Eta Alpha
| Eta Alpha | |
|---|---|
| HA | |
 | |
| Founded | March 29, 1994 |
| College | Furman University |
| Location | Greenville, SC |
| Homepage | Eta Alpha Homepage |
| Media related to Eta Alpha Chapter | |
Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, established in 1826
Eta Alpha Founded March 19, 1994
63 Charter Members
700 initiates (as of June 2015)
Some of Eta Alpha’s Outstanding Members:
Fraternity Officers: Libby Weith, Leadership Consultant 2006-20007
Fraternity Loyalty Award:
Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:
Contents
Early Years
Furman University, founded in 1826, is the third-oldest university in South Carolina. The school is named for Richard Furman, a clergyman considered the most important Baptist leader before the Civil War. Furman was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., and became the first president of the Triennial Convention, the first national body of Baptists in America.
The South Carolina Baptist Convention established Furman’s original campus in Edgefield, S.C., but over the next three decades, the campus changed locations three times before arriving in downtown Greenville, S.C., in 1851. Originally founded as a men’s academy and theological institute, the theological school broke away from Furman in 1858 to become the Southern Baptist Seminary.
In 1924, Furman was named one of four collegiate beneficiaries of the Duke Endowment. Duke Endowment grants sustained Furman through the Great Depression, helped the university merge with Greenville Woman’s College in the 1930s and bolstered the university’s effort to pursue a new campus location. Furman broke ground on its current location north of its home city in 1953. The school would also become independent in 1992, breaking ties with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
Today, Furman’s 750-acre campus features an Asian garden, a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin, the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability, a Florentine bell tower, a spring-fed lake, 13 miles of paved trails through the woodlands and an 18-hole golf course. It enrolls approximately 2,700 undergraduate and 525 graduate students.
Colonization and Installation
Kappa Kappa Gamma established Eta Alpha Colony at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. Fifty-one members were pledged to Fraternity membership on January 9, 1994. Eta Alpha Chapter was installed on March 19, 1994, becoming the Fraternity’s 125th chapter. Epsilon Kappa, South Carolina, and Epsilon Mu, Clemson, served as big sister chapters.
Before joining the Fraternity, the colony was a local sorority called Kappas. Founded in 1993, it was one of the newest of the seven local sororities that sought affiliation with National Panhellenic groups. Other NPC organizations on the Furman campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Delta.
The installation team included Fraternity President Juliana (J.J.) Wales, Ohio State; Vice President Janice (Jan) Harrenberg Stockoff, New Mexico; Extension Chairman Sally Moore Nitschke, Ohio State; and Chapter Consultant Annaliese Limb, North Texas. Between pledging and installation the colony had grown from 51 pledges to 63 pledges.
Highlights of the 1990s:
Two months after the celebration of the chapter’s installation, it suffered the loss of one of its members Jennifer Ruth Prevette who died in a car accident. Jenni had touched everyone lives with her strong spirit, enthusiasm and love of life.
Highlights of 2000-2010
After two successful weekends of formal recruitment in January 2005, 26 new members were pledged. New members attended a retreat and completed new member education during January and February. The initiation banquet was held in the University Center. Also, in February, Eta Alpha held a masquerade-themed social function at Green Valley Country Club.
Three Kappas were elected as Panhellenic Council officers. In April, Eta Alpha held its annual sand volleyball tournament, raising $250 for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and the Bobby Pearse Community Center, an after-school center for underprivileged children where Eta Alpha donated books and read to children. Eta Alpha built a book corner at the Bobby Pearse Community Center, donating more than 500 books to the center and presenting each child with a book of his or her own.
In May, Eta Alpha held a joint Academic and Senior Banquet on campus with a pizza party, senior wills and academic recognitions awarded. It held its annual Sapphire Ball with a black-and-white theme at the Greenville Hilton.
In September 2005, Eta Alpha Chapter Council hosted a leadership workshop day with chapter councils from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. The Kappas did the low ropes course at Furman in the morning and a leadership workshop with PDC Anna Edwards in the afternoon.
October was a busy month for Eta Alpha. It held the fall sisterhood retreat in the University Center where everyone watched movies, ate brownie sundaes and made shakers for Homecoming. The chapter held a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville-themed function called Kappa Rage where each sister invited three friends. A tailgate was held in conjunction with Furman’s Family Weekend.
