Eta Kappa

Eta Kappa
HK

Founded	March 4, 2007 (2007-03-04) (17 years ago)
College	Knox College
Location	Galesburg, IL
Homepage	Eta Kappa Homepage
Media related to Eta Kappa Chapter

Knox College established in 1837 in Galesburg, Illinois

Founded March 4, 2007 - 31 charter members

129 initiates (as of April 2014)

Current Eta Kappa Chapter Officers:
President Katie White
Vice President of Standards Taylor Wayment
Vice President of Academic Excellence Taylor Gladfelter
Vice President of Organization Shannon Perry
Registrar/ Marshal Ashlee Pitts
Recording/Corresponding Secretary Courtney Hopps
Treasurer Allison Whitehill
New Member Chairman Susannah Lodge-Rigal
Education Chairman Jessica Oakley
Public Relations Chairman Elizabeth Clay
Philanthropy Chairman Chloe Vollenweider
Event/Risk Chairman Annie Ford
Membership Chairman Keegan Dohm
House Chairman Riya Tiwari
Panhellenic Exec Emily Powers
Panhellenic Delegate Lauren Langham

The Story of Our Founding
Eta Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was originally founded because before Kappa Kappa Gamma came on Knox College's campus, there were only two NPC sororities (Pi Beta Phi and Delta Delta Delta) available for membership. Knox College was also home to these NPC sororities, Delta Zeta (1915-1964), Alpha Xi Delta (1929-1973) and Phi Mu (1912-1989), but they all became dormant or inactive and essentially Knox College was a two NPC sorority school for 18 years!

Our Eta Kappa founders, Catherine Ray, Meryl Leventon, Stephanie O'Brien, Caroline Allen, Sibel Karabeyoglu, and Jennifer Davis believed in diversity and creating options for other women interested in participating in NPC Greek life.

Before their affiliation and installation as chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, our founders took the letters Tau Sigma Omega, TSO, sometimes comically called Tau Sigma Omicron. As the story goes, these women met at Knox College's swimming pool where Stephanie O'Brien was employed as a student lifeguard. This is where the historic Alpha document was written. This document was approved by the Dean of Student Life and TSO was officially founded on Thursday, March 10, 2005. TSO had also increased their membership to 10 women. Membership would continue to increase as their first informal recruitment event was held in the Fall of 2005.

Their first chapter council meeting consisted of Catherine Ray (President), Stephanie O'Brien, Meryl Leventon, Kathleen Manly (Philanthropy Chair), Jennifer Davis, Nerissa Montes, Sibel Karabeyoglu, and Caroline Allen.

Their first philanthropy event was their participation in Galesburg's Polar Plunge event and fundraiser for Special Olympics, a tradition that Eta Kappa chapter carried on until 2009.

TSO was not allowed to participate in formal recruitment in the Winter of 2006, but they continued to grow regardless.

By Spring of 2006, TSO had been a Greek colony for a year and could begin the process of national affiliation.

TSO ultimately decided to affiliate with Kappa Kappa Gamma (and not with Kappa Delta) because of Kappa Kappa Gamma's dedication to leadership, philanthropy, and scholarship. TSO felt that their ideals were similar to those of Kappa Kappa Gamma's.

TSO affiliated with Kappa Kappa Gamma on October 16, 2006 and became the Eta Kappa colony.

As a colony of Kappa Kappa Gamma, the women formerly known as TSO, were allowed to participate in their first formal recruitment in the winter of 2007.

Eta Kappa was installed as a chapter on March 4, 2007 by the national President, Denise Rugani, while Epsilon Chapter (Illinois Wesleyan) acted as Eta Kappa's installing chapter and key sisters.

