Difference between pages "Beta Xi" and "Epsilon Omicron"

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{{Infobox Fraternity
 
{{Infobox Fraternity
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|Name= Beta Xi
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|Name= Epsilon Omicron
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|GreekSymbol= BΞ
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|GreekSymbol= EO
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|Image= [[File:Beta_Xi.jpg|200px]]
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|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Omicron.jpg|200px]]
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|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1902|05|12}}
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|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1975|02|15}}
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|College= [http://www.utexas.edu/ University of Texas at Austin]
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|College= [https://www.ucdavis.edu/ University of California, Davis]
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|Location= Austin, TX
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|Location= Davis, CA
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|Homepage= [https://chapters.kappakappagamma.org/betaxi/ Beta Xi Homepage]
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|Homepage= [https://ucdavis.kappa.org/ Epsilon Omicron Homepage]
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|Media= [http://wiki.kappakappagamma.org/index.php?title=Category:Beta_Xi Media related to Beta Xi Chapter]}}
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|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Omicron Media related to Epsilon Omicron Chapter]}}
 
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'''University of Texas at Austin established in 1883, Austin, Texas'''
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'''University of California, Davis'''
  
  
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'''Founded May 12, 1902 with 9 charter members'''
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'''Established 1908'''  
  
  
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'''4,526 initiates (as of June 2014)'''
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'''Chapter Founded in 1975'''
  
  
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-----------------
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'''Number of charter members: 13'''  
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'''Some of Beta Xi’s Outstanding Members:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)
 
  
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'''Charter members:'''
 +
Ann Marie Began, Saundra Marie Brown, Catherine Ann Collings, Linda Marni Kurtzman, Linda Jeanne Maxson, Debra Ann Pevehouse, Susan Ellen Reynolds, Leslie Katherine Rhody, Susan Dee Schultz, Kathryn Prescott Sebenius, Susan Marie Tranka, Patricia Gail Vivado, Nancy Jean Winslow.
  
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'''Fraternity Council Members:'''
 
  
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Della Lawrence Burt, Grand Secretary 1920-1922, Executive Secretary 1922-1929;
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'''1,482 initiates (as of June 2018)'''
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Dorothy McCampbell Nowell, Director of Chapters 1962-1966;
 
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Eloise Moore Netherton, Director of Philanthropies 1982-1986, Vice President1986-1988;
 
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Carolyn Boyle (Hasskarl), Field Secretary 1945-1947; Lisa VanStavern (Hunziker), Traveling Consultant 1993-1994
 
  
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------------------------
  
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'''Some of Epsilon Omicron’s Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna who have received Fraternity recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)
  
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'''Fraternity Loyalty Award:'''
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'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''
  
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Denise Rugani, Traveling Consultant 1989-1990; Province Director of Chapters 1995-1998; Regional Director of Chapters 1998-2000; Director of Chapters 2000-2004; Vice President 2004-2006; Fraternity President 2006-2010, History Chairman 2012-2014; Bylaws Chairman 2014-present; Laurel Apperson (Rosa), Traveling Consultant 1998-1999; Jen Stolp, Traveling Consultant 2003-2004
  
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'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''
  
  
 
'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''
 
'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''
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Helen Knox, 1952, banker, author, Red Cross volunteer;
 
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Prudence Mahaffey Mackintosh, 1988, author of books and magazines;
 
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Miley Tucker Busiek (Frost), 1990, sculptor whose work appears on the $50gold bullion coin;Sunny Hare Scribante, 2012, philanthropist; Dorothy Slator Paterson, 2014, international volunteer, breast health awareness advocate; Rosemary Dunaway Trible, 2014, TV host, author, foounder Fear2Freedom Foundation;
 
  
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 +
'''Other Outstanding Epsilon Omicron Alumnae:'''
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Molly Bechtel, Chapter Consultant 2009-2011.
 +
 +
--------------------------
 +
 +
 +
==History of the University:==
 +
In 1905, the California legislature passed the University Farm Bill, calling for the establishment of a farm school for the University of California. At the time, Berkeley was the sole campus of the university. It would be more than a year before that commission selected a tiny town in Yolo County, then known as Davisville, as the site. The Regents of the University of California officially took control of the property in 1906 and constructed four buildings in 1907.
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What was to become the third UC campus opened its doors to 40 degree students (all male) from UC Berkeley in January 1909 as the University Farm. The establishment of the farm was largely the result of the vision and perseverance of Peter J. Shields, secretary of the State Agricultural Society, and the Peter J. Shields Library at UC Davis was named in his honor. Shields began to champion the cause of a University Farm to teach agriculture in a more applied fashion after hearing about California students who chose to go to out-of-state universities due to the lack of such programs in the University of California at that time.
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 +
Short courses were first offered in 1908, and a three year non-degree program set up in 1909. In 1911, the first class graduated from the University Farm. The farm accepted its first female students in 1914 from Berkeley. The three year non-degree program continued until 1923. At that time, a two year non-degree program began and continued until 1958. In 1922, a four-year undergraduate program began with the first class graduating in 1926.
  
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'''Additional Outstanding Beta Xi Alumnae:'''
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Renamed in 1922 as the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, the campus continued growing at a breakneck pace. In 1916, the farm’s 314 students occupied the original 778-acre campus. By 1951, the campus had expanded to 3,000 acres. In 1959, the campus was declared by the Regents of the University of California as the seventh general campus in the University of California system.
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Ann Haun (Barlow), Graduate Counselor 1961-1962;
 
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Nancy Haun (Dozier), Graduate Counselor 1959-1960;
 
  
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---------------------------
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Davis’ own Graduate Division was established in 1961 followed by the College of Engineering in 1962. The Law School opened for classes in fall 1966, and the School of Medicine began instruction in fall 1968.
 +
As of 2013, UC Davis’ enrollment exceeded 34,000 students. The campus has expanded to more than 7,300 acres including land in adjacent Solano County.
  
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==The Early Years==
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==The Early Years:==
  
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Texas won its independence in April 1863, and 18 months later a bill was introduced in the Congress of the Republic of Texas to incorporate the University of Texas. However, the act that finally established the university was not passed until 1881. Two years later, classes were opened in the incomplete west wing of the Old Main Building with 221 enrolled in that first class of 1883.
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Sorority life was a brand-new addition to the University of California campus at Davis in 1974. With the first group of women organized last year by Delta Delta Delta, interest and enthusiasm in other national women’s associations was dramatic. The UC Davis Panhellenic Association held its first formal Fall Rush September 30 to October 6 with eight national sororities represented. Kappa Kappa Gamma colonized a new chapter, known as Epsilon Omicron. Support from the many Kappa alumnae in Northern California and the rush week participants from Delta Omega Chapter in Fresno and Pi Deuteron Chapter in Berkeley made the fall of 1974 a time of anticipation and excitement, new Kappa friendships and great appreciation of our outstanding Fraternity.  
 +
It’s not easy to begin at the very beginning!
  
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Only 19 years later, Kappa Kappa Gamma established its first southern chapter by granting a charter to Beta Xi on May 12, 1902. Interesting events led directly to the colonization.
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UC Davis had no local sororities, but men’s fraternities had been a part of the campus for many years. There were ten active men’s independent living groups, most with national affiliation and represented by the Interfraternity Council. The fraternities had active “little sister” programs which seemed to have created some of the momentum in the sorority colonization efforts. The women students at UC Davis wanted and needed the atmosphere of congeniality and mutual support which sorority life provided on so many other campuses. The Davis administration was sympathetic toward these needs and respected the standards and past achievements of fraternities and sororities on other California campuses.
  
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In 1898, a local organization (Delta Delta Delta) was organized by a group of girls in Grace Hall. Soon male friends of this group, by this time known as Delta Zeta, advised the petitioning of Kappa, and in the spring of 1899, the group sent its first formal petition. Refusal came the following fall.
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When pioneer settler Jerome C. Davis planted 400 acres of wheat, barley, orchards and vineyards in 1868 and pastured great herds of livestock in the fertile Sacramento Valley, he began a tradition which continues in the life of this university. It is the center of a rich agriculture area and the source of tremendous advances in knowledge. An outstanding College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, begun in 1906, now shares a 4,000-acre campus with equally renowned colleges of Engineering and Letters and Science, a Graduate Division and schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Law. In 1974, approximately 15,000 students filled the campus, and it was undoubtedly the bicycle capital of California! Campus enrollment was almost equally divided between men and women, and scholastic requirements were extremely high with the Davis campus getting more applications for admission than any other University of California campus in 1974. The location is appealing to many college students since Davis maintains its small town individuality yet the excitement of San Francisco and the beauty of the Sierra Nevada are little more than an hour’s drive in opposite directions on Interstate 80. Sacramento, the capitol of California, lies 12 miles east, and the political activity of this city carries over to student life.
  
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Another local, Tri Sigma, also petitioned Kappa, and it too, was refused. Matters seemed hopeless. The Fraternity did not want them and the university authorities did not want the Fraternity. Worse still, a crowd of town students who had twice petitioned Kappa and twice been refused, seemed to have finally secured a charter and were planning to enter the university. For one week, the Tri Sigmas and Delta Zetas grieved in secret, feeling that it was a Kappa charter these other girls had won, but it was Pi Beta Phi.
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The Associated Students at UC Davis undertook the responsibility for establishing a good bus transportation system featuring some eye-catching London double-deckers. The California Aggie newspaper was required reading for any student interested in current issues, and Freeborn Hall the stage for all the best in local and national talent in music and theatre. Picnic Day in April was one huge celebration with a list of spectator events from the Lichtenstein Circus to a lecture by Governor Ronald Reagan.
  
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In the fall of 1901, the two locals joined forces and wrote to the Grand Secretary of Kappa. Petition blanks arrived late in January and were sent off the next day. This time the decision was unanimously in favor, and on May 12, 1902, Beta Xi Chapter was formally installed, followed by a grand banquet at the Driskill Hotel, the height of glory in those days.
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It was expected that 1975 would bring many opportunities and challenges as the new Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter began. Those alumnae, actives and pledges asked for expressions of sharing and caring from all Kappas in this new venture, this wonderful opportunity to express our Fraternity’s concern for the quality of educational life on campus at UC Davis.
 +
Adapted from an article in The Key, Fall 1974, p. 9.
  
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'''Housing'''
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==Installation:==
 +
Kappas of all ages and from many parts of the country gathered during the February 15-17, 1975, holiday weekend for the formal installation of Epsilon Omicron Chapter at the University of California, Davis. Thirteen very active girls became its charter members after many busy months of building a chapter from scratch.
  
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At first, the new chapter met in a single rented room furnished with a small table, three chairs, a tiny stove, and a piano. In 1903, the first house was rented. Only active members could live there by university rule. The chapter moved six times in 19 years.
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At the formal banquet Saturday night, the new actives demonstrated their enthusiasm and originality by singing one of the songs they wrote. And Catherine Collings, the chapter’s first president, daughter of Priscilla Osgood Collings, Purdue, responded to the toast of Kit Henderson, president of Pi Deuteron Chapter at the University of California, Berkeley, with the following poem, written by another new initiate, Katie Sebenius:
  
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In 1920-1921, a corporation of Kappa alumnae in Texas was organized, and each member signed a note for $100, payable in 10 years. Thus, a home was bought at 2400 Rio Grande Street, and in September 1924, the Beta Xis moved in. It was in this house that the chapter became noted for its “Hedge Test”—rumor having it that if a rushee did not touch the hedge on the south side of the Kappa house with both hips as she went through, she was not “Kappa material!”
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Joining us together today,
 +
Tomorrow,
 +
‘Til eternity.
  
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In the early 1930s, the house association of Beta Xi received its charter and notified all members of Beta Xi who had paid $25 or more to the (now) defunct Texas Association that they were automatically members of the new association. All other Beta Xis in good standing were notified that they could become members by paying $25. From then on, all new Beta Xis were asked to sign $100 notes. It is significant that there were only three treasurers of the house association in 37 years.
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Simple words are the external bonds,
 +
Badges similar to one other,
 +
Physically represent these ties.
  
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The house on Rio Grande could hold only 15 to 20 girls, and, because the Fraternity had agreed to 100 girls including pledges, the “Brown Lot” was purchased in the fall of 1936. The old house was sold for $15,000 in December of 1938, and the new Georgian Colonial home at 2001 University Avenue was occupied in September 1939, with room for 40. In the 1970s, 58 active members lived in the home.
+
Each badge is a different key,
 +
One to a different heart,
 +
To a different girl with much to give to all.
  
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At one time, additional housing space was acquired and a house just behind the main house was bought, renovated and completed in 1965. But in 1966, this annex was bought by the university, spreading far beyond its original 40 acres.
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We mustn’t emphasize only the key,
 +
We must emphasize what lies under it,
 +
What lies within our hearts.
  
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'''Honors and Traditions'''
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Such strong feelings reserved for special friends,
 +
Even for more special people,
 +
Sisters.
  
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Beta Xi made outstanding contributions to the Fraternity. Della Lawrence (Burt) was elected Grand Secretary at the 1920 Convention, and in 1922 was made the first Executive Secretary when the position was created at the Convention in Glacier National Park.
+
I came with no sisters,
 +
And have acquired the love and trust of thirteen sisters,
 +
In a short time.
  
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The chapter had the honor of having one of its charter members become the first president of Theta Province. In 1917, another chapter member succeeded her. Beta Xi hosted the second Province Convention in May 1927, during which the chapter celebrated its 25th anniversary. The Key Ring, the province newspaper, was begun during another member’s term as Province President, 1925-27.
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Growing together through time,
 +
Taking parts of each other.
  
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==World War II Years==
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Becoming one in the same yet,
 +
Leading our separate lives, too.
  
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A change came about with the entry of the United States in World War II. Social and campus activities were replaced with war work and defense projects. Many hours were devoted to layette sewing for the Nora Waln project, and weekly schedules included bandage rolling, hospital and nurse’s aide work, canteen duty, and assistance with bond drives. For two successive years, Beta Xi made the largest pledge of any campus organization to the War Chest.
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What we are going to do this morning,
 +
Is to once again externally strengthen these bonds,
 +
But the internal bonds of love are already there.
  
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Social and campus life returned to its customary places as the war drew to a close, but many old patterns changed. A Kappa was elected University Sweetheart at the annual Round-Up, and the introduction of touch football into the intramural program gave birth to a colorful extra-intramural private contest between Pi Phi and Kappa—the Powder Bowl.
+
As we move on,
 +
Different road will carry us away,
 +
We shall always have these sisters,
 +
Love is an unbroken circle.
  
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==The 1950s==
 
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The chapter received the Standards Cup in 1950, and Helen Knox was given the Alumnae Achievement Award for banking in 1952.
 
  
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It was with great pride that the 50th anniversary of Beta Xi was celebrated in May 1952 with a riverboat ride and a picnic at Green Shores. Kappas came from far and wide, and the occasion was climaxed by a historical pageant and the presentation of fleur-de-lis pins to eight of the nine founders (charter members). For this Golden Anniversary, a Beta Xi directory was sold for $1 each. The money was used to establish the Beta Xi Scholarship Fund.
+
Members of the Sacramento Valley Alumnae Association and of Epsilon Omicron were honored to have so many Fraternity officers share their big weekend. Fraternity President Marian Schroeder Graham, Montana; Director of Field Representatives Kay Smith Larson, Washington; Director of Personnel Marian Klingbeil Williams, Missouri, Executive Secretary Betty Sanor Cameron, Ohio State; Pi Province Director of Chapters Lois Wilkinson Bennett, Pennsylvania; and Pi Province Director of Alumnae Heloise Lee Stewart, Oregon State, spent the weekend in Davis to participate in the installation and initiation.
  
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==The 1960s==
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Pat Maness Kriz, Colorado, president of the Sacramento Valley Alumnae Association, and Katie Johnson Hoff, Oregon State, were largely responsible for organizing the weekend. Beginning with the Fireside Service in the home of Marilyn Woodward Needham, Oregon State, and a hasty practice session for alumnae who were big sisters, advisers and participants in the installation/initiation ceremony, events proceeded smoothly through the formal banquet Saturday evening, a model chapter meeting bright and early the next morning, a luncheon at the Nut Tree in Vacaville and culminating in a reception for family and friends at the Recreation Pool Lodge on the UCD campus.
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The passage of civil rights legislation during the 1960s prompted major changes on campus. In the spring of 1965, the university discontinued all control of student housing, except that which was actually owned and operated by the school. Therefore, with all sorority houses individually owned by their corporation boards, the Panhellenic Council voted in 1967 to dissolve itself as a recognized student organization, hence no longer subject to university regulations or eligible to use university facilities.
 
  
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At this point, Panhellenic became incorporated. Eloise Moore Netherton and another Kappa served for many years on the seven-member board of trustees.
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The new Kappas, who travel almost exclusively by bike around campus, are making arrangements to live together in an apartment complex next year. They are currently sponsoring a Frisbee marathon in conjunction with the Easter Seal Telethon, beginning practice for their basketball team and making plans for a scholarship dinner to honor outstanding members of their group. Meanwhile, they continue to hold informal rush and will hold their net initiation near the end of April.  
  
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==The 1970s==
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Adapted from the Spring 1975 issue of The Key, pp. 2-3.
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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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For more than three decades, Beta Xi had a special friend and supporter, a Gamma Lambda, Middlebury, Kappa, who was first assistant dean of women and then dean of students before her retirement. In October 1973, Beta Xi proudly presented her with her 50-year pin.
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==Highlights of the 1980's==
  
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Through Kappa leadership in Panhellenic in 1971, the Referral Counseling Program was initiated in cooperation with the university and student health center. This program trained key actives, alumnae and housemothers in each sorority to be mental health resource persons, to help with chapter education, and to be equipped to refer girls to the proper sources for help with any problem.
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At the 1985 Pi Province Meeting held in Corvallis, Ore., a history of Epsilon Omicron’s first decade written by chapter Registrar Linda Frager was presented. The passage that follows is adapted from this history.
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“The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was installed on February 15, 1975, on the University of California, Davis campus. In its beginning years the chapter house was not quite a house, it was an apartment. In the summer of 1976, the chapter acquired a house at 222 Rice Lane. Since membership grew rapidly, the chapter relocated to a larger house at 311 Russell Boulevard with the help of the local alumnae in the summer of 1982.
  
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There have been many chapter philanthropy projects. In “A Run for Their Lives,” Beta Xi met the challenge of Beta Theta Chapter, Oklahoma, in a fundraising football marathon run to the Cotton Bowl. The joint Kappa venture raised $12,000 for muscular dystrophy.
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“Formal rush improved from 1975 to 1985. In 1984, the 1-3-5 voting system was implemented. This system cut hours off the membership selection process and led to very successful rush periods. Rush party from the past decade included Kappa Kickoff, Kapparet, Haunted House, Garden Party, San Francisco, Western, Grinch and Bye Bye Birdie.
  
