Difference between revisions of "Epsilon Phi"

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|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Phi.jpg|200px]]
 
|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Phi.jpg|200px]]
 
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1978|03|04}}
 
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1978|03|04}}
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|College= [http://www.ufl.edu/ University of Florida]
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|College= [https://www.ufl.edu/ University of Florida]
 
|Location= Gainesville, FL
 
|Location= Gainesville, FL
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|Homepage= [http://kkguf.com/ Epsilon Phi Homepage]
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|Homepage= [https://ufl.kappa.org/ Epsilon Phi Homepage]
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|Media= [http://wiki.kappakappagamma.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Phi Media related to Epsilon Phi Chapter]}}
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|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Phi Media related to Epsilon Phi Chapter]}}
  
  
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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.
 
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.
  
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==Highlights of the 2020s:==  
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==Highlights of the 2020==  
  
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(Information from chapter history reports, scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)
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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.
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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.  
  
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'''Housing'''
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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.
  
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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.
  
 +
Our Chapter was able to support the Greek community on campus by participating in other chapters’ philanthropy events before the pandemic such as Beta Theta Pi’s ‘Bring It On’, Delta Tau Delta’s ‘Miss Greek’, Alpha Chi Omega’s ‘Purple Rain’, Kappa Sigma’s ‘Splash’ and Chi Omega ‘Sandblast’, and through financial contribution after many chapters adapted their events to accommodate for the pandemic.
 +
Money we raised:
 +
$7,340.96 raised from Kappa Kickball
 +
$3,929 raised from Raffles for RIF
 +
$4,200 donated to RIF
 +
$2,100 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation
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$500 to the Alachua County Days for Girls
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Remaining $500 was received in physical checks and sent directly to Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters to be apportioned at their discretion. The money raised from Raffles for RIF has not yet been distributed.
  
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'''Philanthropy'''
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The Epsilon Phi chapter supports local elementary school Carolyn Beatrice Parker, formerly known as JJ Finley, where members are able to volunteer and see Reading is Fundamental's direct impact on children in the communities around us. Our chapter works with this school because it 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 is important because our members really value feeling like they made a tangible difference outside of fundraising and donating money. We were able to complete 356 hours of service at Carolyn Beatrice Parker before COVID-19 impacted our opportunity to volunteer.
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We were able to host Kappa Kickball at the beginning of the spring semester with 31 teams participating. Through the event, we raised $7,340 for Reading is Fundamental and we collected books to donate to Carolyn Beatrice Parker Elementary School’s Extended Day Enrichment Program. Although we normally host an in-person event for our fall philanthropy event, this year we held our first-ever fully virtual fundraiser instead! ‘Raffles for RIF’ was a two-day event, where items were raffled off to participants who purchased tickets. This event generated $3,929 for RIF.
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'''Convention Awards'''
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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.
  
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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.
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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.
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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.
  
  
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==Highlights of 2021==
  
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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
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2021 was a year for the books at Epsilon Phi. With the COVID-19 pandemic still being an
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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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obstacle, yet now learning how to live life in a post-pandemic way, our lifestyles were challenged
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and we knew we would have to work hard for our success. That did not steer us away from a
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Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
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wonderful year together. Collectively, we faced the challenges we were presented with resilience
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achieving some great things for ourselves and our chapter. Our President Sarah Bartolomei was
 +
awarded Panhellenic Chapter President of the Year for 2021 and we were so lucky to have her
 +
leading our chapter during this year.
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One of the things we were very excited for this year was recruitment and getting back to
 +
in-person rounds. Recruitment took place from August 19th-22nd. Like 2020, Round 1 was
 +
completely virtual where Potential New Members submitted one minute videos introducing
 +
themselves and chapters submitted house tour videos. Round 2 took place over two days. We
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were able to highlight our new philanthropy initiative “Mental Health and Well-being” during that
 +
time. Round 3 took one day and we were able to use the time to dive into our sisterhood. We
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showed our sisterhood video to PNMs, got to know them deeper, and told them all about why
 +
we chose Kappa. Preferenetials took place on the final day of recruitment and PNMs were
 +
greeted by chapter members that they had spoken to in a previous round. Our ritual ceremony
 +
took place at the beginning of each party and we concluded with one-on-one conversations
 +
between PNMs and chapter members. Thanks to our Primary Recruitment Director, Ellorie Levy
 +
(MC18) and Vice President of Membership, Madi Kelts (MC18), we had a very successful and
 +
fun recruitment process this year. We celebrated Bid Day on August 24th to welcome our 73
 +
new members home. Now, we currently have the largest chapter size in Epsilon Phi history!
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Philanthropy is another thing we were excited for this year. Thanks to Hanna Ouazanni (MC19),
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we achieved a lot through philanthropy this year holding multiple philanthropy events and
 +
participating in other chapters’ philanthropies throughout the year. In the Spring semester,
 +
Epsilon Phi organized two fundraising events. The first being Kappa Cookout, a drive-thru food
 +
fundraiser. This event was held in-person as curbside pickup, in which Proceeds were donated
 +
to Reading Is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, The Mark Wandall
 +
Foundation, and EndDD (a philanthropy Epsilon Phi has chosen to support after losing our
 +
beloved sister Maggie Paxton). Tickets were sold at the event, donations were received, and
 +
books were collected to benefit these three organizations raising a total of $9,650.
 +
In the spring we also partnered with the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon to host an "End Distracted
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Driving 5k Fundraiser" after both of our chapters were greatly affected in the previous semester
 +
due to distracted driving incidents on campus. This event was conducted virtually in a four-day
 +
period, where participants could complete the race on their own time. Additionally, the Epsilon
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Phi chapter hosted an after event in which the chapter members shared memories of Maggie
 +
Paxton and a guest speaker from EndDD spoke about ways to end distracted driving. Through
 +
the virtual 5k event, the Epsilon Phi chapter and partnering sorority Delta Phi Epsilon raised
 +
$5,529, distributed amongst EndDD and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The success of
 +
this event and the awareness we were able to raise for distracted driving also led to our chapter
 +
winning a Greek Collaboration Award from the Panhellenic Community.
 +
With the launch of the new philanthropic program for Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Phi chose
 +
to support the Jed Foundation as the chapter’s philanthropic beneficiary. The Epsilon Phi
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chapter raised money for this contribution through our first annual fall fundraiser Let’s Taco Bout
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Mental Health and Well-being. At this taco and nacho bar fundraiser, guests donated funds in
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support for the Kappa Foundation, as well as, the Jed Foundation. Ticket sales and donations to
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a 50/50 raffle aided in raising over $11,299. Participation from members for this event
 +
contributed to its great success!
 +
We also contributed philanthropically through Kappa Kisses donating 167 bags of candy to the
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Boys and Girls club of Alachua County, giving care packages to UF Shands Health Care
 +
workers, and through multiple donation drives for the Hitchcock Food Pantry to educate chapter
 +
members on food insecurity. Our Dance Marathon team raised $25,594 this year through
 +
independent fundraising to benefit UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Epsilon Phi also
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participated in many other philanthropies on campus such as Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Surf Frenzy,
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Beta Theta Pi’s Bring It On, Pi Lam Royal Fam Competition, Pi Kappa Tau Bowl, Kappa Sigma
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Sandpit, Kappa Delta Shamrock, Sigma Kappa Shootout, Kappa Alpha Order’s cornhole
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tournament, and Kappa Sigma’s Queen of the Palace. Hanna Ouazzani (MC19) represented
 +
our chapter at Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek competition and won 2nd place after raising $2,281
 +
for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Katie Tolman (MC19) represented our chapter
 +
at Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halftime and Dream Girl Competition, raising $2,262 for the CHOMP
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Cancer Foundation. We were also the overall winners of Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buckoff
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Competition, raising $500 to benefit the Moffitt Cancer Center.
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One achievement Epsilon Phi is proud of this year would be in winning the Inclusive Excellence
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Award from the greek community. Across the 4 greek councils on campus, our chapter was
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chosen for this award because of our intense effort to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the
 +
forefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. In 2020, we implemented our first-ever
 +
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director as well as a committee that focuses on the five pillars of
 +
diversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health,
 +
accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Since the creation of these
 +
leadership roles in our chapter,we have had an abundance of programming covering inclusive
 +
recruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. We held workshops
 +
during recruitment and new member education to educate members on DEI and how to interact
 +
with people from different backgrounds. In addition to presentations, we have been taking
 +
feedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapter woman feels safe and supported. We
 +
also held a diversity week during black history month to educate chapter members on different
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intersectional issues facing our community. This week included conversation nights, a movie
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night to watch Just Mercy, and a coffee tab at a black-owned business - Wyatt’s Coffee.
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This year, we celebrated Founder’s Day together on October 10th. We held a celebration at the
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house where we participated in ritual, enjoyed light refreshments, and played fun games! We
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were able to reflect on so many years of sisterhood and get excited for the future of Kappa.
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There was a great turnout at this event and we all enjoyed being in each others’ presence to
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honor Kappa’s founding.
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We initiated the 2021 new member class on October 23rd. Our chapter was very excited to hold
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initiation in person this year, hosting both current and alumni members, House Board
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representatives, and legacy family members in our home. Our Ritual/History Director, Gracie
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Overstreet (MC19), was able to plan a beautiful ceremony to initiate our new members and we
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were happy to welcome the 73 wonderful members into our sisterhood.
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Throughout the year, Epsilon Phi used many techniques to foster academic success. Ally Mattia
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(MC19), our Academic Excellence Director for 2021, ensured academic success this year by
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providing one-on-one academic progress plans for any chapter members who wanted or
 +
needed extra assistance. She met with them regularly and helped plan scheduled study hours
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to make sure they were excelling in their academics. For all members, we hold Kappa Kafe
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weekly. This is an event where Kappa provides an environment to collaborate with fellow
 +
members in their studies along with snacks to keep everyone actively engaged in their study
 +
material or homework. Another program we had this year is academic mentor/mentee. In this
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program, young members were matched with older members of the chapter with similar majors
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or professional goals. We also had academic programming this year on the topics of academic
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success, mental wellbeing, and career readiness. At chapter meetings, we reward students by
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performing a weekly random prize drawing for members who feel they have accomplished
 +
something special like receiving an A on an organic chemistry exam or getting the internship
 +
they applied to. We also had a successful professor dinner and resume building workshop
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recently. All of these programs combined allow Epsilon Phi to maintain a high academic
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standing among the chapters at the University of Florida. We are so proud of our members who
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receive scholarships for their academic success such as one of our new members, Kayla
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Wiechens, who receives the UF Benacquisto merit based Scholarship. Jackie Hunter (MC18)
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receives the D.C. Gator Club Scholarship. Erin Ennis (MC20) receives the UF Presidential
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Scholarship. Lola Coutelle (MC19) is in the University Scholars Program. Harper Self (MC19)
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currently receives the Fall Panhellenic Essay Scholarship. And we also had 5 chapter members
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admitted into the UF College of Nursing Traditional BSN program this year: Meredith Fortini,
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Christina Simitses, and Katie Troshinsky from MC19 as well as Taylor Stevens and Lauren Long
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from MC20.
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This year our chapter did not miss out on the fun. Within the Xi district, Epsilon Phi was the
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chapter holding the most events despite the challenges presented by the pandemic thanks to
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our hard working Risk Prevention Director Payton Zweber (MC19) and Event Director Katie
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Tolman (MC19). In the spring, we were able to hold kickball socials with Delta Tau Delta, Phi
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Kappa Tau, and Alpha Gamma Rho. These events were successful in keeping some normalcy
 +
while ensuring that we did not contribute to the spread of COVID-19. In conjunction with this, we
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were also able to hold a date function at Social Midtown, an Outdoor Sisterhood Barn Party, and
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2 formals. With the challenges of the pandemic becoming less prevalent in the fall semester, our
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chapter was able to have socials with chapters such as Zeta Beta Tau, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi
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Kappa Tau, and a successful homecoming week with Alpha Gamma Rho. In the fall we were
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able to have many successful date functions as well and we are looking forward to semi-formal
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in a few weeks.
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There is a lot of member involvement from the year that deserves to be recognized. This year
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we had 11 Pi Chis involved in formal recruitment, with Olivia Galler (Member Class 18) serving
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as Head Pi Chi for 2021. Christine Tao (MC18) was recently tapped into Florida Blue Key. Bebe
 +
Gardner (MC20) was chosen as a preview staffer for 2022. We also have sisters involved in
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Student Government, Senate, ACCENT, and Gator Growl. Harper Self (MC19) was an Assistant
 +
Supervisor of the 2021 Student Government Election. In Dance Marathon, we have many
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Assistant Directors: Karson Keiber (MC18), Gwyneth Bishara (MC20), Katerina Rettino (MC20),
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Chelsea Nicholls (MC19), Olivia Galler (MC18), Graylin Skates (MC19) and our president
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Madeleine Maclaren (MC19). As well as 19 captains in DM. Coral Rodriguez-Lipstein (MC20)
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was chosen as a Peer Leader for the Cohort of 2022. Jordan Spira (MC20) was elected as
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Activities Vice President for the Panhellenic Executive Board. One of our new members, Brooke
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Burton served as Vice President of Service for Junior Panhellenic. Katherine Pearson is the
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Vice President of UF’s German Club. Jackie Hunter (MC18) is the President of Order of Omega.
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Erin Ennis (MC20) is the Chair of Presidential Hosting for Florida Cicerones and we have many
 +
other sister cicerones as well.
 +
We continue to grieve the loss of our sister, Maggie Paxton (MC20), as we near the 1 year
 +
anniversary of her passing. We will be holding a memorial for Maggie at the house in December
 +
to allow a space for people to share their happiest memories of her. Our chapter has made sure
 +
to take a stand against distracted driving and we are so proud of our member, Kailey Kiss
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(MC17), for creating an organization on campus called Florida Not One More to make roads like
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University Avenue safer and to prevent tragedies like Maggie’s passing in the future.
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Overall, we are so happy with the year we had at Epsilon Phi. The bonds we have created with
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each other over the past year are ones we will forever be thankful for. We hope 2022 has all of
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the excitement, happiness, and achievements that we had in 2021, and we are excited to
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continue to improve our chapter for years to come.
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[[File:Florida pics.png|thumb|chapter]]
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[[File:Fla3.png|thumb|party]]
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[[File:Fla4.png|thumb|sisters]]
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[[File:Fla5.png|thumb|funtimes]]
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[[File:Fla6.png|thumb|more fun]]
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[[File:Fla7.png|thumb|in front of house]]
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[[File:Fla8.png|thumb|Gator football]]
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[[File:Fla9.png|thumb|sisterhood]]

