Difference between pages "Eta Pi" and "Epsilon Upsilon"

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{{Infobox Fraternity
 
{{Infobox Fraternity
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|Name= Eta Pi
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|Name= Epsilon Upsilon
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|GreekSymbol= HΠ
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|GreekSymbol= EY
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|Image= [[File:Eta_Pi.jpg|200px]]
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|Image= [[File:Epsilon.jpg|200px]]
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|Founded= {{start date and years ago|2011|11|05}}
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|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1873|11|25}}
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|College= [http://www.nyu.edu/ New York University]
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|College= [https://www.baylor.edu/ Baylor University]
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|Location= New York, NY
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|Location= Waco,TX
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|Homepage= [http://chapters.kappakappagamma.org/etapi/ Eta Pi Website]
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|Province= Theta
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|Media= [http://wiki.kappakappagamma.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Pi Media related to Eta Pi Chapter]}}
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|Homepage= [https://baylor.kappa.org/ Epsilon Upsilon Website]
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|Media= [https://wiki.kkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Upsilon Media related to Epsilon Upsilon Chapter]}}
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'''New York University, New York City, established 1831'''
 
  
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'''Baylor University, established in 1845, Waco, Texas
  
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'''Chapter founded as Eta Pi November 5, 2011''''''
 
  
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'''3,116 initiates (as of June 2018)'''
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'''325 initiates (as of June 2017)'''''  
 
  
  
 
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'''Some of Eta Pi's Outstanding Alumnae:''' (If you have chapter alumna 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:'''
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Kathryn Ann Bledsoe, Tamara Jane Cox, Debra Ann Edens, Suzanne Maniss Craig, Sharron Williams Cutbirth, Debra Ann Edens, Patricia Ann Jansky, Elizabeth Dorrett Keitt, Susan Grace King, Molly Grace Meredith, Sara Lynn Miller, Judith Annette Rose, Mary Douglas Seabury, Gena Lynn Smith, Karla Gay Smith, Sabrina Lynn Walker, Helen Liana Wiggins, Sharron Kay Williams and M. Donise Wilson, chapter President.
  
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'''Fraternity Council Members:'''
  
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'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''
 
  
  
 
'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''
 
'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''
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'''Additional Outstanding Epsilon Upsilon Alumnae'''
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==History of Baylor University==
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The Texas Baptist Education Society then petitioned the Congress of the Republic of Texas to charter a Baptist university in the fall of 1844. Republic President Anson Jones signed the Act of Congress on Feb. 1, 1845, officially establishing Baylor University. Reverend James Huckins, the first Baptist missionary to Texas, was Baylor's first full-time fundraiser and the third founding father of the university. Although these three men are credited as being the founders of Baylor University, there are many others who worked to see our university established in Texas.
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After the University was chartered on February 1, 1845, four communities made bids to be the location: Travis, Huntsville, Shannon's Prairie and Independence. Independence was selected, and classes for preparatory students began in May 1846 with college courses offered the following June. In 1886, Baylor and Waco University consolidated to form Baylor University at Waco.
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From humble beginnings in Independence, Texas, the campus has grown to approximately 1,000 acres in Waco, Texas, annually educating more than 15,000 men and women to pursue their individual life callings.
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These are exciting times in the life of the University - a period in which our institution is striving to remain both a relevant institution of higher learning for the coming years and to continue to fulfill our original mission laid down by our founders: to be a Christian University "fully susceptible of enlargement and development to meet the needs of all ages to come." In a world where faith is often the casualty of a serious pursuit of academic achievement, Baylor is a special place.
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The ability and willingness of Baylor to adapt and change to achieve continual progress can be traced throughout its history. It has endured and survived hardships, from financial difficulties, to the Great Depression, to world wars. It made a historic and critical decision to move from Independence to Waco, its current home. It divested its medical and dental schools at a time when that proved to be the most prudent decision for the success of each program. It even had the foresight and fortitude to change its very charter to insulate the institution from denominational struggles.
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Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution. Our rank of alumni include missionaries and pastors, heads of Fortune 500 companies, governors of Texas and professional athletes. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in the state.
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==The Early Years  (From The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma 1870–1976)==
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'''Largest Initiation!'''
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During September 22–24, 1977, Kappa Kappa Gamma Installed Epsilon Upsilon Chapter at Baylor University. Everyone knows Texas is a big state and Texans “think big,” so it was only fitting that this was the biggest Initiation yet for Kappa Kappa Gamma!
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Beginning on Thursday and culminating in a formal banquet on Saturday evening, a total of eight Initiation services were held and close to 400 Atheneans became Kappas.
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'''The Athenean Club'''
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The Athenean Club was founded in 1935 when four freshman girls felt a need for more social contact between “dorm girls” and “town girls.” Each of the four chose a friend, and the eight of them formed a sorority based on high ideals, which grew strong and loyal with approximately 1,500 initiates between 1935 and 1977. The name Athenean was suggested by their first sponsor, Sarah Lowry. It was chosen because of the intellectual qualities and cultural attainment associated with the people of ancient Athens.
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'''Installation Weekend'''
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Serving as the installation chairman was Becky Stone Arbour, Delta Iota—LSU, with co-chairman Penny Hight Richards, Beta Xi—Texas, who made sure that out-of-town guests were housed at the Old Main Lodge in Waco, and the First Presbyterian Church was ready for the ceremonies, and the Student Union was available for the lovely formal banquet and Sunday afternoon campus reception.
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Installing officers were Jean Hess Wells, Delta Upsilon—Georgia, Fraternity President; Kay Smith Larson, Beta Pi—Washington, Director of Chapters; Gay Chuba Barry, Delta Alpha—Penn State, Director of Alumnae; Patricia Boyd Adams, Theta Province Director of Chapters; and Shirley Younkin Shreve, Theta Province Director of Alumnae. Executive Secretary, Betty Sanor Cameron,along with Jean Ebright Elin,  and Diane Miller Selby, Beta Nu—Ohio State, Editor of The Key, came from Fraternity Headquarters as the expert “set-up crew.”
  
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In 1830, Albert Gallatin, the distinguished statesman who served as secretary of the treasury under presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish “in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting for all and graciously opened to all.” Founded in 1831, New York University is now the largest private university in the United States. Of the more than 3,000 colleges and universities in America, New York University is one of only 60 member institutions of the distinguished Association of American Universities.  
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Kappa alumnae in Waco worked tirelessly to assure the success of this venture—bringing flowers, hammers and smiles every day. Kappas from Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, Richardson and other areas came to help during the Initiation ceremonies. Beta Xi—Texas, served as the sister chapter for Epsilon Upsilon.
  
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From a student body of 158 during NYU's first semester, enrollment has grown to more than 50,000 students attending 14 schools and colleges at five major centers in Manhattan and in sites in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. The center of NYU is its Washington Square campus, located in the heart of Greenwich Village. Students come from every state in the union and from 133 foreign countries.
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Among the initiated were many relatives—mothers and daughters, younger sisters and older sisters and other relatives. In a club as old and strong as the Atheneans, it was fitting that the oldest initiate was honored—Cornelia Marschall Smith, born October 15, 1896. She entered Baylor in 1915, earned an AB, and then a MA from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in 1928 from Johns Hopkins. She was a member of Mortar Board and other honoraries. Her husband was a professor of English at Baylor, and Cornelia was a professor emeritus of biology.
  
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The 17 young women who chose to become charter members of Epsilon Upsilon Chapter were initiated in the first service. A large group of former Athenean presidents as well as many other Athenean alumnae were initiated in subsequent services.
  
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==The Early Years==
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The installation banquet was held in the Barfield Room of the Student Union Building. Peggy Hicks McGregor, Gamma Phi—SMU, served as toastmistress, and Virginia Dodson Crump, the associate dean of students, provided a warm welcome. Sara Stewart, Beta Xi President and Donise Wilson, Epsilon Upsilon President, spoke as well. An inspiring speech by former Fraternity President Louise Little Barbeck, Gamma Phi—SMU, was enjoyed by all.
  
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In 2011, Kappa Kappa Gamma colonized its 138th chapter at New York University (NYU). On September 7, 2011 31 NYU women were initiated into the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. The Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma complements the growing Panhellenic community at NYU which includes Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon, Pi Beta Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha, and two local sororities. Eta Pi will join the chapters at St. Larence, Syracruse, Cornell, Marist, and Colgate to make six Kappa chapters in the state of New York.
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The new chapter received many gifts and showed their appreciation by singing an original song, which seemed likely to become a Kappa favorite. Field Secretary Karen Hungerford, Mu—Butler, and Graduate Counselor Nancy Trimble, Delta Sigma—Oklahoma State, appeared every bit as excited as the  newly initiated Kappas when the final banquet song ended and all realized that this big dream was a reality—the Atheneans were Kappas in the finest sense!
  
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==Installation==
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At the time of Epsilon Upsilon’s founding, Baylor University was owned and operated by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and had a student enrollment of 8,000 in its 240-acre Waco campus. The university was founded in 1845 and was chartered by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. One of Baylor’s first benefactors was Sam Houston.
  
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==Highlights of the 1980’s==
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In the 1980’s Baylor’s freshman classes were continuously getting much larger meaning that “rush” was as well. In 1985 Baylor had an especially large freshman class with 200-300 over the typical enrollment. Consequently, almost 1200 girls registered for recruitment and 487 pledged (we took 50 girls totaling the chapter to 173). In 1987 Baylor began exploring adding another Panhellenic group to campus (at the time they had 9 organizations) because of the amount of women that were interested in Greek Life. Throughout the 80’s we had our new members do their own philanthropy event and our class of 1985 chose to visit a nursing home two different days with the KOT pledge class.
  
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Recruitment did look a bit different back in the 80’s though. In 1985 part of our recruitment consisted of taking potential new members to different Kappa Apartments – “Apartment Hops” – and themes were Halloween and Christmas. This year we also began using our computer to tabulate votes which really helped to speed up the process.
  
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There are many opportunities for the new chapter on the NYU campus. Laura Osborne, College Panhellenic Adviser, said, “We have high hopes that the addition of Kappa Kappa Gamma to the College Panhellenic Council at NYU will promote stronger leadership, deeper bonds of friendship, increased awareness of service to the community and higher ideals of scholarship among all the members of the fraternity and sorority life community.”
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Some regular events we held were Kappa Dads Day, a scholarship banquet, Founder’s Day, Kite and Key with Kappa Alpha Theta, Homecoming events, Mystery Masquerade (annual Halloween/costume dance), Swingaton with Sigma Alpha Epsilon benefiting Waco Firefighters, All University Sing, and more! One annual event that they started in 1984 was a Powder Puff football game with the new members against Pi Beta Phi’s new members. The Kappa Pickers were of course around to sing at many of these events.  
  
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Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College, led the Installation team of Susanne Wolff Vander Hayden, Washington State, Director of Alumnae; Barb Adams Goettelman, Syracuse, Extension Chairman; Nancy Eyermann Foland, Tulsa, and Kelly Matyas Magyarics, Pittsburgh, Region 1 Directors of Alumnae and Chapters; Kim Heinig Pegg, Vermont, and Jodi Bilotti Howe, Syracuse, Alpha Province directors of Alumnae and Chapters, respectively; Alexandra Vukov, Michigan State, Chapter Consultant; Nicole Pitsinos, South Carolina, Coordinator of Chapter Development; and Rachel Dunlap, Baylor, New York Alumnae Association President. The New York City Alumnae Association President presented a badge, set with light-and-dark-blue stones, to be used as the chapter president’s badge, to the Eta Pi President, Caitlin Geehan.
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We also created a clear goal each year that we really wanted to focus on. In 1985 this goal was “Unity” which stood for Understanding, No Hazing, Involvement, Time with God and Your Sisters. Each officer incorporated this theme into their goals for her office and committee. In 1987 we decided to have the goal Kappa Kommittment each month. Every month Kappa had a new commitment to strive towards (Scholarship, Pledges, Friendship, etc), but in the fall of this year we received a letter from headquarters with concerns regarding our scholarship standing and we then switched all of our focus to overcoming this dilemma.  
  
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==Highlights of the 1990’s==
  
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'''Visiting the 9/11 Memorial:'''
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Epsilon Upsilon started out the 1990’s wanting to be remembered for our achievement in philanthropy in 1991. During this year we sponsored the all university walk-a-thon which let every sorority enter and raise money for their individual charities. Among other service projects were visits to nursing homes, the Methodist Home and serving dinner at the Salvation Army. In 1991 we also received the Most Improved Chapter awards at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention. This year our Chapter President was also named Baylor Homecoming Queen!
  
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On November 3, 2011, Fraternity President Julie Marine Leshay, Colorado College, Susanne Wolff Vander Heyden, Washington State, members of the Eta Pi extension team and many New York-area Kappas visited the 9/11 Memorial to honor and extend deepest respects to:
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In the early 90’s one of our biggest challenges as a chapter (which continued on from the 80’s) was scholarship. We continued to work on trying to raise our chapter GPA through study halls for different GPA categories, a reward system to encourage others, and raising our grade requirement during recruitment. By 1995 we had raised our GPA above the Kappa national average, but we didn’t want to just maintain this so we continued to add new ways for members of our chapter to focus on scholarship together.  
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Jean Rogers, Penn State, flight attendant on American flight #11; Jen Kane, Villanova, World Trade Center; Kaleen Pezzuti, Cornell, World Trade Center; Norma Lang Steuerle, Carnegie Mellon, passenger on American flight #77 (Pentagon).
 
