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| |Image= [[File:Eta_Eta.jpg|200px]] | | |Image= [[File:Eta_Eta.jpg|200px]] |
| |Founded= {{start date and years ago|2002|11|23}} | | |Founded= {{start date and years ago|2002|11|23}} |
− | |College= [https://www.ucf.edu/ University of Central Florida] | + | |College= [http://www.ucf.edu/ University of Central Florida] |
| |Location= Orlando, FL | | |Location= Orlando, FL |
− | |Homepage= [https://ucf.kappa.org/ Eta Eta Homepage] | + | |Homepage= [http://www.kappaucf.net/ Eta Eta Homepage] |
− | |Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Eta Media related to Eta Eta Chapter]}} | + | |Media= [http://wiki.kappakappagamma.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Eta Media related to Eta Eta Chapter]}} |
| '''University of Central Florida established in 1968''' | | '''University of Central Florida established in 1968''' |
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− | '''965 initiates (as of June 2018)''' | + | '''969 initiates (as of June 2017)''' |
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| '''Fraternity Officers''' | | '''Fraternity Officers''' |
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− | Teddi Ginsberg, Province Director of Alumnae, 2009-2010
| + | Kelly Kohler, Leadership Consultant 2007-2008; |
| + | Sareena Helton, Leadership Consultant 2011-2012 |
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− | Ashley Kontos (Townsend), Academic Excellence Content Director 2018-
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− | Rebecca Ann Cullen (Thomasson), District Director 2020-
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− | Emily Katherine Logue, District Director 2020-
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| '''Fraternity Loyalty Award''' | | '''Fraternity Loyalty Award''' |
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| '''Additional Outstanding Eta Eta Alumnae''' | | '''Additional Outstanding Eta Eta Alumnae''' |
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− | Alex Gregory, Leadership Development Specialist 2019-
| + | Kelly Kohler, Chapter Consultant 2008-2009 |
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− | Mandy Kraverotis (Hughes), Academic Excellence Specialist 2019-
| + | Kalee Ankrum (Humphrey), Founding Sister 2002-2003 |
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− | Lindsey Morris (Murphy), Academic Excellence Specialist 2018-
| + | Kinsey Ankrum (Lallathin), 2004-2006 |
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− | Kelly Kohler, Chapter Consultant 2008-2009
| + | Courtney Austin, Founding Sister 2002-2004 |
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| 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. | | 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. |
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− | ==Highlights of 2017==
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− | 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!
| + | ==Highlights of the 2020s== |
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− | 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.
| + | (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.) |
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
| + | '''Philanthropy:''' |
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
| + | '''Housing:''' |
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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!
| + | '''Convention Awards:''' |
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | ==Highlights of 2018==
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | 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.
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− | Overall Eta Eta chapter had a big year filled with success, memories, and laughter.
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− | ==Highlights of 2019==
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− | We started the year off with our newly transitioned Chapter Council learning all about their roles on Leadership Day. The week continued with getting organized with a planner party hosted by our VP of Academic Excellence, Maribeth Graham. At the end of January, we hosted events for Spring Recruitment and on February 9th, we "struck gold" and welcomed home Alpha Beta class and spent the day bowling. We had our first Grab-A-Date of the semester at Dave and Buster's. March began with Mother/Daughter Day at the house, hosted by our Public Relations chair Julia Moore, where we enjoyed cupcakes and creating our own bouquets with Dahlia's Flower Truck. Once we returned from Spring Break, I-Week began. We began the week with Motivation Monday, house hangouts, and Fam day, then we all gathered to show off our talents with Kappa Karaoke at the house hosted by our Marshal, Molly Garboski. We sang our hearts out to some of our favorite hits, and of course included Livin' on a Prayer. The week ended with our beautiful intitation ceremony where we welcomed Alpha Beta into our sisterhood. Next, we expanded our Greek life relations on a Social with Phi Delta Theta. We ended March with Kappa's involvement with Knight Thon where we danced our hearts out for 22 hours while