Epsilon Mu

Epsilon Mu
EM

Founded	March 7, 1970 (1970-03-07) (54 years ago)
College	Clemson University
Location	Clemson, SC
Homepage	Epsilon Mu Homepage
Media related to Epsilon Mu Chapter

2,081 initiates (as of June 2015)

Charter Members: Peggy Marie Batson, Donna Marie Brooks, Anna Jean Busby, Susan Elizabeth Callison, Sandra Corley, Catherine L. Cox, Mary Elizabeth Craig, Judith M. DeHoff, Barbara Marie Dieglio, Emily Dupre Donaldson, Nancy Diana Ball Edwards. Nancy Kenyon Fairey, Alexandra John Georgeo, Lucille Coursen Gordon, Sandra Jean Hash, Laurie Anne Holleman, Norma Anne Hudnall, Elizabeth Diane Jameson, Judy Gayle Jameson, Ann Elliott Kester, Margaret Lynn Macauley, Victoria Anne Mattis, Patricia Anne McCuen, Judith A. Nicks, Rebecca Elaine Owens, Sharon Lee Rice, Emily Bennett Warren.

Some of Chapter’s Outstanding Alumnae:

Fraternity Council Officers:

Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:

Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:

Nancy Humphries O'Dell, 2010;

Additional Outstanding Epsilon Mu Alumnae:

The Early Years (Excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity: 1870-1976)

Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma became the second chapter in South Carolina on March 7, 1970, at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.

The first semester as Kappas was a busy one, with participation in the annual Dixie Day events games competition among the sororities on campus, sponsored by Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. The Kappas won the overall trophy and took other trophies also.

The Kappas participated in an anti-pollution rally. All the sororities and fraternities on campus competed collecting trash around the Clemson area. Epsilon Mu placed first among the sororities.

In 1970-71 the chapter's main goal was to become well known on campus, especially among the independent girls. Also, the girls strove to have better relationships with the fraternities and the other sororities on campus. For Halloween Kappa gave carved pumpkins to the other sororities to put on their floors. Then many of the sisters went pumpkin carving through the three girls' dorms.

Instead of building a Homecoming display, the Clemson Kappas decided to try a Tigerama skit. Tigerama is an annual entertainment presented the night before the Homecoming game. It is produced by Blue Key, and is run entirely by students. The sisters had never planned or participated in Tigerama before, but with everybody working together- writing a skit, practicing parts, making costumes and props, and taping voices- Epsilon Mu nervously entered the try-outs.

When the announcement was made of the accepted skits, the Kappas were overjoyed to be included. The following weeks brought more practicing and polishing, and even rebuilding much of the scenery when a rainstorm on a night before the performance did a great deal of damage. Finally the big night arrived, and the Kappas were proud of a good first try. To their amazement, it was announced that the Kappas had placed first- $250 cash prize, and never-to-be forgotten memories.

In February some of the sisters got together and made Valentine cakes for each fraternity. These were a big hit with the brothers, and the girls received several thank you notes and requests for another cake.

Two distinguished guests visited the chapter in 1970-71. One was Marjorie Gohn (Felsburg), Delta Alpha- Penn State. Epsilon Mu was fortunate to have her help as it complete its first year as a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The other visitor was Louise Little Barbeck, Gamma Phi- Southern Methodist, president of the Fraternity. She spoke with the pledge class of 1971 and they entertained her with a skit portraying "a possible situation in the founding of the Fraternity one hundred years ago". The actives also heard Mrs. Barbeck in a formal meeting as she encouraged hard work in the future to maintain excellence.

During the Magnolia Pageant, the Sorority Sing competition was held. Kappa placed first with a tribute to Walt Disney. Kappas were dressed as Mary Poppins, Mickey Mouse, Clubbers, the Seven Dwarfs, Jiminy Cricket, siamese cats, and a bear. Because they won Sorority Sing, the girls presented their program again at Fraternity Sing. Also the presentation was made at Mothers' Banquet in April.

Epsilon Mu combined service with social in a dance for the benefit of a local charity. Contributions taken at the door were donated to the Pickens County United Fund. Independents as well as other fraternities and organizations on campus were invited to join the party with music provided by a band. The chapter was also busy collecting things for a needy family that lived in the Clemson area. The Kappas participated in planting flowers for a garden club in Clemson.

Perhaps the biggest social event of the year was the spring formal in honor of Epsilon Mu's founding on March 7 a year before. The Kappas also sponsored a Mother-Daughter Weekend with a Saturday night banquet and Sunday breakfast. The mothers spent the weekend with their daughters and learned more about Kappa.