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Fraternity President Julie Leshay brought copies of the front cover of The Key, winter 2001 edition, along with a copy of the article, “Honoring Those We Have Loved and Lost.” These items were placed at the name of each Kappa on the memorial. Amanda Brown, Puget Sound, Assistant to the Director of Alumnae, provided irises that were placed by each name with the article. Many 9/11 Memorial visitors stopped to read the information that our group left behind. All assembled were part of our Kappa Memorial Service led by Fraternity President Julie Leshay. It was a very moving experience and something we felt was important to do in connection with our new chapter at New York University.
 
  
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==Highlights of 2011-2019==
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With our scholarship improvements throughout the early 90’s, the late 90’s we realized we needed to start focusing more on ways to increase fraternity education and ritual. We did this through short facts during chapter meeting and weekly information sessions. We even gave our entire chapter pre-tests and post-tests in order to measure the increase in knowledge.
  
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==Highlights of 2011==
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Epsilon Upsilon continued to stay involved on the Baylor campus in the 90’s – participating in All-University Sing, Pigskin, Greek Week, intramurals and more. In 1993 we also started an annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and alumni children which proved to be a big success.
  
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The Fall 2011 Semester of the Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was a semester full of wonderful changes. After voting in the previous school year to absorb the Local Sorority Kappa Psi Delta into the National Fraternity Kappa Kappa Gamma, we immediately began to take action in our new roles in our new colony. As a local chapter that had thrived on the New York University campus for 12 years, our transition went very smoothly.  
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We also consistently focus on bonding with our sisters and one way we did so was through an annual fall chapter retreat. In 1994 we escaped to Camp Balcones Springs in Marble Falls on beautiful Lake Travis. It was a wonderful weekend for the entire chapter to relax, bond, share and get to spend quality time together. One thing we did during this retreat was a “pair share” time. This is a time when every Kappa in the chapter is paried with another Kappa they do not know very well and get a chance to talk and then share with the chapter what their learned about their sister.
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Prayer has consistently been important to us at Epsilon Upsilon and in anticipation of rush in 1996 we implemented a 24-hour day of prayer. Each chapter member signed up for a time slot and continually prayed for our chapter throughout the 24 hours.  
  
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After all of the sisters had adjusted to the new terminology and structure of the chapter, business went on as usual and we had an extremely productive semester. Sisters co-programmed philanthropy events with other Greek Organizations on campus, we remained an active voice in the panhellenic and inter-greek council communities, many sisters attended a Founders Day event with the alumni association in Connecticut, and we had a beautiful initiation ceremony on November 4th with many alumni and Fraternity Officers present.
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==Highlights of the 2000’s==
  
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Successful events included: • a welcome back to the big apple tabling event where sisters gave out slices of apple pie and candied apples • a toy drive in one of the residence halls • Semi-Formal hosted a Cucina de Pesce, a location that was a part of the Kappa Psi Delta history • Stressbusters and cocoa during finals week • Numerous fundraisers to raise money to purchase books for A Place for Kids, an after school program that the chapter had worked with for a couple of years • Volunteering time at A Place for Kids, working on reading skills with a kindergarten class at PS-2 in Chinatown
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Epsilon Upsilon celebrated the millennium with a special “It’s a New Year In Kappa” theme on the first day of recruitment, which began January 3, 2000. The slide show presentation ended with grand fireworks giving all present the feeling of ringing in the new millennium together. A monetary gift was given to the Panhellenic Building Fund to celebrate the ground breaking of the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum.
  
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'''Campus:''' Over the past year, there have been many changes to the Greek Community at New York University. Not only did we witness the absorption of Kappa Psi Delta into Kappa Kappa Gamma, but a new chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha was also installed on campus. These two events created an expansion in the Greek community and brought many organizations closer.  
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In the 2000’s Epsilon Upsilon continued our on-going support of their community – local charities, university-wide events, and other campus organizations alike. We regularly participated in and looked forward to the Kappa Omega Tau Fishery which is a unique service project that allowed us to serve the mentally and physically handicapped individuals in Waco. We also continued our annual Easter Egg Hunt tradition for the community. Back in 1999 we started a new philanthropy – Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament. This tournament continued throughout the 2000’s and we raised significant amounts of money for charity. We also began a partnership with a local elementary school (Parkdale Elementary) where we not only tutor the children, but members also have the opportunity to sign up for Parkdale Pen Pal.
  
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'''Chapter:''' Obviously the main recent change of the Eta Pi chapter was the transition from local sorority Kappa Psi Delta to the national fraternity of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Since we had already been established and running smoothly on campus and within the Greek community, the transition was not a difficult one. We were able to keep pace with other organizations on campus, despite technically being classified as a colony of new members. We were operating on the same level that we had always operated on and because of this, our transition was quick and painless.  
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We continued to have many event such as Kappa Country, Kappa Krush, and Kappa Krawfish Boil. While many events we have are with other members of Greek Life at Epsilon Upsilon “Kappa Backs the Bears” so we had many fun take-a-dates and mixers with the football, basketball, and baseball teams.
  
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The overall nature of the chapter reflected this attitude that simply because we were changing our letters didn’t mean that we were starting all over completely fresh. We wanted to move at a pace that was probably considered extremely fast for a colony, but we believed that the best way to make the change was to keep progressing forward not to slow down for the process. Because of this, the chapter ran as a cohesive, effective unit of women that were all striving towards our common goal, to absorb successfully into Kappa Kappa Gamma.  
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Homecoming is consistently important at Baylor and to us in Epsilon Upsilon. Throughout the 2000’s there were multiple times that a member was elected Homecoming Queen and we are always very involved with all the activities. In 2008 the Homecoming theme was “Hanzel and Gretel” and we built a fantastic homecoming float titled “Brew Mizzou”.
  
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One of the greatest challenges we encountered this semester was the actual process of the transition. Each member had to go through the new member process all over again. At the beginning of the year, this seemed a very daunting task. But each member of the chapter took this challenge with great stride, and with the help of our installation team and all of the alumni and advisers that stepped up to assist us, we made a strong transition from Kappa Psi Delta to Kappa Kappa Gamma. Another challenge we faced was keeping traditions of Kappa Psi Delta alive to honor the history of our organization. We are currently incorporating these traditions into some of the programs being planning for the Inspiration week for the Beta class.  
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As it was in the early 90’s, the early 2000’s were a time for us to focus on strengthening our chapter GPA. We worked hard to update Kappa test files and provide members with tutoring so that older and younger members within the same fields of study could pair and help each other. In 2006 this proved to be very helpful in that our chapter GPA rose from sixth out of nine sororities to fourth out of nine. In 2008 our chapter was placed on a letter of warning from the fraternity which created many changes within our chapter, but also united us to work together to comply with the recommended areas of improvement.  
  
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Prayer continued to be an important aspect our chapter throughout the 2000’s and especially during the time of September 11, 2001. Throughout the days following the tragedy, Baylor conducted several prayer services. Another University-wide action was a moment of silence the next day at 12:00 noon, so that every student and professor could take to opportunity to reflect and pray for the victims and their families. Our Kappa chapter also held a prayer session for us to unite and support those in need.
  
 
==Highlights of 2012==
 
==Highlights of 2012==
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'''Scholarship:''' Eta Pi supports sisters in their academic endeavors by offering study hours in the library each week and an open study room booked 24/7 during finals week. Chapter members are also encouraged to maintain high grades by participating in the “Wise Owl” program, in which they are entered in a drawing for gift cards each week during chapter if they received an “A” on a paper, exam, or project during the week. Girls with a 3.8 GPA or above are awarded a “Kappa Kappa Genius” T-shirt. For the spring of 2012, these girls were Madeline Aaron, Jillian Fairchild, Elizabeth Green, Ariana Marsh, Madelyn McClung, Meredith Menache, Rebekah Nielsen, Elizabeth Owen Skidmore, Puja Patel, Kristina Rathjen, and Karen Shin. In the Spring of 2012, Kappa received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Program at the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards.
 
  
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'''Group Honors/Awards:''' At Greek Games 2013, Kappa Kappa Gamma placed 2nd in Free Throws, 2nd in Swimming, 2nd in Volleyball, 3rd in Basketball, 2nd in Variety Shows Skit, 3rd in Basketball, and overall 2nd in Greek Night. Out of 10 chapters, we had 3rd pick for 2012-2013 housing. We received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Program at the FSL Awards.  
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Two Thousand Twelve was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs created a breath-taking first place masquerade act, which will now appear in Pigskin Review.
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The event chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our spring Swing-a-thon and afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the 62nd Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty, but we created new traditions as well.
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To celebrate our founding sisterhood, we hosted the first Late Night at Monmouth Pancake Breakfast with the ladies of Pi Beta Phi. Together, we raised $2,960 for charity water, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring clean and safe drinking water to those in developing countries.
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Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. A few members of our Chapter Council participated in the Fraternity’s 69th Biennial Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisers, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa!
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Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and an All-American themed crush. Even amidst the chaos that fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment.
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We honored Founders Day with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Parents’ Weekend luncheon. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the fall Swing-a-thon, hosted a Kendra Scott Jewelry Trunk Show benefiting Reading is Fundamental, organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries, and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights have been spent with the men of Alpha Tau Omega at our float site and dancing with the Kappa Sigmas at Pigskin practice. Both of these ventures were very successful by winning Judge’s Choice Award for float and performing our First Place act in Pigskin.  
  
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'''Traditions:''' We continued recognition of Kappa Psi Delta's founding anniversary date of December 11th. We also incorporated Kappa Psi Delta traditions into our Big/Little sister reveal ceremonies in both the spring and fall. Following initiation, we continued our tradition of hosting a family brunch inviting parents to celebrate with us and learn more about KKG.
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We are gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions. Our final Kappa event for the semester was Kappa Kountry in which we two-stepped the night away!
  
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Beginning in the fall of 2012, Eta Pi started the new tradition of “fleur dates” in which initiated sisters and new members each draw the names of different sisters to meet up with during the week. Our annual Thanksgiving Sisterhood Potluck was our first big event after Hurricane Sandy, and displayed the strong bond between our sisters through the good and bad times.
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There have been many recent changes on the Baylor campus during this year. Baylor University is building a new stadium that will be on campus. The stadium will not be completed until the 2014 season. Baylor is also building a new dormitory that should be ready for for the incoming freshman. Multiple projects are going on around Baylor University at all time.
  
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'''Special Events:''' Founder's Day was celebrated on Oct 6th, 2012. Kappa Kappa Grandma Sisterhood movie nights occurred each semester, in addition to regularly scheduled events. At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, Eta Pi members gathered in Central Park for our Sisterhood Picnic. Our FSL Housing theme month was “Neighborly November,” during which we collaborated with Alpha Epsilon Pi to host events for the NYU community and held a food drive for Sandy victims.
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==Highlights of 2013==
  
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'''Philanthropic Involvement:''' Eta Pi continued our relationship with PS2, a local elementary school in Chinatown, to tutor and provide fun activities for students who do not speak English as a first language. Eta Pi also coordinated a dress drive to provide old prom and homecoming dresses for Operation Fairy Dust, an organization that gives the dresses to underprivileged girls. We also participated in Relay for Life, with almost all girls raising money before the event, and even raising more money throughout the night by selling “Kappa Quesadillas.” Many of the fraternities and sororities on campus participated in our Big/Little Newlywed Game, which raised over $300 for Relay.
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Two Thousand Thirteen was another great year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter. In January, we had a wonderful recruitment and were able to take an incredible new member class. The new member class was initiated and has been a blessing to the whole chapter. Our Sing chairs created an imaginative act called Topsy Turvy which was performed for Baylor University. The social chairs planned date dashes, our Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. Our spring Swing-a-thon and afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School allowed our chapter to give back to our community. The chapter participated in many established traditions, such as the 63rd Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty. Late Night at Monmouth Pancake Breakfast was a success for the second year where we raised money for charity water, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring clean and safe drinking water to those in developing countries.
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Chapter Goals: Eta Pi strives to strengthen our sisterhood and increase Greek presence in the greater NYU community.
 
  
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'''Challenges and How They Were Overcome:'''  Our chapter has many new goals, as reflected in the LAP report for 2012. With regards to understanding and appreciation of Kappa, we are working to continue discovering Kappa. Our specific goals include implementing more mandatory ritual review and practices, hosting presentations on post-graduate Kappa involvement and opportunities, increasing usage of Kappa’s website as a resource, and increasing support and understanding of the Kappa Foundation.  
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The spring semester came to an end, but summer did not bring a pause to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. Our chapter was able to organize a mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala, which a handful of members participated in. Those members served the people of Guatemala with loving hearts and were able to contribute much more than time and money during their stay there. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisors, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, went on mission trips and took summer classes at Baylor.  
  
