| Zeta Gamma | |
|---|---|
| ZΓ | |
 | |
| Founded | October 4, 1980 |
| College | Centre College |
| Location | Danville, KY |
| Homepage | Zeta Gamma Homepage |
| Media related to Zeta Gamma Chapter | |
906 initiates (as of June 2017)
Contents
Installation
On a colorful, crisp fall day, Zeta Gamma chapter was installed at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Centre College, founded in 1819, is a highly competitive, independent liberal arts college. The 75 acre campus is located in a rural community about 35 miles from Lexington.
Traditionally an all male school until the 1960's, it now has six national male fraternities but until this year the women have had no organizations. Kappa together with Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Delta Delta installed chapters on October 4, 1980, at Centre College. They even held a joint campus reception on Sunday, October 5th where all guests and new initiates of the three groups could join in the festivities. The installing officers were Fraternity President Sally Moore Nitschke, BN-Ohio State, and Director of Membership Juliana (J.J.) Fraser Wales, BN-Ohio State, with Nu Province Director of Chapters Cynthia McMillan Lanford, ΓΠ-Alabama, and Barbara Wooley, ΔΣ-Oklahoma State, graduate counselor assisting. (Betty Jane Parks Gary, ΔP-Mississippi, Nu Province Director of Alumnae was unable to attend because of illness in the family.) Gini Anding LaCharite, ΓK-Wm. & Mary, and Anne Hall Atchison, BX-Kentucky were co chairman of the installation.
Kappas arrived from various points around the state of Kentucky and Tennessee, and representing Fraternity Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, were Dinnie Texter Callahan, BM-Colorado; Jane Coombs, ΔΛ-Miami; and Diane Miller Selby, BN-Ohio State. Beta Chi Chapter members served as big sisters for the new chapter.
The traditional ceremonies were held on Friday evening and the installation was accomplished by noon of Saturday followed by a box lunch for all participants in the dorm of Centre College. That evening the installation banquet was held in the Trustees' House of Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. This restored community added a most delightful flavor to the entire weekend as the simple pleasures of friendship bloomed everywhere. The "Evening Fare" included Shaker mashed potato soup, Cajun chicken, wild rice casserole, cushaw squash, southern green beans, pear and blue cheese salad, village hot breads, dessert and beverage—all served family style complete with candlelight in several small dining rooms. When dinner was completed a short walk down the old dirt pathway to the Shaker Meeting House was enjoyed by all. Once again candlelight prevailed as the evening's program centered on the theme “We Make You Kindly Welcome”.
J.J. Wales served as toastmistress, read greetings, and made appropriate introductions. Sherry Carpenter, president of Beta Chi Chapter, gave the official welcome to Zeta Gamma and Madelyn Hopson, president of Zeta Gamma, responded. Greetings from the college were offered by Dr. Edgar C. Rickert, Jr., Provost and Dean of Centre College. Sally Nitschke spoke for the Fraternity in greeting our l06th active chapter.
Gifts were presented to the new chapter, but perhaps most special of all was the presentation of badges to each new initiate. The chapter was initiated with the big sister badges belonging to the Beta Chi members. These badges were worn throughout the day and at the conclusion of the evening program the new badges were exchanged for the big sister badges and many shiny new pins were glowing in the candlelight. A lovely reception was held for parents and guests in the West Family House.
Highlights of 1980's
In 1985 Zeta Gamma celebrated their fifth anniversary on October 5th. We decorated our room and it made it so much more attractive. We pledged 25 pledges making our chapter 58 women. We continue to strive for academic excellence and did receive recognition for our outstanding academic achievement. Our goal for this year was to improve our overall campus visibility. We feel we met this goal by being in many campus events and joining other groups for philanthropic programs. In 1987 we won the Scholarship and Membership awards at Nu Province Convention. We were excited to pledge 26 new pledges. Our traveling consultant was very helpful and after Province Convention our Fraternity President, Marian Williams, spent two days with us! WE continue to be very active in campus events and believe we are a well-functioning chapter.