The Founders Day celebration held by the chapter included refreshments and a program from its Education Chairman. During Homecoming week, the chapter paired with Sigma Nu fraternity and came in second place overall in Homecoming.
The chapter held is fall philanthropy event, Ready, Aim, Read! during October. Sisters sold tickets to throw darts at a balloon board set up in the University Center, and coupons inside the balloons were worth prizes. Ready, Aim, Read! earned more than $260 for our philanthropy projects.
In November, Eta Alpha’s Chapter Council implemented monthly email updates from each officer to its advisory board, PDC and RDC to keep everyone informed of its goals, progress and events. The members held the semi-formal in Furman’s new Younts Conference Center. This function was the first Greek social function on campus, and university officials were extremely pleased with Kappa’s classy, well run event. Also in November, Eta Alpha held a Recruitment event where we wrapped books and made holiday cards to give to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center.
Eta Alpha finished second-place in Chi Omega’s dance-a-thon. The chapter made it to the semifinals in intramural soccer for the first time in several years. During the course of the year, the chapter donated more than 100 books to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center to help the children start home libraries, ending the year with age-appropriate books or magazines for each child as a holiday present. The social chairman planned several amazing functions in 2006: formal in the spring and semi-formals in the fall and winter. The chapter also hosted Kappa Rage with the theme of Kappa Kappa Gangsta in the fall where each sister could bring three guests.
Philanthropy was very successful this year, raising money through fundraisers such as Kappa Krush and a school-wide volleyball tournament. The money raised went to support the Bobby Pearse Community Center’s after-school programs via Ready, Aim, Read! In the spring, we had enough money to open a book corner at the community center, and Kappas throughout the year spent the afternoons reading to the children.
The VP Academic Excellence worked hard to keep the chapter GPA high through study groups and nerd-of-the-week awards, and the chapter was third place among the sororities. The VP Organization created a chapter survey that helped determine the chapter’s goals for the year. The Leadership Consultant visited in November, and during her visit she met individually with the officers and recruitment chairman. The advice she provided during both her visits was invaluable as the chapter planed and set goals for 2007.
The biggest achievement in 2007 was probably planning and putting together a very successful fall fundraiser. Contestants from each of the fraternities and some student organizations competed in a comical male beauty pageant. The whole campus got really involved, and the event raised more than $1,000 – half was donated to RIF and half to the pageant winner’s philanthropy of choice. The chapter was also proud to have gotten better involved in helping the Bobby Pearse Community Center again. Every week, the members helped kids with homework in the afterschool program, and at the end of fall term the chapter hosted a pizza party for them. Recruitment was very successful this year. The chapter pledged its first full pledge class since 1998, and we are definitely enjoying getting to know all the new ladies.
VP Academic Excellence did a great job this year, too. The chapter had the second-highest GPA on campus, and hoped to be in first place the following year.
The new member period saw great improvements and won an award for it at the 2007 Province Meeting. Eta Alpha’s functions this year were all very successful. Formal was held at the Commerce Club downtown and was enjoyed by everyone. In the fall, two functions were held: Rage and semi-formal. Rage was held at the Handlebar and was themed “Every Guy Loves a Girl in a Uniform.” Semi-formal was held in a new conference center on campus.
Chapter members were excited to attend the 2008 Mu Province meeting in Atlanta. They enjoyed meeting Kappas from other chapters and learning more about our organization. The chapter was excited to receive the Recruitment Award, Academic Achievement Award and the Standard of Excellence Award!
The third-annual Kappa Krush Pageant was very successful. One contestant from each of the campus fraternities competed in this comical male beauty pageant. Each fraternity was paired with one sorority for the event, and the contestants raised money throughout the week leading up to the pageant. More than $2,000 was raised and half of the proceeds went to RIF and the other half was donated to the winning fraternity-sorority pair’s philanthropies—Make-a-Wish and Children’s Miracle Network. The event was well attended by Furman Greeks and non-Greeks. Everyone was thrilled by the dedication that the participating groups demonstrated. This year’s pageant raised approximately $500 more than the previous year.
