards:'''

6/30/00 Panhellenic Honorable Mention

6/30/02 Recruitment Honorable Mention

6/30/08 Recruitment Honorable Mention

==History and Establishment==

'''Colgate University (from the Summer 1988 issue of The Key)'''

Colgate University was established in 1817 as the Baptist Education Society of New York. In 1846 it changed its name to Madison University after New York chartered the institution to confer degrees. In 1890 the school was renamed as Colgate in recognition of the 70 years of support and service by members of the Colgate family. The school became co-ed in 1970. The campus is set upon 1,400 acres which rise from the village to a forested hill. At the time Zeta Rho was founded, enrollment was approximately 2,600 students, 60% of whom were Greek.

Founded March 19, 1988 as the Fraternity absorbed the members of a local sorority, Delta Sigma Upsilon. Active members from Beta Tau, Delta Delta, Psi, Beta Beta, Delta Alpha and Zeta Beta served as big sisters for the charter class. 3 alumnae of the local were also initiated into KKG during the Installation service held at the Baptist church and presided over by Fraternity President Marian Williams. The festivities continued with a celebration luncheon and a banquet that evening held at the Hall of Presidents. The evening banquet was attended by the Dean of the College and the Assistant Dean of Students and included honoring 3 women with their 50 year pins. Formal pledging was held in the afternoon for the 39 women recruited in February after the colonization service.

'''Establishment and Installation'''

Eighty women were pledged to Zeta Rho colony at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, on November 15, 1987. These women were members of the local Delta Sigma Upsilon, formed on the campus in 1980. The chapter consultant was Lisa Higham, Missouri, and the coordinator for chapter development was Mary Clarke, Colorado College. Kappa’s 117th chapter was installed the weekend of March 18-19, 1988. Marin Laidlow LeFevre, Syracuse, was the local installation chairman. Active members serving as big sisters came from Cornell, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, McGill, Penn State and Lafayette.

==Highlights of the 1990's==

The Zeta Rho chapter goal in '''1990''' was unity, including 75% participation or more at all Kappa functions. Another challenge facing the chapter this year was the report from the Colgate Board of Trustees’ Special Committee on Residential Life, which forced the Greek-letter system to review their attitudes towards Greek Life and value to Colgate. Among other things, the Committee proposed that going forward, rush would take place only during a rushee’s sophomore year, and that the pledging period would be eliminated completely.
Despite confusion about future rush and pledge period rules, the chapter still went forward with planning for formal rush in March 1991. During 1990, 38 sisters were initiated in the spring, and another 3 sisters were initiated in November 1990 (athlete hold overs from spring 1990 initiation).

Zeta Rho was proud that 6 of 14 members of the Colgate Panhellenic Council in 1990 were Kappas!
The chapter was still unhoused, but looking for options with space large enough for chapter meetings and rush events.

Over 100 people attending Zeta Rho’s pizza party with Big Brother/Big Sister in October 1990. The next month, the chapter helped with a local Habitat for Humanity project.

Zeta Rho was well represented in campus sports with members on the Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Tennis, Squash and Crew teams. Additionally, the Kappa team won the intramural flag football championship!
Rush was successfully held in the spring and (for the first time) the fall semesters in 1994. The fall rush was the first sophomore rush at Colgate, a result of the Special Committee on Residential Life report from earlier in the decade.

The chapter continued to support Big Brother/Big sister in '''1994''' with a Thanksgiving Day Party for children from the local community. Other philanthropy events this year included painting a Welcome Center in Hamilton, participating in a Rock-a-thon for charity, and helping Special Olympics.

Zeta Rho hosted the Alpha Province meeting in Schenectady, NY, in spring '''1995''', where they won an award for Overall Achievement. Also, that spring, the chapter was recognized by Colgate for having the highest campus GPA for 5 consecutive semesters and having the highest sorority GPA.

The chapter was still working to improve unity in 1995, which they felt was a challenge in part because they were unhoused. To address this, dinners and other activities were organized to initiate friendships between new members and sisters who were overseas during rush. Also, sisters participated in intramural sports together.

Other challenges facing the chapter included the university initiative that, within 1-2 years, only 250 Colgate students would live off campus. As the majority of Zeta Rho sisters lived off campus, and because the chapter was unhoused, the hunt was on for a campus home for the chapter. Additionally, as many as half of the sisters in the chapter were studying abroad each semester, making chapter unity, recruitment and slating difficult. Zeta Rho was hostess for Alpha Province meeting in 1995 and received the award for Most Improved Chapter

The chapter initiated 38 members in '''1996''', making quota. As in previous years, Zeta Rho continued to be involved in campus athletics year round. Kappa was represented on the 1996 Colgate Crew, Soccer, Tennis, Field Hockey, Swimming and Cross Country teams.

In the spring of 1996, the chapter organized a “Shut-Up-A-Thon” to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation. For one day Kappas “shut up” to make the wishes of terminally ill children come true. In the fall, the chapter held its first Spaghetti Dinner for Charity, and continued its tradition of participating in Sidekicks Thanksgiving Day, the Turkey Drive, and Christmas gift boxes for families in the local community of Hamilton. Year round, the chapter donates to the Hamilton Food Cupboard.

Fifty sisters received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence in the spring of 1996, along with many other honors, awards and society inductions.

This year Zeta Rho again honored one sister with the Marian LeFevre Key, which is presented each year in honor of the chapter’s long time, and tirelessly devoted, advisor. And at the 1996 Convention, the chapter received an Honorable Mention for Membership.

==Highlights of the 2000's==

This is the sixteenth year that the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been at Colgate('''2004'''). In the tradition of fraternity, Kappa sisters at Colgate have contributed to the intellectual excellence of the university, while also continuing to hold a strong positive presence in all areas of the college and the surrounding community of Hamilton, NY.

This year, philanthropy was the Chapter Goal on which all sisters voted to concentrate. Our new members played a pivotal role in putting together a charity banquet that supported the Roswell Park Cancer Research Center in Buffalo, NY, and learned the Kappa values of helping others and working together. Each sister in the entire chapter was assigned to a Kore Group to serve different philanthropies in order to increase overall participation as well as frequency of activities. We also adopted reading at the bookstore to support our national philanthropy of Reading is Fundamental. Last spring, the Zeta Rho chapter co-sponsored a spaghetti dinner with Kappa Alpha Theta in which we raised money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Every Friday afternoon, a group of Kappas meet with elderly women at Madison Lane Nursing Community. In the warm fall months, we held a charity car wash with Beta Theta Pi to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. One of members helped to organize a holiday house lighting contest that we ultimately won in partnership again with the fraternity Beta Theta Pi, and were able to pledge five-hundred dollars to donate to a charity of our choice. We participated in the Cabin Fever Festival with children in the community by sponsoring a snow sculpture contest. We were part of the American Heart Association Run/Walk, raising over $1000 for the cause. In conjunction with the Run/Walk, we did the Pennies for Patients fundraiser and collected spare change from campus residence halls. We were a component of the Saturday Morning Bookstore Program in which we read stories and interact with children in the community. At the Colgate Konosioni auction, Kappa offered babysitting services to help raise funds for the event. We sold Mothers' Day cards to support Community Action, which helps impoverished people in Upstate New York to financially and emotionally reorganize their lives. Kappa participated and showed support of a united Greek system and the Panhellenic spirit at the Panhellenic Megamixer in both the spring and fall.

We put together a scholarship dinner for a Kappa Kappa Gamma members who had made Dean’s List the preceding fall in which all of the participating girls chose to invite a professor to attend .The senior brunch was held at the Colgate Inn, where Juniors and Sophomores came together to recognize and celebrate the Seniors' contributions and successes as members of our chapter. A slideshow was shown and a song that younger sister made up was song was sung.

This year, we were awarded the Greek Letter Chapter Awards for: Outstanding Chapter Officer, Outstanding Risk Management, and Outstanding Participation in Up Til’ Dawn.

One of the main challenges that our chapter faced this year was to improve the way in which all Greek organizations were perceived on campus and throughout the community at large. To help with this, we have endeavored to increase our own philanthropy projects in addition to working alongside other community groups in a joint effort. By making our positive presence known on campus and in the town of Hamilton, we hope that others will be able to recognize what it truly means to be a Kappa.

Another challenge that we faced was fitting Kappa’s original six week New Member program into Colgate’s four week requirement, yet both older sisters and the new members agree that our new format worked efficiently and enjoyably. We had some difficulty getting more participation in philanthropic events, and to help this we made it mandatory for girls to go to at least 3 events during the Spring Semester and assigned Kore groups in the Fall Semester. We also needed to do away with old terminology that we have become accustomed to, such as “mother, daughter” and adopt the “Key Sis” phrase and “family” groups. We had always kept our Mom/Key Sis a secret until the last week, but since a Key Sis is needed as a mentor to new members during the New Member Period, we checked with headquarters about when the last day was that we could reveal the Key Sisters. They told that us as long as it was before the NM pinning, that it would acceptable, so we were able to keep the Key Sis revelation like tradition and also do the pinning in time so the Key Sis could serve as a mentor for the remainder of the period.

A final notable challenge was that NPC regulations forced us to cut more girls during the beginning rounds of recruitment, which was quite new for us. All members, however, stayed extra-long hours in order to meticulously decide which young women we asked to come back.

'''2005''' is the seventeenth year that Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been at Coglate. In the tradition of the fraternity, one of our chapter goals was to improve our sisters' commitment to academics. We sought to improve our overall GPA as a fraternity. We were extremely succesful, and jumped from lowest cumulative GPA out of the four campus sororities to the highest this past semester.

We also voted on philanthropy as another area to concentrate on as a chapter. Our sisters participated in a plethora of different community service activities over the past year. This year we have dedicated our efforts to a new philanthropy project called Kappa Birthday Klub, brought to our sorority by a sister who participated in a similar project at her high school. We used the fall semester of 2005 to fundraise, and then in each month of the 2006 calender year, Kappa will sponser a birthday party for local foster children of Madison County. In order to fundraise we set-up collection cans in downtown Hamilton, we held a clothing re-sale, and bake sales. We raised a total of $1,700 and look forward to being able to help foster children celebrate their birthdays. This project is very exciting, as it provides an immediate way for our sorority to connect with the surrounding community in a meaningful way.

Each Friday afternoon Kappas visited elderly women at Madison Lane, a retirement community in Hamilton. Activities with the residents included sharing family pictures, arts and crafts, movies and bingo. Also, the Friday before both Valentine’s and Easter, we made cards to give to University Hospital Pediatrics in Syracuse and Memorial Hospital of Hamilton, respectively. Our chapter donated a gourmet dinner for ten people to the campus Konosioni Auction. In the spring, we held a charity car wash with Beta Theta Pi to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Kappas also donated 130 hours to help with the Tsunami Relief at the Colgate Cares Tsunami Relief Benefit. Our chapter helped to set-up, serve, and clean up at the end of the event. On April 6th, 2005 Zeta Rho co-sponsored a spaghetti dinner with Kappa Alpha Theta to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. We donated $1,000 from the dinner. We also participated in Pennies for Patients. Kappas walked door-to-door asking Colgate students to donate their spare change. In addition to 82 hours donated by Kappas for the American Heart Association Run/Walk, we collected $720 for the cause. We wrote and sent a package of lettters to a Kappa soldier in Iraq. We also sold candy grams for Valentines Day entitled Kappa Kisses. As a chapter, we donated 50 hours and raised $460 for Roswell Park Cancer Institute of Buffalo. Also to raise money for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kappa junior Katie Powell organized the Roswell Park Cancer Benefit, which featured Kappa junior Kaylan Orkis as the keynote speaker. Through this banquet, we raised $1,000 for the institute.

The two main goals we set for our chapter were to improve academics and strengthen ritual. One way we worked to improve academics was to start a list of majors and minors to use as a tool for peer mentoring within the chapter. For example, a sophomore art history major could easily find an older sister to help with her coursework if this type of list was available. The VP-of Academic Excellence will also be organizing frequent study breaks with food to encourage sisters to complete their work at the library. As a chapter, we greatly improved our academics and jumped from the lowest cumulative GPA of the four campus sororities to the highest this past semester. Members of Zeta Rho also cited ritual as an area that could use improvement. Though we still need to continue work in this area, the Marshall plans to hold more formal chapters as a way to practice songs, responses etc., as well as practice sessions at the end of weekly chapter to get everyone as whole more familiar with Kappa songs and traditions.

Zeta Rho chapter accomplished many things in '''2006'''. Philanthropy events were especially important to us this year, as we tried many new activities as well as already established events. Many of our events and fund raising are to benefit one of our fairly new ventures, the Kappa Birthday Klub. We raised money for a semester, and then in the spring threw a birthday party every month for the local foster children of Madison County. This is a favorite event among the sisters of Zeta Rho as it is enjoyed by everyone. We feel that we get more out of the experience as well as give back more to our community when we are personally involved with using the money we raised as opposed to sending off a check, which we also do through various other fundraising ventures. To raise the money for Kappa Birthday Klub, we arranged several events. One of those is a clothing re-sale, where the sisters bring in slightly used clothes and then sell them to the Colgate community. Those left over are donated to the Salvation Army. We also had several bake sales, as well as a sale of Kappa Kisses (Valentine's Day candy grams). We raised almost $2000 for Kappa Birthday Klub, and the birthday parties were a huge success.

Every Friday several Kappas go to a nursing home nearby called Madison Lane and spend time with the residents. Activities include sharing family pictures, arts and crafts, watching movies, and bingo. In April of 2006, Zeta Rho sponsored a dinner with Kappa Alpha Theta sorority to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation, and we donated over $1,000 from the dinner. That spring we also held a car wash with Beta Theta Pi fraternity to benefit Reading is Fundamental, which was extremely successful.

We wanted to work on several things in 2006, including more communication and partnership between the sororities on the Colgate campus. As there are only four, it was not an insurmountable task, but nonetheless one that required effort. We sponsored a dinner with Kappa Alpha Theta for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation, and we had many events that involved sisters from all sororities. We also made sure to emphasize to our new members the importance of inter-sorority communication and support.

We also wanted to continue strengthening our use and understanding of ritual this year. We held formal chapters more often so as to make sure all of the sisters were well versed in Kappa songs and tradition.
Zeta Rho had many accomplishments in 2008. One of our main goals was to continue to increase our partnership with the other fraternities and sororities. Last spring, the Greek chapters joined together in a campus wide event called "Greek Week". The participants included the chapters of: Beta Theta Pi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Upsilon, Gamma Phi Beta, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Tau, Sigma Chi, and Theta Chi. The week long festivity brought together the chapters to gain support and awareness for Greek Life. We joined together with a few fraternities to sponsor barbecues and powderpuff football games to continue awareness on campus and in the community. This past fall, the chapters came together again under the guidance of Panhellenic to sponsor a kid’s carnival. The event was opened to professor’s children to come and enjoy refreshments along with great games run by the Greek fraternities and sororities.

Our newer event, the Kappa Birthday Klub, was once again a success. We raised money by the annual Kappa clothing sale. Members are eager to bring in new or slightly used clothing that they do not wear anymore to be sold to the student body to fundraise for the birthday klub. The Kappa Kisses valentine candy sale was a success again. Bags of candy were sold in the coop around the holiday. About $400 was raised and helped purchase the supplies needed for the Kappa Birthday Klub. We continued our involvement with Madison Home Lanes, the local retirement center. Each week, different members would volunteer their time to go visit the residents. Our chapter also participated in a sorority softball game competing with Delta Delta Delta and Gamma Phi Beta to fundraise for Panhellenic.

This past fall was a very exciting time for our chapter. The new member class brought our Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter 56 new sisters. This large number required much planning during our new member period to ensure the transition into our chapter was both a positive and smooth one for all. Extra time was spent organizing activities that would allow the upperclassmen to bond with the new members. The new members showed a large amount of enthusiasm and were eager to get involved. Extra effort was made to make sure that each sister who wanted to could have a position, be part of a committee, or lead an event.

In '''2009''', Colgate University continues to be a small campus of 2800 students in the quaint town of Hamilton of upstate New York. It has a fairly homogenous student body which has been voted to be one of the fittest in the nation. Princeton Review has voted this small campus on a hill the prettiest in the United States. Greek life makes up a significant portion of the Colgate community, with 33% of the total student body participating in it; and 45% of sophomores, juniors, and seniors taking part.

Our chapter is filled with a plethora of different girls who are very involved on campus. Some are members of Division 1 Varsity Sports, others are part of acapella groups on campus, while still others are part of the COVE, the Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education. Kappa's at Colgate excel in academics while still finding time for volunteer work and social opportunities.

Our biggest challenge this year was getting acquainted with our newly purchased house, located at the edge of campus. The financial decisions that came with this purchase were a hurdle that the chapter overcame successfully. Room selection, carpools, and a meal plan are all things that have been worked out with the addition of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house on the Colgate campus. Another challenge that Zeta Rho faced this year was New Member Recruitment because of shifting dynamics on campus. With one less sorority participating in recruitment in the fall, Kappa had to account for this when considering the girls who rushed. They were definitely successful, with 100% of the girls asked back to the house returning every night of rush.

