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|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Phi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1978|03|04}}
|College= [httphttps://www.ufl.edu/ University of Florida]
|Location= Gainesville, FL
|Homepage= [httphttps://kkgufufl.comkappa.org/ Epsilon Phi Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Phi Media related to Epsilon Phi Chapter]}}
'''1,998 2092 initiates (as of June 20162018)'''
==ColonizationEstablishment:==
The bright yellow posters proclaiming Colonization Rush Week for Epsilon Phi at the University of Florida said, “We need a special kind of girl!”
Parties were held at the Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma and Alpha Delta Pi chapter houses. Epsilon Phi’s colonization rush was truly a Panhellenic affair.
==Installation:==
Convention Awards included the House Board Award and an Honorable Mention for Best Chapter Management.
Special Events:
Socials: Alpha Gamma Rho, Phi Kappa Tau, Delta Chi, Alpha Epsilon Pi
Epsilon Phi also participated in the following organizations’ philanthropy events on campus: Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off, Delta Tau Delta Miss Greek, ATO Red White and Pull, Phi Gamma Delta Obstacle Course, Beta Bring It On, Sigma Chi Derby Days, KA American Gladiator, Delta Chitanic, Phi Kappa Tau Sorority Feud, TEP Hoops, Pi Kappa Phi Bubble Bowl, Pi Lambda Phi Powder Puff, Alpha Epsilon Pi Color Wars, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Cajun Cookout, Lambda Chi Alpha Watermelon bust, Kappa Sigma Black Top Beach, Delta Upsilon Sets on the Beach, Theta Chi Dream Girl, Phi Sigma Kappa Spike, Chi Phactor, Sigma Nu Slam, Alpha Gamma Rho, Pi Kappa Alpha Halftime & Dream Girl.
Group Honors/ Awards:
-Alpha Gamma Rho "Buck Off" – 1st Place
Philanthropy:
Epsilon Phi continued its support for Reading is Fundamental this year with two new philanthropy events. In the spring semester we hosted our first annual "Kappa Kickball" in place of our "Kappa Kasino" event in order to cut costs, raise more money, and create a morelively event to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Organizations across campus made teams and donated funds and books to Reading is Fundamental up until the event. In the fall semester we hosted our first annual "Kappa Con Queso" as a new fall philanthropy to raise more money for RIF. The event consisted of a nacho and taco bar, where guests paid a presale ticket fee to enjoy the food. We received a lot of support from the University of Florida community, and the event was sold out.
Epsilon Phi also participated in Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, and throughout the year, our ongoing philanthropy projects in the Gainesville community were volunteering at the Alachua County Humane Society and the local Terwilliger Elementary School. We support Reading is Fundamental and volunteer at Terwilliger Elementary School because we understand how important it is to educate children and ensure they are confident readers. Working with the children at Terwilliger is a very rewarding experience for our chapter. We volunteer at the Humane Society because we feel that all animals should be loved and cared for. It is wonderful to actually see the impact we are making in our community by hands on volunteering. And finally, we support Dance Marathon because helping the Children’s Miracle Network is so close to our hearts. We love to help give kids the best opportunity to succeed through this great event.
==Highlights of 2017== The year of 2017 was definitely a successful one for Epsilon Phi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma! We achieved many of our primary goals of increasing chapter unity, and motivation to increase campus involvement, service and improve our image around the school. Our chapter is growing and evolving with each New Member class that comes in. We are working continuously to improve ourselves by working towards our goals and always keeping the chapter morale and spirit high. We maintain positive, ethical principles and pledge members who are both womanly and true. We achieved our goals by creating more sisterhood events as well as new member class bonding experiences through additional sisterhood events primarily in the Fall semester after recruitment. Our main Fall sisterhood event was a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on the same day as Big/Little reveal so our new families could spend time together. Throughout the entire year, we strengthened the bonds of our sisterhood with a variety of sisterhood events such as Total Body workout classes, yoga classes, Kappa Kafe, Kappa Kappa Jamma Key Sister event, and movie nights. For Academics, we continued our tradition with New Member Study Hours as well as Smarty Pants, which allows sisters to shine by logging study hours and recent A’s on exams. We also continued with group study sessions called Kappa Kafe at the house with lots of coffee and snacks. Epsilon Phi holds its chapter meetings in our chapter room in our house. The room was a part of the new addition added to the house in 2014. Epsilon Phi is very grateful for the addition to the house that gives them so much space to hold chapter meetings. When we are not holding chapter, the chapter room functions as a living room where sisters get together for sisterly bonding. Our goal of increasing campus involvement throughout 2017 is clearly seen. Kappa’s further enhanced our