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Houston-Austin area Beta Xis were active and loyal women, distinguished in many fields. One of the youngest was chosen “Outstanding Teenager in America” in 1968. She lived with families in Spain and Switzerland and served as a volunteer at San Jose Clinic as an interpreter.
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“Chapter membership steadily increased. Beginning with 13 members, Epsilon Omicron grew to 102 active members by 1985. The first formal pledge class consisted of five women, but pledge class size grew rapidly; the largest class was in 1984 with 38 women. The majority of those pledging were sophomores and their number continues to increase. The freshman and junior class level sizes have remained consistent during the decade, and there never was more than one senior in a pledge class. During the past decade, the pledging rate increased, and only 10 women decided not to initiate.
  
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Another alumna was a Lady in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a Papal honor. Another Kappa, an artist with portraits in college libraries in three states, received the Houston Panhellenic Citation for long, outstanding service.
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“Elected and appointed positions grew in number since the chapter was established in 1975. The appointed position of Song Chairman began in 1977 and preceded the small singing group that began in 1979. Davis Kappas displayed an early interest in athletics by appointing an Athletics Chairman in 1977. The year 1981 was a trial period for Epsilon Omicron: the positions of Historian and Chaplain were created but lasted for just one term. In 1982, the position of Fraternity Education became an elected position.
  
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A Kappa alumna gave the Charlotte Barrell Ware Standards Cups in 1934, and when it was retired in 1970 because all available engraving space had filled, she replaced the original award with a beautiful sliver punch bowl, tray, ladle, and cups. She had long been a generous supporter of the Rose McGill Fund. This Kappa was the first female member of the Board of Regents of the University of Houston, and received the Matrix Award of Theta Sigma Phi (Women in Journalism). She served as mentor and president of Girlstown, USA. In 1958, she and her husband established a foundation to give financial support to medical research, education, and cultural advancement. The Fraternity awarded a silver tray to this Beta Xi alumna in 1974 as “recognition for her devotion and service to Kappa Kappa Gamma.”
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“The Mothers Club was created in 1976 and rejuvenated in 1984. Mothers Club fundraisers included an art auction, mother-daughter fashion shows and a yard sale.
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---------------------------------
 
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The previous information was adapted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, 1870-1976. The information that follows has been gleaned from available resources including Chapter History Reports, chapter meeting minutes, letters and comments from chapter members and alumnae, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Archives, and The Key. Each chapter is expected to update its history record annually. Contact Fraternity Headquarters at kkghq@kkg.org with questions.
 
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--------------------------------
 
  
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==Highlights of the 1980s==
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“The chapter’s first goal in 1975 was Kappa strengthened internally will strengthen externally. Annual chapter retreats created the chapter goals since then. Most goals centered around the theme of involving actives to a greater degree and chapter unity. A decade later, the chapter goal is TeleKappa, meaning to enhance communication among members by increasing awareness of responsibilities and activities.
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Beta Xi continued to prosper in the 1980s. In 1987, Kappa and other sororities on campus officially became associated with the University of Texas at Austin. Although the association brought challenges, the chapter welcomed the change. Summer Rush was always an event the Kappas eagerly anticipated, and the chapter regularly added large pledge classes of 50 or more women. Beta Xi was busy with many sisterhood activities, such as Kappa Casual in November, but also made time for events with other Panhellenic groups, including Monmouth with Pi Beta Phi and Kite and Key with Kappa Alpha Theta.
 
  
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The chapter worked hard to improve its scholarship and to encourage academic excellence. “Smarties” awards were handed out at chapter meetings to recognize members who had a scholarly accomplishment. In-house sisters received Scholarship Scoops, paper ice cream scoops that were taped on the Kappa’s door, after earning a good grade. For each three scoops earned, the Kappa received a yummy treat—a certificate for ice cream!
+
“Philanthropy was expanded during the decade. Fundraising activities included bake sales, button sales, car washes and a raffle. In 1978, the chapter hosted its first balloon derby. It was so successful that it was continued annually through 1982. In 1982, the chapter created the Men of UCD calendar which was a great success and continued for three years.
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Beta Xi members were involved with a variety of activities on UT’s campus. However, many of the sisters contributed to different groups and programs within the chapter. By the 1980s, Beta Xi formed its own Kappa Pickers musical group. The sisters also focused on developing leadership skills, and in February 1989, chapter officers attended a Greek Leadership Conference.
 
  
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Throughout the decade, the chapter continued to forge relations with alumnae. A picnic with local alumnae often kicked off the school year, and Founders Day was celebrated each year with alumnae. At Halloween, active members often went trick-or-treating with the children of alumna members. Beta Xi sisters worked with alumnae to implement the Alum Chum program, which paired a new member with an alumna mentor. In 1987, Beta Xi received a visit from former Fraternity President Jean Hess Wells, Georgia, who helped the sisters better appreciate the history and ritual of the Fraternity.  
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“Projects Epsilon Omicron funded included supporting a foster child from 1976 until 1981, donating a park bench to the city of Davis in 1978, an Adopt-A-Grandparent program began in 1982 for Driftwood Convalescent Home and donations to the Gonzales Riggins Fund, Summer House Inc., ANAD, Diogenese House, Harper House, the Rose McGill Fund, Kappa Centennial, UNICEF, Muscular-Dystrophy and the Enchanted Hills Blind School.
 +
“Epsilon Omicron kept very busy socially. The chapter held its annual fall pledge formal and spring senior formal starting in 1975. A scholarship banquet was hosted every spring beginning in 1976, as well as a Christmas party. On UCD’s Picnic Day, a barbeque for parents was held at the house. In 1979, 1983, 1984 and 1985, the chapter combined its efforts with a fraternity and together entered a float in the Picnic Day Parade.  
  
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'''Housing:'''
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“Toward the end of the decade, the chapter created a winter-themed dance, and each member was encouraged to invite a non-Kappa couple to attend and share in the fun. Activities with other sororities and fraternities included wine tasting in Napa, ski trips, exchanges, potluck dinners and a Monmouth Duo dance with the UCD chapter of Pi Beta Phi.”
  
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In 1987, Beta Xi worked to renovate the chapter’s house under the guidance of the “Building the Legacy” Committee, a group responsible for organizing and raising funds for the work. The living room was repainted and new items added to the common rooms. Two years later, in 1989, ceiling fans were installed in each room of the house, to the delight of the residents.
+
In 1984, the chapter received third place in the Greek Week competition and placed first in the Greek Week talent show. The members took buses to the spring formal at the Grand Island Mansion. This was its first step toward its goal of increasing alcohol awareness. In addition to these activities, the first Father/Daughter Day in Davis was held. Needed house repairs were completed, a BBQ held and there was a softball game.
 +
During fall quarter 1984, the chapter and the Mothers Club hosted an art auction and attended the annual Founders Day luncheon.
  
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'''Philanthropy:'''
+
Spring quarter 1985, the chapter won second place in the annual Greek Week competition. Spirits were high when the Traveling Consultant gave it a wonderful report during the wrap-up review.
 +
The spring formal was held at the Berkeley Marina and was a great success. The chapter planned a successful dinner for the Chi Omegas and invited the other sororities and fraternities. It joined with Theta Chi to build a float for the Picnic Day parade.
  
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Beta Xi was busy with philanthropic activities in the 1980s. The chapter organized a canned food drive as well as painted the house of someone in need. In addition, the Kappas attended a casino night at a local nursing home. The chapter contributed to the Adopt-A-School program and the Helping Hands Project. Chapter women volunteered their time to serve food at the concessions stand at the Legends Golf Tournament.
+
Alcohol awareness was a major challenge 1985. It was decided to include more non-alcoholic beverages at all activities, the chapter participated in the Tipsy Taxi program and buses were used for transportation to social activities. At a dinner exchange with Sigma Chi and Delta Sigma fraternities, there was emphasis on dinner and games, and only those 21 years old or over could be served alcohol. There was a deemphasis on alcohol consumption overall.
  
 +
The third-annual UCD men’s calendar was sold to benefit Summer House, Inc. of Davis and ANAD. The chapter raised $1,500 of which $1,000 was retained for start-up money for the following year’s calendar. A total of 1,250 calendars were sold.
  
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'''Convention Awards:'''
+
After the excitement of the chapter’s newly remodeled house, it was difficult to isolate an overall highlight of 1989. Finally, it was concluded that the chapter’s outstanding scholarship should be its significant source of pride. Epsilon Omicron received recognition for having the highest grade point average for three consecutive quarters. Several members were recognized at the Panhellenic Scholarship Dessert, including one who received the award for the highest GPA in the College of Engineering. The chapter received the San Francisco Bay Alumnae Association Award for Scholarship Excellence at Province Meeting.
  
 +
Epsilon Omicron’s members were very active in the community and on campus in 1989. One was the editor of The California Aggie, the campus newspaper, and many volunteered for programs in the University Counseling Centers such as Drink Responsibly in College, Peer Counseling in Sexuality and The House, a facility where students receive peer counseling on a variety of issues. Members were also visible as Health Advocates. At the student-run Coffee House on campus, as many as 20 Kappas could be found helping to prepare and serve food to students.
 +
Again this year, the issue of alcohol use challenged the chapter. New ideas to meet this challenge were implemented. One solution was to have Kappa sisters volunteer to attend a social event and not drink. The chapter held forums where all members expressed their views and feelings about the issues. Prior to Christmas vacation, an eating disorder informational forum was held.
 +
 +
This year the chapter retreat was held in Sebastopol, a small town near the Napa Valley. The chapter goal – Ears to Us – was agreed upon by consensus of the members.
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The chapter became very close to a retirement community, Covell Gardens, this year. The members carved pumpkins for Halloween and put together an Adopt-A-Grandparent program where the senior citizens were invited to the house for Sunday brunch. Also this year, the chapter’s first Faculty Dessert was held.
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1991 will be remembered as a year in which Epsilon Omicron truly pulled together and showed that with cooperation, strength and determination, it could overcome any obstacle. In January, the members returned from winter break to find that the pipes in the chapter house had frozen and burst, leaving mildewed carpets and crumbling ceilings and walls. The chapter pulled together to remove damaged belongings so the workmen could begin the renovation as soon as possible. Though the chapter house was closed until April, the live-ins relocated to apartments which served as the temporary Kappa house in which members could gather.
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During this time, the chapter performed more than 1,000 hours of community service. Epsilon Omicron was recognized by the university for its outstanding contribution to the community. Another source of pride was winning the Homecoming spirit competition for the second consecutive year. The chapter’s greatest source of pride, however, was when its rush chair won Greek Woman of the Year, and the chapter won the award for highest sorority GPA at the annual Panhellenic Scholarship Dessert.
  
  
 
==Highlights of the 1990s==
 
==Highlights of the 1990s==
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In 1990, Beta Xi faced changes in the Rush schedule at UT. Instead of summer Rush, the events were held slightly later in the year and became fall Rush. Even with the changes, Kappa still proved successful each year. Chapter Council members attended a Greek Leadership Conference throughout the decade. The chapter continued to host programs to benefit members, such as talks about issues like campus safety and eating disorders and workshops on résumé writing and relaxation techniques. Beta Xi improved its relationship with the University by hosting guest lunches and study snacks for students outside the Fraternity and holding a professor lunch to recognize the outstanding faculty at UT.
 
  
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Each year, Beta Xi hosted Kappa Casual and Junior/Senior Night, an evening of togetherness for the junior and senior classes before graduation. Owl-O-Ween was a popular event, as was Monmouth with Pi Phi. Mom’s Weekend and Dad’s Day brought family members to campus, and the Kappa Pickers regularly performed at the various events. These fun activities certainly promoted sisterhood as well as Panhellenic pride.  
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Epsilon Omicron members were involved on campus and abroad. In 1991, Kappas went abroad to Spain, Denmark and France, and participated in internship programs in Washington, D.C. Many members were involved with The California Aggie, the school newspaper, serving as writers, graphic artists and sales representatives – in fact, one member was advertising editor. Chapter members volunteer for university programs such as Drink Responsibly in College, Health Advocates and Peer Counselors in Sexuality. Kappas were found in volunteer roles at the UCD Medical Center, the genetics lab and academic peer counseling. Members also worked on campus at the student-run Coffee House and the bookstore.
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In 1994, Epsilon Omicron sent four representatives to the Kappa Convention. While meeting Kappas from across the country and recognizing the bonds all Kappas share, the chapter members picked up many new ideas to strengthen and exemplify Kappa values. In October, 23 members and pledges celebrated Founders Day with Sacramento alumnae at Del Paso Country Club.
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After fall rush, Epsilon Omicron pledged 27 intelligent young women, 26 of whom were initiated in January 1995. The chapter worked to improve its academic standing among UCD sororities. It moved from eighth place to second place in 1994.
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The chapter members took great pride in its spring philanthropy, Kappa Kabana BBQ, which benefited Progress Ranch, a local charitable organization for needy children. Members also tutored local high school students to help them improve their academic achievement.
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In 1996, Epsilon Omicron sent a representative to the Pi Province Meeting held in Berkeley. The chapter was recognized for the Challenge to Excellence, and the representative gathered many new ideas to improve the chapter. In February, Kappa participated in the Panhellenic progressive dinner. During Greek Week in April, Kappa won the Greek Sings contest and the overall competition. Kappas participated in the Pi Beta Phi Arrowspike tournament and the Theta Classic run, donated to the Chi Phi bike-a-thon and won the Delta Gamma Anchor Slam basketball tournament.
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That fall, Epsilon Omicron pledged 27 women of whom 25 were initiated in January 1997. The chapter’s annual Kappa Kabana BBQ raised $1200 for Shriners Hospitals for Children. Members also participated in Santa’s Secret Shop in which 30 members helped children choose toys for their relatives. The chapter retreat was held at Lake Tahoe. The chapter also hosted a barbecue for parents during the annual Picnic Day celebration on the UC Davis campus.
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Epsilon Omicron sent six representatives to the 1999 Pi Province Meeting held in Corvallis, Ore. The chapter received, with great honor, the Scholarship Award. During the meeting, chapter members were able to learn about the new member program, the alcohol policy and the importance of ritual. In May, the annual Kappa Kabana BBQ raised $3000 which was donated in equal amounts to the Kappa Foundation, the Mission Teaching Foundation and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Chapter members also participated in activities supporting the Yolo County Battered Women’s Shelter and CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) among many others. Kappas also participated in Classical Companions in which members accompanied senior citizens to local classical music concerts.
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This was a very busy and outstanding year for Epsilon Omicron in Davis, Calif. In the winter, Kappas made Valentines that were given to a retirement center in Davis. There was a huge turnout resulting in many more Valentines being made than anticipated. In March, the chapter’s Public Relations Chair planned the Mother-Daughter event, a catered dinner at the chapter house and a play at a local theater.
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At the beginning of April, Epsilon Omicron hosted the Pi Province Meeting in Sacramento. It was filled with informative workshops as well as bonding time with alumnae and girls from other chapters.
 +
In the spring, the chapter had its first spring informal recruitment. It was very successful, and the chapter gained four new members who were initiated at the end of the quarter. Kappa Klassic, held in May, was outstanding and raised $2500 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
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In the fall, Epsilon Omicron had a fun formal recruitment which resulted in 27 new members. This was above quota, and 26 were initiated in November. In October, a Leadership Consultant visited the chapter, and it was a very positive visit. She worked on having the members all have a better understanding of what the different officers do and the qualities they possess, since chapter elections were coming up.
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At the end of the year, the chapter participated in Pi Kappa Alpha’s philanthropy event called Pike’s Dream Girl. Our representative won first place. Epsilon Omicron had the highest house GPA of all of the sororities at Davis this year.
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 +
==Highlights of 2000==
  
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'''Housing:'''
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UC Davis is one of the top ten public universities in the country, with 110 undergraduate majors. The Greek system is only about 10 percent of the campus, but plays an extremely active part in campus life. The chapter had about 83 girls in 2005, putting it above the all-sorority average at Davis. The chapter was active in the community, on campus and with other Greek organizations.
  
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In 1990, Beta Xi received the gift of new furniture in the bedrooms of the house. The chapter members were grateful to the House Board for the new beds and dressers.
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The archives display this year highlighted the connection between the early years of the chapter and where it stands today. The display included a photo of the Kappa football team from 1975, the year the chapter was founded, along with other memorabilia to remind the members that Epsilon Omicron was started by outstanding women who today’s members can still relate to and connect with decades later.
  
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'''Philanthropy:'''
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The chapter’s Co-Philanthropy Chairs were hard at work all year organizing events. In May, the chapter hosted the Kappa Klassic, a golf tournament that raised more than $3,000 for our philanthropies. In addition, the second-annual Kappa Kickball tournament was held in November, and helped promote cancer awareness by participating in the UC Davis Relay for Life, the largest college relay in California. Epsilon Omicron’s hard work was recognized when it received the Philanthropy Award at the Pi Province meeting in April. A sophomore member took the initiative to organize a very successful designer jeans sale at the house in which members of every chapter on campus participated.
  
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Philanthropy remained important to Beta Xi throughout the 1990s. The chapter regularly served food at the concessions at the Legends of Golf tournament to raise funds for charity. In 1990, the Kappas established the “Key to the Heart” volleyball tournament as the chapter philanthropy event. A few years later, Beta Xi began to host its annual Kappa Klassic Pool Tournament, which benefitted Children’s Shelter, a battered women’s shelter, the Austin Child Guidance Center, and the Children’s Advocacy Center throughout the years. Habitat for Humanity also became an important project for the chapter.  
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The chapter’s Social Chairs planned numerous events including both the traditional quarterly formals and the first Kappa Krush party. The Public Relations Chair organized a Mother-Daughter Bunco tournament and a Father-Daughter Casino Night which were also a lot of fun.
  
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In 1995, the Kappas worked with Sig Ep to repair and repaint a house for an underprivileged elderly widow. The chapter women took time each year to participate in Challenger Little League, where the members coached and cheered for disabled children.  
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The chapter had a very successful recruitment which focused on values-based recruiting, and held a workshop to help the members recognize the leadership qualities in potential new members. This workshop and mindset during the hectic week of recruitment helped the members make membership decisions based on the values the chapter collectively agreed were most important, such as respect, leadership, diversity and loyalty. Thirty new members pledged Kappa in the fall, the largest pledge class in chapter history.
  
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Other philanthropic activities included hosting a blood drive for Brackenridge Hospital, volunteering at Barton House Alzheimer’s Unit, donatng to a deaf community’s garage sale as well as to Goodwill, and participating in the Texas Relays tournament, an AIDS walk,  and Forty Acres Fest. In 1998, Beta Xi hosted a ticket-selling fundraiser where the chapter raised over $3,000 for Blue Mist, a band comprised of blind musicians.
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Kappas continued to shine as leaders in other organizations on campus. In the greater Greek community, Kappa was represented on Panhellenic with a member serving as president, and on the Greek Conduct Board. Kappas were members of the UC Davis swimming, water polo and equestrian teams. Kappas also participated in the student body lobby corps, STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), internships in a broad variety of fields and numerous other student groups.  
  
