Gamma Phi
| Gamma Phi | |
|---|---|
| ΓΦ | |
 | |
| Founded | May 17, 1929 |
| College | Southern Methodist University |
| Location | Dallas, TX |
| Homepage | Gamma Phi Homepage |
| Media related to Gamma Phi Chapter | |
3,206 initiates (as of June 2015)
Replace this text with chapter history by clicking edit near the top right
Highlights of 2012
2012 was a great year for The Gamma Phi Chapter. We kicked off the year by continuing a philanthropy tradition that was started by SMU Kappa members. During recruitment week on philanthropy day, we played a video about UAPO, an organization that was founded by one of our Kappa sisters. The video featured Kappa members volunteering and making a difference in Uganda. We hosted “Kappacino Kafe” as well as “Kickin’ it with Kappa.” Both were successful events. Kappa women also participated in SMU’s homecoming festivities. The week was a success because of our hard work combined with our wonderful homecoming candidate, Anne McCaslin Parker. During SMU’s Celebration of Lights, Kappa members participated with SMU Student Foundation and adopted elementary students for the evening. This made the event very special for Kappa’s as well as the elementary students.
Campus:
SMU is located in the center of Dallas. It’s a great location because of the easy routes to downtown, uptown, and other areas in Dallas. The campus is beautiful and is surrounded by green grass and tall trees. SMU is a friendly campus with small classes. The professors make the learning experience great. They are available and willing to meet with students individually. SMU offers an atmosphere that’s exciting and thriving. One of the 2012 highlights on campus is the construction of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
Chapter:
We have a very diverse chapter consisting of ladies from different parts of the world and from all over the U.S. The diversity allows Kappa’s to share different ideas and learn from each other. Our members are involved in many different organizations and groups at SMU and outside of SMU.
Chapter Challenges:
Our greatest challenge this year was accountability. We do not fine members for not attending events. Therefore, it is hard to hold members accountable for attending events. To address this issue, we looked to motivation and a type of “punishment.” The punishment involves making some events mandatory and if members do not attend, they are sent to standards. Usually the punishment would entail not being allowed to attend the upcoming formal. The motivation and encouragement paid off and was a successful strategy.
Highlights of 2013
2013 was a great year full of memories, accomplishments, and sisterhood for The Gamma Phi Chapter. We kicked off the year in January with a successful Recruitment Week. The four days of Open House, Philanthropy, Skit, Preference Morning and Bid Night were hard work but will always be remembered as a bonding experience for our chapter. Philanthropy day was extremely special because our philanthropy, The Akola Project, is a non-profit organization that was founded by one of our very own SMU Kappas. We played a video that featured Kappa members volunteering and making a difference in Uganda. Bid Night was also a highlight to the start of the year 2013. We welcomed 54 excited new members. They had a retreat that night at the Kappa house with Chapter Council members, which included playing games, eating good food, and learning the traditions and rules of Kappa.
The next couple months continued with fun, memorable events for the new members. Key Sis week was one of the best weeks of the Spring semester. The bigs had surprises for their littles every night, and the last night was the Big Little Reveal. The girls were so excited to finally be a part of a “Kappa family.” The next major event was Initiation. Inspiration Week was a time for our chapter to reflect on why we went Kappa and what Kappa means to each of us. Sisterhood and the traditions of Kappa were built stronger that week, and the new members got to be exposed to the true meaning of being a sister. Initiation was followed by Mom’s Weekend festivities. Mothers and daughters had a lovely brunch at the Dallas Country Club. The next day was an open house at the Kappa house and an Akola Project trunk show for the mothers to enjoy. The spring semester also consisted of Kappas going on spring break together and our fun social formals, Victory and Monmouth. Selected Chapter Council members attended Kappa Province in Lubbock, TX and were proud to come back with the award “Outstanding Performance in Risk Management.”
The spring semester ended, and summer came around with lots of opportunities for our SMU Kappa members. Kappa sisters took summer school, studied abroad, and also worked incredible internships all over the country. Fifteen SMU Kappas studied in Innsbruck, Austria for six weeks together traveling to different countries every weekend. Another group of five Kappas studied in Madrid, Spain. Other Kappas were sprinkled out over Europe studying in Italy, London, and Paris.
School started back in August, and all our Kappa members became extremely busy with academics, preparing for Recruitment, philanthropy events, and SMU football games and boulevards. Our first philanthropy event was “Kappacino Kafe” and was held on the lawn with little sweet treats and frozen yogurt. We successfully raised money for The Akola Project. The next philanthropy event we hosted, Kickin’ it with Kappa,” was even more successful raising money for RIF. It was a workout out class for the girls in SMU’s Dedman athletic center. Philanthropy donated the rest of the philanthropy budget to The Kappa Foundation at the end of the term. Kappa members also participated with Homecoming week. We painted a banner with our theme and also a wooden Peruna (our mascot).