chapter’s presence by becoming involved in the following organizations: Florida Cicerones, CRU, Doulos, Navigators, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, University of Florida Women’s Water Polo, Dean’s List, Teaching Assistants, Florida Bright Futures Scholars, Women’s Student Association, Florida Equestrian Team, ACCENT, AMSA, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, honor societies, and many more. '''Chapter Honors/Awards''' 3rd Place in Sigma Nu dodgeball, 1st place in TEP hoops (3rd year in a row!), 2nd place in Sigma Chi Derby Days, Morgan Kendrick won campus involvement award at Miss UF pageant, Gabby Torres won Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek Pageant, Grace Downey, Natalie Barkat, Kathryn Dowling, Erin Sweeney, Morgan Kendrick, and Ali Bowlby were tapped into Florida Blue Key, Shelby Buchannan became the Director of ACCENT speaker’s bureau. '''Special Events''' Socials: Phi Kappa Tau, Kappa Sigma, Alpha Gamma Rho, Delta Chi. Date Functions: Roaring 20’s, Woodser Date Function, “Be My Date”, Tampa Bay Lightning Game, 90’s Dave and Busters. Other events: Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks, New Member Lip Sync with Sigma Chi, Homecoming Pageant, Mom’s Weekend, New Member slumber party retreat, Family Weekend, Founders Day, Homecoming with Kappa Sigma, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Big/Little Trip, Kappa Kappa Gamma Semi Formal at The Warehouse, Kappa Kappa Gamma Formal at Jumbolair. '''Philanthropy''' Historically, our chapter always raises money and participates in Children's Miracle Network Dance Marathon and raises money for our philanthropy Reading is Fundamental, as well as finding some local charity to volunteer at. Epsilon Phi continued its support for Reading is Fundamental this year with two philanthropy events. In the spring, we hosted our first annual "Kappa Kickball" in place of our "Kappa Kasino" event to cut costs, raise more money, and create a livelier event to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Organizations across campus made teams and donated funds and books to Reading is Fundamental up until the event. In the fall, we hosted our second annual "Kappa Con Queso" as a new fall philanthropy to raise more money for RIF. The event consisted of a nacho and taco bar. We received a lot of support from the University of Florida community, and the event was sold out. Epsilon Phi also participated in Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon and throughout the year, our ongoing philanthropy projects in the Gainesville community were volunteering at the Alachua County Humane Society and the local Terwilliger Elementary school. We support Reading is Fundamental and volunteer at Terwilliger Elementary School because we understand how important it is to educate children and ensure they are confident readers. Working with the children at Terwilliger was a very rewarding experience for our chapter. ==Highlights of 2018== We are so excited to share some of our accomplishments as we have worked very diligently to unify our chapter, increase our bond, serve our community and increase campus involvement. We have achieved many of our goals this year including unifying our chapter through many sisterhood events such as our Big/Little trip to Busch Gardens, yoga classes, Kappa Kafe's and movie nights. In the academic area, we have strengthened our drive through our Kappa Kafes, which are held in the dining room of the house with snacks and coffee. We have also created academic mentor among sisters by pairing older girls and younger girls together as mentors. We also have continued smarty pants where girls write down and log exams/tests/quizzes they are proud of. We were able to increase our campus involvement throughout the year as well. Kappa has the honor of being a part of the following organizations: College Ambassadors, UF Cicerones,Campus Diplomats, CRU, Doulos, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, Deans Lists, UF Equestrian Team, Florida Bright Future Scholars, Dance Marathon, Danza, Student Government, Gators March for Babies, Project Makeover, honor societies, Young Leaders Conference, Florida Greek Ambassadors and many more. Chapter Awards/Honors: Ali Bowlby was awarded Panhellenic President of the Year, Sabrina Impresso got 3rd place in Chi Phactor, Ali Bowlby was a finalist in the UF Homecoming Leadership Pageant, 1st Place in Alpha Gamma Rho's Buck Off, 1st Place in Sigma Kappa Shootout, and 2nd place in Delta Tau Delta Miss Greek (Sabrina Impresso). Socials: Phi Kappa Tau, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Sigma, Alpha Gamma Rho Other Events: Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks, Homecoming with Sigma Phi Epsilon, New Member Lip Sync, Founders Day, Dad's Weekend, Family Weekend, Semi formal, and Busch Gardens Big/Little Trip. Recently on campus we have had one of the large libraries closest to Kappa's house announced its 24/7 status; this is the second study space to do this and we are definitely taking advantage. We consistently every year work towards improving and growing as much as we can. We maintain a positive nature and encourage our sisters to hold our values close and dear to our hearts making our atmosphere warm, loving and welcoming. '''Philanthropy''' Historically, our chapter always supports and works hard to raise money for Dance Marathon's Children's Miracle Network and for our philanthropy Reading Is