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With regards to interpersonal development, our focus is to strengthen enthusiasm and attendance for events. We did this by using the group system to gather enthusiasm and attendance at Greek-wide events, increasing co-sponsorships with other organizations, more recognition and positive reinforcement of sisters who attend events, and drafting an attendance policy to define commitment for all members. For self-discovery and intellectual development, Eta Pi strove to increase philanthropic and academic focus and involvement. We did this by increasing the number of service events and opportunities, encouraging the use of advisers and professors as resources, maintaining and improving our GPA as a chapter, and encouraging academic buddies to help in course selection and general support. Finally, with regards to leadership and skill building, we worked to use all available tools to improve efficiency, particularly with regards to communication.  
+
Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, Welcome Week events, a take-a-date, and intramurals. Our chapter found the time to celebrate Baylor and Kappa traditions in the fall semester despite our busy schedules. The seniors enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We paired with several fraternities at football games to have tailgates before the games. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Parents’ Weekend brunch.  
  
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We worked to streamline emails and make good use of chapter time, began planning a Chapter Council Leadership Retreat for 2013, worked harder to delegate tasks to committee members, and helped each sister become more confident and comfortable in Chapter Council positions through connections with Advisers and the use of chapter resources.
+
Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale Elementary School, hosted a Kendra Scott Jewelry Trunk Show benefiting Reading is Fundamental, and organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries. Our chapter created a new event on campus, Kappa Karnival, which was a great success. Nights were spent working with the men of Alpha Tau Omega at our float site for the homecoming parade. The Kappa Pickers performed at many events including Christmas on 5th. We just had another successful recruitment and are preparing to initiate our 89 new members!
 +
     
 +
Baylor University’s new football stadium is close to being finished. There is construction on it constantly and it should be open for the fall 2014 football season. The new dormitories that opened this past fall on campus have been a great blessing to the freshmen this year. Baylor is also currently preparing to build a new business school on campus.
  
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'''World/Local Events:''' Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast in October. New York University was affected by widespread power outages in the dorms and campus buildings. The Eta Pi chapter conducted and exercised our emergency protocols to ensure that each sister was safe. Members, new members, and alumnae housed fellow sisters in apartments and dorms with power. Following the storm, KKG participated in food drives collecting nonperishable goods for people affected by the hurricane, and individual members helped in efforts to clear rubble and rebuild houses.
+
==Highlights of 2014==
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'''Recent Changes:''' In the Spring of 2012, the Eta Pi chapter welcomed and initiated 35 new members. In the fall of 2012, Eta Pi initiated 44 new members. We held elections of the 2013 Chapter Council in November of 2012. As the newest chapter, Eta Pi is still learning about all of the facets of Kappa, but we are enthusiastic about learning and growing.
 
  
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==Highlights of 2013==
+
Two Thousand Fourteen was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs worked really hard to create a great Sing Act called “Running Wild”, which was shown in Pigskin Review in the Fall of 2014. The social chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our Spring Swing-a-thon where we raised and donated money to a local halfway house in Waco, Compassion Ministries. Last Spring was also full of many afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty, but we created new traditions as well.
 +
 
 +
Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. A few members of our Chapter Council participated in the Fraternity’s Convention in Houston, Texas. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisors, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa!
 +
 
 +
Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and a dodgeball crush event. Even amidst the chaos that Fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day at a local country club with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Family Weekend luncheon. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the Fall Swing-a-thon benefitting a local animal shelter in Waco, Texas; Fuzzy Friends, organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries, volunteered at the Parkdale Halloween carnival and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights have been spent with the men of Phi Kappa Chi at our float site, where we ending up winning 1st place out of all the Homecoming Floats. We also performed “Running Wild” in Pigskin Review. We also hosted our second Kappa Karnival this year, it was very successful. Throughout the Fall we spent time gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions.
 +
 
 +
Our Campus has a new football stadium, McLane stadium. It is beautifully designed. Baylor is currently building a new Business School, which will be opening in Fall 2015. There are also many other changes going on in the growing Baylor community. The nature of our chapter is very positive, growing, graceful, friendly, loyal, and loving. There is a strong focus on RIF, supporting other chapters, including all Kappa chapter members, and University related events (SING, Homecoming Float, Steppin Out, Pigskin etc.).
  
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The year of 2013 was another successful year of growth for the relatively new Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our chapter was recognized for three awards, Sorority Woman of the Year to Jen Morrisette, Advisor of the Year to Allie Vukov, and Outstanding Recruitment, at NYU’s Fraternity & Sorority Life Awards.
+
We hold chapter meetings in our Kappa suite in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum. This suite is rented.
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Scholarship is very important to the women of Eta Pi, and this year we implemented Owl Pals to foster connections between members studying similar majors. Additionally, we began a Book Club to further explore academic interest, reading books like Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.
 
  
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We hosted a variety of successful sisterhood events on campus, like our Chapter Potluck, Canvas Crafting, and Holiday party. We also held sisterhood events at our house, such as the Kappa Film Festival. Eta Pi also initiated a total of 40 new members throughout the year who underwent an easy and informative New Member process. Eta Pi also held both Formal and Semi-formal dance events during the year.
 
  
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Eta Pi hosted both a Leadership Consultant multiple times throughout the year who we found to be helpful and approachable, as well as a Kappa Trainer who taught us about the fraternity and leadership. We also sent girls to Leadership Academy and Province this year.
+
==Highlights of 2015==
  
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Our chapter also increased our participation in Panhellenic and Inter-Greek events on campus, including the NYU Greek Games, in which we placed second, Greek Week, and New York Dance Marathon. Our sisters also gained the maximum number of positions for Panhellenic Council and participate in the Inter-Greek Council.
+
Two Thousand Fifteen was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs worked really hard to create a great Sing Act called “Weird Science”, which was shown in Pigskin Review in the Fall of 2015. The social chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our Spring Swing-a-thon where we raised and donated money to the Waco Humane Society Last Spring was also full of many afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. In the Spring of 2015, our chapter won an award for partner of the year (2014-2015) for Waco ISD. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty. Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa! Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and a dodgeball crush event on campus. Even amidst the chaos that Fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day at McLane Stadium with our Waco Alumnae Association. Our chapter was so excited to celebrate the 145th year. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the Fall Swing-a-thon benefiting the Waco Humane Society, volunteered at the Parkdale Halloween carnival and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights approaching Homecoming weekend were spent with the men of Phi Kappa Chi at our float site. Kappa had a Junior member, Sydney Taylor, selected as a Homecoming Princess this year. We also performed “Weird Science” in Pigskin Review Homecoming weekend. We hosted our third Kappa Karnival this year, it was very successful. Throughout the Fall we spent time gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions.
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Our networking both on and offline was a big success for our chapter, as we held events with our nearest alumni chapter (including our 2013 Founders Day Celebration) and achieved an incredible increase in our chapter’s PR presence throughout social media.
+
Baylor built a new Business School, which opened Fall 2015, it is very nice. There are also many other changes going on in the growing Baylor community. The nature of our chapter is very positive, growing, graceful, friendly, loyal, and loving. There is a strong focus on RIF, supporting other chapters, including all Kappa chapter members, and University related events (SING, Homecoming Float, Steppin Out, Pigskin etc.).
  
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Eta Pi continued its dedication to philanthropy, contributing to the NYU Dance Marathon, for which our chapter raised $6700, Relay for Life, the New York Cares Day of Service, and the Rose McGill Foundation. We held philanthropy events of our own like those benefiting Reading Is Fundamental and the Be The Match bone marrow drive. We also co-sponsored and participated in philanthropic events such as the Breast Cancer Awareness Runway Show with Zeta Tau Alpha, the Best Buddies Walk, National Hazing Prevention Week, Suicide Prevention Walk, and Greek Allies’ Safe Zone training and Pay Attention project.
+
Chapter Philanthropy:
  
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With respect to our chapter-wide goals, Eta Pi worked hard to increase ritual knowledge by holding formal chapters every week starting in the fall, and we have seen an overall increase in the chapter’s familiarity with the ritual. Additionally, at the outset of the year we wanted to increase our recognition on campus, in the Panhellenic and Inter-Greek community, and online. We have made great strides in increasing our presence in all of these arenas by participating in more events hosted by different organizations, increasing our attendance and presence in Panhellenic and Inter-Greek council meetings, and by marketing our online footprint successfully enough to gain over 1000 followers on Facebook and similarly increasing our following on other social media websites. We also wanted to work on fostering better, more streamlined communication both within Chapter Council and the entire chapter, and having the Leadership Consultant and Kappa Trainer discuss better communication practices has produced more positive, efficient communication throughout the year.  
+
Our chapter supports RIF, Kappa Foundation, Parkdale Elementary, Compassion Ministries, Waco Humane Society, and Hannah’s House.
  
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Eta Pi held recruitment during the Spring and Fall semesters of 2013, initiating five new sisters in the spring and thirty-five in the fall. Our chapter elected the new 2014 Chapter Council in November of 2013. Additionally, our chapter enabled other sisters to hold leadership positions outside of Chapter Council by creating new positions to help streamline necessary chapter processes like Assistant Chairs and the “Kapparel” Chair.  
+
We have supported and worked with Parkdale Elementary and Compassion ministries in years past and want to continue that relationship with both of them. We started supporting Waco Humane Society and Hannah’s House more recently. There is a huge stray animal problem in Waco and our local humane society helps curb that issue. Our chapter thinks it’s really important to help the community of Waco in that aspect. Hannah’s House is a nonprofit organization created to raise funds to build a children’s village with 8 homes in Zambia through Family Legacy in honor of Hannah Butler, a member of our chapter who recently passed. She was such a joy and so loving, and the village will be built in her honor once the funds are received.
  
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Eta Pi is proud to characterize ourselves as a diverse group of easygoing, approachable women who value academics, philanthropy, and sisterhood. As our chapter grows and learns more about the facets of Kappa Kappa Gamma sisterhood, we are excited to learn the ritual and traditions of our fraternity and create new ones for our own chapter to uphold and enjoy.
+
==Highlights of 2016==
  
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==Highlights of 2014==
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January: 9- Bid Day: 96 girls pledged Kappa
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The year of 2014 was yet another successful year of growth and development for the Eta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Eta Pi is a tight knit sisterhood that is made up of girls who exemplify true loyalty and friendship. We have 139 sisters from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states and countries. Our chapter was recognized for House Chair of the Year to Chanele Hemphill at NYU’s Fraternity & Sorority Life Awards. At Convention, our chapter won the Public Relations Award, as well as having honorary mentions in the Academics and Standards categories respectively.
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29- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal
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30- New Member Luncheon with Waco Alumni
  
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Eta Pi initiated a total of 55 new members Fall 2014 who underwent an easy and informative New Member process. This included a fabulous Bid Day, Big/Little Week, where the Big Sisters gave their Little Sisters personalized gifts each day, and an impeccable initiation. Eta Pi held a Valentine’s Day Invite, Formal and Semi-Formal dance events during the year. Our networking has been a big success for our chapter, as we held events with our nearest alumni chapter, including our very successful 2014 Founders Day Celebration. Our chapter’s PR presence throughout social media has continued to increase: our Facebook page nearing our goal of 1500 Likes. We have completely redone our chapter Pinterest site, adding ideas from chapter members and events.
+
February 6-Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event; 9- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room
 +
13- Initiated 96 members into Kappa; Initiation luncheon at The Baylor Club
 +
27- Competed in All-University Sing: Our act "Come Dance with Me" was performed with Kappa Sigma and advanced to Pigskin.
  