We participated in Canstruction, Rock the Vote, field day, and building a float. This week was hard work, but we loved coming together as a chapter to support our wonderful homecoming candidate Mackenna Scripps. Kappas continued to enjoy having a tent on the boulevard each game day and supporting the Mustangs at the SMU football games. SMU Family Weekend was a fun weekend for Kappa moms and dads to meet each other and enjoy SMU’s campus and Dallas. We enjoyed our two social events of the semester Pick a Mister for your Sister date dash and Kite and Key formal. A few Kappas also participate in SMU Student Foundation and put on the Celebration of Lights, which is always a special night that the school comes together to celebrate the Holidays right before final exams.We finished the year strong academically. We were also awarded the “Outstanding Member” award by SMU Panhellenic for Lexy Hammesfahr’s incredible performance in SMU, Kappa, and her career. At the end of the semester, we slated for new Chapter Council positions, and our chapter was excited about the new leaders in the house.
SMU is located in the center of Dallas. It’s a great location because of the easy routes to downtown, uptown, and other areas in Dallas. The campus is beautiful and is surrounded by green grass and tall trees. SMU is a friendly campus with small classes. The professors make the learning experience great. They are available and willing to meet with students individually. One of the 2013 highlights on campus was the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. SMU also built new dorms, tennis courts, cafeteria, and band room. SMU offers an atmosphere that’s prestigious and thriving, and Kappas are excited for the new students each year.
We have a very diverse chapter consisting of ladies from different parts of the world and from all over the U.S. The diversity allows Kappas to share different ideas and learn from each other. Our members are involved in many different organizations and groups at SMU and outside of SMU.
Our greatest challenge this year was accountability. We do not fine members for not attending events. Therefore, it is hard to hold members accountable for attending events. To address this issue, we looked to motivation and a type of “punishment.” The punishment involves making some events mandatory, and if members do not attend, they are sent to standards. Usually the punishment would entail not being allowed to attend the upcoming social events. The motivation and encouragement paid off and was a successful strategy.
Highlights of 2014
2014 was a great year for the Gamma Phi Chapter at SMU. This year, our chapter saw incredible academic performance improvement, successful new social activities, and a remarkable Recruitment. In the summer of 2014, the Gamma Phi Chapter received the prestigious “Panhellenic Award” at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention in Houston, TX. This award recognized our chapter as the Kappa chapter that nationally best exemplified true Panhellenic leadership and relations in the college campus community. The Gamma Phi Chapter also received “Honorable Mention” for “Finance Award”, “Recruitment Award”, and “Advisory Board Award.” During the fall semester on game day weekends, we invited the gentlemen of a different fraternity every week to join us for a favorite Kappa tradition – Friday brunch at the Kappa house.
Gamma Phi Kappas also enjoyed our inaugural Sapphire Ball for Kappas and their dates, during such a special formal night to remember in November. Also during November, a group of Kappa members hosted a Reading is Key event, while we read to underprivileged elementary school children and donated hundreds of books for the children to take home. Furthermore, in the fall semester, we invited the SMU campus and Kappa alumnae for our first ever spirit event before the SMU season opener basketball game, called Kappa Kappa Gameday. In December the semester concluded with our successful inaugural philanthropy event. Our “Kappa Holiday Bazaar” brought all types of vendors to a shopping event for Kappas, to raise money with a portion of all profits to be donated to RIF. In total, we raised over $2,700 in support of Reading is Fundamental. The Akola Project, the non-profit philanthropy that our chapter always supports, was also in attendance at the bazaar and sold a great amount of jewelry to help raise additional funds for their causes. The chapter is also proud to have a Kappa member represent the chapter as Emily Provost was elected to serve as the 2015 SMU Panhellenic President. We are very proud of all of our accomplishment
This year, Southern Methodist University has continued its celebration of our centennial. Panhellenic had the most number of girls ever sign up for rush with numbers topping 600 girls. This allowed the Gamma Phi chapter to welcome a higher than usual new members to our 2015 pledge class. The Gamma Phi chapter continues to strive for excellence and improvement creating a sense of drive and determination throughout our chapter. Our chapter's outlook on the 2014-2015 Gamma Phi year is hopeful and ambitious as we continue our tradition of excellence in leadership, campus involvement, academics, and sisterhood.
We hold chapter meetings in our chapter house on the North edge of campus, owned by our chapter. The chapter-owned house we currently have was built in 2008. It is the second house in our chapter's history. It houses 40 of our Kappa sisters, mainly upperclassmen and we are so lucky to have the wonderful Jill Rusher as our house mother. We are thankful to our Alum and House Board for helping our incredible in-house experience run smoothly.
