Difference between revisions of "Kappa"

Kappa Chapter, Hillsdale College

Founded June 9, 1881

Hillsdale College established 1844, Hillsdale, Michigan

2,166 members as of (June 2015)

Replace this text with chapter history by clicking edit near the top right

Highlights of 2011

In January of 2011, Kappa Chapter picked up 18 New Members. In March, Kappa chapter was awarded Hillsdale College's Scholarship Cup with an average 3.34 house GPA. During the spring of 2011, Kappa chapter reached out to a local high school to volunteer at their library. Kappa's spent a few hours a week at the high school, re-stocking shelves and helping students check out books. In the fall of 2011, Kappa held their annual Katch Me if You Kan 5K to support RIF; we donated books and money to the national philanthropy.

Campus: One of the fraternities on campus ran into some trouble with the administration and many of their active members were forced to deactivate. The rest of the Greek houses pulled together to support them throughout this difficult time, and it is happening currently to another fraternity on campus. The negative attitude towards Greek life has not improved due to these dramatic situations, but the remaining fraternities and sororities are helping to improve the image by acting positively on campus and in life.

Chapter: Kappa Chapter has been working to improve chapter unity. We try to attend our sisters' non-Kappa events to support them on campus. We have been focusing a lot on our new members, ensuring that their new member period is a time full of Kappa love and what it means to be a Kappa.

Early on in 2011, Kappa Chapter had a Leadership Consultant visit who suggested that maybe we were getting involved in too many things and holding too many mandatory events for the chapter. We then cut back a bit on some events and tried not to spread ourselves too thin; Chapter Council also froze the calendar for several months in an attempt to prevent the addition of more events.

Highlights of 2012

Information about the previous calendar year, scholarship, group honors/awards, Convention awards, traditions, special events, philanthropic involvement, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, world/local events that you participated in or helped with – Presidential campaigns, natural disasters, etc.

During the Spring Semester 2012, Kappa Chapter picked up 21 new members. It was awarded the scholarship cup for receiving the highest overall GPA among the three sororities on campus. In February, Kappa Chapter hosted its annual Kappa Bowl to celebrate the Superbowl (New England Patriots vs. New York Giants) with the rest of campus. Kappa Chapter placed third in Hillsdale College’s annual Greek Week against the other two sororities on campus. The chapter was involved in many philanthropic events including the Kappa Kupcake wars to raise money for children’s books, a book drive, and reading with kids at local elementary schools on a weekly basis. At the end of the year, Kappa Chapter hosted a new recruitment event called the Kappa Kafe. For this event, potential new members dressed in sundresses, enjoyed a nice afternoon of coffee/tea, and mingled with active Kappas. Kappa Chapter sent 5 actives and one advisor to Convention where we received an honorable mention for the Gracious Living Award and won an award for 100% participation in the Convention Challenge.

During the Fall Semester 2012, Kappa Chapter picked up 13 new members. We restructured our traditional 5K philanthropy race into an event called the Kappa Swamp Stomp. This was a 3K race which included several different obstacle courses including a mud pit and water slide. The event raised money for Domestic Harmony of Hillsdale County, which provides help for victims of domestic violence. Kappa Chapter members were also actively involved in other philanthropic activities throughout the community such as the Reading Café and Best Buddies bowling program. We hosted our traditional annual Boys Ice Cream Social Public Relations event. During this semester a new Chapter Council was elected for the 2013 calendar year.

Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter. During the Fall Semester 2012, Kappa Chapter began making changes due to Formal Recruitment (January 2013) being shortened from four to three days. Kappa Kappa Gamma worked well with the Panhellenic Council to brainstorm new ideas regarding recruitment. Also during this semester, Kappa Chapter struggled with Panhellenic infractions regarding potential new members. Due to the high number of infractions among the three houses, the policy on infractions is in the process of being changed by the on-campus Panhellenic Council.