==Highlights of 2012==
The 2012 calendar year was an exciting and successful time for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Colgate University. In the Spring, Zeta Rho participated and hosted a variety of philanthropic events, including the annual Birthday Club Party, a birthday party held for all local Hamilton area foster children. Around Valentine’s Day, we bonded during a sisterhood event of cookie decorating, and continued our philanthropic efforts with our annual fundraiser of Kappa Kisses, in which we delivered valentines of Hershey's kisses and raised money for our Birthday Club Party. In collaboration with local retailer Steph Boutique, we facilitated a shopping event for chapter members in which proceeds went to children’s literacy foundation, Reading is Fundamental. Our annual recruitment open house in the Spring proved to be a success, as the Fall was marked by the initiation of 65 bright new members, followed by a new chapter tradition of celebratory brunch at the Colgate Inn. Zeta Rho thrived in the Fall with these new members, co-hosting the successful Colleges Against Cancer Concert event with the Iota chapter of Theta Chi.

Individual Kappa members’ involvement on campus continued to be impressive, represented by Varsity Field Hockey players and four Konosioni Honor Society members, peer-selected for outstanding leadership and service to the community. Beyond this, Zeta Rho member Charlotte Myers was the head of the Colgate Activities Board, and Dana Paolucci and Kelly Curtis directed the successful and entertaining Fall Cabaret, a student-run musical performance. Finally, a proud and exciting moment in the past year for Zeta Rho occurred in the Fall with the elections of Kappa members Amara Wilson as Panhellenic President, and Tira Hastings as Vice President of Panhellenic Recruitment! We are looking forward to the continued growth and strength of Zeta Rho in the 2013 calendar year!

2012 marked a significant change on campus, specifically in relation to Greek life. The 1991 All-Bid Rule was abolished this last fall right before we began recruitment. This rule previously required that all women eligible and interested in Greek Life who fully participated in Recruitment must be extended a bid from one of the chapters on campus. Due to the rule being gone, we were able to more carefully match girls that would be the perfect fit for our sorority, and our pledge class was smaller than in previous years. No girls that participated in recruitment were randomly placed in any organizations as had been done before with the 1991 All-Bid Rule. Beyond this, Colgate welcomed new Dean of the Faculty, Douglas Hicks, and Dean of the College, Suzy Nelson, in the past year.

==Highlights of 2013==

The 2013 calendar year was an exciting time for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Colgate University. We won Most Improved Chapter at the Alpha/Rho Province Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. We also were able to present Lucia Blackmore of the Gamma Omega chapter with her 75-year membership pin.
Zeta Rho really worked on encouraging sisters to explore academic pursuits in many ways. Throughout the year, ten of our sisters were in the prestigious peer-selected Konosioni Senior Honor Society.

To promote academics, we offered weekly prizes for sisters who preformed exceptionally well on academic tasks. Academic presentations were also held to highlight different places on campus that provide academic assistance, such as the Writing Center, and the Career Services Center. A book club was also started, which we are very excited about, and will meet starting in 2014. Zeta Rho also held the bi-annual Professors Tea, where each sister invites her favorite professors to our house for baked goods in order to interact with professors in a non-classroom setting. Zeta Rho also maintained leadership positions within the Colgate Panhellenic Council, continuing the Kappa tradition of leadership.

Special educational programming events included a self-defense seminar to show us defensive tactics in case we ever find ourselves in a bad situation. We also had an LGBTQ Safe Zone Training session to create a supportive atmosphere for LGBTQ students by facilitating open discussions concerning gender and sexuality. Training for Intervention Procedure (TIPS training) was also held, which gives sisters the necessary training and confidence needed to recognize potential alcohol-related issues, and how to successfully intervene to prevent tragedies. Zeta Rho celebrated Founder’s Day on October 13th with dinner and Fraternity History trivia. Our chapter also kept with tradition and held a Graduation Brunch for all Zeta Rho sisters and their families during Graduation weekend. We celebrated our 25th Anniversary by combining the event with our Senior-Send-Off BBQ to celebrate our 25th year on campus while also presenting gifts to seniors.

Zeta Rho was extremely active with philanthropic involvement in the past calendar year. We held an annual Valentine’s Day card-making event for children at St. Judes Children’s Hospital, and ended up raising $1,600. We also sold Kappa Kisses again to benefit our annual Kappa Birthday Club. The Kappa Birthday Club is a party for foster children in the Hamilton area, and 15 children and their families were able to attend in 2013. Another event held to benefit the Hamilton Community was bringing DJ Jesse Marco to campus to raise money for the Hamilton Food Cupboard; we raised over $1,500.

Zeta Rho also kept with the tradition of supporting various groups promoting reading. A fundraiser at a local boutique donated a portion of profits to Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Two book drives were held through the Building Bridges foundation and also through Head Start, which provided books to over 50 underprivileged students in the Hamilton Community. For the Greek Life Day of Service, Zeta Rho volunteered at the local public library.

Other events included teaming up with two fraternities and the club, Colleges Against Cancer to hold a “Kick Cancer” kickball tournament. We also co-sponsored two events: a bone marrow drive on campus, and a PTSD awareness week with Semper Fi organization. In support of the Colgate Sustainability Arbor Day Initiative, we helped to plant trees on the Colgate Ski Hill. A 5K run was held to raise money for a cure for Alopecia Areata. Overall, the 2013 calendar year was extremely eventful for Zeta Rho, and we are so excited for 2014, and all that we hope to accomplish!

In the 2013 calendar year, Zeta Rho members have remained extremely involved all over campus. We have sisters who are Senators in the Student Government Association, play on varsity and club sports teams, and serve as Presidents or Vice Presidents for many clubs on campus whether the focus is philanthropy, leadership, performing arts, or recreation. Recruitment numbers continue to rise, and we are all hoping that the campus will be open to expansion very soon!

==Highlights of 2014==

The 2014 calendar year was a rewarding year for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Colgate University. In February we sold annual Kappa kisses to raise money for the Birthday Klub event, a party for children in Madison County who are either in foster care or are underprivileged. In March, Kappa Co-sponsored Relay for Life to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society. Kappa also sponsored a 5K for Alopecia. We held a fundraiser at Steph boutique for Reading is Fundamental, a nonprofit focused on improving literacy among children all over the country. In April, Kappa hosted the Kappa Birthday Klub. In April, Kappa also hosted the Professor’s Tea, which brought professors of all disciplines to the house. This event allowed Kappas to converse with their professors while enjoying some food and tea. Zeta Rho won second place of all Kappa Kappa Gamma national chapters for commitment to study hours, which we were very proud of. Additionally, at the Colgate Greek Life Awards Kappa won Chapter of the Year.

Fall recruitment kicked off the new academic year. Zeta Rho welcomed 66 well-rounded, intelligent and involved new members to its chapter. A great deal of hard work, patience and commitment to success caused this process to run smoothly and efficiently. Sisters worked together tirelessly to hand pick the girls who would be the best fit for Zeta Rho.

Zeta Rho’s fall and winter were packed with philanthropic events. In September we co-sponsored the Make a Wish 5K with Beta Theta Pi to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. We raised $4,980 for the cause. In late October, Zeta Rho donated a copy of the book Bunny Cakes to every student in two local Head Start classrooms in honor of Read for the Record. The Kappa Kickball tournament for Breast Cancer Awareness took place on November 7th and was a great success, despite the snow! This tournament to “Kick Cancer” has historically received great support from the Zeta Rho chapter. The Rose McGill holiday sharing event took place in December, which got many involved. Zeta Rho also began optional but suggested “Safe Zone” training programs to inform Kappas about what to do in difficult and questionable situations involving drugs and alcohol. This program consisted of two sessions to choose from.

Dedication to academics is incredibly important to Zeta Rho. To offer incentives for good grades and support and appreciation for hard work, we continued the tradition of publicly recognizing individuals during chapter by calling their names and presenting them with a small gift. We also made sure that members were kept up to date with the academic opportunities on campus to assist students, especially because a few Kappas are tutors among various disciplines and some even work in the Writing Center and Career Services Center. The book club was kicked off during this year as well. All in all it remains that Zeta Rho continues to excel in academia.

Zeta Rho has recently experienced many new changes in leadership of the university as well as changes in chapter leadership. Colgate University’s 16th president has just announced that he will not seek renewal of his contract at the end of the year. Zeta Rho also said goodbye to Fouad Saleet as the Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. Additionally, Zeta Rho has added three new advisors for the risk, house, and VPAE positions.

==Highlights of 2015==
The 2015 calendar year was a memorable one for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Colgate University. We held Kappa Kisses in February to raise money for Birthday Klub, where we throw a party for underprivileged children and children in foster care in Madison County. In the spring, we sponsored a 5K for Alopecia in order to raise money for a cause that is deeply important to Zeta Rho, since one of our sisters was diagnosed with alopecia her freshman year at Colgate. We also hosted Professor’s Tea, which brought all of our favorite faculty members to the house. Lastly, our President, Vice President of the Organization, and our Recruitment Chairman all attended the Province Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. They had the opportunity to connect with Kappas from many other universities, as well as dedicated alumnae. Upon graduation, we learned that our former chapter President, Katharine Latta, was selected as a Leadership Consultant. We are
so proud of her!

Fall recruitment brought in 65 intelligent, caring, and involved new women to our chapter. A great deal of organization, patience, and commitment allowed recruitment to be successful. We owe it all to our one recruitment chair, who took on the responsibility that was previously delegated among four women. We also very much enjoyed a visit from our LC, Hailey, who ensured that the four days ran smoothly. All the sister of Zeta Rho had smiles on their faces throughout recruitment and we loved showing our sisterhood to potential new members. After bid day, events such as apple picking allowed the new and old sisters to really get to know each other.

Zeta Rho’s fall has been packed. We kicked off our first ever September semi-formal called Kappa Keys to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather. We had Professor’s Tea again and enjoyed hanging with our professors outside of the classroom setting. We celebrated Founder’s Day in October, and were reminded of the strong women who founded our incredible organization. We also hosted our Advisory Board for a weekend and a Kappa Trainer to learn more about Risk Management.

In terms of Philanthropy, we are proud to announce that we received the award for the best philanthropic collaboration for our fundraising efforts for the Make a Wish foundation. We collaborated with Beta Theta Pi, and are honored and excited to have received this award given by Colgate University. In October we held the annual Kappa Kickball event to raise money for Colleges Against Cancer. We also partnered with local clothing store Steph and local restaurant N13 to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Since the holiday season is just around the corner, we just sent a holiday package to a Kappa alumnae in need through the Rose McGill Holiday Program. Lastly, Delta Delta Delta held a gala to raise money for lymphoma, as a sister of the chapter was recently diagnosed. Zeta Rho as well as other chapters on campus chose to help with the event and are excited by the Greek community coming together for a member of its own.

This has been a packed year for our chapter and we are looking forward to see what 2016 has in store!

2015 has been eventful for Colgate. The administration has been very much in a period of transition, with our former President Jeff Herbst stepping down. For the academic year, an interim president has been leading the administration. Zeta Rho is very much looking forward to the presidency of Brian Casey, who will move to Hamilton and begin his presidency in July. Mr. Casey comes from DePauw University and a few members of our chapter have had the opportunity to meet him. We believe he will be an incredibly positive presence on campus. Part of the reason we are looking forward to Mr. Casey’s arrival is due to the tension on campus between Greek Organizations and the administration. It feels as though the current Colgate administration does not value Greek Life as part of the Colgate community. However, Mr. Casey is a strong proponent of Greek Life on campus and we are hoping that our Zeta Rho will be more embraced during Mr. Casey’s presidency.

Recently, the sexual climate on campus has been the focus of discussion. In November, students expressed their frustration with the administration’s lack of transparency regarding the discussion of sexual violence on campus. Student outrage was a result of the administration’s release of data that indicated an alarming number of cases of sexual violence taking place on campus. Students responded to this alarming data by organizing a protest and a forum in which personal stories were shared. Also, a mission statement with a list of grievances was sent to the administration. We are proud to say that sisters of Zeta Rho were not only at the protest and forum, but were actively sharing their stories and opinions. Although this issue is one that has plagued our campus, the sisters of Zeta Rho have been instrumental in increasing awareness and showing solidarity.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in
your community?

Zeta Rho has traditionally been very involved with Reading is Fundamental, the Rose McGill Holiday Sharing Program, the American Cancer Society, and the Alopecia Areata Foundation.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

We chose to support Reading is Fundamental because it is the Fraternity’s selected philanthropy. We believe the cause is a worthwhile one, as it helps promote literacy for underprivileged children. The women of Zeta Rho are fortunate enough to receive a world-class education, and believe it is important to promote education among children. Rose McGill is also a Fraternity selected philanthropy, and we have chosen to support this cause because it directly impacts Kappa alumnae in need. The American Cancer Society has been important to our chapter, as cancer has touched the lives of many of our sisters. Lastly, the Alopecia Areata Foundation is close to our hearts. One of our sisters has this condition and she has been incredible about raising awareness. We are impressed with her strength and feel that this cause is special to Zeta Rho.

==Highlights of 2016==

Zeta Rho had a wonderful year. We had successful philanthropy events (Kappa Kisses and Kappa Kickball) and raised money for various organizations such as: KKG Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, and Hamilton Public Library. We had members participate in amazing summer internships like working with "The Today Show." We had members attend Kappa Convention in San Diego and they had a great time. We co-sponsored a charity event (Cinderella 's Closet) with Gamma Phi Beta. We had 6 Kappa women achieve 4.0s in the fall semester. We also had a member participate in the NYC Marathon! All in all, we had a great year.

Colgate is trying to make campus more inclusive. In keeping with Colgate's goal we are helping aid Colgate. We participate in school wide panels to promote Greek Life. As a chapter we make sure the girls within the chapter feel included with every event that we participate in. Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, Hamilton Public Library.

==Highlights of 2017==
in 2017 Zeta Rho had a wonderful year. We had successful philanthropy events (Kappa Kisses and Kappa Kickball) and raised money for various organizations such as: KKG Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, and Hamilton Public Library. We co-sponsored the Men's Soccer Down Syndrome Awareness game and participated in the half-time shoot out.We had members participate in amazing summer internships like working at Warner Bros., Alpha Sights, and non-profits. We had members attend Kappa Leadership Conference in Pittsburgh and we had one member attend a Leadership Academy in Ohio. We had 3 Kappa women achieve 4.0s in the spring semester.We also had members member participate in the NYC Marathon! To top it all off we had great visits from all the LCs that came and from Beth Black. All in all, we had a great year!

We participate in school wide panels to promote Greek Life. As a chapter we make sure the girls within the chapter feel included with every event that we participate in. With the recent sexual assault cases coming to light Kappa Kappa Gamma has been making sure that our sisters feel safe and comfortable on campus. Colgate's Student Government Association (SGA) is working on creating changes to the campus and we have active members in Kappa who sit on SGA to make sure our voices are being heard at those close door meetings.

==Highlights of 2018==

This past calendar year has been very eventful for Colgate's Zeta Rho Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The VP of Academic Excellence awarded 8 sisters 4.0 awards last Spring to reward their hard work and dedication the previous Fall Semester. We are still working with our administration to release the GPA's from the Spring Semester so those women will also be rewarded for their high achievement. Last spring we sent about 16 sisters abroad, and this semester an outstanding 31! Each semester, the VP of Academic Excellence also plans an event called Professor's Tea, where we invite Professors to learn more about the women in our organization; this semester we joined forces with the other Sororities on campus and hosted an joint event. Last semester we had the incredible opportunity as a chapter to assist with Binghamton's initiation and chapter installation, it was a truly rewarding experience. Our calendar year has also been filled with numerous Philanthropy events such as, Kappa Kisses (where we sell chocolate kisses), Birthday Klub (that we host for children in the surrounding community), Parent's Night Out (where we volunteer to babysit Professors' children), and Kappa Kickball. Last semester we were challenged to develop a more robust Risk Plan following our University Action Status. Through the continuous help and support of our Kappa Advisors, we are in very good standing with the administration and better prepared in the future with our newly develop Risk Plan. We have recently elected a new Chapter Council and are excited to help them transition into their new roles! One of our chapter goals over this past year have been to foster a stronger relationship with Colgate's Administration; in an effort to accomplish this we have invited several Deans, and the University President, to dinner with the chapter council in order to foster a strong relationship. Another one of our goals, is to promote and increase the number of Sisterhood events to build an even stronger sense of belonging amongst sisters. This is just a snapshot of what the year of Zeta Rho has looked like over the past year.

==Highlights of 2019==

2019 has been a very successful year for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

One of our main philanthropy events, Kappa Kisses, was hosted in February of 2019, in which we sell chocolate kisses and people can anonymously send chocolate kisses to someone else.

Our calendar was full of fun events that our chapter sponsors, such as Birthday Klub, where we open our house to local children for fun and games, and Kappa Kickball, in which teams from groups across campus will sign up to be a part of our kickball tournament. In both the fall and the spring, we hosted Professor's Tea, as a way to foster a strong relationship between the Zeta Rho chapter and our campus' professors, organized by our VP of Academic Excellence.

We had 18 members with 4.0 GPAs during the spring semester of 2019, all of which were recognized for their hard work and dedication. In addition, we won the Broad Street Challenge for the second year in a row, in which we have the most members of the President's Club out of the Greek life organizations on campus. Our philanthropy has raised a significant amount of money over the past year for Reading is Fundamental, and we are very excited to continue this trend.

In the past year, Colgate's new dean of students, Dean Flores Mills, has made a significant effort reaching out to greek houses on campus. We welcomed her into our home to bridge the gap between the Colgate administration and greek life. In addition, our Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Advising, Tristan Hilpert, resigned from his position this past fall. Our chapter has been adjusting to this change, since we've had to connect with different parts of the staff within the Colgate administration.