Latest revision as of 13:50, 27 May 2022

 

Epsilon Phi
EΦ
Epsilon Phi.jpg
FoundedMarch 4, 1978 (1978-03-04) (46 years ago)
CollegeUniversity of Florida
LocationGainesville, FL
HomepageEpsilon Phi Homepage
Media related to Epsilon Phi Chapter


University of Florida established in 1853 -- Moved to Gainesville in 1905


Epsilon Phi Chapter founded March 4, 1978 -- 32 charter members


2092 initiates (as of June 2018)


Charter Members: Victoria Barnett, Linda Birchfield, Patti Branch, Cheryl Bricker, Heidi Cranford, Julia Cirssinger, Janice Curren, Brenda Duffey, Lee Fenton, Elizabeth Fifer, Kathryn Hayes, Catherine Henderson, Susan Koon, Degeen Liston, Judith Macon, Mary Macauley, Debra McMillan, Lisa Miller, Stephanie Munz, Catherine O'Brien, Elizabeth Ogden, Ann Alszewski, Jennifer Overstreet, Maureen Pitsurdakis, Anna Prevost, Jill Richter, Stacy Scott, Amy Silverman, Jillian Spangler, Aimee Steele, Barbara Swan, Patricia Timm, Ann Trebble, Amanda Youngblood

Some outstanding Epsilon Phi Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)


Fraternity Officers


Fraternity Loyalty Award


Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award


Additional Outstanding Epsilon Phi Alumnae

Gina DiPaolo, Chapter Consultant 1991-1992; Juliet Stroud (Singletary), Chapter Consultant 1993-1994;

On January 6, 1853, Florida Governor Thomas Brown signed the bill that provided public support to higher education. East Florida Seminary in Ocala was one of the first schools to use this funding, but it soon closed due the Civil War. In 1866, EFS reopened in Gainesville, beginning a journey to become one of the largest, most prestigious schools in the world.

The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida, UF or U of F) is an American public land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant research university located on a 2,000-acre campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906. It is regarded as a “Public Ivy” university—a category of the top public universities in the United States


Establishment:[edit]

The bright yellow posters proclaiming Colonization Rush Week for Epsilon Phi at the University of Florida said, “We need a special kind of girl!”

And the colonization team found 40 very special young women….each one enthusiastic, outstanding and eager to be a part of the colonization of a Kappa chapter. “Excitement” was the key word for the week. Excitement shared by the chapters from Rollins and Florida State and the alumnae from Gainesville, Tallahassee, Winter Park and Tampa.

Additional members of the colonization team were Barbara Laitner, Colorado, graduate counselor for the chapter; Gayle Gianniny, Allegheny, field secretary; Marsha Scheipbach Lowe, Iowa State, colonization chairman and Dorothy Colvin Harvey, Pittsburgh, membership chairman; Province officers Carolyn Jones Laure, Ohio Wesleyan, and Juli Warner Deeds, Ohio State; Rush Team Captain, Sally Moore Nitschke, Ohio State, director of membership; Colonization/installation Chairman, Caroline Cole Tolle, Miami, director of personnel.

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:[edit]

Kappa Kappa Gamma and Greek Week arrived on the Florida campus the same weekend. March 3-5, 1978, was a weekend long-remembered for Epsilon Phi chapter which was installed with the love and support of so many alumnae, actives and parents and then the chapter went on to win a second place trophy for Field Day and a first place trophy for their participation in the blood drive. The activities began Friday evening with the Fireside being held at Bellamy Forge in Gainesville. The unique feature was the round, free-form fireplace which lent itself to a very warm, intimate service. Gail Burgess Zavelson, Duke, planned a lovely reception following Fireside. It gave the alumnae coming from all across Florida and the actives from Mu Province chapters an opportunity to become acquainted with the members of the colony, a lovely way to start the weekend.

Registration was held throughout the weekend at the Holiday Inn across from the campus. The warm and friendly greeting showed the feelings of the Gainesville Alumnae Club which was formed 30 years ago for the express purpose of establishing a Kappa chapter on the campus and their enthusiasm hadn’t waned. The happiness was clearly reflected in the faces of the new chapter members who dearly loved their alumna.

Trinity Methodist Church was the perfect setting for Installation. The installing officers were Jean Hess Wells, Georgia, Fraternity president, and Caroline Cole Tolle, Miami. Approximately 200 people attended the Installation Banquet held in the Holiday Inn. Votive candles flickered on the tables and lent a festive air to the occasion. For the first time parents were invited to attend the banquet and the turnout of parents and grandparents was impressive and thrilling. The room was alive with joy and excitement.

Carol Engles Harmon, Miami, delighted everyone as the Toastmistress. The program included a welcome from the Gainesville Alumnae Club, a toast from the Florida State chapter president and the response from the new chapter’s president. Tom Dougan, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, welcomed the new chapter on behalf of the University with an original poem which included the name of each chapter member and the Fraternity officers present. An unusual and creative presentation enjoyed by everyone. Jean Hess Wells delivered the banquet address.

The first official chapter meeting was held on March 5th and a campus reception was held that afternoon at the Gainesville Garden Center, a lovely setting on a sunny afternoon, the perfect ending of a memorable weekend.


Highlights of 1970s[edit]

In 1979 the lot for the future Kappa house was purchased. Fall rush and Family Weekend took place there. Though not ideal, Kappas, of course, made the most of it, while they waited for a house.

Epsilon Phi faced the obvious challenges of a newly chartered chapter: growing numbers, fostering sisterhood, and increasing campus involvement. Impressively, in just the first two years on campus, Epsilon Phi's numbers swelled to 134 women. Although rush and numbers were not a huge issue for this newly formed chapter, they faced some issues: fostering sisterhood, increasing campus and chapter involvement, and getting all budgets in check. Remarkably, they were able to get involved in various campus organizations and even had a few members accepted into Order of Omega.


Highlights of the 1980s[edit]

Gator Growl, an annual homecoming pep rally was hosted by Robbin Williams in 1982 and by Bill Cosby in 1984.

On April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia took flight from Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Center and becomes the first reusable shuttle to successfully orbit the earth and return back to earth in a traditional touchdown just two days later.

The gender barrier was crossed on September 21,1981, when Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Supreme Court Associate Justice in history. There was another first for women on June 18, 1983 when Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel into space. As Epsilon Phi continued to grow and learn as a chapter, the rest of the world was in an amazing time for exploration and discovery

Although still a fairly new chapter, the women of Epsilon Phi showed the University of Florida that they were there and ready to be seen. They were recognized on campus when several chapter members were named students with outstanding leadership on campus, winning the Intramural Championship for Softball and members slated with the USA party. Kappa also represented itself in the Panhellenic community when chapter women held Panhellenic rush positions, Kappas served on every committee in Panhellenic and a member was elected secretary of Panhellenic council. The chapter also showed its support for theie sisters when they congratulated a Kappa who was accepted into medical school at the University of Miami.