The overall nature of Kappa Chapter during the 2012 calendar year was very positive. There was much growth especially in the areas of Philanthropy and Public Relations with innovative events and more chapter participation. Kappa Chapter also grew in size by picking up large and very strong classes of women. Kappa Chapter became more diverse which, among other things, was due to adding a good number of athletes to our chapter. Although the chapter struggled with Panhellenic infractions and relations with the other houses, there was growth in understanding of the membership process and camaraderie with the other sororities.

Highlights of 2013

Kappa Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma experienced a wonderful year in 2013.

In the Spring of 2013, Kappa Chapter picked up new members. To celebrate the Superbowl, Kappa Chapter hosted its annual Kappa Bowl Party (Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks) with the rest of campus. During the Valentines Session of 2013, the chapter made inspirational bookmarks for children in the Hillsdale community schools. The chapter was also sponsored an event called Kappa Kupcake wars to raise money for children's books.

In the Fall semester, Kappa Chapter picked up 12 new members. It was awarded the scholarship cup for receiving the highest overall GPA among the three sororities on campus. The Chapter also was awarded a philanthropic award called Derby Days Cup from the Sigma Chi Alpha Kappa Fraternity on campus. In October, the women of Kappa Chapter were grieved to part with Sally (Altman) Giauque a devoted member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. The beloved late adviser had been apart of the Kappa Chapter since 1950s. A memorial service was held in her honor with over 200 alumni, active Hillsdale Kappas, friends and family. College President Larry Arnn and his wife, and members of Hillsdale’s faculty also attended to say their goodbyes to the beloved woman. In efforts to end hunger in the Hillsdale community, the chapter hosted a 3k called Stomping Out Hunger which included several different obstacle courses including mud pits and water slides. We hosted our traditional annual Boys Ice Cream Social Public Relations event. Kappa Chapter had a Christmas Cookie Decorating with professors and their children to bring in the Holiday cheer. During this semester a new Chapter Council was elected for the 2014 calendar year.

Throughout both semesters, Kappa Chapter was successful in giving a helping hand in the Hillsdale community through different philanthropic events. The chapter was involved with Reading in Fundamental, and regularly volunteered at Will Carleton Academy to read to students. During both semester, the women of the chapter helped Delta Sigma Phi of Hillsdale College with a Red Cross Blood Drive. Kappa Chapter members were also actively involved in other philanthropic activities throughout the community such as the Reading Café and Best Buddies bowling program.

With the closing of 2013, Kappa Chapter experienced a positive year. There was much growth in the areas of Philanthropy and Public Relations with innovative events and more chapter participation. The beautiful chapter continued to grow by picking up large classes of wonderful women. Kappa Chapter also grew in diversity by adding a good number of athletes to our chapter. Overall 2013 was a blessed year in the Kappa Chapter of Hillsdale College.       In the Spring of 2013, Hillsdale was blessed with the opening of the Margot V. Biermann Center. This facility provides indoor track and tennis with state of the art equipment. Kappa Chapter has many varsity track and tennis players who have benefited from the facility. Hillsdale College also kicked off a campaign titled, “The Rebirth of Liberty and Learning,” with an aim to raise $470 million over the next five years. The women of Kappa Chapter volunteered during two-day gala.

Highlights of 2014

2014 was an exciting year at the Kappa Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Hillsdale College. 2014 saw the women of Kappa Chapter grow closer in sisterhood, excel in academics, and continue to be women of great character as role models on campus.

In January of 2014 Kappa Chapter worked diligently during formal recruitment to welcome home 19 new sisters. Out of the 19 women who gave their name and interest to Kappa Chapter in the spring semester, there were 8 legacies 7 of whom were legacies from Kappa Chapter. With the addition of 19 new sisters the spring of 2014 saw Kappa Chapter at one of its largest membership totals in the past few years with 103 sisters! January also saw Kappa Chapter saying “see you later!” to five of its sisters who participated in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program. These five women spent their semesters working at various internships and studying in our nation’s capital. The President also hosted a retreat for Chapter Council where the officers discussed their duties, goals, and ideas for the year. The retreat was very successful in bonding the chapter officers and helping them in understanding what each office does and why all are important.