Epsilon Mu had two finalists in the Miss Clemson University contest and a runner-up in the Magnolia Beauty Contest. The Tiger Band's solo twirler was a Kappa. A Kappa held the office of commander of the Light Brigade and a Kappa served on the Student Government Election Board.

Again Epsilon Mu Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma stood out above the other sororities on campus. Its high average enabled it to win the Panhellenic Scholarship Trophy. Epsilon Mu's twenty-six pledges had the highest scholastic achievement of the three pledge classes on campus.

There can be no question in any Clemson Kappa's mind that Epsilon Mu had come a long way on the road to the top this year, and one of the reasons was the guidance and friendship of Graduate Counselor Dale Brubeck, Gamma Kappa- William and Mary.

In 1971

Highlights of 2012

2012 was a remarkable year for the sisters of Epsilon Mu's chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We continued to excel in service, academics, education and are becoming increasingly involved in all aspects of Clemson's community. Epsilon Mu was recognized for excellence at Convention in 2012 where we were awarded Panhellenic Chapter of the Year.

The following is a list of Epsilon Mu's achievements throughout 2012:

Awarded Commitment to Service at Clemson Greek Awards 2012
Awarded Kappa Kappa Gamma Panhellenic Award at Convention 2012
Honorable Mention Philanthropy Award at Convention 2012
Honorable Mention Risk Management Award at Convention 2012
Awarded Chapter of Achievement 2011
Intramural Volleyball Champions 2012
First Place in Moving Division in partnership with Sigma Nu for Homecoming Float Display 2012
Runner Up in Derby Days Dance Competition 2012
Kappa Kappa Gamma raised an all time high of $7,000 for The MS Society (which was first overall!)
Awarded 1st Place at Dance Marathon 2012 philanthropy competition
Placed 3rd Overall in Zeta Tau Alpha and Beta Theta Pi's "Beta Lei" philanthropy competition
Placed 3rd Overall in Chi Omega's "Boot Camp" philanthropy competition
Raised most amount of money in Alpha Tau Omega's "Viking Week" philanthropy
Placed 3rd Place in Greek Week 2012
Hosted 6 Sisterhood Events
Took Part in 11 Educational Programs

Campus: While minor changes have been made on Clemson University's campus, such as a newly opened Academic Success Center, the feel of the campus remains the same. Clemson students are still among the happiest in the nation and the town is flooded with Tiger Pride every Saturday in the fall. As for greek life in Clemson, many positive changes are impacting the community well. On February 11, 2012, Clemson Greek Life welcomed our newest sorority, Alpha Phi. Kappa's whole chapter joined to celebrate their bid day as we watched their first Clemson chapter "run down the hill" as is tradition. After having tailgating removed from the Greek Quad last year, it returned this year and was a success. The Clemson Greek community bonded together when news of embezzlement by the Fraternity and Sorority Life Director shook the campus.

Chapter: Epsilon Mu specifically is continuing to improve in our quest for excellence. Our old traditions are holding true, such as the "Oh Pat" function and the "Reading is Key" philanthropy event, but we are also creating new ones along the way. This year, our favorite function of the year changed it's name from "Kappa Kidnap" to "Kappas and Kowboys", and we have started a new philanthropy event called Rent-A-Dog. In this event, we teamed up with the local animal shelter that we have supported for many years, and rented puppies in half hour increments as a stress reliever to all students. It was a huge hit with a great turn-out and will certainly be continued in years to come.

Highlights of 2013

This year was a very successful year for the Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We accomplished many wonderful things! We initiated 63 new members and had 13 legacies join us this year. Our grade point average this year was a strong 3.43. We strive to do well in academia and this year we proved we could by topping the grade point average for Clemson University woman of a 3.26. Our sisters are involved in various clubs outside of Kappa including Office of Admissions, Student Alumni Association, Student Government, Honor and Business societies, Varsity Athletics, and many more. We find ourselves gathering together on Sunday nights at chapter and taking pictures together on Letter Shirt Tuesday. We enjoy spending all the time we can together.

Philanthropy has always been an important part of our chapter and this year was no exception. We started a new philanthropy last year called Rent-A-Dog where you are able to rent a dog for 30 minutes for $10. This year we raised over $2,000 in just a few hours and the money went to Oconee Humane Society. We are excited to support a local business here in Clemson. We also made a decision to bring back the Kappa Malender. This calendar was an old Clemson Kappa tradition and we produced a creative calendar of Clemson University’s men on campus and sold it around the University. We stayed active with our other philanthropies such as Reading is Key and Kappa Kickoff.