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We hosted a variety of successful sisterhood events on campus and in the KKG Penthouse. This included a self-defense class, in-house spa day with nail painting and facemasks, a holiday party with a cookie contest, and an end of the year picnic off-campus. Eta Pi hosted both a Leadership Consultant who we found to be helpful and approachable, as well as a Kappa Trainer who taught us about the fraternity and leadership. We also sent girls to Leadership Academy and Province this year.
+
March 23- Kappa put on our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Faculty and Staff's kids
  
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Scholarship remains of great importance to the women of Eta Pi. We had 28 Kappa Kappa Geniuses (3.7+ GPA for Spring 2014 semester), who received ‘KKGenuises’ t-shirts recognizing their hard work. Two sisters got 4.0s for the Spring 2014 and received special pearl dangles for their badges. We have study hours every Sunday in a study room in the Library and, the last two weeks of the semester, we have a study room booked 24/7 for only Kappas. We continued to implement Owl Pals to foster connections between members studying similar majors.
+
April 3- Legacy Tea; 9- Baylor's Steppin Out: University Philanthropy Event; 10- Mom's Day with Practically Picasso in the Kappa Room; 16-Crawfish Boil Fundraiser with Kappa Sigma; 19- Kappa hosted our annual Event- Baylor Beauty; 21- Social Event: Take-A-Date Game night in Waco; 27- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O
  
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Our chapter has continued to increase our participation in PanHellenic and Inter-Greek events on campus. On campus, we hosted events such as the Lafayette Residence Hall Thanksgiving dinner, Holiday Letters to the Troops, Secret Snowflake party, and Kappaccinos. Our chapter placed fourth in the Spring 2014 Greek Week. We supported the NYU Greek community by participating in NYU's second Dance Marathon (NYDM). It was a celebration that touched our chapter as our B+ Hero, Aubrey, celebrated her last chemo session. Our chapter alone raised over $10.000. Our fund raising efforts included selling "Rush Chi-Po-Tle" tanks bearing a #FTK on the back (For the Kids) and a Panera fundraiser. For the year 2015, Emily Orman will serve as the Vice President for PanHellenic Council while Emily Jewell will serve as the Risk Management Chair for Inter-Greek Council.
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May 2- Luncheon at Parkdale Elementary: Our Philanthropic Partner; 15-24: Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala
  
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Eta Pi continued its dedication to philanthropy, contributing to the NYDM, Relay for Life, the New York Cares Day of Service, and the Rose McGill Foundation. We held philanthropy events of our own like those benefitting Reading Is Fundamental and the Be The Match bone marrow drive. We also co-sponsored and participated in philanthropic events such as the Breast Cancer Awareness, Cupcakes for Literacy with Pi Beta Phi, Haunted Penthouse with Alpha Sigma Tau, and Greek Allies’ Safe Zone training and Pay Attention project. Our most important philanthropy event was the ‘Keyed In’ event in a local school with over 130 kids, where we provided them each with a brand new book and had literacy stations, which included a photo-booth and bookmark-making station. The remainder of the books we brought were donated to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library.   
+
August 26- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC
  
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Eta Pi held recruitment during the Fall semester of 2014, initiating 55 new sisters in the Fall of 2014. Our chapter elected the new 2015 Chapter Council in December of 2014. Additionally, our chapter enabled other sisters to hold leadership positions outside of Chapter Council by creating new positions to help streamline necessary chapter processes like Assistant Chairs for certain officers.
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October 1- Social Event: Take-A-Date to the Texas State Fair; 13-15: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 5 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and Showcased a float built with Phi Kappa Chi, and performed "Come Dance with Me" at Pigskin
  
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Eta Pi is proud to be a diverse group of easygoing, approachable women who value academics, leadership, philanthropy, and sisterhood. As our chapter grows and learns more about the facets of Kappa Kappa Gamma sisterhood, we are excited to learn the ritual and traditions of our fraternity and create new ones for our own chapter to uphold and enjoy.
+
November 4-Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key at Parkdale; 5- Social Event: Tailgate with Sigma Chi;16- Philanthropy Event: Monmouth with Pi Phi; 17- Kappa and ADPi Worship Night; 18- Social Event: Dad's Day; 30- Kappa Social Event: Kappa Christmas
  
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Chapter meetings are held in a university owned facility, usually a classroom or conference room that can be booked.
+
This semester we have also implemented "Key Girl of the Week" which is a way to recognize members of our chapter who have gone out of their way to support other members. A member is nominated each week and then our VPS picks the winner who gets to wear a KKG necklace for the week.
  
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Our chapter is given the priviledge of living in the top floor(s) of an university owned dormitory, the Lafayette Residence Hall, along with other Greek organizations. Seven sisters can live there and do so right now.
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Taylor Adams, our president during 2015, won the Greek Leader of the Year award.
  
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The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alunmae Association at the chapter's installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Rebecca Calvo, and now resides with Madeline Jerge. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”
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We received the silver award for our HHR Binder. At convention, we received awards for PR and Risk Management.
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Our chapter hosted a Trunk Show this year that featured work from our members. There were jewelry items, art, flower arrangements and more that all benefited RIF. We also partnered with Pi Phi again this semester to celebrate Monmouth with a pancake dinner. Last spring, we hosted a crawfish boil with Kappa Sigma and the proceeds went to RIF.  
  
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The Philanthropy badge was presented by Allie Vukov on behalf of the Denver Alumnae Association to Eta Pi. It was given to Brittany Pace, then Kelly Naranjo, and now resides with Rebecca Borjas. The badge is inscribed with ΚΚΓ ΑΩΟ on the front, and “ΗΠ Philanthropy Chairman 11/11” on the back.
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Baylor has undertaken some beneficial changes during the last year. The biggest one is Title IX awareness across campus and especially for Panhellenic women. Baylor has provided multiple speakers and an online course to bring awareness to this issue. Although Title IX coordinators have changed, Baylor is still promoting awareness and safety for the issue. Another big issue in Panhellenic is that are need of a new chapter on campus to accommodate all the girls who go through recruitment. This year we started a Panhellenic philanthropy in order to show our support for other chapters and Baylor Panhellenic. Circle of Sisterhood, the philanthropy, has had several events throughout the semester that our chapter has attended.
  
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Our chapter raises money for Reading is Fundamental. However each week we work directly with Parkdale Elementary, a local elementary school. Each week members go into second grade classrooms and read with the students.
  
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==Highlights of 2015==
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This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community.
  
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The year 2015 was yet another successful year for the Eta Pi Chapter at NYU. We are a tight knit
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Our chapter holds meetings in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room .
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sisterhood made up of women who strive to be positive role models for one another while being
 
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loyal friends and sisters. We have 164 initiated sisters from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states
 
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and countries. Our chapter was recognized at the 2014 Fraternity and Sorority Life awards
 
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(February 2015) for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Outstanding Community Involvement,
 
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and Lafayette Housing Chairman of the Year. Multiple 2015 graduates were awarded Senior Pillar
 
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honors, as well as a Commitment to Change Award. We also sent women to Leadership Academy
 
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and Province this year.
 
  
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We host multiple sisterhood events a month either on campus or in the KKG penthouse. The
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We recommend Tommye Lou Davis for the Oral History Project
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sisterhood events of 2015 ranged from an in house spa day to an ugly sweater and cookie contest at
 
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our holiday party. As an organization, our sisterhood is strong. Our sisters who live in the house go
 
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above and beyond to create a warm and welcoming space for all members of the chapter (some
 
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even giving up their beds to house our wonderful leadership consultants!). Our bi-monthly chapter
 
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programming, Femisphere, created by our Risk Chair Jen Tonti, delves into a tough to talk about
 
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issue such as gender and sexuality or girl-on-girl bullying. This programming generates more
 
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participation from the chapter than most other events, ultimately creating a safe space for women
 
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to be women and talk about things that need to be discussed. Femisphere has done a fantastic job
 
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in fostering our sisterhood in 2015, and we hope to continue it into the future.
 
  
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Scholarship remains of great importance to the women of Eta Pi. We had 32 Kappa Kappa
 
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Geniuses (3.7+ GPA for the Spring 2015 semester), who received ‘KKGenuis’ t-shirts recognizing
 
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their outstanding academic achievements. We also had four (!!) sisters earn perfect 4.0 GPAs this
 
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semester, each of which received special pearl dangles for their badges. Keeping our grades so high
 
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is no easy task, so our VP Academic Excellence works with the chapter and her committee to
 
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reserve study rooms in the library for after every chapter, and for 24 hours a day leading up to and
 
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during exam week.
 
  
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Also in 2015, Eta Pi was honored to be selected to host a Girls Academy in 2016. We could not be
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==Highlights of 2017==
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more excited for this opportunity work with the Alumni Association on a cause that is so near to
 
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our hearts while increasing our involvement in the greater NYC community.
 
  
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We initiated 64 new members in the Fall of 2015 after an amazing “Kappa is the Key to Paradise”
 
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themed recruitment. The newly initiated women went through an easy and informative new
 
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member process, which included a beautiful bid day, and a super fun big/little week all, leading up
 
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to a spectacularly beautiful Initiation ceremony.
 
  
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Greek Life at NYU will welcome Delta Gamma onto campus this spring. We have multiple
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January 6- Bid Day
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members involved in the process, and are excited to spread all the PanHellenic love we can. Also
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January 27- Sapphire Ball
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over the course of 2015, our chapter has continued its steady participation on the Inter-Greek and
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February 11- Initiation
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PanHellenic executive boards.
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February 16-18; 23-35- Competed in All-University sing: our act "Fountain of Youth" was performed
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February 21- Academic Excellence Dinner
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March 1- New Member Dance
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April 6- Baylor Kappa holds the annual easter egg hunt on Baylor University's campus in honor for the faculty and staff and their children. We have an egg hunt, snacks, and pictures with an Easter Bunny.
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April 2- Moms day: Pop-up shop
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April 7- Take-A-Date: Oasis in Austin, TX
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April 9- Legacy Tea in the Kappa room for PNM Baylor Legacies
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April 11- Kappa hosted the 66th Baylor Beauty Charity Style Show, where ladies nominated campus wide competed against each other to be named baylor beauty. All ticket proceeds went to our philanthropy.
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April 13 - For the first time, we have one of our own selected to serve as a Leadership Consultant, Sydney Taylor.  
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April 28- Parkdale Partner Lunch
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May 14-21: Baylor Kappa goes on mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala
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August 25- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC: all university event for PNMs that are interested in recruitment
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September 29- Semi-Formal
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October 10- Founders Day including scholarship recognition of the chapters members.
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October 16- Spaghetti Not So Formal with ATO; an all university event and proceeds go to our philanthropy
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October 19-21- Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had members nominated for Homecoming Court. Created and showcased our 1st place float, and performed our sing act in Pigskin.
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October 28- Dads Day
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November 8- Kappa Karnival is an all university event benefiting Reading is Fundamental. We have raffle prizes, free dessert, bounce houses, and carnival themed booths run by fraternities.
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November 10- Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary
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December 1- Social Event: Take-A-Date to the exhibit "ICE!" at the Gaylord Texan Hotel
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Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
 +
The nature of our chapter is very friendly, very diverse yet we are all so alike and the personality of the chapter is fun and unique but responsible.
  
 
Chapter Philanthropy:
 
Chapter Philanthropy:
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What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
 +
Our chapter raises money for Reading is Fundamental. However each week we work directly with Parkdale Elementary, a local elementary school. Each week members go into kindergarten grade classrooms and read with the students.
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Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
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This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community.
 +
Chapter Facility:
 +
In what kind of a facility does your chapter meet? Please attach a clear photo of where you typically hold chapter meetings – whether in a classroom, chapter house or elsewhere.
 +
Our chapter holds meetings in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room
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Oral History
 +
 +
Tommye Lou Davis
 +
 +
==Highlights of 2018==
 +
 +
January 7- Bid Day: 97 girls pledged Kappa
 +
27- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal
 +
February 4- Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event
 +
7- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room
 +
10- Initiated 97 girls into Kappa
 +
17- Competed in All-University Sing: "Carwash" was performed and received 2nd place and a bid to Pigskin
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March 16- Social Event: New Member Dance
 +
25- Take-a-Date: Dallas Mavericks Basketball Game
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28- Kappa hosted annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and staff children
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pril 7- Baylor's Steppin Out- University Philanthropy Event 8- Legacy Tea 11- Kappa hosted annual event: Baylor Beauty
 +
12- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O
 +
22- Mom's Day May
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27- Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala
 +
August 24- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC
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October 8- Social Event: Dad's Day
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24- Celebrated Founder's Day with Alumni at the Baylor Club
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27- Take-a-Date: Austin Park in Austin, Texas
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November 2-4: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 2 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and showcased a float built with Alpha Tau Omega, and performed "Carwash" at Pigskin Revue
 +
8- Kappa Karnival: All-University Event raising money for Reading is Fundamental
 +
10- Baylor's Steppin Out: University Philanthropy Event
 +
16- Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary 
 +
December 1- Social Event: Kappa Kristmas Semi-formal This semester we implemented "Bravo" which recognizes a member each week
 +
who has gone above and beyond in their way to support fellow members.
 +
 +
At convention, we received awards for PR and Risk Management. Our chapter hosted Outdoor Voices for a pop-up shop to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.
  
−
Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation: (NYDM) In 2015, Eta Pi had around 40 dancers sign up
+
Baylor has undertaken several changes in the Greek community this year. Through this election of Alpha Phi to join Baylor Panhellenic the chapter has had the opportunity to strengthen unity with other chapters. Epsilon Upsilon looks forward to officially welcoming Alpha Phi to Baylor's campus this spring and working to encourage the growth of their chapter. The nature of the chapter is positive and excited for this season of change and the idea of building a stronger unity with other old and new chapters on Baylor's campus.
−
and raise money for the B+ Foundation’s Dance Marathon at NYU. Headed by Elana Rubin, our
 
−
team raised over $27,000 for the cause.
 
  
−
American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life: Every year, Eta Pi has a team participate at NYU’s
 
−
Relay for Life. In 2015, our team captain Kristina Rathjen (2015) worked with sisters all across the
 
−
chapter to put on fundraisers and raise a significant amount of money for the cause! We have already
 
−
begun fundraising for Relay 2016 with events such as Kappa Kandy Grams, organized by are house
 
−
committee.
 
  
−
Reading is Fundamental: Our philanthropy chair, Rebecca Borjas worked with Public School 64
+
Our chapter supports Reading is Fundamental but works weekly with Parkdale Elementary.This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun
−
for both tutoring hours in the Spring and our Reading is Key event in the Fall. At Reading is Key,
+
to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who need extra assistance in reading.
−
we provide every child with a new book, as well as a full afternoon of literacy crafts and games that
 
−
encourage the children to read.
 
