Epsilon Xi
| Epsilon Xi | |
|---|---|
| EΞ | |
 | |
| Founded | November 16, 1974 |
| College | California State University, Northridge |
| Location | Northridge, CA |
| Homepage | Epsilon Xi Homepage |
| Media related to Epsilon Xi Chapter | |
1,199 initiates (as of June 2014)
Highlights of 2011
In the year 2011 the Epsilon Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was able to continue in growth and mark its 37th year since being founded. The chapter held a myriad of successful philanthropy events in the spring including, Kappa Kookie Gathering, Skate and Donate & Reading is Key. Kappa Kookie Gathering was put on by the Public Relations Officer and was enjoyed by members of various Fraternities and Sororities. The event took place at the Kappa house and in substitution for selling tickets, guests were to bring children s books that we could donate to schools and libraries in need.
Following Kappa Kookie Gathering, the philanthropy chair put on our annual Skate and Donate, where we rose awareness for drunk driving and gave to the Corrine McClain Scholarship in honor of a sister who was killed in a drunk driving accident. Shortly after, the chapter headed to the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley for our Reading is Key philanthropy event, where we read books and did arts and crafts with the children. These events not only gave us the opportunity to give back, but furthered our Greek relations with other houses as well.
Fall semester started early with our recruitment retreat held in August, where we rehearsed all of the essentials that we would need in order to be prepared for our big recruitment weekend. All of the hard work that was put into planning the retreat, yielded to be worthwhile when the chapter received a 100% retention rate on day one of rush. At the end of new member period, the chapter was proud to initiate 39 members as new sisters. This year was filled with academic excellence with the house receiving second in grades and inducting over ten sisters to a Greek honor society. We sent 7 girls to province, where we won two awards (one of which is alumni relations or alumni appreciation) and sent one of our active members to leadership academy. The house underwent a remodel, which included an expansion of the chapter room and a backyard makeover where the swimming pool was filled after many years of not being used.
Campus: With the continuously unpredictable economy, budget cuts have greatly affected CSUN students. Classes were difficult to obtain and as a result many students had to look to local community colleges in order to maintain full time student status. In January, the campus and community was able to expand its cultural experience when the Valley Performing Arts Center opened. At the end of the fall, semester panhellenic passed a motion to start the expansion process in hopes of bringing on another house in the upcoming years.
Chapter: During 2011, our chapter continued to grow and expand with our new chapter room being extended to accommodate our rising amount of members. Other changes to the house also included filling the swimming pool and making the backyard beautiful by putting in grass and planting flowers. This would not have been possible without the help from family and friends who attended our Extreme Makeover Kappa Edition work day on one of the hottest days of summer and the generosity of all those who donated. Other changes also included installing a security system with cameras to ensure that the house and it's members remain safe at all times.
At the start of 2011 the house came to the realization that we may be faced with the challenge of being at risk to fall below house total once all seniors went alumni status at the end of the semester. With not enough time to participate in official spring recruitment, the house decided that it would be in the best interest for our fall recruitment if we held a Continuous Open Bid night at the Kappa house. This gave us the opportunity to welcome seven lovely ladies into our sisterhood and put us in an ideal place for fall recruitment. Apart from those planning on claiming alumni status at the end of spring,one of the primary reasons for a sudden drop in house total was a result of apathy in the areas of attendance and accountability. To tackle these issues, the house began to take a different approach and use positive reinforcement for attending events by speaking highly of them as encouragement, as opposed to reprimanding girls for lack of attendance.
Highlights of 2012
In the year 2012 the Epsilon Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was able to continue its growth and mark its 38th year since being founded. The chapter held a myriad of successful philanthropy and social events in the spring including, “Kappa Kookie Gathering” and “Reading is Key”. Kappa Kookie Gathering was an event organized by the Public Relations Officer. The event took place at the Kappa house and as an alternative to selling tickets to the event; guests were asked to bring children’s books, which were donated to schools and libraries in need. Members of various Fraternities and Sororities participated and contributed to the event.
Reading is Key was held later in the spring, at the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley, where the chapter read books and did arts and crafts with the children to promote children’s literacy.
Epsilon Xi started the fall semester early, because recruitment retreat was held in August. The lovely sisters of the Gamma Xi chapter at UCLA allowed Epsilon Xi to utilize their beautiful house for the weekend. This gave the chapter the opportunity to rehearse all of the essentials needed in order to prepare for recruitment, which was soon approaching. The weekend away gave the chapter the opportunity to bond and learn the true meaning of sisterhood. All of the hard work that was put into planning the retreat was worthwhile when the chapter received one hundred percent retention rate on day one of recruitment. In Epsilon Xi welcomed forty-one new members into its chapter.