This year, the chapter was also involved with the Greenville Boys and Girls Club. Every Monday, Kappas played with the children and assisted them with homework. Chapter members looked forward to participating in its Reading is Key philanthropy, a book drive for the children at the Boys and Girls Club. The entire chapter visited this afterschool center one afternoon, and gave each child a book. The children were able to participate in a variety of activities related to reading during the event.
Eta Alpha also had great success in other Greek organizations events on campus: won Pi Kappa Phi’s War of the Roses where the members competed in activities and raised the most money for their philanthropy, PUSH America; the chapter also won Pi Kappa Phi’s No Boundaries week which also benefited PUSH America; finished second in Sigma Nu’s flag football tournament benefiting Relay for Life.
The chapter had a very successful Homecoming where it was paired with a campus fraternity and competed in a variety of activities against the other Furman Greek groups. At the Homecoming game it received first place in the category of float and chalking and came in second place overall for the Homecoming events. The chapter’s dedication and commitment to Homecoming definitely paid off. A senior Kappa was named Furman’s Homecoming Queen.
During 2009 the chapter celebrated the 15th anniversary of Eta Alpha’s founding at Furman. Kappa alumnae were invited to join the members for a tailgate before the football game. Everyone had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the heritage of our sisterhood.
Recruitment was a great success this year, and the chapter was thrilled to get a full pledge class of 36 wonderful women. The recruitment committee worked extremely hard throughout the fall, and the chapter worked hard to polish its skits, dances and songs so that the rounds would be polished and entertaining. Academic Excellence put in a tremendous amount of effort this year to encourage everyone in their studies. Everyone was very proud to have the highest GPA among the seven sororities on campus.
There were several outstanding functions this year. The beautiful spring formal took place at the Gassaway Mansion in May 2009. The fall functions included: Rage and Western Date Night. The theme for Rage was GloKappa, and everyone enjoyed dressing up in neon colors and wearing hundreds of glowsticks. Western Date Night was held at a local barn and included a bonfire, s’mores, cornhole and a lot of fun country music. A new function was introduced this year. Previously the semi-formal had been replaced with the Western Date Night, so the chapter decided to bring back the semi-formal atmosphere with Kappa’s first Christmas function which was held at the beautiful Huguenot Mill. The members spent the night dancing to Christmas music and enjoying the last weekend before Winter Break.
Highlights 2011
The year was one of involvement, reflection, and improvement for Eta Alpha. We were able to take a look at our strengths and weaknesses, as a chapter, through two LC visits and a focus letter from headquarters. We had 30 new members initiated in March and two initiated in the fall with the Clemson University chapter. We held the traditional philanthropy events: Reading is Key at the Boys and Girls Club, our Kappa Pageant in the fall to raise money for RIF, and coordinated a change in schools for our weekly philanthropy visits. We participated in Homecoming float and parade on campus with Sigma Nu fraternity. In March we hosted Province for the Mu North province and representatives from all chapters attended. We won the Best Standards awards for all the chapters in Mu North. We were awarded the Andrus Stale Roberts Trophy for the 2010-2011 school year--a trophy presented to the sorority that makes the greates contribution to Furman University, specifically in the areas of scholarship, leadership, religion, athletics, and general excellence. Our sorority moved from third to second highest GPA on campus.
Campus: In 2011 Furman University was adjusting to a new president, larger freshmen classes, revised alchohol policies, a continued emphasis on sustainability, a new bookstore and new housing opportunities, and more student voice in Strategic Planning of campus activities and policies.
Chapter: Eta Alpha feels that it represents the ideals described in the mission statement of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The members of this chapter are genuine, down-to-earth, and warm. Within the chapter, sisterly support is one of our biggest priorities. The chapter is well-respected on campus and shows its commitment to the campus as a whole by being involved in various activities from hall staff, sports and intramurals, religious organizations, student teaching, volunteering, academic clubs and honor societies, and more.