  
−
NYU does a great job encouraging Greek organizations to participate in student-body wide
 
−
fundraising events. We participate in NYDM because it began as a Greek only fundraising event,
 
−
but expanded in 2015 to include NYU residential life. This year, we put into place a new rule
 
−
stating that all women must participate in a minimum of 5 philanthropy hours over the course of
 
−
the semester. This has not only increased presence at our Philanthropy events, but has also grown
 
−
Kappa’s presence on the NYU campus as a whole, for it encourages sisters to attend the
 
−
philanthropic events of the other Greek organizations.
 
−
-------------
 
  
−
==Highlights of 2016==
+
Our chapter meets in the The Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room.
 +
 
 +
Oral History
 +
 
 +
Tommye Lou Davis
 +
 
 +
Rene Taylor Beth Musgraves
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==Highlights of 2019==
 +
 
 +
January  12- Bid Day: 98 girls pledged Kappa
 +
February 1  - Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal
 +
February 2- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event
 +
5- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room
 +
15- Initiated 97 girls into Kappa
 +
21- Competed in All-University Sing: "Come Fly With Me" was performed and received a bid to Pigskin
 +
March    16- Social Event: New Member Dance
 +
23- Take-a-Date: Dallas Mavericks Basketball Game 
 +
28Kappa hosted annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and staff children
 +
April      6- Baylor's Steppin Out- University Philanthropy Event
 +
7- Legacy Tea       
 +
11- Kappa hosted annual event: Baylor Beauty             
 +
18- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O 
 +
21- Mom's Day
 +
May      27- Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala 
 +
August  24- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC
 +
October 12- Social Event: Dad's Day
 +
15- Celebrated Founder's Day with Alumni at the Baylor Club
 +
November 1-3: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 2 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and showcased a float built with Alpha Tau Omega which won "Best in Class," and performed "Come Fly With Me" at Pigskin Revue
 +
8- Social Event: Winter Semi Formal           
 +
19- Kappa Karnival: All-University Event raising money for Reading is Fundamental
 +
22- Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary
 +
December 1- Social Event: Kappa Kristmas Semi-formal
 +
 
 +
This semester we implemented "Kisses" which is a game we will play at the end of chapter where 3 people are given Hershey's kisses and they pass them along to someone who made them happy that week or they think is great.  .
 +
 
 +
Our chapter hosted Outdoor Voices for a pop-up shop to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.
 +
 
 +
The nature of the chapter is positive and excited for this season of change and the
 +
idea of building a stronger unity with other old and new chapters on Baylor's campus.
 +
 
 +
Chapter Philanthropy
 +
Reading is Fundamental but works weekly with Parkdale Elementary
 +
This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing
 +
relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun
 +
to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've
 +
worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with
 +
the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for
 +
Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who
 +
need extra assistance in reading.
 +
 
 +
Chapter Facility
 +
The Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room.
 +
 
 +
Oral History
 +
 
 +
Tommye Lou Davis
 +
Rene Taylor
 +
Beth Musgraves
 +
Gretchen Eichenberg
 +
 
 +
==Highlights of 2020==
 +
 
 +
Pre-covid chapter events of 2020 read as follows. January 11: 89 new members pledged Kappa. January 30: Big little reveal. January 31: New Member Dance with theme “Kappa Kappa Glow” where new members and dates and active members dressed in neon clothing, danced, and performed new member songs. February 1: KOT Fishery, philanthropy event. February 7: Sapphire Ball Formal. February 9: beginning of Inspiration Period for Initiation. February 14/15: Initiation of 89 new members. February 29: Participated in All-University Sing paired with Kappa Sigma for our act, “Ship of Dreams.” Received first place and a bid to Pigskin. Following spring break, we did not return to campus due to COVID-19. We began to adapt in the spring semester by sending out news letters to encourage and engage the chapter. Our social media presence during this time became another way for our chapter to stay connected. Our PR chairs created a beautiful postcard to mail to each of our members to the location in which they were quarantined. We began social media campaigns to encourage one another and stay connected, including “What we miss Wednesday,” “Sister Spotlight,” and “Senior Saturday.” Each of these were intended to highlight a particular member and share about what makes our chapter special to them. In addition, we began posting Instagram Stories for every members birthday, as we were not able to sing to them in meeting like normal. When we returned to campus in the fall, we began to hold virtual meetings every Tuesday at 5:15pm over Zoom. Our Philanthropy week took place November 8-14. This included a book drive for our local elementary school, Parkdale Elementary. We had profit shares all week at popular Waco restaurants which we promoted through our social media, including Andy’s Frozen Custard and Mamaka Bowls. On Thursday we had a Zoom Zumba class where participants paid $3 which went to RIF. On Friday we had a virtual raffle with amazing prizes including $100+ gift cards to local restaurants, football tickets, gift cards to local boutiques, and many more.
 +
 
 +
Reading is Fundamental, works with Parkdale Elementary weekly, reading to second grade students. This weekly practice was put on pause with COVID.This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who need extra assistance in reading. Even through COVID where we could not continue to meet with our students weekly, we participated in a drive-by at the beginning of the school year to encourage the students and show our support.
 +
To support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within our chapter, we elected two officers to support this effort. One officer’s responsibilities included communicating with Baylor’s Panhellenic community to support our community’s DEI efforts. Our second officer was elected to internally implement DEI within our chapter. Through chapter discussions and training, we have continued to make strides with DEI and look forward to continuing this growth and understanding in our
 +
community.
  
−
Re-reading this page has shown me that every year seems to be a successful year for the Eta Pi Chapter of KKG at NYU, however 2016  turned out to be an incredibly special year for many reasons. We have once more proven to be a very close group of strong women who work hard to support each other in every endeavor. We have 178 initiated sisters from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, states and countries. At the 71st Biennial Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter Convention held in June 2016, our chapter was named the Most Outstanding Chapter of the biennium; a huge honor that brought pride to both current chapter members and alumnae. At the FSL awards this past spring, our was named the “Most Improved Chapter at NYU”. Our fifth year on campus was full of wonderful achievements on a local level as well.
+
To celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary in a safe, socially distanced manner, we held a
  
−
Our Vice President of Standards, Sam Granger, has done a wonderful job hosting sisterhood events that are enjoyable, creative and flexible with our sisters increasingly busy schedules! Our events range from a shopping excursion at a Kate Spade store at the new Oculus World Trade Center mall to a sister speed dating event to a day sleepover at our penthouse. Every event serves to bring our sisters even closer and provide some relaxation amidst the stressful school year. As an organization, our new risk chair–Amelia Salsgiver, along with her (biological) sister Katherine–has continued the programming created by our past Risk Chair Jen Tonti, which our chapter has come to know as ‘Femisphere’. We spend allotted time during chapter discussing issues that women of today deal with. In the current political climate, Femisphere allows a space for conversation between a large group of amazing, successful, diverse women; which is truly invaluable. Under the amazing leadership of our indispensible Event’s Chair, Lauren Enes, we have had two beautiful semi-formals, a date party and an unforgettable formal at Hudson Terrace. She also continued our traditional Parent’s Weekend, which featured brunch and a New York Met’s Game for our sisters and their families.
+
virtual Founders Day ceremony over Zoom. In addition to the Zoom ceremony, we
  
−
After a very successful housing presentation by our 2015 House Chair, Annais Lopez Sanchez, and receiving first housing pick of the Greek life penthouses, Eta Pi now lives in the most sought after penthouse on NYU’s campus. We have plenty of space for events and the girls who have the privilege of living in the house are very close. Our current House Chair–Jenny DeCandia–plans Kappotlucks semi-regularly to allow girls the chance to visit our penthouse, which also happens to have an incredible view of the city.
+
delivered Chick-Fil-A to our member’s houses/apartments so they could enjoy dinner with
  
−
The Eta Pi Kappas have always been known around campus for their fastidious behavior towards their academics–this year was no exception. We had 46 Kappa Kappa Geniuses (girls with a GPA above 3.7) and 7 girls with 4.0 GPA’s in the spring. This fall we had 44 Kappa Kappa Geniuses and 8 girls with 4.0 GPA’s. We even had four new initiates into NYU’s Order of Omega.
+
roommates while watching the ceremony. In addition to the ceremony and dinner, we
−
Eta Pi had the true honor to host a Girls Academy in 2016. We as a chapter feel that it’s very important to positively influence a younger generation of women and were thus were very thrilled to have the opportunity to work with 50 middle school girls from Columbia Secondary School as well as the accomplished women of the New York Alumnae Association. Small group facilitators were selected from the chapter by application to participate in this amazing opportunity, and many other women both from Eta Pi and the NYAA were instrumental in volunteering to make the event a success--from helping with food to photographing and so much more, it was an amazing example of Kappas of all ages coming together. Eta Pi and the NYAA are excited to keep their relationship with the school and the participants going strong into the next year, showing our commitment to the girls and their families. We would like to extend a particular thank you to Jean Schmidt for providing outstanding support to the GIRLS Academy program.
 
  
−
We found our lovely new theta class during a Kate Spade fall formal recruitment this year led by Maria Guadagno. Our theme appeared to be an overall hit amongst the PNM’s as we recruited and initiated forty-five new sisters at a beautiful and well run initiation ceremony headed by Beatrice Masih. We plan to initiate another three thetas this spring.
+
painted a banner and hung it for photos, as well as had a Snapchat filter for members to
  
−
Greek Life at NYU continues to build as a stronger and larger presence on campus. To assist in our own chapter’s involvement, our panhel chair, Zoe Rucker put a requirement into our bi-laws requiring each sister to attend at least one panhel meeting or event, which has proven to be a very positive change for our chapter! At the annual panhel election night this year we had over forty members in attendance!
+
celebrate and take photos. This made us feel close with one another as we celebrated from
  
−
In 2016, Eta Pi had around 33 dancers sign up and raise money for the B+ Foundation Dance Marathon at NYU known as NYDM. Our team raised over $30,000 for the cause which broke our own personal fundraising goal and our record from last year. We also won the spirit points competition after doing an excellent job with our canning events and having great attendance at other organization’s events. All in all, we were very proud of our team’s efforts.
+
a distance. Photos of the banner will be attached!
  
−
Every year, Eta Pi has a team participate at NYU’s Relay for Life an event that benefits the American Cancer Society. In 2016, our team was comprised of around thirty chapter members and we raised 1000 dollars! We have already begun fundraising for Relay 2017 with events such as the sale of Kappa Kandy Grams. An event that both supports Relay and spreads holiday cheer!
 
  
−
We held our annual Reading Is Key event this year at the Cornerstone Community Center and had the pleasure of working with 19 first graders and 17 kindergartners at an after school program. They had a great time and each child went home with a new book!
+
Disclaimer: all photos attached were taken before COVID-19 or are taken following social
−
The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alunmae Association at the chapter's installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Rebecca Calvo, then Madeline Jerge and it currently resides with the 2016 Eta Pi President, Annalise Bissa. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”
 
  
 +
distancing guidelines. Photos attached of members without masks are roommates.
  
−
Approved by the chapter: December 11, 2016
+
[[File:2020 Chapter History Report Photos.pdf|thumb|Baylor pics]]
  
  
  
