| Epsilon Chi | |
|---|---|
| EX | |
 | |
| Founded | September 30, 1978 |
| College | Dartmouth College |
| Location | Hanover, NH |
| Homepage | Epsilon Chi Homepage |
| Media related to Epsilon Chi Chapter | |
Dartmouth College established in Hanover, New Hampshire
Epsilon Chi founded September 30,1978
1,542 initiates (as of June 2014)
Charter Members: Barbara Anderson, Ann Beringer, Kathleen Bourque, Laurie Branch, Cameron Crone, Alicia Fritz, Jill Frommer, Lizanne Galbreath, Mary Gose, Cynthia Greco, Catherine Haley, Margaret Hall, Kathryn Harper, Elizabeth Harris, Nanette Hart, Margaret Kimball, Anne Minnich, Laura Murphy, Sheila Murphy, Susan Myers, Letitia Pemberton, Sandra Perkowski, Rebecca Randall, Ingrid Schmakel, Jan Smedly, Julie Wallin, Susan Weiss
Some of Epsilon Chi’s Outstanding Alumnae:
Fraternity Council Members:
Adrienne Draper (Olson), Leadership Consultant 2004-2005
Fraternity Loyalty Award:
Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:Kirsten Rutnik Gillibrand, 2014, politics
Additional Outstanding Epsilon Chi Alumnae:
Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator from New York 2009; previously served in United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th Congressional District.
Contents
The Early Years:
The Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, a Congregational minister from Connecticut, founded Dartmouth College in 1769. He had earlier established Moor’s Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut, principally for the education of Native Americans. In seeking to expand his school into a college, Wheelock relocated his educational enterprise to Hanover, in the Royal Province of New Hampshire. Samson Occom, a Mohergan Indian and one of Wheelock’s first students, was instrumental in raising substantial funds for the College. The Royal Governor of New Hampshire, John Wentworth, provided the land upon which Dartmouth would be built and on December 13, 1769, conveyed the charter from King George III establishing the College. That charter created a college “for the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land...and also of English Youth and any others.” Names for William Legge, the Second Earl of Dartmouth - an important supporter of Eleazar Wheelock’s efforts - Dartmouth is the nation’s ninth oldest college.
The Supreme Court decision in the famous “Dartmouth College Case” of 1819, argued by Daniel Webster (Class of 1801), is considered to be one of the most important and formative documents in the United States constitutional history, strengthening the contract clause of the Constitution and thereby paving the way for all American private institutions to conduct their affairs in accordance with their charters and without interference from the state.
An Ivy League institution, Dartmouth College enrolls approximately 4,100 undergraduates in the liberal arts and 1,700 graduate students. In addition to 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences, it is home to the nation’s fourth oldest medical school; the Dartmouth Medical School, founded in 1797; the nation’s first professional school of engineering; the Thayer School of Engineering, founded in 1867; and the first graduate school of management in the word: the Tuck School of Business, established in 1900.
Philanthropy is focused on David’s House and Genesis Elder Care Center in Lebanon.
Installation of Epsilon Chi Chapter
On September 30, 1978, Epsilon Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was installed at Dartmouth College. Kappa Kappa Gamma became the second sorority on the Dartmouth campus, colonizing in the spring of 1978. Sigma Kappa was the first national sorority to be established on the campus in the spring of 1977.
During the summer of 1978, the charter members took their first pledge class of 10 members. Members of the first pledge class were: Barbara Briggs, Terrie Duda, Kathryn Flintner, Kim Leighton, Susan Marshall, Barbara Martin, Page Polk, Judy Reardon, Virginia Taylor, and Maja Wessels. Twenty-seven of the chapter members and three of the pledges were present at installation. The charter members who were not present at Installation were initiated the following January.
Sue Wolcott, Cornell, studying at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth served as Epsilon Chi’s first graduate counselor. Margaret Hall, Dartmouth Class of 1979 served as the chapter’s first president.
The festivities were well attended by Fraternity officers, Kappa actives and alumnae from throughout the northeast. Representing the Fraternity were: President Jean Hess Wells, Georgia; Director of Chapters Sally Moore Nitschke, Ohio State; Chairman of Extension Marjorie Matson Converse, Purdue; Lorna Jean Telfer, McGill, Alpha Province Director of Chapters; and Mary Sexton Brooks, Purdue, Alpha Province Director of Alumnae.
Marjorie Koza, Syracuse, served as the Alumnae Marshal and was responsible for the beautifully organized weekend of events. The Hanover area alumnae were marvelous for “taking the reins” since the chapter’s colonization the previous spring and came through once again in assuring the success of the installation.