We celebrated Founders Day by opening up our chapter's archives for people to look through and understand our history through a slideshow. In addition, we had lots of blue snacks and candy to celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma's colors.

==Highlights of 2020==

The chapter is very proud of how it adapted to the pandemic in 2020, even as it still made great strides together. For the entire semester most of the sisters were on campus at Colgate; however, we never could meet all together. We led everything virtually for the most part, including a virtual recruitment process and initiation. Our recruitment process gave us a pledge class we love and our initiation was with around 200 people, including advisers and alumnae on Zoom.

Following Covid-19 guidelines we had pumpkin carving and tye dying on Kappa’s front lawn in shifts. We focused on Kappa’s ritual and shared that via Zoom in and outside of chapter. A large focus of the semester was on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and to stay politically aware and conscious as a chapter. We also participated in sustainability events on Colgate’s campus.

We celebrated Kappa’s sesquicentennial by live-streaming the celebration virtually and ordering in food; our celebration followed Colgate Covid-19 restrictions. We also reviewed more of Kappa’s history around this time, so we were aware of what we were celebrating and the importance of Kappa to all of us. Some chapter members shared virtually what Kappa meant to them.

We also focused on academics as we do every semester even though school was somewhat remote, and weekly acknowledged our sister’s academic achievements weekly to add a sense of motivation. We highlight on the Medusa Movement that took place at Colgate as well as sexual violence.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion played a large role in this semester for our chapter. Although we met virtually, we were all very conscious of the social movements going on around us and wanted to acknowledge that as much as possible to improve our chapter. We added a DEI officer, Caroline Haigood. We also met with other Greek chapter at Colgate to learn more about DEI and had a few meetings with just our chapter to talk about ways to stay aware and improve the chapter. These discussions were mainly led by Caroline and our sisters. They were very open discussions with a lot of participation from the sisters. I think it was a great way to make more people aware and conscious of their actions.

Zeta Pi

2021-12-21T19:44:29Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Pi
|GreekSymbol= ZΠ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Pi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1987|11|14}}
|College= [https://www.collegeofidaho.edu/ College of Idaho]
|Location= Caldwell, ID
|Homepage= [https://collegeofidaho.kappa.org/ Zeta Pi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Pi Media related to Zeta Pi Chapter]}}

'''College of Idaho founded in Caldwell, Idaho 1891'''

'''Zeta Pi founded November 14, 1987 -- 15 Charter Members'''

'''250 Initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some Outstanding Zeta Pi Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Members:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Zeta Pi Alumnae'''

Holly Hihath (Weymouth), Chapter Consultant, 2002-2002;
Jennifer Voshell (Jordan), Chapter Consultant, 2002-2003
Samantha Quinney (Sink), Academic Excellence Specialist, Epsilon District, 2016-present

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==The Early Years==

The college was conceived in 1884 when the Presbyterian Church's Wood River Presbytery, meeting in Shoshone, formed a commission to examine the possibility of establishing a Presbyterian college somewhere in the Idaho Territory. The commission found support for such a venture and in 1890 the Presbytery accepted an offer from a group of Caldwell citizens, led by William Judson Boone, to locate the institution in that community.

The college was founded in 1891 by Dr. Rev. William Judson Boone with the support of the Wood River Presbytery. It first opened its doors to students on October 7, 1891. Nineteen students showed up at the College of Idaho for the first classes in 1891. The first classes were held downtown in the Caldwell Presbyterian Church and a year later the college moved into its own downtown building. The campus moved to its present site on the east side of town in 1910 when Henry and Carrie Blatchley donated 20 acres of land. Sterry Hall, a classroom and administration building, and Finney Hall, the first residence hall, were built that year. Voorhees Hall, the second of what would become a total of five residence halls, opened two years later.

In 1893, it was incorporated under the laws of the State of Idaho and placed in the hands of a self-perpetuating board of trustees. Dr. Boone served as president of the college for 45 years until his death in 1936.

C of I has a more than century-old tradition of educating some of Idaho's most accomplished graduates, including six Rhodes Scholars, three Marshall Scholars and another ten Truman and Goldwater scholars. The College is home to three of the past five Idaho Professors of the Year, including 2010 winner Dr. Rochelle Johnson, demonstrating its professors' commitment to helping each student succeed.

Located in Caldwell, the C of I students are 30 minutes from downtown Boise and have easy access to world-class opportunities for skiing, whitewater rafting, hiking, fishing, mountain biking and other outdoor activities.

The College of Idaho is a private liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,010 students in 2011 located in Caldwell, Idaho. From November 1991 until October 2007 it was known as Albertson College of Idaho.

In 1991, the college changed its name to Albertson College of Idaho to honor alumnus and long-time donor Joe Albertson and his wife, Kathryn. The Albertsons, who founded one of the country's largest supermarket chains, Albertson's Inc., were generous benefactors of the college.
On October 10, 2007, college president Bob Hoover announced that the name would revert to The College of Idaho, with the mutual agreement of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, to promote acceptance and gain financial backing from alumni who were unhappy about the original name change. This coincided with a ten million dollar donation by the Foundation for the community College of Western Idaho.

The College of Idaho, dedicated to preparing students better than any other small college in the West, is the state’s oldest private college. The school’s students enjoy small class sizes, a close-knit community, a competitive NAIA athletics program, outstanding visual and performing arts activities, and a beautiful residential campus.

==Highlights of the 1980s==

In the spring of 1987, 19 women pledged themselves to Zeta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. This chapter was installed on November 14, 1987, as the Fraternity’s 142nd chapter, located at the College of Idaho. Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first National Panhellenic organization to colonize at the College of Idaho.

Founded in 1891, the college continues as a private liberal arts institution with a distinguished faculty and approximately 1,000 students at the time of the installation. Fraternity president Marian Klingbeil Williams, Missouri, presided over the weekend activities and was assisted by Juliana Fraser Wales, Ohio State, director of chapters and Mary Wells Rathbone, Colorado, chairman of the installation committee.

'''Installation'''

The installation weekend festivities began on Thursday evening with a dessert party for the chapter, advisers and visiting Fraternity officers. After the Fireside Service on Friday evening, the Iota Province Officers, Mary Shuford Johnson, Washington, and Betty Carol Gest, Ohio Wesleyan, hosted a shower of gifts. Saturday events included the initiation of the chapter members, the chapter installation, a pledging service for the colony pledges, a model chapter meeting and a campus reception for parents, college faculty and administration officials, students and friends. Members from Beta Kappa Chapter at the University of Idaho served as Big Sisters during the festivities and Initiation ceremony.

At the banquet Saturday evening, Dr. Robert L. Hendren, Jr., brought greeting from the College, Marian Williams was the featured speaker and Nancy Malone Symms, Texas, and Marjorie Matson Converse, Purdue, chairman of extension, served as toastmistresses. Kay Smith Larson, Washington, director of personnel, read greetings from Fraternity officers and other Kappa chapters.

Jane Fields Strohecker, Idaho, was coordinator of chapter development for Zeta Pi and Caroline Gates, Virginia Tech, chapter consultant. Piper Danielle Price was the first president of the new chapter.

Charter members of Zeta Pi were: Samantha Brakefield, Andrea Bruce, Melony Ann Caswell, Karen Lynn Geist, Margaret Kathleen Hage, Susan Renee Hayes, Denise Inda, Noel Larsen, Machell Hinkle Levitch, Deborah Louie, Laurie Ann Newcomb, Annette Beaubien Nowling, Darcy Jane Shaw, Shawna Swanson, Kristen Wallace.

==Highlights of the 1990s==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

'''Housing:'''

''''''Philanthropy:'''

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

There are currently approximately 1,000 students in attendance at Albertson College of Idaho, a small four-year college which offers 26 majors and 37 minors and is in the process of expanding its majors to fit the student body. The Zeta Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of three national sororities on campus, and there is one local sorority. All of the national sororities on campus participate in Panehellenic recruitment in the fall. Though the chapter is unhoused, it is able to meet in classrooms or other on-campus facilities.

In 2005, the chapter held an annual Daffodil Days with proceeds going toward the American Cancer Society, an Easter Egg hunt helping out the children of the Valley Crisis Center, the Giving Tree with gifts going to the Salvation Army, and also helping out a local retirement community with winter essentials. In addition, members also made flower pens and journals for the children's ward of St. Lukes Regional Medical Center. Chapter events such as the Heart Sister Dinner, the Founder's Day Brunch, and gift exchanges were highlights of the decade as were inter-Greek functions such as a turkey dinner with the Sigma Chi chapter, Greek Week events hosted by all the Greek Council, a kick ball game with the Gamma Phi's and also a get together with the local Sigma Epsilon Chapter. Recruitment proved productive for Zeta Pi, as the chapter sought to increase its membership. Zeta Pi sent delegates and members to the Biennial Conventions during the decade and also to Leadership Academy.

2006 was a busy year for Zeta Pi as the chapter participated in several philanthropic activities throughout the year, including some new ones. In February, members organized the Kappa Kasino which raised 200 dollars for the Valley Crisis Center. A RIF-benefit volleyball tournament was held in which participants donated books as an entry fee, netting a donation of 60 books to RIF. The annual Heart Sister Dinner was held at a fondue restaurant called the Mona Lisa. Members joined in coloring Easter eggs with the Kappa Alpha Thetas and both groups journeyed to the Valley Crisis Center, where they held an Easter egg hunt for the children there. Energies were focused on the Sigma Chi Derby Days, where the chapter achieved a very close second place award, despite being a significantly smaller house than others on campus.

During the 2006 academic year, Zeta Pi participated in Greek Week with all the other sororities and fraternities on campus. Seven of the chapter’s fourteen members attended Convention in Salt Lake City – 50% of the membership! In the fall a book drive for RIF involved the whole school, collecting 165 books for donation to Americorps. The entire chapter attended the annual Founders Day brunch with the Boise Alumnae Association and held its annual turkey dinner with the Sigma Chis in Blatchley Parlor.

The 2007 Academic year was filled with many exciting events for Zeta Pi chapter. Members successfully sponsored the annual Kappa Kasino event to benefit its local philanthropy, the Valley Crisis Center and its special Heart Sister Dinner, an opportunity to bond and spend some quality, stress free time together. Province Meeting was in March and nearly every one from the chapter was able to attend. It was a memorable event, with members meeting sisters from several other chapters in the area and learning about their traditions. Also in March, the chapter assisted with the second annual Mercy Community Sale Gala on March 23rd.

Tradition continued as Zeta Pis decorated Easter eggs along with the two other national sororities at The College of Idaho, Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta. The Easter eggs were donated for the annual Easter egg hunt at the Valley Crisis Center. The much anticipated Derby Days, hosted by the Sigma Chi Fraternity, finally occurred in April. In this weeklong competition, all the campus sororities participate in several events, and one sorority gets the coveted title of Derby Days champion. At the end of the week, Kappa Kappa Gamma came out as the victors

In May 2nd, the annual scholarship banquet was held, with certificates presented to members who met the Academic Excellence criteria. The final major event of the year was a “giving tree” to benefit the Salvation Army that was set up in the student union building. Nearly all of the gift tags were taken (about 75) and all things considered, it was one of the most successful events of the year.

In 2008, the chapter again held its annual philanthropy event "Kappa Casino" to benefit RIF, raising over $300, triple the amount from the previous year. The chapter put its heart and soul into the Derby Day competition sponsored by the Sigma Chis and placed 2nd in Lip Sync and Jennifer Graham was awarded the Golden Derby in the Olympics event for first time ever.

During the Leadership Consultant’s visit in early October, the chapter learned it had the highest GPA of all Greek organizations (except for the Order of Omega) on campus. During Inspiration Week, members attended the college play "Lapis Blue and Blood Red" to support a Zeta Pi sister playing one of the major roles.

Zeta Pi continued its annual Turkey Day Dinner with Sigma Chi during 2009 as well as its other successful campus activities and fundraisers. The chapter focused efforts on building membership through formal recruitment and Continuous Open Bidding processes.

In 2010, Zeta Pi enjoyed a most successful formal recruitment process and doubled its 2009 chapter membership. By spring, the chapter had tripled its size and restructured its officer responsibilities for greater efficiency and effectiveness. The Chapter President, Samantha Sink, was also selected to serve on the Fraternity Nominating Committee in March and shared her learning experiences with the chapter. She then attended Convention, which sparked a newfound motivation to further the chapter's development and growth. Zeta Pi received several Honorable Mention certificates at Convention, reflecting its commitment to excellence and improvement.

In the Spring of 2010, the Kash for Keys program was created by Krista Hafez, a program which allows for members and new members to work for local alumnae, doing odd-jobs (i.e. yardwork, babysitting, housesitting), to earn money to purchase badges and pay for dues. The program is still functioning and has not only helped our members financially, it also has strengthened our alumnae relations.

During the year, Zeta Pi re-established a former tradition of hosting a professors’ dinner, to which all members invite at least one professor to help with public relations and to promote Kappa’s image on campus. It was a great success and was coupled with a Founder's Day Dessert Reception which included all Greek organizations on campus. The chapter shared its history and the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma with the other sororities and fraternities and received considerable recognition and support through this event. The chapter also sponsored the KIND Campaign’s visit to Albertson, during which students watched the KIND Documentary and donated money to the cause.

The Fraternity has played a role in Zeta Pi’s growth, having provided a Leadership Consultant in both Spring and Fall 2010 and a Chapter Coordinator of Development in Fall 2010. The leaders of this chapter are now much more well-prepared for the offices they have and understand their role within the chapter as a whole. The chapter conducts an annual retreat for leadership development, calendar planning and sisterhood. A member attends Leadership Academy annually and returns to assume a leadership role in the chapter, using the skills and training gained to benefit Zeta Pi.

'''Philanthropy:'''

For more than ten years, Zeta Pi has supported the Valley Crisis Center, a shelter for abused women. The chapter colors and fills plastic Easter eggs that are donated to the center for its annual egg hunt which the chapter carries out. In addition, the chapter sponsors campus-wide fund raising events such as Kappa Kasino to raise funds for the shelter. Zeta Pi also sponsors a “Giving Tree” annually for the students of Albertson College to donate gifts to the children served by the Valley Crisis Center.

Reading is Fundamental is a major recipient of Zeta Pi’s philanthropic efforts, including book drives, fund raising and hand-crafted book marks made by the members, which are donated to RIF projects.

'''Housing:'''

Zeta Pi is an unhoused chapter, which meets in campus classrooms and other facilities.

'''Chapter Convention Awards'''

06/29/2000
Heritage Honorable Mention

06/29/2000
Scholarship Honorable Mention

06/29/2002
Chapter/Advisory Board Relations Honorable Mention

06/29/2002
Finance Award

06/29/2006
Chapter Advisory Board Relations Honorable Mention

06/29/2006
Greatest Scholarship Improvement Award

06/29/2008
Most Improved Academic Excellence Award

06/29/2008
Panhellenic Honorable Mention

06/29/2008
Philanthropy Signature Honorable Mention

==Highlights from 2011-2019==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

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==Highlights of 2011==

In January, Zeta Pi hosted its Kappa Casino event to raise money for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma national philanthropy. Despite early local reservations and advertising on campus, the turn-out to Kappa Casino was lower than anticipated due to a last-minute schedule change on behalf of another campus event. Kappa Casino was able to raise $350 to send to RIF for the 2011 year. This same month,

Zeta Pi conducted a successful COB season, resulting in the initiation of 6 new members that raised the total number of chapter members from 12 to 18. The following month, the sisters of Zeta Pi celebrated their sisterhood and friendship at their annual Heart Sister Dinner, which took place at the Mona Lisa restaurant where the sisters greatly enjoyed spending time together while eating delicious fondue. In March, a contingent of the Zeta Pi chapter attended the Province meeting hosted in Pullman, Washington, at Washington State University.

While attending Province, the women of Zeta Pi gratefully took advantage of the hospitality of the Beta Kappa chapter at the University of Idaho by staying at their beautiful chapter house. While attending Province meetings and dinners, the Zeta Pi women found kindred spirits in the Beta Phi chapter at the University of Montana, who indicated that they too suffered the same issues that come with small chapters and low membership. April witnessed the occurrence of Greek Week on the College of Idaho campus, which is a week-long celebration and promotion of Greek life. Zeta Pi sponsored a pie-walk that proved successful in establishing good relations with other Greek organizations and the campus at large. I

Immediately following, the NPC sororities on campus competed in the annual Derby Days competition sponsored by the local chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Despite losing the overall competition, the women of Zeta Pi continue to celebrate their victories in the lip sync and sorority Olympics competitions.

In May, our chapter was recognized at the Greek Awards. We received "Greek Organization of the Year: 2011," "Outstanding Service Event 2011" for the Giving Tree, and our former president, Samantha Sink received a well deserved "Greek Woman of the Year 2011." The end of May witnessed the graduation of three senior Zeta Pi women, Lani Boykin, Keeley LeGore and Samantha Sink, who all proudly sported Kappa Kappa Gamma stoles over their graduation gowns. All available members of Zeta Pi were spontaneously reconvened in late July, where the beautiful and suspenseful candle-light ceremony revealed that Keeley LeGore was recently engaged. The final week of August witnessed the annual Zeta Pi chapter work week, renamed Sisterly Love Week, that allowed the women of the chapter to prepare for the upcoming formal recruitment in mid-September. During Sisterly Love Week, the chapter practiced recruitment skills, reviewed ritual materials, and strengthened the bonds of friendship and sisterhood that proved extremely necessary and beneficial.