−
'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
+
==Highlights of 2021==
−
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.  
+
This past year, our chapter has had the incredible privilege of welcoming in our New Member class, rebuilding traditions
 +
following the COVID-19 pandemic, and continuing to grow our chapter’s impact on the Waco
 +
community with our new philanthropy supporting children’s mental health. While the spring
 +
semester of 2021 was mostly virtual, our new members were given the chance to grow closer
 +
together with their member class and be a part of our organization amidst a global pandemic. Our
 +
chapter is proud to have had so many girls join Kappa during the spring semester, and with the start
 +
of the fall semester, we have begun to implement more in-person events again. Starting this fall, we
 +
hosted several sisterhood events specifically for MC 21, held our Lock-and-Key semi-formal in the fall,
 +
as well as showcasing our winning Sing performance, titled “Ship of Dreams” in Baylor’s Pigskin Revue
 +
which takes place every homecoming. Our float chairs also put together a beautiful NASCAR-themed
 +
float along with the help of our friends in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity that was a hit in the
 +
homecoming parade. Our philanthropy chairs have led the charge in supporting Parkdale Elementary
 +
School, which has been a partner of Kappa at Baylor for nearly 30 years. We are proud to say that
 +
while there have been limits placed on how we can support the students at Parkdale, we have
 +
continued to assist them in any way we are able to and we are looking forward to continuing that
 +
relationship we have held with Parkdale Elementary for so many years. While this was an
 +
unprecedented year in our chapter’s history, we are proud to say that the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of
 +
Kappa Kappa Gamma has come out stronger because of it.
 +
Chapter Philanthropy
 +
What local organization does the chapter support and why? Our chapter has been in the
 +
process of continuing our long-standing relationship with Parkdale Elementary School located in
 +
Waco, Texas. Starting in August, our chapter council voted to support a new organization focusing on
 +
children’s mental health, especially considering the impact that the pandemic has had on all
 +
elementary-aged children. The organization we voted to support is the Children’s Health and
 +
Mentorship Program, otherwise known as “CHAMP,” which focuses on supporting all aspects of
 +
children’s mental health and giving them a healthy environment to learn and thrive, especially
 +
following the mental strain that COVID-19 has had on all students, especially elementary-aged
 +
students such as those in Parkdale.
 +
How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy? Due to the COVID protocols that Parkdale
 +
Elementary School has put into place, our chapter was not able to attend Parkdale on Fridays like we
 +
normally would during a year without social distancing policies. In order to accommodate for this lack
 +
of in-person support, our chapter held a “Drive-Boo” where we had a drive-through Halloween party
 +
for the students, a profit-share to raise money for CHAMP, and our philanthropy chairs have been
 +
working to continue fundraising events in the spring.
 +
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
 +
Our chapter has implemented a Diversity, Equity,and Inclusion chair in our chapter council. Our current
 +
DEI Chair, Kelsey Womack, has done an
 +
outstanding job in educating our chapter on how we can uplift our community at Baylor and act in
 +
such a way that is respecting and honoring to everyone who is on our campus and in our Waco
 +
community. Kelsey, along with her committee, shared devotionals about inclusion in our weekly
 +
chapter meetings and helped lead a worship night with a local fraternity on campus to grow closer as
 +
a Baylor community with the intention of growing in diversity and inclusion.
 +
Operating in a Pandemic
 +
In the spring semester, our chapter had virtual new member period, initiation, and chapter
 +
meetings. Along with the help of our Panhellenic council, we were able to have a socially distant
 +
event outside in April, where our new members were able to sing the songs they learned virtually
 +
from our recruitment chairs. This fall semester has held a strong desire to be back in-person, and our
 +
chapter council has held several in-person chapter meetings and social events in order to grow closer
 +
as a chapter. While we are supporting our philanthropy in a virtual setting, we intend to be back
 +
helping out on their campus as soon as they lift social distancing policies. Additionally, we are
 +
preparing to have a virtual open house day for our spring recruitment with in-person days following
 +
the virtual meetings. The lack of in-person events has certainly helped our chapter grow closer
 +
together and appreciate the time we now spend together outside of zoom!
  
−
Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
+
[[File:Baylor21.jpg|thumb|Sisterhood]]

Latest revision as of 17:21, 10 September 2022

Epsilon Upsilon
EY
Epsilon.jpg
FoundedNovember 25, 1873 (1873-11-25) (152 years ago)
CollegeBaylor University
LocationWaco,TX
ProvinceTheta
HomepageEpsilon Upsilon Website
Media related to Epsilon Upsilon Chapter

Baylor University, established in 1845, Waco, Texas


3,116 initiates (as of June 2018)


Charter Members: Kathryn Ann Bledsoe, Tamara Jane Cox, Debra Ann Edens, Suzanne Maniss Craig, Sharron Williams Cutbirth, Debra Ann Edens, Patricia Ann Jansky, Elizabeth Dorrett Keitt, Susan Grace King, Molly Grace Meredith, Sara Lynn Miller, Judith Annette Rose, Mary Douglas Seabury, Gena Lynn Smith, Karla Gay Smith, Sabrina Lynn Walker, Helen Liana Wiggins, Sharron Kay Williams and M. Donise Wilson, chapter President.

Fraternity Council Members:


Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:


Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:


Additional Outstanding Epsilon Upsilon Alumnae


History of Baylor University[edit]

The Texas Baptist Education Society then petitioned the Congress of the Republic of Texas to charter a Baptist university in the fall of 1844. Republic President Anson Jones signed the Act of Congress on Feb. 1, 1845, officially establishing Baylor University. Reverend James Huckins, the first Baptist missionary to Texas, was Baylor's first full-time fundraiser and the third founding father of the university. Although these three men are credited as being the founders of Baylor University, there are many others who worked to see our university established in Texas.

After the University was chartered on February 1, 1845, four communities made bids to be the location: Travis, Huntsville, Shannon's Prairie and Independence. Independence was selected, and classes for preparatory students began in May 1846 with college courses offered the following June. In 1886, Baylor and Waco University consolidated to form Baylor University at Waco.

From humble beginnings in Independence, Texas, the campus has grown to approximately 1,000 acres in Waco, Texas, annually educating more than 15,000 men and women to pursue their individual life callings.

These are exciting times in the life of the University - a period in which our institution is striving to remain both a relevant institution of higher learning for the coming years and to continue to fulfill our original mission laid down by our founders: to be a Christian University "fully susceptible of enlargement and development to meet the needs of all ages to come." In a world where faith is often the casualty of a serious pursuit of academic achievement, Baylor is a special place.

The ability and willingness of Baylor to adapt and change to achieve continual progress can be traced throughout its history. It has endured and survived hardships, from financial difficulties, to the Great Depression, to world wars. It made a historic and critical decision to move from Independence to Waco, its current home. It divested its medical and dental schools at a time when that proved to be the most prudent decision for the success of each program. It even had the foresight and fortitude to change its very charter to insulate the institution from denominational struggles.

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution. Our rank of alumni include missionaries and pastors, heads of Fortune 500 companies, governors of Texas and professional athletes. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in the state.


The Early Years (From The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma 1870–1976)[edit]

Largest Initiation! During September 22–24, 1977, Kappa Kappa Gamma Installed Epsilon Upsilon Chapter at Baylor University. Everyone knows Texas is a big state and Texans “think big,” so it was only fitting that this was the biggest Initiation yet for Kappa Kappa Gamma!

Beginning on Thursday and culminating in a formal banquet on Saturday evening, a total of eight Initiation services were held and close to 400 Atheneans became Kappas.

The Athenean Club The Athenean Club was founded in 1935 when four freshman girls felt a need for more social contact between “dorm girls” and “town girls.” Each of the four chose a friend, and the eight of them formed a sorority based on high ideals, which grew strong and loyal with approximately 1,500 initiates between 1935 and 1977. The name Athenean was suggested by their first sponsor, Sarah Lowry. It was chosen because of the intellectual qualities and cultural attainment associated with the people of ancient Athens.

Installation Weekend Serving as the installation chairman was Becky Stone Arbour, Delta Iota—LSU, with co-chairman Penny Hight Richards, Beta Xi—Texas, who made sure that out-of-town guests were housed at the Old Main Lodge in Waco, and the First Presbyterian Church was ready for the ceremonies, and the Student Union was available for the lovely formal banquet and Sunday afternoon campus reception. Installing officers were Jean Hess Wells, Delta Upsilon—Georgia, Fraternity President; Kay Smith Larson, Beta Pi—Washington, Director of Chapters; Gay Chuba Barry, Delta Alpha—Penn State, Director of Alumnae; Patricia Boyd Adams, Theta Province Director of Chapters; and Shirley Younkin Shreve, Theta Province Director of Alumnae. Executive Secretary, Betty Sanor Cameron,along with Jean Ebright Elin, and Diane Miller Selby, Beta Nu—Ohio State, Editor of The Key, came from Fraternity Headquarters as the expert “set-up crew.”

Kappa alumnae in Waco worked tirelessly to assure the success of this venture—bringing flowers, hammers and smiles every day. Kappas from Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, Richardson and other areas came to help during the Initiation ceremonies. Beta Xi—Texas, served as the sister chapter for Epsilon Upsilon.

Among the initiated were many relatives—mothers and daughters, younger sisters and older sisters and other relatives. In a club as old and strong as the Atheneans, it was fitting that the oldest initiate was honored—Cornelia Marschall Smith, born October 15, 1896. She entered Baylor in 1915, earned an AB, and then a MA from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. in 1928 from Johns Hopkins. She was a member of Mortar Board and other honoraries. Her husband was a professor of English at Baylor, and Cornelia was a professor emeritus of biology.

The 17 young women who chose to become charter members of Epsilon Upsilon Chapter were initiated in the first service. A large group of former Athenean presidents as well as many other Athenean alumnae were initiated in subsequent services.

The installation banquet was held in the Barfield Room of the Student Union Building. Peggy Hicks McGregor, Gamma Phi—SMU, served as toastmistress, and Virginia Dodson Crump, the associate dean of students, provided a warm welcome. Sara Stewart, Beta Xi President and Donise Wilson, Epsilon Upsilon President, spoke as well. An inspiring speech by former Fraternity President Louise Little Barbeck, Gamma Phi—SMU, was enjoyed by all.

The new chapter received many gifts and showed their appreciation by singing an original song, which seemed likely to become a Kappa favorite. Field Secretary Karen Hungerford, Mu—Butler, and Graduate Counselor Nancy Trimble, Delta Sigma—Oklahoma State, appeared every bit as excited as the newly initiated Kappas when the final banquet song ended and all realized that this big dream was a reality—the Atheneans were Kappas in the finest sense!

At the time of Epsilon Upsilon’s founding, Baylor University was owned and operated by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and had a student enrollment of 8,000 in its 240-acre Waco campus. The university was founded in 1845 and was chartered by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. One of Baylor’s first benefactors was Sam Houston.

Highlights of the 1980’s[edit]

In the 1980’s Baylor’s freshman classes were continuously getting much larger meaning that “rush” was as well. In 1985 Baylor had an especially large freshman class with 200-300 over the typical enrollment. Consequently, almost 1200 girls registered for recruitment and 487 pledged (we took 50 girls totaling the chapter to 173). In 1987 Baylor began exploring adding another Panhellenic group to campus (at the time they had 9 organizations) because of the amount of women that were interested in Greek Life. Throughout the 80’s we had our new members do their own philanthropy event and our class of 1985 chose to visit a nursing home two different days with the KOT pledge class.

Recruitment did look a bit different back in the 80’s though. In 1985 part of our recruitment consisted of taking potential new members to different Kappa Apartments – “Apartment Hops” – and themes were Halloween and Christmas. This year we also began using our computer to tabulate votes which really helped to speed up the process.

Some regular events we held were Kappa Dads Day, a scholarship banquet, Founder’s Day, Kite and Key with Kappa Alpha Theta, Homecoming events, Mystery Masquerade (annual Halloween/costume dance), Swingaton with Sigma Alpha Epsilon benefiting Waco Firefighters, All University Sing, and more! One annual event that they started in 1984 was a Powder Puff football game with the new members against Pi Beta Phi’s new members. The Kappa Pickers were of course around to sing at many of these events.

We also created a clear goal each year that we really wanted to focus on. In 1985 this goal was “Unity” which stood for Understanding, No Hazing, Involvement, Time with God and Your Sisters. Each officer incorporated this theme into their goals for her office and committee. In 1987 we decided to have the goal Kappa Kommittment each month. Every month Kappa had a new commitment to strive towards (Scholarship, Pledges, Friendship, etc), but in the fall of this year we received a letter from headquarters with concerns regarding our scholarship standing and we then switched all of our focus to overcoming this dilemma.

Highlights of the 1990’s[edit]

Epsilon Upsilon started out the 1990’s wanting to be remembered for our achievement in philanthropy in 1991. During this year we sponsored the all university walk-a-thon which let every sorority enter and raise money for their individual charities. Among other service projects were visits to nursing homes, the Methodist Home and serving dinner at the Salvation Army. In 1991 we also received the Most Improved Chapter awards at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention. This year our Chapter President was also named Baylor Homecoming Queen!

In the early 90’s one of our biggest challenges as a chapter (which continued on from the 80’s) was scholarship. We continued to work on trying to raise our chapter GPA through study halls for different GPA categories, a reward system to encourage others, and raising our grade requirement during recruitment. By 1995 we had raised our GPA above the Kappa national average, but we didn’t want to just maintain this so we continued to add new ways for members of our chapter to focus on scholarship together.

With our scholarship improvements throughout the early 90’s, the late 90’s we realized we needed to start focusing more on ways to increase fraternity education and ritual. We did this through short facts during chapter meeting and weekly information sessions. We even gave our entire chapter pre-tests and post-tests in order to measure the increase in knowledge.

Epsilon Upsilon continued to stay involved on the Baylor campus in the 90’s – participating in All-University Sing, Pigskin, Greek Week, intramurals and more. In 1993 we also started an annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and alumni children which proved to be a big success.

We also consistently focus on bonding with our sisters and one way we did so was through an annual fall chapter retreat. In 1994 we escaped to Camp Balcones Springs in Marble Falls on beautiful Lake Travis. It was a wonderful weekend for the entire chapter to relax, bond, share and get to spend quality time together. One thing we did during this retreat was a “pair share” time. This is a time when every Kappa in the chapter is paried with another Kappa they do not know very well and get a chance to talk and then share with the chapter what their learned about their sister. Prayer has consistently been important to us at Epsilon Upsilon and in anticipation of rush in 1996 we implemented a 24-hour day of prayer. Each chapter member signed up for a time slot and continually prayed for our chapter throughout the 24 hours.

Highlights of the 2000’s[edit]

Epsilon Upsilon celebrated the millennium with a special “It’s a New Year In Kappa” theme on the first day of recruitment, which began January 3, 2000. The slide show presentation ended with grand fireworks giving all present the feeling of ringing in the new millennium together. A monetary gift was given to the Panhellenic Building Fund to celebrate the ground breaking of the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum.