Chapter/Individual Honors:

1985: Panhellenic Most Improved Chapter; Monika Nevergold elected to student senate in college of business; Melissa Parker elected to student senate college of education; 1986: Second place in overall GPA in Panhellenic; Laureen Trussler was chief justice of student traffic court; 1987: Won Social Graciousness Award at Mu Province Meeting; 1988: National Personnel Award; Panhellenic Sorority Personal Relations Award; First in Scholarship for fall semester; 1989: Panhellenic Program of the Month Award (October); Angie Effinger Hall of Fame


Highlights of the 1990s[edit]

Epsilon Phi was still a fairly new chapter at the University of Florida during the years of 1985 to 1995. It did not face challenges of increasing chapter numbers, but increasing campus involvement seemed to be a continuing challenge. To improve this situation, the members started to be involved socially which in turn helped them to move up the scale to become more well known and offered more opportunities of involvement. Additionally, the chapter faced the challenge to raise its overall grade point average, which in turn improved each year.

During this time period, many olympic records were broken as well as many new technological advances developed. The 1990's brought many things such as the first satellite Skyphone. The University improved in all aspects and became a well known state university based on academics. The chapter increased its overall grade point average, thus contributing to the university's success and continued to improve its overall functioning within the modern society.


Chapter/Individual Honors:

1990: Received the Panhellenic award for Most Outstanding Sorority for Community Service and for Most Outstanding Sorority in Campus Involvement; Kappa National Convention Honorable Mention for Outstanding Chapter/Advisory Board Relations. Greek Week- 4th place; Pledge Olympics- 3rd place; UF Panhellenic Francis Reitz Community Service Award; 1991: Intermural Champions in football and tennis, Third place in track; UF Francis Reirz Award for Fraternal Excellence; Outstanding Achievement in Gracious Living at the Mu Province meeting; Dottie Harvey Award for High Chapter Standards at the Mu Province Meeting; 1992: Most Improved Scholarship at General Convention; Outstanding Advisory Board at General Convention; Outstanding Pledge Program-UF; Most Improved Chapter-UF; Runner-Up for Fraternal Excellence-UF; Stacy Parks won Phi Sigma Service Award; President, Juliet Stroud won Outstanding Greek Woman; 1993: President’s Cup-First place overall in intermurals; Kara Thompson won Panhellenic Best Sorority President; Panhellenic Best Programming Award; Jane Hamper won Communications Award; 1994: Epsilon Phi Sister was producer of Gator Growl; 1995: First place in Dance Marathon

The chapter goal in 1995 was USA (Unity, Scholarship, Attitude) with the hope of strengthening bonds and promoting a great image on campus. The chapter continued with the goal to increase its scholarship ranking on campus. It was fourth in the spring out of all sororities based on grade point average.

Due to extenuating circumstances initiation was held after only eight weeks but all turned out well. The new members learned as much about Kappa as the members who had a longer pledge periods.

Chapter members participated in many different events on campus. There was an Easter party for the Boy's Club, Bi-weekly volunteering at a Nursing Care Center, a Halloween party for the Girl‘s Club and visitation with 50-year old Kappas in Gainesville. Members were also involved in many philanthropies on campus including Chi Omega's Sandblast, AD Spies, Phi Sig Slam, and University of Florida’s first ever Dance Marathon with Epsilon Phi. The chapter took first-place.

Within the community the chapter donated funds to the American Cancer Society and the Gainesville Police Department. Many members were involved with various organizations on campus, including Student Government, Celebration, and many other Directors and Assistant Directors for various events on campus. The member’s were proud to say that the Producer of Gator Growl, the largest student run pep-rally, was a Kappa. Chapter members volunteered throughout the community, working everywhere from hospitals to elementary schools.

The biggest challenge in 1995 was initiating after only eight weeks. Many were afraid that the new members would not learn all there was to learn within this time frame. There was a big sister workshop to educate the big sisters of how to help the new members. The other big challenge faced was that of the much needed house renovation. Several attempts to raise funds were unsuccessful which left the chapter without an addition.

In 1996 the goals of focusing on academics, community and campus relations and a positive attitude, the chapter strengthened its bonds and its status on campus through participating in many activities. The chapter was involved in much philanthropy that year winning or placing in many of them.

Chapter members were involved in different organizations on campus from student government to the Miss University of Florida pageant where Kappas placed first and second. In spite of all the renovations going on at the Epsilon Phi house during fall formal rush, making it all the more hectic than usual, the chapter prevailed and pledged a terrific class to show for their efforts. Epsilon Phi was able to maintain the “pie-a-la-mode” category with a grade point average above the required 3.14 both fall and spring semesters.

The year of 1997 was an exceptional one for Epsilon Phi chapter. The chapter set goals that included more involvement on the campus and in the community. Kappa started off the year celebrating by winning Greek Week for the second year in a row, showing the rest of the Greek community that the Kappa spirit remains the best again. The chapter also participated and placed in several philanthropies during the year. Through all the fun and excitement, scholarship made an amazing jump up seven positions between spring and fall to become above the all-sorority average.

Epsilon Phi put forth tremendous effort in achieving high campus involvement. The chapter hosted an Easter and a Halloween party to benefit children from the Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County, as well as participated in Jail and Bail for The American Cancer Society as well as many others. Many members were involved in various campus organizations such as Senate, Dance Marathon, and ACCENT and also held various leadership positions on the Gator Growl/Homecoming staff and Panhellenic

One of the biggest challenges for Epsilon Phi chapter this year was the change from tradition and adapting ourselves to the “New member Program.” The chapter participated in piloting this program that was proposed at the 1998 General Convention. The New member Program promotes involvement and interaction between the new members and the sisters from day one. The new members were invited to participate in all chapter activities except for those that used ritual. In addition, there were changes that came from Panhellenic regarding rush.

During this year, the Regional Directors presented the Challenge to Excellence to Epsilon Phi. The Challenge to Excellence set guidelines concerning several areas of chapter operation. Each chapter evaluated its own performance in fulfilling these guidelines, finding its strengths and weaknesses. Epsilon Phi ranked very well in many categories and areas in need of improvement were noted and stressed. The chapter continues to Strive for Pi surpassing this goal both in the spring and the fall, receiving the Pie-a-la-mode Award in Mu Province.

In 1998, members were involved in many activities and leadership positions on campus, showing the chapter’s dedication to the university community. This involvement promoted the chapter goal of 100% participation in all campus and community activities.

Within the Greek community, Epsilon Phi demonstrated its dedication by winning Greek Week for the third consecutive year. The chapter held its own philanthropic event, the Kappa Klassic in partnership with the fraternity men of Kappa Alpha. The chapter also supported the philanthropies sponsored by the other sororities and fraternities on campus. Many members were involved in various organizations including ACCENT, Dance Marathon, Student Senate, Cicerones and Order of Omega. Members also served as Directors or Assistant Directors of Panhellenic Council and Gator Growl.

While maintaining leadership, involvement on campus and in the community, the chapter sustained academic excellence with a grade point average of 3.265.

The women continued to participate in all areas of campus and community in 1999. The chapter continued to hold Kappa Klassic, its own philanthropy fund raiser. It also supported all the other Greek organizations philanthropic efforts. Through all this involvement, academic excellence remained a priority. The chapter grade point average rose to a 3.305, well above the All University GPA.

A main focus for the chapter this year was sisterhood. Increasing sisterhood and participation of sisters at events was promoted by holding monthly sisterhood events. These events resulted in spending more time together and creating closer relationships with each other.


Highlights of 2000-2010[edit]

The women were proud of the many accomplishments the chapter achieved in 2005. The chapter goal of increasing its level of service was accomplished. Epsilon Phi won the Panhellenic Service Award and participated in service on and off campus. The chapter had the record of winning the Blood Bowls for the past four years consecutively.

Epsilon Phi continually participated in the philanthropies campus-wide but in 2005 the chapter increased its level of participation. Kappa Kappa Gamma had a strong showing at the University of Florida’s annual Dance Marathon benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. The majority of the Fall 2004 member class and some older members represented Kappa at Dance Marathon. Kappa raised money for Dance Marathon by pairing with Pi Lambda Phi.

The members were involved in several university organizations such as: Student Senate, Florida Cicerones, Savant UF, various honor societies, University of Florida’s Housing Staff and Homecoming Week Staff.

As a chapter, the women decided to improve the level of service to the University of Florida and the Gainesville community. A philanthropic event, Too Hot to Handle, benefitting Reading is Fundamental was held. Epsilon Phi’s members increased participation in various fraternity and sorority philanthropies this year. Kappa’s dedication to service did not go unnoticed. Kappa won the Panhellenic Service Award for 2005.

The chapter also worked to improve relations with the house board and to make improvements to the chapter house. Through this effort items were purchased such as a new couch for the informal room, new wooden flooring in the informal and formal living rooms, lighting fixtures, redecorated the study room and formal and informal living rooms. These improvements were completed before Recruitment 2005 to show Kappa at its best. Epsilon Phi active members worked with the house board to prepare for the Spring 2006 renovation of the house. Chapter members moved from the house into the vacant Kappa Alpha Order house on campus and returned to the newly renovated Kappa house by Fall Recruitment 2006.

Chapter Honors: Panhellenic Service Award, 1st place in Junior Panhellenic’s Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks, First Place in Blood Bowl, Basketball Intramural Champions

Epsilon Phi had a very successful 2006. The chapter raised $2,500 from Too Hot to Handle, our annual philanthropy. The women also participated in a number of other service events, like the Greek Blood Drive, the Lymphoma Awareness Committee Date Auction, Relay For Life, and Greek Service Day. Smaller service projects included assisting the Ronald McDonald House with its holiday luminary project, and sorting clothes for a clothing drive at a hospice. On October 14, the chapter initiated a fantastic and promising new member class.

Epsilon Phi sisters were very active around campus. New members and upper class members alike did an excellent job representing Kappa at the University of Florida's annual Dance Marathon benefiting Children's Miracle Network. The chapter raised money for Dance Marathon by pairing up with Lambda Chi Alpha. Other Greek philanthropies that the women took part in include: Phi Sigma Kappa Spike, Phi Kappa Tau Midnight Madness, Sigma Phi Epsilon Surf Frenzy, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Cajun Cookout, Zeta Beta Tau Kickball, and Alpha Gamma Rho Buckoff. Chapter women were active throughout campus, participating in university organizations such as Florida Cicerones, Pi Chi, ACCENT Speaker's Bureau, and various honor societies.

In 2006, Epsilon Phi was challenged to maintain an active and cohesive sisterhood without living together in its house. During the Spring semester, chapter members moved into the vacant Kappa Alpha order house. Upon returning from summer vacation, they learned that there had been some unexpected delays with the construction of the Kappa house. The women really put a lot of effort into keeping the sisterhood together. Members made an effort to gather for dinner or just spend time with each other. Council worked with the University of Florida to find alternate locations for chapter and New member meetings.