raising over $27,000 for the kids. We started out April strong by participating in Alpha Delta Pi's Cheers for Charity to help raise money for The Ronald McDonald house and we placed 2nd in the cheer competition. We then soaked up the sun at Universal's Cabana Bay for our Sisterhood Retreat, hosted by our Vice President of Standards, Holly Bertholf. We celebrated the semster at The Mezz for our Sapphire Ball formal by dancing, put on by our Formal Chairs, Shannon Jones and Colette Lowndes. We ended our spring semester by listening to our seniors talk about their dear kappa days at Senior Wills at the Alfond Inn, planned by our Education Chairman, Kristin Collison. We all returned before classes to prepare for Panhellenic Recruitment. We spent our Spirit Week step-clapping and bonding to get ready for the week to come, with the help of many alumni and our dedicated Membership Chair, Bree Friedhoff. After two weeks of hard work, we celebrated by welcoming home Alpha Gamma class and our rho gammas who returned home. We spent Bid Day at Seaworld and watched a water show, planned by our New Member Educator, Madeline Cox. After all the fun, Hurricane Dorian approached the Central Florida area and took us away from classes and Kappa for a week. During this time,we checked in with each member to ensure everyone had a safe hurricane ride-out plan. When we returned, Kappa hosted the first Pan of the semester, with the help of our Panhellenic Delagate, Bri Pruitt. Also, with the beginning weeks of the semester, Alpha Gamma gathered together for their New Member Retreat where they played games, sang songs, and bonded as a class. At the end of September, we opened our doors to our families for UCF's Family Weekend and watched the Knights play against UConn. In the beginning of October, we had Big/Little reveal at the house! With the bigs outside with half a puzzle piece, the Littles found their matching piece and ran into their Big's arms. The next week began I-Week, hosted by our Marshal, Molly Garboski. We ended the week with going to DEFY, where we jumped around and navigated our way through obstacle courses. We finally welcomed Alpha Gamma into our sisterhood with our beautiful Initiation ceremony. We then celebrated Founder's Day at the Alford Inn the following weekend. With the end of October approaching, the annual Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street (TOTOGS) was held and Kappa came home with 3rd place. A couple days later, Kappa helped raise money towards Zeta Tau Alpha's philantropy supporting Breast Cancer Awareness and members of Alpha Gamma participated in their dance competition, Zeta Lip Sync. November marked Kappa's participation in hosting a Girls Academy with a local school. We spent the day having fun with young girls and playing games. We celebrated the semester at Semi Formal at 1010 West where we danced the night away and took silly pictures in the photo booth. After the short Thanksgiving break, we gathered for one last time in 2019 to install our new 2020 Leadership before we left for holiday break.
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− | Describe the recent changes on campus and describe the chapter’s overall nature. 2019 was a big year for UCF. The Freshman class (Class of '23) broke the university record for the highest GPAs and test scores, which boosted UCF's National Merit enrollment. The campus broke ground on the upcoming on-campus hotel. UCF has partnered with Disney Aspire, which provides free tuition to eligible Cast Members to take classes with UCF. It was announced at the end of the semester that there would be an addition of electric scooters available on campus to make transportation to and from class easier, while helping with traffic on the roads. Eta Eta's focus has been directed towards empowering women and positivity even in hard times. The theme of our Formal Recruitment in the Fall followed the motto "Empowered Women empower Women".
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− | Chapter Philanthropy
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− | What organization does the chapter support? Eta Eta supports Reading is Fundamental (RIF), the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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− | Why did the chapter choose this organization? Eta Eta supports our national tradition in supporting Reading is Fundamental (RIF) while also seeing the outcome of how this foundation supports children around our area, as we go to the schools in the surrounding area to read to the students. We also support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation because of our bond as a sisterhood and helping those sisters in need. We continue our Eta Eta tradition of supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to honor our sister, Alison Callum who passed away from CF in 2003.
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− | Founders Day
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− | How did the chapter celebrate Founders Day? Please attach any photos. We spent our morning at the Alfond Inn in Winter Park. We had brunch and chatted with other Kappa Alumni, then celebrated the six founders who brought us all together.
