Difference between revisions of "Gamma Delta"

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Gamma Delta
ΓΔ
Founded	January 24, 1919 (1919-01-24) (105 years ago)
College	Purdue University
Location	West Lafayette, IN
Homepage	Gamma Delta Homepage
Media related to Gamma Delta Chapter

2,677 initiates (as of June 2015)

Highlights of 2011

This past calendar year has not only flown by but has been filled with many significant events regarding our community and chapter as well as our nation as a whole. Referring to our chapter we have had an accomplishing year both academically and philanthropically. We were honored with being first in grades among all the sororities, second in community service, and first in study abroad.

We have become more involved in other chapter's philanthropies as well as our own and have continued to strive to maintain our outstanding academic performance. With a fabulous performance by Caroline Ladue (Junior) and many other members of our chapter as well as our chapters involvement in the various activities and events we were able to win the new and upcoming philanthropic event Greek Goddess. The fall semester started off with a huge success with recruitment landing us with forty amazing new members we can now call sisters. Our chapter was also successful in bringing an end to our probation sentence while building our sisterhood and fundamentals in the process. Kaylee Waltz, a current senior was honored by being voted and winning the title of Purdue's homecoming queen. On the athletic field Kappa made it to the championship game in both soccer and flag football and were barely beat; still giving the team a second place title. Globally, a few significant events occurred that should and will be remembered.

A few of these events include: the 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, the Royal Wedding, the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the last launch of the NASA space shuttle, the 10th anniversary of 911, and the passing away of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. In the media and celebrity world we witnessed Charlie Sheen's meltdown and being fired from the show Two and a Half Men "winning", and Kim Kardashian finally got married, and then divorced.

Campus: Our campus, more specifically the greek community saw a big change this past calendar year. In the fall semester of 2010 our greek community faced a moratorium after the death of a Purdue student. Because of these events new rules and regulations were set in place in attempt to help eliminate drinking related accidents within the community. This past year required all members of the greek, and nongreek communities to adjust to the new regulations and become aware of the consequences if they are not followed. The greek community grew stronger and and decided to stick together and help each other follow the rules and stay on track.

Kyle Pendleton, who was in charge of IFC, left Purdue's campus leaving the greek community in search of some one to take on the position. This past semester (Fall 2011) the greek community recived the request of two sororities that wished to start a chapter here at Purdue. After discussion, Alpha Omicron Pi was voted to become a new part of Purdue's greek community.

Chapter: Overall, our chapter contains a very upbeat and positive attidue towards each event and activity with which we are involved. There is never a dull moment inside the walls of Kappa as there is always something to be excited about whether it be seeing one of your sisters after a long day, getting pumped for the big game (Boiler Up!), taking pictures before a night on the town, gathering together before heading out to campus events, or sisterhood functions. There is always someone willing to excite other members, listen to your troubles and offer advice, and pick you up when you are feeling down. We truly have a bond that will never be broken and only grows stronger with each passing day. The closeness between girls of the same pledge class is obvious, but the closeness between girls of different pledge classes is something we pride ourselves for. Age certainly does not matter and, speaking on behalf of every girl within the house, we can truly call each other sisters. As a chapter we are very involved both on and off campus. We are constantly participating in philanthropies, completing community service hours, and are involved in many clubs and organizations around campus.

Overall, there were few challenges that our chapter had to overcome. The major challenge we faced and had been facing the previous year as well was being on probation. While many see this as a bad thing, it gave our chapter time to reflect and reevaluate certain things we had been doing and allowing and think about what we could do to make the chapter better as a whole and to prevent this situation from reoccuring. After taking the time to make the chapter better we were taken off probation and placed on a period of concern. We, as a chapter, continued to promote sisterhood and improve the house and this past semester (Fall 2011) we were finally taken off the period of concern and having learned our lesson we ensure it will not happen again. Along with being on probation we were required to plan sisterhood functions in order to promote and encourage sisterhood. This came as a challenge in the fact that it was difficult to plan an event that each and every member would find enjoyable. To overcome this we tried a variety of events and in the end, as a chapter, made of list of activities that the majority thought would be fun. In addition to these challenges, we have faced daily "mini" challenges. These include keeping the house clean and picking up after yourself, remembering to complete an hour of phone duty each week (sophomores), respecting quiet hours as well as other chapter members, alcohol in the house, and only bringing one guest per week to meals.

Highlights of 2012

This past year was full of many exciting events for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Gamma Delta chapter at Purdue University. We are honored to have received the Dean Barbara Elsbury award, naming us the “Most Outstanding Chapter” on Purdue’s campus. We also obtained first in grades for six consecutive semesters in a row. Academics is something that the Gamma Delta chapter takes very seriously. We always set a chapter wide GPA goal, as well as personal GPA goals. Our most recent semester GPA goal was a 3.1, and we received a 3.35 GPA. Our chapter reached this goal by putting grades first, and attending optional study tables.