We pride ourselves on our involvement in other Greek chapter’s philanthropies. This year we won Greek Week, Sigma Chi’s philanthropy. This was a great win for Kappa! We put in a lot of work, effort and sisterhood to make sure we came through with the win. We won the Domestic Violence Tournament where our sisters battled hard to raise money for those involved in domestic violence. We also won a step competition for another sorority’s philanthropy called Stomp like an Elephant. We surprised ourselves with each and every dance move. Additionally, we helped the Greek community raise over $20,000 for Circle of Sisterhood.

Our theme for this year was “Aspire to be Extraordinary.” We went through every event, rush, and extracurricular activity with this as our mindset. We wanted to make sure we went above and beyond as not just being sisters, but with our community and making our chapter the best it could be. We successfully “Aspired to be Extraordinary” with winning the Province awards Opal Humphrey membership award and the Dottie Harvey award for high chapter standards.

Here at Clemson University, tradition is imperative. We hold the same standards to our chapter. Some of our traditions include our seniors jumping in our reflection pond on bid day, doing Kappa Is during preference round, and doing big/little reveal before initiation.

A change that we are currently working on is to implement a Greek Village here on campus. This would make our Greek community only that much stronger and bigger. We are working with our alumni and the trustees of Clemson to try and get money and plans for the building of such a big project. We are hoping that we would be able to have a Greek Village by the fall of 2016. With this as our goal, we will have a house for Kappa Kappa Gamma and a place for more sisters to reside and meet.

The Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a group of caring, fun, intelligent and motivated woman. The 231 of us work together to make sure we all meet our goals and always striving to be better. We are a very tight knit group of woman and we always have one another’s backs. Clemson Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the most well rounded chapters on the Clemson University campus with the involvement each sister has, the grades we make, and the excitement we have to make Kappa the best it can be. Every woman in Epsilon Mu makes an effort to know one another and make sure everyone feels welcomed. With such a large number sometimes it can be hard to feel connected, but as a Clemson Kappa, you feel more united with this group of girls than any other smaller organization.

Highlights of 2014

This year was incredibly eventful and successful for the Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We accomplished many wonderful things and are proud of the progress we have made over the past year! We welcomed and initiated 65 new members this year, 12 of which were legacies. Grades have not yet been released for the fall 2014 semester, but as of August 2014 we had a strong 3.47 grade point average. We strive to always focus on academics and encourage each member to shine in this area. Due to our hard work in academia we were placed third out of twelve sororities in highest grade point average and leaped above the all sorority grade point average of 3.39. We continue to raise our standards for academics and hope to rise higher on the grade point average scale. Our sisters are involved in various clubs outside of Kappa including Office of Admissions, Student Alumni Association, Student Government, Honor and Business societies, Varsity Athletics, and many more. We find ourselves gathering together on Sunday nights at chapter and taking pictures together on Letter Shirt Tuesday. We enjoy spending all the time we can together.

Philanthropy has always been an important part of our chapter and this year was no exception. This year we had an extremely successful Reading is Key program in the spring, and decided to give back to the local schools again in the fall with yet another Reading is Key event. Our sister love going to the local schools and getting to spend the afternoon reading and playing with the children. During recruitment we allowed girls to play a small game on philanthropy round and if they won we donated more books to the local schools. In the spring we hosted a successful Kappa Kickoff, which raised more money than ever. In addition, our sisters participated in small service events around the community throughout the semester to continue to give back.

We pride ourselves on our involvement in other Greek chapter’s philanthropies. This year we won both Alpha Phifa, a soccer tournament, and Moon Ball, a volleyball tournament put on by other sororities. These were great wins for Kappa! We put in a lot of work, effort and sisterhood to make sure we came through with the wins. In addition, we won the Greek Week dance competition and had a solid finish overall in the weeklong competition. The Epsilon Mu chapter was awarded the “Global Greek” award by Clemson University, which is given to the sorority with the most involvement in study abroad programs. One of our greatest achievements this year was winning the Homecoming float competition. Our sisters, along with brothers of our partnered fraternity put many long hours into building an outstanding float that represented the past, present, and future of Clemson. Additionally, we helped the Greek community raise over $20,000 for Circle of Sisterhood.

Our theme for this year was “Aspire to be Extraordinary.” We went through every event, rush, and extracurricular activity with this as our mindset. We wanted to make sure we went above and beyond as not just being sisters, but with our community and making our chapter the best it could be. We successfully “Aspired to be Extraordinary” with winning the Province awards Opal Humphrey membership award and the Dottie Harvey award for high chapter standards.