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In 2007, UC Davis had a student body of about 23,000 undergraduates and was ranked 13th among public universities in the United States by US News and World Report. About 40 percent of undergraduates continued on to post-graduate education according to The Princeton Review. Only about eight percent of the student body was involved in Greek organizations, but Greek men and women had a huge presence on campus in the Student Senate and on athletic teams, among other student groups and in their wide-reaching philanthropy events, from benefit concerts to the Kappa Klassic.
  
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'''Convention Awards:'''
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The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was regarded as one of the best chapters on campus in 2007 with 88 active members.
  
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==Highlights of 2000-2010==
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The archives display this year consisted of a Powerpoint presentation recounting the origin of the 33-year-old Epsilon Omicron Chapter. The presentation featured facts about Epsilon Omicron’s humble beginnings accompanied by pictures of the very first 1975 pledge class and pledge class retreat to Yosemite National Park.
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Beta Xi welcomed the new millenium with a variety of new chapter activities. Each year, the sisters gathered at a chapter retreat in the fall to build and restore relationships within the chapter. New sisterhood programs included television nights, a makeover with a make-up artist, a cooking class, a yoga class, manicures, and a ceramics class. To prepare for Recruitment, a Work Week was held in which the entire chapter learned new skits, practiced old songs, and perfected Recruitment strategies. A leadership workshop for the outgoing and incoming officers, and their advisers, to aid in the transition process. The Vice President-Academic Excellence worked to improve the chapter’s G.P.A. by implementing the “Owl Jar” program, which recognized members for their hard work, and introducing the “Study Fairy,” a magical being who rewarded Kappas found studying on campus.
 
  
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Social events included Kappa Cocktail, Owl-O-Ween, Monmouth Duo with Pi Beta Phi, Kappa/Tri-Delt Ranch, Parents’ Weekend, Mom and Dad Weekends, and Junior/Senior Night. One evening the entire chapter attended a sing-a-long at a local restaurant. Beta Xi also continued the tradition of hosting a Halloween party and trick-or-treating for the children of local alumnae.
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The 2008 calendar year was a remarkable one for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Its philanthropic events, including the Kappa Klassic  golf tournament and Kappa Kickball tournament, raised more than $8000. The chapter also participated in the UC Davis Relay for Life, a campus-wide 24-hour relay established to spread cancer awareness and raise donations for cancer research.
  
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The year also included its fair share of successful social events including the traditional quarterly formals and the first ‘80s Prom Party. The Public Relations Chair organized a mother-daughter yoga class and a father-daughter outing to a San Francisco Giants game which provided fun ways for parents to spend time with their daughters and meet some other members of Kappa.
  
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'''Housing:'''
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The school year also began with an extremely successful recruitment. High morale kept spirits high during a chaotic recruitment week and contributed to the addition of forty-four new members, breaking last year’s largest pledge class record of thirty.
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Beta Xi continued to occupy the chapter house throughout the decade.  
 
  
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Epsilon Omicron also renewed its inter-Kappa relations with other neighboring Pi Province chapters by participating in leadership training at UC Berkeley where chapters Pi Deuteron, Beta Eta Deuteron and Eta Mu, as well as our own Epsilon Omicron, all attended. Each officer met with respective officers from each chapter and discussed goals, improvements, and responsibilities of their officer position. This opportunity allowed the chapter leaders to meet members from other neighboring chapters and strengthened inter-Kappa relations and unity. It also allowed the members to take away valuable knowledge of how leadership positions are conducted at other chapters and apply new ideas to how the chapter conducts its positions at Davis.
  
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'''Philanthropy:'''
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Kappas continued to exemplify a well-rounded and diverse group of women. Kappas were members of UC Davis swimming, water ski, water polo, track and equestrian teams and have a wide participation in internship opportunities and student body interest and lobby groups.
  
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Philanthropy was a priority for Beta Xi in the twenty-first century. The chapter maintained traditions such as the Kappa Klassic Pool Tournament, which raised almost $5,000 for a charity in 2006. Other philanthropic activities included holding a Chili Cookoff with the Tri-Delts, volunteering with for the SPCA and the Highland Park Elementary Halloween carnival, decorating the Children’s Hospital for various holidays, hosting Easter and Halloween parties for local children, and making Christmas cookies for hospitalized children. Children have always been a major focus for the group, and in 2008, the sisters provided free winter coats to children through Coats for Kids.
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The 2009 calendar year was a busy and highly successful year for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter in Davis, Calif. Its philanthropic efforts included making valentines for the elderly and sending packages to soldiers overseas, along with annual events including the Kappa Klassic golf tournament and particpating in the UC Davis Relay for Life, the largest college relay in California.  
  
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Two new philanthropy traditions began during this decade. In 2009, Beta Xi hosted its first Kappa Cookout, an event that invited community members to join the sisters for delicious catered food. That year, the proceeds from selling tickets to the event, $7,600, went to The Austin Children’s Shelter. The following year, the chapter raised more than $8,000 and donated the proceeds to the RIF (Reading is Fundamental)of Austin, specifically to the Palm Elementary School. Donations were also made to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The other new philanthropic event was a powder puff football game with Pi Beta Phi. Proceeds from the tickets were donated to the Davis Moon Project, a non-profit organization that collects books to be hand-delivered through organized literacy mission trips in Addis, Ethiopia.
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The Philanthropy Co-Chairs also organized the first Kappa Karaoke, a contest among other Greek organizations which was a huge success. Women from Epsilon Omicron also supported the philanthropic efforts of others in the Greek community by attending and participating in events such as Arrowjam, a dance performance competition, DG Desserts, Pike Dream Girl, Rock our Casa and more.
  
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Chapter members bonded over many successful social events including both the traditional quarterly formals and fun events such as Biker Bash and more. Epsilon Omicron won Greek Week for the second consecutive year. Parents weekend was also a huge success.
  
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'''Convention Awards:'''
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The chapter had a very successful recruitment as thirty-six new members pledged Kappa in the fall. The Education Chair organized an incredible Founders Day in September. Kappas also continued to stand-out in other campus activities. A Kappa served as the assistant recruitment director on Panhellenic. Kappa was also represented on a number of UC Davis athletic teams, student government positions, STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), internships in a broad variety of fields and numerous other groups.
  
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UC Davis consisted of approximately 24,500 undergraduates in 2009 and was ranked 11th among public universities in the United States by US News and World Report. The university celebrated its centennial during the 2008-2009 academic year.
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The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was regarded as one of the best chapters on campus with 104 members actively involved on campus and in the larger Davis community.
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==Highlights of 2010==
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The year 2010 was a notable one for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The members began the year by packing and shipping care packages to soldiers fighting in Iraq. In February, several Kappas baked Valentine’s Day treats and took them to an elderly care home in Davis and spent hours building relationships with the elderly of the community.
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Throughout the year, the Epsilon Omicron Chapter worked on building and strengthening relations with other Greek organizations. In March, Kappa created a team to compete in Arrowjam, joining Pi Beta Phi’s Philanthropy event which benefited the Arrowmont School of the Arts in attempting to spread literacy. In April, chapter members also participated in and organized a team for the 24-hour cancer walk, Relay for Life. Kappas stayed up all night and walked laps for the event which benefited the American Cancer Society. Later in the spring, the chapter organized its main philanthropy event, Kappa Classic, a large golf tournament. The tournament was once again very successful, and made well over $5,000 with all of the profits going to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the Taylor Family Foundation, a camp for children with special needs.
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The summer was spent preparing for fall 2010 recruitment. Recruitment went very well for our chapter as 37 bids were accepted. The new school year brought with it a great deal of excitement from the successful recruitment, and members started planning the second-annual Kappa Karaoke fall quarter philanthropy event. The event raised more than $3,000 for Reading is Fundamental.
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In 2010, one of the most significant changes that took place on campus were the state budget cuts. With the state cutting a lot of funding for schools, UC Davis students along with UC students statewide received a 32-percent tuition increase. The state budget cuts also affected sports at Davis, as four NCAA men’s and women’s teams were cut in the summer.
  
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==Highlights of 2011-2019==
 
  
 
==Highlights of 2011==
 
==Highlights of 2011==
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In 2011, Beta Xi focused on strengthened sisterhood and encouraging scholarly achievement. A chapter retreat was held for the benefit of the members and “get-to-know-you” games were played at the Kappa house. Sisterhood activities included Nightmare on 6th Street, Tri-Delt Ranch, Kappa Cocktail, and Monmouth. The Vice President-Academic Excellence stressed the importance of good grades with the new “Smarty Pants” system at chapter meetings. Alumnae members are often invited to campus to speak to the chapter about job applications and careers.
 
  
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'''Housing:'''
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In 2011, the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma enjoyed a year of sisterhood and charity. Beginning in February with Valentines for the Elderly, more than fifteen Kappas baked cookies and brought them to a local retirement home on Valentine’s Day. This was incredibly rewarding for the girls involved because they were able to strengthen bonds with the elderly of the Davis community while spreading the love on Valentine’s Day. The spring was an incredible quarter filled with charity as Davis Kappas held two philanthropy events: Kappa Dash and Kappa Klassic. In April, Epsilon Omicron made history by hosting its first Kappa Dash 5K walk/run to benefit the American Cancer Society. Kappa raised more than $1,200 with nearly 100 participants involved.
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Beta Xi is currently one of only two Greek houses on the University of Texas at Austin campus in which. 60 members are able to live, most usually live in during their junior or senior year. Every Monday, the sisters gather for dinner before the chapter meeting, and lunch is provided every day for members. Every two weeks, a delicious Mexican Guest Lunch is held where Kappas can bring a guest from outside of the Fraternity.
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While participating in its own philanthropies, Epsilon Omicron also strengthened ties within the Greek community by taking part in the 24-hour cancer walk, Relay for Life. In May, the annual Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament and silent auction raised more than $4,300 with 100 participants. Money raised went toward aiding the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the Taylor Family Foundation, a camp for children with special needs. Also in the spring, Kappa donated more than 300 books to local Reading is Fundamental programs and to schools rebuilding in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
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During the summer, Kappas dedicated their time toward preparing for the fall 2011 recruitment week. Kappa took pride in bringing in a new member class of 39 beautiful and loyal girls to join Epsilon Omicron. Of these 39, ten were juniors, twelve were sophomores and seventeen were freshmen.
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In October, the chapter resumed its philanthropies by hosting the second-annual Kappa Dash. Our second experience with Kappa Dash produced even better results: 150 participants and more than $2,200 raised for the American Cancer Society and for one of our own sister’s cancer treatments. In general, the UC Davis chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma once again enjoyed a year filled with sisterhood and charity.
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There was a well-publicized pepper-spray incident which occurred on the campus on November 18, 2011. As a result of economic issues affecting both UC Davis and the nation as a whole, the Occupy Wall Street movement decided to camp in the middle of the Davis quad as a demonstration against both tuition increases and potential tax increases. In an act intended to protect UC Davis students, Chancellor Linda Katehi ordered that riot police force the protestors off campus. As a result, riot police used pepper spray on the peaceful demonstrators, igniting intense criticism from all over the world. Chancellor Katehi’s decision to allow the riot police to intervene in the situation was criticized harshly, and shortly after the incident, multiple staff members requested her resignation. Not only did this incident bring much attention, both negative and positive, to the campus, but it also managed to intensify school spirit as students fought for their rights.
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Overall, the year 2011 proved to be a real break-out year for the UC Davis chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Davis Kappas proved their school spirit and intelligence in assessing and examining the pepper-spray incident in November. For example, one Kappa involved in the UC Davis student government provided insightful thoughts on the incident while holding her own on a panel of professors. Another Kappa pursuing a career in journalism conducted an intuitive and thoughtful interview with the chancellor.
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Davis Kappas have always had a great reputation on campus; however, this past year was filled with numerous gracious compliments about Kappas’ kindness from other sororities, fraternities and even random people around campus. It is for these reasons that Davis Kappas wear their letters around campus loud and proud!
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The most significant challenge which the chapter faced during the year was learning that one of its new members had contracted cancer. With this devastating news, the chapter president alerted each Kappa via email about the new member’s condition. In response, Kappas banded together to give the member and her family all that they could ever wish for in her time of need. During weekly meetings, chapter members gathered supplies and other necessities such as magazines, pajamas, blankets and cookies to be sent to the member as she underwent tests and treatments in the hospital. Not only did Kappas dedicate their time to ensuring her happiness, but they also dedicated the fall philanthropy, Kappa Dash, to the ailing member. At the philanthropy event, her family attended and cried tears of joy at the love and support which Kappa provided for their daughter. The chapter firmly believes that fate brought this member to Epsilon Omicron at this time so that she could be cared for during her time of need.
  
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'''Philanthropy:'''
 
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Beta Xi continued hosting the spring Easter party and the fall Halloween party for local elementary students every year. In 2011, the Kappa Cookout was again held by the chapter and raised $7,800 for the Davis Moon Project, an organization previously supported by Beta Xi’s efforts. Kappa once again faced off in a game of powder puff football against Pi Phi, an event that raised approximately $5,000 for the Austin Children’s Shelter.
 
  
 
==Highlights of 2012==
 
==Highlights of 2012==
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The 2012 calendar year started off with the newly elected officers of the Beta Xi chapter making a smooth transition into their new positions. Chapter Council also kicked off the year by hosting the LEAD seminar with Kappas from Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The chapter council, led by President Erin Weitzel, met every Sunday evening to plan upcoming meetings and events throughout the year. Erin implemented pillars of organization and enthusiasm which set the tone for the chapter council officers. This was a very important year for Beta Xi and many improvements were made to better our chapter this past year. The officers worked very hard to better the chapter and efficiently and effectively follow out their duties.
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The year 2012 for Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was a wonderful year on many levels. The ladies of the chapter strengthened their bonds of sisterhood through philanthropy events such as the annual 5k Kappa Dash. This event raised almost $2000 for the Taylor Family Foundation. This foundation's goal is to preserve the wellness and enhance the quality of life for children in Northern California living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses, developmental disabilities and youth at-risk through unique therapeutic experiences and support.
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Last year, 2011, one of our new member sisters was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately she could not be as involved with chapter activities. This fall, many of the active women rallied together to insure that we made her status as a Kappa, official. We worked very hard to initiate her, showing our love and support for our sister who was in a time of need.  The women of the Epsilon Omicron chapter are proud of the initiation of our new sister.
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Not only are our women proud of the initiation of just one new Kappa, but welcomed a beautiful new member class of 49 girls, the most this chapter has ever received. These amazing new women are such an asset to the chapter and are well-rounded individuals who represent all that Kappa Kappa Gamma exemplifies.
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Our ladies continued to strengthen their sisterhood bonds through teamwork and dedication during Greek Week. For the 5th straight year in a row, the ladies of the Epsilon Omicron chapter won Greek week, and are hoping to continue the streak! The women of the chapter have been very involved in powder-puff football and other Intramural Sports on campus. Our chapter is extremely proud of recently winning “The Most Spirited Chapter Award” at Greek Awards Night here at UC Davis.
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Another great achievement to be proud of is the Standards Award of Excellence which was presented to Epsilon Omicron chapter this year at convention. We were presented the award in recognition of our commitment to the improvement of Standards in our chapter, our commitment to sisterhood, and our commitment to the unity and success of chapter as a whole.  It is a great honor to receive recognition out of all the kappa chapters nationally and we are very grateful to have been given this award!  We also received honorable mention at convention for our Academics as well as donations to the kappa foundation.
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We are so very proud of all that our chapter has accomplished and the wonderful path we are on!  Our ladies’ excellence in academics truly shined as well.  The intelligent women of the Epsilon Omicron chapter maintained the highest GPA of the Panhellenic system at UCD throughout the entire year.
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We had two women with the highest cumulative GPA in their individual colleges at Davis, Brianna Frisch and Hailey Hinkle while Kellie McFarland won a Panhellenic scholarship. Lastly, senior Amy Martin was inducted into the order of the Omega along with winning Greek Woman of the year. We are so very proud of each of our sisters' accomplishments.
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Around campus at Davis, Greek life is growing. The growing interest in the Greek system at Davis, creates the need for larger new member classes and expanded campus involvement.  Despite tuition increases for the whole University of California system, the number of students attending Davis and becoming Greek affiliates is larger than ever. Davis hosted former President Bill Clinton as a speaker, just before the November presidential elections. This rallied many students together on campus to listen and become informed on numerous current issues.
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The Epsilon Omicron chapter in 2012 grew significantly. The women are becoming more and more involved in the philanthropy events of other sororities on campus as well. As a whole, the chapter is becoming closer as a sisterhood. Our chapter has been involved in many sisterhood events to create memories and bonds to last a lifetime.  
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The women of the chapter have been very involved in Kappa this year and are proud to wear the Kappa letters! The chapter has great relationships within the Greek system, and has a great reputation on campus. The chapter is very excited about their new member class, and continues to nurture and guide their wonderful new sisters, while showing them all the fantastic benefits of being a Kappa.
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==Highlights of 2013==
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2013 was an excellent year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We expanded the strength of our sisterhood by putting on many successful philanthropy and sisterhood events as well as welcoming a brand new pledge class! We began the 2013 year with our annual fall philanthropy, Kappa Dash, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. The Taylor Family Foundation is a foundation run in Northern California whose goal is to improve the quality of life for children living with life-threatening diseases and chronic illnesses. This run through the UC Davis campus had a very positive outcome and we were able to donate $2,091 to the Taylor Family Foundation. One of the co founders of the Taylor Family Foundation, Barry Taylor, recently passed away and the Epsilon Omicron chapter is proud to continue to support his wonderful legacy by donating our proceeds of Kappa Dash to the Taylor Family Foundation.
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In addition to Kappa Dash, Epsilon Omicron also introduced two new philanthropies for winter and spring, Kappaccino and Kappa Klassic! During winter quarter 2013, our Kappas sold coffee out of our house to all who stopped by. It was extremely successful and all the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. Kappaccino raised $690, and we had over 300 people attend, which was a great turnout for our very first time running it. In the spring of 2013, our lovely sisters also hosted Kappa Klassic, a golf tournament to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Epsilon Omicron is proud of how dedicated and caring all our sisters are to each of our wonderful philanthropies.
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As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 43 beautiful new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our sisterhood chair of 2013 did a fantastic job planning wonderful events for Epsilon Omicron ladies to bond over. Some of our adventures included: Trips into Walnut Creek for private shopping at Brandy Melville, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore our famous farmer’s market, volunteering at the student farm on campus, supporting our Aggie sports teams, movie nights at the house, and sisterhood potlucks. Sisterhood throughout our chapter was strong before, but we are always looking for new ways to come together, and these events were a fun way to do so! The women of Epsilon Omicron also pride ourselves on our participation in Greek Week, an inter-Greek competition series. Through our teamwork as sisters, we managed to earn our 6th consecutive Greek Week win! Our chapter is also very involved with intramural sports on campus including powder-puff football.
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At UC Davis, Greek life continues to grow and expand over the years. Each of our amazing sororities and fraternities welcomed strong new member classes and inter-Greek relations have been very good. By participating in many other philanthropy events and supporting other chapters on campus Kappa Kappa Gamma has tried to maintain a strong influence on campus. At this year’s Greek Awards night, Kappa won “Most Spirited Chapter” on campus. Our sister Chloe Hull also won the Jill Peckler award, an award for embodying all that it means to be a wonderful involved sister both on campus and in chapter. As well as being our Academic Excellence Chair, Chloe is on the women’s lacrosse team and has the highest GPA in our chapter. Krystal DePorto, one of our fabulous new members, also won an award for having the highest cumulative GPA for the college of Biological Sciences.  
  