The Cornell Kappas traveled many long hours to assist in the colonization the previous spring and to become the first sisters of the charter members. They were on hand again at Installation to help formally welcome the women into the Fraternity. Representatives from the following chapters were also present: McGill; Toronto; St. Lawrence; Connecticut; Massachusetts; and Syracuse. There was even a reunion of former Council officers at the home of Virginia Parker Blanchard, Boston, which included Ruth Hoehle Lane, Boston; Miriam Pheteplace Schick, Deuteron - St. Lawrence; Cathryn Wolf Luce, Denison; and Jeannette Greever Rustemeyer, Kansas.
The Installation Banquet provided good food and greetings and well wishes galore. Marj Converse served as Toastmistress, and Isabelle Weiss, President of the Cornell chapter was the first to toast to the new chapter. Dr. Marilyn Baldwin, Associate Dean of the College, gave a warm welcome to Dartmouth’s newest women’s group. Sally Nitschke read letters of greeting from chapters and alumnae throughout the United States and Canada. Jean Wells presented the banquet address.
Gifts were presented to the chapter which included many silver serving pieces and a Kappa flag. The closing service was followed by tearful farewells to many old and many newly made friends in the Kappa family, and a look ahead to the next regional gathering at Alpha Province Meeting, to be held in Canton, New York in the spring of 1979, home of Beta Beta Deuteron - St. Lawrence.
Joining Sigma Kappa at Dartmouth, the Kappas might be termed “pioneer women” on this formerly all-male campus. Kappa decided to establish a chapter on this campus whose fundamental purpose is to provide an undergraduate experience that will train young men and women to become leaders of our society. The College prides itself on the fact that freshmen courses are taught by the best members of the faculty. Special facilities, such as the million-volume library, a superb center for the creative arts, and the best educational computing facility in the country, are freely available to all students and have a pervasive influence on undergraduate education. Above all, undergraduates feel part of a small, closely knit community that provides a fellowship to be cherished for life.
When the Board of Trustees decided to admit women, they also initiated the Dartmouth Plan where a student spends at least one summer term studying at the College and approximately ¾ of the student body are in residence at any one term.
When one speaks of Dartmouth College, one talks of the importance of “place.” The college is located in a lovely town in northern New England, in an area of great natural beauty, removed from the pressures of urban or suburban life. It is an ideal location for the life of the mind, where the out-of-doors plays a major role in the shaping of individual personalities.
Highlights of the 1980s
This decade saw the following: election of President Ronald Reagan; Sandra Day O’Connor selected as the first woman justice to the Supreme Court; first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off; Beirut barracks bombing occurred killing American and French servicemen; Lockerbie Disaster when terrorists blew up the plane over Scotland; Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine filled much of the world with radioactive debris; Challenger disaster left six astronauts and one woman school teacher dead; protestors at Tiananmen Square were crushed by the Peoples Liberation Army; fall of the Berlin Wall was the most momentous event of the decade; oil tanker Exxon Valdez caused one of the worst ecological disasters ever; War on Drugs accelerated; worldwide the beginning of the AIDS pandemic; and rejection of smoking based on health issues. Personal computers experienced massive growth.
Dartmouth began accepting women as students in 1972, so Kappa was a particularly important source of female support. Men outnumbered women on campus and dominated the College. The class of 1981 was close to 70% male. As one active put it, the women’s lacrosse team and Kappa “were very important to me in that I felt supported by other women, and not constantly surrounded by men. I knew women in the dorms, but Kappa was very special.” Another active remembers meetings were “probably the only time we weren’t outnumbered by the men.”
Challenges faced by sororities in general stemmed from the male-dominated campus and the small number of sororities. With only three sororities in 1981, there were many more women who wished to join a sorority than there were places for them. Despite the addition of a fourth sorority in 1982, the lack of enough sororities continued to be a problem throughout the 1980s.
Around campus, the administration was trying to minimize the importance of alcohol because of the level of alcohol abuse. They did this by encouraging social alternatives to Greek life, such as dormitory social events and events at Collis Center. There was a lot of resistance to giving up the “Indian” as the mascot for Dartmouth at sporting events. Sororities and fraternities were very vocal in their opposition to giving up the mascot. Dartmouth was somewhat politically conservative, and the Dartmouth Review published several offensive and controversial articles.
Kappas were known for being “smart and elegant...and not necessarily party animals.” Around campus, styles were preppy. One active remembered that the people at Dartmouth were so beautiful. Most girls wore their hair long and natural, and wore hair bands and pearls for fancier occasions. Turtlenecks with whales and strawberries, wise whaled cords, and plaid skirts ruled the day. Kappas worked very hard on their studies, as they all had big dreams about graduate school and Wall Street careers. It was a very traditional, career focused time.
In 1985 the College passed Minimum Standards expected of all fraternities and sororities. These standards presented many challenges to the Greeks and a stress level to meet those expectations. The faculty and administrators began to exam the role of fraternities and sororities on campus as the system was thought to be racist and sexist. A new College Alcohol Policy went into effect to have Alcohol Monitors at each party.