In an effort to help Eta Alpha improve its chapter communication and overall functionality, the RDC and former PDC issued a Focus Letter that outlined several goals for Eta Alpha and recommendations for promoting chapter organization. The Letter also highlighted some areas of concern from the past to help guide Eta Alpha forward, giving suggestions for improvement as needed. In the fall, we took a chapter survey completed by each active member and the results were compiled. Areas that needed greatest improvement were in chapter efficiency and public relations As a response to the Focus Letter and the Chapter Survey, Chapter Council wrote, and the chapter approved, a Leadership Action Plan to address these areas and implement reasonable steps to achieve greater chapter efficiency as well as other goals. Also, the Chapter Council planned to revise the Bylaws and Standing Rules in the semester to come. Another goal we, especially our Recruitment committee, decided to address was our energy and attitude regarding the recruitment process. We worked as a chapter to make recruitment a more positive experience for active members as well as potential new members. In the fall, we had more workshops and focused on informal recruitment more than we have in the past.
Highlights 2012
2012 was a year of excitement and improvement, within Eta Alpha and the Greek Community as a whole. Our most noteworthy accomplishment was a brand new philanthropy event. To replace our outdated fraternity pageant, we started the first annual Kappa Cook Off. Teams of fraternities competed for the best burger recipe and sororities competed for the best dessert. We charged admission for teams and for anybody in the Furman/Greenville community to eat and enjoy live music, and raised $1300. We were happy with the involvement of non-Greek students, professors, and other on-campus organizations and it was great publicity.
This year we participated in Homecoming week activities with Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Our hardwork and involvement with float-building paid off in great PR (photo on the Furman homepage) and the first prize trophy for floats! Kappa participated in many other Greek organizations' philanthropy weeks--coming in second place for both Sigma Chi Derby Days and Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash.
Internally, Eta Alpha made so many improvements that we were able to get off the focus letter that we were put on in 2011. This was achieved by every sister's own effort, as well as the hard work of chapter council and VPO, who came up with the Leadership Action Plan to follow. Areas we made great strides in were chapter efficiency, committee organization, and knowledge and appreciation for ritual. Similarly, we got overwhelming positive feedback on initiation in March, after adjustments were made to keep it more in accordance with ritual while also being a special sisterhood retreat. According to a chapter survey in December, ritual and anti-hazing policy rank highest among Eta Alpha's strengths.
Chapter council would also like to mention that this year we benefitted greatly from our LC visits and Kappa trainers, especially as our advisory board was going through many changes.
The Greek community at Furman started to undergo many changes in 2012. With the installation of a new Greek Life adviser, Cameron Smith, several aspects of informal and formal recruitment were adjusted this year. Informal recruitment rules were improved to allow us to better get to know potential new members. Our panhellenic counselors, previously called Alpha Zetas, were renamed Pi Chis. Pi Chi groups started doing bonding activities together earlier in the fall. Recruitment rules were very specific for sororities this year--more rounds, each one smaller, were added in order to make the parties less overwhelming for potential new members. Panhellenic has also become more interested in raising official quota for sororities on campus, in order to make chapters more equal in size.
As a chapter, Eta Alpha feels its members are genuine, warm, welcoming, and supportive. Our chapter is extremely diverse in our academic and personal interests, extracurricular activities, and backgrounds. We feel our chapter is strengthened by this diversity and the phrase "individually unique, together complete" fitting.
Highlights of 2013
2013 was a year of excitement and improvement, within Eta Alpha and the Greek Community as a whole. We initiated 41 women in the spring. In our Second Kappa Cook Off, we raised over $1100 for RIF. Our chapter sent members to help tutor kids at a local Elementary School, Armstrong Elementary. In our Reading is Key event, the chapter as a whole went to the school supplying books, doing crafts, and helping students with their homework.
This year we participated in Homecoming week activities with Beta Theta Pi. The Kappa/ Beta team made it to the semi finals of the Student Alumni Council’s Homecoming cornhole tournament. Kappa participated in many other Greek organizations' philanthropy weeks--coming in first at Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash and placed second in Sigma Nu’s flag football philanthropy for Relay for Life. We also volunteered at service events like Relay for Life and Dance Marathon.
Since the revamping of our Panhellenic Council, we had one member serve on executive council, another as a delegate, and four members participate as Pi Chis. Unlike past years, sorority women could now go off campus with Potential New Members, were able to communicate through phones, and could ride in cars with them. Panhellenic sponsored “Panhellenic Nights” where two sororities combined to make an informal night to meet PMNs.