The week after recruitment, the chapter held its first philanthropy event of the fall semester, “Kappa Splash”. Kappa Splash was held at the swimming pool located on campus. Kappa Splash is a competition between IFC fraternities, where they are judged on who had the best belly flop and who donates the most books. All the books collected were donated to Locke High School, where an alumnae sister teaches. Prior to the event, Locke High School did not have a library available to the students.
Shortly after Kappa Splash, “KKGlee” was held for a second time after being founded by Epsilon Xi in 2010. Fraternities and Sororities filled the University Student Union Theater to maximum capacity to watch one another preform various dance and lip sync acts. KKGlee 2012 held a special place in each sister’s heart, because all proceeds were donated to the Lupus LA Foundation, in support of an active sister fighting lupus. To conclude the semester, the chapter was proud to initiate 38 members as new sisters.
With the continuously unpredictable economy, budget cuts have greatly affected California State University Northridge students. Classes were difficult to obtain and as a result many students had to look to local community colleges in order to maintain full time student status.
In January, the campus opened its new Student Recreation Center. The facility is a three-story energy efficient building filled with state of the art equipment, gymnastics courts, indoor track and outdoor swimming pool. This gave the intermural department a chance to hold intermural in the Student Recreation Center encouraging more supporters to come support games and overall increased Greek unity. The California State University Northridge community truly embraced the new recreation center and it quickly became a popular place for students.
In the fall semester California State University Northridge expanded it Greek community by and welcoming Phi Mu onto campus as the seventh Panhellenic sorority. Kappa specifically ensured that the women of Phi Mu felt welcomed and enjoyed an exchange with them at Brandy Melville.
Over summer break 2012, Kappa continued to grow and expand in many ways. During our summer retreat, the chapter was able to bond in such a way that made sisterhood our biggest strength. Members were able to walk away from the weekend with a deeper understanding of one another and move forward with a genuine support system. In addition to retreat, the summer off allowed for house renovations. The two front rooms received new beds, nightstands and lamps. Chapter Council was also able to recover the benches in the chapter room.
The chapter faced challenges in the area of academics. At the end of the spring semester, the chapter struggled to maintain a strong house GPA. To tackle this, the Vice President Academic Excellence held weekly pizza study hours at the house. She also collected the syllabi of girls who requested test reminds. Sisters who received A’s were rewarded with a “Smart Cookie Award” where they received recognition in meeting and a delicious cookie. Implementing all of theses methods together significantly improved the grades of the house and Epsilon Xi received second in grades for the fall semester.
Highlights of 2013
In the 2013 calendar year, the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma celebrated its 39th year since being founded on November 16th 1974. Throughout this past year, Epsilon Xi participated in a number of philanthropic events. Our kickoff event started with Kappa Kookie Gathering, which is an event that our Public Relations Chair organizes to promote Reading Is Fundamental. Our chapter hosts an event where we provide baked goods for other fraternities and sororities as well as anyone on campus to enjoy and to learn more about our philanthropy. The event is hosted at our sorority house, all we ask as an entry fee is for each person to bring at least one children’s book. The books we collected were then donated to local schools in need. The second philanthropy event of our Spring semester was Skate and Donate. Skate and Donate is an event that our Philanthropy Chair hosts at Skateland in honor of a sister who was killed in a drunk driving accident. By the money we raise, the Corrine McClain Scholarship is funded. Our last philanthropy event we participated in for spring was Reading is Key. Through Reading is Key; the sisters of our chapter all come together to read to children grades 1st-6th. This event was held at the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley.
Fall Semester was underway with our annual sisterhood retreat, held at the UCLA Kappa House. During this weekend in August, our Recruitment Chair hosts a number of rehearsals for our upcoming Fall Recruitment. After we gained 37 new members, we were busy planning “Kappa Splash” event. Kappa Splash is an event hosted and organized by the Public Relations Chair. Kappa’s event includes a tailgate setting with food, baked goods, and a brief gathering before our diving competition starts. Each fraternity enters our diving competition at our campus’s pool, where they compete for best dive, most creative splash, along with others. Again, the entry fee for each fraternity to enter the competition is to bring children’s books. Through Kappa Splash and the help of our peers, we raised over three thousand books from this one event alone. This was the year we set a record for the highest amount of book we have ever collected at one single event. At the end of the new members’ period we were proud to initiate 37 new sisters. 2013 proved to be a great year for Epsilon Xi, and one of our most exciting happenings was the renovation of our front room at the Kappa house. The house chairman was responsible for implementing new design ideas including new paint, crown molding, and new furniture. The new color scheme of our main room goes along with our Kappa colors; light and dark blue.