Historical Highlights
-Greek Week Champions 2007, 2012, 2013 ...
-In the 2007-2008 year, Eta Kappa made an appearance in every issue of The Key.
-Eta Kappa began their annual fundraiser, Win-A-Date in 2007. It was called the Uganda Initiative because all donations, monetary and school supplies, were going to be donated to schools in need in Uganda. The women raised $1,500 that year. The Win-A-Date fundraiser raises money towards a different philanthropy that is dear to our members' hearts every year since.
-Fall 2008 Eta Kappa got their house!
-Spring 2008 Eta Kappa began a tradition of holding a scholarship banquet to recognize professors and build positive Kappa-faculty relationships.
-Winter, Formal Recruitment 2009 The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma were the only NPC sorority to not only reach quota but to surpass it.
-February 2009 Eta Kappa co-hosted the Biennial Province Meeting with Alpha Deuteron Chapter (Monmouth College)and were honored with a Membership Award at the banquet.

Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:

Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:

Outstanding Eta Kappa Alumnae Jordan Newsom Leadership Consultant, 2013-2014

From the beginning

Installed in early March, 2007, Eta Kappa Chapter at Knox College is located only 13 miles from Monmouth College and the Stewart House Museum, home of Founder Minnie Stewart. The college was founded by social reformers who opposed slavery and believed in the potential of all to learn, grow, and contribute to the greater good of the community. Knox was one of the first colleges to admit African Americans and women and remains one of America's historically significant liberal arts colleges and is the only remaining site of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. The City of Galesburg, approximately 50 miles east of the Mississippi River, is a unique town in that it was a planned city whose purpose was fostering religious education. Knox College was the main reason for its existence. (From an official letter, November, 2006)

Kappa Kappa Gamma accepted the invitation to install its 132nd active chapter at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. The Knox Student Life Committee voted to invite Kappa Kappa Gamma to join the Greek community at Knox. Installation of Eta Kappa Chapter took place on March 4, 2007. The chapter is supported by the Galesburg, Monmouth, Peoria and Moline Alumnae Associations. Knox is consistently ranked in the top 20 liberal arts colleges in America. Most notable is its appearance in Loren Pope's book, Colleges That Change Lives, where forty schools are discussed that change the lives of their students through the students’ access to their PhD professors, an administration that is supportive of the Greek community, a high percentage of students succeeding in their graduate school pursuits, and other plaudits. Princeton Review, U.S. News and World Report and many other publications applaud this fine academic institution Knox is a private, independent college committed to the liberal arts as the best educational preparation for life. The student enrollment in 2007 was 1,245, of which 54 percent were female. More than 20 percent of the student body is Greek with five national fraternities and chapters of Delta Delta Delta and Pi Beta Phi founded in 1889 and 1884 respectively.

Kappa Kappa Gamma was honored to accept the invitation of the exceptional women of a local sorority to affiliate with the National Panhellenic Conference Fraternity. These dedicated women made a name for themselves by winning at the spring's Greek Week in their short eighteen-month history. These new Kappas were recognized for their philanthropic efforts on campus and in Galesburg.

Highlights of 2007 - 2010

On a cold March morning, members of Eta Kappa took a Polar Plunge at Lake Storey in Galesburg, Illinois. With a minimum pledge of $75.00 for the icy dip, more than $23,177 was raised for the Illinois Special Olympics.

The evening of Thursday May 8, the Gizmo on the campus of Knox College was packed with excited sorority and fraternity members clad in neon green shirts which read, “Greekalodion,” the Greek Week theme. Members had gathered to watch the popular Greek talent show and find out the winners of Greek Week events. The show was filled with a variety of acts including Kappa Kappa Gamma’s singers and dancers playfully mocking Knox Greek organizations to much applause. As it would turn out, the chapter skit would win the award for funniest performance.

Greek Week began with Sunday’s Greek Olympics with stations set up throughout campus. Monday was trivia night, which had a large turnout. Tuesday was devoted to philanthropy with a blood drive. The Boys and Girls Club donations went on all week, and each Greek organization earned points for the supplies donated. The Greeks were able to raise $125 for The Boys and Girls club as well as boxes of school supplies. Wednesday was the awards banquet. Many of the Greeks present were happy for such a relaxing, fun week, especially concerning the difficulties Greek life has taken the past year concerning local colony admittance to becoming Greek organizations. Overall, Kappa Kappa Gamma came in third place with 122 points.