Fundamental. We also take part in and volunteer with numerous community charities. As a chapter we continue to support Reading is Fundamental for year with two philanthropy events. One in the Fall called Kappa Con Queso which is a taco and nacho bar held at our house where guests could either purchase presale tickets or one at the door to enjoy this event. This was our 3rd annual Kappa Con Queso and it was so successful it succeeded our goal. We got so much support and participation from not only the greek community but the University community as well. We also hosted our annual Kappa Kickball Tournament benefitting RIF as well. Again the participation was incredible and we were so proud to be able to give back to Reading is Fundamental. Our chapter also participated in Dance Marathon benefitting the Children's Miracle Network crushing our goals as a chapter and university as a whole. We continued our ongoing volunteering in the Gainesville community with volunteering for JJ Finley Elementary School. We support this elementary school to help educate and emphasize the importance of reading in their lives. This experience is brightening and extremely rewarding to our chapter. ==Highlights of 2019==Epsilon Phi and its members won the following awards this year: Director of the Year. Dallas Hampton was awarded the Naomi Stevens Award for her major. Sammie Green was a finalist in the Florida Associated Press College Broadcasters contest. Throughout the year, Epsilon Phi was able to continue many traditions that bring the members joy and create a greater sense of sisterhood. One of the most anticipated events is our Big/Little Reveal, where Big sisters create big/little baskets for their Little sisters throughout the week, while keeping their identities a secret until the day of the reveal. Families often have matching outfits with a fun theme and many families celebrate getting a new member to the family by going out to dinner together. Epsilon Phi has added a ceremony following the Fireside ceremony that we call the "Senior candle Passing", where seniors in the chapter are able to say a few words to their sisters, as they reflect on their time in the chapter and they give their sisters words of advice for college. We officially end the Fireside ceremony and then open it up to the seniors. New and older members alike enjoy the chance to hear some words of wisdom from other girls and it is a cherished tradition. Every year, we have a weekend in the fall, Family Weekend, where sisters’ family members are invited from Friday to Sunday to participate in various events together. This year, we had a night at a restaurant in town, watched the football game, and had brunch at the house. It was exciting for families to be able to see the friendships and impact that Kappa has had on their family member’s life. Our Chapter had the opportunity to participate in many philanthropies and support the Greek community on campus both financially and by competing in their events. Below are the various philanthropies we participated in, and how many hours and funds we were able to contribute to their cause. Also listed is any awards we won during the philanthropies.Alpha Epsilon Pi Superbowl - 3 hours of participation $35; Beta Theta Pi’s Beta Bring It On - 3 hours of participation $555; Delta Tau Delta’s Delt Miss Greek - 2 hours of participation $305; One of our new spring members, Isabella Carlin, represented the Epsilon Phi chapter proudly and won 1st place in this fundraising pageant. Bella was able to raise $3,007 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Delta Tau Delta brother Ryan Hinterleiter. Delta Tau Delta’s Crawfish Boil - 2 hours of participation $28; Phi Kappa Tau’s Safe Sets - 2 hours of participation $50; Our team won 1st place in this volleyball tournament benefiting the SeriousFun Children’s Network. Chi Omega’s Sandblast - 2 hours of participation $25; Tau Kappa Epsilon’s Takedown - 2 hours of participation $25; Gamma Phi Beta’s Moonball - $25; Kappa Alpha Theta’s Capture the Kite - 3 hours of participation $25; Panhellenic Council’s Around the Row - 2 hours of participation $50; Phi Gamma Delta’s FIJI Field Day - 2 hours of participation $25; Delta Sigma Phi’s Delta Dunks - 5 hours of participation $25; Lambda Chi Alpha’s Lambda Chi Watermelon Bust - 4 hours of participation $25; Our team won 2nd place in this watermelon activity competition benefiting Feeding America. Kappa Sigma’s Kappa Sigma Splash - 2 hours of participation $25; Sigma Chi’s Derby Days - 4 hours of participation $105; Alpha Omicron Pi’s Strikeout Arthritis - 3 hours of participation $50; Delta Phi Epsilon’s Deepher Dude - $35; Alpha Chi Omega’s Purple Rain - $35; Phi Mu’s Tailgate Invitational - $25; Pi Beta Phi’s Down N’ Dirty - $25; Delta Zeta’s DZ Mac and Deezy - 2 hours of participation $25; Zeta Tau Alpha’s Paint Me Pink 5K - $25; Alpha Epsilon Phi’s AEPhi Hoops - $25; Kappa Delta’s KD Shamrock - $25; Delta Upsilon’s Sets on the Beach - $25; Pi Kappa Phi’s War of Roses - $25; Sigma Nu’s Sets N Nets - 2 hours of participation; $25; Our team won 1st place in this volleyball tournament benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dance Marathon- Member of Epsilon Phi chapter independently fundraised for Dance Marathon benefiting University of Florida Shands Hospital Children’s Miracle Network. Epsilon Phi was able to raise total funds of $26,536 for various philanthropies, something for which our chapter takes great pride. Our