Shealene Zitny attended Leadership Academy in mid- September, where Beta Phi extended an invitation to Zeta Pi for their annual Sapphire Ball, which the women of Zeta Pi gratefully accepted and anticipated for the next several months. During the week of formal recruitment, in the presence of a greatly appreciated and much-beloved leadership consultant, Gracie Rice, met with all chapter officers and provided guidance and advice regarding issues that frequently arose within the chapter. At Rice's suggestion, the chapter was reconstructed into super-committees, which allowed the chapter to better utilize all of its members and to redistribute the ever-accumulating tasks that were becoming too much for those individuals holding multiple offices. At the end of September, Zeta Pi celebrated the removal of the focus letter that had been invoked in 2009.

The College of Idaho NPC sororities experienced their greatest turn-out for formal recruitment ever, during which time approximately 90 women expressed an interest in participating in Greek life. This is largely attributed to the Panhellenic Council changes to formal recruitment, which allowed Greek women to advertise Panhellenically prior to the actual recruitment date. Zeta Pi chapter attained 16 new members, which is the largest contingent of new members ever attained by the College of Idaho Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter.

Due largely to vociferous protests on behalf of the NPC sororities on campus, the local Greek Council decided to hold its annual Greek Week celebrations the week after formal recruitment. Although this put more pressure on the sororities as the prepared for recruitment, the KKG pie-walk once again proved successful and enjoyable. October saw the continuation of the New Member Program, which proved successful in preparing new members for sorority life and initiation. A portion of the chapter traveled to the much-anticipated Sapphire Ball at the University of Montana, where they stayed overnight at the Beta Phi chapter house and later reported that the experience was so good that Zeta Pi hoped to reciprocate with a similar invitation when the opportunity arises.

Simultaneously, a small group of women from Zeta Pi attended the Founder's Day ceremony with the Boise Valley Alumnae Association, where Zeta Pi created new bonds with the alumnae and enjoyed a classy luncheon while experiencing the generational ties that Kappa offers. The final chapter of the month resulted in a surge of creativity during the Halloween-themed chapter. The Fraternity's Founders day was celebrated with a small ceremony, which, while very special to the Kappa women, saw only a mild turnout by the rest of the Greek community. The Zeta Pi Founders day was celebrated with a small ceremony, which was also attended by a small portion of the Greek community. November proved to be a crucial month for the women of Zeta Pi.

The middle of the month witnessed the initiation of 14 new members, after losing one during the new member program and one electing to remain on New Member status until financial problems regarding tuition could be worked out. This pledge class was the largest ever initiated by Zeta Pi chapter, and almost doubled the number of active members, raising the chapter member count from 18 to 31. Initiation went very well, and Zeta Pi enjoyed exceptional alumnae turnout and participation. Due to changes in the structure of the academic terms, Zeta Pi also set up its annual Giving Tree, sponsored through the Salvation Army, in November and December. The first Monday of December also witnessed the women of Zeta Pi chapter supporting the local Salvation Army by sorting cans at the food bank. Another unscheduled meeting and candle-light ceremony revealed that Zeta Pi sister Amanda Stearns was recently engaged. The chapter greatly looks forward to two weddings in the impending future. Finally, before the holiday break, the new Nominating Committee met for the first time and determined a preliminary slate of officer nominations for the upcoming year.

'''The College of Idaho Campus:'''
One significant change on campus pertains to the alteration of the housing policy for students, requiring students to live on campus until their junior year. The PEAK program recently instituted in 2010 and, requires 3 minors plus one major with the intention of emphasizing the diversity of education that Liberal Arts colleges offer. The Kappa Kappa Gamma delegate, Breanne Young, who has been involved in the Panhellenic Council since her freshman year, was Panhellenic president as a senior. Our campus has also witnessed an increased interest in Greek life, especially regarding sorority involvement. This renewed interest is largely due to changes in Panhellenic policies that now allow all NPC sororities to sport their letters before formal recruitment, along with increased cooperation between the NPC sororities and an overall movement towards being Panhellenically minded. The College of Idaho currently has three NPC sororities, representing the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity, and the Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities. One local sorority exists on campus, Sigma Epsilon. The mens' national fraternities on campus include chapters from Sigma Chi, Kappa Sigma and Delta Tau Delta.

'''The Chapter:'''
The Zeta Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the College of Idaho continues to be a diverse, loving and ever-growing group of strong and intelligent young women. According to a recent chapter survey, the chapter considers itself well versed in the meaning of sisterhood, and seeks to increase these friendships through more bonding activities. A new sisterhood event, Kappa Craft Night, occurs weekly on campus with the intention of increasing sisterhood in a fun and creative environment. The initiation of the largest pledge class ever not only almost doubled the size of the chapter, but brought in many younger members that provide a strong base for future growth and management of the chapter itself. The new and returning members are very dedicated to the fraternity, and exhibit loyalty and friendship to one another within the chapter through good times and challenges.

'''Chapter Challenges:'''
Zeta Pi Chapter faced several challenges in the past year, and not only met these challenges head-on, but overcame these obstacles to its success. Nominating Committee didn't function appropriately last year, largely due to dissention within the committee itself. Directly resulting from this lack of focus, the Nominating Committee did not conduct thorough evaluations regarding the qualifications and suitability of the individuals slated for particular offices, directly resulting in a lack of risk management/registrar position due to dismissal for a time, followed by a vote of no-confidence in replacing the position. The chapter overcame this issue temporarily by electing seniors, one per position, into the offices of Risk Management Chairman and Registrar. With the beginning of the new school year in September, a new senior was elected to fulfill the duties of both offices, which were built back up to their proper standing for the remainder of the year. One officer resigned from the fraternity over the prior summer vacation, while two officers were removed from office in September due to inability to fulfill grade requirements. The resulting vacancies of the positions of Panhellenic Voting Delegate (distinct from the executive member serving as Panhellenic President), Philanthropy Chairman, and Vice President-Organization, were immediately filled according to standard election procedures, and have functioned well thus far. Some officers ended up holding several positions on Chapter Council, directly resulting in the establishment of a super-committee system to alleviate the stress of overburdened officers.

==Highlights of 2012==

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

2012 was a landmark year for the Zeta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The Chapter received recognition at the 2012 convention, receiving the Recruitment Award, Chapter Management Honorable Mention and Panhellenic Honorable Mention for Zeta Pi's size category. 2012 marked Zeta Pi Chapter's 25th year on the College of Idaho campus. Zeta Pi celebrated this important landmark with an anniversary celebration for the campus community, which saw attendance from several other Greek organizations, as well as a few recent alumnae. In addition to celebrating Zeta Pi's 25th, members of the chapter were also busy with preparations to host the Spring 2013 Province Convention, for which they organized special fundraisers, like a hot wings eating contest, "Too Hot to Handle." The chapter continued the KKG tradition of philanthropy with the annual Kappa Casino and Salvation Army Giving Tree, which provided books for two third grade classrooms at a local elementary and 125 gifts for local children, respectively.

6/22/2012
Recruitment Award
Chapter Management Honorable Mention
Panhellenic Honorable Mention

In the spring of 2012, the College of Idaho reinstated the football program in an effort to increase the student population. The first season the college will play begins in the fall of 2014. The college also instated a three year residency policy in an effort to keep tuition costs at a minimum and to promote greater campus community involvement.

The Chapter worked to absorb the extraordinary growth from Fall of 2011, even while still growing through Spring recruitment and then a successful Fall 2012 recruitment, which added eight new members. The huge increase in chapter membership allowed overburden officers to be relieved with a new crop of officers starting in January 2012. Offices that were combined the previous year were able to be separated, and officers were better able to direct their actions into specific areas. The chapter continues to grow and become a more vibrant component of the C of I community as its members become more and more diversified and gain leadership positions within the school.

While the chapter was able to relieve the loads of overburden officers thanks to the increase in chapter members from the pledge class of fall 2011, this resulted in a Chapter Council makeup of almost entirely new officers, many of whom were still relatively new to Kappa. But under the strong leadership of the president, herself a junior, chapter officers were able to assimilate to their new positions of responsibility. Despite losing a few officers, including philanthropy and VPAE, over the course of the summer vacation, new officers were elected at the start of the fall semester, and were able to hit the ground running.

Zeta Pi Chapter has also faced the challenge of preparing to host the Iota Province meeting for spring of 2013. Given that Zeta Pi does not own a fraternity house, the usual preparations have required some alterations. The chapter formed a special Province committee to help plan the activities that will take place during the March Province meeting. These have included finding ways of incorporating some of Idaho's quirks into the convention through desserts--ice cream potatoes--and also in connecting Province with a local charity, Hope's Door, a shelter for battered women and children. Province attendees will have the opportunity to donate their hotel provided toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, etc.) in care packages to women and children who have sought shelter at Hope's Door, and may be without basic amenities.
Province also posed a significant financial burden to the chapter, whose budgets have been increasingly tight. But when active members of Zeta Pi attended the annual Founder's Day Brunch with the Boise Valley Alumnae Association, alumnae were offered the opportunity to donate to Zeta Pi in an effort to help send as many active Zeta Pi members to Province as possible. The Boise Valley Alumnae were extremely generous, and greatly helped reduce the financial burden on Zeta Pi.

==Highlights of 2013==

2013 started off with Zeta Pi’s traditional philanthropy, Kappa Casino. The event is hosted to raise money for RIF, the Kappa Kappa Gamma national philanthropy. The turn-out to Kappa Casino was good. Kappa Casino was able to raise $1300 to send to RIF for the 2013 year. All proceeds went to RIF and to support local reading programs & libraries at Lincoln and Van Buren Elementary Schools in Caldwell, Idaho. The following month, the sisters of Zeta Pi celebrated their sisterhood and friendship at their annual Heart Sister Dinner, which took place on the campus of the College of Idaho at Blatchley, where the sisters greatly enjoyed spending time together while eating delicious chocolate fondue.

In March, Zeta Pi chapter hosted the Iota Province meeting Meridian, Idaho, at the Marriot Hotel. The chapter’s hard work showed as the Zeta Pi women happily exposed great hospitality to the different chapters from the University of Idaho, University of Washington, University of British Columbia, Whitman Washignton State and University of Montana, as they stayed at the hotel. While attending Province meetings and dinners, the Zeta Pi women were able to bond with the visiting chapters and were happy to learn of their reasons and experiences when joining Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The women were able to connect with one another through activities of trading and exchanging bid day shirts as well as preparing care bags for a local charity, Hope’s Door, a shelter for battered women and children. Province attendees had the opportunity to donate their hotel provided toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, etc.) in care packages to women and children who have sought shelter at Hope's Door, and may be without basic amenities. Of the many awards that were given out, Zeta Pi received the team player award. Towards the end of the month, available members of Zeta Pi went to Van Buren Elementary for a reading outreach event in all 2nd grade classrooms.

The following April, the annual Greek Week on the College of Idaho campus occurred, which is a week-long celebration and promotion of Greek life. Zeta Pi sponsored a pie-walk that proved successful in establishing good relations with other Greek organizations and the campus at large. Immediately following, the NPC sororities on campus competed in the annual Derby Days competition sponsored by the local chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. The end of May witnessed the graduation of six senior Zeta Pi women, Rachel Campbell, Timeka Dillard, Jenette Noe, Renée Howells, Shealene Zitny, Rebecca Stritzke and Olivia Poland, who all proudly sported Kappa Kappa Gamma stoles over their graduation gowns. In early June, the available members of Zeta Pi were gathered for the wedding of, Amanda Stearns, an early graduated senior. The Last week of August into

September, Zeta Pi had its annual work days, also known as Sisterly Love Week, that allowed the women of the chapter to prepare for the upcoming formal recruitment in mid-September. During Sisterly Love Week, the chapter practiced recruitment skill, reviewed ritual materials, and strengthened the bonds of friendship and sisterhood that proves extremely necessary and beneficial. At the end of September, Zeta Pi celebrated the attainment of the 12 new members, which was a larger collection of new members attained from last year by the College of Idaho Kappa Kappa Gamma.

October saw the continuation of the New Member Program, which proved successful in preparing new members for sorority life and initiation. During the middle of the month, Zeta Pi also went to Lincoln Elementary for a reading outreach event in all 2nd grade classrooms. The Final chapter of the month resulted in a surge of creativity during the Halloween-themed chapter.

November proved to be a crucial month for the women of Zeta Pi they held a Saphire Ball for the members and their invited guests. The initiation of the 12 new members took place in the middle of the month. This pledge class was larger than last year’s class in Zeta Pi. This new addition of members brought out numbers from 22-44. Initiation went very well and Zeta Pi enjoyed exceptional alumnae turnout and participation. In the last few days of the month, members of Zeta Pi volunteered at the annual Festival of Trees, sponsored by St. Alphonsus. During the month of December, Zeta Pi set up its annual Giving Tree, sponsored through the Salvation Army. Finally, before the holiday break, the Nominating Committee met up and determined a preliminary slate of officer nominations for the upcoming year.

One significant change on campus pertains to the installment of the new Football team and student increase on campus. With the Football team, there has been conflicts in Greek life events in which Kappa Kappa Gamma and the other fraternities and sororities had to move up their events and locations during recruitment week.
The Zeta Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the College of Idaho continues to be diverse, loving and ever-growing group of strong and intelligent young women. According to recent surveys, many of the sisters seek to increase friendships through more bonding activities. A new sisterhood event, dates with sisters, occurs monthly in which each sister randomly draws a name of another and has until the end of the month to set up a time and day where both can go and spend time together. The intention of this is to create a stronger bond with the old and new members in a fun and creative environment. The new and returning members are very dedicated to the fraternity and show a promising future for the Zeta Pi fraternity.

==Highlights of 2014==

The College of Idaho’s Zeta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma started the 2015 spring semester off in January with our largest philanthropy event Kappa Casino, at which we raised over $1400 to buy books for our reading is fundamental philanthropy. In the fall semester of 2014 we had seven wonderful ladies that made the dean’s list, Victoria Agee, Ali Dang, Annie Fiala, Macey Horch, Megan Mizuta, Mindi Price, and Dannen Wright, our president.

In March we held our first social: a brunch with the ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta. Also in March we held our first ever Sapphire Ball, it was a very successful event, with almost every active member in attendance. In April we had Dylan Hunter represent our chapter at Mr. CASAnova, a philanthropy event held by KAO. Also on April 14 our girls participated in the Sigma Chi Brothers philanthropy event by performing a rock and roll themed lip sync and dance. Also in April, our small Greek community awarded Zeta Pi chapter with Outstanding Campus Leadership and Outstanding New Member Development. They also named our president Dannen Wright Greek woman of the year.

In May of 2014, we were sad to be losing 9 seniors, Chelsea Bagby, Alicia Latta, Jenny Wolf, Mindi Price, Katrine Franks, and Victoria Agee, Victoria Schol, and Skylar Barasantti, We also lost 2 actives that transferred to different universities. When we returned to school in September we held recruitment. On Bid day 2014 we gave bids to 10 beautiful girls with an Alice in wonderland theme. We later gave out 1 more bid through C.O.B. and got a legacy, Hailey Chambers. Our Leadership Consultant visited us during recruitment, and we appreciated that.

In October we celebrated founder’s day and had a significant amount of girls go to the Boise Valley Alumnae Association brunch. In November we initiated all 11 girls. We also held our annual Thanksgiving social with the Brothers of Sigma Chi. In December of 2014 we did our annual philanthropy event of setting up a giving tree for children in need. We had 150 tags on the tree, and our community provided 125 gifts to the local Salvation Army. Overall we had a very successful year, and we can only expect a better one for 2015.

We hold our chapter and chapter council every Sunday on campus in a classroom.

Our chapter has never been housed, and currently none of the sisters live together in numbers larger than 2

==Highlights of 2015==

2015 was an excellent year for Zeta Pi, and we are happy to say that our chapter is thriving. We spent last Spring working on sisterhood with a Kappa trainer at a membership retreat workshop, and were ready to begin fall semester with a fresh outlook and hope for a large new member class. We offered bids to 8 wonderful new members, and were lucky to extend 2 additional bids through Continuous Open Bidding, bringing us to a fall new member class of ten women. We happily initiated 9 in early December and plan to initiate again in February for our last new member, who was unable to initiate in December due to a swim team conflict.

We recently donated over 125 gifts to the local Salvation Army from our Kappa Giving Tree that we hold in the student union building on campus, and we are preparing for our large annual philanthropy event, Kappa Kasino, on the 27th of January, where we hope to raise even more than last year for Reading is Fundamental. This is the first year that our sisters have been encouraged to log individual service hours per semester, and we are happy to report that our chapter’s combined total is at over 150 hours.

Zeta Pi has also been endeavoring to participate in other Greek and student organizations philanthropy activities, and supported the Greek Council Buddy Run in downtown Boise with several sisters volunteering, and participated in a campus rake-up, where Kappa Sisters made up 80% of all Greek members in attendance. Last semester, we also won $200 for first place in a lip-sync competition, where ten of our sisters danced to an old-school ‘Hip Hop’ theme, and we are using that money to build a small neighborhood library in an underprivileged part of Caldwell.

We have two sisters currently serving in our campus Student Senate (Morgan Clifford and Melanie Miller) and our newly elected President Kira Hughes is also a member of the college’s Program Council, which organizes fun events for the student body. We have been working hard on increasing genuine sisterhood within our chapter, especially during our recent initiation, by holding several informal sisterhoods per month and improving the organization of chapter meetings so that we can make time to enjoy each other during the week.

