Chi

Revision as of 18:36, 23 February 2015 by Knylund (talk | contribs) (Highlights of 2013)

 

Chi
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Chi.jpg
FoundedApril 21, 1880 (1880-04-21) (144 years ago)
CollegeUniversity of Minnesota
LocationMinneapolis, MN
HomepageChi Website
Media related to Chi Chapter

2,527 initiates (as of June 2014)



Contents

Highlights of 2011

During the year of 2011, Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma participated in many significant and notable events. In the winter our chapter raised money to help young girls have the opportunity to participate in the Polar Plunge. Also, many of our own members participated in the philanthropy event, Polar Plunge.

In the spring we had two formals, one was held at the St. Paul Depot, and the second formal was held at Modo-I, a sushi restaurant. Kappa hosted the philanthropy event, Breakfast at Kappa. Our chapter was paired with Pi Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Delta Pi for Spring Jam. In the spring we also hosted our mother’s for brunch at Jack’s café. Over the summer of 2011 an HGTV designer redesigned our house. The chapter room, main living room, and the kitchen all had renovations.

In the fall of 2011 our chapter initiated 31 new members. In the fall we participated in homecoming activities and we were paired with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu, and Lambda Delta Phi. Our chapter hosted our philanthropy event Kappa Katch me if you Can 5K, where many of our members and fellow university students participated to raise money. Our fall formal was held at the Minneapolis Grand Hotel. We went gathered and brought over three hundred books to St. Anthony Park Elementary school in St. Paul. We also spent time with our dad’s by hosting them at a Minnesota gopher hockey game in the winter. At the end of the semester, our chapter held a house and advisory board appreciation dinner to recognize and thank the people that help take care of our chapter and our house.

Campus: Over the past fall of 2011 Washington avenue has been under construction. They are renovating the streets and putting in a new light rail, that will connect to the existing light rail system and improve transportation on campus. There also has been a lot of other renovations to various buildings on campus.

Chapter: Over the past year our house has been renovated by an HGTV designer, the main living room, chapter room and kitchen has been renovated. Also our chapter has revised the standing rules and bylaws within each chapter council position and overall chapter council. III. Chapter Challenges: (Describe them and how the chapter met and overcame them.) One of the major challenges of our chapter is maintaining a high enough GPA to compete with the other sororities on campus. But this has become an issue that our chapter has taken very seriously. In order to strive for a high GPA and overall positive academic reputation our chapter has required study tables, and a log book to record and keep track of the hours that each member of the chapter has spent studying.


Highlights of 2012

This past year we Chi chapter participated and hosted numerous philanthropic events, participated in various activities through the University and created strong relationships with other Greek houses on campus. Spring 2012 was an exciting semester for Chi chapter. In February of 2012 we had our Spring Date Party social event at the 508 Restaurant and Bar in Minneapolis. The theme was Kappa Countries. Also, a group of us did the JDRF walk at the Mall of America. In March 2012 it was the first time that Chi participated in Girls Academy. In April 2012 we took part in Spring Jam with a group of other houses on campus. The overall Spring Jam theme was “Through the Decades”. Our pairing chose to do the 90's and our theme was "Saved by the Bid". Our team excelled and had a wonderful time. In May 2012 our Spring formal was held at the Grand Hotel in a banquet room. At the end of the school year, in April we were awarded Chapter of Excellence and the Award for Outstanding Greek Relations at the Greek awards.

Fall semester was another great semester for Chi chapter. Homecoming in October was an extremely exciting time for our House. Our theme was “Legends of the Wild Wild West” and after being paired with three other fraternities our team went on to battle it out and won the overall title of 2012 Homecoming champs! Later, in November we put on a 5K run “Kappa Katch Me if you Can” on campus and took part in a fight against starvation with a number of other houses at “Feed My Starving Children” outings. In December we celebrated Dad’s day where we attended a gopher hockey game and held a Date party at Brothers Bar in downtown Minneapolis with a Halloween theme. Finally, a goal our chapter has set this year was increasing the chapter GPA goal to 3.4. To help us work towards this goal we have set weekly study table at the house and study table sessions with other houses.

Recently there have been a lot of changes on our campus physically. The university is constantly looking for ways to improve the school and one way they are choosing to do so is building a few new things around campus. Currently they are working on building a light rail system through campus for fast and convenient transportation along with installing designated bike lanes on busy streets. In addition the new Rec center and Northrup Auditorium undergoing reconstruction and will be done in fall 2013. Finally, our campus is installing a number of new apartment buildings and even a new dorm for student housing on 17th Avenue. This new dorm will be filled for the most part with Greek students.


Highlights of 2013

Within the last year Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has hosted and participated in many philanthropic events around campus and strengthened our bonds with other Greek chapters.