chapter participated in Spring Recruitment for the first time this year. Spring Recruitment is a very different process from formal Fall Recruitment, so the chapter had to do some adjusting in order for it to go smoothly. Our recruitment chairs and members of council worked very diligently together, and our chapter put in some late nights to ensure that Kappa was being represented as the best it could be on campus to potential new members. We were fortunate to get eight wonderful new members and they made the process absolutely worth it! Another goal of the chapter was for our members to become more involved on campus and invest more deeply into UF. Our members definitely succeeded, by creating new organizations, being elected into leadership positions, and becoming inducted into prestigious honor societies. Our chapter has been fortunate to have so many involved and dedicated sisters. Below listed are organizations that we participate in this year and held leadership positions in. Dance Marathon* Captains: 12* Assistant Director: 2Student Government* AD for Chomp the Vote* Director of Finance and Affordability CabinetACCENT Speakers Bureau* Vice chair of digital communications* Director* Assistant Director of Research and FeedbackMarch of Dimes* Venue Director* Social media director* Personnel directorFlorida Blue Key* Assistant Director for Individual Events* Florida’s Future Leadership Program MemberCicerones* 2 membersPre-health Student Organization* 15 membersStudy Abroad Locations* Madrid, London, Berlin, Paris, Prague, FlorenceWarrington Goes Green* Co-Founder* VP of External RelationsPi Chi* 15 members, 5 second yearsStudy Edge* 3 Real Life 101 interns in 2019Equestrian Team and Awards* 4 membersFlorida Leadership Academy* 3 Mentors and 1 menteeGlobal Business Society* Vice President of Communications* Previous global gator guidesCenter for Undergraduate Research Ambassador* Undergraduate Research Liaison to the College of JournalismEngineers without Borders, Peru Team* 3 members , one on design team, two on fundraising teamWarrington Diplomats* Events Committee HeadHeavener Leadership Challenge* 4 ParticipantsBusiness Undergraduate Mentorship Program* 2 MentorsUF LitiGators Competitive Mock Trial* 1 attorneyFlorida Greek Ambassadors* 2 membersVolunteering* Shands* All Women’s Health Center of Gainesville* Habitat for Humanity* Ronald McDonald House of North Central Florida* Baby Gator Child Development and Research Center This past year, there was the addition of a new Panhellenic chapter, Alpha Phi, to our campus. The Greek community has grown closer with this addition. There has been lots of support for other chapters on campus, with philanthropy participation being a time to celebrate the opportunity to raise money for organizations and to come together as a community on campus. Our Epsilon Phi chapter in particular has fostered a greater sisterhood bond for one another through various sisterhood events, participating in philanthropies and volunteering at JJ Finely together, and participating in recruitment and initiation twice this year. The Epsilon Phi chapter supports local elementary school JJ Finley, where members are able to volunteer and see Reading is Fundamental's direct impact on children in the communities around us. Members work with students to complete homework and assist with activities at the after school care program. Our chapter chose this organization to work with because not only does it support the improvement of children’s literacy in local schools, but it also provides members with the opportunity to interact with the children and see how their time spent volunteering makes a positive and lasting impact on their educational experiences. This year we celebrated our Founder’s Day on October 20th with a brunch at our house for our members. This day was a celebration of not only our Fraternity history and the founding of Kappa, but also the history of the Epsilon Phi chapter. We looked back at pictures and events that our sisters in years previous have done and honored our founders and the founding principles of Kappa. Overall, this day served as a way for our chapter to celebrate Kappa’s history and founding members, as well as kicking off Kappa's sesquicentennial celebration! The chapter has felt a deeper connection to Kappa as a whole, and has been able to truly appreciate that this group of women is not just at UF, but present internationally and has had an impact through the decades. During Initiation and Founders Day, women reflected on the significance of the Fraternity and how the women before us have set an example for us to follow and a place from which to build. Having alumnae present during initiation was special and gave solid proof that our Fraternity goes beyond the four years in college. ==Highlights of the 2020== 2020 was a very eventful year for Epsilon Phi. Although this year has looked different than years past, our chapter continues to look forward with a positive mindset and cherish the year we have had. This year Epsilon Phi was able to achieve great success, being awarded Most Outstanding Risk Manager Award for the work of Lyndsey Kleinman, our Risk Management Director, as well as a UF Greek Outstanding Scholarship Award. Epsilon Phi was also recognized as the most improved chapter by the Fraternity. Two big events that were impacted this year by COVID-19 were Formal Recruitment and Initiation. The largest change for both was the transition to