In 1987 a major issue at Dartmouth was the treatment of women at the College and ways needed to be implemented to help all women feel more comfortable, while eliminating subtle areas of sexism around campus. An issue arose in the sororities regarding affiliation with a national organization and what that affiliation meant. Epsilon Chi needed to decide which was better for the sisters to continue to belong to KKG or to become a local. Fraternity President Marian Williams, Missouri, visited the chapter to discuss the issue. After a lengthy meeting, the chapter voted to stay with Kappa Kappa Gamma. To those on the opposing side, they made chapter unity an issue. All chapter goals during the later part of the decade centered around the value of the individual, sisterhood, and working together for the benefit of the chapter.
In 1988 the College imposed a new policy of delayed rush. It wasn’t held until spring term of the sophomore year. As a result, each chapter lost one entire pledge class during that year. The chapter viewed this policy as one more step on the part of the administration toward decreasing the role of sororities and fraternities on campus.
The members of Epsilon Chi were very active on campus and in the community as volunteers, members of many organizations, honoraries, varsity and intramural teams, Summer and Winter Carnivals, Presidential Scholars and Senior Fellows. One year saw five members achieve Cum Laude, three Magna Cum Laude, and four Phi Beta Kappa.
Housing:
Many alumnae agree that the biggest issue facing the chapter in 1980 was not having a house. They held their meetings and dances in dorm rooms, college meeting rooms, and at the Quechee Inn and other nice places. Finally in January 1983, the Kappas got a house, the former ABC house on East Wheelock Street. The College did many renovations to the house, and there was a “high degree of enthusiasm” for the house among the sisters.
Once they moved into their new house, they had to deal with the difficulties of having a house. Some of the decisions they had to make included which officers had to live in the house, how to offer the remaining rooms to the other sisters, and who would have to live in the house in the unlikely event that no one wanted to live in.
In 1984 the members painted the interior of the house and gave t-shirts to all who helped. In 1985 the College changed the housing contract to include rent for the “common areas” of the house, and if it were not filled to capacity, the College could move a non-member in. The Kappas quickly discovered a major drawback of being a college owned house was authority college officials had over how the house was run and how it should be used. Toward the end of the decade, the chapter began to devise a male visitation policy.
Philanthropy:
The highly successful Grandfather program continued. The chapter held a variety of parties with different themes each term for the elderly alumni and their wives. They would discuss topics from politics to the rich Dartmouth history. Kappas also held their annual Ski-a-thon to raise money for a summer camp for diabetic children. Actives visited local nursing homes spreading hope and good cheer. They hosted their annual Monte Carlo night over Parents Weekend to raise money for the United Way, also sponsored a bake sale for the same cause. They annually assembled Easter Baskets, collected food for Ethiopia, volunteered and raised money for the Kurn Hattin School for abused children, the Taco dinner raised money for cancer research, and the Chili Chow dinner benefited SAMS (Students Against Multiple Sclerosis). Special Olympics was an important philanthropy on their schedule.
Convention Awards:
Highlights of the 1990s
The 1990s is often considered the true dawn of the Information Age. Info-age digital technologies became widely used by the general public. Highlights include: Gulf War with Iraq began in 1991, same year as the Soviet Union’s dissolution ended; funeral procession of Diana, Princess of Wales, was mourned worldwide; World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombings led to awareness of domestic and international terrorism as a real threat; Columbine High School massacre occurred; President William Clinton was a dominant political figure and scarred by the Lewinsky scandal; Youth culture embraced environmental issues. Record numbers of women were elected to high office in the US.
1990 was the first year for the implementation of the delayed rush to sophomore year at Dartmouth. As a result, the numbers of people joining did not go down but the numbers were not evenly distributed between chapters. To accommodate the D Plan, sororities now had to conduct two rush periods a year. New federal legislation required colleges to enforce the drinking age or risk losing financial age. During fall term, the chapter went through an evaluation of its relationship with Kappa Kappa Gamma. As a result, the commitment was strengthened.
In 1995 there were a series of hate crimes victimizing minorities on campus. The chapter sponsored many programs to combat that issue. They sponsored alcohol awareness, SAFE, Suicide and Grief, and Untamed Shrews. They limited their social co-sponsored events with fraternities to adapt to the new alcohol policy. The sorority system had been targeted by other students on campus who questioned the role the Greek system played in supporting women on the campus.
In 1999, Epsilon Chi hosted the Province Meeting and celebrated its sisterhood, chapter history, and national history in honor of their 20th anniversary as a Kappa chapter.