Here at Clemson University, tradition is imperative. We hold the same standards to our chapter. Some of our traditions include our seniors jumping in our reflection pond on bid day, doing Kappa Is during preference round, and doing big/little reveal before initiation.

The Greek community is still working on creating a Greek village on campus. This would make our Greek community only that much stronger and bigger. We are working with our alumni and the trustees of Clemson to try and get money and plans for the building of such a big project. We are hoping that we would be able to have a Greek Village by the fall of 2016. With this as our goal, we will have a house for Kappa Kappa Gamma and a place for more sisters to reside and meet. In addition, the campus is motivated to improve the safety of Greek life and has made major strides in implementing new policies to facilitate an overall healthier lifestyle.

The Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a group of caring, fun, intelligent and motivated woman. The 231 of us work together to make sure we all meet our goals and always striving to be better. We are a very tight knit group of woman and we always have one another’s backs. Clemson Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the most well rounded chapters on the Clemson University campus with the involvement each sister has, the grades we make, and the excitement we have to make Kappa the best it can be. Every woman in Epsilon Mu makes an effort to know one another and make sure everyone feels welcomed. With such a large number sometimes it can be hard to feel connected, but as a Clemson Kappa, you feel more united with this group of girls than any other smaller organization.

Highlights of 2015

This year was incredibly eventful and successful for the Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We accomplished many wonderful things and are proud of the progress we have made over the past year! We welcomed and initiated 64 new members this year, 12 of which were legacies. We average a 3.49 grade point average for the spring semester and expect our fall average to be just as impressive. We strive to always focus on academics and encourage each member to shine in this area. Due to our hard work in academia we were placed third out of twelve sororities in highest grade point average, fifth in all of greek life and leaped above the all sorority grade point average of 3.39. We continue to raise our standards for academics and hope to rise higher on the grade point average scale. Our sisters are involved in various clubs outside of Kappa including Office of Admissions, Student Alumni Association, Student Government, Honor and Business societies, Varsity Athletics, and many more. We had 6 members accepted in to the Tour Guide Association this fall, bringing our tour guide total to 10. We have 11 members inducted into Order of Omega, the top Greek Honors Society. We had 8 pi chis for Fall 2015 recruitment. For Fall 2016 recruitment, a member was named head pi chi, and we have 9 members selected to be Panhellenic Counselors. One of our members was recognized during the Boston College Game, by President Clements, as the Student of the Game on October 17th. We find ourselves gathering together on Sunday nights at chapter and taking pictures together on Letter Shirt Tuesday. We enjoy spending all the time we can together.

The Greek community is still working on creating a Greek village on campus. This would make our Greek community only that much stronger and bigger. We are working with our alumni and the trustees of Clemson to try and get money and plans for the building of such a big project. We are hoping that we would be able to have a Greek Village by the fall of 2017. With this as our goal, we will have a house for Kappa Kappa Gamma and a place for more sisters to reside and meet. In addition, the campus is motivated to improve the safety of Greek life and has made major strides in implementing new policies to facilitate an overall healthier lifestyle. In addition, the Greek community has voted to welcome a new chapter in to our Greek family.

The Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a group of caring, fun, intelligent and motivated woman. The 249 of us work together to make sure we all meet our goals and always striving to be better. We are a very tight knit group of woman and we always have one another’s backs. Clemson Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the most well rounded chapters on the Clemson University campus with the involvement each sister has, the grades we make, and the excitement we have to make Kappa the best it can be. Every woman in Epsilon Mu makes an effort to know one another and make sure everyone feels welcomed. With such a large number sometimes it can be hard to feel connected, but as a Clemson Kappa, you feel more united with this group of girls than any other smaller organization.

Chapter Philanthropy: What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?

Philanthropy has always been an important part of our chapter and this year was no exception. This year we had an extremely successful Reading is Key program in the fall. We split up our chapter into two groups and went to two local elementary schools’ after school program. We donated 280 books to Clemson Elementary (valued at $1380) during our philanthropy event Reading is Key. Our sister love going to the local schools and getting to spend the afternoon reading and playing with the children. In the fall we hosted a successful Kappa Kickoff, which raised $2,840 for the MS society and Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We donated $556 to the Multiple Sclerosis Society through one of our member’s start up company, Electric Ink. Electric Ink is a line of gold, game day, temporary tattoos. With every purchase a percentage is donated to the MS Society. In addition, We donated $261.21 and a little under 200 books to the Clemson literacy initiative striving to fill our young alumnus' classrooms with books. Finally, This past summer, we had two members travel on the circle of sisterhood service trip to Senegal, Africa.

Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?