February 2014 filled the house of blue with lots of love. The first week of February treated the new members to a special surprise with big-little reveal. The following week the new members and our event chairman hosted the semi-annual date party. Spring 2014’s theme was “Kappa Kappa Pow” and everyone dressed as their favorite superhero. Following date party, the next morning our Vice-President of Standards hosted a Valentine's Day sisterhood. At the sisterhood the women of Kappa Chapter played charades, ate heart shaped pancakes, and decorated valentines for each other and to give to members of the local community. The Event Chairman also hosted “Kappa Bowl” where Kappa opens its doors to the students of Hillsdale to eat pizza and watch the Superbowl. Its a great time for everyone and a lot of fun!

March 2014 saw the initiation of the new member class of spring 2014. Inspiration week was a wonderful time at Kappa Chapter as it reinforced and strengthened the bonds of love and friendship between sisters. Following initiation, a brunch, hosted by our Public Relations Chairman, was held to celebrate our new members. For many new members families from near and far came to celebrate with the chapter. In March Kappa Chapter also hosted its spring philanthropy event, Kappa Kupcake Wars. A baking competition that is open to all of campus to compete in and judge. All proceeds from Kupcake Wars go towards one of the fall philanthropy events, Reading Is Key.

In April 2014 Kappa Chapter began to say a fond farewell to the senior class of 2014. In April the senior class participates in convocation, as the begin their last few weeks on campus. The house also celebrated senior week. Which is a special week dedicated to celebrating the senior class’ time in Kappa and all of the wonderful things they brought the the house. The Membership Chairman hosted a recruitment event called Kappa Kasino where members and potential-new members played faux-Texas hold ‘em. The Vice-President of Standards also hosted a spa themed sisterhood.

May 2014 ended the spring semester with finals and graduation. Sisters said goodbye for the summer and went on to do many exciting things over their summer vacations.

In June of 2014 seven members of Kappa Chapter had the unique experience to attend the national convention in Houston Texas. Of the seven members six were officers and one a member at large. The six officers in attendance were: President, Vice-President of Standards, Registrar, Public Relations Chairman, House Chairman, and Recording Secretary. In addition a member of Kappa Chapters advisory board and a member of Kappa Chapter’s house board were also present. At the general convention Kappa Chapter was awarded the Heritage Award. As Kappa Chapter takes its history very seriously it was a great honor to receive the award and recognition for all of the hard work done by the chapter. In addition to the Heritage Award, Kappa Chapter received 11 honorable mentions and awards for the chapters philanthropic efforts and donations to foundation. All of the women who attended convention found it to be very worthwhile and exciting. All of the officers in attendance returned to Kappa Chapter with new ideas for improvement and full of Kappa love. On June 9, 2014 Kappa Chapter celebrated it 133rd birthday!

Summer 2014 Some sisters traveled to France, Spain, and Germany for their respective language study abroad trips. Other sisters went to work for members of congress, think tanks, and leading news outlets in Washington D.C. Still others moved to the Big Apple to work in the fashion world. Every sister at Kappa Chapter had a unique and exciting summer be it at home with family and friends, traveling with a sports team, or landing a major internship.

In August 2014, saw the end of summer and the return of sisters to campus. There had been several major improvements made to the Kappa Chapter House over summer, including new upholstery in the sitting and living rooms.

In September 2014, the Membership Chairman hosted a recruitment event called “18(70) Holers” were members and potential new-members played mini-golf on the front lawn of the house and enjoyed an afternoon together. The hard work of the Membership Chairman paid off as Kappa Chapter welcomed 7 new sisters home during informal recruitment.