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Callie Williams, Vice President of Organization, maintained an organized calendar of all the events throughout the year and communicated with officers and the chapter about what events to put on the calendar. Along with Callie the Chapter Council put together a great Leadership Action Plan that highlighted the goals of the Chapter for the upcoming year. Callie also assisted with giving chapter members the ability to fill out a Google Form to indicate which committee they are interested in and would prefer to be in, rather than simply designating members to random committee. This was a big change for our Chapter Committees that made members at large much more dedicated to their committee. Callie also prepared for the Leadership Consultant's visit to the the Beta Xi Chapter and hosted her during her stay.
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UC Davis Panhellenic has also voted to investigate how much work it would take to start a brand new chapter here! The addition of a brand new sorority or fraternity would be a great asset to our campus and we can’t wait to see how that turns out!
  
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Laurel Pugliese, Vice President of Standards, worked with her committee to perfect the bus system and make sure members were upholding the standards of the Fraternity policy. Laurel also organized the Chapter retreat at Alamo Draft house in January to encourage chapter-wide bonding. All of Beta Xi attended for singing and dancing to 90's music. Laurel also planned many events for the Chapter to increase bonding such as movies at the house or profit shares at Red Mango.  
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As a whole, Epsilon Omicron has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring and respectful young women, always wearing our letters proudly. We are so excited about our new member class and we cannot wait too see what 2014 will bring to us.
  
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Ady Wetegrove, Vice President Academic Excellence, helped our Chapter improve our overall GPA to be above the All Sorority Average for the Spring of 2012. She and her committee held individuals more accountable for their individual grades while providing them assistance. She also incorporated  “office hours” for New Members and any other members needing further guidance during registration for the Spring 2013 semester. She also organized study snacks at the house on Tuesday and continued the "Smarty Pants" system from last year.
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==Highlights of 2014==
  
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Philanthropy Chairman Margaret Smith and Assistant Philanthropy Chairs Ellen Perkins and Courtney Catalani worked together to plan all chapter-wide philanthropy events. Margaret made some changes this year to our program with the national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. She planned a Reading Festival for the whole chapter to attend to teach kids and spend the day working with them and having fun with kids. She also planned a book drive so that each kid could take home a book. Margaret also helped plan Kappa Cookout in the Fall, Pi Phi vs. Kappa philanthropy powder puff game in the spring, and got members involved with the Wonderball where we went dressed up as princesses and helped with face paint and costumes. Margaret provided the chapter with many other volunteer activities such as Kisses from Kappa on Valentines Day where we took valentine goodies to a retirement home.  
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2014 was an incredible year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. Winter of 2014, we began the new year with our Kappacino philanthropy. We teamed up with the fraternity Sigma Chi to help us raise money that all went to Reading is Fundamental. We raised about $800 and had about 400 in attendance! In addition to Kappacino, in the spring we had our first ever Kappa Karnival. This was the first time ever doing this philanthropy and it was a huge success! This philanthropy helped us raise about $1,200 with half of the money going to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the other half going to the Taylor Family Foundation. This philanthropy was a great turnout for our very first time running it! In the fall, our lovely sisters, along with our newest pledge class, ran our Kappacino philanthropy once again, selling coffee from Dutch Bros and baked goods to all who attended. This Kappacino was very successful as well, raising $632 and having around 300 in attendance for our Reading is Fundamental philanthropy. Planned for Winter 2015 is our Kappa Dash, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. Our chapter is also in the midst off planning a Girl's Academy for Spring 2016. This will be our first ever Girl's Academy event for our chapter. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the dedication and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.  
  
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Sara Beth Tunnel, Event Chairman, worked hard to plan and schedule all of the social events for the year. She worked very closely with Risk Management to plan events that would be safe and uphold the Fraternity standards. She found fun and unique venues to host events with other sororities or parents of Kappas. In 2012 she planned Kappa Pi Phi Monmouth, Kappa Mom's Weekend, Kappa Dad's Weekend, Kappa Date Dash, Kappa Chi O Owloween, Kappa Tri Delt Ranch, Kappa Parent's Weekend, Kappa Kidnap, and Kappa Cocktail. These events were fun, safe, organized, and help brought the chapter closer together.  
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Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. Eunice Lin won first place in TKE Sweetheart, a pageant competition supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ariana Cesare also received first place in Theta Chi’s first ever G.I. Jane competition, which raised money to support our troops. Our chapter also won Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Phi’s philanthropy. We also received second place in Greek Week, which is an inter-Greek competition series. At Convention this past year, our chapter received five awards. The first being Excellence in Chapter Management Award and then honorable mentions for: Recruitment, Academic Excellence, New Member Program, and Risk Management. Our chapter also improved on our history awareness as our Registrar set up a history of Kappa Kappa Gamma museum that could be viewed in our Kappa house. We also began giving wellness facts during meeting through our Risk Management position. Epsilon Omicron also reached out to show our support to the Kappa Kappa Gammas at UC Santa Barbara after the shooting in Isla Vista, giving them flowers and our love.
  
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Kelsey Koentges, Pubic Relations Chairman, did a great job of helping keep members active and bridged the gap between the chapter, university, parents, and alums. She created a monthy newsletter to send out to parents of Kappas and the Beta Xi chapter. She also planned the Easter and Halloween party, both were held at the house for alumni and their children. She helped organize the babysitting list and the Kappa Chirstmas card which was sent out to other UT sororities and families of Beta Xi members. Kelsey also kept the system of the "Round Up Newsletter which summarized the year and sent it out to the Chapter.  
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Over the past year, the strong bond of sisterhood has continued. Epsilon Omicron did a fantastic job planning fun events for our sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as planning events with other sororities to strengthen our Panhellenic relations. For just our Kappa sisters, adventures included: private shopping at Brandy Melville, trips to downtown Davis to enjoy some sun and food at the farmer’s market, supporting our Aggie sports teams, movie nights, and also sisterhood potlucks. To improve our Panhellenic relations, we had a sisterhood picnic with the lovely girls of Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma, also well as a night of ice cream and fun with Alpha Phi. Our sisterhood bond continues as our chapter looks for fun and creative ways for us to all come together! We have welcomed a new group of beautiful, fun Kappa girls into our chapter. We initiated the new 50 members at the Davis Kappa house on November 22, 2014. It was so incredible to see the large amount of girls who went Kappa, showing another huge success for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter.  
  
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Kathryn Uecker, Fraternity Education  Chairman, was in charge of planning program nights at the house. She provided the chapter with fun speakers and programs such as Zumba. Another large improvement was made by Kathryn by re-implement Senior Programming – a once a month program night for Seniors in place of meeting. Kathryn also planned Founders Day in October where the Beta Xi chapter recognizes the founding members and hosts an event for alumni in the Austin area.  
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UC Davis Panhellenic has also been investigating the start of a new sorority on campus. That would mean 9 chapters, instead of 8 that girls would go to during recruitment. This change is still very preliminary though.  
  
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Mary Beth Burgher, Membership Chairman, assisted by Sullivan Franklin-Mitchell, Isabel Dann, Molly Henson and Kat Schindler succesfully prepared for Recruitment. They held 3 recruitment workshops in the spring to plan for recruitment in the fall. They also implemented new fun ways to celebrate recruitment such as having members talk about their favorite parts of recruitment during chapter meetings. They set up different committes and helped implement new change. Beta Xi greeted the largest pledge class in Kappa history and we celebrated the new members on Bid Day by taking them to Abel's on the Lake for a fun dinner.  
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As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women, able to always wear our letters proudly. We are extremely excited about our new pledge class and cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store.  
  
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Katie Satterwhite, New Member Chairman, worked hard alongside Avery Walker to integrate the new members into the chapter. They organized many different activities for the new members and helped bring them together as a pledge class and as a chapter. They taught the new members the traditions and history of Kappa. They worked alongside Caroline Cooper our Marshall to teach the New members the rituals of Kappa after Initiation. They made Inspiration week fun for the new members and helped Caroline with Initation.  
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Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility.  
  
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Kelly Bowman, House Chairman, served as a liason between the in house girls, staff, and Miss Judi. She helped organize and clarify the house points system and selecting 60 members of the chapter to live in the house. She met with the staff and Miss Judi to make sure the house was running smoothly and attended house board meetings. Kelly provided gifts for the staff throughout the year. She also organized Sunday dinners for in house girls that were provided from local Austin restaurants.  
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Since 1975, when our chapter was founded, so was our house. Since 1975, it has been remodeled with more bedrooms, a larger chapter room, and a remodeled kitchen. We are able to have some of our members live together in our chapter owned house. Only nine girls total can fit into the chapter home. This is the only chapter home we have lived in as the Epsilon Omicron chapter.  
  
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Sarah Snelling, Treasurer, was in charge on handling the chapters finances. She worked extremely hard to make sure that the new Bill Highway system was working well and that members could understand how to use it. She was in charge of the dues, budget for Chapter Counci, and any other charges that needed to be made. She also worked to reinburse members and offiers and worked with favors to bill members through bill highway.
 
  
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Ksenia Kolesnikova, Panhellenic Delegate, served as the liason between Panhellenic and Beta Xi. She represented the chapter by voting for Panhellenic initatives. She also attended meetings each week and reported back to the Chapter about new policies set by Panhellenic.  
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==Highlights of 2015==
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2015 was a great year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthening our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. Winter of 2015 we began the new year with our Kappa Dash philanthropy, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. We raised around $1,225 and had great participation from the Davis community. In the Spring, we had our second Kappa Karnival and raised $1,525 benefitting the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the other half going to the Taylor Family Foundation. The philanthropy had great participation from Greek Life and was tons of fun for all who attended. In the Fall, we will team up with the fraternity Sigma Chi for our philanthropy Kappaccino to help us raise money that will go to Reading is Fundamental. This will be our first philanthropy with our lovely new sisters, with coffee from Dutch Bros and baked goods for all who attended. Our chapter also is now in the midst planning of a Girl's Academy for Spring 2016. This will be our first ever Girl's Academy event for our chapter.  We already have started tabling events at Lee Middle School in Woodland to recruit young girls. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the dedication and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.
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Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. Our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. We also received first place in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in. Kappa also won awards for their programing events and advisors at a Panhellenic Awards night. Our chapter also improved on our history awareness as our Registrar set up a display of past scrapbooks made to be viewed in our Kappa house. Members of Epsilon Omicron also have been very involved in the upcoming political campaign, by making clubs and inviting all members to become more educated and involved.
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Over the past year, the strong bond of sisterhood has continued. Epsilon Omicron did a fantastic job planning fun events for our sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as with other sororities to strengthen our Panhellenic relations. For just our Kappa sisters, adventures included: day trips to beaches and Tahoe, trips to downtown Davis to enjoy some sun and food at the farmer’s market, supporting our Aggie sports teams, ice cream nights, and also sisterhood potlucks. To improve our Panhellenic relations, we had events with Pi Beta Phi as well as Kappa Alpha Theta. Our sisterhood bond continues as our chapter looks for fun and creative ways for us to all come together! We have welcomed a new group of beautiful, fun Kappa girls into our chapter. We initiated the new 47 members at the Davis Kappa house on November 21, 2015. It was so incredible to see the large amount of girls who went Kappa, showing another huge success for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter.
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UC Davis Panhellenic has also been investigating the start of a new sorority on campus. This year they voted and decided that they will take applications for a new chapter. In the upcoming years, there will be one to two new chapters.
 
   
 
   
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This was a big year in the Nation's history. President Obama was reelected as President of the United States and Kappas gathered in the living room to watch the events unfold and watch the weekly debates between candidates. Many Kappas donated to the different campaigns and almost every Kappa participated in voting. Another big event in 2012 was the London Olympics. A few Beta Xi members actually attended events at the Olympics. Beta Xi members were involved in many different organizations worldwide from volunteering in South Africa to traveling to South America for mission work.  
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As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women, able to always wear our letters proudly. We are extremely excited about our new pledge class and cannot wait to see what 2016 has in store.  
  
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Campus: Beta Xi is very involved with the University of Texas. We try to promote members of the chapter to be involved in different organizations on campus. Many Kappas are members of honors societies such as the Dean's list or Order of Omega. A few Kappas participate in Student Government and the Texas Athletic program. There were a few changes that were made to our campus in 2012 such as adding new buildings, banning smoking on campus, and having the library open 24 hours a day.
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Chapter Philanthropy:
  
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Chapter: The Beta Xi chapter has many strengths and some weaknesses that we improved on in 2012. As a chapter we are extremely unified. Throughout all grades girls are friends and spend lots of time together. Every day you can see many girls across campus wearing Kappa shirts. We are extremely proud of our Chapter and members are very dedicated to Beta Xi. We lacked in communication between the Chapter and Chapter Council and we worked very hard to fix that and now have clarity between the two.
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What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
  
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==Highlights of 2013==
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Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Omicron, has traditional raised money for Reading is Fundamental, Taylor Family Foundation, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Rose McGill. We also are raising money for our event, Girls Academy.
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Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
  
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The newly elected officers were very excited to get into their positions for the 2013 calendar year. After completing triplicate meetings in December, the officers all felt that they were ready to continue the great leadership that was in place before them. Our first order of business as Chapter Council was to create a Google Drive for us to share. We were astounded by previous the chapter councils’ ability to work without the technology we have today. As a chapter, we communicate much of our information through emails, Google documents, and the Kappa website. We also employed the use of the Gin system to provide all our information to the entire chapter. Our improved use of technology allowed for clearer channels of communication between officers and the chapter as a whole.
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Our chapter chose these organizations because we believe in supporting other Kappa members, as well as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s philanthropy. We chose the local, Taylor Family Foundation because past sisters at Epsilon Omicron had a special connection to it and worked at the camp themselves.
  
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In our first Chapter Council meeting we created our 2013 Leadership Action Plan. We spent time working on a plan that would guide us to chapter improvement and would help us hold each other accountable in our various offices. Our first area was Self-Discovery and Intellectual and we chose our focus to be to support future career endeavors. We made 3 goals for this area: implement Owl of the Week (an time for a chosen Kappa to describe her internship), host a resume workshop and mock-interview session, and offer additional resources such as networking and internship lists. Our second area was Interpersonal Development and our focus was to increase chapter unity. Our three goals were family (plan 2 spring family events), fitness (encourage weekly workout classes at the Kappa house), and film (feature a “Rom-Com” of the Month after study snacks at the house). Our third area was Leadership and Skill Building with a focus on clarity and transparency. Our four goals were to increase chapter usage of the Gin system, make house points viewable and update them monthly, keep a detailed record of the budget, and present information in a comprehensible and entertaining manner. Our fourth area was Understanding and Appreciation of Kappa and we wanted to emphasize Kappa Then and Now. Our three goals were to promote better understanding of formal meeting, ritual, and the history of Kappa, expand the size of Pickers and increase their involvement, and look to alumni for opportunities and guidance after college. We are proud to say that all of these goals had a clear presence throughout 2013, and we successfully followed through on them to make sure they will be implemented in the future as well.
 
  
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In January, the chapter was in the midst of getting adjusted to the new semester and Chapter Council. We received 2 new affiliates, Ella Coffey and Danielle Fenson, and voted to accept them into our chapter. Molly McConn, Membership Chairman, immediately got started on the recruitment process by recruiting freshman to become Area Rush Captains. She also held a meeting for the freshman in order to start teaching them about the rush process. Willa Jolink, Education Chairman, planned a cooking class for the seniors to replace one of the meetings that they are required to attend. Willa also planned the program night for January and brought in Kendyl Richards from Austin Smiles to speak about her non-profit and the importance of volunteering. Peyton Bivins, Public Relations Chairman, worked on the January newsletter. The officers also made a fun video for the chapter that introduced the new leaders and explained their positions. It was a fun way to get the New Year started!
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==Highlights of 2016==
  
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February began with our first “Rom-Com” of the month on February 5th. All of the girls came to the house to watch a fun movie after study snacks. There was a huge turnout and made for a fun night of bonding at the house. On February 10th we held “Rookie Rush” at the house for the freshman. They were taught the basics of recruitment, and all of the recruitment team worked with them to learn chants, the stack, and the general recruitment process. All of the freshmen were so excited to meet the new girls that could potential be our new Kappa members. Additionally, every year we participate in Kisses for Kappa. We donate and make goody bags of Hershey’s kisses to give to a local elderly home on Valentine’s Day. Catherine Wilson, Philanthropy Chair, helped lead the chapter in making goody bags and delivering them to their lucky recipients. It brightened the day of the people living in the home and made Valentine’s Day special for all of the Kappa members that participated. Later in the month, our biggest event of the year, Monmouth, was held on February 16th with Pi Phi. The party was at the Hyatt Regency with huge success! We had a face painter, photo booth, food, and a band. It succeeded due to a lot of work from Isabel Dann, Social Chairman, and Julie Parma, Risk Management Chairman. The chapter took buses to and from the event and safely enjoyed the evening. On February 18th, Chapter Council met with the Alpha Xi Delta Chapter Council as a part of a Panhellenic sisterhood event that Sara Holl, Panhellenic delegate, planned and organized. Chapter Council also went through the Standing Rules and By-Laws during their February Chapter Council meetings and made sure they were up to date and correct for each position. February 21st was our Chapter Retreat at Jump Street. The chapter rode buses out to the event and had a blast jumping on all of the trampolines and playing dodge ball. February was a busy month!
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2016 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2016 with our annual Winter philanthropy, Kappa Dash. This is a 5K run/walk to to benefit The Taylor Family Foundation. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,000. In the Spring, Kappa put on our annual Spring philanthropy, Kappa Karnival. This was a fun event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation as well as The Taylor Family Foundation. In all, we were able to raise $560 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappacino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, with Dutch Bros and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $1,114. Currently, our chapter is planning for Girls Academy in the Spring, which will be at Douglas Middle School in Woodland. Although our Girls Academy from last year did not work out, the chapter is more excited than ever to make this as successful as possible, and we have already begun fundraising for this event. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.
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Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. Also, for the second year in a row, we received first place in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus.  
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As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 45 beautiful new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: trips to Walnut Creek for private shopping at Brandy Melville, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even a fun filled Halloween themed chapter meeting, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter.
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As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.
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Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our weekly meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility.
  