Epsilon Phi's chapter had a wonderfully successful 2007 year. The chapter goal of increasing sisterhood and campus involvement was a success. The spring sisterhood retreat helped the chapter hold true to the meaning of Kappa by allowing the women to grow closer in the bonds of sisterhood through various games and bonding activities.

Epsilon Phi increased involvement in campus organizations such as Student Government, Panhellenic, and the Harn Museum. The chapter won the fall Blood Bowl in order to keep Epsilon Phi's tradition of winning the past five years alive. However, the greatest accomplishment was the initiation of the 2007 New member class in October.

With the introduction of a new Epsilon Phi program, "Owls, Keys, and Fleur-de-lis", Epsilon Phi found a new and fun way for the chapter to increase participation in Philantropies campus-wide. The women participated in Sigma Phi Epsilon's Surf Frenzy, Pi Kappa Phi's Linedance, Phi Kappa Tau Midnight Madness, Delta Tau Delta's Miss Greek, Theta Chi kickball, Delta Chi Earthball, Sigma Alpha Epsilon's Cajun Cookout, Alpha Gamma Rho's Buck-off, Alpha Omicron Pi's Mr. UF, and Alpha Epsilon Phi's basketball

The chapter faced a lack of participation, whether it be playing or spectating, in various philanthropies and events on campus and in the Greek community. Two very successful campaigns in the chapter were implemented to increase attendance. During the Spring semester, "Owls, Keys, and Fleur-de-lis" was put into place.

Towards the end of the Spring 2007 semester, Chapter Council created "Project Blue" to be voted on by the chapter, and was enacted with an overwhelming majority. The program was strictly rewards based, and no penalty was assessed if a goal was not met. Rewards such as parking spots and a pizza party were just a few of the incentives for members to get out there and support their sisters. Project Blue also helped to foster a greater sense of sisterhood and helped the chapter as a whole.

The women wanted to raise the level of campus involvement, and Project Blue helped to achieve this goal. Project Blue, in addition to giving points for event attendance, also gave points for becoming more involved on campus, whether it be in Student Government, Panhellenic Council, The Leukemia society, etc. Sisters found this to be an effective as well as enjoyable solution to raise involvement, and it showed tangible results with the result of two new student Senators and various other positions on campus. A Campus Involvement book was created and put in the TV room to help the members see who was involved in organizations on campus. It was hoped the book would be a useful tool for the members and a means of helping them find members who were involved in organization in which they were interested. They could then ask questions of those members.

Chapter Honors: Best Off Row House for Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks and First Place in Blood Bowl.

Many of our primary goals were achieved in 2008, including increasing pledge class bonding as well as sisterhood as a whole. At the spring sisterhood retreat at Ginnie Springs, quality time was spent as a chapter participating in activities which allowed us to grow and deepen the bonds of sisterhood to unite every Kappa. The chapter also proceeded to fulfill its goals of increasing scholarship and involvement on campus.

A Kore Groups Study Challenge was implemented to enable sisters to meet other sisters that they might not know as well, while positively competing against other groups to log the most study hours.

In both the spring and fall the chapter won first place in the campus-wide Greek Blood Bowl, continuing Epsilon Phi's tradition as champion for the past six years. Additionally, the chapter participated in two of the university’s largest philanthropic events: the March for Dimes Gator Walk and the Children's Miracle Network's Dance Marathon. During the Gator Walk March for Babies 2008, not only did Epsilon Phi have a large number of sisters participate, but the chapter received the award for Top Fundraising Sorority. Dance Marathon paired the chapter with Pi Lambda Phi fraternity to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network benefiting Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. The 2009 Dance Marathon Captains were chosen in fall 2008, and Kappa has the most captains from any single chapter of the Greek community. The chapter women were particularly proud to initiate the spring 2008 pledge class in March and the fall new member class in October.

While continuing to be challenged with chapter and campus involvement, Epsilon Phi Kappas further enhanced the chapter’s campus presence by becoming involved in many of the campus organizations and Greek philanthropies. They continued to implement their Project Blue which has helped with increases involvement of chapter members. In addition to extracurricular accomplishments, thirty chapter women earned 4.0 grade point averages for spring 2008.

Chapter Honors:

• Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek – Event Winner • Phi Delta Theta/Kappa Alpha Theta’s Dodgeball – 3rd Place • Theta Chi’s Kickball – 3rd Place • Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buck-Off – Event Winner • Spring and Fall Blood Bowl – Event Winner • Gator Walk – Top Fundraising Sorority

Epsilon Phi achieved many of our primary goals in 2009, including increasing pledge class bonding as well sisterhood as a whole. The chapter also proceeded to accomplish the goals of increasing scholarship and involvement on our campus. The GPA was raised to 3.45, and continued to set high goals for academics. In both the spring and fall the chapter continued its involvement in Greek and campus philanthropies. While supporting another Greek council, the Multicultural Greek Council, the chapter participated and won first place in Stroll Off, winning $1,400 for Kappa's philanthropic beneficiary, Reading is Fundamental.

The chapter women were particularly proud to initiate the spring 2009 new member class in March and the fall new member class in October, which is an exciting and diverse group of women who promise to continue Kappa's successes in involvement on campus and in the community. Epsilon Phi again had thirty women earn 4.0 grade point averages for spring 2009.

Chapter Honors: • Sigma Lambda Beta's Stroll Off – 1st Place • Chi Phi Capture - 3rd Place • Delta Tau Delta's Miss Greek - 2nd Runner Up • Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buck-Off – Event Winner • Spring and Fall Blood Bowl – Event Winner

The chapter worked on and achieved many of its primary goals in 2010. This was accomplished by spending quality time as a chapter participating in activities which allowed the women to grow and deepen the bonds of sisterhood which unite every Kappa. Epsilon Phi also fulfilled the goal of improved scholarship and involvement on campus. They continued to hold the study groups Study Challenge, which allowed sisters meet others members they may not know very closely, while positively competing against other groups to log the most study hours. The fruits of our goal of increasing campus involvement are clearly seen in 2010. Kappas further enhanced our campus presence by becoming involved in many other Greek and campus organizations.

Epsilon Phi was proud to initiate the spring 2010 new member class in March and and the fall new member class in October, which was once again an exciting and diverse group of women who promised to continue Kappa's successes in involvement on campus and in the community. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, seventy-two Epsilon Phi women earned a 3.5 grade point averages or higher for spring 2010.

Chapter Honors:

• Lambda Chi Watermellon Bust – Event Winner • Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buck-Off – Event Runner-Up and Best Banner Award • Spring Blood Bowl – Event Winner • Fall Blood Bowl – Event Runner-Up • Phi Kappa Tau Midnight Madness – Best Attendance Award • Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off– 3rd Overall


Highlights of 2011[edit]

The year 2011 brought a rebuilding year to the history of Epsilon Phi chapter. The members achieved many of its primary goals, including increasing new member class bonding as well sisterhood as a whole. At the fall rock climbing event, quality chapter time was spent participating in activities which allowed everyone to grow and deepen the bonds of sisterhood which unite every Kappa. New members met and began to build relationships with older members as well as members within their new member class. Epsilon Phi also proceeded to fulfill its goals of increasing scholarship and involvement on our campus.

Epsilon Phi continued to be proud of the new member class which was initiated in October. Recruitment was newly tailored to meet the needs of chapter quota requirements and the chapter successfully met the University quota, becoming one of the largest Panhellenic chapters on the University of Florida'a campus.

The fruits of the goal of increasing campus involvement were clearly seen in 2011. Epsilon Phi participated in numerous campus-wide and Greek philanthropies. In addition to extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.3 grade point average for spring 2011.

Chapter Honors: Delta Chi Earth Ball- First Place Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off- First Place Alpha Gamma Rho Buck Off- Runner Up Junior Panhellenic Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks- Best Banner Pi Lambda Phi Flag Football- Second Place 2011 Blood Bowl- First Place

Highlights of 2012[edit]

The year of 2012 was another successful year for Epsilon Phi Chapter. We achieved many of our primary goals by creating more sisterhood events as well as new member class bonding experiences through a New Member Retreat off –campus. New Member bonding immediately started on Bid Day and our retreat, which was that very same weekend. Our main Fall Sisterhood event was a trip to SeaWorld where everyone really bonded with their families, since Big/Little Reveal had recently taken place. Our time on the buses getting to know other sisters we may not have encountered before was an unforgettable experience, and there is nothing quite like sitting in the Splash Zone of Shamu with your sisters! Other goals that we achieved include being more involved on campus and scholarship.

For Academics, we continued our tradition with New Member Study Hours as well as Geek of the Week and Smarty Pants, which allows sisters to shine by logging study hours and recent A’s on exams.

We also participated in two of the biggest philanthropic events at the University of Florida, March of Dimes’ Gators March for Babies and Children’s Miracle Network’s Dance Marathon. In Dance Marathon 2012, many older sisters held captain positions while younger members stood for 26.2 hours for the kids. At this event, we paired with Phi Sigma Pi to raise money for our very own Shands’ Children’s Hospital. Overall, we placed 3rd and raised over $26,000. This philanthropy let sisters bond in an unusual way because of aching feet and tired eyes with dancer buddies and piggy back rides.

Above all else, we were extremely proud to initiate our Fall 2012 new member class in October on the same weekend of Founder’s Day. These new members are a very diverse, yet close group of women who will surely continue Kappa’s success in the years to come through involvement not only on campus, but also in the community. In the Fall of 2011, it came to our attention that Epsilon Phi had fallen below the standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. Since then, newly elected council members and all members have been working to increase sisterhood and return to higher standards that the Fraternity deserves. Even though we are still on the Focus Letter, we are working hard to increase unity and sisterhood through more meaningful and frequent events. Throughout these past years, we have continued to rise to the occasion, and we hope to get off the Focus Letter by Spring 2013. The implementations that we have made have only made us stronger, and we will continue to complete these tasks in the future. Epsilon Phi Chapter is on its way to maintaining positive, ethical principles and consisting of members who are both womanly and true.

The challenges of 2012 have left Epsilon Phi with the responsibility of improving many aspects of our chapter. Some of these challenges include Philanthropy involvement and sisterhood support. As a whole, not many members are willing to give up their free time to participate in philanthropies, and as a result, not many of our members are willing to support the women who do participate. This challenge has been overcome by the installation of our “Chapter +1” system that was implemented in 2010 as well as a very willing and enthusiastic Fall 2012 New Member Class. Now, we see that many women are actually going above and beyond and participating in multiple “+1” events throughout the week. Another challenge that we have faced is exposure of Epsilon Phi to the University of Florida campus. We want to create a positive image of our chapter and our members, so we continue to wear our badges on Mondays and our letters on Wednesdays. We are still facing the challenge of the Focus Letter that was brought to our attention in October 2011. Meredith Hardage visited us Fall 2012, and she is extremely impressed with how far we have come, and we are working towards being taken off the letter by Spring 2013. All in all, the letter has made us reevaluate some of our systems, but in the end, it has made us stronger in sisterhood through bonds of friendship and teamwork.