Epsilon Chi Chapter was striving to define itself and offer its members an outlet for social development with other women. The chapter was also striving to define itself as an important member of both the Dartmouth and Hanover community. Members continued their outstanding participation in varsity team and intramural sports, Green Key and other honoraries, Order of Omega, Presidential Scholars, Rotary Scholars, class officers, and tour guides. In 1997, the chapter passed the Minimum Standards Review with Distinction.
At the end of the decade, the Board of Trustees and the Dartmouth President announced their decision to eliminate single sex housing which would eliminate the Greek system as it was known on the campus.
Housing:
Toward the end of the decade, there was a break in at the house with significant damage. Thus the first floor of the house was completely redecorated with new furniture and curtains. New safety lights, new locks on doors and windows were installed.
Philanthropy:
Service to others remained an important part of chapter life. The Grandfather program continued and remained very popular on both sides. They held a Audrey Proudy bike ride to raise money for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, raked leaves for the Bugbee Senior Citizens Center, held their Chili Chow dinner for SAMS, participated in the Red Cross Blood Drive and Make a Difference Day, collected cans for the Race Against Hunger Food Drive, and assumed a new Dartmouth sponsored philanthropy at the Genesis Home where sisters went and painted water colors with those living there. They won the Province Meeting Philanthropy Award for the third time in a row.
Convention Awards:
Highlights of 2000-2010
Globalization continued to influence the world. A prime contributor was the growth of the Internet. Wireless Internet became prominent and email became the standard form of communicating. Highlights included: George W. Bush was elected President; 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers led the US War on Terrorism at home and abroad; U.S. was once again involved in war with Iraq and limited engagement began in Afghanistan; Mexican Drug War saw armed conflict between rival drug cartels which would eventually dominate the wholesale illicit drug market in the U.S.; Virginia Tech Massacre became the deadliest shooting on a school campus. Climate change and global warming became household words, and population growth skyrocketed. In 2008 Barack Obama became the first African American elected as U.S. President.
There was a large community feeling at Dartmouth that was very engaging, centered around Greek Life and organizations, highly intellectual with the world at the students fingertips! Whether it was service, work in the real world, studying abroad, the College accommodates the students and what they want to do.
Epsilon Chi was an extremely diverse chapter and well-rounded. Almost any club, sport, or organization was represented in some way within the chapter and that added a lot of dynamism. The chapter was a proud group of women who were seen as leaders and go-getters around campus. So many women engaged in so many different and amazing things that it made the sisters proud to be a part of the same organization.
The chapter completely rewrote its officer election process and the chapter bylaws, so they were more relative to them. One of their challenges was participation in various mandatory events, while most were still fun and engaging, a lot of people had other commitments that were equally important and instead of rearranging their schedule they used it as an excuse not to come. The Chapter Council tried to make events more spontaneous and seem more appealing so people would want to come, and it proved successful.
Recruitment was extremely memorable and brought the chapter members even closer. The news that a Dartmouth Kappa Kirsten Gillibrand was named as the youngest member of the U.S. Senate was thrilling and made the chapter proud.
Philanthropy:
Chapter members continued the legacy of outstanding campus and community service. New to the chapter was a Tanzania fund started by one of its graduates. They also became incredibly active in suicide prevention in memory of a lost sister Katy Cullinan. They actively supported the drunk driving awareness program called the Gordy Foundation.
Convention Awards:
Highlights from 2011-2019:
(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.)
The economic crisis made it difficult for college graduates to find jobs; students graduating with accumulated debt found their future bleak; the war in Iraq officially ended.
Dartmouth is a beautiful campus with a down-to-earth student body. There is still a general feeling that the College remains male-dominated, but there has been improvement during the past years. The social scene is almost entirely centered around Greek life, as approximately 60% of the eligible student body is a member of a Greek house. Many students travel abroad on an FSP or LSA and hold internships during their off terms.
There are currently 137 members in the Epsilon Chi Chapter. Members are a very diverse group of women from around the world. The chapter has varsity athletes, national athletic champions, Olympians, Presidential Scholars, multilinguists, actresses in mainstage productions, members of the Croos and Wall Street analysts. They are seen around campus as hard-working, motivated women who accomplish great things.
The chapter has been challenged to improve its academic standing on campus and to lessen the campus viewpoint that Kappas are an exclusive group of women. To appear to be more approachable, the women scheduled social events with groups with whom they are not usually associated and hosted more campus-wide events. Because the chapter cannot host parties, most of the campus has not been to the Kappa house, the chapter hosted an improvisation comedy group and some discussions with professors to get non-sisters exposed to the house. The change to annual budget planning significantly increased the chapter’s ability to participate in events and made the chapter run more smoothly.
Philanthropy:
During sophomore summer, the chapter raised more than $10,000 for cancer research, the most raised by any Greek organization at Dartmouth.
Highlights of the 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.)
Housing:
Philanthropy:
Convention Awards:
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!