CSUN’s Greek life continues to thrive. The overall Greek unity on our campus is a great way to network and connect with other students. Fall semester of 2012, our school welcomed with open arms a sorority well known across the U.S. but new to our campus. This sorority was Phi Mu. During the following year, every house made their best effort to show the sisters of Phi Mu support and encouragement during their founding process. This included attending their philanthropy events and gatherings they hosted. Another major change on campus was the installment of our new campus president. Dianna F. Harrison became the head president for California State University, Northridge. She implemented a new system that arranged an agreement between our sports programs and Greek life. With her new system, she partnered sorority and fraternity houses up with sports teams. For example, Kappa is partnered up with Women’s basketball this semester. This means that as a house, we attend and support their team at their games. Dianna F. Harrison is a huge advocate for campus involvement with students. By teaming up Greek life and sports events, students have yet again another great opportunity to get acquainted with other students on campus and becoming more well-rounded individuals.
Our Kappa House facility has gone under some major renovations this past calendar year. The front room, our main attraction was newly furnished, including a fresh coat of paint with colors such as baby blue and white. Along with the new paint, one of the more exciting pieces of furniture is our new bookshelf. Decorated with our lovely wooden letters and our admired symbols, fluer de lis and keys, it is definitely an attention grabber. Many of the issues of “The Key” are also displayed on our bookshelf. These new changes created a more charming environment for our sisters, as well as others who visit our house for philanthropy events. Another great thing about these new changes is that it creates a lovely setting when we invite new members’ parents for Kappa Kappa Gamma Presents.
Highlights of 2014
In the 2014 calendar year, the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma celebrated its 40th year since being founded on November 16th, 1974. In honor of this, the Epsilon Xi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma held a huge celebration at the Northridge Center located on CSUN’s campus where Alumni were invited to come back to celebrate and reminisce on all the wonderful memories they once shared in this beautiful chapter. During this year Kappa also managed to put together several fundraising events, including Kappa Splash where 6,000 books were raised to donate to Susan G. Coleman Foundation, along with putting together KKGlee to support and to donate to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), to give and show our support for this charity. With this we also had the honor of sending one of our Kappa’s, Meghan McCarty, to a weekend Leadership Academy in Springfield Ohio, where she learned the skills needed to become a leader and got to experience other Kappas from other chapters where she was happy to report that all the girls were a joy to be around.
Kappa celebrated its sisterhood with an event where we all bonded while doing yoga on the beach. Kicking off our spring semester we held philanthropy events; Kappa Kookie Gathering, Reading is Key, and Kappa Kickball. At our Kappa Kookie Gathering event, fraternities, sororities and guests were invited to the Kappa House to munch on treats and meet each other at the cost of donating one children's book. Reading is Key gathered members of Epsilon Xi to the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley to read and play with the children. Lastly, Kappa's invited family to have a family day at a park where they picnicked and went to the field to play a game of Kickball with Kappa's and their families. Kappas of Epsilon Xi bonded on a Sisterhood Retreat over the summer to the UCLA Kappa Kappa Gamma House and prepared for Fall '14 recruitment . We also had the pleasure of bringing in 13 new members into our chapter during Spring ’14.
Once fall came around recruitment was our number one priority and a lot of time and effort was put into practicing the recruitment process. During this time we initiated a total of 42 new members to add to our sisterhood, starting off our fall semester on a good note. Our first philanthropy event held in the fall was Kappa Splash where we had a huge turnout of fraternities and sororities showing their support thanks to the planning and help of our Public Relation Chair, and doubling the amount of books raised from 3,000 to 6,000 children’s books donated. Following this event we also held KKGlee where we had yet another successful turn out of fraternities coming to participate and support for a great cause. This year for Kappa has set new records for us to try and surpass and strive to be our best for the following years to come. Along with this our lovely home received a fresh coat of paint, crown molding, and brand new furniture.
CSUN’s Greek life had some setbacks due to negative social media attention that reflected poorly on Greek Life but Kappa managed to uphold our standards and bylaws and remain up to par with our standards of academic excellence by providing help for sisters in need by creating links for girls to access providing them with members who have already taken similar courses to help with anything needed. Kappa also continues to reserve study rooms every week for girls in need of a quiet place to study and get homework done. With this Kappa Kappa Gamma also managed to come in first with grades with a chapter overall of a 3.01 GPA.