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March opened with the Province Retreat in Lubbock. Chapter Council got on a bus with the A&M Kappa chapter council and headed out for to meet with all the other Kappa chapters in our province. We all had a great time in Lubbock talking with other chapters and learning more about leadership in Kappa. Our chapter received the award for Best Ritual. Overall, it was a great bonding and learning experience for our chapter council and helped kick start the month of March. The first week in March was also House Mother Appreciation week. After our first meeting of the month we all wrote notes to our House Mother, Miss Judi, to express our appreciation for her dedication to our house. Additionally, each day Macy Barnett, House Chairman, planned something special for Miss Judi. Spring Break was March 11-17 and the Kappas traveled across the nation and abroad to enjoy the week off from school.
 
  
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When we got back from Spring Break, our Leadership Consultant, Kristi Watts, came to visit our chapter from the 17th to the 22nd. She had a presentation and activities for the chapter at our meeting on Monday. We also had a program night where Willa Jolink, Education Chairman, brought the Ransom Notes (an on campus a cappella group) to sing for our chapter. On April 19th, Kristi Watts held a Zumba class for the chapter before study snacks, and Lea Edwards, Registrar, hosted the “Rom-Com” of the month for the chapter. March 22-24 was Round-Up weekend and all of the fraternities and sororities hosted fun philanthropy events and concerts throughout the weekend. On March 25th the freshman had another recruitment event where  each Area Recruitment Captain told the chapter about the incoming freshman that they were excited about. The girls made cute posters and signs to help people remember their names. On March 27th Peyton Bivins, Public Relations Chairman, hosted our Easter party for alumni and their kids. We had face painting, games, candy, and an Easter Bunny at the party. Many Kappa alumni brought their kids to the party, and it was a huge success.
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==Highlights of 2017==
  
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April 1st started off with a resume workshop to help prepare for the upcoming round of job interviews. Caroline Cooper, VP Academic Excellence, hosted the event and everyone found it very helpful and informative. On April 5th Catherine Wilson, Philanthropy Chair, hosted our annual Kappa Pi Phi Powder-Puff game at the intermural fields to raise money for RIF. It was a huge success with a snow cone maker, prizes, and a raffle. Kappa won the game for the 3rd year in a row! On April 6th we had our annual Reading is Key party at Zavala Elementary School. Our chapter brought books for every kid hosted an afternoon party, complete with games, crafts, and face paint. On April 7th we had our third recruitment workshop with the freshmen and sophomores. The sophomores demonstrated their rush skills by helping them with the songs, dances, and noise level. Nancy Ellison, our PDC, who was regularly updated by Sullivan Franklin-Mitchell, Recording Secretary, attended our Chapter Council meeting on April 7th. It was fun for Chapter Council to chat with her and get to update her in person rather than through email.  
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2017 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2017 with a brand new event for our Winter philanthropy, Kappa Karaoke. This is a karaoke event open to not only the Greek community, but all the students of UC Davis, in order to benefit The Taylor Family Foundation. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,300. In the Spring, Kappa put on our annual Spring philanthropy, Kappa Karnival. This was a fun event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. In total, we were able to raise $1,000 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappacino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, with Dutch Bros and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $2,000. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.
  
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On April 9th we had our “Rom-Com” of the month, which was right after study snacks and was a fun break for everyone. Soon after, Junior/Senior night was on April 11th. It was a special night where the upperclassman had dinner together at Iron Cactus and talked about all the fun memories they’ve had at Kappa. April 12-14 was our annual Mom’s Weekend. Isabel Dann, Social Chair, planned a fun weekend with a happy hour at a local store, Adelante, and a brunch at The Driskill Hotel. It was a great weekend spent showing our mom’s Austin and the Kappa house. On April 18th we had our very own, Kappa Kasual, as our second date party of the semester. It was a fun party at a local Austin venue called Haven, and girls invited dates and danced to the band. The next day we kicked off Dad’s weekend with dinner at Serrano’s. We ate fajitas on a patio and enjoyed live music under the stars. The next night we paired up with the Texas Cowboys to have an event at a local venue called The Stage. Overall it was a great weekend with our Dads.  
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Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. Also, we participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in and raised money for Huntsman Cancer Foundation. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus.  
  
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On April 24th Caroline Cooper, VP Academic Excellence, planned a networking event at the house for all chapter members. She brought in various Kappa alumni form different industries to talk to chapter members about future careers. On April 26th we had Kappa family night at a local Austin movie theatre drive-in. They showed the film Grease and all the Kappa families carpooled together to see the movie. On April 28th the entire chapter participated in another Rookie Rush event. We all worked together in preparation for recruitment before the summer. Our last meeting of the semester was on April 29th, which included the Senior Send-Off during the meeting. This includes all of the seniors sharing a funny memory from their four years of being a Kappa. It was a bittersweet way to end the semester by saying goodbye to our beloved seniors.  
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As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 48 incredible new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: Kappa Kamp with smores and a bonfire, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even a fun filled Halloween themed chapter meeting, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter.  
  
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Over the summer, Kappa members took jobs all across the world. Some traveled and studied abroad, while others took classes in Austin or worked in New York. From diving with sharks in South Africa to spending an afternoon at Barton Springs, Kappa was represented all around the world.  
+
In the recent months, wild fires in California and the surrounding Napa area have been causing disaster and tragedy for so many families. Our chapter raised money for a gift basket of necessities for a member of our own chapter whose family was evacuated from their home due to these relentless fires. We also participated in many other Greek philanthropies who were raising money for those affected by the fires.
  
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August 12th kicked off Work Week for the chapter in preparation for recruitment. The week was filled with fun events along with a lot of time spend preparing. The Recruitment Team, led by Molly McConn, planned fun events for the chapter, such as a petting zoo in the key garden, while also organizing slide shows and bump group practices. Throughout the week the seniors had fun skits that they presented to the chapter and the rush team gave out fun prizes. August 15th was our Date Dash party that was planned by Isabel Dann at Recess, a local venue. It was a fun break during Work Week, and some of the previously graduated Kappas joined in on the fun. August 21-27 was Recruitment Week for the Kappas. It was an extremely successful year with a new pledge class of 71 members. Everyone at Kappa was so excited to see all of the new members running down University Avenue toward the house when they got their bids. Tatum Jolink, New Member Chairman, planned a great Bid Night for the new pledge class with dinner at Abel’s on the Lake and a face painting. They got decked out in all new Kappa gear and had a great night meeting their new Kappa sisters. And quickly after, the next morning was back to school for a new semester.
+
Also this year, our chapter won Greek Day for having the most participation and effort in the Greek Day activities. This meant a lot to our chapter because it showed how important connecting with our community is to us. We have also begun mandatory sisterhood events which we found brought our members closer together than ever before. Another accomplishment we have recently achieved together was winning the Powder Puff competition that is put on by our Greek community, exhibiting our chapter's ability to work well together and accomplish what we put our minds to.
  
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September started out with our first meeting back from school and formal pledging for the new pledge class. Lea Edwards, Registrar, put the information for all of the new members into Key Reports. Tatum Jolink, New Member Chair, started holding pledge meetings after chapter meetings on Mondays. She planned out a full semester of appearances from each Kappa officer to enhance understanding of the inner workings of Kappa. Macy Barnett, House Manager, updated the Gin system, improving the house point system. Margaret Smith, VP Standards, scheduled meetings to meet individually with each new member. It was also a nice surprise when Caroline Cooper, VP Academic Excellence, was one of six invited to attend the Academic Excellence conference at the Kappa headquarters. She had an excellent time strategizing with other VPAEs about grade improvement in each chapter and learning ways to promote academic excellence.  
+
As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.
  
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Our meeting on September 9th was program night; it was special because a member of our chapter, Barbara Gass, discussed her experience biking from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research in Texas 4000. Kappa Kidnap was our second event of the year on September 12th. It is a very exciting event in which the chapter is unaware of the location of the event until we arrive. This year it was hosted about an hour outside of Austin at the famous Coupland Dance Hall. Girls wore cowboy boots and dresses and danced the night away. Parent’s Weekend was September 20th and 21st. On the 20th we hosted a fun party with the Texas Fiji’s at a local venue called The Stage. There was a fun band and games. On Saturday night Catherine Wilson, Philanthropy Chair, planned Kappa Cookout. Every year we have barbecue at the house and invite our parents and friends to come by after the football game to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. It was a huge success with a band playing in the key garden and the house set up in a football theme. On September 27th Tatum Jolink, New Member Chair, planned the new member retreat. She hosted it at the house and cleared out all of the furniture. The new members played games and watched movies and all got to know each other even better. September was a full month of fun and educating new members.
+
Unfortunately, the Greek community at UC Davis battled a sexual assault case this year which left many students wanting to make a change in our system. The manner in which our chapter, united with other sororities and fraternities on campus, banned together in order to make a difference with this issue has shown a dramatic amount of growth in the Greek community. We united together to take a stand and to make actual changes in the way the system handles sexual assault and how students view it. We implemented more sexual assault prevention classes for the entire Greek community as well as initiated many difficult, yet necessary, conversations that the community needed to have in order to recognize this issue.
  
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October started with our annual TriDelt/Kappa Ranch Date party on October 3rd. It was held at a new venue called Brazos Hall and people danced all night in cowboy boots. On October 7th the new members had an orientation with all of the new members in the UT Panhellenic system. On October 12th the Kappas headed north to Dallas for the annual TX/OU weekend. This was the first year in 3 years that Texas pulled out a win and everyone was very excited! On October 14th we had program night during our meeting and Willa Jolink invited the UT Slam Poetry team to come perform for us. It was a great way for the chapter to see a different side of campus. Lea Edwards, Registrar, planned composites pictures to be taken on October 15-16. Everyone dressed up in black to take pictures in the side living room. On October 16th Chapter Council had a fun dinner with all of their advisors at Santa Rita. It was a great way for everyone to hang out with their advisor and meet the other advisors who do so much for our chapter. We celebrate Kappa Founder’s Day on October 21st. Willa Jolink, Education Chairman, planned a wonderful event at the AT&T Conference center across from the Kappa house. We honored Kappa alumni and remembered our founders. We even had an appearance from the Pickers! On October 29th Peyton Bivins, Public Relations Chairman, planned the alumni Halloween party. All of the local alumni brought their kids dressed up for Halloween, and our chapter hosted a party with trick or treating, face painting, and games. On October 31st we had our annual party with Chi Omega called Owloween. It was at a local venue downtown and was a great way to celebrate Halloween as a chapter.  
+
Our chapter has traditionally raised money for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, the Taylor Family Foundation, Rose McGill, and Girls Academy. We also require our members to have one hour of community service each quarter in order to support and grow closer to our own Davis community. Recently, the chapter volunteered at the Boy and Girls Club in Sacramento where we had the opportunity to meet and inspire young, under privileged children.  
  
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On November 1st we had Big/Little Reveal. Tatum Jolink planned something new and fun for the girls. We had a barge out on Lake Austin and the girls dressed up in a costume to match their bigs. It was so much fun and everyone enjoyed adding a new member to their Kappa family. On November 4th we had reverse pledging for the new members and started Inspiration Week. Throughout the week we had fun events planned for the new members leading up to Initiation. We had a House Buddy reveal party and many other fun things to celebrate their transition into official members of Kappa. On November 8-9 we had Initiation at the house. This year, 47 alums and over 200 actives took part in our best initiation yet. Both the actives and alumnae were eager to participate; all felt a strong sense of renewal afterward. Our white room was 18’ x 32’ larger than in years past due to the extensive efforts of the Marshal, her adviser and her committee. We added an extra Red Room along with 12 Runners and four Marshals to help run the Red Room process. Everyone participated and alumni from around the country came to initiate girls they know and love. After initiation on November 9th we had an Initiation brunch for all of the girls and their moms. On November 14-17 we had a Kappa trainer come visit our chapter. She taught us about risk management and the importance of Kappa’s reputation. It was extremely helpful for our chapter to have her help us improve. On November 19th we had a sisterhood event at the house. We all brought supplies and participated in a fun event that helped boost self-esteem and demonstrate our appreciation for one another. On November 21st we had our last event of the year, Kappa Cocktail. We had a great semi-formal at a local venue Buffalo Billiards. It was a great way to end a semester!
+
Taylor Family Foundation is a significant organization for our chapter to be a part of because two of our members work at the camp and spend countless hours with the children who are a part of this cause. Also, a Kappa alumni of our chapter had a sister attending the Taylor Family Foundation camp which is how we originally began supporting this cause. Our chapter believes in supporting other Kappa members as well as our entire organizations' philanthropy, which is why we are excited to support all these organizations.
  
−
In December we finished up with our last meeting of the year and the old officers handed down their positions. We all participated in Triplicate meetings and were very excited to pass off our positions to a great new Chapter Council.  
+
==Highlights of 2018==
 +
2018 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2018 with one of our newest philanthropies, Kappa Krush. This is a social event open to not only the Greek community, but all the students of UC Davis, in order to benefit The Weave Foundation, a charity that donates to human trafficking in the Sacramento area. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,500. In the Spring, Kappa put on our second annual spring philanthropy, Kappa Karaoke. This was a singing event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. In total, we were able to raise $1,300 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall, Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappaccino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, as well as donate to the Camp Fire relief, with Dutch Bros, Yerbas and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $2,200. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible. Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy, and ended up placing 3rd. We, also, participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in and raised money for Huntsman Cancer Foundation - in this one we ended up coming in 1st place. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies while also having a little fun on the side. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus. As we welcomed a brand new pledge class of 37 incredible new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, photoshoots in new, adventurous places, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even fun-filled Halloween and Christmas themed chapter meetings, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter. In the recent months, wild fires in California and the surroudning Paradise area have been causing disaster and tragedy for so many families. Our chapter raised money through our Kappaccino philanthropy to donate to those affected. We also participated in many other Greek philanthropies who were raising money for those affected by the fires. Also this year, our chapter won Greek Day for having the most participation and effort in the Greek Day activities. This meant a lot to our chapter because it showed how important connecting with our community is to us. We have also begun mandatory sisterhood events which we found brought our members closer together than ever before. Another accomplishment we have recently achieved together is being the back-to-back champions of the women's PowderPuff Flag Football competition that is put on by our Greek community, exhibiting our chapter's ability to work well together and accomplish whatever it is we put our minds to. As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.
  
−
This has been a big year for the Beta Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Every year our chapter is expanding at a much faster rate than the previous year, and our chapter is learning to adjust to our new large numbers. Overall, the Greek system at the University of Texas is growing at an extremely rapid rate, and men and women across the country are realizing the value in joining a sorority or fraternity. As we grow, we are adding many new facets to the personality of our chapter. Reflecting on the nature of our chapter brings to mind a collection of different girls with different strengths, such as biology, guitar, or computer programming. Our chapter is very close due to our diversity. When studying or interacting with other students on campus it is always a proud moment to meet someone who has previously worked with a Kappa. We are all eager to represent Kappa on campus and we hold ourselves to the highest standards.
+
'''Describe the recent changes on campus and describe the chapter’s overall nature.'''
  
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This year UT has experienced many changes. Our head coach of the football team, Mack Brown, retired from coaching after a very successful tenure at UT. A new coach from Louisville, Charlie Strong, replaced him. It will be interesting to see his success at UT over the next few years. The UT Board of Regents has been eventful to follow—with some members disagreeing Bill Powers, the president of UT. The City of Austin has also been growing at a very fast rate over the past few years. There are many new buildings added to the skyline each year and Austin is becoming a destination for people around the world. Overall, Kappa is adapting to UT and Austin’s development and growth with ease, and we are excited to see what happens in the years to come.
+
Unfortunately, the Greek community at UC Davis battled a sexual assault case this year which left many students wanting to make a change in our system. The manner in which our chapter, united with other sororities and fraternities on campus, banned together in order to make a difference with this issue has shown a dramatic amount of growth in the Greek community. We united together to take a stand and to make actual changes in the way the system handles sexual assault and how students view it. We implemented more sexual assault prevention classes for the entire Greek community as well as initiated many difficult, yet necessary, conversations that the community needed to have in order to recognize this issue.
  
−
==Highlights of 2020s:==
+
'''Chapter Philanthropy'''
−
(From chapter’s History Report: 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.)
 
  
 +
'''What organization does the chapter support?''' Our chapter has traditionally raised money for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, the Taylor Family Foundation, Rose McGill, and Girls Academy. We also require our members to have one hour of community service each quarter in order to support and grow closer to our own Davis community. Recently, the chapter volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Sacramento where we had the opportunity to meet and inspire young, under privileged children.
  
−
'''Housing:'''
+
'''Why did the chapter choose this organization?'''
  
−
+
Taylor Family Foundation is a significant organization for our chapter to be a part of because two of our members work at the camp and spend countless hours with the children who are a part of this cause. Also, a Kappa alumni of our chapter had a sister attending the Taylor Family Foundation camp which is how we originally began supporting this cause. Our chapter believes in supporting other Kappa members as well as our entire organizations' philanthropy, which is why we are excited to support all these organizations.
  
−
'''Philanthropy:'''
+
'''Chapter Facility'''
  
 +
Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our weekly meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility. However, we really enjoy the opportunity to spend time at the Kappa house and to gather in the place that we all consider to be home.
  
  
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'''Convention Awards:'''
+
==Highlights of 2021==
 +
This year was successful given all the obstacles that were overcome. In winter and spring, virtually we
 +
hosted sisterhood events and senior membership experience. Additionally, we had programming
 +
covering sexual assault, resume writing, mental health, and a variety of topics. With in-person
 +
instruction in the fall, our chapter was able to maintain some normalcy and traditions. We had in
 +
person initiation, recruitment, Founder’s Day, Kappacino (philanthropy event) Presents, Big-Little, and
 +
Formal. Our chapter’s goal this past year was to increase involvement and we found great success
 +
from the chapter with increased involvement in sisterhoods, community service, and philanthropy.
 +
Traditions and rituals surrounding initiation with bigs writing letters to the littles and the littles having
 +
a bonding night prior to initiation was reinstated with the in-person initiation. Ritual and history were
 +
also prioritized with ritual reviews and Founder’s Day by teaching the members the songs and phrases
 +
of both initiation and formal meeting that was lost during the pandemic.
  