For the last three weekends in October in 2008, women of Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma got together for a twenty minute drive north of campus to scare the pants off people. The two sororities tried something new for both of them - a joint philanthropic venture. Being sister sororities, the women realizing both of their organizations were founded “up the road in Monmouth” with both of their nationals’ philanthropy geared toward literacy, it made for a great pairing. Both chapters liked the idea of using the philanthropy as a sisterhood bonding event. The women joined together at the Country Corner Farm Market and Pumpkin Patch to work in the corn maze, running the stand or scaring people inside, and afterwards the proceeds from the ticket sales are split up among the organizations based on how many hours each works. The Kappas put their money toward Reading Is Fundamental.

On the evening of October 24th, 2008 the ladies of the Eta Kappa chapter brought students, parents, and other members of the Greek community together for their second annual “Win-A-Date” event. $1,856.15 was raised to support Girl Effect through BRAC programs for Safe Spaces and Small Loans for Teenage Girls in Tanzania. The evening was the culmination of a week of fundraising through change wars between Greek organizations on campus. The two members from each of the social Greek organizations Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, and colony, ATP, as well as from the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity and Sigma Alpha Iota Music Sorority volunteered to be hosts and hostesses for the dates. Local businesses donated dinner, movie, and bowling certificates, which were given as prizes to the winning bidders and their dates. Among the many generous donations made that evening was one exceptional date that sold for over $230. Eta Kappa members felt a special connection to this particular cause not only as women, but also from the personal experiences of its members. One active’s travels to Uganda inspired the first Uganda Initiative event in 2007. Another member, studied abroad in Tanzania in 2007. With this in mind, Eta Kappa chapter was inspired by Girl Effect and was proud to support the education and empowerment of women internationally.

Individual honors and awards by the chapter members included: AAINA (co-president); Alpha Phi Omega (VP Membership, Pledge Marshall, Co-chair of Book Co-op); Asian Student Association; Business Club; Campus Progress (PR chair); Carl Sandburg Literacy Coalition Tutor; Circle K; Class Officer – Secretary; Co-ed Water Polo (captain, treasurer); College Art Association; Costume Shop (T.A.); Cottage Hospital Volunteer; Cross Country; Dance Squad; Film Production Club (treasurer); Galesburg Civic Art Center Intern; Golf team; Habitat for Humanity (Event Coordinator); Harambee; Hillel Club; Intervarsity Christian Fellowship; Invisible Children (Secretary); Jazz Combo; Junior Great Books; Knox Ambassadors; Knox Bloggers; Knox College Sign Language (Treasurer); Knox County Jail Literacy Project (lead tutor); Knox County Regional G.S.; Knox Galesburg Symphony; Knox Sandburg Community Concert Band (Percussion section leader); Knox String Ensemble; Making Things Craft Club; Mortar Board (Membership chair); Odyssey Mentoring; Office of Admissions; Orchestra; Order of Omega (Vice-President); Prairie Players; Pre-Vet Club; Reading Buddies; Rep Term XV; Residential Adviser; Residential Quality Committee; Rotaract; Rugby (co-captains); SASS (PR chair); SHAG (secretary); Soccer team (captain); Spanish Club; Student Athletic Advisory Council; Student Athletic Trainer; Student Senate; Student Senate Finance Committee; Studio Theatre (Director); Swimming team; Tennis team (captain); Terpsichore (PR chair); Track and Field ; Union Board; Women’s Chorale; Women’s Water Polo (captain, treasurer); Writer’s Forum; WVKC and Yoga Club

Philanthropy 1-2-3:

As individuals with time, talents and treasures, Kappas first support their sisters; second, participate in local service projects; and third, serve the greater good. The chapter women support elementary schools, Relay for Life, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity to name a few. Chapter fundraising events support causes such as the American Cancer Society, breast cancer/Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, tsunami relief, and multiple sclerosis research. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) was supported through the donation of thousands of books and volunteer hours to Boys and Girls Clubs, elementary schools and hospitals. The chapter also supported the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation with financial gifts and Rose McGill magazine subscription sales to help fund scholarships, confidential aid, education and training, and support of the two Kappa museums.