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− | Sesquicentennial Celebration
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− | How has the chapter begun to celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary? Share what you have done this year and are planning to do in 2020.
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− | Eta Eta is excited to have the opportunity to be active members during Kappa's 150th anniversary. We provide the chapter members with history nuggets both leading back to our Founders and our own chapter's history. For 2020, we plan to celebrate the history and years of tradition that have been set by our Founders and preceeding sisters both within Eta Eta and outside of our chapter. This year we plan on having many events throughout the year to celebrate our history, finally arriving to our 150th anniversary on Founder's Day.
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− | ==Highlights of 2020==
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− | We began the semester with our new Leadership
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− | coming together to create goals as a chapter and learning all of our roles as leaders. We kicked
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− | off Syllabus Week with a planner party hosted by our Academic Excellence Director, Sarah
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− | Goddell. At the end of the month, we had our first house dinner, hosted by our Facility Director,
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− | Megann Linardos. Throughout February, we hosted a Partial Proceeds, had another House
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− | Dinner, and had our first Kappa Krush party, hosted by our Event Director, Madison Evard. At
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− | the end of the month, we had our Sisterhood Retreat, hosted by our Member Engagement
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− | Director, Cameo Dyer. We spent the day at Orange Lake Resort where we played arcade
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− | games and lounged in the lazy river! We then spent the night at the hotel where we played
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− | games and had some sisterhood bonding.Our plans suddenly changed when UCF announced
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− | that we would move to remote instruction beginning March 16th due to the Coronavirus. Despite
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− | this challenge, it didn’t stop members of Eta Eta from communicating and making the best out of
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− | the situation. Our Director of PR, Julia Amorim and our VP of External Affairs, Courtney
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− | Garrison had the idea of starting a #KappaQuarantine page where sisters submitted Tik Tok
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− | dances and fun challenges to earn points to win a prize in the Fall. In order to prepare for
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− | Recruitment, Jenn Flatin, our Primary Recruitment Director and Shannon Jones, our VP of
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− | Membership were hard at work planning out songs and dress colors! Jenn also hosted some
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− | virtual Recruitment Workshops to teach first time recruiters how Formal Recruitment works!
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− | Also, our House Director, Megann Linardos, found a way to connect us all for one final “house
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− | dinner” by delivering each of us a pizza to our homes while we quarantined. We also said
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− | farewell to our graduating seniors by hosting a Senior Wills Zoom call where the seniors
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− | reminisced on their time in Kappa.When we returned from summer break, we immediately got
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− | into Recruitment mode. Recruitment was completely virtual at UCF, so this was something new
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− | for all of us. We hosted a virtual spirit week where we worked on our values, conversations, and
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− | how to navigate Zoom and come up with new ideas to make our Recruitment run smoothly. Our
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− | Recruitment Team also invited Josh Peck to join one of our Zoom calls to boost morale and give
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− | some words of encouragement. Recruitment week definitely had its ups and downs, including
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− | the power going out in one of the on-campus housings, which delayed our Day 1 for some
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− | hours. Despite the challenges, Eta Eta welcomed Alpha Delta pledge class and celebrated by
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− | hosting a socially distanced Kappa Candyland Bid Day where our New Members met their Bid
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− | Day buddy and got some photos outside of the house. The next week, we continued by
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− | participating in COB and welcomed some more new members to Alpha Delta class. We then
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− | hosted Formal Pledging via Zoom for the New Members where they received their New Member
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− | Pin. September began with some new member meetings where the New Members learned
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− | about Kappa’s history and many different aspects about our chapter. They also hung out at a
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− | Virtual New Member Retreat where they bonded and played games with each other. At the end
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− | of the month, we had a virtual Minnie Stewart Van Visit where some of our members learned
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− | about Kappa history and some of the artifacts that are still around today. October was a busy
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− | month for Eta Eta. We began by having a Virtual Founders Day celebration where we learned
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− | facts about Kappa’s history and played a fun Kahoot game that reviewed some fun facts about
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− | Kappa. Inspiration Period began with Big/Little Reveal and the Return of the New Member Pin.