Our goal of increasing campus involvement throughout 2012 is clearly seen. Kappa’s further enhanced our campus 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, AWARE, FLA, AMSA, UF Women’s Chorale, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Floridance, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, honor societies, and many more. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.498 grade point average in the spring of 2012, which ranks fourth among all sixteen Panhellenic chapters.

Epsilon Phi participated in the following campus-wide Greek philanthropies: Beta Bring It On, SigEp Surf Frenzy, AEPi Bake-Off, Kappa Sig Black Top Beach, PIKE Carnival, Theta Chi Kickball, ATO Build-a-Bear, KA’s Rock, Paper, Scissors, Chi Phi’s Chi Phactor, Phi Tau's Safe Sets, Delta Tau Delta's Miss Greek, Lambda Chi Alpha's Watermelon Bust, Alpha Gamma Rho's Buck-Off

Chapter Goals 2012: Increase sisterhood and new member class bonding events; Increase lettering throughout campus; Improve relations with Alumni and Advisory Board; Increase the number of Ritual Reviews; Increase Education Programming at Chapter; Uphold established GPA goal; Unite the chapter and improve standards of Epsilon Phi to match accordingly with Fraternity Bylaws while improving and maintaining the overall positive morale of our members; Utilize committees more effectively and regularly hold committee chapters; Increase campus and Greek-community involvement

Chapter Philanthropies: Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, March of Dimes’ Gators March for Babies, Kappa Kasino benefiting Reading is Fundamental

Socials: Throughout the year, we had various socials with Phi Kappa Tau, Alpha Gamma Rho, Kappa Sigma, Delta Chi, and Delta Tau Delta

Date Functions: Bowling Grab-a-date, Formal, Semi-Formal, Harry Potter World

Dinner Events: Epsilon Phi Birthday, Founder’s Day Brunch, Senior Dinner

Other Events: Father-Daughter Weekend: Baseball Game, Sisterhood Event at SeaWorld, Fall Family Weekend, Senior Programming

Chapter Honors: Lambda Chi Alpha Watermelon Bust – First Place Alpha Gamma Rho Buck-Off – Second Place Miss Greek: Shelbi Steers – 2nd Runner-Up Kappa Alpha Order Rock Paper Scissors – Third Place Chi Phi Chi Phactor: Alice Sykes – Top Five University of Florida Homecoming Pageant: Victoria Hunter – Top Six

Highlights of 2013[edit]

The year of 2013 was another successful one for Epsilon Phi Chapter. We achieved many of our primary goals by creating more sisterhood events as well as new member class bonding experiences through a New Member Retreat off –campus. New Member bonding immediately started on Bid Day and continued to Initiation. We were extremely happy to welcome our Fall 2013 new member class into Epsilon Phi. These new members are a great group of girls eager to get involved and represent our chapter in the upmost fashion on campus and within the community.

Other goals we achieved were being more involved on campus and scholarship. For academics, Epsilon Phi’s GPA average dropped a minuscule amount, but here at the University of Florida, the GPA is already so high because of the selectivity of the school.

Spring 2013, we maintained a 3.42 GPA, but we strive to improve that number in years to come. We hold study hours and make challenges such as Geek of The Week and Smarty Pants to encourage academic achievement.

We participated in Dance Marathon again, the largest philanthropy on campus where you stand for 26.2 hours in place of the kids that can’t. We raised about $27,000 which contributed to the total of $1.1 million raised. All of our sisters participated whether it be by donations, holding staff positions, or dancing on the floor. We bonded in so many ways throughout those 26.2 hours and we placed in fundraising and spirit points.

In the Fall of 2011, it came to our attention that Epsilon Phi had fallen below the standards of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. Since then, newly elected council members and all members have been working to increase sisterhood and return to higher standards that the Fraternity deserves. In Spring 2013, Epsilon Phi was taken off the focus letter. Since then, a challenge in our chapter was how to run things smoothly with our new freedom of being on our own again but while also still implementing many things that we started as a result of the focus letter. Even though we were initially upset about the focus letter, it actually proved to provide much more help than hurt. After its removal, we continued to implement things like more sisterhood bonding events and much better chapter/adviser communication through round robins and visits.

Only with the help of all these changes within our chapter were we able to attain Panhellenic Chapter of the Year at the University of Florida; an accomplishment we are most proud of. Epsilon Phi Chapter certainly has improved in many ways and strives to maintain positive and ethical principals and continue to initiate members who are uphold these standards and are womanly and true. Though we have done an excellent job of improvement, there is room to grow and we still face challenges.

Philanthropy involvement and overall sister support have been two struggles that we try to overcome. Last year we added a “+1 system” which proved to be a hindrance to our chapter because we have extremely busy girls who have many commitments and focuses. Forcing them to attend something during particularly busy weeks resulted in tension. Now girls can choose to attend as many or as few events as their schedules allow and they will actually want to attend these events because they are free and not being forced.

We continue to push involvement on campus, in the community, and within our chapter as well. Especially now we are off the focus letter, we are striving to create a positive image of our chapter and members. We wear our letters proudly, increase our exposure to the greek and Florida communities, and we have plans to expand our house and improve its presentation in the coming year. Epsilon Phi has faced, and overcome, many challenges and we are all excited about our new changes and additions. This year was a building year and the years to come should be a success as a result of that. Through teamwork, friendship, and mutual goals Epsilon Phi has become a stronger chapter and our sisterhood is thriving.

Our goal of increasing campus involvement throughout 2013 is clearly seen. Kappa’s further enhanced our campus presence by becoming involved in the following organizations: Florida Cicerones, CRU, Doulos, Navigators, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, University of Florida Women’s Crew Team, UF Water Polo Team, Dean’s List, Teaching Assistants, Florida Bright Futures Scholars, Women’s Student Association, Florida Equestrian Team, ACCENT, AWARE, FLA, AMSA, UF Women’s Chorale, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Volunteering at Shands Hospital Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Floridance, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, honor societies, and many more. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.498 grade point average in the spring of 2012, which ranks fourth among all sixteen Panhellenic chapters.

Epsilon Phi participated in the following campus-wide Greek Philanthropies: Beta Theta Pi Bring It On, Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off, Alpha Epsilon Pi’s Bake –Off, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Delta Zeta’s Turtle Tug, Phi Tau Safe Sets, Pi Kappa Alpha/Theta Carnival, Pi Kappa Phi’s Tour de UF, Delta Chi’s Earthball, Kappa Sigma’s Blacktop Beach, Theta Chi Kickball, Pike Halftime, Zeta Beta Tau Kickball, Kappa Alpha Order Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lambda Chi Alpha’s Watermelon Bust, Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buck-off.

Chapter: Chapter Goals 2013: -Increase sisterhood and new member class bonding events -Increase lettering throughout campus -Improve relations with Alumni and Advisory Board -Increase the number of Ritual Reviews -Increase Education Programming at Chapter -Uphold established GPA goal -Unite the chapter and improve standards of Epsilon Phi to match accordingly with Fraternity Bylaws while improving and maintaining the overall positive morale of our members -Utilize committees more effectively and regularly hold committee chapters -Increase campus and Greek-community involvement -To increase morale and enthusiasm to do service for others by encouraging the chapter and giving them an incentive for participating in so many events


Chapter Philanthropies: Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon with Zeta Beta Tau, Kappa Kasino benefitting Reading is Fundamental, Reading Is Key Event at Terwilliger Elementary School with Pi Kappa Phi, , Lambda Chi Alpha’s Santa’s Visit for the Boys and Girls Club.

Socials: Phi Kappa Tau Mad for Plaid, Kappa Sig Mardi Gras, Pi Kappa Alpha Letter of Your First Name, Alpha Gamma Rho Kentucky Derby, Kappa Sig Redneck Yacht Club, Phi Tau British Invasion Social, Pi Kappa Phi Bayou Best/Mardi Gras Mess, Delta Tau Delta 7 Deadly Sins.

Date Functions: Busch Garden’s Grab-a-date, Formal, Bucs/Saints Game Grab-a-Date, Semi-Formal Kappa Cabaret.

Dinner Events: Sigma Nu Exchange Dinner, Alpha Gamma Rho Exchange Dinner

Events With Sister Chapters: Kappa Delta exchange movie night, Alpha Chi Omega exchange dinner, Alpha Delta Pi ice cream float/cookie night.

Other events: Mother-Daughter Tea, Alachua County Sorority Water Challenge, Sisterhood Trip to Aquatica, Fall Family Weekend, Founder’s Day Brunch, Senior Dinner, Professor Dinner.

Chapter Honors: Mu Province Convention: Jan Stamper Communications Award Improvement in Standards Performance Felice Wood Pralle House Board Relations Award – Honorable Mention Robert Lee Nowell Award for Scholastic Improvement – Honorable Mention Jean Hess Wells Heritage Award – Honorable Mention PIKE/Theta Carinval – 1st place Sorority, won $250 towards our philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental Pi Kappa Phi’s Tour de UF – 2nd place Dance Marathon – 2nd in spirit points overall, 3rd in fundraising in Green Bracket Going Going Greek Baseball Competition – 2nd place Dance Marathon Greek Blood Drive – 3rd place Sorority Lambda Chi Alpha Watermelon Bust – 1st place Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buck-Off – 1st place Alpha Tau Omega’s Build a Better Holiday – 3rd place bear Homecoming Cup with Pi Kappa Phi Panhellenic Council Chapter of the Year


Highlights of 2014[edit]

The year of 2014 brought a rebuilding year to the history of Epsilon Phi chapter. Not only did we rebuild our chapter sisterhood by achieving our goals, but we also rebuilt our home by adding on an extension. We are proud to say that we successfully added on a $1.7 million 5,000 square foot addition to our chapter house before the 2014 Recruitment process started. We are thrilled to welcome our Fall 2014 new member class into Epsilon Phi. We were shocked to receive such a large new member class, consisting of 90 girls. These new members are a group of promising girls who are already representing our chapter in the best way possible by becoming involved in the chapter, and on campus.

We also rebuilt our sisterhood by creating more opportunities for our sisters to learn more about our campus, the Greek governing body, and our chapter's philanthropy. Every Monday during chapter, we would inform our sisters on any and all opportunities for them to flourish, such as applications, service opportunities, and fun events. We improved education of our chapter by providing informational sessions during the New Member period to explain the system and develop more support for the Panhellenic community.