In May of 2009 Sigma Chi and Kappa Kappa Gamma co-hosted an ultimate frisbee tournament to raise money for the FISH Food Pantry. Proceeds from the event were donated to the pantry that provides families in need with enough food to feed them with three nutritious meals a day.

Eta Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma brought 14 Greek organizations and students together along with 35 businesses from Galesburg on Friday, October 16, 2009 in the campus Gizmo for the purpose of raising money for Valhalla Experimental Station in Guatemala. The total amount of money raised for Valhalla exceeded $1,000 dollars. The behind-the-scenes work was described as “really hard to orchestrate.” Previous to the event, the chapter did fundraising through “change wars” with a jar for the president of each Greek group at their table during meals. The president’s jar with the most money earned the title of “ultimate date” and received the biggest gift certificate. Gift certificates for places such as Q’s Café, Kaldi’s, pizza restaurants, and bowling alleys went with each date. All of the certificates were donated by businesses in Galesburg.

During the May 2010 Knox Greek Week, Eta Kappa members earned two awards: Adviser of the Year and Emerging Female Greek Leader.

Thursday, October 28, 2010 the Business Club’s Halloween Crafts Day provided an opportunity for Knox students and children from the local Boys and Girls Club to bond over Halloween-themed crafts and games. The multidimensional club along with members from Alpha Phi Omega and Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted 30 children, ranging from six to nine years old. The afternoon began with a game of freeze tag, followed by Duck, Duck, Goose and Red Light, Green Light. Refreshments were served.

On Friday, November 5, 2010 the women of Eta Kappa hosted its fourth annual ‘Win-a-Date’ event to fundraise for the BeLikeBrit foundation. The women were interested in fundraising for BeLikeBrit because a member had a family connection with the organization. According to the organization’s mission statement, BeLikeBrit works “to serve the children of Haiti by establishing a safe, nurturing and sustainable orphanage in an environment where they can grow, learn and thrive.” The money the sorority raised went towards building a new orphanage. Before the event began, the Greek men and women that went with each date package were asked to describe their ideal date, including the place and atmosphere. Each also chose a runway song that played while they were onstage, several using the opportunity to show off their dance moves. Various date packages, such as gift cards to Jimmy Johns or Cherry Street Restaurant and Bar, were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Members of 10 different Greek organizations volunteered their time to accompany the winner on each date. The successful auction raised approximately $1,850 dollars and the event had a large turnout.

Highlights of 2011 - 2019

The fraternities and sororities at Knox have distinctly different ways of recruiting members. Notably one thing that makes the college different from many other schools is that no freshmen are allowed to join the Greek system during their first term at Knox. Sorority recruitment consists of three rounds. The first is sisterhood round, the next one is philanthropy round and the third being a preference round.

2012

We began 2012 by welcoming eight new members into Eta Kappa chapter with a successful formal recruitment. In February, we held our annual Reading is Key event at the Galesburg Public Library. In March, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of our chapter, and it was amazing to see just how far we've come in such a short amount of time.

After Spring Break, we also welcomed back three of our sisters who had been studying abroad in Spain and we held COB and welcomed another three new women into our chapter. That month, we also elected our new Chapter Council, a group of strong and capable who were installed in April. The incoming and outgoing members of Chapter Council participated in a weekend of bonding and training at our annual Kappa Kabin at an advisor's cabin.