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− | Throughout the week, we played Kahoot games, Among Us Party, and even a canvas painting
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− | party via Zoom. Our big event of the week was The Masked Kappa. Chapter members
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− | submitted videos of themselves singing and dressed up like a character and we all guessed
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− | who we thought it was. It was a ton of fun! The week ended with our beautiful Initiation, hosted
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− | by our Ritual and History Director, Nicole Leonard. With it being completely virtual, our members
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− | and newly initiated members were able to truly listen to the beautiful words of our ritual and
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− | understand the meaning behind Kappa. We ended out the semester with our Philanthropy
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− | Event, hosted by our Philanthropy Director, Sam Bostelman. We delivered Thanksgiving meals
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− | to people around the community and raised money to go towards our philanthropies. We hosted
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− | another virtual Senior Wills for our Fall seniors. We then installed our 2021 Leadership Board
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− | and began preparing them for their incoming term.
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− | Eta Eta supports our Fraternity tradition of
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− | supporting Reading is Fundamental, while also seeing the impact of this foundation and how it
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− | supports children around our area. Our members truly enjoy getting into schools in the area
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− | and being able to read to them and build connections with them. We also support the Kappa
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− | Kappa Gamma Foundation because of our bond as a sisterhood and wanting to help sisters in
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− | need. We also continue our Eta Eta tradition of supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to
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− | honor our sister, Allison Callum, who passed away from CF in 2003.
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− | Eta Eta added a DEI committee this semester to help educate
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− | and spread awareness about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in both our chapter and our
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− | community. This committee hosted many programming events throughout the semester
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− | including teaching the chapter some Sign Language, Black History Month awareness, and
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− | honoring National Disability Day. They hosted a few Zoom movie nights where we watched
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− | “Love, Simon” and “The Hate U Give” to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community. We also
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− | had a presentation about Cultural Appropriation around Halloween time and a presentation
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− | about Hispanic Heritage Month.
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− | We celebrated our Sesquicentennial Celebration by appreciating our past and how it
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− | impacts our future as a Fraternity. Throughout the semester, we did a Minerva Moment at
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− | every chapter meeting which showed an artifact from our past, we reviewed our ritual, or a fun
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− | Kappa fact. We also celebrated our Founders Day by playing fun games that discussed Kappa’s
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− | history and also found out which founder each of us were most like. We also all received a
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− | Kappa coat-of-arms sweatshirt to show our love for Kappa.
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− | [[File:Kappa Zoom.jpg|thumb|Chapter zoom]]
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− | [[File:Screen Shot 2020-12-14 at 6.16.13 PM.png|thumb|Kappa House]]
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− | [[File:Screen Shot 2020-12-14 at 6.19.32 PM.png|thumb|Kappa gal]]
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− | ==Highlights of 2021==
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− | We began our new term of Leadership by coming together as a team to work on personal, department, and chapter goals for the upcoming year. We learned about each other and prepared for a successful year. We started the spring semester strong with a virtual “planner party” to get our calendars organized hosted by our new Academic Excellence Director, Brooke Castner. Throughout the semester we enjoyed a “grab-and-go” adapted meal plan that allowed us to still get delicious food in a safe way. In January Eta Eta also hosted Continuous Open Bidding and welcomed home a spring PC, Alpha Epsilon, with a socially distanced 70s Bid Day theme where they could snap some cute pictures at the house! Alpha Epsilon had Formal Pledging as the official start to their new member period, where they learned about the history of Kappa and got to know the rest of the chapter. Eta Eta then enjoyed a masked