becoming entirely virtual events, rather than the typical in-person. Between many summer meetings with both the Panhellenic Council and Kappa Fraternity reps, we were fully prepared to train current members and recruit potential new members virtually in August 2020. During a successful spirit week via Zoom, our members learned how to speak with potential new members and generate excitement for this new chapter in their lives with leadership from our Vice President of Membership Allison Wehle and Primary Recruitment Director Alexandra Baker. Recruitment began with the viewing of round one submission videos. Potential new members submitted one minute videos of themselves and gave a brief background of who they are and what they were looking for in a sorority and college in general. In turn, we provided a short video of Kappa, which included a house tour and open conversations between current members about our values and why Kappa is special to us. Rounds two and three were held virtually over Zoom as well and gave current members and potential new members an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level. The traditional preferential ceremony was pre-recorded and viewed online before potential new members spoke with current members over Zoom. The entire chapter was able to close out Recruitment with a Bid Day celebration that was socially distanced outside and in small groups. Natalie MacDougal, our Ritual/History Director, planned our first-ever completely virtual initiation. Even through zoom, we were able to host current and alumnae members, Kappa Fraternity representatives and legacy parents to experience a beautiful ceremony to initiate our New Members. We were very happy to be able to welcome 77 New Members into our chapter. This year we celebrated our Founders Day on October 18th with a virtual zoom celebration. Our All Member Director Gaby Rodriguez put together a wonderful presentation with interesting facts and stories of the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We also held a brief Founders Day ceremony that spoke of the women who founded our Fraternity 150 years ago and how they have impacted our lives. While we were planning on hosting an in-person brunch at the house as we typically celebrate, we were still very fortunate to be able to see each other via zoom and spend time reflecting on our membership in this Fraternity.
Over the past year, Epsilon Phi has also taken the critical step of bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. Over the summer, we implemented our first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director, which we promptly integrated into our Chapter Council structure to ensure continual work towards these goals for years to come. In addition to our new director position, we created a committee of five women to oversee and direct programming based on the five pillars of diversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health, accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Throughout the fall semester, this committee has created programming for the chapter covering a range of topics from inclusive recruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. In addition to presentations, we have been taking feedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapter woman feels safe and supported. Finally, Epsilon Phi has been working with DiversiPhi, a diversity and inclusion initiative that connects all Panhellenic chapters at the University of Florida to create intentional changes, within our community as a whole, to ensure that everyone feels like they have a place within it.
To reflect on the year as a whole, we would like to recognize our member’s achievements and involvement. This year we had 12 Pi Chis involved in Formal Recruitment. Olivia Galler was chosen as Head Pi Chi for recruitment in 2021. We will also have four second year Pi Chis and seven first year Pi Chis in 2021. This fall we had two Florida Blue Key Taps, our President Sarah Bartolomei and member Faith Allen. One of our New Members, Angelina Deltoro, will be a Preview Staffer in 2021. Ally Mattia and Caroline Labrit are members of the Florida Future Leaders Program. Our VP of External Affairs, Mia Forsman is a Student Government Cabinet Chair and we have many Assistant Directors serving in Student Government. We also have sisters working for Florida Blue Key’s Speech and Debate as Directors and Assistant Directors. As well as involvement in ACCENT. Gracie Overstreet was an Assistant Supervisor of the 2020 Student Government Election. Hallie Richards and Jordanna Hermann are Assistant Directors for Dance Marathon, and we have 19 Captains this year. As well, we have Jordan Spira serving as Intramural Programming Assistant Director and Emily Lampi serving as Scholarship Assistant Director for the Panhellenic Activities Board.
This year the chapter experienced the sudden passing of a sister, Maggie Paxton, Member Class ’20. While grieving her loss, the sisters have learned to rely on each other for support, help out sisters in need, and remember to tell their loved ones how much they are loved.
Overall, we were very happy to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary this year. Epsilon Phi has continued to deepen our bonds of sisterhood even while facing a global pandemic. Although most of our events for the year were held virtually, our sisterhood persevered and is looking forward to the future to continue to strengthen these bonds.