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We supported WEAVE, which is supports women who are victims of sex trafficking and domestic
 +
abuse in the Sacramento area. We also supported National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). After
 +
Kappas across the U.S. and Canada expressed wanting to support mental health initiatives, Kappa
 +
Kappa Gamma officially refocused our national philanthropy to supporting mental health
 +
organizations. Out of the list of suggested organization, our chapter voted to support the National
 +
Eating Disorders Association. This cause is very important to us as many of us know someone who
 +
suffered from an eating disorder or have ourselves.
 +
 +
In the winter and spring philanthropy, with virtual learning we raised money through fundraising
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members as we participated in walk-a thons. In fall quarter, we raised nearly $7,000 at our annual
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Kappacino event where we serve coffee and donuts to members of the Davis community. Through
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this event, we received donations through ticket sales and t-shirt sales as well as donations from each
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member’s individual fundraising for the event.
  
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-------------------------------
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This past year we added a DEI officer to chapter council. This position was added last fall quarter, but
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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
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this was the first year with the position and I was a success. She hosted programming covering implicit
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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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biases and had a presentation for the chapter prior to recruitment to remind the members of Kappa’s
 +
values and inclusivity. She also collaborated with the public relations chair to post social media
 +
awareness posters to spread the message of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  
  
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Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
+
Winter and spring quarters were held virtually with chapter and chapter council meetings
 +
held virtually. There were also virtual sisterhoods and senior events that took place virtually.
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Fortunately, for fall quarter, we were able to resume in person instruction which meant in
 +
person Kappa events as well. I was able to get the chapter more involved in ritual by hosting
 +
ritual reviews to learn songs and have in person initiation. Also, recruitment, big-little,
 +
initiation, presents, Founder’s Day, Formal, and philanthropy were all able to be in person
 +
since they occur in fall.

Latest revision as of 16:35, 14 June 2022

 

Epsilon Omicron
EO
Epsilon Omicron.jpg
FoundedFebruary 15, 1975 (1975-02-15) (50 years ago)
CollegeUniversity of California, Davis
LocationDavis, CA
HomepageEpsilon Omicron Homepage
Media related to Epsilon Omicron Chapter

University of California, Davis


Established 1908


Chapter Founded in 1975


Number of charter members: 13

Charter members: Ann Marie Began, Saundra Marie Brown, Catherine Ann Collings, Linda Marni Kurtzman, Linda Jeanne Maxson, Debra Ann Pevehouse, Susan Ellen Reynolds, Leslie Katherine Rhody, Susan Dee Schultz, Kathryn Prescott Sebenius, Susan Marie Tranka, Patricia Gail Vivado, Nancy Jean Winslow.


1,482 initiates (as of June 2018)

Some of Epsilon Omicron’s Outstanding Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumna who have received Fraternity recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)

Fraternity Council Officers:

Denise Rugani, Traveling Consultant 1989-1990; Province Director of Chapters 1995-1998; Regional Director of Chapters 1998-2000; Director of Chapters 2000-2004; Vice President 2004-2006; Fraternity President 2006-2010, History Chairman 2012-2014; Bylaws Chairman 2014-present; Laurel Apperson (Rosa), Traveling Consultant 1998-1999; Jen Stolp, Traveling Consultant 2003-2004


Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:


Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:


Other Outstanding Epsilon Omicron Alumnae: Molly Bechtel, Chapter Consultant 2009-2011.


History of the University:[edit]

In 1905, the California legislature passed the University Farm Bill, calling for the establishment of a farm school for the University of California. At the time, Berkeley was the sole campus of the university. It would be more than a year before that commission selected a tiny town in Yolo County, then known as Davisville, as the site. The Regents of the University of California officially took control of the property in 1906 and constructed four buildings in 1907.

What was to become the third UC campus opened its doors to 40 degree students (all male) from UC Berkeley in January 1909 as the University Farm. The establishment of the farm was largely the result of the vision and perseverance of Peter J. Shields, secretary of the State Agricultural Society, and the Peter J. Shields Library at UC Davis was named in his honor. Shields began to champion the cause of a University Farm to teach agriculture in a more applied fashion after hearing about California students who chose to go to out-of-state universities due to the lack of such programs in the University of California at that time.

Short courses were first offered in 1908, and a three year non-degree program set up in 1909. In 1911, the first class graduated from the University Farm. The farm accepted its first female students in 1914 from Berkeley. The three year non-degree program continued until 1923. At that time, a two year non-degree program began and continued until 1958. In 1922, a four-year undergraduate program began with the first class graduating in 1926.

Renamed in 1922 as the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, the campus continued growing at a breakneck pace. In 1916, the farm’s 314 students occupied the original 778-acre campus. By 1951, the campus had expanded to 3,000 acres. In 1959, the campus was declared by the Regents of the University of California as the seventh general campus in the University of California system.

Davis’ own Graduate Division was established in 1961 followed by the College of Engineering in 1962. The Law School opened for classes in fall 1966, and the School of Medicine began instruction in fall 1968. As of 2013, UC Davis’ enrollment exceeded 34,000 students. The campus has expanded to more than 7,300 acres including land in adjacent Solano County.

The Early Years:[edit]

Sorority life was a brand-new addition to the University of California campus at Davis in 1974. With the first group of women organized last year by Delta Delta Delta, interest and enthusiasm in other national women’s associations was dramatic. The UC Davis Panhellenic Association held its first formal Fall Rush September 30 to October 6 with eight national sororities represented. Kappa Kappa Gamma colonized a new chapter, known as Epsilon Omicron. Support from the many Kappa alumnae in Northern California and the rush week participants from Delta Omega Chapter in Fresno and Pi Deuteron Chapter in Berkeley made the fall of 1974 a time of anticipation and excitement, new Kappa friendships and great appreciation of our outstanding Fraternity. It’s not easy to begin at the very beginning!

UC Davis had no local sororities, but men’s fraternities had been a part of the campus for many years. There were ten active men’s independent living groups, most with national affiliation and represented by the Interfraternity Council. The fraternities had active “little sister” programs which seemed to have created some of the momentum in the sorority colonization efforts. The women students at UC Davis wanted and needed the atmosphere of congeniality and mutual support which sorority life provided on so many other campuses. The Davis administration was sympathetic toward these needs and respected the standards and past achievements of fraternities and sororities on other California campuses.

When pioneer settler Jerome C. Davis planted 400 acres of wheat, barley, orchards and vineyards in 1868 and pastured great herds of livestock in the fertile Sacramento Valley, he began a tradition which continues in the life of this university. It is the center of a rich agriculture area and the source of tremendous advances in knowledge. An outstanding College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, begun in 1906, now shares a 4,000-acre campus with equally renowned colleges of Engineering and Letters and Science, a Graduate Division and schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Law. In 1974, approximately 15,000 students filled the campus, and it was undoubtedly the bicycle capital of California! Campus enrollment was almost equally divided between men and women, and scholastic requirements were extremely high with the Davis campus getting more applications for admission than any other University of California campus in 1974. The location is appealing to many college students since Davis maintains its small town individuality yet the excitement of San Francisco and the beauty of the Sierra Nevada are little more than an hour’s drive in opposite directions on Interstate 80. Sacramento, the capitol of California, lies 12 miles east, and the political activity of this city carries over to student life.

The Associated Students at UC Davis undertook the responsibility for establishing a good bus transportation system featuring some eye-catching London double-deckers. The California Aggie newspaper was required reading for any student interested in current issues, and Freeborn Hall the stage for all the best in local and national talent in music and theatre. Picnic Day in April was one huge celebration with a list of spectator events from the Lichtenstein Circus to a lecture by Governor Ronald Reagan.

It was expected that 1975 would bring many opportunities and challenges as the new Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter began. Those alumnae, actives and pledges asked for expressions of sharing and caring from all Kappas in this new venture, this wonderful opportunity to express our Fraternity’s concern for the quality of educational life on campus at UC Davis. Adapted from an article in The Key, Fall 1974, p. 9.

Installation:[edit]

Kappas of all ages and from many parts of the country gathered during the February 15-17, 1975, holiday weekend for the formal installation of Epsilon Omicron Chapter at the University of California, Davis. Thirteen very active girls became its charter members after many busy months of building a chapter from scratch.

At the formal banquet Saturday night, the new actives demonstrated their enthusiasm and originality by singing one of the songs they wrote. And Catherine Collings, the chapter’s first president, daughter of Priscilla Osgood Collings, Purdue, responded to the toast of Kit Henderson, president of Pi Deuteron Chapter at the University of California, Berkeley, with the following poem, written by another new initiate, Katie Sebenius:

Joining us together today, Tomorrow, ‘Til eternity.

Simple words are the external bonds, Badges similar to one other, Physically represent these ties.

Each badge is a different key, One to a different heart, To a different girl with much to give to all.

We mustn’t emphasize only the key, We must emphasize what lies under it, What lies within our hearts.

Such strong feelings reserved for special friends, Even for more special people, Sisters.

I came with no sisters, And have acquired the love and trust of thirteen sisters, In a short time.

Growing together through time, Taking parts of each other.

Becoming one in the same yet, Leading our separate lives, too.

What we are going to do this morning, Is to once again externally strengthen these bonds, But the internal bonds of love are already there.

As we move on, Different road will carry us away, We shall always have these sisters, Love is an unbroken circle.


Members of the Sacramento Valley Alumnae Association and of Epsilon Omicron were honored to have so many Fraternity officers share their big weekend. Fraternity President Marian Schroeder Graham, Montana; Director of Field Representatives Kay Smith Larson, Washington; Director of Personnel Marian Klingbeil Williams, Missouri, Executive Secretary Betty Sanor Cameron, Ohio State; Pi Province Director of Chapters Lois Wilkinson Bennett, Pennsylvania; and Pi Province Director of Alumnae Heloise Lee Stewart, Oregon State, spent the weekend in Davis to participate in the installation and initiation.

Pat Maness Kriz, Colorado, president of the Sacramento Valley Alumnae Association, and Katie Johnson Hoff, Oregon State, were largely responsible for organizing the weekend. Beginning with the Fireside Service in the home of Marilyn Woodward Needham, Oregon State, and a hasty practice session for alumnae who were big sisters, advisers and participants in the installation/initiation ceremony, events proceeded smoothly through the formal banquet Saturday evening, a model chapter meeting bright and early the next morning, a luncheon at the Nut Tree in Vacaville and culminating in a reception for family and friends at the Recreation Pool Lodge on the UCD campus.

The new Kappas, who travel almost exclusively by bike around campus, are making arrangements to live together in an apartment complex next year. They are currently sponsoring a Frisbee marathon in conjunction with the Easter Seal Telethon, beginning practice for their basketball team and making plans for a scholarship dinner to honor outstanding members of their group. Meanwhile, they continue to hold informal rush and will hold their net initiation near the end of April.

Adapted from the Spring 1975 issue of The Key, pp. 2-3. (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.)

Highlights of the 1980's[edit]

At the 1985 Pi Province Meeting held in Corvallis, Ore., a history of Epsilon Omicron’s first decade written by chapter Registrar Linda Frager was presented. The passage that follows is adapted from this history. “The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was installed on February 15, 1975, on the University of California, Davis campus. In its beginning years the chapter house was not quite a house, it was an apartment. In the summer of 1976, the chapter acquired a house at 222 Rice Lane. Since membership grew rapidly, the chapter relocated to a larger house at 311 Russell Boulevard with the help of the local alumnae in the summer of 1982.

“Formal rush improved from 1975 to 1985. In 1984, the 1-3-5 voting system was implemented. This system cut hours off the membership selection process and led to very successful rush periods. Rush party from the past decade included Kappa Kickoff, Kapparet, Haunted House, Garden Party, San Francisco, Western, Grinch and Bye Bye Birdie.

“Chapter membership steadily increased. Beginning with 13 members, Epsilon Omicron grew to 102 active members by 1985. The first formal pledge class consisted of five women, but pledge class size grew rapidly; the largest class was in 1984 with 38 women. The majority of those pledging were sophomores and their number continues to increase. The freshman and junior class level sizes have remained consistent during the decade, and there never was more than one senior in a pledge class. During the past decade, the pledging rate increased, and only 10 women decided not to initiate.

“Elected and appointed positions grew in number since the chapter was established in 1975. The appointed position of Song Chairman began in 1977 and preceded the small singing group that began in 1979. Davis Kappas displayed an early interest in athletics by appointing an Athletics Chairman in 1977. The year 1981 was a trial period for Epsilon Omicron: the positions of Historian and Chaplain were created but lasted for just one term. In 1982, the position of Fraternity Education became an elected position.

“The Mothers Club was created in 1976 and rejuvenated in 1984. Mothers Club fundraisers included an art auction, mother-daughter fashion shows and a yard sale.

“The chapter’s first goal in 1975 was Kappa strengthened internally will strengthen externally. Annual chapter retreats created the chapter goals since then. Most goals centered around the theme of involving actives to a greater degree and chapter unity. A decade later, the chapter goal is TeleKappa, meaning to enhance communication among members by increasing awareness of responsibilities and activities.

“Philanthropy was expanded during the decade. Fundraising activities included bake sales, button sales, car washes and a raffle. In 1978, the chapter hosted its first balloon derby. It was so successful that it was continued annually through 1982. In 1982, the chapter created the Men of UCD calendar which was a great success and continued for three years.

“Projects Epsilon Omicron funded included supporting a foster child from 1976 until 1981, donating a park bench to the city of Davis in 1978, an Adopt-A-Grandparent program began in 1982 for Driftwood Convalescent Home and donations to the Gonzales Riggins Fund, Summer House Inc., ANAD, Diogenese House, Harper House, the Rose McGill Fund, Kappa Centennial, UNICEF, Muscular-Dystrophy and the Enchanted Hills Blind School. “Epsilon Omicron kept very busy socially. The chapter held its annual fall pledge formal and spring senior formal starting in 1975. A scholarship banquet was hosted every spring beginning in 1976, as well as a Christmas party. On UCD’s Picnic Day, a barbeque for parents was held at the house. In 1979, 1983, 1984 and 1985, the chapter combined its efforts with a fraternity and together entered a float in the Picnic Day Parade.

“Toward the end of the decade, the chapter created a winter-themed dance, and each member was encouraged to invite a non-Kappa couple to attend and share in the fun. Activities with other sororities and fraternities included wine tasting in Napa, ski trips, exchanges, potluck dinners and a Monmouth Duo dance with the UCD chapter of Pi Beta Phi.”

In 1984, the chapter received third place in the Greek Week competition and placed first in the Greek Week talent show. The members took buses to the spring formal at the Grand Island Mansion. This was its first step toward its goal of increasing alcohol awareness. In addition to these activities, the first Father/Daughter Day in Davis was held. Needed house repairs were completed, a BBQ held and there was a softball game. During fall quarter 1984, the chapter and the Mothers Club hosted an art auction and attended the annual Founders Day luncheon.

Spring quarter 1985, the chapter won second place in the annual Greek Week competition. Spirits were high when the Traveling Consultant gave it a wonderful report during the wrap-up review. The spring formal was held at the Berkeley Marina and was a great success. The chapter planned a successful dinner for the Chi Omegas and invited the other sororities and fraternities. It joined with Theta Chi to build a float for the Picnic Day parade.

Alcohol awareness was a major challenge 1985. It was decided to include more non-alcoholic beverages at all activities, the chapter participated in the Tipsy Taxi program and buses were used for transportation to social activities. At a dinner exchange with Sigma Chi and Delta Sigma fraternities, there was emphasis on dinner and games, and only those 21 years old or over could be served alcohol. There was a deemphasis on alcohol consumption overall.

The third-annual UCD men’s calendar was sold to benefit Summer House, Inc. of Davis and ANAD. The chapter raised $1,500 of which $1,000 was retained for start-up money for the following year’s calendar. A total of 1,250 calendars were sold.

After the excitement of the chapter’s newly remodeled house, it was difficult to isolate an overall highlight of 1989. Finally, it was concluded that the chapter’s outstanding scholarship should be its significant source of pride. Epsilon Omicron received recognition for having the highest grade point average for three consecutive quarters. Several members were recognized at the Panhellenic Scholarship Dessert, including one who received the award for the highest GPA in the College of Engineering. The chapter received the San Francisco Bay Alumnae Association Award for Scholarship Excellence at Province Meeting.

Epsilon Omicron’s members were very active in the community and on campus in 1989. One was the editor of The California Aggie, the campus newspaper, and many volunteered for programs in the University Counseling Centers such as Drink Responsibly in College, Peer Counseling in Sexuality and The House, a facility where students receive peer counseling on a variety of issues. Members were also visible as Health Advocates. At the student-run Coffee House on campus, as many as 20 Kappas could be found helping to prepare and serve food to students. Again this year, the issue of alcohol use challenged the chapter. New ideas to meet this challenge were implemented. One solution was to have Kappa sisters volunteer to attend a social event and not drink. The chapter held forums where all members expressed their views and feelings about the issues. Prior to Christmas vacation, an eating disorder informational forum was held.

This year the chapter retreat was held in Sebastopol, a small town near the Napa Valley. The chapter goal – Ears to Us – was agreed upon by consensus of the members.

The chapter became very close to a retirement community, Covell Gardens, this year. The members carved pumpkins for Halloween and put together an Adopt-A-Grandparent program where the senior citizens were invited to the house for Sunday brunch. Also this year, the chapter’s first Faculty Dessert was held.

1991 will be remembered as a year in which Epsilon Omicron truly pulled together and showed that with cooperation, strength and determination, it could overcome any obstacle. In January, the members returned from winter break to find that the pipes in the chapter house had frozen and burst, leaving mildewed carpets and crumbling ceilings and walls. The chapter pulled together to remove damaged belongings so the workmen could begin the renovation as soon as possible. Though the chapter house was closed until April, the live-ins relocated to apartments which served as the temporary Kappa house in which members could gather.

During this time, the chapter performed more than 1,000 hours of community service. Epsilon Omicron was recognized by the university for its outstanding contribution to the community. Another source of pride was winning the Homecoming spirit competition for the second consecutive year. The chapter’s greatest source of pride, however, was when its rush chair won Greek Woman of the Year, and the chapter won the award for highest sorority GPA at the annual Panhellenic Scholarship Dessert.


Highlights of the 1990s[edit]

Epsilon Omicron members were involved on campus and abroad. In 1991, Kappas went abroad to Spain, Denmark and France, and participated in internship programs in Washington, D.C. Many members were involved with The California Aggie, the school newspaper, serving as writers, graphic artists and sales representatives – in fact, one member was advertising editor. Chapter members volunteer for university programs such as Drink Responsibly in College, Health Advocates and Peer Counselors in Sexuality. Kappas were found in volunteer roles at the UCD Medical Center, the genetics lab and academic peer counseling. Members also worked on campus at the student-run Coffee House and the bookstore.