We also had several awesome socials this year, including a trivia night and white elephant gift exchange with the brothers of Delta Tau Delta, a Halloween night with the brothers of Kappa Sigma, and our annual Thanksgiving social with the brothers of Sigma Chi. We have socials planned with all three other sororities on campus for the upcoming months, as well.

There have been a few notable changes to our college community this year, including the transition of a new president, and College of Idaho’s first female president, Charlotte Borst. Many classes are now integrating online software platforms for homework and classwork, and the football team’s second year back on campus proved quite successful.

Chapter Philanthropy:

Our chapter supports the Reading Is Key organization in our local community and actively aims to apply and recognize the value of reading to the future of children and adults alike. Every year we volunteer at local elementary schools to read and craft with the students and leave them with a book to take home and start a personal library.

==Highlights of 2016==

The start of 2016 was an exciting year for the Zeta Pi chapter. During our January term our President (Kira Hughes) and our Membership Chairman (Morgan Clifford) were in Belize doing research on the “Richness and Abundance of Marine Species Before and After Seagrass Disturbance off the West Coast of Tabacco Caye in Belize”. The chapter hosted its annual Kappa Casino on January 23rd with amazing raffle items donated by sisters like, pre-season Seahawk tickets, pod floats, and wine baskets. We were able to COB two girls (Paula Schneider. and Ashley Smith), and they joined Kelly for Initiation in April.

Spring semester was a thriving and exciting time for the Chapter as well. The ladies were excited to have our 3rd annual Sapphire Ball on February 27th held at the Center of the Park. The chapter held its first book drive and we received around 200 books from our local community. As well participated in a campus clean-up to help make our campus a better place to live. During our spring semester sisters went and volunteered at some of our local elementary schools for Dr. Seuss’s Birthday and read to the kids some of their favorite Dr. Seuss books. As a chapter, we went to Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and read Tom Sawyer with the fifth-grade class. There was a trail mix that the students got to make while reading about the adventures of Tom Sawyer.The ladies of Zeta Pi participated in the international badge attire day, held by Greek Council. The ladies also participated in Relay for Life on campus and raised around 50 dollars for their Kiss Away Cancer sign that participants donated 25 cents for each Kiss. During the spring production of Dido and Aeneas our sister Abi Hass was the lead role in the Opera.

In April, our chapter participated in Derby Days held by the brothers of Sigma Chi. We helped the brothers raise around 4,000 dollars for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. This was the first year since 2008 that Kappa Kappa Gamma won the Derby Day challenges, and the brothers then donated 800 dollars to our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental. April was an exciting month for not only winning Derby Days but many of the ladies received positions for the upcoming school year. Kira was elected as ASCI Secretary, our Treasurer (Reanna Vanacore) was given the position of Village Manager. VPS (Anabel Keller), Education & Registrar Chairman (Coree Gibson) and Melanie Miller were given Resident Assistance positions for the upcoming year. Angel Yebra our Philanthropy Chairman gained the role of Lead Advocate, the Advocates are a group of students that go through 100 plus hours of training to deal with all kinds of situations, and is another resource for the students on campus. Melanie also received Greek Newcomer award given to a new member of the Greek community at The College of Idaho. We held our annual Kites and Keys social in the Oasis this year with tacos and fun conversations. At our scholarship banquet our VPAE (Hailey Chambers) received the pearl for having a 4.0 GPA.

As the school year came to an end there was still some exciting events happening around campus. Kira, Morgan, Reanna and Lacey Wayment presented research at the Student Research conference held on campus and Kirby Roberts showed her “Under the Sea” art work in the Rosenthal gallery, as part of her Senior project. With the end of the school year meant the end of the 125th celebration of The College of Idaho, also having to say goodbye to eight seniors, Marabie Barck, Christina Viveros, Aishia Anderson, Sarah Hazen, Tory Emerick, Mavji Rahimshoeva, Lacey and Kirby. We also said goodbye to 3 actives that transferred to different universities.

During our summer vacation our Kappa ladies went on awesome adventures, partook in internships, and volunteered in our communities. Our VPO (Deena Merrill) and Abi went to China at the beginning of summer for a school choir trip. Our Event and Risk Management Chairman (Paula) went to Scotland for a study abroad trip with our school. Kira attended Convention held in San Diego where Zeta Pi received an Honorable Mention for the Standards Award from the headquarters. Bridget Kernan had an internship at a legal office, where her supervisor was Attorney Ellen Smith, who is a University of Idaho Kappa alum.

With the start of a new school year brought about changes on our campus as well. One of our oldest dorms on campus, Voorhees Hall, is being renovated and should be completed by the end of January 2017. The campus is also experiencing the building of our new Cruzen-Murray Library which is set to be completed in January of 2018. All these changes on campus made us excited for the new changes in our chapter as well, through fall recruitment we were able to give bids to six lovely ladies, Katie Carns, Jade Green, Isabela Lete, Shanna Madsen Stowman, Quin McLaughlin and Jess Meyer. The start of the new school year also brought up the start of a new club, Women’s Lacrosse. Anabel, Shanna, and Shelby Robinson played a key role in being the founding members of this new club sport. This school year is the first year of Rotary Club on our campus and Isabel, Coree and Shelby have participated in service projects around the campus as well as the Caldwell community.

During this school year, there are currently four sisters serving on our campus Student Senate (Anabel, Melanie, Morgan and Angel) as well as having three sisters as tutors in History (Melanie), French (Anabel) and Biology (Hailey). Shelby participated in this year’s Leadership Academy that took place in Ohio. The Zeta Pi chapter participated with the national anti-hazing campaign, and posted photos on our social media outlets. At the beginning of October our sister Bridget put on a program called behind the badge to show the campus and the community that there are more to our Campus Safety officers then just being there to unlock your door. Anabel and Melanie joined another new organization on campus called Phi Alpha Theta which is the scholastic honor society for history majors. We had two sisters participate in Sigma Chi’s Miss C of I, which was Disney themed this year, Deena received runner up, and our New Member Chairman Ashley Smith received Miss Congeniality as well as first place.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Founders Day with the Boise Valley Alumni Association. The chapter celebrated Founders Day in-between Kappa’s National Founders Day and our chapters Founders Day. The chapter combined Founders Day with Parents Brunch to allow families an opportunity to get to know more about Kappa. Zeta Pi held initiation for the 6 ladies on November 11th. Throughout the fall semester we have had sisters go to different research conferences to present their work. Hailey and Tanisha Khurana attended the Murdock College Science Research Program in Spokane Washington, and Megan Phelps presented a poster at the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego. On November 18th Hailey preformed at her Senior Piano Recital.

As winter starts to dawn on campus the cheer of the holidays got everyone through finals. This semester the ladies of Zeta Pi went to Woodrow Wilson Elementary to read Peter Pan with the third-grade classes and they got to make their own magical trail mix. With our Kappa Giving Tree this year we helped 25 families have a better Christmas Experience. Our school hosted its 4th annual tree lighting ceremony, where the campus voted on a student that spreads light and cheer around campus to be the one to light the tree and they chose our sister Melanie.

Over the course of 2016 the ladies have participated in around 400 plus hours of community service not only on campus but reaching out to the community as well. The chapter went to Wilson Elementary for our Reading is Key events, allowing the students to keep the books to add to their personal libraries in hopes to keep them engaged in reading as they go through school.

==Highlights of 2017==

2017 was a busy and efficient year for the Zeta Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Some highlights of winter term were successfully hosting our annual Kappa Casino event to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. During this time three of our sisters used the short term to study abroad. Quin McLaughlin and Paula Schneider studied abroad in London, England and Deena Merrill studied abroad in Greece.

During spring term two wonderful new members were recruited and initiated into Zeta Pi chapter through spring recruitment; Katie Growe and Danielle Pulley. Nine seniors graduated in May becoming alumna of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the College of Idaho; Morgan Clifford, Monica Mulder, Hailey Chambers, Deena Merrill, Kira Hughs, Cassie Arana, Coree Gibson, Reanna Vanacore, and Angel Whittington. They accomplished much during their time at the College of Idaho, and their futures are bright. Our sister Hailey Chambers graduated with a 4.0 GPA; she was selected as a commencement speaker, received the Nancy C. Hazelwood Awards, and began her first term at Duke Medical School in the fall of 2017.

Even though school is not in session in the summer, several sisters were productive with their free time. Anabel Keller and Marissa Pekarek participated in a faculty-lead study abroad trip to Mexico. Quin McLaughlin and Isabela Lete took part in a biomedical research internship through Idaho INBRE. Megan Phelps went up to Stanley Idaho and partook in an internship through the Salmon River Emergency Clinic.

This fall was a very exciting time for our chapter! We recruited four new members into Zeta Pi chapter, two of which were Kappa legacies (Taylor Gordon, Bailey Munson, Riley Nielsen, Kirsten Egurrola). Our sister Anabel Keller also studied aboard in Prague, Czech Republic throughout the entire fall semester.

On November 14th, 2017, our chapter-celebrated founder’s day for the Zeta Pi chapter of KKG, this date marked 30 years for our small chapter! We also had a sister attended a leadership conference in Ohio. Two of our sisters participated in Sigma Chi’s annual Miss College of Idaho fundraiser. Katie Growe represented the cheer team, and Paula Schneider represented KKG. Both gave amazing performances demonstrating their many talents. This semester concluded with our chapter achieving the highest GPA out of the entire Greek system at the College of Idaho. We worked very hard and achieved very much in 2017.

==Highlights of 2018s:==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.: This year we started out the year with 2 co-presidents of our college. Our chapter is generally small but growing larger. We are extremely academic based and try to be involved in as many events around campus as possible.

We graduated 11 members, Chapter Council slimmed down to 5 members. This created a challenge but girls learned to delegate to get things done efficiently We started a tradition of smarty panties for those who achieved academic excellence each week. We made the goal to increase membership and achieved it with a recruitment of 6 members. One member received the Heritage Scholarship.

'''Housing:''' We live in university housing but the chapter meets in the University Faculty Senate Room

'''Philanthropy:'''We chose "Reading Is Key" because it is the Fraternity's philanthropy. We also selected the Ronald McDonald House because it is something we are more able to connect to and many of our members have personal experience with it.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

Most Improved Academic Excellence

==Highlights of 2019==

Zeta Pi rallied together in the face of a challenging recruitment season and pledged some wonderful new sisters that will help push Zeta Pi forward. We held our traditional Heart Sister dinner and combined it with a scholarship banquet where we honored sisters that achieved academically. At the beginning of the fall term we decided to adopt an owl and went to see him at the zoo as part of a recruitment sisterhood.

Along with Reading is Fundamental, Zeta Pi incorporated the Ronald McDonald House as part of our philanthropic efforts. Chapter members also volunteered for a variety of other organizations.

College of Idaho saw its largest freshman class this fall, with over 400 students. Unfortunately, we have seen a steady decline in interest in Greek life but the chapters on our campus continue to recruit successfully.

Some of our members celebrated Founders Day with the Boise Valley Alumnae Association. However, Zeta Pi did not have a chapter hosted Founders Day this year.

==Highlights of 2020==

Like all other chapters around the world, Zeta Pi was faced with difficult year in 2020. College of Idaho made the decision to move online shortly after our new Chapter Council was elected. With the help of the Fraternity's Ritual and History Content Team, we conducted our first ever virtual initiation for our Spring 2020 Pledge Class. March and April were very difficult months for our chapter. Our seniors learned that we would not be able to host Sapphire Ball, Senior Gift Exchange, or attend our Reading is FUNdamental event. However, our Chapter Council worked diligently to come up with alternatives. We shipped gifts to all the seniors and came up with several contingency plans for the next semester, planning for in-person, online, and hybrid alternatives. Our chapter’s focus quickly shifted to mental health. In Fall 2020, all our events were held virtually for the safety of our members and, hopefully, the decrease of the spread of COVID-19. Recruitment was held virtually but was still very successful! We recruited six amazing new members who were virtually initiated in November 2020. While this year looked very different from normal, it was still a wonderful learning experience for all our members, especially our chapter officers. Together, we learned the value of respect in times of great stress, unity despite geographic separation, and conflict management. While the future of COVID-19 is unknown, we hope that we can continue to use it to learn more about our sisters and ourselves through these times. Individual Member Accomplishments: Alexis Muir was inducted into the College of Idaho’s circle of Omicron Delta Kappa. Zoe Young participated in the Salmon River Medical Internship in Stanley, ID and completed her EMT certification.

Zeta Pi chose to support the Ronald McDonald House Charities this year.We have several members within the chapter who feel a personal connection to their organization. It was chosen several years ago and has remained a tradition. Unfortunately, due to the health risks associated with COVID-19, we were unable to cook a Thanksgiving meal for
the Boise Ronald McDonald House as we have done in the past. We look forward to fundraising for this organization and other local non-profits next semester and volunteering in person once it is safe again. We also have a goal to begin volunteering for the local humane society as many of our members have expressed a great interest in working with animals.

On November 1st, 2020, Zeta Pi unanimously voted to include a DEI Chairwoman starting in 2021. The DEI position will take effect on January 31st, 2021. Throughout the year, we have had a few incidents on campus that helped us realize just how important it is for us to be proactive in diversity, equity, and inclusion. We look forward to promoting DEI within Zeta Pi and throughout our campus.

Zeta Pi was able to celebrate the Fraternity's Sesquicentennial in a number of ways. We were lucky enough to be visited by the Minnie Stewart Van in Spring 2020 before COVID-19 affected our area. Since our campus and state regulations prevented us from celebrating together, we shared fun facts at our meeting prior to the 150th anniversary. Then, we watched the Facebook Live event hosted by the fraternity. We absolutely loved the event and learning more about Kappa’s rich history.

==Highlights of 2021==
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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of '''The Key''' to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Omicron

2021-12-21T19:43:08Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Omicron
|GreekSymbol= ZO
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Omicron.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1987|05|02}}
|College= [https://www.richmond.edu/ University of Richmond]
|Location= Richmond, VA
|Homepage= [https://richmond.kappa.org/ Zeta Omicron Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Omicron Media related to Zeta Omicron Chapter]}}

'''University of Richmond, Virginia, Founded in 1830. The second largest private university in the state of Virginia, with approximately 4,500 students.'''

'''Zeta Omicron founded May 2-4, 1987 -- 89 charter members'''
Laura Allen, Barbara Alton, Lisa Andur, Karen Anderson, Amy Barry, Amy Begg, Ann Bond, Dede Boudinet, Lynn Brazinski, Susan Bugg, Ann Burton, Laurie Callahan, Laura Candler, Tracy Caroll, Jennifer Casey, Janice Gauvin, Beth Chiacchierini, Robin Clark, Julie Coman, Terry Comunale, LeeAnn Courie, Laurel Crabtree, Laura Crawford, Sarah Cummings, Susan Daniels, Nikki DeGioia, Julie Durbin, Michelle Ebbeskotte, Suzanne Farrar, Manie Ferguson, Erika Floyd, Sally Foster, Karen Fountain, Jennifer Freimark, Lisa Galloway, Ellen Goetzman, Maureen Greenan, Alison Gustafson, Jennifer Haight, Holly Hamilton, Joy Handsberry, Kathenne Hanemann, Melissa Harple, Donna Hildenbrand, Bonnie Hollabaugh, Cynthia Huffard, Betsy Johnson, Julie Jones, Cathy Julias, Paige Kesler, Laura Kijek, Karen Knettel, Kristine Koch, Karen Kurisky, Michelle Lavin, Susan Lewis, Laura Lockhard, Susie Lynn, Paige Manley, Janet Markhus, Karen McCord, Tracy McDaniel, Dana Meese, Susan Mesich, Cindy Mire, Molly Moline, Lisa Neurohr, Kristin O'Keefe, Jennifer Penwell, Katie Phillips, Deborah Plaskow, Emily Reed, Liz Roessle, Ann Romano, Janet Smith, Tracy Snyder, Valerie Soars, Michelle Sullivan, Jennifer Swift, Heather Thomas, Allison Unruh, Melissa VanNess, Amy Wachter, Robin Walz, Jane Warren, Jill West, Ellen Widenbaier, Cynthia Ziegler, Elizabeth Zimmerman.

'''1,170 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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'''Some of Zeta Omicron’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

Jessica Hallberg (Beringer), Traveling Consultant 1996-1997; Cori Egnew (Woods), Traveling Consultant 1996-2000;

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

'''Additional Outstanding Zeta Omicron Alumnae'''

Holly Pittman, Chapter Consultant 1991-1993;

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==The Establishment and Installation of Zeta Omicron==

As early as 1906, university guidelines prohibited the establishment of sororities, but in 1985, the students voted to establish national sororities. In October 1985 a panel of faculty, administrators and students interviewed nine National Panhellenic Conference groups, and six were chosen to colonize: Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Chi Omega and Delta Gamma. On February 6, 1987, colonization teams from these groups arrived on campus to spend a week entertaining, informing and getting to know more than 600 women who had signed interest forms. In a unique undertaking in the Panhellenic world, 540 women donned pledge pins and installations occurred the weekend of May 2-4, 1987. Fraternity president Marian Klingbeil Williams presided over the installation services for Zeta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The installation of six women's Greek groups at the University of Richmond was a landmark event not only on this campus but nationwide.