As a chapter, Eta Alpha feels its members are genuine, enjoyable, welcoming, and supportive. Our chapter is extremely diverse in our academic and personal interests, extracurricular activities, and backgrounds. We feel our chapter is strengthened by this diversity and the phrase "individually unique, together complete" fitting.
Highlights of 2014
For Eta Alpha Chapter, 2014 was a year full of sisterhood and campus involvement boasting 101 members. In March 36 new sisters were initiated, including four Kappa legacies, two in-house, as well as four Chinese international students. Eta Alpha’s proudest accomplishment from 2014 was the Honorable Mention for Ritual by Kappa Kappa Gamma National Headquarters at Convention in June. With the combination of our two philanthropy events we raised $1,938 for Reading is Fundamental. Kappa Kickball was held in April and featured a competition between sorority and fraternity teams kicking for the win. Our notorious Kappa Cook Off held in October is a faculty judged event where fraternities grill their best burger and sororities bake their favorite dessert for the Greek and the non-Greek community alike. It is always a success day out on the field with live a cappella performances and raffles.
Branching into Kappa’s involvement in the local Greenville school system during recruitment about 250 children’s books were signed with encouraging and heartfelt messages to be given to the kids at our new elementary school. In the fall, Kappa was reached out to by the community of Duncan Chapel Elementary, asking for volunteers in the need-based after school program. Twice a week sisters spend an hour tutoring students and giving service to the community. In the beginning of December, Eta Alpha felt the need of those without proper clothes for the winter months and put on the Kappa Klothing Drive for several days collecting winter items from Furman students, faculty and staff. The need was met with enormous gratitude as the chapter collected ten large boxes of clothes for the local homeless shelter, Miracle Hill.
In September, Eta Alpha proudly participated in Haze Free KKG by making a banner in the dining hall and hash-tagging our personal beliefs as to why we do not haze our new and current members.
At Furman Kappa’s have a large presence within the PanHellenic Greek community. Boasting five Pi Chis during recruitment and three members on the council. In the fall Eta Alpha participated in informal PanHellenic recruitment events were we shared meet-and-greets with Chi Omega and Alpha Delta Pi and well as the colonization staff of Zeta Tau Alpha. In March Kappa won War of the Roses held by Pi Kappa Phi benefiting Push America. Our chapter was represented with six runners in Kappa Delta’s Shamrock & Roll in November. During Derby Days put on by Sigma Chi in April Eta Alpha came in second place. There was also Kappa representation at Delta Delta Delta’s D-Hop event in September and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash Week in October. At one of Furman’s most attended Greek events, Stroll, hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha in March one of two Kappa teams came in third in the all sorority and fraternity choreographed dance off. During Greeks for Greenville in March, involving not only the Furman Greek community but that of Clemson and other local Greek organizations, Eta Alpha participated at Alexander Elementary in great numbers. There was much to do such as cleaning up the property, planting trees, pulling weeds from the playground, building path ways and painting a map of the USA on the basketball court as well as chalking fun designs for the children.
Outside of Greek Life Kappa’s are very involved in their own personal pursuits within the Furman community. The Furman University Equestrian Team proudly represents eight Kappa sisters, making up 2/3rds of the team. The Furman Belles, an all women’s a cappella group, is headed by a sister along with two other members. This year’s theater performance in November, The Drowsy Chaperone, was directed by a sister and included three others on the cast. The intramural Kappa basketball team continued to kick butt in 2014 with many wins. Kappa was proud to send a sister on the Furman Cycling team to the Collegiate Cycle Cross Championships where the Furman team placed fourth overall. For Halloween the Athletics Department hosted Fan Jam for children who cannot trick or treat in their neighborhoods, Kappa showed their support by dressing in costume and holding a game for kids to play and get candy.
Parent’s weekend in September was a fun filled event where Kappa hosted their very own catered tailgate. We got to enjoy family, sisters, and good food under our brand new KKG tent and music on the new speakers. Everyone was throwing what they know and taking pictures with our letters.