In 1994, Epsilon Omicron sent four representatives to the Kappa Convention. While meeting Kappas from across the country and recognizing the bonds all Kappas share, the chapter members picked up many new ideas to strengthen and exemplify Kappa values. In October, 23 members and pledges celebrated Founders Day with Sacramento alumnae at Del Paso Country Club.

After fall rush, Epsilon Omicron pledged 27 intelligent young women, 26 of whom were initiated in January 1995. The chapter worked to improve its academic standing among UCD sororities. It moved from eighth place to second place in 1994.

The chapter members took great pride in its spring philanthropy, Kappa Kabana BBQ, which benefited Progress Ranch, a local charitable organization for needy children. Members also tutored local high school students to help them improve their academic achievement.

In 1996, Epsilon Omicron sent a representative to the Pi Province Meeting held in Berkeley. The chapter was recognized for the Challenge to Excellence, and the representative gathered many new ideas to improve the chapter. In February, Kappa participated in the Panhellenic progressive dinner. During Greek Week in April, Kappa won the Greek Sings contest and the overall competition. Kappas participated in the Pi Beta Phi Arrowspike tournament and the Theta Classic run, donated to the Chi Phi bike-a-thon and won the Delta Gamma Anchor Slam basketball tournament.

That fall, Epsilon Omicron pledged 27 women of whom 25 were initiated in January 1997. The chapter’s annual Kappa Kabana BBQ raised $1200 for Shriners Hospitals for Children. Members also participated in Santa’s Secret Shop in which 30 members helped children choose toys for their relatives. The chapter retreat was held at Lake Tahoe. The chapter also hosted a barbecue for parents during the annual Picnic Day celebration on the UC Davis campus.

Epsilon Omicron sent six representatives to the 1999 Pi Province Meeting held in Corvallis, Ore. The chapter received, with great honor, the Scholarship Award. During the meeting, chapter members were able to learn about the new member program, the alcohol policy and the importance of ritual. In May, the annual Kappa Kabana BBQ raised $3000 which was donated in equal amounts to the Kappa Foundation, the Mission Teaching Foundation and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Chapter members also participated in activities supporting the Yolo County Battered Women’s Shelter and CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) among many others. Kappas also participated in Classical Companions in which members accompanied senior citizens to local classical music concerts.

This was a very busy and outstanding year for Epsilon Omicron in Davis, Calif. In the winter, Kappas made Valentines that were given to a retirement center in Davis. There was a huge turnout resulting in many more Valentines being made than anticipated. In March, the chapter’s Public Relations Chair planned the Mother-Daughter event, a catered dinner at the chapter house and a play at a local theater.

At the beginning of April, Epsilon Omicron hosted the Pi Province Meeting in Sacramento. It was filled with informative workshops as well as bonding time with alumnae and girls from other chapters. In the spring, the chapter had its first spring informal recruitment. It was very successful, and the chapter gained four new members who were initiated at the end of the quarter. Kappa Klassic, held in May, was outstanding and raised $2500 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.

In the fall, Epsilon Omicron had a fun formal recruitment which resulted in 27 new members. This was above quota, and 26 were initiated in November. In October, a Leadership Consultant visited the chapter, and it was a very positive visit. She worked on having the members all have a better understanding of what the different officers do and the qualities they possess, since chapter elections were coming up.

At the end of the year, the chapter participated in Pi Kappa Alpha’s philanthropy event called Pike’s Dream Girl. Our representative won first place. Epsilon Omicron had the highest house GPA of all of the sororities at Davis this year.


Highlights of 2000[edit]

UC Davis is one of the top ten public universities in the country, with 110 undergraduate majors. The Greek system is only about 10 percent of the campus, but plays an extremely active part in campus life. The chapter had about 83 girls in 2005, putting it above the all-sorority average at Davis. The chapter was active in the community, on campus and with other Greek organizations.

The archives display this year highlighted the connection between the early years of the chapter and where it stands today. The display included a photo of the Kappa football team from 1975, the year the chapter was founded, along with other memorabilia to remind the members that Epsilon Omicron was started by outstanding women who today’s members can still relate to and connect with decades later.

The chapter’s Co-Philanthropy Chairs were hard at work all year organizing events. In May, the chapter hosted the Kappa Klassic, a golf tournament that raised more than $3,000 for our philanthropies. In addition, the second-annual Kappa Kickball tournament was held in November, and helped promote cancer awareness by participating in the UC Davis Relay for Life, the largest college relay in California. Epsilon Omicron’s hard work was recognized when it received the Philanthropy Award at the Pi Province meeting in April. A sophomore member took the initiative to organize a very successful designer jeans sale at the house in which members of every chapter on campus participated.

The chapter’s Social Chairs planned numerous events including both the traditional quarterly formals and the first Kappa Krush party. The Public Relations Chair organized a Mother-Daughter Bunco tournament and a Father-Daughter Casino Night which were also a lot of fun.

The chapter had a very successful recruitment which focused on values-based recruiting, and held a workshop to help the members recognize the leadership qualities in potential new members. This workshop and mindset during the hectic week of recruitment helped the members make membership decisions based on the values the chapter collectively agreed were most important, such as respect, leadership, diversity and loyalty. Thirty new members pledged Kappa in the fall, the largest pledge class in chapter history.

Kappas continued to shine as leaders in other organizations on campus. In the greater Greek community, Kappa was represented on Panhellenic with a member serving as president, and on the Greek Conduct Board. Kappas were members of the UC Davis swimming, water polo and equestrian teams. Kappas also participated in the student body lobby corps, STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), internships in a broad variety of fields and numerous other student groups.

In 2007, UC Davis had a student body of about 23,000 undergraduates and was ranked 13th among public universities in the United States by US News and World Report. About 40 percent of undergraduates continued on to post-graduate education according to The Princeton Review. Only about eight percent of the student body was involved in Greek organizations, but Greek men and women had a huge presence on campus in the Student Senate and on athletic teams, among other student groups and in their wide-reaching philanthropy events, from benefit concerts to the Kappa Klassic.

The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was regarded as one of the best chapters on campus in 2007 with 88 active members.

The archives display this year consisted of a Powerpoint presentation recounting the origin of the 33-year-old Epsilon Omicron Chapter. The presentation featured facts about Epsilon Omicron’s humble beginnings accompanied by pictures of the very first 1975 pledge class and pledge class retreat to Yosemite National Park.

The 2008 calendar year was a remarkable one for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Its philanthropic events, including the Kappa Klassic golf tournament and Kappa Kickball tournament, raised more than $8000. The chapter also participated in the UC Davis Relay for Life, a campus-wide 24-hour relay established to spread cancer awareness and raise donations for cancer research.

The year also included its fair share of successful social events including the traditional quarterly formals and the first ‘80s Prom Party. The Public Relations Chair organized a mother-daughter yoga class and a father-daughter outing to a San Francisco Giants game which provided fun ways for parents to spend time with their daughters and meet some other members of Kappa.

The school year also began with an extremely successful recruitment. High morale kept spirits high during a chaotic recruitment week and contributed to the addition of forty-four new members, breaking last year’s largest pledge class record of thirty.

Epsilon Omicron also renewed its inter-Kappa relations with other neighboring Pi Province chapters by participating in leadership training at UC Berkeley where chapters Pi Deuteron, Beta Eta Deuteron and Eta Mu, as well as our own Epsilon Omicron, all attended. Each officer met with respective officers from each chapter and discussed goals, improvements, and responsibilities of their officer position. This opportunity allowed the chapter leaders to meet members from other neighboring chapters and strengthened inter-Kappa relations and unity. It also allowed the members to take away valuable knowledge of how leadership positions are conducted at other chapters and apply new ideas to how the chapter conducts its positions at Davis.

Kappas continued to exemplify a well-rounded and diverse group of women. Kappas were members of UC Davis swimming, water ski, water polo, track and equestrian teams and have a wide participation in internship opportunities and student body interest and lobby groups.

The 2009 calendar year was a busy and highly successful year for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter in Davis, Calif. Its philanthropic efforts included making valentines for the elderly and sending packages to soldiers overseas, along with annual events including the Kappa Klassic golf tournament and particpating in the UC Davis Relay for Life, the largest college relay in California.

The Philanthropy Co-Chairs also organized the first Kappa Karaoke, a contest among other Greek organizations which was a huge success. Women from Epsilon Omicron also supported the philanthropic efforts of others in the Greek community by attending and participating in events such as Arrowjam, a dance performance competition, DG Desserts, Pike Dream Girl, Rock our Casa and more.

Chapter members bonded over many successful social events including both the traditional quarterly formals and fun events such as Biker Bash and more. Epsilon Omicron won Greek Week for the second consecutive year. Parents weekend was also a huge success.

The chapter had a very successful recruitment as thirty-six new members pledged Kappa in the fall. The Education Chair organized an incredible Founders Day in September. Kappas also continued to stand-out in other campus activities. A Kappa served as the assistant recruitment director on Panhellenic. Kappa was also represented on a number of UC Davis athletic teams, student government positions, STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), internships in a broad variety of fields and numerous other groups.

UC Davis consisted of approximately 24,500 undergraduates in 2009 and was ranked 11th among public universities in the United States by US News and World Report. The university celebrated its centennial during the 2008-2009 academic year.

The Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was regarded as one of the best chapters on campus with 104 members actively involved on campus and in the larger Davis community.


Highlights of 2010[edit]

The year 2010 was a notable one for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The members began the year by packing and shipping care packages to soldiers fighting in Iraq. In February, several Kappas baked Valentine’s Day treats and took them to an elderly care home in Davis and spent hours building relationships with the elderly of the community.

Throughout the year, the Epsilon Omicron Chapter worked on building and strengthening relations with other Greek organizations. In March, Kappa created a team to compete in Arrowjam, joining Pi Beta Phi’s Philanthropy event which benefited the Arrowmont School of the Arts in attempting to spread literacy. In April, chapter members also participated in and organized a team for the 24-hour cancer walk, Relay for Life. Kappas stayed up all night and walked laps for the event which benefited the American Cancer Society. Later in the spring, the chapter organized its main philanthropy event, Kappa Classic, a large golf tournament. The tournament was once again very successful, and made well over $5,000 with all of the profits going to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the Taylor Family Foundation, a camp for children with special needs.

The summer was spent preparing for fall 2010 recruitment. Recruitment went very well for our chapter as 37 bids were accepted. The new school year brought with it a great deal of excitement from the successful recruitment, and members started planning the second-annual Kappa Karaoke fall quarter philanthropy event. The event raised more than $3,000 for Reading is Fundamental.

In 2010, one of the most significant changes that took place on campus were the state budget cuts. With the state cutting a lot of funding for schools, UC Davis students along with UC students statewide received a 32-percent tuition increase. The state budget cuts also affected sports at Davis, as four NCAA men’s and women’s teams were cut in the summer.


Highlights of 2011[edit]

In 2011, the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma enjoyed a year of sisterhood and charity. Beginning in February with Valentines for the Elderly, more than fifteen Kappas baked cookies and brought them to a local retirement home on Valentine’s Day. This was incredibly rewarding for the girls involved because they were able to strengthen bonds with the elderly of the Davis community while spreading the love on Valentine’s Day. The spring was an incredible quarter filled with charity as Davis Kappas held two philanthropy events: Kappa Dash and Kappa Klassic. In April, Epsilon Omicron made history by hosting its first Kappa Dash 5K walk/run to benefit the American Cancer Society. Kappa raised more than $1,200 with nearly 100 participants involved.

While participating in its own philanthropies, Epsilon Omicron also strengthened ties within the Greek community by taking part in the 24-hour cancer walk, Relay for Life. In May, the annual Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament and silent auction raised more than $4,300 with 100 participants. Money raised went toward aiding the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the Taylor Family Foundation, a camp for children with special needs. Also in the spring, Kappa donated more than 300 books to local Reading is Fundamental programs and to schools rebuilding in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.

During the summer, Kappas dedicated their time toward preparing for the fall 2011 recruitment week. Kappa took pride in bringing in a new member class of 39 beautiful and loyal girls to join Epsilon Omicron. Of these 39, ten were juniors, twelve were sophomores and seventeen were freshmen.

In October, the chapter resumed its philanthropies by hosting the second-annual Kappa Dash. Our second experience with Kappa Dash produced even better results: 150 participants and more than $2,200 raised for the American Cancer Society and for one of our own sister’s cancer treatments. In general, the UC Davis chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma once again enjoyed a year filled with sisterhood and charity.

There was a well-publicized pepper-spray incident which occurred on the campus on November 18, 2011. As a result of economic issues affecting both UC Davis and the nation as a whole, the Occupy Wall Street movement decided to camp in the middle of the Davis quad as a demonstration against both tuition increases and potential tax increases. In an act intended to protect UC Davis students, Chancellor Linda Katehi ordered that riot police force the protestors off campus. As a result, riot police used pepper spray on the peaceful demonstrators, igniting intense criticism from all over the world. Chancellor Katehi’s decision to allow the riot police to intervene in the situation was criticized harshly, and shortly after the incident, multiple staff members requested her resignation. Not only did this incident bring much attention, both negative and positive, to the campus, but it also managed to intensify school spirit as students fought for their rights. Overall, the year 2011 proved to be a real break-out year for the UC Davis chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Davis Kappas proved their school spirit and intelligence in assessing and examining the pepper-spray incident in November. For example, one Kappa involved in the UC Davis student government provided insightful thoughts on the incident while holding her own on a panel of professors. Another Kappa pursuing a career in journalism conducted an intuitive and thoughtful interview with the chancellor.

Davis Kappas have always had a great reputation on campus; however, this past year was filled with numerous gracious compliments about Kappas’ kindness from other sororities, fraternities and even random people around campus. It is for these reasons that Davis Kappas wear their letters around campus loud and proud! The most significant challenge which the chapter faced during the year was learning that one of its new members had contracted cancer. With this devastating news, the chapter president alerted each Kappa via email about the new member’s condition. In response, Kappas banded together to give the member and her family all that they could ever wish for in her time of need. During weekly meetings, chapter members gathered supplies and other necessities such as magazines, pajamas, blankets and cookies to be sent to the member as she underwent tests and treatments in the hospital. Not only did Kappas dedicate their time to ensuring her happiness, but they also dedicated the fall philanthropy, Kappa Dash, to the ailing member. At the philanthropy event, her family attended and cried tears of joy at the love and support which Kappa provided for their daughter. The chapter firmly believes that fate brought this member to Epsilon Omicron at this time so that she could be cared for during her time of need.


Highlights of 2012[edit]

The year 2012 for Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was a wonderful year on many levels. The ladies of the chapter strengthened their bonds of sisterhood through philanthropy events such as the annual 5k Kappa Dash. This event raised almost $2000 for the Taylor Family Foundation. This foundation's goal is to preserve the wellness and enhance the quality of life for children in Northern California living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses, developmental disabilities and youth at-risk through unique therapeutic experiences and support.

Last year, 2011, one of our new member sisters was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately she could not be as involved with chapter activities. This fall, many of the active women rallied together to insure that we made her status as a Kappa, official. We worked very hard to initiate her, showing our love and support for our sister who was in a time of need. The women of the Epsilon Omicron chapter are proud of the initiation of our new sister.

Not only are our women proud of the initiation of just one new Kappa, but welcomed a beautiful new member class of 49 girls, the most this chapter has ever received. These amazing new women are such an asset to the chapter and are well-rounded individuals who represent all that Kappa Kappa Gamma exemplifies.

Our ladies continued to strengthen their sisterhood bonds through teamwork and dedication during Greek Week. For the 5th straight year in a row, the ladies of the Epsilon Omicron chapter won Greek week, and are hoping to continue the streak! The women of the chapter have been very involved in powder-puff football and other Intramural Sports on campus. Our chapter is extremely proud of recently winning “The Most Spirited Chapter Award” at Greek Awards Night here at UC Davis.

Another great achievement to be proud of is the Standards Award of Excellence which was presented to Epsilon Omicron chapter this year at convention. We were presented the award in recognition of our commitment to the improvement of Standards in our chapter, our commitment to sisterhood, and our commitment to the unity and success of chapter as a whole. It is a great honor to receive recognition out of all the kappa chapters nationally and we are very grateful to have been given this award! We also received honorable mention at convention for our Academics as well as donations to the kappa foundation.

We are so very proud of all that our chapter has accomplished and the wonderful path we are on! Our ladies’ excellence in academics truly shined as well. The intelligent women of the Epsilon Omicron chapter maintained the highest GPA of the Panhellenic system at UCD throughout the entire year.

We had two women with the highest cumulative GPA in their individual colleges at Davis, Brianna Frisch and Hailey Hinkle while Kellie McFarland won a Panhellenic scholarship. Lastly, senior Amy Martin was inducted into the order of the Omega along with winning Greek Woman of the year. We are so very proud of each of our sisters' accomplishments.

Around campus at Davis, Greek life is growing. The growing interest in the Greek system at Davis, creates the need for larger new member classes and expanded campus involvement. Despite tuition increases for the whole University of California system, the number of students attending Davis and becoming Greek affiliates is larger than ever. Davis hosted former President Bill Clinton as a speaker, just before the November presidential elections. This rallied many students together on campus to listen and become informed on numerous current issues.

The Epsilon Omicron chapter in 2012 grew significantly. The women are becoming more and more involved in the philanthropy events of other sororities on campus as well. As a whole, the chapter is becoming closer as a sisterhood. Our chapter has been involved in many sisterhood events to create memories and bonds to last a lifetime.

The women of the chapter have been very involved in Kappa this year and are proud to wear the Kappa letters! The chapter has great relationships within the Greek system, and has a great reputation on campus. The chapter is very excited about their new member class, and continues to nurture and guide their wonderful new sisters, while showing them all the fantastic benefits of being a Kappa.

Highlights of 2013[edit]

2013 was an excellent year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We expanded the strength of our sisterhood by putting on many successful philanthropy and sisterhood events as well as welcoming a brand new pledge class! We began the 2013 year with our annual fall philanthropy, Kappa Dash, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. The Taylor Family Foundation is a foundation run in Northern California whose goal is to improve the quality of life for children living with life-threatening diseases and chronic illnesses. This run through the UC Davis campus had a very positive outcome and we were able to donate $2,091 to the Taylor Family Foundation. One of the co founders of the Taylor Family Foundation, Barry Taylor, recently passed away and the Epsilon Omicron chapter is proud to continue to support his wonderful legacy by donating our proceeds of Kappa Dash to the Taylor Family Foundation.

In addition to Kappa Dash, Epsilon Omicron also introduced two new philanthropies for winter and spring, Kappaccino and Kappa Klassic! During winter quarter 2013, our Kappas sold coffee out of our house to all who stopped by. It was extremely successful and all the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. Kappaccino raised $690, and we had over 300 people attend, which was a great turnout for our very first time running it. In the spring of 2013, our lovely sisters also hosted Kappa Klassic, a golf tournament to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Epsilon Omicron is proud of how dedicated and caring all our sisters are to each of our wonderful philanthropies.