October 2014 was a big month for Kappa Chapter! We were fortunate enough to have a leadership consultant join us for the majority of the month's activities. The fall 2014 new member class along with the Event Chairman hosted the semi-annual date party. The theme for the fall date party was “Kappas Gone Wild”, everyone dressed as their favorite animal. Big-Little reveal also happened in October, it was a very special time in the house of blue. Homecoming week also fell in October! Kappa Chapter welcomed back many sisters from years past. Also a senior member of Kappa Chapter was selected as the 2014 homecoming queen. Fall convocation saw Kappa Chapter win the scholarship cup for having the highest average GPA of all the sororities on campus. The chapter celebrated founders day by hosting an all house formal dinner. Members of Kappa Chapter wore paper keys in their hair, had a lovely dinner with Earl Grey tea and shortbread for dessert, and admired a Chapter archive display. It was a wonderful evening filled with presentations from our seniors about the fraternity founders as well as some fraternity and chapter history from the Registrar and Fraternity Education Chairman. In addition to celebrating founders day, Kappa Chapter took this opportunity to thank its advisors who were also present to celebrate our grand and glorious fraternity! Also in October the Philanthropy Chairman organized our Reading Is Key event where sisters participated in buddy reading with students at a local elementary school. Using the funds from Kupcake Wars the previous spring the women of Kappa Chapter were able to gift each child a book to take home that day.

November 2014 saw the initiation of the new member class of fall 2014. Inspiration week was, again, a wonderful time at Kappa Chapter. Following initiation our Public Relations Chairman hosted a brunch which was held to celebrate our new members. For many new members families from near and far came to celebrate with the chapter. Our Philanthropy Chairman organized our primary philanthropy event, Swamp Stomp. Swamp Stomp is a 5k mud-run open to all members of the Hillsdale community. This year was particularly special as Kappa Chapter teamed up with Hillsdale Academy (the k-12 school affiliated with the college) and their National Honor Society Students to combine Kappa’s Swamp Stomp with their Turkey Trot for our most successful 5k event yet! Our Public Relation’s Chairman also hosted Dad’s Weekend where members of Kappa Chapter were able to share Kappa with their fathers.

December 2014, was very exciting as Kappa Chapter’s registrar hosted history day. History day was made extra special this year with the arrival of the fraternity education displays from headquarters. Because the members of Kappa Chapter are not present for the chapter’s birthday in June, the registrar decided to make history day extra fun by throwing the chapter a half-birthday party. The women of the chapter ate cake while they enjoyed the history exhibits, watched movies on the Stewart House and Headquarters, and explored the virtual timeline from Foundation. History day was the last major event of the semester and was a great break for all members of the chapter during finals week. 2014 ended with the induction of the new chapter council. 2014 was a busy but rewarding year for Kappa Chapter.

Hillsdale continues to increase its admissions requirements, making scholarship ever more a priority of Kappa Women. Because all of the incoming class at Hillsdale is academically excellent it makes the scholarship cup increasingly competitive. The chapter is very close knit, every woman is respected as she contributes something unique to chapter culture. Our officers continued to grow this year, benefiting tremendously from the convention experience, by bringing new and exciting ideas to the chapter.

Kappa Chapter holds its meetings in our house which we have owned since the late 1880s. The Kappa Chapter house was given to Kappa Chapter by Hillsdale College in the late 1880s. At that time there were two women's fraternities on campus, KKG and Pi Beta Phi, because Kappa was the original greek house on campus, we were given first choice of the two homes. The stately white house with blue shutters on the corner of Hillsdale and College streets has been home to the chapter ever since. After an addition to the house in the 1980s, the Kappa Chapter house holds 30 sisters and 40 sisters enjoy eating their meals there. Prior to the college purchasing the house, Kappa Chapter met in the home of college President Mauck and then in East Hall. The big white house on the corner was purchased by the college and adored by Kappas ever since.

Highlights of 2015

2015 was a wonderful year at Kappa Chapter at Hillsdale College. 2015 saw the women of Kappa Chapter grow in deeper sisterhood, achieve high academics, and continue to be women of admired character as role models on campus.

In January of 2015, Kappa Chapter was focused on recruitment and welcoming home 15 new sisters. One of our photos from recruitment featuring sisters and the front of our beautiful home was featured on Headquarters’ website. At the end of January, two of our members competed in an on-campus cooking competition called “Chopped”, which was live-streamed on YouTube. Many alumni enjoyed watching from afar! Big-Little reveal caused much excitement in February 2015. Soon after, our new members and event chairman hosted our semi-annual date party. Spring 2015’s theme was “Kappa Kappa Galaxy”.