This year, we raised money to support Reading is Fundamental through the soccer tournament and the Buddy Buffet Philanthropy. The RIF event was held at Eisenhower Elementary school in Lafayette. We were able to spend time with Head Start Kindergarteners by reading to them and making bookmarks and other crafts. The 3 v 3 soccer tournament was a success as we were able to donate all of the proceeds to RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation which supports scholarship, leadership opportunities, Kappa’s in need, and more. We also were very involved in other fraternity and sorority philanthropies, such as BMOC and Greek Goddess. BMOC, a fraternity talent show, put on by Zeta Tau Alpha, raised money for breast cancer awareness. Many members from our chapter attended this event in order to support breast cancer awareness. Greek Goddess, a sorority talent show, put on by FarmHouse Fraternity, was a great success as a lot of money was raised for their philanthropy. The Gamma Delta chapter was very involved in this philanthropy and we were ecstatic when one of our members won the talent show! Our chapter council, and three members from the freshman pledge class, attended Kappa Province where we focused on the ideals of Kappa and how we could better our chapter overall. It was an amazing experience being with other Kappa chapters from Indiana and being able to learn ways make the Gamma Delta chapter the best it can be.

Some of our favorite sisterhood functions included ice skating, pottery painting, ice cream socials, scavenger hunts, and Zumba work out classes. We always enjoy spending time together while doing a fun event! We had many fun social events as well such as Kappa Kabana, two spontaneous dances, and our spring formal, Sapphire Ball.

There were many big changes that were made to Purdue’s campus this past year. President Mitch Daniels took over office as Purdue's President as President Cordova retired. We are currently planning a dinner with the President in order to get to know him better, and welcome him into our home. We also just received a new football coach, Darrell Hazell. We are very excited for alumnae to come visit during football season! We also have a very nice and new recreational center, which is where some of our sport intramurals are played. Our home had some new additions put in, such as new flooring in our front foyer, new front steps, bathroom renovation, computer room renovation, and our chapter room is currently getting repainted.

Highlights of 2013

This past year brought many exciting moments to the Gamma Delta chapter at Purdue University. We are extremely honored to have received the Dean Barbara Elsbury award for “Most Outstanding Chapter” on Purdue’s campus by a unanimous vote. In addition, we won the Panhellenic award and Academic Excellence award as well as the Recruitment honorable mention award at Province. Closer to home, we received the Highest GPA award and a Certificate in Excellence in Sisterhood at Purdue’s Greek Gala. Academics are of the highest importance to our chapter, and we were ecstatic when we received a chapter GPA of a 3.35 for the Spring 2013 semester which put us in first for grades for the sixth consecutive semester. We will all continue to strive for academic excellence in the coming year.

As a chapter, we raised money for Reading is Fundamental through our Buddy Buffet and “Kick Away the Cold” 3v3 soccer tournament. We held our RIF event at a local elementary school in Lafayette. At the event, we read to the children and helped them make bookmarks and other crafts—it was a blast! Our soccer tournament with Delta Sigma Phi was a great success and allowed us to donate money to both RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We also got very involved with philanthropies put on by other sororities and fraternities on campus. Some of these included Zeta Tau Alpha’s BMOC, a fraternity talent show to raise money for breast cancer; FarmHouse Fraternity’s Greek goddess, a sorority talent show in which one of our own sisters won, and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash, a swimming and synchronized swimming competition. We had a ball at philanthropies this year and cannot wait to participate in more next year.

Gamma Delta chapter is extremely active on campus, with our members involved in almost every club. These include Board of Directors for the Panhellenic Association, Purdue University Dance Marathon, the Odyssey, RISE, fitness instruction at the CoRec, Cheerleading, Child Mentors for Kids, and many others. Despite all of our involvement, we always find time to spend together. Some of our favorite sisterhood events included Zumba, pottery painting, ice-skating, going to the pumpkin patch, and especially renting out a theater to see the latest Hunger Games movie. It was a great time! In addition, we had four great dances this past year which included Kappa Kabana, a luau-themed dance, two spontaneous dances, and a gorgeous spring Sapphire Ball formal.

This year brought us a new Purdue president in Mitch Daniels; he has frozen tuition campus-wide and has made an effort to meet as many students as he can. His friendliness is infectious and has made for a very warm atmosphere on campus. We are in talks with his secretary so President Daniels can make a visit to Gamma Delta chapter this semester. The new, gorgeous recreation center has been put to great use and is a fabulous place to work out. We are also very excited about the renovations to our kitchen, informal living room, foyer and bathroom.

Highlights of 2014

This past year has gone by so fast and was filled with great memories at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house at Purdue University. Within the Gamma Delta chapter, we have high expectations for all of our sisters to participate in the community, excel in academics, and be active members in the house. We have had great things happen in the past year, including an amazing recruitment where we got to welcome home 39 new members. It has been so much fun getting to know the new members and for them to learn all about Kappa.

