Changes
→Highlights of 2018
During the 2018 year, Sigma boosted the house GPA to a 3.476 which was above the all-campus GPA of 3.274 and the all sorority GPA of 3.473. With the assistance of Colleen Doyle, Vice President of Academic Excellence, Sigma got a Chegg account in order to provide more academic assistance to all members. Kappa tried monitoring study hours on the GINsystem App to allow for more flexible study hours. This year, Sigma had an incredible 72 active members with a GPA of 3.5 and above. Sigma has also been able to provide tutors for around 14 girls in the house this year.
Kappas were extremely involved on campus in 2018. Select senior members were a part of UNL’s Order of Omega, an all-Greek honors society. Many active members played on intramural sports teams, club sport sports teams, and the chapter had two D1 athletes in the 2018 year: a women’s soccer player and a women’s tennis player. Women in all colleges from Journalism and Mass Communication, to Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, to Business, to Engineering, and many more were 2018 actives. A handful of Kappa juniors and seniors in the 2018 year attended the new UNMC College of Nursing in Lincoln, Nebraska, with some choosing to remain active members on special status instead of going to associates status. Kappa women participated in summer and semester study abroad programs that took them across Europe to places in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, and to many more adventurous destinations along the way. In September of 2018, a Kappa senior, Jordyn Koenig, Vice President of the Big Red Chapter of Pheasants Forever at UNL, organized a Youth Mentor Hunt for college students to test out hunting and have the opportunity to learn how to shot from other Pheasants Forever members. Koenig and six other Kappa members participated in the event, creating an awareness and promotion of the sport across campus.
In June of 2018, six actives in Kappa accompanied by advisors and Sigma alumni attended the 2018 Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Those who attended were inspired by many generations of Kappas from across the United States. Women expressed their Kappa spirit with little golden keys, blue clothing, owl accessories, and a common theme of fleur-des-lis. Convention had officer training programs and the Sigma actives who attended, all members of the 2018 council, gained insight into their positions and ideas about how to implement changes to their position in the future. Kappas also learned about diversity, inclusion, and made changes to national Kappa bylaws and standing rules. In 2018, Kappa became inclusive of transgender women, a big step in Kappa’s goal of becoming inclusive to all women. Sigma Chapter submitted applications for awards at the Biennial National Convention, where Sigma received honorable mentions in House Board, Advisory Board, and Panhellenic. Attendees of the Convention left Denver with new ideas, forward-thinking minds, and more Kappa merchandise than they had when they arrived...
Philanthropies this year were organized by Aly Burd, Philanthropy Chairman. In the spring of 2018, she and her committee planned Mac and Keys benefiting the Alzheimer’s Association. Kappa raised a total of $5,500. In the fall of 2018, Kappa hosted Krispy Kreme and KAPPAcinos benefiting the John Atkinson Lung Cancer Foundation and $5,000 was raised. In addition, Kappa hosted mini philanthropies benefitting various organizations such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and to Write Love on Her Arms. Kappa also hosted Reading is Fundamental events, where members would read to elementary school students at underprivileged schools in Lincoln, as well as donate books to them. In the spring of 2018, many of Kappa’s actives participated in the Big Event and Dance Marathon, University organized volunteering and fundraising events that a large portion of UNL’s student population was involved in and excited about.
Kappa had many glam formals, special events, and fun sisterhood retreats throughout the 2018 year. Elizabeth Mattern, Event Chairman, and Madison Felix, Risk Management Chairman, kept events organized and fun. Sigma was able to bring back the Sapphire Ball, a Kappa tradition in the fall of 2018. This event was a hit for all members! Events ran smoothly thanks to these two council members and were approved by national headquarters and obliged by Kappa’s sorority contract. Both council chairman chairmen planned events with other Greek Chapters like Crush Formal and Mom’s Day in the spring and American Social, Dad’s Day, and a self-defense class in the fall.