Fraternity President Marian Klingbeil Williams, Θ - Missouri, presided at installation services for Zeta Omicron Chapter. Assisting her were Rebecca Stone Arbour, ΔI – LSU, director of alumnae; Cynthia McMillan Lanford, ΓΠ - Alabama, director of membership; and Marjorie Matson Converse, ΓΔ - Purdue, Fraternity extension chairman. June Miller Mohr, ΓΔ - Purdue, served as installation chairman assisted by Sue Curry Whitaker, I – DePauw and Mimi Stein Morton, Y – Northwestern, the coordinator of chapter development for this new chapter. Also instrumental in the success of the weekend were Colleen Blough, ΔO – Iowa State, Mary Clarke, ΔZ - Colorado College and Lisa Temple, ΓΞ - UCLA.
Over the weekend more than 200 Kappas gathered with the new members, their families and friends capping off the affair with the Installation Banquet held at the historic Commonwealth Club in downtown Richmond.

Zeta Omicron-Richmond is Kappa’s 115th chapter with eighty-nine young women.

==Highlights of the 1980s:==

From chapter’s History Report: 1987 saw the pledging and initiation of the charter members. Important events of the year that brought this group together included a pledge retreat in April, a sorority formal with the other five sororities, our installation by Fraternity president Marian Klingbeil Williams, our first formal meeting in October, sharing Founders Day with the Richmond Alumnae Association, and preparing for our first recruitment in January of 1988, where we welcomed 49 new members.

Our first pledge class grew close through retreats and a philanthropy project. Sisters participated in Greek Week, the U of R Century Bike Race benefiting Habitat for Humanity and socials with other Greek organizations. Kappa Kidnap became an annual event, where the men kidnapped didn't know who their date was or where they were going.

Philanthropies included the bike race, visits to the Virginia Girls Club, a Thanksgiving food drive and a magazine drive for Rose McGill. Social events included a Kite and Key party with Kappa Alpha Theta, a parent-sister brunch on Parent's Weekend, a successful intramural team and spring formal.

In 1988 we attended our first Biennial Convention in Boca Raton, Florida, where we were officially seated and given the blue and gold Zeta Omicron patch which will remain with the president's robe. This year Alpha Phi joined our Panhellenic group on campus.

We ended the decade 93 members strong, active on campus in many organizations, represented in several honor societies and Dean's List, and involved in several philanthropies.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Virginia Girls Clubs, food drive for needy families, the U of R Century Bike Race to benefit Habitat for Humanity, magazine drive for Rose McGill, Phone-a-thons to support the Spider Athletic Club.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of the 1990s==

From chapter’s History Report: The charter members of Zeta Omicron have all graduated but with each new pledge class we welcomed bright minds and fresh ideas and are becoming a wonderfully diverse chapter. Members work with the local Ronald McDonald House, with two girls volunteering their Friday and Saturday nights to sleep over at the house to act as managers. Volunteers also baked, played with the children, and helped families in any way possible. For the UR the Difference Day, Kappas went into the Richmond community and raked leaves for Catholic Charities. We are also planning an after-school program at the Girls Club and participate in phone-a-thons, bake sales, t-shirt sales to raise money for philanthropies like Teeter for Tots, a “seesaw-a-thon” for the Friends Association.

At the 1991 Lambda Province meeting in Chapel Hill, NC, Zeta Omicron won honorable mention for Efficiency and Finance, Membership Award, Personnel Award and Best Alumnae Association Award. By the mid-90s new philanthropies were added: a Spaghetti Pull, a Halloween Party at the Boys Club, Christmas Caroling at local nursing homes and helping out at soup kitchens. In 1995, knowing our scholarship needed help, we met our chapter goal of improving our GPA, and held a celebration recognizing those who made the Dean's List. We again met this goal in 1996. We ended the decade with two goals: “Strive for Pi” where each member tries to achieve a 3.14 GPA, and “Dedication Through Participation” where each sister tries to fulfill at least ten hours for our philanthropy or for community service each semester.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament supports the Kappa Foundation and YMCA. Volunteering at William Byrd Community House each month helping children enjoy arts and crafts, a carnival for inner-city children, selling Hershey Kisses to deliver to students on Valentine's Day, making crafts for the YWCA women's shelter. We participate in other Greek organization's philanthropies.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

From chapter’s History Report: Zeta Omicron continued most of its traditional chapter activities while also adding some new ones. Memorable activities include participation in philanthropy projects such as Trick or Treat Street and Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament. In 2005 we held a contest to determine “Kappa King” to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. We began a “Kappa Kindness” project to strengthen the spirit of sisterhood. We worked during the mid-2000s to increase our knowledge and participation in Rituals with ritual reviews at chapter meetings, worked on strengthening our Recruitment, worked to strengthen our GPA and implemented a new e-mailing system with a Google Group to improve communication among members.

Chapter challenges included probationary sanctions from Panhellenic and the Fraternity, and we worked to improve our relationships with other sororities, our Advisory Board and Greek adviser, educated our chapter on Panhellenic and Kappa regulations and increased our philanthropy requirements to 8 hours of service from each sister. The chapter instilled a policy prohibiting members from posting on Internet gossip sites and censored photos that involve alcohol. We had leadership changes in 2009 when the president resigned, with others stepping into roles they were unaccustomed to, but with the help of the Advisory Board we took on these new responsibilities.

In March of 2009 we hosted Province Meeting which enhanced our chapter's leadership skills. We successfully hosted a new campus-wide philanthropy, mobilizing the university to accomplish several service tasks. We started a letter writing campaign to keep in touch with sisters studying abroad. At the end of the decade our chapter challenge intensified focus on increasing our chapter GPA with individualized attention and programs.

'''Philanthropy:'''

Trick or Treat Street, Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament, Habitat for Humanity, International Hospital for Children, mobilizing the campus with philanthropy service projects like clothing and canned food collection and sandwich making, volunteering at a local elementary school and a rehabilitation center, raising funds through Kappa Kisses and Kappa Kickball and hosting events for RIF.

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

==Highlights of 2011-2019==

From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:

==Highlights of 2011==

2011 was an exciting year in the Zeta Omicron Chapter. Kappa brought home the Powderpuff Football 1st place trophy for the Sigma Chi Derby Days philanthropy. We also were intramural champions at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. In the second half of the year we held a new philanthropy event, Kappa Kourtide. This co-ed tennis tournament attracted a lot of participants and helped raise a ton of money. The event went so well we hope to make it an annual affair. Girls continue to help out weekly at the Faison School for Autism, and we have continued to strive to maintain the highest standards and ideals of Kappa.

'''Campus:''' Last year we learned that the University will be building cottages for each sorority. The new buildings will be used for recruitment events, chapter meetings, sisterhood events, and just hanging out. Everyone in the chapter is extremely excited to have a central anchor point for the sorority. They will be finished in the fall of 2012.

'''Chapter:''' People would agree that Kappa this past fall semster had the most energy and excitement for January recruitment than ever before. Every officer, especially the president, was devoted to improving our chapter's standing with both the school administration and nationals. Also, because another sorority lost their charter on campus, the quota for Kappa's new pledge class increased, allowing us to welcome 46 new members.

The chapter struggled with standards issues. A few of our events lacked necessary organization to keep things under control. However, the incoming officers really turned things around. Officers came to Chapter Committee meetings with more preparation and ideas for further improvement. Leading by example was the most valuable lesson the girls learned. Both of our fall socials were exceptionally successful. The chapter continues to try to improve our academic standing on campus.

==Highlights of 2012==
The past year went very well for the Zeta Omicron chapter. We gained 47 new members after recruitment in the spring. We kicked off the semester with our hershey kiss delivery fundraiser for our philanthropies: Kappa Kisses. Several new members and returning members volunteered at the Faison School for Autism in the spring. In the fall we hosted our second Kappa Kourtside philanthropy event, which improved after the first year. More participants signed up this year to play co-ed tennis and we raised a ton of money. This outcome is promising for the event to occur in future years; Kappa Kourside is becoming one of our most successful fundraisers. In November of 2012, our cottage opened; a project that was five years in the making! Now we have a new space for chapter, sis-events, and sisterly bonding.

This past November, University of Richmond's "Cottage Court" opened, consisting of seven new cottages for all the of sororities on the UR campus. We have our very own Kappa Kappa Gamma cottage where we have chapter. Though we've only had the space for a couple of months, it has already brought our members closer together by giving us a space to spend time together throughout the week. The cottage was also an amazing addition to recruitment because it allowed the Potential New Members to see our chapter's new "home" and how we use it to supplement the success of our chapter.

==Highlights of 2013==

The past year went very well for the Zeta Omicron chapter. We gained 46 new members after recruitment in the spring. We kicked off the semester with our Hershey kiss delivery fundraiser for our philanthropies: Kappa Kisses. Several new members and returning members volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club in the spring. In the fall we hosted our second Kappa Kourtside philanthropy event, which improved after the first year. More participants signed up this year to play co-ed tennis and we raised a ton of money. This outcome is promising for the event to occur in future years; Kappa Kourtside is becoming one of our most successful fundraisers. In November of 2011, our cottage opened; a project that was five years in the making! Now we have a new space to have chapter, sis-events, and for our sisters to bond.

In November 2011, University of Richmond's 'Cottage Court" opened, consisting of seven new cottages for all of the sororities on the UR campus. We have our very own Kappa Kappa Gamma cottage where we have chapter. Though we've only had the space for a year or so, it has already brought our members closer together by giving us a space to spend time together throughout the week. The cottage was also an amazing addition to recruitment because it allowed the Potential New Members to see our chapter's new "home" and how we use it to supplement the success of our chapter. In the next year the University of Richmond is adding another chapter to Greek life. We are not sure which chapter will be the addition, but we are very excited to expand the Greek life at UR.

==Highlights of 2014==

After a very successful recruitment in January of 2014, Kappa Kappa Gamma added 38 new members to our sisterhood. We celebrated their initiation with a brunch hosted by some of our older sisters. This event provided the new initiates with the opportunity to get to know their new sisters as well as all the sister with the chance to relax and enjoy each others company. Our next activity was one of our campus philanthropies, Kappa Kisses, which we participated in around Valentine's Day. The chapter got together and created Hersey kiss goody bags and delivered them to students across campus. In April of 2014 we brought back Kappa Kickball. This Kickball Tournament was a success, creating a fun day of competition amongst the students on campus. We were also able to raise more proceeds for RIF than expected considering it was the first time we have held this event in four years.

In the fall in addition to our traditional Kappa Kourtside Doubles Tennis Tournament, we held our first Kappacino event. The goal of this event was to provide students with coffee while studying for finals, and it was a huge success. By selling cups of coffee for $0.25 we were able raise over $200 for RIF. Kourtside continues to be our most successful event. It provides both sisters and university students with a day of fun activities to take a break from the high standards of academics at the University of Richmond. We had some very successful bonding events in this fall in our cottage as well. One of these was directly related to our philanthropy, RIF, as we all got together and made book marks to hand out with the books at the RIF events we attend. Our youngest pledge class also spent an evening making shoes to wear for 2015 Recruitment. The girls wore these for one of our events and it was a perfect representation of the great bond between our sisters

The major change on our campus in the previous year is the decision from our Panhellenic Council to add Kappa Delta to the University of Richmond Greek Community. Multiple Kappa Sisters were members of the Extension Committee and helped to determine which sorority would fit best into the culture of Richmond's Greek Community. In addition to our direct involvement within the committee, Kappa sisters attended the presentations throughout the year from the other potential new sororities, offering their input on the different applicants for colonization.

Richmond also introduced a new Standards of Excellence program which encourages Greek students to attend informational programs. They have covered a multitude of topics, and included a range of activities from hazing lectures to a self defense class. The goal of this program is to better prepare our sisters for both the time they spend at the University of Richmond and life following graduation. Our Corresponding Secretary and Education Chairman worked closely with the school to inform the chapter of these events. We also had some of our own members organize some of the Standard of Excellence events for the entire campus community.

Over the past year our chapter has continued to grow as a sisterhood. The individual pledge classes have been closer each year as we make that a goal of the chapter. The Kappa Cottage provides us with a "home" to meet up and bond as well as a central location to base our outreach philanthropies. It also provides us with a place to hold our sis-events and chapter seminars. We are always participating in other Philanthropic events, enjoying friendly competition between sororities and other groups on campus.

Chapter meetings are held either in our cottage or in a nearby multipurpose room based on the number of members who will be attending the meeting. Both are University owned but Kappa Kappa Gamma rents the cottage and has control of its maintenance.

Kappa Kappa Gamma has never had a house on the University of Richmond's campus. We maintain our cottage as a central location for the chapter. We designed the cottage upon its construction two years ago and have been updating it since then. Though we do not have any formal housing, most of our members choose to live together either in housing off campus or in the University housing provided on campus.

Currently our President is the only member in our chapter to wear a historic badge. The pin is passed down from the outgoing President to the incoming President at the time of each transition so the badge is always being worn. Attached are picture of the pin and the inscription on the back reads "Pres. Badge Richmond Alums" and "ZO 5-2-87".

==Highlights of 2015==

We began 2015 with Recruitment and ended the week with 34 new Kappa members. This had been one of our best recruitments ever, excluding a helium shortage that limited our balloons for decoration, everything ran smoothly throughout the week. We followed Recruitment with Officer Transitions, holding our triplet meetings and officer retreat. Overall we have realized that transitions are something that our chapter needs to work on and set that as a chapter goal to work on for the 2016 transitions. In February we hosted Kappa Kisses on campus, our traditional Valentine’s Day Philanthropy Event. This provided the new members an opportunity to get involved right away and understand one of the many ways Kappa fits into the Greek community at Richmond. We also had a successful New Member Period where the new members learned all about Kappa’s history and traditions, their meetings helped them to bond as a pledge class – a foundation we have seen through out the year as they have remained close. Our next event was Inspiration Week. We were lucky to have a Leadership Consultant with us during this week so that she could help us to make sure we were executing the week to the best of our ability, inform us on areas we needed to improve, and give us some great ideas for next year. Inspiration week was complicated for us this year as it was bookended by St. Patrick’s Day and Sigma Chi’s Derby Days Philanthropy Event. As a whole, the chapter handled the restrictions of the week admirably and we were able to initiate all of our new members without any problems. This was one of our most successful Initiations, our CC had worked on solutions to any problems we have had in the past and everything ran smoothly. After the new members were initiated we were able to hold our spring social “Sapphire Ball.” The formal ran smoothly due to the attentive planning of our social chair and excellent risk team. We finished off the spring semester with our philanthropy event Richmond Carnival, which was a new event run jointly with Sigma Phi Epsilon. The event was a success and we are looking into continuing it in the following years. Our final event of the year was our senior banquet where we said goodbye to out outgoing seniors and celebrated their time at the University of Richmond and in Kappa.

Our first event of the fall was our philanthropy Kappa Kourtside. This event has become a tradition for our chapter and improves every year. This year we had more than 75 teams participate and raised over 1,000 for RIF. This continues to be our most successful event. We also attended Kappa Delta’s bid night in order welcome all the girls to the Richmond Greek Community, KD is new on campus and did not have any older members to celebrate the night so all the chapters on campus came together to celebrate their new members. In addition we took part in “Girls Fight Back,” an Standard of Excellence (SOE) event that taught us self defense. Our next event was also and SOE, partnering with Delta Gamma and Kappa Delta, we hosted “Finding Kind” which opened our eyes to the problems of Girl on Girl Bullying. Our president, Hannah Cassatly, heard Erin Fischer speak at SEPC and had the great idea for this event. We initiated our Owl, Key, and Fleur de lis Groups this fall, as a project to improve Kappa attendance at nonKappa events. This semester has been a learning period and we hope to utilize it more in the future. We participated in many small philanthropy projects as well. We partnered with YouthLife this October as well to host a field day for the kids. They came to campus and the chapter met them on our inturmural fields to play games and spent the afternoon running around. The children and our sisters alike loved this event. Kappa also worked alongside Richmond’s Women’s Soccer Team and hosted a “Think Pink” Auction where pink jerseys worn by the players were auctioned off during the game and the proceeds were donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We also participated in Richmond’s Trick-or-Treat Street, which is a Halloween Carnival through which neighborhood kids can participate and celebrate a safe Halloween. This is one of our favorite events to participate in, the kids have so much fun playing the games and everyone loves to dress up in costumes. Our last activities of 2015 included a senior programming event where we participated in the Rope’s Course on Campus, and our final philanthropy event of the semester Kappaccino. We hosted Kappaccino for the first time last year to offer coffee to students studying for exams while our campus coffee shop was closed. After the success last year we hosted the event again with even better results. We improved the amount we raised and had even more of our chapter members involved in the event. This is an event we know will continue in the future.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.

There were two changes to campus over this past year. The first was the introduction of our Standard of Excellence (SOE) programming and also the introduction of Kappa Delta to campus.

SOEs are events that are planned and organized by the different Panhellenic organizations on campus that promote good character and introduce useful skills for our future. They have included events that open our eyes to the dangers of bullying and drinking, as well as risk management and can be as instructive as resume workshops. As a whole these events benefit the chapters and members of the Greek Community because the help us to improve ourselves and be better prepared for life during and after college.

Additionally the University of Richmond welcomed Kappa Delta to campus this fall. The began their process of colonization in the spring, tabling and hosting events so that interested girls on campus would have opportunities to learn more. This September they hosted their first recruitment and on bid day the entire Greek Community came out to welcome KD’s new members. Their introduction to campus has brought the chapters even closer together and prepares us for the return of FIJI in the spring as they have their first recruitment on campus in five years.