This past year, we were able to get involved and participate in other houses’ philanthropies. Some of these included Sigma Nu and Delta Zeta’s turtle tug, Sigma Chi’s Greek Olympics, Pi Kappa Alpha’s fireman challenge, Zeta Tau Alpha’s BMOC, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Gamma’s Anchorsplash. It is so much fun to get involved in other sorority and fraternity philanthropies because the whole Greek community gets together for a good cause and compete in fun games. We are really proud to say that our philanthropy event, Kappa the Flag, was the most successful philanthropy we have hosted yet. We raised more than $1000 for our philanthropy, Reading Is Fundamental. We also hosted a very successful blood drive with the American Red Cross at our house this past fall. Our chapter has recently gotten more involved in community service, specifically getting involved in serving at the Boys and Girls Club every other week. Members of our house are also very involved in almost every club on campus including PUDM, College Mentors For Kids, Panhellenic Association, the Odyssey, and many other academic clubs. We were very excited that two of our members were Indianapolis 500 Festival princesses last May! Our chapter has been making a great effort to stay involved in the community and to remember to take opportunities to help others.

As a chapter, academics are one of our highest priorities and we really focused on our grades this past year. All of the sisters in the Gamma Delta chapter are very supportive of each other and motivate each other to focus on our schoolwork. We are really proud to say that we achieved a house GPA of 3.39 in the spring and 3.3 in the fall. At Kappa convention this past summer, we were thrilled to receive the Academic Excellence award. Four of our members went to Kappa convention in Houston, Texas and learned great ways to improve our chapter.

One of our favorite times of every month is going to our sisterhood functions. We have a very strong sisterhood within the house and it only continues to get better. Our house is full of different personalities that make our chapter fun and unique. Some of our favorite sisterhood functions this past year include ice-skating, going to see the new Hunger Games movie, and having a cookout. Sisterhood is a top priority for our chapter and we will always value these times together!

Over the summer the Gamma Delta chapter installed air conditioning and it was one of the best improvements to the house. It made recruitment and the hot days so much more enjoyable. We are very thankful for the house board that was able to make that happen! On campus this past year, our university experienced a traumatic shooting and as a house we came together to support one another and support the university. Many of our sisters attended the candlelight vigil to honor Andrew Boldt and support his family and friends. In the fall we were very excited to welcome Purdue’s Greek director, Brandon Cutler, to our house for dinner. Also, for homecoming weekend we had a Kappa alumni tailgate which was a fun way to meet alumni and hear their stories and experiences from living in the house years ago. Our chapter is full of wonderful girls that are loyal to the sisterhood of Kappa Kappa Gamma and we are optimistic and very excited to see what this coming year has in store for the Gamma Delta chapter.

Highlights of 2015

February we gave out Hershey kisses and encouraging notes to students on campus! We have also had several programming nights that include education about mental illness and health. Mental illness is a very prevalent topic for a college campus and we want to make sure that each and every one of our sisters feels comfortable to share their struggles or feelings so that we can guide them to be the best woman they can be. Our chapter is always improving and continuing to be loving and supportive of one another.

Academics have always been one of our chapter’s highest priorities. In the spring semester we were very proud of our house GPA of 3.34. Our goal for next semester is a 3.35; we really respect one another and motivate each other to study. One of the best parts about being in the house is that you can always find yourself a “study buddy.” The women in our chapter are truly brilliant; there are a wide variety of majors and I have no doubt in anyone’s success. Our seniors are already being offered wonderful jobs and we wish them the best of luck after graduation!

This past year we have had a lot of fun at dances and sisterhood functions. Some of our favorite sisterhood functions have been ice skating, writing valentines for soldiers, watching Halloween movies in the bum, going to see the Hunger Games Mockingjay movie, and having a Frozen Yogurt truck come to the house! Sisterhood is a priority for our chapter so when we have sisterhood functions it’s always a good time to remember how thankful we are for each and every one of our sisters. We have had very successful dances this past year; in the spring we had Sapphire and in the fall we had Barn Dance. Both dances were planned well and everyone seemed to have a blast! During homecoming weekend we hosted a Kappa Alumni tailgate. It was fun to get to meet older Kappa’s that have come back to see the house and hear their experiences when they lived in the house.

This past fall we came back to school from the summer excited for recruitment and to meet the new pledge class. There were changes in recruitment on campus including that Gamma Chi’s were affiliated with chapters and that the skits round was no longer a part of rush. These changes made recruitment slightly different, but we made it a positive change and recruited 38 genuine and beautiful girls. This pledge class learned all about Kappa and was able to be initiated in late October.

This past year has been full of fun memories. Our house is always looking for ways to improve and support one another. I’m excited to see all of what comes of the next year!