Homecoming was a blast at the end of October where our football team played Sanford. Kappa Kappa Gamma was paired with Kappa Alpha Order for the Greek Week competitions preceding the weekend. Our theme was “Pirates of the Caribbean” there were skits and chalking and pomping galore. Our float was skillfully constructed by the KA brothers to be the black pearl and was pomped to perfection. The evenings consisted of corn hole and music with cupcakes and hot chocolate provided by the Resident Life Council. In the end our combined efforts won the best tee-shirt competition, first in spirit and third overall. Of course it was lovely seeing our Kappa Alum and newly graduated sisters again.
Furman University gives their students’ opportunities to travel the world and explore beyond the campus gates. Eta Alpha members are unique girls and take great advantage of the wonderful experiences. In November four sisters traveled up to Charlotte North Carolina to participate in the Color Run. Even though it was freezing cold and snow covered the ground our girls pulled through and ran the race with full hearts. Later in that month two sisters made the trip to Orlando Florida to attend a Peer Health Educator Assembly and on their return gave presentations to students in the Health Science Department. During the spring and fall semester the chapter had some sisters in our minds and hearts as they attended school abroad and traveled. We had 9 sisters abroad in Edinburgh, China, Spain, the British Isles, France and Italy.
Eta Alpha achieved an increase in GPA by .042 points this year, however, we were put on academic probation by headquarters. Our outstanding Academic Excellence chair and committee have been working very diligently to come up with innovative ideas to encourage and help members with their workloads and studying ideas. They have individualized meetings with members to understand their situations and hold two Kappa study halls a week where all members are encouraged to study with sisters. There is also a competition between classes to hold the highest GPA with a reward for all class members, won by the seniors this year. The chair has also just put into place “geek of the week” where whoever gets the most pictures taken of them studying wins a prize.
A visit from our LC Caroline Washnock in September and Kappa Trainer Audrey McCall in November gave us great ideas and motivation for the next semester and for our chapter in the future. They encouraged and supported our weaknesses in the chapter’s involvement and being held accountable as sisters, as well as being more of a presence on campus. They also highlighted our chapter’s strengths and brought to light how close our bonds in the sisterhood are. They noticed what an aspiring group of young talented women we are, clearly noticing how Kappa values are represented within the chapter.
Highlights of 2015
For the year 2015, Eta Alpha chapter started the fall semester with 95 members and a revamped public relations committee. Our continually successful philanthropy event, Kappa Cook Off, held in October raised $1,399 for Reading is Fundamental. We welcomed the Greek and non-Greek community alike to enjoy homemade burgers, desserts and live a cappella out on the field. An addition to our philanthropic involvement, due to our dedicated philanthropy chair, has been volunteering at Duncan Chapel Elementary School. Each week since the beginning for the year Kappas have been helping low-risk students in the after school program with homework and reading skills. In October, after the flooding that devastated South Carolina, Eta Alpha donated $300, won from attending a Tri Delta event, to the Kappa Foundation to help fellow SC sisters.
Kicking off recruitment in January, Kappa had four Pi Chis and a fun filled jungle themed bid day. In February, Eta Alpha initiated 34 new sisters, including one in-house legacy, one Chinese international student and one Mongolian international student. We also hosted members from Epsilon Kappa chapter who initiated 8 new sisters. On Furman’s campus, Zeta Tau Alpha accepted their first new member class after formal recruitment and Tau Kappa Epsilon started a new chapter on campus. On Valentine’s Day, Kappa sisters passed out love and hershey’s kisses for Kappa Kisses. In March, Furman inaugurated our new university president, Elizabeth Davis. Also held in March one of our very own sisters helped organize Furman’s annual Water Walk, which raises money for a water project and awareness for those lacking clean water and sanitation. She also is the Shi Center for Sustainability fellow, Alternate Transportation fellow, and a member of the Environmental and Sustainability Science Club. For no lack of brains, a senior sister presented her chemistry research in Memphis, TN.