At the end of February, our philanthropy chair hosted “Kappa Kupcake Wars” in the Grewcock Student Union, and it was a huge hit! Many students participated and came to vote. Our public relations chair invited professor’s students to our home for an Easter egg hunt with cookie decorating. Local girl scouts attended and got to meet our lovely sisters. In April, our 15 new members became initiated members during a week of reflection, tradition, ritual, and sisterhood bonding.

Eight sisters and two advisors traveled in April to our Province Meetings in Schaumburg, IL. They enjoyed getting to meet chapter council members from other chapters, sharing ideas, and seeing how Kappa Chapter was excelling in every field! Soon after their return, around six alumni came to Hillsdale College to celebrate their 50-65 year reunions. The registrar held a small open house for them with scones and tea. The alumni went on house tours to see our 1980 house additions, found their composites, and told stories to actives. As they departed, they were given irises and an acknowledgement card. They told us that our house looked and operated in the same way it had since they had graduated!

At the end of April, our membership chairman hosted an event entitled, “Play Ball with a Kappa” and many attended. Formal Recruitment followed shortly after and was “Kate Spade” themed. It was held in Ohio at a country club. We said farewell to our large senior class during senior week with formal dinners and dedications. There were 36 graduates.

On June 9, 2015 Kappa Chapter celebrated its 134th birthday! During the summer, the registrar challenged members to see how many alumni they could contact in their area. Many received letters from alumni and had correspondence. The letters and stories were shared the Fall semester during meetings.

Upon arrival back at school, Fall recruitment began. Due to new Panhellenic Council’s regulations, we were only allowed to pick up 3 new members. We were successful. Fall Informal Recruitment has now been removed permanently from Hillsdale College, much to the chagrin of our chapter. We were fortunate to have a very influential leadership consultant assist us for one week in October. The fall 2015 new member class and the event chairman hosted our semi-annual date party, themed “Netflix and Kappa Chix”. The chapter celebrated founder’s day with an advisor’s tour of the local cemetery, placing irises on the graves of founders and past advisors, and a beautiful dinner and dedication for our advisors. Chapter archives were also on display the whole week for actives to view.

In the first week of October, our chapter and event chairman, who is also head of “Students Against Cancer”, participated in the “Relay for Life”. Our house won Derby Days for the fifth year in a row, raising over $5,000 for the Sigma Chi’s philanthropy, “Wounded Warriors”. Homecoming week was a blast – watching sisters participate in Mock Rock dances and participating in the parade.

At the end of November, we initiated our 3 newest actives, and there was a coating of beautiful snow to ring in the celebration the next morning! In the first week of December, our event chairman hosted our Informal at the Searle Center on campus right after the building’s opening. The Informal theme was “Kappas at the Plaza”. Christmas decorations and horse drawn carriages were seen that night. Finally, the sisters studied hard for finals and our philanthropy chair hosted our final event of the year – “Kappa Chill Out” on Reading Day. Kappas sat in the union selling cookies, popcorn, and coffee to raise money for Reading is Fundamental and collect books for local organizations.

2015 ended with the induction of the new chapter council. It was another successful and memorable year at 221 Hillsdale Street! We look forward to more memories in 2016.

Panhellenic Council changed rules regarding freshman, and our college’s informal recruitment has been changed. Our Chapter is devoted to high academic success, adherence to tradition and ritual, involvement in the community, and growing friendship among our sisterhood.

Chapter Philanthropy:

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

We have visited the elderly at Drew’s Place, helped with a food pantry, King’s Cupboard. We corresponded with students in the local Hillsdale Community School District. We raised money for Capa, a child-abuse prevention awareness center in Hillsdale. We also donated funds to the local hospice centers. There were books and funds raised for Reading is Fundamental, as well.

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