Epsilon Phi even improved education of our chapter by encouraging our sisters to study more. Each year, our academics are continuing to improve. For Spring 2013, our chapter GPA was 3.42. By Spring 2014, our chapter GPA was an amazing 3.51. You can see how hard we worked on academics in 2014 by comparing our GPA with the 3.47 average GPA for all sororities on campus. We worked extremely to have our girls focus on academics above all. We hold weekly study hours and make challenges such as Geek of the Week and Smarty Pants. In these challenges, girls can earn prizes to encourage academic achievement. We even have plans to re-design our study room to make it more useful for our chapter.

We even raised awareness of our philanthropy by having our Philanthropy Chair explain Kappa Kasino and Reading Is Fundamental more thoroughly throughout the semester with reminders and fun facts. In 2014, we raised $1,000 dollars and collected over 300 books for RIF through Kappa Kasino and our book drives. We participated in Dance Marathon again, the largest philanthropy on campus where you stand for 26.2 hours in place of kids that can't. We raised about $26,000 as a chapter, and we are hoping to increase that amount in the upcoming years. All of our sisters participated by giving donations, holding staff positions, or dancing in the event. Even though we all worked together to raise all of this money for these philanthropies, we faced a serious challenge on philanthropy and chapter involvement overall. Our sisters are extremely busy and have many commitments outside of Kappa. We understand this, but continue to push involvement in our chapter, on campus, and in the community as well. We have created more chair positions under our executive board and positions on committees so that more girls can become active in the improvement and functioning of our chapter. We highly encourage girls to come out to all the Kappa events, especially the philanthropies we participate in. We try to give the girls a greater notice of when events are coming up, and more information about them, so that girls will be more likely to attend. By the end of 2014, more of our chapter was participating in Kappa events, which positively increased our exposure to the Greek and University of Florida community. Throughout 2014, we worked on having our chapter become more involved, and our chapter is thriving because of it. Even through all the challenges we faced, our chapter has remained strong. We continue to persevere and work together to improve Epsilon Phi. We are all thankful for the help of our wonderful advisors, who guide us through difficult times. By overcoming the obstacles we encounter, Epsilon Phi has become and maintained a chapter of positive, ethical principals with members who will always be womanly and true.      

Our goal of increasing campus involvement throughout 2014 is clearly seen. Kappa’s further enhanced our campus presence by becoming involved in the following organizations: Florida Cicerones, CRU, Doulos, Navigators, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, University of Florida Women’s Crew Team, UF Synchronized Swimming Team, UF Water Polo Team, Dean’s List, Teaching Assistants, Florida Bright Futures Scholars, Women’s Student Association, Florida Equestrian Team, ACCENT, AWARE, FLA, AMSA, UF Women’s Chorale, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Volunteering at Shands Hospital Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Floridance, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, honor societies, and many more. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.51 grade point average in the spring of 2014, which ranks fourth among all sixteen Panhellenic chapters.


Epsilon Phi participated in the following campus-wide Greek Philanthropies: Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off, Beta Theta Pi-“Beta Bring It On”, Pi Kappa Phi Rose Queen Pageant, Alpha Tau Omega Red, White, and Pull, Pi Lambda Phi Powderpuff, Phi Kappa Tau Safe Sets, Delta Zeta Turtle Tug, Alpha Epsilon Pi Bake-Off, Delta Chi Earthball, Delta Tau Delta Miss Greek, Phi Delta Fever, Theta Chi Kickball, Alpha Tau Omega Build a Better Bear, Alpha Gamma Rho Buck Off, Phi Sig Spike, Delta Zeta Clay Classic, PIKE Halftime, Phi Tau Safe Sets, KA American Gladiator

Chapter Goals 2014:

-Improve committee involvement

-Improve the chapter's understanding of Epsilon Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma history

-Improve the knowledge of our campus Greek governing body

-Create information sessions during the New Member Period

-Improve our understanding of the Standards policies

-Improve our home by creating an interior decorating committee

-Create a positive and lasting experience for all members during Recruitment

-Increase morale and enthusiasm to do service for others

-Raise awareness of our philanthropy

-Improve our graciousness to each other and guests through sisterhood events

-Improve chapter image, both internally and externally


Chapter Philanthropies: Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, Kappa Kasino benefitting Reading is Fundamental, and All Greek Service Day.

Socials: Alpha Gamma Rho PinUps and PushUps, Pi Kappa Phi What Happens In Sochi, Pi Kappa Phi 90s, Phi Tau Jurassic Park After Dark, AGR Margaritaville

Date Functions: Be My Date Grab-a-Date, Halloween Horror Nights

Dinner Events: Tau Epsilon Phi Exchange dinner, Alpha Tau Omega Exchange dinner, Chi Phi Exchange Dinner, FIJI exchange dinner, Lambda Chi Exchange dinner,

Events With Sister Chapters: Delta Gamma exchange dinner, Alpha Omicron Pi Valentines FTK, Chi Omega Yoga Class, Kappa Alpha Theta Cookie Decorating, Yoga with Kappa Delta

Other events: Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks, New Member Lip Sync with Kappa Sigma, Homecoming Pageant, Kickboxing sisterhood event, Valentine’s Day Sisterhood event, Kappa Kafe Registration Party sisterhood event, New Member retreat Rock-climbing, Dads Weekend, New Member retreat to Crescent Beach, Family Weekend, Founders Day/Ribbon Cutting, Homecoming with Kappa Sigma, Kappa Kafe Registration Party sisterhood event, The Best of Me Sisterhood Event, Disneyworld Sisterhood Trip, Professor Dinner, Kappa Kappa Gatsby Semi Formal

Chapter Honors:

ATO Red White & Pull 4th place

Phi Tau Safe Sets 3rd place

Greek Water Challenge 2nd Place

AEPi Bake-Off 1st Place

Won $1000 from the Pepsi Challenge for RIF

Delt Miss Greek Top Fundraiser

4th highest GPA for the semester

3rd KA American Gladiator

3rd ATO Build a Better Bear

Outstanding Anti-Hazing Initiative Florida Greek Award


Individual Accomplishments:

• Valerie Crum- President of the Journalism College Council

• Emily Dennis- Student Program Assistant at UF Levin College of Law, Intern at Williams and Co. Events/Gainesville Fashion Week, Intern at Visit Gainesville, Linda “Dr. T” Thornton Scholarship award recipient

• Anna Dosev- Debutante for the Pensacola Charity Cotillian Ball

• Kathryn Dowling- Assistant Director of Panhellenic Service, Member of Jr. Pan Service Committee, Selected Outstanding Member in Service

• Sarah Falls- UF Anderson Scholar with High Distinction, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation Scholarship, UF Housing and Residence Education Peer Mentor, Teaching Assistant, Employee of the Month at Cracker Barrel

• Kristin Fields- Customer Service Specialist at College Manor Apartments, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Florida Rural Rehabilitation Scholarship

• Meghan Hettenbach- St. Francis House Homeless Shelter Volunteer, Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, Student Occupational Therapy Association, Volunteer at Achieve Pediatric Therapy

• Marissa Kappus- Assistant Director of Leadership Development, Director of Freshman Leadership, Assistant Director of Scholarship on Panhellenic, Campus Representative for Headbands of Hope, Volunteered with Color Run

• Francesca Leeds- SAILE

• Kaitlyn Mamak- UFCC Fundraiser Chair

• Meghan Mapes- Floridance Dance Company Member

• Bridget Parr- Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Internship with Hartfield Insurance

• Meg Rivera- Florida Leadership Academy, Warrington Welcome Peer Leader

• Jaclyn Ryan- Internship with UF's Social Media Division, Paid Internship with GE Foundation, Doulos PR Leadership, Kappa's PR Twitter Chairperson

• Delaney Sagul- Girl Scout Gold Award

• Carly Salomon- Nova Southeastern

• Rachael Schaaf- Lee County Panhellenic Alumnae Association Scholarship, Helen Cashatt Drais Memorial Scholarship, St. Francis House Homeless Shelter Volunteer, HerCampus UFL Blog Editor, CLAS Dean's List and Anderson Scholar, Kappa Vice President of Oraganization, UF English Department Lipsky Scholarship

• Angela Sengupta- CLAS Dean's List, Started LLTGators as Secretary

• Brittany Stolzenberg- Florida Blue Key, Director of Sales for Gator Growl and UF Homecoming

• Catie Switalski- Internship with two NPR affiliate public radio stations

• Sarah Vititoe- Studied abroad in the Dominica Republic, Volunteered in the Clinica del Primer Nivel, Volunteered at Shands, Laboratory Assistant, Extreme Dance Company, Project Mascot Mentor, CLAS Dean's List, Junior Pan Committee of Philanthropic Events

• Amanda Wald- Macy's Store Management Internship, Macy's EDP Program

• Olivia Warren- Debutante for the Pensacola Charity Cotillian Ball


In Epsilon Phi, we hold chapter meetings in our new addition to the house. The new addition is an extended space to our dining room. In between the dining room and the chapter room, we have a privacy wall that can be closed off, or opened for even more room. Because the chapter room is inside of our house, the chapter room is owned. Our house is on the University of Florida Campus, but it is owned by our house board which is run by volunteer Kappa Alumni who come from all over the state of Florida to run our house board.      

Currently, we have a chapter house that houses 52 girls. Before our renovation last year, the house could only hold 40 girls. Our new addition added not only 6 extra bedrooms, but also an extended dining room area, designated chapter room, additional bathroom, and a second laundry room. The funds for the addition came from every active member from the past and present. This is the third renovation of our Epsilon Phi chapter home since we purchased it in the mid-1980's. We needed the addition to the house to accommodate the growing presence we have at the University of Florida with over 200 members.      

Highlights of 2015[edit]

In 2014, it was Epsilon Phi’s mission to rebuild our chapter. Not only did we rebuild our house, but we also moved toward rebuilding our sisterhood, education, and philanthropy. In 2015, we focused on truly remodeling the function and effectiveness of our chapter on the inside, to match the beautiful house we now live in. Our main goals of 2015 included improving our philanthropy, campus leadership, committee involvement, ritual knowledge, and recruitment.

Our first goal as a chapter was to improve awareness about campus leadership opportunities and events. Epsilon Phi is already extremely involved on the UF campus, representing Kappa Kappa Gamma in multiple leadership positions. However, we wanted to make sure that every member of our chapter had the opportunity to get involved on the University of Florida campus. We decided to keep a running list of all available opportunities and upcoming events that is easily accessible. During chapter every week, the council members would present to the chapter any and all opportunities to get involved inside and outside of Kappa. Then, those opportunities would be available in the chapter minutes for anyone who missed the information. We also began online groups containing girls from each major so they could be reminded about upcoming events and opportunities specific to their schools. Epsilon Phi has flourished with this new system and we are continuing to become involved.

Next, we focused on improving our committee involvement. In the past few years, Epsilon Phi has not taken full advantage of our large committees. We made sure that this year, each officer had a folder with the name of each person on the committee, and an area to write down what was brainstormed, planned, and delegated. We also ensured that each committee member was aware of the expectations and obligations of their chosen committee. We even developed committee expectations and obligations worksheets. Our committees are now running smoothly, making the operations of our chapter more effective.