In the spring, we also participated in our campus's Greek Week, in which we won first place against eleven other Greek-letter organizations. When we returned to campus in the fall, we began work on our annual Win-A-Date fundraiser. Through cooperation with other Greek-letter organizations on campus, we were able to raise almost $2,000 to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, which has aided one of our very own Eta Kappa members. We also won Sigma Chi's annual Derby Days, a friendly competition between all of the sororities on campus. Fall term we had the highest GPA average that we have ever had as a chapter and we currently have the highest GPA of all the Greek organizations at Knox.

In the spring, Teresa Amott, was installed as the 19th president of Knox College. It was an inspiration to our chapter and women across campus to see our first female president. In the fall, Knox's Panhellenic Council voted to lower total, so we were unable to hold informal recruitment. Since then, total has been raised and we are excited to hold informal recruitment again in fall 2013.

2013

2013 began with excitement for Eta Kappa as we celebrated one of our highest chapter GPAs ever from the previous fall. In February, we celebrated Academic Excellence month for the first time by collecting study tips and sharing them with the campus, promoting our academic achievements through social media, and engaging in a “Letters in the Library” competition. By the end of Winter Term, our house chairman and her committee finished an ongoing renovation of our basement, and Eta Kappa celebrated a fun new wall color, waterproof floors, and furniture. Just before Spring Break, we initiated 8 lively new members, some of whom were elected onto Chapter Council just the next day.
Spring Term was filled with bittersweet air as Eta Kappa prepared to say goodbye to 18 graduating seniors, who comprised nearly half our chapter. However, this dynamic group of women made sure to leave Eta Kappa thriving. After winning Greek Week as well as several other chapter awards at the annual Knox College Greek Banquet, we celebrated our formal at the Soangetaha Country Club. Several members also attended our Province Meeting in the Spring, and brought home the chapter scholarship award, as well as six honorable mentions. Our graduating class also taught the chapter to live Kappa’s ritual daily in a new ritual appreciation program. The Treasurer of Eta Kappa took great initiative this term to create a budget for the upcoming year that would be conducive to our small chapter size, and she educated the chapter on exactly where our money goes. Eta Kappa focused on a new philanthropic organization during this time, selling friendship bracelets for Vitamin Angels, which brings essential nutrition to at-risk populations. This year’s annual Reading is Key event had an “outer space” theme and was held at the Discovery Depot in Galesburg. As a sisterhood event, we joined the Alpha Deuteron chapter at Monmouth for a tea party at the Minnie Stewart House. During the Spring, we also renewed the lease on our house, but never imagined what was in store for us. First, we learned Knox College graciously offered to help the Greek community by allowing us to pay our rent through community service hours, which we have already been completing through our philanthropic endeavors.
When we returned to Knox in the fall, we were pleasantly surprised that one of our advisors and house board members gave our chapter house a complete makeover during the summer. We could not be more thankful for our new furniture, shelving, remodeled bathrooms, and countless decorations. Although Fall was an adjustment period for Eta Kappa due to the large change in our chapter size, our sisters bonded on a deeply personal level and found a new appreciation for the changing chapter. We began the school year with informal recruitment, during which our Membership Chair implemented a completely new system that she created with bump groups and rotation groups. Our new system also incorporated the values of our ritual into the recruitment process. We recruited and initiated three lovely new members. In October, we were lucky enough to join the Alpha Deuteron chapter at Monmouth on Founders Day to visit some of our founders’ graves and share a luncheon with our sisters from Monmouth College. For our annual Win-a-Date philanthropy event, we chose to donate our proceeds to an organization called Watts of Love, which brings solar powered lights to people around the world with no electricity. We were lucky to have the organization’s founder, Nancy Economou, at our event to speak about her incredible experiences with Watts of Love, and we ultimately raised over $2000 for the organization. Fall Term was big for Eta Kappa’s public relations with Knox as well: Eta Kappa now has its own Twitter and Instagram accounts, and our Kore Groups are now utilizing Facebook groups to attend “Kappas on Kampus” events and clean the house together. At the end of Winter Term, we initiated our 3 new members and prepared for Formal Recruitment.

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.