Overall our chapter has become very close. We have worked hard to create foundations in the pledge classes during their new member periods and have seen the results. We have continued to use our cottage more and more so it really feels like a central place for our chapter. Many of our members use it as a study space as well as a location for pledge class movie nights or a place to bake cookies. We actively participate in the philanthropy events on campus, and have been making it a goal to improve our attendance at non-Kappa events. We are looking forward to Recruitment in January as we are already excited to meet our newest pledge class and add more sisters to our Kappa family.

Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Traditionally our chapter has worked with organizations in our community that have Kappa members involved with them. This in the past, and today, has included the Boys and Girls Club, Youth Life, the Dominion School for Autism (The Founders Center of Commonwealth Autism), and programs at individual elementary schools where we have gone to read books or create a haunted house.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

We take pride in supporting the organizations that our sisters are passionate about. This is we are involved with a number of different organizations and are constantly participating in new events. The University of Richmond has a great organization – The Bonner Center for Civil Engagement – which a number of our members are involved in and through their ties we have been able to reach out to a number of organizations.

==Highlights of 2016==

This January, we welcomed 31 new sisters into our chapter. We celebrated a very successful recruitment on Bid Day at Jumpology. Following Recruitment, we had Officer Transitions. Since the previous CC had noted that transitions were something they felt could be improved, there was a larger emphasis on making sure they were as smooth as possible. The new CC greatly benefited from this and felt more prepared to fulfill their roles. In February, we hosted Kappa Kisses, our annual Valentine’s Day Philanthropy Event where we deliver candy grams throughout campus for students that donate. The event was a great opportunity for new members to bond with each other, as well as with the older members. Overall, we had a very successful New Member Period. During this time, the new members attended meetings to not only learn about Kappa’s history and traditions but also to get to know each other. With the introduction of a new sorority on campus, Kappa Delta, the pledge class was smaller than what our chapter has had in the past. However, the smaller size seemed to help to facilitate strong relationships among the members. The New Member Period ended with Inspiration Week. The excitement of the previous weeks carried over with the new members enthusiastic about each night’s event. Due to a few new members having conflicts, we actually held two separate Initiations this spring that each ran smoothly. Once all of the new members were initiated, we hosted our annual spring formal. This year, we decided to do a Great Gatsby theme. The entire chapter and their dates had a wonderful time dressed in 1920s-themed dresses and suits. Towards the end of the spring, we held a new philanthropy event, Kappa Casino, hosted in the Alice Haynes Room. We had a great turnout to the event, complete with plenty of table games and raffle prizes. Aside from our own philanthropy event, we also participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, where our sisters helped Sigma Chi raise more money than they ever had for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. The fraternity decked out their lodge in blue and blue in honor of Kappa winning the most points throughout the week’s events. Finally, we closed the semester with our senior banquet. For the first time, the banquet was held in the Jepson Alumni Center. The beautiful new venue was an excellent way to create a memorable event for the graduating seniors.

In the fall, we welcomed two new sisters that had transferred from different schools. The chapter was very excited about both of the new sophomore pledge class members and each has been an excellent addition to our sisterhood. In September, we hosted our annual philanthropy event, Kappa Kourtisde. This has been a favorite in the past and continued to be a great success this year. We doubled our total last year and raised over $2,000 for RIF and the Claire Marie Foundation, a children’s cancer philanthropy that is close to one of our sister’s hearts. Additionally, our chapter attended two “Reading Is Key” events. During these events, members visited learning centers, Youthlife Delmont and Overby Sheppard, to spend time with and read with the children. This fall, we also had great attendance and participation at all of the other chapters’ philanthropy events. Our SOEs were a huge success this fall as well. We had the most attendance we have ever had at all of our educational events, including a fashion consultant’s presentation on how to dress your best and a self-defense class. The seniors also really enjoyed their bonding event at Escape Room RVA. The two socials that we hosted this semester were our annual Red, White, Blue & Blue and 365 Days of Kappa. 365 Days of Kappa was a new theme where sisters dressed in costumes based on a specific holiday during the year. Both socials ran the smoothest they ever have, with excellent risk teams. Around Halloween, we had the LC visit. Our sisters had a great time getting to know her during meetings throughout the week, as well as during a group trip to a local pumpkin patch. We had fun picking out pumpkins, as well as carving and decorating them together afterwards. Our CC members valued the LC’s insights and received a strong report back. The Friday before final exams began, we hosted Kappaccino, which has quickly become a favorite tradition. We closed the semester by adopting a family in need and raising money to purchase Christmas gifts for them. We surpassed our fundraising goal and had a fun time shopping and wrapping presents together in the cottage for the family.

Overall, our chapter has improved in many areas and has grown closer as whole. The implementation of the Owl, Key, and Fleur de Lis groups have been a huge success, and have encouraged amazing turn-out for our own events, as well as other chapters’ events. Our members have been excited about attending all events and it is our goal to continue the enthusiasm to provide a strong foundation for our new pledge class. We look forward to keeping the traditions that we have already put in place, as well as implementing new ideas for the chapter in the future.

== Highlights of 2017 ==

This January the Zeta Omicron chapter welcomed 28 new members into our sisterhood. Recruitment Week culminated in a Bid Day celebration at an ice skating rink as well as a pizza party. Following Recruitment, we had Officer Transitions and the previous and incoming CC met with their advisors to make the transitions as smooth as possible. The new CC set individual, position-specific goals and created broader strategic chapter goals. In addition, the new CC began using the GIN System, which was well received by the chapter and has proven to be very effective.

In February, we hosted Kappa Kisses, our annual Valentine’s Day philanthropy event when we deliver candy grams to students across campus for those who donate. This event was a success and was a great opportunity for the new members to bond with each other as well as get to know older women in the chapter. Overall, we had an extremely successful New Member Period. During this time, the new members attended several meetings to both get to know each other as well as learn about Kappa’s history and traditions. Due to a few new members having conflicts, we held two separate initiations this spring that both ran extremely smoothly. Following initiation, we had a beautiful brunch for the entire chapter.

Once all of the new members were initiated, we hosted our annual spring formal at the end of March. This year’s theme was Masquerade and the entire chapter and their dates fully embraced the theme and had a wonderful time dancing the night away in their masks and costumes. Towards the end of the spring, we held a new philanthropy event, Kappa Karaoke, a friendly karaoke competition to win a variety of prizes donated by local businesses. In addition to our own Karaoke event, our sisters helped the Sigma Chi fraternity raise more money than they ever had for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Our chapter donated more than any other organization on campus. The Zeta Omicron chapter also came in either first or second place for almost every philanthropy event on campus including Pi Beta Phi’s Ballin’ for Book, Kappa Delta’s Wing Fling, and Tri Delta’s Delta Dodgeball.

In April, the seniors took a bonding trip to Charlottesville and during finals week the chapter got together for several Chipotle and pizza study breaks. Lastly, we closed out the spring semester with a beautiful banquet celebrating our sisters who were graduating. The banquet was a great way to create a memorable event for the graduating seniors and wish them luck in their future endeavors.

In mid-August, we returned to campus to begin the 2017-2018 academic year. It was great to see and catch up with sisters that we had not seen for a couple of months. Many of our members are studying abroad this semester in cities all across the world including: Sydney, Madrid, Paris, London, and Copenhagen.

The Zeta Omicron chapter held their annual fall philanthropy event, Kappa Kourtside, a doubles tennis tournament in September. This event raised $5,592, over double from last year! The proceeds went to two amazing organizations: Reading is Fundamental and the Michael B. Finnegan Foundation which honors the legacy of the father of a member who passed away on September 11th. The Michael B. Finnegan Foundation’s mission honors Mike’s memory and spirit by continuing his way of living life: giving generously. The foundation founded the “Michael B. Finnegan Golf Learning Center – The First Tee of the Palm Beaches” located in Palm Beach, Florida and our donation held to start a golf program for women at the center. Also in September, we had our annual Red, White, Blue and Blue social.

In October, we held a Kappa Kappa Gamma tailgate during Homecoming Weekend where we celebrated with many of our alums who came back to campus. It was fun to see all of the sisters that graduated last May! We had our second social of the semester in November, Kappa Kappa Galaxy where the sisters and their dates all dressed up in outer space-theme costumes. The week before Thanksgiving we held our own Kappa Thanksgiving, organized by VP Standards, and feasted on homemade Thanksgiving dinner and desserts. It was a great hit! In December, we hosted Kappaccino and gave out free coffee and sold donuts outside of the library during finals week. In addition, each of the pledge classes held their own Secret Santa, exchanging small gifts to get in the holiday spirit before leaving for Winter Break!

==Highlights of 2018==

This year was an exciting year for the Zeta Omicron chapter at the University of Richmond. On January 13th, 2018 we started our formal spring recruitment and we were able to welcome 28 amazing girls into our chapter! During this week, we not only enjoyed meeting our potential new members, but also welcoming back our members in the class of 2019 as they returned from their study abroad programs from the following semester.

Our Bid Day theme this year was “Welcome to the Big Leagues” and it was a hit! Our current and new members all repped Kappa in our new baseball jerseys. After hanging out in our kappa kottage, taking tons of pictures, and getting to know our new members, we all went to a trampoline place to jump around and eat some sweets. Soon after recruitment week, we all celebrated our Junior Ring Dance with our Kappa families. This was an awesome time getting to know the Junior’s family members and being there to support them through the next step in their lives.

After four weeks of our new members having temporary families and getting to know everyone in the chapter better, we finally had big little reveal week. This week was filled with tons of snacks, smiles, crafts, and of course surprises! This year was very special for us because we had a pair of twins! After an exciting week of big little reveal, we had our week of inspiration period. Inspiration period this year was filled with tons of special moments. After rock toss, flowerside, and fireside, we had a wonderful initiation. We were so excited to officially call our new members sisters. After our initiation, we had a delicious catered brunch. At the end of March, our new sisters got to experience their first Sapphire Ball! This was a great way to end the semester before our final exams.

This summer was a great summer for all of our chapter members as they went off and worked internships and took classes all over the world. This summer was also great, because it was the Kappa Kappa Gamma General Convention. We sent three sisters to the convention this year to learn, meet new people, and vote on our important bylaws. This was a wonderful experience and opportunity for the three girls. Not only did they learn from the convention, but they brought back tools and tips to teach the other women in our chapter about leadership, inclusiveness, and sisterhood.

After a wonderful summer, we started off with a great chapter meeting and bonding event where we made fleur-de-lis waffles and played games in our cottage. This was a great way to everyone to come back together and talk about their adventures over the summer. In September, we had our annual Red White Blue and Blue social which was a great way to show our Kappa and American pride! The week after, we had our fall philanthropy, Kappa Kourtside, where we raised $2580. We donated this money to RIF and to an organization called the

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention was very important to us this year, because we had multiple members affected by suicide and we wanted to do everything we could to support them.

At the beginning of October, we celebrated our very special Founders Day with a Founders Day quiz, a feast, and pumpkin decorating! This Founders Day was very fun and we got to show off our love and apperception for Kappa. Soon after, we decided to do continuous open bidding and gave bids to four amazing women who embody Kappa in so many different ways. We had a great new member period with them where we went out to dinner with them, watched movies, ate bagels in the cottage and more. We were so excited when we got to officially initiate them on Friday, November 16th.

After our Thanksgiving break, we decided to have one last bonding event. We had a holiday party where we had tons of food and we did a secret Santa. The last thing we did in December before saying goodbye to everyone for winter break was vote on our new CC and it was a huge success! We will officially vote on those members and do our transitions next semester. This was a great year for the Zeta Omicron chapter and we cannot wait to see what 2019 brings us!

Highlights of 2019

This year was an extremely exciting year for the Zeta Omicron chapter at the University of Richmond. On January 20, we started our formal spring recruitment and we were able to welcome 37 new women into our chapter! During this week, we not only enjoyed meeting our potential new members, but also welcoming back our members in the class of 2020 as they returned from their study abroad programs from the following semester. Our Bid Day theme this year was Nascar! Our current and new members all represented Kappa in fun t-shirts. After hanging out in our Kappa cottage, taking tons of pictures, and getting to know our new members, we all went to a Go-carting facility and enjoyed dinner together. Soon after recruitment week, we all celebrated our Junior Ring Dance with our Kappa families. This was an awesome time getting to know the Junior's family members and being there to support them through the next step in their lives.

After four weeks of our new members having temporary families and getting to know everyone in the chapter better, we finally had big/little reveal week. This week was filled with tons of snacks, smiles, crafts,and of course sisterhood! After the an exciting week of big/little reveal, we had our week of inspiration period. After rock toss, flower side, and fireside, and a pizza night, we had a wonderful initiation. We were so excited to officially call our our new members sisters. After our initiation, we had a delicious catered brunch got to experience their first social which was from Baker's Crust. At the end of March, our new sisters got to experience their first social which was Gatsby themed. This was a great way to end the semester before our final exams.

After a wonderful summer, we started off with a great chapter meeting and bonding event where we made fleur-de-lis waffles and played games in our cottage. In September, we had our Red White and Blue social which was a great way to show our Kappa and American pride. The week after we had our fall philanthropy, Kappa Kourtside, where we raised $3500. We donated this money to RIF and to an organization called the Pastoralist Child Foundation. This organization is extremely close to the heart of one of our sisters, Sofia. We were all extremely excited to support her through Kourtside.

At the beginning of October, we celebrated our very special Founders Day with a Founders Day quiz, ritual ceremony, and cake! We got to show off our love and appreciation for Kappa. Before Thanksgiving break, we decided to have a bonding event. We had a progressive Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone brought different sides such as Mac n Cheese, Brussel Sprouts, and Pie. It was so fun to celebrate the holiday season with our sisters. We had a holiday party where we had tons of food and we did a secret santa. The last thing we did in November before saying goodbye to everyone for winter break was vote on our new CC and it was a huge success! This was a great year for Zeta Omicron chapter and we cannot wait to see what 2020 brings us.

Chapter Philanthropy: RIF and the Pastoralist Child Foundation. The Pastoralist Child Foundation is an organization that works to prevent child marriage through education and scholarships to young women. One of our sisters has worked closely with this organization for a long timer and support this organization was something special to her.

Founders Day: This year we celebrated Founders Day with a history presentation, ritual ceremony, and cake. It was really fun to celebrate the founders who in some way brought us all together.

Sesquicentennial Celebration: The chapter has begun to celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary by beginning to talk about the donation we will be donating to honor the anniversary.

=='''Highlights of 2020'''s:==

This year was like no other for Zeta Omicron chapter at the University of Richmond. On January 11th, 2020 we started our formal spring recruitment and we were able to welcome 30 amazing girls into our chapter! During this week, we not only enjoyed meeting our potential new members, but also welcoming back our members in the class of 2021 as they returned from their study abroad programs.

Our Bid Day theme was "Kappa Kowgirls". Everyone came up with such great western outfits! This included cow printed pants, cowboy hats, and of course: SO MUCH BLUE! After hanging out in our kappa kotsge, taking a lot of pictures, and getting to know our new members, we all went to top golf where we hit golf balls and ate a variety of great sandwiches and finger foods. Right after recruitment week, we all celebrated our Junior Ring Dance with our Kappa families. This was an awesome time getting to know the Junior's family members and being there to support them through the next step in their lives as official "Westhampton Women".

March came and all of our lives were flipped upside down by COVID-19. Not only were classes moved online completely, but we were not able to do any of our chapter meetings in person. Zoom chapter meetings continued throughout the semester, but all felt a piece of Kappa missing from our hearts. Our campus initiations traditions did not happen, however our initiation was beautifully conducted over zoom. Throughout the semester we did not let the pandemic negatively affect the bonds of sisterhood. We held regular zoom meetings, organized zoom workout classes, and created a book/movie google doc to share our favorite "quarantine finds".

This summer was not only unique because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the racial climate in the United States. We held conversations about racisms and exclusion to the chapter and gave all our members a safe space to discuss their thoughts on the unjust killings of black people across America , worries about the future, and brainstorm ideas as to how we could foster a more inclusive atmosphere at the University of Richmond. Soon after, an Instagram page surfaced called "Abolish Greek Life" which encouraged all
Greek members to disaffiliate from their respective sororities and fraternities. The overwhelming majority of our members decided to stay, and a diversity and inclusion leadership team was created as a result. They worked tirelessly to organize conversations, book clubs, and offer educational resources to our sisters. We are confident that we will come out of this stronger, more educated, and more socially responsible women.

We were lucky enough to come back to campus in the fall. Although we could not meet as a big group, members still managed to see each other while maintaining social distance. This year we were sadly not able to host our usual fall philanthropy, Kappa Kourtside, but we were still able to raise $710. We donated this money to three different organizations: Higher Achievement Richmond, Operation Smile, and RIF. We feel very proud of donating to Higher Achievement Richmond and Operation Smile because they are charities which are very close to our sisters' hearts. One of our sisters co-foundedOperationSmile club at Richmond this year. We are so proud of our community contributions as members of Kappa.

In mid October, we celebrated the 150th anniversary by watching the Founders Day video asynchronously. We all thought it was really well done and enjoyed reflecting on our love and appreciation for Kappa at the following chapter. After Thanksgiving break, we did not return on campus to school and continued online classes from home. We decided to have transitions a little earlier this year, which was very successful The current CC is very confident in the chapters' choice of new executive members. They are all very passionate about Kappa and the success pf our chapter as a whole.

This year tested our resilience as a chapter in many ways. However the bond of sisterhood has the power to keep Kappas together in the faces of extreme adversity. As the vaccine gets distributed hopefully normalcy will resume. We cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for us because there is only going up from here!