Vice President of Standards, Sydney Hawekotte, made sure that all members were following Kappa bylaws and standing rules. She made sure that all members were reaching the standards Kappa has set in place. She also planned many sisterhood events with the help of her committee. Each member planned a sisterhood event, which occurred about every month like the October trip to Vala’s Pumpkin patch during Nebraska’s peak of the fall season. Hawekotte also hosted a public speaker, Ann Brewer, who talked about the danger and realness of sex-trafficking.
With a new year comes new changes, and some definite changes occurred at Kappa over the 2018 year. Susan Hirt, Chapter Council Advisor, spent her last year working with Sigma actives and alumni as she prepared to move out of the state to work. However, some other advisors were introduced into the Sigma family in 2018 like Krista Hafez, Registrar Advisor. Diane Stark is still the Sigma House Mother who works hard to keep the big, white house in order and exercises her “handyman” skills, helping to fix nearly everything in sight. Kappa purchased a new blue couch, which actives call “BC”, and large chair for the living room as overseen by Alexa Berry, House Chairman. Another change of 2018 is the transitioning of paper documents to digital documents that will continue to be a change implemented throughout the coming years. President Baldwin gave other council officers a chance to look over Sigma’s bylaws and standing rules, and Sigma was able to make amendments to the way room preference works, as well as live-out parking lot time frames. Sigma also elected smaller positions for a banner chairman and a t-shirt chairman, and those selected were able to involve committees and the chapter in more events. Hannah Sickler, Vice President of Organization, kept the chapter aware of activities and events by updating the chapter calendar. She worked to restructure committee night so that it was more productive than it had been in the past. Her committee helped come up with ideas on ways to keep Sigma Chapter more organized and is working on cleaning up old files and items that are no longer of use to the chapter. Sickler also worked with two separate LCs, Leadership Consultants, from Nationals and helped host them during their visit to Sigma Chapter.
Other components of Sigma’s 2018 year included the chapter’s presence in social media. Public Relations Chairman, Sydney Lenarz, and her committee monitored all social media of active Kappas. They created new social media outlets such as VSCO, kept all social medias up-to-date for active members and alumni, put on an all-house photoshoot in the spring of 2018, and hosted a children's Halloween party called “Boo & Boo” for Kappa alumni, friends, and family in fall of 2018. The final accomplishment for Lenarz was sending out a blog/newsletter to Kappa alumni explaining what each council member had accomplished throughout their time on Sigma’s council. Andrea Harris, Sigma’s Registrar, is working to create the 2018-2019 composite, making it a tribute to the 1982/1983 composite design that depicted many mothers of current Kappa actives. Unfortunately, it was broken in the spring of 2018 when it fell off the third floor hallway wall, which lead to the idea of recapturing its design in 2018’s composite. Macie Kubat, corresponding secretary, replaced the mailboxes in the house, so that live-ins would have their own personal space to receive mail. Kubat also sent out holiday cards, gave flowers for chapters in need, and helped with house announcements. Sydney Miller, recording secretary, took minutes and attendance at chapter council meetings and every Monday night meeting. Her committee took attendance during philanthropies this year. Finally, last but certainly not least, Kappa’s finances were managed by Frannie Folson, Sigma’s Treasurer. Folsom continued to use BillHighway for member dues to be paid, was frugal and conscientious of spending, and added to and reduced officer budgets. The Assistant to the Treasurer in the spring of 2018 was Mollie Sperry and in fall of 2018 was Lauren Leapley. The assistants helped Folsom in charging freshman and other visitors for guest meals. As it is built into their dues, many juniors and seniors still eat at Kappa daily.
With the ending of 2018 comes the excitement and anticipation of what the 2019 year in the big, white house at 616 at “Dear old Nebraska U” will bring. Wonders of what the future holds for politics, social development, scientific discoveries, artistic innovation, the global community, and, of course, the legacy of Kappa Kappa Gamma keep us attentive.