up sisterhood retreat event hosted by our Member Engagement Director, Jamie Garrison, where we bounced all night long at Defy Trampoline park, and we were so happy to be in person once again!! Alpha Epsilon then found their bigs at the beginning of March and everyone was so happy with their new additions!! The inspiration period began with the Return of the Pin Ceremony, and continued with a “trivia night” as the big event, about all things Orlando, where Eta Eta calls home. Their new member period came to a close with a virtual initiation ceremony in March that allowed both the initiates and active members to really pay attention to what the ceremony means and how special it is. At the end of March we hosted a wonderful virtual philanthropy event to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The event, titled “Layups for the Lungs” was organized by our Philanthropy Director, Alexis Cinotti and was a March-Madness style event where different organizations and individuals competed to have the most accurate bracket. The individual winner received a gift card and the organization winner received a generous donation to their philanthropy. Through this event we were able to raise $3,000 for the CF Foundation!! Throughout the rest of the semester Eta Eta hosted many virtual sisterhood studies to keep us on track to be the “KKGeniuses” that we are. We were also able to keep our sisterhood strong with various sisterhood events hosted once again by our Member Engagement Director, Jamie Garrison, such as Kahoot nights, movie nights, and painting nights. We ended the semester with another virtual senior wills ceremony to say goodbye to our graduating seniors. As the semester came to a close, our VP of Membership, Nicole Leonard alongside our Primary Recruitment Director, Bri Pruitt, began tirelessly working, picking colors, decor, and songs among many other things to prepare for Formal Recruitment. Bri even hosted recruitment workshops virtually throughout the spring and summer to help the chapter adequately prepare for the best recruitment possible. As Formal Recruitment approached, we spent spirit week both in person and virtually getting to know our sisters and practicing to bring home the best PC! We spent the week working on defining our values, practicing conversations, and while in person we got to practice in the house for the first time in almost two years!! Ultimately UCF decided it would be best and safest for everyone to host recruitment virtually once again. Recruitment team worked so hard to keep spirits high, and even came up with the idea “Kappa Konfessionals” where girls could send in fun videos and updates of how they were doing throughout the week, or even just something to make all of us laugh. We got to watch these videos all together at the end of spirit week, and it really got everyone smiling and able to go into recruitment happily with a positive attitude. Despite the challenges and sadness that another year of virtual recruitment brought, Eta Eta was able to welcome 35 new members into the Alpha Zeta pledge class. Eta Eta “came to the rescue” with our lifeguard-themed bid day that we were actually able to celebrate in person!! We first welcomed home Alpha Zeta to the house to meet all our sisters, take cute pictures, and grab some snacks. Then we headed over to Universal’s Citywalk with gift cards in hand to eat and shop as we pleased with all of our new sisters!! Soon after bid day we hosted Formal Pledging and all of Eta Eta’s new members received their new member pins. September was full of new member meetings where Alpha Zeta got to learn about how our chapter works and it’s beautiful history. We also hosted a “speed dating” event, allowing the new members to meet and get to know as many sisters as they could!! Throughout September the new members also had a movie night as well as their new member retreat, where they ate snacks, played games, and bonded as an entire pledge class. We started October with an exciting and in-person big-little reveal, where everyone shined in all their different themes. We then hosted parents' weekend with a delicious cookout made by our chef and had tons of fun with our families finally able to be at the house again!! We also got to have an in person sisterhood retreat organized by our Member Engagement Director, Jamie Garrison where we got to relax and have fun in the sun at the UCF leisure pool! Inspiration Period then started with the Return of the Pin ceremony. Throughout the week we continued to prepare for Initiation, and even had a karaoke night as our big event all dressed as our favorite singers. The week ended with our first in person initiation in two years, hosted by our Ritual and History Director, Sarah Gerdich. With it being in person, both the initiates and active members could be fully shown our beautiful ritual and how special it truly is to experience in person, especially after spending so much time apart. In November we pushed harder than ever to raise money for the mental health organizations we chose The JED Foundation and NEDA, with partial proceeds, “pie-a-Kappa,” and shirt sales. Our big event, titled “Puppies and Slushies” was once again planned by our philanthropy director, Alexis Cinotti. We were able to have chapter members bring their dogs to be played with, we had big outdoor games like Twister and Jenga, and a Jeremiah’s Italian Ice truck as well. Although this took place on a gloomy day, the rain didn’t stop us from all having fun and raising over $5,000 for mental health!! We then had a “Roaring 20s” themed semi-formal planned by our events director Madeline Curley, where we got to dance the night away and snack on some charcuterie at Castle Church Brewing. We ended the year hosting another Senior Wills for our fall seniors, installing our new leadership team, and preparing them for their new roles!