'''Philanthropy:'''

'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''

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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of ''The Key'' to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!

Zeta Xi

2021-12-21T19:42:19Z

Admin: Fixed

{{Infobox Fraternity
|Name= Zeta Xi
|GreekSymbol= ZΞ
|Image= [[File:Zeta_Xi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1987|01|17}}
|College= [https://www.yale.edu/ Yale University]
|Location= New Haven, CT
|Homepage= [https://yale.kappa.org/ Zeta Xi Homepage]
|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Xi Media related to Zeta_Xi Chapter]}}
----

'''Yale was founded in 1701 near its present site in New Haven, Connecticut.'''

'''Zeta Xi was founded on January 17, 1987.'''

'''745 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

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==Charter Members==
The special women who chose to become the pioneers of Kappa Kappa Gamma on the Yale University Campus are: Susan Elizabeth Anslow, Theresa Michele Babich, Ada Teresa Chun, Diane Mary Clerkin, Elizabeth Prince Donnem, Andrea Jane Goetze, Lori Ellen Gottlieb, Kristy Lynn Hasen, Michele Patrice Hernandez, and Stephanie Pearl Kingston. Also, Ashia Ann Lee, Karen Josephine Lindsley, Eve Rose Maremont, Jennifer Anne Maxwell, Elaine Michele Pofeldt, Mary Upton Quest, Mary Susan Schulze, Anandi Subramanian, Terry Kathleen Vance, Margaret Frances Webb and Hui Hsing Wong.

==Establishment and Installation of Zeta Xi Chapter==

Historic buildings, rich Gothic spires and sparse modern towers on the campus of Yale University symbolize a commitment to training America's leaders that began long before the American Republic. Last January, the shining golden keys worn by twenty proud Kappa initiates became a part of that scene, symbolizing the University's continuing commitment to meeting the special needs of its women students.

Yale, founded in 1701 near its present site in New Haven, Connecticut, is one of the world's leading universities. The student body, coming from almost every nation, includes 5000 undergraduates enrolled in over 70 academic disciplines and 5000 graduate students, studying under an outstanding faculty that includes many Nobel laureates.

Women, however, have only been permitted to register as undergraduates at Yale since 1969. Today, approximately 45 percent of the students admitted are female. While fraternities were prominent on the all-male campus of the late 19th Century, they were often identified (not always accurately) with many non-democratic attitudes prevalent during that period. These groups flourished into the 20th Century, but after the school upheavals of the Sixties and Seventies, only one survived.

Today, students are recognizing the advantages gained from fraternity membership. In January 1986, when Marjorie Matson Converse, ΓΔ - Purdue, Kappa extension chairman, responded to a call from Sara Church Dinkler, EO - California-Davis, a recent Yale Law School graduate, reporting of students' interest in Kappa Kappa Gamma, Marj found five male Greek organizations and Kappa Alpha Theta already on campus.

Marj returned to Council after a visit to New Haven and reported that students and the University were indeed interested in Kappa. The New Haven and Fairfield County Alumnae groups, under presidents Kelly Hall Silva, ΔN- Massachusetts, and Marjorie Koza Gasco, BT-Syracuse, were most enthusiastic about a Yale chapter. The Fraternity approved the proposal and the first colonization rush for Zeta Xi-Yale, was held in April, 1986.

In June 1986, Andrea Goetze, then a Zeta Xi Colony pledge, attended Convention in Philadelphia. Sheri Purvis, ΔΠ- Tulsa was appointed Zeta Xi's Chapter Consultant and Constance Engle, ΔA- Penn State, was appointed Chairman of Chapter Development.

The colony's founding members were joined by others in September 1986 when Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta conducted Yale's first formal sorority rush. After rush, Sheri took the new members through pledge training while the Fairfield County and New Haven Alumnae set up Zeta Xi Advisory and House Boards.

Chapter Installation began on Thursday, January 15 with the arrival of Fraternity President Marian Klingbeil Williams, Θ -Missouri, Wilma Winberg Johnson, ΔN -Massachusetts, director of philanthropy; Jean Dale Brubeck, ΓK - William and Mary, then assistant to the council, (currently Fraternity Executive Director); Mary Clarke, ΔZ-Colorado College, traveling consultant; Marj Converse, Charlotte Walton Sargeant, M-Butler, installation chairman, and a host of other dedicated Kappas. A dinner for pledges and these guests was followed by a stimulating Fraternity talk given by Marian Williams.

Fireside activities, conducted by Wilma Johnson, were held in the paneled library of the Colonial-period house on New Haven's historic Town Green which houses the Yale Graduate Club. A limited-edition print of Audubon's "Snowy Owls" hanging above the fireplace made the room seem perfect for Kappa's needs. Undergraduates from our Rho Province chapters attended the ceremony, many of them anticipating the role they'd play as big sisters to our new members.

Center Church near the Town Green served as the installation and initiation site. Following this lovely occasion, Marian and Wilma conducted a Model Chapter Meeting. Later that day, the Fairfield County and New Haven alumnae introduced the new initiates to the Yale and New Haven communities at a formal tea, which included friends and parents of the new members.

==Highlights of the 1980's==

Zeta Xi Chapter was installed on January 17, 1987 with 21 Charter members. National Fraternity President, Marian K. Williams performed both the initiation ceremony and the installation services. The chapter had its first informal rush during the spring semester and pledged 7 women. An easter egg hunt philanthropy project, a Kappa Krush dinner party, retreats and a pumpkin carving philanthropy project all contributed to the year's success. The chapter's first semi-formal, the Kappa Kabaret, is a source of pride for Zeta Xi because it pulled together the efforts of the whole chapter. Through these activities and others, we attained our chapter goal 'Greater Kappa Friendships'. We used the term greater to imply that we will have stronger friendships and a wider circle of friends.

The chapter experienced some challenges in promoting its interests on the Yale campus. A vocal student reaction and apparent administration misgivings were a challenge to the growth and stability of greek groups on campus. The chapter president was asked to participate in a panel discussion on the social life at Yale. Aware that KKG adhered to undergraduate regulations regarding alcohol consumption the Dean believed the chapter representative could contribute to the presentation. Kappa received much positive feedback from the audience, mainly Yale alumni, at the end of the presentation.

The chapter continues to grow, strengthening sisterly bonds and becoming a unified group of women.

==Highlights of the 1990's==

The chapter acquired a three bedroom Kappa apartment for the first time in our short history. Kappas lived in the apartment for the first time. Furniture was donated by alumnae. A house board was activated and house rules were defined by the chapter. Ordering 'composites' was another first for Zeta Xi. A strict but fair attendance policy was established and approved by the chapter.

Twelve new sisters were initiated, members of 2 pledge classes.

As the chapter grows in size it continues to grow stronger as a group of dedicated women. There are four panhellenic groups on campus. AEPhi was the most recent to be added to campus. Two groups have apartments.

In addition to social events we hosted Founders Day for local alumnae in the chapter's apartment.

While the Greek System is not widely known on campus, what is known about Greeks has remained 'positive'. The reputation is that of a very nice, diverse, close group of motivated women.

==Highlights of the 2000's ==
Over the course of the past year our chapter has had many accomplishments. We planned and executed a very successful philanthropy project known as Line-Up consists of a date auction and prize raffle. This event raises money for a local organization known as Bright Beginnings. Bright Beginnings is run through the Yale-New Haven Hospital, It is a local facility that runs a program for young mothers in the New Haven area. The organization provides parenting classes and advice, such as a program called Mother Reads, which provides books and literacy classes for young mothers to encourage them to read to their children.
For this organization, our chapter put together Mother’s Day gift baskets filled with products for mothers and their children and books for mothers to read to their children. In terms of philanthropy, our chapter has also volunteered this fall at the New Haven Book Bank helping to move and re-set up the organization.

Other highlights include the development of the VPAE position to an important vice-presidency in our chapter, the revitalization of our new member program and improvement of our standards committee, especially focused on taking advantage of our advisors.

Our Panhellenic representative was also very influential in reorganizing our Panhellenic Council by writing a new Constitution and Bylaws. Finally, we had a very successful fall rush and great social events throughout the past year.
Our chapter is rather small, consisting of around 50 girls. We are very close-knit and caring. All of our sisters are high achieving, interesting, very diverse, and amazing people. Although our house is not the main living facility for the girls in our chapter, Zeta Xi provides a wonderful support group for all of its members on campus in a social, academic, and leadership capacity. Although all of our sisters are very involved in many activities, all the girls manage to make room for Kappa in their busy schedules, giving their time, energy and ideas to make our chapter the best it can be.

We have in this past year had some problems with our attendance, but our leadership action plan seems to have been successful in creating new solutions that seem to be taking effect nicely.

We greatly improved our Membership Selection process eliminating many of the problems we had suffered in the past and helping our chapter following Kappa procedure more closely. Finally, although we had struggled with elections in the past, with the help of our Nominating Committee Advisor Misty Muscatel, we were able to improve on the election process, ensure that slate was created with the best interests of the chapter in mind, and help to ensure that slate was followed during the election process. Overall, with the help of our advisors and leadership consultants our chapter was able to meet and overcome many of the challenges we faced during the past year.

Each year we hold a Semi-formal Event during the Fall and we have continued our tradition of Kappa Blind Dates, Philanthropy Projects, and involvement in campus events.

Zeta Xi prides herself on the diversity of our sisters, academic excellence, and commitment to each other. Our membership represents different countries and different extra curricular interest. Yet, Kappa and the bonds of sisterhood unite us.

==Highlights 2012==

Gaining 26 new sisters in March 2012; instating a family system and coordinating Family Day; volunteering with YHHAP, Abraham's Tent, Yale Day of Service, and co-sponsoring events with other fraternities and sororities for various foundations; holding a spring retreat; focusing on improving chapter attendance; celebrating Senior Appreciation; continuing to settle into the new Kappa House (moved in fall 2011); raising over $500 for Reading is Fundamental at our fall event Kappacalypse; celebrating Founders' Day at The Graduate Club; welcoming 8 new sisters during Fall Informal Recruitment; earning the highest GPA of Kappa chapters nationwide.

On campus, our house total has been steadily increasing to become comparable to the two other sorority totals on campus. This has been great for Chapter morale and we expect to see an increase in numbers this fall during informal recruitment and next spring. Our chapter is unique and we strive to embrace diversity. We are a group of women of varying interests including athletics, politics, and service. We truly understand the meaning of sisterhood and focus on fostering it as much as possible.

==Highlights of 2013==

We welcomed 29 new sisters in March 2013 and 21 more in November. Zeta Xi sisters were involved in many service opportunities, including Yale Day of Service and YHHAP in addition to co-sponsoring events with other fraternities and sororities for various foundations. We raised over $500 for Reading is Fundamental as part of our fall event, Kappacalypse, and celebrated Founder’s Day at the Graduate Club. We improved chapter attendance, and created an online roster for Chapter Council members.

Our chapter total has increased to become comparable to the other two sororities on campus, so that we no longer need a Fall Recruitment period. Our chapter is very diverse and we are able to embrace that diversity to promote sisterhood in many aspects of campus life. Our varying interests are exemplified in athletics, academics, politics, philanthropy, and other aspects of Yale undergraduate life. Our focus on sisterhood is noted by many people on campus, even outside of the chapter.

==Highlights of 2014==

In March of 2014 we welcomed Beta Delta, a class of 45 new sisters, our most successful recruitment ever. Zeta Xi sisters were involved in a wide variety of student service groups, including Yale Hunger and Homeless Action Project, New Haven Reads, Peer Health Educators, World Micro-Market, AIDS Walk New Haven, Children’s Theater, Elm City, PALS Tutoring and Mentoring, and Seneca International. The chapter also conducted a book drive for Reading is Fundamental, and raised over $2000 for Relay for Life, the most in chapter history. Our chapter also increased the use of committees to assist Chapter Council in carrying out chapter goals. Our focus on improving committees has allowed more girls than ever to get involved with shaping the direction of the chapter.

Our chapter has improved our presence on campus and had our most successful recruitment yet. We were able to reach our chapter total goal without a Fall recruitment. We have began to exert a greater presence on campus, and those outside the chapter particularly note Zeta Xi’s strong emphasis on sisterhood. Our chapter is very diverse as are the interests of the Zeta Xi sisters. Zeta Xi chapter has a strong presence in all aspects of Yale undergraduate life, including athletics, the arts, philanthropy, and academics, to name a few.

Chapter meetings take place in classrooms in University owned buildings. Chapter Council meetings are held in the chapter’s house. Currently, nine girls live in a chapter-rented house.

==Highlights of 2015==

In March of 2015, we welcomed the Beta Epsilon New Member class, the largest pledge class to
date with 53 girls. As part of their new member service project they organized the library at a local
public school.

In the spring, we participated in Relay for Life and raised over $4,000 -- the most
money of any Greek organization. The philanthropy chairs organized a new initiative in the fall, a
dodge ball tournament, to raise money for local organization New Haven Reads.

Our focus on growing the tradition of leadership has increased the ways members can be involved in the chapter
through greater use of committees and continuing to have new member class organizers.

In the Fall of 2015, Alpha Phi joined the panhellenic community at Yale, increasing the number of
sororities from three to four. In the fall, controversy surrounding race on campus allowed us to
look at the diversity of our chapter and the ways that we can support our sisters. Women of Zeta Xi
continue to be involved in all facets of life on campus including many student organizations,
athletics, the arts, philanthropy and academics.

Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in
your community?

New Haven Reads, Celentano school, American Cancer Society (Relay for Life), Yale Hunger and
Homelessness Action Project.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

These organizations support literacy, similarly to Reading is Fundamental, and allow sisters to
engage in active service over just raising money. Other organizations, like YHHAP, are because
our sisters are involved in the organization on their own time, and have invited more girls from the
chapter to partake.

==Highlights of 2016==

In February, we welcomed the Beta Zeta New Member class, with 35 girls. For their new member service project they cleaned up trash along the Farmington Canal. In April, we participated in Relay for Life and were once again the top fundraiser with over $5,200 in donations. Over the summer, President Meg Mathile and members of our Advisory Board represented our chapter at the 71st Biennial Convention in San Diego, where we received the Academic Excellence Award and honorable mentions for our Ritual Practice and Advisory Board Relations. We held informal recruitment in the fall and welcomed thirteen new members into our chapter as a part of the Beta Eta New Member Class.

In December, we hosted our second annual Dodgeball tournament in December to raise money for a local literacy organization, New Haven Reads. This year was special in that we participated in three initiations. We held two of our own, one in April at the Masonic Temple for our Beta Zeta New Member class and another in December for our Beta Eta New Member class. We also traveled to Trinity College in October where the Zeta Theta chapter welcomed us to celebrate the initiation of their new members and a few of our Beta Zeta girls.

To improve the effectiveness of our Chapter Council, we have reduced the number of positions from twenty-five positions to nineteen positions, as per the suggestion of our Leadership Consultant, Ingrid. We are hoping that this new structure will streamline communication within CC and encourage the involvement of committees in a more meaningful way.

This year's recruitment was the first with a new sorority on campus, Alpha Phi. As a result, our new member class was smaller, but this gave us a chance to welcome some amazing women to our chapter during continuous open bidding in the spring and an informal recruitment in the fall. Women of Zeta Xi continue to be involved in all facets of life on campus including many student organizations, athletics, the arts, philanthropy and academics. Our chapter is known on campus for our strong sisterhood.

'''Chapter Philanthropy:'''
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
New Haven Reads, American Cancer Society (Relay for Life), Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project. These organizations support literacy, similarly to Reading is Fundamental, and allow sisters to engage in active service over just raising money. Other organizations, like YHHAP, are because our sisters are involved in the organization on their own time, and have invited more girls from the chapter to partake.

Last semester, we held chapter in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, a University classroom. However, this semester we have been able to hold chapter in our newly renovated house thanks to our more spacious living room and our smaller chapter size. The renovations included expanding our living room, installing hardwood flooring and granite counter tops, repainting, and refurbishing our basement. Chapter Council meetings are held in the chapter's house.

==Highlights of 2017==
In January, we held Formal Recruitment; with the themes Kappa's A Classic, Around the World in 80 Days, and True Blue Sisterhood. In total, we initiated 39 new members into Beta Theta. For their new member service project, they participated in the AIDS Walk New Haven. In March, we held Kappancakes, our annual charity event, to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. In April, we held a social graciousness brunch for the first time, which focused on etiquette and business tips. In the summer, we cleaned up the house, getting new carpets and reorganizing the basement. In the fall, we welcomed 8 new members through informal recruitment. Fall initiation was held in the house! For the first time in years, all of our members, in both the fall and the spring, were initated with their pledge class.

This year was Kappa's 30th anniversary, and we held a 30th anniversary brunch in the fall to celebrate. Alumni from Zeta Xi and beyond were invited to celebrate with us at the Graduate Club. We also had a weekend full of other events including an art gallery tour and an alumni dinner at Elm City Social. Our alumni association has also kindly agreed to begin providing financial assitance for sisters to buy basic keys, covering 50% of the cost for six sisters. Our advisor, Fay Kandarian, is retiring.

Two new residential colleges, Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray college, were opened this fall, increasing the size of the first-year class by approximately 200 students. Yale Panhellenic Council established a financial aid scholarship to be put into effect for the 2018 recruitment season, which will hopefully make Kappa and Greek life in general accessible to more women on campus. Kappas on campus are active throughout a variety of organizations, including sports, performance groups, academic organizations, and service groups. Many are officers in their organizations. Kappas are known on campus for their strong sisterhood.