As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 43 beautiful new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our sisterhood chair of 2013 did a fantastic job planning wonderful events for Epsilon Omicron ladies to bond over. Some of our adventures included: Trips into Walnut Creek for private shopping at Brandy Melville, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore our famous farmer’s market, volunteering at the student farm on campus, supporting our Aggie sports teams, movie nights at the house, and sisterhood potlucks. Sisterhood throughout our chapter was strong before, but we are always looking for new ways to come together, and these events were a fun way to do so! The women of Epsilon Omicron also pride ourselves on our participation in Greek Week, an inter-Greek competition series. Through our teamwork as sisters, we managed to earn our 6th consecutive Greek Week win! Our chapter is also very involved with intramural sports on campus including powder-puff football.

At UC Davis, Greek life continues to grow and expand over the years. Each of our amazing sororities and fraternities welcomed strong new member classes and inter-Greek relations have been very good. By participating in many other philanthropy events and supporting other chapters on campus Kappa Kappa Gamma has tried to maintain a strong influence on campus. At this year’s Greek Awards night, Kappa won “Most Spirited Chapter” on campus. Our sister Chloe Hull also won the Jill Peckler award, an award for embodying all that it means to be a wonderful involved sister both on campus and in chapter. As well as being our Academic Excellence Chair, Chloe is on the women’s lacrosse team and has the highest GPA in our chapter. Krystal DePorto, one of our fabulous new members, also won an award for having the highest cumulative GPA for the college of Biological Sciences.

UC Davis Panhellenic has also voted to investigate how much work it would take to start a brand new chapter here! The addition of a brand new sorority or fraternity would be a great asset to our campus and we can’t wait to see how that turns out!

As a whole, Epsilon Omicron has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring and respectful young women, always wearing our letters proudly. We are so excited about our new member class and we cannot wait too see what 2014 will bring to us.

Highlights of 2014[edit]

2014 was an incredible year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. Winter of 2014, we began the new year with our Kappacino philanthropy. We teamed up with the fraternity Sigma Chi to help us raise money that all went to Reading is Fundamental. We raised about $800 and had about 400 in attendance! In addition to Kappacino, in the spring we had our first ever Kappa Karnival. This was the first time ever doing this philanthropy and it was a huge success! This philanthropy helped us raise about $1,200 with half of the money going to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the other half going to the Taylor Family Foundation. This philanthropy was a great turnout for our very first time running it! In the fall, our lovely sisters, along with our newest pledge class, ran our Kappacino philanthropy once again, selling coffee from Dutch Bros and baked goods to all who attended. This Kappacino was very successful as well, raising $632 and having around 300 in attendance for our Reading is Fundamental philanthropy. Planned for Winter 2015 is our Kappa Dash, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. Our chapter is also in the midst off planning a Girl's Academy for Spring 2016. This will be our first ever Girl's Academy event for our chapter. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the dedication and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.

Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. Eunice Lin won first place in TKE Sweetheart, a pageant competition supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ariana Cesare also received first place in Theta Chi’s first ever G.I. Jane competition, which raised money to support our troops. Our chapter also won Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Phi’s philanthropy. We also received second place in Greek Week, which is an inter-Greek competition series. At Convention this past year, our chapter received five awards. The first being Excellence in Chapter Management Award and then honorable mentions for: Recruitment, Academic Excellence, New Member Program, and Risk Management. Our chapter also improved on our history awareness as our Registrar set up a history of Kappa Kappa Gamma museum that could be viewed in our Kappa house. We also began giving wellness facts during meeting through our Risk Management position. Epsilon Omicron also reached out to show our support to the Kappa Kappa Gammas at UC Santa Barbara after the shooting in Isla Vista, giving them flowers and our love.

Over the past year, the strong bond of sisterhood has continued. Epsilon Omicron did a fantastic job planning fun events for our sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as planning events with other sororities to strengthen our Panhellenic relations. For just our Kappa sisters, adventures included: private shopping at Brandy Melville, trips to downtown Davis to enjoy some sun and food at the farmer’s market, supporting our Aggie sports teams, movie nights, and also sisterhood potlucks. To improve our Panhellenic relations, we had a sisterhood picnic with the lovely girls of Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma, also well as a night of ice cream and fun with Alpha Phi. Our sisterhood bond continues as our chapter looks for fun and creative ways for us to all come together! We have welcomed a new group of beautiful, fun Kappa girls into our chapter. We initiated the new 50 members at the Davis Kappa house on November 22, 2014. It was so incredible to see the large amount of girls who went Kappa, showing another huge success for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter.

UC Davis Panhellenic has also been investigating the start of a new sorority on campus. That would mean 9 chapters, instead of 8 that girls would go to during recruitment. This change is still very preliminary though.

As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women, able to always wear our letters proudly. We are extremely excited about our new pledge class and cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store.

Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility.

Since 1975, when our chapter was founded, so was our house. Since 1975, it has been remodeled with more bedrooms, a larger chapter room, and a remodeled kitchen. We are able to have some of our members live together in our chapter owned house. Only nine girls total can fit into the chapter home. This is the only chapter home we have lived in as the Epsilon Omicron chapter.


Highlights of 2015[edit]

2015 was a great year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthening our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. Winter of 2015 we began the new year with our Kappa Dash philanthropy, a 5k run/walk to benefit the Taylor Family Foundation. We raised around $1,225 and had great participation from the Davis community. In the Spring, we had our second Kappa Karnival and raised $1,525 benefitting the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the other half going to the Taylor Family Foundation. The philanthropy had great participation from Greek Life and was tons of fun for all who attended. In the Fall, we will team up with the fraternity Sigma Chi for our philanthropy Kappaccino to help us raise money that will go to Reading is Fundamental. This will be our first philanthropy with our lovely new sisters, with coffee from Dutch Bros and baked goods for all who attended. Our chapter also is now in the midst planning of a Girl's Academy for Spring 2016. This will be our first ever Girl's Academy event for our chapter. We already have started tabling events at Lee Middle School in Woodland to recruit young girls. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the dedication and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.

Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. Our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. We also received first place in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in. Kappa also won awards for their programing events and advisors at a Panhellenic Awards night. Our chapter also improved on our history awareness as our Registrar set up a display of past scrapbooks made to be viewed in our Kappa house. Members of Epsilon Omicron also have been very involved in the upcoming political campaign, by making clubs and inviting all members to become more educated and involved.

Over the past year, the strong bond of sisterhood has continued. Epsilon Omicron did a fantastic job planning fun events for our sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as with other sororities to strengthen our Panhellenic relations. For just our Kappa sisters, adventures included: day trips to beaches and Tahoe, trips to downtown Davis to enjoy some sun and food at the farmer’s market, supporting our Aggie sports teams, ice cream nights, and also sisterhood potlucks. To improve our Panhellenic relations, we had events with Pi Beta Phi as well as Kappa Alpha Theta. Our sisterhood bond continues as our chapter looks for fun and creative ways for us to all come together! We have welcomed a new group of beautiful, fun Kappa girls into our chapter. We initiated the new 47 members at the Davis Kappa house on November 21, 2015. It was so incredible to see the large amount of girls who went Kappa, showing another huge success for the Epsilon Omicron Chapter.

UC Davis Panhellenic has also been investigating the start of a new sorority on campus. This year they voted and decided that they will take applications for a new chapter. In the upcoming years, there will be one to two new chapters.

As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women, able to always wear our letters proudly. We are extremely excited about our new pledge class and cannot wait to see what 2016 has in store.

Chapter Philanthropy:

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

Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Omicron, has traditional raised money for Reading is Fundamental, Taylor Family Foundation, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Rose McGill. We also are raising money for our event, Girls Academy.

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

Our chapter chose these organizations because we believe in supporting other Kappa members, as well as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s philanthropy. We chose the local, Taylor Family Foundation because past sisters at Epsilon Omicron had a special connection to it and worked at the camp themselves.


Highlights of 2016[edit]

2016 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2016 with our annual Winter philanthropy, Kappa Dash. This is a 5K run/walk to to benefit The Taylor Family Foundation. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,000. In the Spring, Kappa put on our annual Spring philanthropy, Kappa Karnival. This was a fun event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation as well as The Taylor Family Foundation. In all, we were able to raise $560 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappacino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, with Dutch Bros and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $1,114. Currently, our chapter is planning for Girls Academy in the Spring, which will be at Douglas Middle School in Woodland. Although our Girls Academy from last year did not work out, the chapter is more excited than ever to make this as successful as possible, and we have already begun fundraising for this event. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.

Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. Also, for the second year in a row, we received first place in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus.

As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 45 beautiful new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: trips to Walnut Creek for private shopping at Brandy Melville, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even a fun filled Halloween themed chapter meeting, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter.

As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.

Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our weekly meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility.


Highlights of 2017[edit]

2017 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2017 with a brand new event for our Winter philanthropy, Kappa Karaoke. This is a karaoke event open to not only the Greek community, but all the students of UC Davis, in order to benefit The Taylor Family Foundation. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,300. In the Spring, Kappa put on our annual Spring philanthropy, Kappa Karnival. This was a fun event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. In total, we were able to raise $1,000 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappacino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, with Dutch Bros and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $2,000. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible.

Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy. Also, we participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in and raised money for Huntsman Cancer Foundation. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus.

As well as welcoming a brand new pledge class of 48 incredible new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: Kappa Kamp with smores and a bonfire, expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even a fun filled Halloween themed chapter meeting, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter.

In the recent months, wild fires in California and the surrounding Napa area have been causing disaster and tragedy for so many families. Our chapter raised money for a gift basket of necessities for a member of our own chapter whose family was evacuated from their home due to these relentless fires. We also participated in many other Greek philanthropies who were raising money for those affected by the fires.

Also this year, our chapter won Greek Day for having the most participation and effort in the Greek Day activities. This meant a lot to our chapter because it showed how important connecting with our community is to us. We have also begun mandatory sisterhood events which we found brought our members closer together than ever before. Another accomplishment we have recently achieved together was winning the Powder Puff competition that is put on by our Greek community, exhibiting our chapter's ability to work well together and accomplish what we put our minds to.

As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.

Unfortunately, the Greek community at UC Davis battled a sexual assault case this year which left many students wanting to make a change in our system. The manner in which our chapter, united with other sororities and fraternities on campus, banned together in order to make a difference with this issue has shown a dramatic amount of growth in the Greek community. We united together to take a stand and to make actual changes in the way the system handles sexual assault and how students view it. We implemented more sexual assault prevention classes for the entire Greek community as well as initiated many difficult, yet necessary, conversations that the community needed to have in order to recognize this issue.

Our chapter has traditionally raised money for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, the Taylor Family Foundation, Rose McGill, and Girls Academy. We also require our members to have one hour of community service each quarter in order to support and grow closer to our own Davis community. Recently, the chapter volunteered at the Boy and Girls Club in Sacramento where we had the opportunity to meet and inspire young, under privileged children.

Taylor Family Foundation is a significant organization for our chapter to be a part of because two of our members work at the camp and spend countless hours with the children who are a part of this cause. Also, a Kappa alumni of our chapter had a sister attending the Taylor Family Foundation camp which is how we originally began supporting this cause. Our chapter believes in supporting other Kappa members as well as our entire organizations' philanthropy, which is why we are excited to support all these organizations.

Highlights of 2018[edit]

2018 was an amazing year for the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC Davis. We continued to strengthen our sisterhood by the successful philanthropies we put on, fun sisterhood events, as well as welcoming our newest pledge class. We started off 2018 with one of our newest philanthropies, Kappa Krush. This is a social event open to not only the Greek community, but all the students of UC Davis, in order to benefit The Weave Foundation, a charity that donates to human trafficking in the Sacramento area. This year we had great participation from UC Davis students and the entire Davis community, and were able to raise nearly $1,500. In the Spring, Kappa put on our second annual spring philanthropy, Kappa Karaoke. This was a singing event to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. In total, we were able to raise $1,300 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and it was a great way to bring the Davis Greek community together for a wonderful cause. Finally, in the Fall, Kappa partnered with the fraternity Sigma Chi to host our annual Kappaccino. This helped us raise money for Reading is Fundamental, as well as donate to the Camp Fire relief, with Dutch Bros, Yerbas and baked goods for everyone who attended. It was our first philanthropy with our wonderful new pledge class, and was a huge success, as we were able to raise $2,200. Epsilon Omicron is extremely proud of the time, dedication, and care that all our sisters have put into this year of philanthropies, helping them to be as successful as possible. Our sisters of the Epsilon Omicron chapter have showed their Kappa Kappa Gamma pride by competing and winning in events other Greek chapters have put on. First off, our chapter participated in Arrowjam, which is a dance competition put on by Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy, and ended up placing 3rd. We, also, participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, which was a week long competition that our entire sorority was highly involved in and raised money for Huntsman Cancer Foundation - in this one we ended up coming in 1st place. These events were a great way to strengthen our Greek relationships, as well as help support fellow Greek philanthropies while also having a little fun on the side. Our chapter has continued to improve on chapter history, with our Registrar displaying scrapbooks for all our sisters to look at in our Parlor Room. As the presidential election was in full swing, our sisters became actively involved in political campaigns, encouraging fellow students to vote, educating fellow members on different issues, and being active members of different political clubs on campus. As we welcomed a brand new pledge class of 37 incredible new Kappas, we had an amazing surge in sisterhood over the past year. Our chapter had many wonderful sisterhoods that were a great way to increase sister bonding, and act as a great way to strengthen our sister friendships. Some of our fun adventures included: expeditions into downtown Davis to explore the famous Davis farmer’s market, photoshoots in new, adventurous places, hanging out with our sisters at Davis athletic events, and even fun-filled Halloween and Christmas themed chapter meetings, where the sister with the best costume won a fun prize! With so many new members in Kappa this year as well as fun sisterhood events, the sisters of Epsilon Omicron continue to strengthen our sisterhood bonds, showing another huge success for our chapter. In the recent months, wild fires in California and the surroudning Paradise area have been causing disaster and tragedy for so many families. Our chapter raised money through our Kappaccino philanthropy to donate to those affected. We also participated in many other Greek philanthropies who were raising money for those affected by the fires. Also this year, our chapter won Greek Day for having the most participation and effort in the Greek Day activities. This meant a lot to our chapter because it showed how important connecting with our community is to us. We have also begun mandatory sisterhood events which we found brought our members closer together than ever before. Another accomplishment we have recently achieved together is being the back-to-back champions of the women's PowderPuff Flag Football competition that is put on by our Greek community, exhibiting our chapter's ability to work well together and accomplish whatever it is we put our minds to. As a whole, Epsilon Omicron chapter has shown that it will continue to grow and expand under our Kappa ideals and traditions. The women of our chapter have shown to be beautiful, brilliant, caring, successful, and respectable young women. We cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for us, as we are so excited about our beautiful new pledge class, and all the amazing philanthropies, sisterhood, and events our chapter has planned.

Describe the recent changes on campus and describe the chapter’s overall nature.

Unfortunately, the Greek community at UC Davis battled a sexual assault case this year which left many students wanting to make a change in our system. The manner in which our chapter, united with other sororities and fraternities on campus, banned together in order to make a difference with this issue has shown a dramatic amount of growth in the Greek community. We united together to take a stand and to make actual changes in the way the system handles sexual assault and how students view it. We implemented more sexual assault prevention classes for the entire Greek community as well as initiated many difficult, yet necessary, conversations that the community needed to have in order to recognize this issue.

Chapter Philanthropy

What organization does the chapter support? Our chapter has traditionally raised money for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, the Taylor Family Foundation, Rose McGill, and Girls Academy. We also require our members to have one hour of community service each quarter in order to support and grow closer to our own Davis community. Recently, the chapter volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Sacramento where we had the opportunity to meet and inspire young, under privileged children.

Why did the chapter choose this organization?

Taylor Family Foundation is a significant organization for our chapter to be a part of because two of our members work at the camp and spend countless hours with the children who are a part of this cause. Also, a Kappa alumni of our chapter had a sister attending the Taylor Family Foundation camp which is how we originally began supporting this cause. Our chapter believes in supporting other Kappa members as well as our entire organizations' philanthropy, which is why we are excited to support all these organizations.

Chapter Facility

Our chapter, Epsilon Omicron, holds our weekly meetings in the chapter room of our Kappa house in Davis. This house is chapter owned. We also occasionally have meetings that take place in a university owned facility. However, we really enjoy the opportunity to spend time at the Kappa house and to gather in the place that we all consider to be home.


Highlights of 2021[edit]

This year was successful given all the obstacles that were overcome. In winter and spring, virtually we hosted sisterhood events and senior membership experience. Additionally, we had programming covering sexual assault, resume writing, mental health, and a variety of topics. With in-person instruction in the fall, our chapter was able to maintain some normalcy and traditions. We had in person initiation, recruitment, Founder’s Day, Kappacino (philanthropy event) Presents, Big-Little, and Formal. Our chapter’s goal this past year was to increase involvement and we found great success from the chapter with increased involvement in sisterhoods, community service, and philanthropy. Traditions and rituals surrounding initiation with bigs writing letters to the littles and the littles having a bonding night prior to initiation was reinstated with the in-person initiation. Ritual and history were also prioritized with ritual reviews and Founder’s Day by teaching the members the songs and phrases of both initiation and formal meeting that was lost during the pandemic.

We supported WEAVE, which is supports women who are victims of sex trafficking and domestic abuse in the Sacramento area. We also supported National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). After Kappas across the U.S. and Canada expressed wanting to support mental health initiatives, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially refocused our national philanthropy to supporting mental health organizations. Out of the list of suggested organization, our chapter voted to support the National Eating Disorders Association. This cause is very important to us as many of us know someone who suffered from an eating disorder or have ourselves.

In the winter and spring philanthropy, with virtual learning we raised money through fundraising members as we participated in walk-a thons. In fall quarter, we raised nearly $7,000 at our annual Kappacino event where we serve coffee and donuts to members of the Davis community. Through this event, we received donations through ticket sales and t-shirt sales as well as donations from each member’s individual fundraising for the event.

This past year we added a DEI officer to chapter council. This position was added last fall quarter, but this was the first year with the position and I was a success. She hosted programming covering implicit biases and had a presentation for the chapter prior to recruitment to remind the members of Kappa’s values and inclusivity. She also collaborated with the public relations chair to post social media awareness posters to spread the message of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Winter and spring quarters were held virtually with chapter and chapter council meetings held virtually. There were also virtual sisterhoods and senior events that took place virtually. Fortunately, for fall quarter, we were able to resume in person instruction which meant in person Kappa events as well. I was able to get the chapter more involved in ritual by hosting ritual reviews to learn songs and have in person initiation. Also, recruitment, big-little, initiation, presents, Founder’s Day, Formal, and philanthropy were all able to be in person since they occur in fall.

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