We also wanted to improve our chapter’s understanding of Epsilon Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity history, and our bylaws. We believe that as a Kappa Kappa Gamma, every member should have an understanding of our history and ritual. We decided to implement more frequent ritual reviews, that is not necessarily associated with upcoming events. These ritual reviews are merely to help every girl remember what Kappa stands for. We also conducted these reviews with each pledge class to maximize efficiency. During chapter, our Marshal started a segment of her report called “ritual reminders”, where she would present small ritual facts. We even tried to draw attention to the open access of the bylaws and standing rules online, so that every member could be more educated about our fraternity’s structure.

Last but not least, we strived to improve the effectiveness of our recruitment preparation. As a chapter, we wanted to feel more prepared and organized for the upcoming recruitment process. We conducted more in depth small group discussions on what we wanted to achieve as a chapter during Fall 2015 Recruitment. We completed more run-throughs, conversation discussions, and ended with in-depth overviews of each day. We are thrilled to welcome our Fall 2015 new member class into Epsilon Phi. These new members are a promising group of girls who are already representing our Epsilon Phi chapter in the best way possible through involvement in our chapter, and on campus.

Our goal of increasing campus involvement throughout 2015 is clearly seen. Kappa Kappa Gamma has further enhanced our campus presence by becoming involved in the following organizations: Florida Cicerones, CRU, Doulos, Navigators, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, University of Florida Women’s Crew Team, UF Synchronized Swimming Team, UF Water Polo Team, Dean’s List, Teaching Assistants, Florida Bright Futures Scholars, Women’s Student Association, Florida Equestrian Team, ACCENT, AWARE, FLA, AMSA, UF Women’s Chorale, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Volunteering at Shands Hospital Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Floridance, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, honor societies, and many more. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.486 grade point average in the Spring of 2015, which ranks eighth among all seventeen Panhellenic chapters.

Epsilon Phi participated in the following campus-wide Greek Philanthropies: Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off, Beta Theta Pi-“Beta Bring It On”, Pi Kappa Phi Rose Queen Pageant, Alpha Tau Omega Red, White, and Pull, Pi Lambda Phi Powderpuff, Phi Kappa Tau Safe Sets, Delta Zeta Turtle Tug, Alpha Epsilon Pi Bake-Off, Delta Chi Earthball, Delta Tau Delta Miss Greek, Phi Delta Theta Fever, Theta Chi Kickball, Alpha Tau Omega Build a Better Bear, Alpha Gamma Rho Buck Off, Phi Sig Spike, Delta Zeta Clay Classic, PIKE Halftime, Phi Tau Safe Sets, KA American Gladiator

Chapter:

Chapter Goals 2015:

-Improve committee involvement

-Improve the chapter's understanding of Epsilon Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma history

-Improve our understanding of the Standards policies

-Create a positive and lasting experience for all members during Recruitment

-Increase morale and enthusiasm to do service for others

-Raise awareness of our philanthropy

-Improve our graciousness to each other and guests through sisterhood events

-Improve chapter image, both internally and externally


Chapter Philanthropies: Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, Kappa Kasino benefitting Reading is Fundamental, and All Greek Service Day.

Socials: Emoji, Why is this in my closet?, Construction, Wolf of Wall Street, Hollywood, Golf and Tennis

Date Functions: Florida State Fair, Kappa Kabana, Dinner Cruise Formal, Winter Semi Formal, Latitude 360 in Jacksonville

Events With Sister Chapters: Phi Mu ice cream social and wrote welcome letters to Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Epsilon Phi fitness marshall hip hop fitness Youtube Videos, Zeta Phi Beta cupcake decorating for breast cancer month, Zeta Tau Alpha holiday cookie decorating

Other events: Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks, New Member Lip Sync with Delta Tau Delta, Homecoming Pageant, Kappa Kafe Registration Party sisterhood event, Dads Weekend, New Member retreat to Camp Crystal Lake, Family Weekend, Founders Day, Homecoming with Alpha Epsilon Phi, Kappa Kafe Registration Party sisterhood event, Islands of Adventure Sisterhood Trip, Kappa Kappa Gamma Semi Formal

Chapter Honors:

1st place Alpha Gamma Rho Buck Off

2nd place FIJI Fastball

3rd place Alpha Tau Omega Build a Better Bear

Outstanding Anti-Hazing Initiative Florida Greek Award


Chapter Philanthropy:

What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Epsilon Phi works with several different charities throughout the year. As an organization, Kappa Kappa Gamma partners with Reading is Fundamental, an organization that helps underprivileged kids discover the joy of reading and books. Epsilon Phi supports this partnership and raised over $2,500 in 2015 towards the organization. We raised this money through our annual philanthropy, Kappa Kasino. Not only did we raise money, but we also raised over 1,000 books for children in our area. We decided to give back to our local community by volunteering at an elementary school and reading books to children. We even volunteered at a local food bank called Bread of the Mighty, where we helped restock the shelves. Epsilon Phi also participates in UF Dance Marathon every year, where we beat our goal of fundraising $30,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?

As a chapter, we chose to support these organizations and charities because we see the good that they do. We support Reading is Fundamental because we understand that children are our future, and reading books as a child is one of the first steps of a solid education. We volunteer at Bread of the Mighty because we understand how difficult the economy can be on local families. 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, as we also help underprivileged children through Reading is Fundamental. We love to help give kids the best opportunity to succeed, just as Kappa Kappa Gamma gives us the skills and tools we need to be successful women.

Highlights of 2016[edit]

The year of 2016 was another successful one for Epsilon Phi Chapter. This year it was Epsilon Phi’s mission to enhance the unity of our chapter and enhance the chapter experience for our members. Our main goals for this year were to increasing member motivation to get involved on campus, and to make our service, involvement, and image more well-known on campus.

We started working on the goal of enhancing chapter unity and making our image more well known on campus as soon as the year started off by having a great Spirit Week, Recruitment, and Bid Day that sparked a newfound enthusiasm in the chapter and reinvigorated our love for Kappa and our sisters. We also started two new annual philanthropy events to raise money for Reading is Fundamental this year which also increased chapter enthusiasm.

Our goal of increasing on campus involvement is clearly seen through our members involvement on campus through the following organizations: Florida Blue Key, Florida Cicerones, CRU, Doulos, Navigators, Panhellenic Executive Council, Junior Panhellenic Council, University of Florida Women’s Crew Team, UF Synchronized Swimming Team, UF Water Polo Team, Dean’s List, Teaching Assistants, Florida Bright Futures Scholars, Women’s Student Association, Florida Equestrian Team, ACCENT, AWARE, FLA, AMSA, UF Women’s Chorale, Model UN, College Youth in Government, Volunteering at Shands Hospital, Campus Diplomats, Warrington College of Business Diplomats, Dance Marathon, Floridance, Danza, Student Government Senate, Action Student Government, Gators March for Babies, several academic honor societies, and many more. In addition to these extracurricular accomplishments, Epsilon Phi earned a 3.486 grade point average in the Spring of 2015, which ranks eighth among all seventeen Panhellenic chapters.

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

Date Functions: Woodser Date Function, Dynamic Duos, Tampa Rays v Boston Red Sox Game, Kappa Kaberet

Other Events: Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks, New Member Lip Sync with Pi Kappa Phi, Homecoming Pageant, Dads Weekend, New Member slumber party retreat, Family Weekend, Founders Day, Homecoming with Phi Kappa Tau, Aquatica Sisterhood Trip, Kappa Kappa Gamma Semi Formal at Jolie, Kappa Kappa Gamma Formal at the Hilton.

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:

-Kelly McGurk won “Best Risk Manager” from University of Florida Panhellenic

-Sigma Lambda Beta Stroll Off – 3rd place

-Delta Tau Delta Miss Greek – Top 6

-ATO Red White and Pull – Top 5

-Phi Gamma Delta Obstacle Course – 2nd place

-KA American Gladiator – Top 4

-Delta Chitanic – Top 3

-TEP Hoops – 1st Place

-Kappa Sigma Black Top Beach – Top 3

-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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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: 2

Student Government

  • AD for Chomp the Vote
  • Director of Finance and Affordability Cabinet

ACCENT Speakers Bureau

  • Vice chair of digital communications
  • Director
  • Assistant Director of Research and Feedback

March of Dimes

  • Venue Director
  • Social media director
  • Personnel director

Florida Blue Key

  • Assistant Director for Individual Events
  • Florida’s Future Leadership Program Member

Cicerones

  • 2 members

Pre-health Student Organization

  • 15 members

Study Abroad Locations

  • Madrid, London, Berlin, Paris, Prague, Florence

Warrington Goes Green

  • Co-Founder
  • VP of External Relations

Pi Chi

  • 15 members, 5 second years

Study Edge

  • 3 Real Life 101 interns in 2019

Equestrian Team and Awards

  • 4 members

Florida Leadership Academy

  • 3 Mentors and 1 mentee

Global Business Society

  • Vice President of Communications
  • Previous global gator guides

Center for Undergraduate Research Ambassador

  • Undergraduate Research Liaison to the College of Journalism

Engineers without Borders, Peru Team

  • 3 members , one on design team, two on fundraising team

Warrington Diplomats

  • Events Committee Head

Heavener Leadership Challenge

  • 4 Participants

Business Undergraduate Mentorship Program

  • 2 Mentors

UF LitiGators Competitive Mock Trial

  • 1 attorney

Florida Greek Ambassadors

  • 2 members

Volunteering

  • 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[edit]

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.

Our Chapter was able to support the Greek community on campus by participating in other chapters’ philanthropy events before the pandemic such as Beta Theta Pi’s ‘Bring It On’, Delta Tau Delta’s ‘Miss Greek’, Alpha Chi Omega’s ‘Purple Rain’, Kappa Sigma’s ‘Splash’ and Chi Omega ‘Sandblast’, and through financial contribution after many chapters adapted their events to accommodate for the pandemic. Money we raised: $7,340.96 raised from Kappa Kickball $3,929 raised from Raffles for RIF $4,200 donated to RIF $2,100 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation $500 to the Alachua County Days for Girls Remaining $500 was received in physical checks and sent directly to Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters to be apportioned at their discretion. The money raised from Raffles for RIF has not yet been distributed.