Spring semester included a large and appreciated turn out to Relay for Life where Kappas supported sisters and their families, as well as the surrounding community. On April 9th our annual Reading is Key philanthropy event was a fun and heartwarming event where sisters read donated books to elementary students. Study day for finals Eta Alpha sponsored a stress free snow cone truck that provided free cones to Furman students. For Greek Week, Kappas handed out cheesy macaroni to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. We strive to be involved in philanthropy and that includes supporting other Greek philanthropies. Kappas had an amazing stroll team this year held by AKA where sororities and fraternities perform in a dance competition. Eta Alpha took second in Tri Delta Triple Play softball game for their philanthropy St. Jude’s Hospital. We also supported Kappa Delta in their first ever Kappa Quesadillas in September and the Delta Gamma Anchor Splash. Eta Alpha also attended Tri Delta Dhop with our fellow sister and Leadership Counselor Katherine Latta who was visiting at the time.
The 2015 fall semester was an exceptional one for Eta Alpha chapter. We proudly supported National Hazing prevention month in September by attending a campus wide prevention speaker with almost 100% attendance and by making a banner for the dining hall. We put on our very first Kappa Kappaccino where our sisters handed out free coffee and awarded coffee mugs and stickers to those who found golden tickets hidden around the library. Thanks to our phenomenal recruitment chair it was so successful that we hosted Kappa Kappaccino again during finals in December. Homecoming this year was highlighted by having our cherished recruitment chair be nominated for Homecoming court where she was escorted by her adorable brother. Our Homecoming partners were Sigma Chi and ZTA, our theme was Clue and we won overall spirit in the Greek competitions. Founder’s day this year was celebrated with alumni who afterward helped us practice conversation for recruitment. In October, a handful of sisters participated in Furman’s Halloween Fall Fest, which brings underprivileged children to trick or treat in a safe environment on campus. Kappas are a presence in the PanHellenic community where we shared a successful evening with Chi Omega meeting potential new members as wells as an all sorority PanHellenic night. Apart of our PanHellenic relations in September we enjoyed a Night Owls mixer with Chi Omega, our recruitment partner. We also participated in Eta Alphas very first fraternity mixer with Sigma Chi over homecoming, which was so fun we held a second mixer with Beta. Kappas also made it to intramural sand volleyball championships and got second place out of all the sororities this year.
Outside of the Greek community Kappas are also very active. At this year’s Dance Marathon for Greenville Children’s Hospital there was great Kappa involvement where one sister organized a Kappa team. Over family weekend, despite the rain, the Kappa tailgate was a blast with good friends and family, food and cute tee shirts. Eta Alpha also has a large presence during football games where four sisters represent in the Furman Marching Band where one sister serves as trumpet section leader for marching band. We have other musically inclined sisters, with three in the Symphonic Band where the Principal Flute is a Kappa. We also have one sister representing in the Wind ensemble and another in the Furman Symphony Orchestra. Another achieving sister is an officer for FUISA, which won club of the year. One of our most athletic sisters competed in the Collegiate Cycling Nationals and had finish in the top ten. Eta Alpha is also very proud of our many sisters who were initiated into Phi Eta Sigma honors society this year. A particularly dedicated sister volunteers with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This year she participated in an Out of the Darkness walk and for the third time planned the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day in her hometown to help those who have lost someone to suicide. In the philanthropic manner, for the second year, Eta Alpha hosted Kappa Klothing Drive to collect winter clothes for Miracle Hill in great quantity. At the beginning of the 2015 fall semester Eta Alpha encouraged academic success with Kappa pencils handed out to the Furman student body.
Kappas take Furman’s opportunities to travel to further their educational experience. In the spring we had a sister in Copenhagen Denmark, one in Edinburgh, and another in China. Also in the spring for a little less than a semester six Kappas traveled to Africa for an immersion course in the study of poverty. This fall we had two sisters in Australia, two in Japan, and two in the British Isles. Back on campus, Eta Alpha was diligently working on improving our academic success with study hall ideas and studying incentives from our Academic Excellence chair. A visit from our LC Katherine Latta, Kappa Trainer Marcia Shearer and Kate Steiner in November gave us encouragement and motivation for the next semester and our incoming officers. They supported our strengths and had suggestions for our weaknesses. We collaborated on ideas about sisterhood and making chapter meetings more fun, as well as time management and public relations on campus. As a chapter Eta Alpha is an aspiring group of women who are individually talented and represent Kappa values as a whole.
Highlights of 2020s (Information from chapter history reports, scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)
Note to Chapter Registrar: 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. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