During the spring semester, Chi chapter hosted Breakfast at Kappa with all proceeds going to Girls Academy. This was a very successful philanthropy that gave Chi Chapter an opportunity to bond with other Greek communities who attended and always was a great opportunity for us to bond as a chapter. Breakfast at Kappa was great way to share with others and promote our philanthropy, Girls Academy, and raise money for the foundation. Chi Chapter also participated in Relay for Life, which raises money to help kids fight cancer. Besides Chi’s philanthropies, as a chapter we also attended and participated in many other Fraternity and Sorority’s philanthropies. Finally, Chi Chapter participated in Spring Jam. An annual weekend at the University of Minnesota that encourages participation in a cheer and dance competition as well as flag football game.

During the fall of 2013, Chi Chapter brought Something of Value to the University of Minnesota for the very first time. Something of Value is a national program that encourages discussion of high-risk behavior that Greek communities partake in. The day included a mock trial, discussion of our values, and an opportunity to create an action plan in order to decrease and eliminate high-risk behavior. Chi Chapter invited two members from each pledge class to participate in this event. It was very influential for our chapter as well as the other sororities that participated. Also, Chi Chapter participated in a weekend-retreat for Girls Academy, having the opportunity to attend Northeast Middle school and empower young women. Overall, it was a very influential and impactful year for Chi Chapter. We feel as though we grew strong bonds within our chapter and with other Greek communities through our active participation in philanthropies.

The University of Minnesota is constantly evolving. Currently, the University is building a light rail that runs through the campus that will connect downtown Minneapolis to downtown St Paul. The light rail has been under construction for four years and will be running in the fall of 2014; which is a very exciting event for all the students and faculty at the University of Minnesota. Also, the University of Minnesota has recently updated Northrop Memorial Auditorium. Northrop Memorial Auditorium is an enduring symbol of the University and the focal point of the Twin Cities campus. It has been under construction since 2011 and opening April 2014.

Finally, this fall Insomnia Cookies opened in Dinkytown. Insomnia Cookies delivers fresh and warm cookies to students doorsteps until 2 am. Insomnia Cookies has been a very fun and happening business on campus this fall. The University of Minnesota, Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a very friendly, sisterly, fun, and hard working chapter. As we close this year, Chi Chapter has a lot to be proud of. However, looking back we will always remember the strong philanthropic year we had and the meaningful bonds we’ve made that will last a lifetime.


Highlights of 2014

This year has been a year filled with fun events. We have held many different types of philanthropy events one of the first being Kappa Carnations. It's usually one of our annaul philanthropy events and happens around Valentines Day where people will pay to have carnations sent to whoever they want. We also raised money for relay for life by hosting a event called "Queso for a Cure". Another annual event which involves the University of Minnesota Campus is what we call Breakfeast at Kappa. This is where we offer breakfast to all students to raise money for our main Philanthropy called Girls Academy and RIF, reading is fundamental, which is the nation's largest nonprofit children's literacy organization. We used this money to send some of our girls to a weekend at Girls Academy where they were able to hang out, play, and get to know girls in this academy and help them with reading and much more. This year we were also given the Kappa Kappa Gamma Academic Excellence Award which is given out by Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquaters to one chapter each year. One challenge that we faced this year was that we were put on warning of probation after our spring formal. We took this very seriously and drafted a new risk management policy to help future situations.

This year we have had a couple exciting changes to our campus. The light rail that runs from St. Paul to Minneapolis that they have been working on for a few years is finally up and running. This new an improved light rail doubles the size and scope of the old light rail. This new form of transportation runs through the center of our campus right down Washington Avenue. This gives students another way to get to and from West Bank, East Bank, and St. Paul, and makes our campus connectors (our university's transportation system) occasionally less crowded, especially during the cold winters. This new light rail also gives students easier access to the Twin Cities. We are now able to easily find our way to Mall of America, The Capitol, and everything further and in between. Another addition to our campus this year was having the Vikings play at TCF stadium. This caused major traffic and swarms of people in parking lots cheering and playing music relatively early on Sunday mornings. However, it also brought excitement to campus. It was fun to walk outside our dorms, apartments, and houses to hear the roaring of the crowd and the loud horn. It was weird to think while watching it on TV that the game was happening not even a mile away from you. Although you wanted to avoid being on the roads when the game started and ended, and music was playing outside your dorm on the one day you got to sleep in, hosting the Vikings was a pleasure and a exciting addition to campus. Our chapter is filled with girls of diverse personalities who are friends with all different type of students on campus. Our chapter exhibits many different arrangements of hobbies, passions, and ideas which forms strong relationships between our girls and makes getting together a fun and exciting experience every time.

We hold our chapter meetings in our chapter owned facility. Our chapter owns two houses that give members the opportunity to live together. The first house is what we call the main house. This is where Monday night dinners are held, it is where the kitchen is, and where our chapter meetings are held. The main house is mainly where freshmen and sophomores live, but also occasionally juniors. The second house is what we call the annex. Opposed to the main house which fits 21 members, there are 19 girls who live in the annex. The annex is mostly filled with juniors and occasionally seniors. Both of our houses are owned by our chapter.