The Epsilon Phi chapter supports local elementary school Carolyn Beatrice Parker, formerly known as JJ Finley, where members are able to volunteer and see Reading is Fundamental's direct impact on children in the communities around us. Our chapter works with this school because it 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 is important because our members really value feeling like they made a tangible difference outside of fundraising and donating money. We were able to complete 356 hours of service at Carolyn Beatrice Parker before COVID-19 impacted our opportunity to volunteer. We were able to host Kappa Kickball at the beginning of the spring semester with 31 teams participating. Through the event, we raised $7,340 for Reading is Fundamental and we collected books to donate to Carolyn Beatrice Parker Elementary School’s Extended Day Enrichment Program. Although we normally host an in-person event for our fall philanthropy event, this year we held our first-ever fully virtual fundraiser instead! ‘Raffles for RIF’ was a two-day event, where items were raffled off to participants who purchased tickets. This event generated $3,929 for RIF.

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.


Highlights of 2021[edit]

2021 was a year for the books at Epsilon Phi. With the COVID-19 pandemic still being an obstacle, yet now learning how to live life in a post-pandemic way, our lifestyles were challenged and we knew we would have to work hard for our success. That did not steer us away from a wonderful year together. Collectively, we faced the challenges we were presented with resilience achieving some great things for ourselves and our chapter. Our President Sarah Bartolomei was awarded Panhellenic Chapter President of the Year for 2021 and we were so lucky to have her leading our chapter during this year. One of the things we were very excited for this year was recruitment and getting back to in-person rounds. Recruitment took place from August 19th-22nd. Like 2020, Round 1 was completely virtual where Potential New Members submitted one minute videos introducing themselves and chapters submitted house tour videos. Round 2 took place over two days. We were able to highlight our new philanthropy initiative “Mental Health and Well-being” during that time. Round 3 took one day and we were able to use the time to dive into our sisterhood. We showed our sisterhood video to PNMs, got to know them deeper, and told them all about why we chose Kappa. Preferenetials took place on the final day of recruitment and PNMs were greeted by chapter members that they had spoken to in a previous round. Our ritual ceremony took place at the beginning of each party and we concluded with one-on-one conversations between PNMs and chapter members. Thanks to our Primary Recruitment Director, Ellorie Levy (MC18) and Vice President of Membership, Madi Kelts (MC18), we had a very successful and fun recruitment process this year. We celebrated Bid Day on August 24th to welcome our 73 new members home. Now, we currently have the largest chapter size in Epsilon Phi history! Philanthropy is another thing we were excited for this year. Thanks to Hanna Ouazanni (MC19), we achieved a lot through philanthropy this year holding multiple philanthropy events and participating in other chapters’ philanthropies throughout the year. In the Spring semester, Epsilon Phi organized two fundraising events. The first being Kappa Cookout, a drive-thru food fundraiser. This event was held in-person as curbside pickup, in which Proceeds were donated to Reading Is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, The Mark Wandall Foundation, and EndDD (a philanthropy Epsilon Phi has chosen to support after losing our beloved sister Maggie Paxton). Tickets were sold at the event, donations were received, and books were collected to benefit these three organizations raising a total of $9,650. In the spring we also partnered with the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon to host an "End Distracted Driving 5k Fundraiser" after both of our chapters were greatly affected in the previous semester due to distracted driving incidents on campus. This event was conducted virtually in a four-day period, where participants could complete the race on their own time. Additionally, the Epsilon Phi chapter hosted an after event in which the chapter members shared memories of Maggie Paxton and a guest speaker from EndDD spoke about ways to end distracted driving. Through the virtual 5k event, the Epsilon Phi chapter and partnering sorority Delta Phi Epsilon raised $5,529, distributed amongst EndDD and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The success of this event and the awareness we were able to raise for distracted driving also led to our chapter winning a Greek Collaboration Award from the Panhellenic Community. With the launch of the new philanthropic program for Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Phi chose to support the Jed Foundation as the chapter’s philanthropic beneficiary. The Epsilon Phi chapter raised money for this contribution through our first annual fall fundraiser Let’s Taco Bout Mental Health and Well-being. At this taco and nacho bar fundraiser, guests donated funds in support for the Kappa Foundation, as well as, the Jed Foundation. Ticket sales and donations to a 50/50 raffle aided in raising over $11,299. Participation from members for this event contributed to its great success! We also contributed philanthropically through Kappa Kisses donating 167 bags of candy to the Boys and Girls club of Alachua County, giving care packages to UF Shands Health Care workers, and through multiple donation drives for the Hitchcock Food Pantry to educate chapter members on food insecurity. Our Dance Marathon team raised $25,594 this year through independent fundraising to benefit UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Epsilon Phi also participated in many other philanthropies on campus such as Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Surf Frenzy, Beta Theta Pi’s Bring It On, Pi Lam Royal Fam Competition, Pi Kappa Tau Bowl, Kappa Sigma Sandpit, Kappa Delta Shamrock, Sigma Kappa Shootout, Kappa Alpha Order’s cornhole tournament, and Kappa Sigma’s Queen of the Palace. Hanna Ouazzani (MC19) represented our chapter at Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek competition and won 2nd place after raising $2,281 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Katie Tolman (MC19) represented our chapter at Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halftime and Dream Girl Competition, raising $2,262 for the CHOMP Cancer Foundation. We were also the overall winners of Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buckoff Competition, raising $500 to benefit the Moffitt Cancer Center. One achievement Epsilon Phi is proud of this year would be in winning the Inclusive Excellence Award from the greek community. Across the 4 greek councils on campus, our chapter was chosen for this award because of our intense effort to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. In 2020, we implemented our first-ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director as well as a committee that focuses on the five pillars of diversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health, accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Since the creation of these leadership roles in our chapter,we have had an abundance of programming covering inclusive recruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. We held workshops during recruitment and new member education to educate members on DEI and how to interact with people from different backgrounds. In addition to presentations, we have been taking feedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapter woman feels safe and supported. We also held a diversity week during black history month to educate chapter members on different intersectional issues facing our community. This week included conversation nights, a movie night to watch Just Mercy, and a coffee tab at a black-owned business - Wyatt’s Coffee. This year, we celebrated Founder’s Day together on October 10th. We held a celebration at the house where we participated in ritual, enjoyed light refreshments, and played fun games! We were able to reflect on so many years of sisterhood and get excited for the future of Kappa. There was a great turnout at this event and we all enjoyed being in each others’ presence to honor Kappa’s founding. We initiated the 2021 new member class on October 23rd. Our chapter was very excited to hold initiation in person this year, hosting both current and alumni members, House Board representatives, and legacy family members in our home. Our Ritual/History Director, Gracie Overstreet (MC19), was able to plan a beautiful ceremony to initiate our new members and we were happy to welcome the 73 wonderful members into our sisterhood. Throughout the year, Epsilon Phi used many techniques to foster academic success. Ally Mattia (MC19), our Academic Excellence Director for 2021, ensured academic success this year by providing one-on-one academic progress plans for any chapter members who wanted or needed extra assistance. She met with them regularly and helped plan scheduled study hours to make sure they were excelling in their academics. For all members, we hold Kappa Kafe weekly. This is an event where Kappa provides an environment to collaborate with fellow members in their studies along with snacks to keep everyone actively engaged in their study material or homework. Another program we had this year is academic mentor/mentee. In this program, young members were matched with older members of the chapter with similar majors or professional goals. We also had academic programming this year on the topics of academic success, mental wellbeing, and career readiness. At chapter meetings, we reward students by performing a weekly random prize drawing for members who feel they have accomplished something special like receiving an A on an organic chemistry exam or getting the internship they applied to. We also had a successful professor dinner and resume building workshop recently. All of these programs combined allow Epsilon Phi to maintain a high academic standing among the chapters at the University of Florida. We are so proud of our members who receive scholarships for their academic success such as one of our new members, Kayla Wiechens, who receives the UF Benacquisto merit based Scholarship. Jackie Hunter (MC18) receives the D.C. Gator Club Scholarship. Erin Ennis (MC20) receives the UF Presidential Scholarship. Lola Coutelle (MC19) is in the University Scholars Program. Harper Self (MC19) currently receives the Fall Panhellenic Essay Scholarship. And we also had 5 chapter members admitted into the UF College of Nursing Traditional BSN program this year: Meredith Fortini, Christina Simitses, and Katie Troshinsky from MC19 as well as Taylor Stevens and Lauren Long from MC20. This year our chapter did not miss out on the fun. Within the Xi district, Epsilon Phi was the chapter holding the most events despite the challenges presented by the pandemic thanks to our hard working Risk Prevention Director Payton Zweber (MC19) and Event Director Katie Tolman (MC19). In the spring, we were able to hold kickball socials with Delta Tau Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, and Alpha Gamma Rho. These events were successful in keeping some normalcy while ensuring that we did not contribute to the spread of COVID-19. In conjunction with this, we were also able to hold a date function at Social Midtown, an Outdoor Sisterhood Barn Party, and 2 formals. With the challenges of the pandemic becoming less prevalent in the fall semester, our chapter was able to have socials with chapters such as Zeta Beta Tau, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Tau, and a successful homecoming week with Alpha Gamma Rho. In the fall we were able to have many successful date functions as well and we are looking forward to semi-formal in a few weeks. There is a lot of member involvement from the year that deserves to be recognized. This year we had 11 Pi Chis involved in formal recruitment, with Olivia Galler (Member Class 18) serving as Head Pi Chi for 2021. Christine Tao (MC18) was recently tapped into Florida Blue Key. Bebe Gardner (MC20) was chosen as a preview staffer for 2022. We also have sisters involved in Student Government, Senate, ACCENT, and Gator Growl. Harper Self (MC19) was an Assistant Supervisor of the 2021 Student Government Election. In Dance Marathon, we have many Assistant Directors: Karson Keiber (MC18), Gwyneth Bishara (MC20), Katerina Rettino (MC20), Chelsea Nicholls (MC19), Olivia Galler (MC18), Graylin Skates (MC19) and our president Madeleine Maclaren (MC19). As well as 19 captains in DM. Coral Rodriguez-Lipstein (MC20) was chosen as a Peer Leader for the Cohort of 2022. Jordan Spira (MC20) was elected as Activities Vice President for the Panhellenic Executive Board. One of our new members, Brooke Burton served as Vice President of Service for Junior Panhellenic. Katherine Pearson is the Vice President of UF’s German Club. Jackie Hunter (MC18) is the President of Order of Omega. Erin Ennis (MC20) is the Chair of Presidential Hosting for Florida Cicerones and we have many other sister cicerones as well. We continue to grieve the loss of our sister, Maggie Paxton (MC20), as we near the 1 year anniversary of her passing. We will be holding a memorial for Maggie at the house in December to allow a space for people to share their happiest memories of her. Our chapter has made sure to take a stand against distracted driving and we are so proud of our member, Kailey Kiss (MC17), for creating an organization on campus called Florida Not One More to make roads like University Avenue safer and to prevent tragedies like Maggie’s passing in the future. Overall, we are so happy with the year we had at Epsilon Phi. The bonds we have created with each other over the past year are ones we will forever be thankful for. We hope 2022 has all of the excitement, happiness, and achievements that we had in 2021, and we are excited to continue to improve our chapter for years to come.

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