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− | Chapter Philanthropy
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− | What local organization does the chapter support and why? Eta Eta supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation specifically because we had a sister, Allison Callum, pass away in 2003 due to CF. We also transitioned to our new national philanthropy supporting mental health. Eta Eta specifically selected The JED Foundation and NEDA to raise money for this fall, because the majority of our chapter felt that these two organizations meant the most to us personally. The JED Foundation works to prevent suicide for teens and young adults, and NEDA supports individuals and families affected by eating disorders.
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− | How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy? This year Eta Eta did many things to raise money for our philanthropies. This spring we had various events that our Philanthropy Director, Alexis Cinnotti came up with for us to still raise money in a safe way, such as Kappa Kisses, a valentines themed fundraiser where girls were able to purchase valentines treats to send to others in the Panhellenic community. We also had multiple partial proceeds at Castaways, Island Wing Company, and Texas Roadhouse. Our big event last semester was “Layups for the Lungs,” a March-Madness style event where participants each made their own bracket and whoever was most accurate was rewarded. The individual winner received a $100 Visa gift card, and the organization winner received a $200 donation to their philanthropy. We raised $3,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation through these events. This semester was our first semester raising money for The JED Foundation and NEDA as our mental health philanthropies. We once again hosted partial proceeds at Bento, Texas Roadhouse, and Island Wing Company. We also did an event called “Chalk the Walkway” the week of our big event where we went all up and down Greek Park and wrote positive messages with chalk on the sidewalk along with the Panhellenic community. Our official event this semester was called “Puppies and Slushies” and was hosted at our house on November 10th, 2021. We had a Jeremiah’s Italian Ice truck along with large outdoor games such as Twister, Connect 4, and Jenga, as well as 10 puppies for guests to play with provided by our sisters. We were able to raise just over $5,000 that we will divide between JED and NEDA.
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− | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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− | 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.). Eta Eta incorporated DEI initiatives over the past year in many different ways. We began by electing a DEI committee that made various presentations throughout the semester on things like cultural appropriation and how to avoid it. We were also able to hire professionals to come to our chapter meetings and have serious conversations about relationships, mental health, abuse, and how to reach out for help if you need it. We really worked to foster a healthy environment open for difficult conversations and tried to help each other realize that any one of the 150+ members of Eta Eta would be there if one of us reached out to them for help. In such a time of turmoil and uncertainty in the world I think it was very necessary and beneficial to create this committee. We are also adding a DEI Director to our leadership board in 2022!
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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. |
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− | Operating in a Pandemic
| + | Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy! |
− | How did your chapter operations change due to COVID-19 (e.g., how did it affect recruitment, initiation, etc. Were events/activities held virtually?). Eta Eta held both virtual and in-person activities this year. Throughout the spring semester all of our events were held virtually, such as sisterhood studies, various other sisterhood events like movie or painting nights, chapter meetings, ritual reviews, and initiation. As the fall semester and recruitment approached, we did everything we could to safely transition to in-person events, but ultimately Eta Eta and UCF as a whole made the difficult decision to hold recruitment again virtually. After recruitment, we began to transition to in-person again, and throughout this fall semester Eta Eta has had a mix of both virtual and in person sisterhood studies, ritual reviews, and chapter meetings successfully.
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− | [[File:Eta Eta 2.jpg|thumb|sisters]]
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− | [[File:Eta Eta 3.jpg|thumb|formal]]
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− | [[File:Eta Eta 4.jpg|thumb|sisters1]]
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− | [[File:Eta eta5.jpg|thumb|bigslittles]]
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