In the 2000’s Epsilon Upsilon continued our on-going support of their community – local charities, university-wide events, and other campus organizations alike. We regularly participated in and looked forward to the Kappa Omega Tau Fishery which is a unique service project that allowed us to serve the mentally and physically handicapped individuals in Waco. We also continued our annual Easter Egg Hunt tradition for the community. Back in 1999 we started a new philanthropy – Kappa Klassic Golf Tournament. This tournament continued throughout the 2000’s and we raised significant amounts of money for charity. We also began a partnership with a local elementary school (Parkdale Elementary) where we not only tutor the children, but members also have the opportunity to sign up for Parkdale Pen Pal.

We continued to have many event such as Kappa Country, Kappa Krush, and Kappa Krawfish Boil. While many events we have are with other members of Greek Life at Epsilon Upsilon “Kappa Backs the Bears” so we had many fun take-a-dates and mixers with the football, basketball, and baseball teams.

Homecoming is consistently important at Baylor and to us in Epsilon Upsilon. Throughout the 2000’s there were multiple times that a member was elected Homecoming Queen and we are always very involved with all the activities. In 2008 the Homecoming theme was “Hanzel and Gretel” and we built a fantastic homecoming float titled “Brew Mizzou”.

As it was in the early 90’s, the early 2000’s were a time for us to focus on strengthening our chapter GPA. We worked hard to update Kappa test files and provide members with tutoring so that older and younger members within the same fields of study could pair and help each other. In 2006 this proved to be very helpful in that our chapter GPA rose from sixth out of nine sororities to fourth out of nine. In 2008 our chapter was placed on a letter of warning from the fraternity which created many changes within our chapter, but also united us to work together to comply with the recommended areas of improvement.

Prayer continued to be an important aspect our chapter throughout the 2000’s and especially during the time of September 11, 2001. Throughout the days following the tragedy, Baylor conducted several prayer services. Another University-wide action was a moment of silence the next day at 12:00 noon, so that every student and professor could take to opportunity to reflect and pray for the victims and their families. Our Kappa chapter also held a prayer session for us to unite and support those in need.

Highlights of 2012[edit]

Two Thousand Twelve was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs created a breath-taking first place masquerade act, which will now appear in Pigskin Review.

The event chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our spring Swing-a-thon and afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the 62nd Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty, but we created new traditions as well.

To celebrate our founding sisterhood, we hosted the first Late Night at Monmouth Pancake Breakfast with the ladies of Pi Beta Phi. Together, we raised $2,960 for charity water, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring clean and safe drinking water to those in developing countries.

Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. A few members of our Chapter Council participated in the Fraternity’s 69th Biennial Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisers, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa!

Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and an All-American themed crush. Even amidst the chaos that fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment.

We honored Founders Day with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Parents’ Weekend luncheon. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the fall Swing-a-thon, hosted a Kendra Scott Jewelry Trunk Show benefiting Reading is Fundamental, organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries, and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights have been spent with the men of Alpha Tau Omega at our float site and dancing with the Kappa Sigmas at Pigskin practice. Both of these ventures were very successful by winning Judge’s Choice Award for float and performing our First Place act in Pigskin.

We are gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions. Our final Kappa event for the semester was Kappa Kountry in which we two-stepped the night away!

There have been many recent changes on the Baylor campus during this year. Baylor University is building a new stadium that will be on campus. The stadium will not be completed until the 2014 season. Baylor is also building a new dormitory that should be ready for for the incoming freshman. Multiple projects are going on around Baylor University at all time.

Highlights of 2013[edit]

Two Thousand Thirteen was another great year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter. In January, we had a wonderful recruitment and were able to take an incredible new member class. The new member class was initiated and has been a blessing to the whole chapter. Our Sing chairs created an imaginative act called Topsy Turvy which was performed for Baylor University. The social chairs planned date dashes, our Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. Our spring Swing-a-thon and afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School allowed our chapter to give back to our community. The chapter participated in many established traditions, such as the 63rd Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty. Late Night at Monmouth Pancake Breakfast was a success for the second year where we raised money for charity water, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring clean and safe drinking water to those in developing countries.

The spring semester came to an end, but summer did not bring a pause to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. Our chapter was able to organize a mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala, which a handful of members participated in. Those members served the people of Guatemala with loving hearts and were able to contribute much more than time and money during their stay there. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisors, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, went on mission trips and took summer classes at Baylor.

Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, Welcome Week events, a take-a-date, and intramurals. Our chapter found the time to celebrate Baylor and Kappa traditions in the fall semester despite our busy schedules. The seniors enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We paired with several fraternities at football games to have tailgates before the games. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Parents’ Weekend brunch.

Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale Elementary School, hosted a Kendra Scott Jewelry Trunk Show benefiting Reading is Fundamental, and organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries. Our chapter created a new event on campus, Kappa Karnival, which was a great success. Nights were spent working with the men of Alpha Tau Omega at our float site for the homecoming parade. The Kappa Pickers performed at many events including Christmas on 5th. We just had another successful recruitment and are preparing to initiate our 89 new members!       Baylor University’s new football stadium is close to being finished. There is construction on it constantly and it should be open for the fall 2014 football season. The new dormitories that opened this past fall on campus have been a great blessing to the freshmen this year. Baylor is also currently preparing to build a new business school on campus.

Highlights of 2014[edit]

Two Thousand Fourteen was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs worked really hard to create a great Sing Act called “Running Wild”, which was shown in Pigskin Review in the Fall of 2014. The social chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our Spring Swing-a-thon where we raised and donated money to a local halfway house in Waco, Compassion Ministries. Last Spring was also full of many afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty, but we created new traditions as well.

Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. A few members of our Chapter Council participated in the Fraternity’s Convention in Houston, Texas. We attended seminars, workshops, and educational events, as well as enjoyed spending time with alumnae, advisors, and Kappas from around the world. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa!

Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and a dodgeball crush event. Even amidst the chaos that Fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day at a local country club with our Waco Alumnae Association. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. We got to know each other’s families at our lovely Family Weekend luncheon. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the Fall Swing-a-thon benefitting a local animal shelter in Waco, Texas; Fuzzy Friends, organized a Halloween carnival at Compassion Ministries, volunteered at the Parkdale Halloween carnival and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights have been spent with the men of Phi Kappa Chi at our float site, where we ending up winning 1st place out of all the Homecoming Floats. We also performed “Running Wild” in Pigskin Review. We also hosted our second Kappa Karnival this year, it was very successful. Throughout the Fall we spent time gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions.

Our Campus has a new football stadium, McLane stadium. It is beautifully designed. Baylor is currently building a new Business School, which will be opening in Fall 2015. There are also many other changes going on in the growing Baylor community. The nature of our chapter is very positive, growing, graceful, friendly, loyal, and loving. There is a strong focus on RIF, supporting other chapters, including all Kappa chapter members, and University related events (SING, Homecoming Float, Steppin Out, Pigskin etc.).

We hold chapter meetings in our Kappa suite in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum. This suite is rented.


Highlights of 2015[edit]

Two Thousand Fifteen was an outstanding year for the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Last January, we had another successful recruitment and were blessed with an incredible new member class. Our Sing chairs worked really hard to create a great Sing Act called “Weird Science”, which was shown in Pigskin Review in the Fall of 2015. The social chairs planned date dashes, the annual Sapphire Ball, pledge dance, and a take-a-date. There was our Spring Swing-a-thon where we raised and donated money to the Waco Humane Society Last Spring was also full of many afternoons spent at Parkdale Elementary School serving as mentors to second graders. In the Spring of 2015, our chapter won an award for partner of the year (2014-2015) for Waco ISD. The chapter participated in established traditions, such as organizing the Annual All-University Baylor Beauty Style Show and arranging an Easter egg hunt for children of faculty. Spring finals arrived too quickly, but summer did not bring the end to Epsilon Upsilon’s involvement. Together, members studied abroad, interned across the country, and took summer classes. Regardless if we are meeting each week, it is never hard to find a Kappa! Before we knew it, August arrived, and summer came to an end. We started the year with Greek Week events, intramurals, and a dodgeball crush event on campus. Even amidst the chaos that Fall semester brings, it is truly wonderful to see our chapter come together to celebrate both Kappa and Baylor traditions. The seniors have enjoyed “seniors only” social events, while our new members have continued to learn pledge songs for recruitment. We honored Founders Day at McLane Stadium with our Waco Alumnae Association. Our chapter was so excited to celebrate the 145th year. Partaking in our ritual together was a great reminder that Kappa truly is for a lifetime. Epsilon Upsilon has continued to volunteer weekly at Parkdale, held the Fall Swing-a-thon benefiting the Waco Humane Society, volunteered at the Parkdale Halloween carnival and kicked off our annual book drive. Nights approaching Homecoming weekend were spent with the men of Phi Kappa Chi at our float site. Kappa had a Junior member, Sydney Taylor, selected as a Homecoming Princess this year. We also performed “Weird Science” in Pigskin Review Homecoming weekend. We hosted our third Kappa Karnival this year, it was very successful. Throughout the Fall we spent time gearing up for another exciting recruitment, getting to know many potential new members and legacies. We ended the semester with the Kappa Pickers performing at multiple functions. Baylor built a new Business School, which opened Fall 2015, it is very nice. There are also many other changes going on in the growing Baylor community. The nature of our chapter is very positive, growing, graceful, friendly, loyal, and loving. There is a strong focus on RIF, supporting other chapters, including all Kappa chapter members, and University related events (SING, Homecoming Float, Steppin Out, Pigskin etc.).

Chapter Philanthropy:

Our chapter supports RIF, Kappa Foundation, Parkdale Elementary, Compassion Ministries, Waco Humane Society, and Hannah’s House.

We have supported and worked with Parkdale Elementary and Compassion ministries in years past and want to continue that relationship with both of them. We started supporting Waco Humane Society and Hannah’s House more recently. There is a huge stray animal problem in Waco and our local humane society helps curb that issue. Our chapter thinks it’s really important to help the community of Waco in that aspect. Hannah’s House is a nonprofit organization created to raise funds to build a children’s village with 8 homes in Zambia through Family Legacy in honor of Hannah Butler, a member of our chapter who recently passed. She was such a joy and so loving, and the village will be built in her honor once the funds are received.

Highlights of 2016[edit]

January: 9- Bid Day: 96 girls pledged Kappa 29- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal 30- New Member Luncheon with Waco Alumni

February 6-Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event; 9- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room 13- Initiated 96 members into Kappa; Initiation luncheon at The Baylor Club 27- Competed in All-University Sing: Our act "Come Dance with Me" was performed with Kappa Sigma and advanced to Pigskin.

March 23- Kappa put on our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Faculty and Staff's kids

April 3- Legacy Tea; 9- Baylor's Steppin Out: University Philanthropy Event; 10- Mom's Day with Practically Picasso in the Kappa Room; 16-Crawfish Boil Fundraiser with Kappa Sigma; 19- Kappa hosted our annual Event- Baylor Beauty; 21- Social Event: Take-A-Date Game night in Waco; 27- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O

May 2- Luncheon at Parkdale Elementary: Our Philanthropic Partner; 15-24: Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala

August 26- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC

October 1- Social Event: Take-A-Date to the Texas State Fair; 13-15: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 5 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and Showcased a float built with Phi Kappa Chi, and performed "Come Dance with Me" at Pigskin

November 4-Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key at Parkdale; 5- Social Event: Tailgate with Sigma Chi;16- Philanthropy Event: Monmouth with Pi Phi; 17- Kappa and ADPi Worship Night; 18- Social Event: Dad's Day; 30- Kappa Social Event: Kappa Christmas

This semester we have also implemented "Key Girl of the Week" which is a way to recognize members of our chapter who have gone out of their way to support other members. A member is nominated each week and then our VPS picks the winner who gets to wear a KKG necklace for the week.

Taylor Adams, our president during 2015, won the Greek Leader of the Year award.

We received the silver award for our HHR Binder. At convention, we received awards for PR and Risk Management. Our chapter hosted a Trunk Show this year that featured work from our members. There were jewelry items, art, flower arrangements and more that all benefited RIF. We also partnered with Pi Phi again this semester to celebrate Monmouth with a pancake dinner. Last spring, we hosted a crawfish boil with Kappa Sigma and the proceeds went to RIF.

Baylor has undertaken some beneficial changes during the last year. The biggest one is Title IX awareness across campus and especially for Panhellenic women. Baylor has provided multiple speakers and an online course to bring awareness to this issue. Although Title IX coordinators have changed, Baylor is still promoting awareness and safety for the issue. Another big issue in Panhellenic is that are need of a new chapter on campus to accommodate all the girls who go through recruitment. This year we started a Panhellenic philanthropy in order to show our support for other chapters and Baylor Panhellenic. Circle of Sisterhood, the philanthropy, has had several events throughout the semester that our chapter has attended.

Our chapter raises money for Reading is Fundamental. However each week we work directly with Parkdale Elementary, a local elementary school. Each week members go into second grade classrooms and read with the students.

This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community.

Our chapter holds meetings in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room .

We recommend Tommye Lou Davis for the Oral History Project


Highlights of 2017[edit]

January 6- Bid Day January 27- Sapphire Ball February 11- Initiation February 16-18; 23-35- Competed in All-University sing: our act "Fountain of Youth" was performed February 21- Academic Excellence Dinner March 1- New Member Dance April 6- Baylor Kappa holds the annual easter egg hunt on Baylor University's campus in honor for the faculty and staff and their children. We have an egg hunt, snacks, and pictures with an Easter Bunny. April 2- Moms day: Pop-up shop April 7- Take-A-Date: Oasis in Austin, TX April 9- Legacy Tea in the Kappa room for PNM Baylor Legacies April 11- Kappa hosted the 66th Baylor Beauty Charity Style Show, where ladies nominated campus wide competed against each other to be named baylor beauty. All ticket proceeds went to our philanthropy. April 13 - For the first time, we have one of our own selected to serve as a Leadership Consultant, Sydney Taylor. April 28- Parkdale Partner Lunch May 14-21: Baylor Kappa goes on mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala August 25- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC: all university event for PNMs that are interested in recruitment September 29- Semi-Formal October 10- Founders Day including scholarship recognition of the chapters members. October 16- Spaghetti Not So Formal with ATO; an all university event and proceeds go to our philanthropy October 19-21- Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had members nominated for Homecoming Court. Created and showcased our 1st place float, and performed our sing act in Pigskin. October 28- Dads Day November 8- Kappa Karnival is an all university event benefiting Reading is Fundamental. We have raffle prizes, free dessert, bounce houses, and carnival themed booths run by fraternities. November 10- Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary December 1- Social Event: Take-A-Date to the exhibit "ICE!" at the Gaylord Texan Hotel Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter. The nature of our chapter is very friendly, very diverse yet we are all so alike and the personality of the chapter is fun and unique but responsible.

Chapter Philanthropy: What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? Our chapter raises money for Reading is Fundamental. However each week we work directly with Parkdale Elementary, a local elementary school. Each week members go into kindergarten grade classrooms and read with the students. Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support? This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. Chapter Facility: In what kind of a facility does your chapter meet? Please attach a clear photo of where you typically hold chapter meetings – whether in a classroom, chapter house or elsewhere. Our chapter holds meetings in the Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room Oral History

Tommye Lou Davis

Highlights of 2018[edit]

January 7- Bid Day: 97 girls pledged Kappa 27- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal February 4- Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event 7- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room 10- Initiated 97 girls into Kappa 17- Competed in All-University Sing: "Carwash" was performed and received 2nd place and a bid to Pigskin March 16- Social Event: New Member Dance 25- Take-a-Date: Dallas Mavericks Basketball Game 28- Kappa hosted annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and staff children pril 7- Baylor's Steppin Out- University Philanthropy Event 8- Legacy Tea 11- Kappa hosted annual event: Baylor Beauty 12- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O 22- Mom's Day May 27- Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala August 24- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC October 8- Social Event: Dad's Day 24- Celebrated Founder's Day with Alumni at the Baylor Club 27- Take-a-Date: Austin Park in Austin, Texas November 2-4: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 2 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and showcased a float built with Alpha Tau Omega, and performed "Carwash" at Pigskin Revue 8- Kappa Karnival: All-University Event raising money for Reading is Fundamental 10- Baylor's Steppin Out: University Philanthropy Event 16- Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary December 1- Social Event: Kappa Kristmas Semi-formal This semester we implemented "Bravo" which recognizes a member each week who has gone above and beyond in their way to support fellow members.

At convention, we received awards for PR and Risk Management. Our chapter hosted Outdoor Voices for a pop-up shop to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.

Baylor has undertaken several changes in the Greek community this year. Through this election of Alpha Phi to join Baylor Panhellenic the chapter has had the opportunity to strengthen unity with other chapters. Epsilon Upsilon looks forward to officially welcoming Alpha Phi to Baylor's campus this spring and working to encourage the growth of their chapter. The nature of the chapter is positive and excited for this season of change and the idea of building a stronger unity with other old and new chapters on Baylor's campus.


Our chapter supports Reading is Fundamental but works weekly with Parkdale Elementary.This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who need extra assistance in reading.


Our chapter meets in the The Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room.

Oral History

Tommye Lou Davis

Rene Taylor Beth Musgraves


Highlights of 2019[edit]

January 12- Bid Day: 98 girls pledged Kappa February 1 - Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal February 2- Social Event: Sapphire Ball Formal Participated in KOT Fishery: A philanthropy event 5- Academic Excellence Dinner in the Kappa Room 15- Initiated 97 girls into Kappa 21- Competed in All-University Sing: "Come Fly With Me" was performed and received a bid to Pigskin March 16- Social Event: New Member Dance 23- Take-a-Date: Dallas Mavericks Basketball Game 28Kappa hosted annual Easter Egg Hunt for faculty and staff children April 6- Baylor's Steppin Out- University Philanthropy Event 7- Legacy Tea 11- Kappa hosted annual event: Baylor Beauty 18- Kappa and Chi Omega hosted a faculty appreciation event: Cupcakes with Chi O 21- Mom's Day May 27- Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala August 24- Recruitment Event: Late Night at the SLC October 12- Social Event: Dad's Day 15- Celebrated Founder's Day with Alumni at the Baylor Club November 1-3: Homecoming Weekend: Kappa had 2 members nominated for Homecoming Court, Created and showcased a float built with Alpha Tau Omega which won "Best in Class," and performed "Come Fly With Me" at Pigskin Revue 8- Social Event: Winter Semi Formal 19- Kappa Karnival: All-University Event raising money for Reading is Fundamental 22- Philanthropy Event: Reading is Key event at Parkdale Elementary December 1- Social Event: Kappa Kristmas Semi-formal

This semester we implemented "Kisses" which is a game we will play at the end of chapter where 3 people are given Hershey's kisses and they pass them along to someone who made them happy that week or they think is great. .

Our chapter hosted Outdoor Voices for a pop-up shop to raise money for Reading is Fundamental.

The nature of the chapter is positive and excited for this season of change and the idea of building a stronger unity with other old and new chapters on Baylor's campus.

Chapter Philanthropy Reading is Fundamental but works weekly with Parkdale Elementary This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who need extra assistance in reading.

Chapter Facility The Stacy Riddle Panhellenic Forum in our own Kappa room.

Oral History

Tommye Lou Davis Rene Taylor Beth Musgraves Gretchen Eichenberg

Highlights of 2020[edit]

Pre-covid chapter events of 2020 read as follows. January 11: 89 new members pledged Kappa. January 30: Big little reveal. January 31: New Member Dance with theme “Kappa Kappa Glow” where new members and dates and active members dressed in neon clothing, danced, and performed new member songs. February 1: KOT Fishery, philanthropy event. February 7: Sapphire Ball Formal. February 9: beginning of Inspiration Period for Initiation. February 14/15: Initiation of 89 new members. February 29: Participated in All-University Sing paired with Kappa Sigma for our act, “Ship of Dreams.” Received first place and a bid to Pigskin. Following spring break, we did not return to campus due to COVID-19. We began to adapt in the spring semester by sending out news letters to encourage and engage the chapter. Our social media presence during this time became another way for our chapter to stay connected. Our PR chairs created a beautiful postcard to mail to each of our members to the location in which they were quarantined. We began social media campaigns to encourage one another and stay connected, including “What we miss Wednesday,” “Sister Spotlight,” and “Senior Saturday.” Each of these were intended to highlight a particular member and share about what makes our chapter special to them. In addition, we began posting Instagram Stories for every members birthday, as we were not able to sing to them in meeting like normal. When we returned to campus in the fall, we began to hold virtual meetings every Tuesday at 5:15pm over Zoom. Our Philanthropy week took place November 8-14. This included a book drive for our local elementary school, Parkdale Elementary. We had profit shares all week at popular Waco restaurants which we promoted through our social media, including Andy’s Frozen Custard and Mamaka Bowls. On Thursday we had a Zoom Zumba class where participants paid $3 which went to RIF. On Friday we had a virtual raffle with amazing prizes including $100+ gift cards to local restaurants, football tickets, gift cards to local boutiques, and many more.

Reading is Fundamental, works with Parkdale Elementary weekly, reading to second grade students. This weekly practice was put on pause with COVID.This year we continued our partnership with Parkdale Elementary because our existing relationship has proved very effective. Our members love going each week and it's really fun to continue working with the same teachers and occasionally seeing some of the kids you've worked with before. We wanted to make sure we continue to establish a relationship with the Waco community. This provides the chapter with the opportunity to raise funds for Reading is Fundamental but also an opportunity to work weekly with local students who need extra assistance in reading. Even through COVID where we could not continue to meet with our students weekly, we participated in a drive-by at the beginning of the school year to encourage the students and show our support. To support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within our chapter, we elected two officers to support this effort. One officer’s responsibilities included communicating with Baylor’s Panhellenic community to support our community’s DEI efforts. Our second officer was elected to internally implement DEI within our chapter. Through chapter discussions and training, we have continued to make strides with DEI and look forward to continuing this growth and understanding in our community.

To celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary in a safe, socially distanced manner, we held a

virtual Founders Day ceremony over Zoom. In addition to the Zoom ceremony, we

delivered Chick-Fil-A to our member’s houses/apartments so they could enjoy dinner with

roommates while watching the ceremony. In addition to the ceremony and dinner, we

painted a banner and hung it for photos, as well as had a Snapchat filter for members to

celebrate and take photos. This made us feel close with one another as we celebrated from

a distance. Photos of the banner will be attached!


Disclaimer: all photos attached were taken before COVID-19 or are taken following social

distancing guidelines. Photos attached of members without masks are roommates.

Baylor pics


Highlights of 2021[edit]

This past year, our chapter has had the incredible privilege of welcoming in our New Member class, rebuilding traditions following the COVID-19 pandemic, and continuing to grow our chapter’s impact on the Waco community with our new philanthropy supporting children’s mental health. While the spring semester of 2021 was mostly virtual, our new members were given the chance to grow closer together with their member class and be a part of our organization amidst a global pandemic. Our chapter is proud to have had so many girls join Kappa during the spring semester, and with the start of the fall semester, we have begun to implement more in-person events again. Starting this fall, we hosted several sisterhood events specifically for MC 21, held our Lock-and-Key semi-formal in the fall, as well as showcasing our winning Sing performance, titled “Ship of Dreams” in Baylor’s Pigskin Revue which takes place every homecoming. Our float chairs also put together a beautiful NASCAR-themed float along with the help of our friends in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity that was a hit in the homecoming parade. Our philanthropy chairs have led the charge in supporting Parkdale Elementary School, which has been a partner of Kappa at Baylor for nearly 30 years. We are proud to say that while there have been limits placed on how we can support the students at Parkdale, we have continued to assist them in any way we are able to and we are looking forward to continuing that relationship we have held with Parkdale Elementary for so many years. While this was an unprecedented year in our chapter’s history, we are proud to say that the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has come out stronger because of it. Chapter Philanthropy What local organization does the chapter support and why? Our chapter has been in the process of continuing our long-standing relationship with Parkdale Elementary School located in Waco, Texas. Starting in August, our chapter council voted to support a new organization focusing on children’s mental health, especially considering the impact that the pandemic has had on all elementary-aged children. The organization we voted to support is the Children’s Health and Mentorship Program, otherwise known as “CHAMP,” which focuses on supporting all aspects of children’s mental health and giving them a healthy environment to learn and thrive, especially following the mental strain that COVID-19 has had on all students, especially elementary-aged students such as those in Parkdale. How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy? Due to the COVID protocols that Parkdale Elementary School has put into place, our chapter was not able to attend Parkdale on Fridays like we normally would during a year without social distancing policies. In order to accommodate for this lack of in-person support, our chapter held a “Drive-Boo” where we had a drive-through Halloween party for the students, a profit-share to raise money for CHAMP, and our philanthropy chairs have been working to continue fundraising events in the spring. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Our chapter has implemented a Diversity, Equity,and Inclusion chair in our chapter council. Our current DEI Chair, Kelsey Womack, has done an outstanding job in educating our chapter on how we can uplift our community at Baylor and act in such a way that is respecting and honoring to everyone who is on our campus and in our Waco community. Kelsey, along with her committee, shared devotionals about inclusion in our weekly chapter meetings and helped lead a worship night with a local fraternity on campus to grow closer as a Baylor community with the intention of growing in diversity and inclusion. Operating in a Pandemic In the spring semester, our chapter had virtual new member period, initiation, and chapter meetings. Along with the help of our Panhellenic council, we were able to have a socially distant event outside in April, where our new members were able to sing the songs they learned virtually from our recruitment chairs. This fall semester has held a strong desire to be back in-person, and our chapter council has held several in-person chapter meetings and social events in order to grow closer as a chapter. While we are supporting our philanthropy in a virtual setting, we intend to be back helping out on their campus as soon as they lift social distancing policies. Additionally, we are preparing to have a virtual open house day for our spring recruitment with in-person days following the virtual meetings. The lack of in-person events has certainly helped our chapter grow closer together and appreciate the time we now spend together outside of zoom!

Sisterhood
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