Highlights of 1990's
The year 1990 marked our Tenth Anniversary of Zeta Gamma Chapter. We were proud to take a quota pledge class of outstanding women. We continue to work hard to maintain our diverse personality chapter while reaching out to our sisters and enjoying campus wide events and philanthropic endeavors. We worked to be the host of the Nu Province Convention in the Spring of 1991. WE welcomed advise and new ideas from two traveling consultants. We had a goal of increasing our involvement in philanthropic activities, alumni interaction and scholarship endeavors. We participated in serval philanthropy projects. We each wrote to a Zeta Gamma alumna about chapter news and we received first among all sororities in grades. We learned that sorority houses will be built starting in the Fall, 1993. Our chapter goal was to increase the ZG morale and involvement through chapter activities. We did not quite meet our goal but it was a great year. Every year we refined and continued our goal of improving chapter involvement, increase campus involvement and keep our excellent academic rating. We believe we are doing well with our goal. In 1994 we marked the opening of our beautiful new sorority house! We proudly welcomed twenty new pledges bringing our chapter total to eighty-one. Our academic success found us with the highest all-sorority grade point average of 3.20. Due to this high average we were honored to be mentioned in The Key. In 1996 we welcomed our largest pledge class with 30 vibrant young women. Philanthropy was key this year with all events helping the Christian Children’s Home. We closed out this decade with being awarded the Overall Greek Week Winner. We were recognized for our community service and philanthropy projects with Kentucky School for the Deaf and special needs GS troop. Our most prestigious award and the one we are most proud, is the highest Greek Grade Point Average, along with the highest Sorority Grade Point average for Fall and Spring. We continued to increase chapter attendance at all meetings, activities and philanthropies.
1990 Convention Awards- Membership Award and Gracious Living 1996 Convention Awards- Chapter Publications-Honorable Mention and Public Relations-Honorable Mention
Highlights of 2000's
The 2000’s should be remembered as one of the many achievements for Zeta Gamma. We were involved in campus and city-wide philanthropies. We also won many campus completions and were overall Greek Week winners. We maintained our excellent academic standing too. This year we found ourselves not making quota and some chapter dissensions. We each realized we had to take a more active role and we did and came together for a stronger chapter. Zeta Gamma has always tried to be proactive in the campus community and has been recognized numerous times with campus awards such as Greek Woman of the Year, All Greek awards for excellence in scholarship and community service. We maintain our goal of academic excellence every year. When we recognize a problem, we address it and make it better. By giving members more individual responsibility, they feel more Kappa sisterhood and want to make the chapter the best it can be. The women of Zeta Gamma are known for their wide interest and involvement. Kappa’s influence on Centre’s campus can be felt from the drama department to the chemistry lab. Our diversity is one of our greatest assets.
Convention Awards
2006-New Member Program winner
2010-Philanthropy Signature Event Award Winner, Sally Moore Nitschke Lifelong Education Award-Honorable Mention
Highlights of 2011
This was the first year our chapter held the Date Auction for our campus. It was a huge success, in which we raised thousands of dollars for philanthropy. Due to how well it was received by the public, we plan to hold it again next year in the spring. One of our philanthropy events this past year was for the local humane society. It involved a lemonade stand, in which students that donated two dollars received cookies and lemonade.
Earlier in the fall, we hosted a BBQ for Books event. Students donated either five dollars or a children’s book. The books and the money raised benefited United Through Reading, a program that films soldiers overseas reading children’s books. The recordings are sent home to the soldiers’ families, so that their children can once again hear their mother or father read them a bedtime story. In the spring and fall we co-hosted a carnival for the children at Sunrise Children’s Services with the men of Sigma Chi. The carnival included games, food, caramel apple making, and a petting zoo sponsored by the humane society for the kids to enjoy. During Homecoming weekend, our standards committee hosted the sisterhood event Kappas at Keeneland for alumni as wells as current members.
In August, we sent one of our members, Hillary Botts, to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy. Once again we had Kappa Kristmas. We also hosted our annual formal in the spring. On September 11th, the chapter wrote letters for soldiers, local veterans, and local firefighters to let them know that they are appreciated. At the end of the fall semester we hosted a fundraiser with the Tri Delta chapter on our campus for a local boy that was admitted to St. Jude Hospital. One of our chapter’s alumni, Annie Obrien, was featured in an article of the winter issue of The Key for her past involvement with Leadership Academy. In both the spring and the fall our chapter won 1st place in the campus dance competition, Air Guitar. In January 2011, Kappa Kappa Gamma placed 1st among the other sororities on campus in a dodgeball tournament that was hosted by the women of Alpha Delta Pi and the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Campus: This past year, our campus has seen many new housing developments. The ground breaking of our newest science building, Young Hall, took place in the fall, and one of our chapter’s members, Annie Roessler, was asked to give the dedication speech at the ceremony. Two new fraternities were added to the current four that were already present on campus. Our chapter helped support and promote these two fraternities, Delta Kappa Epsilon and Beta Theta Pi, while they were getting accustomed to Greek life on campus.
Chapter: In the spring we welcomed twenty-four new members to our chapter after formal recruitment. We also held fall recruitment this year and added two new members into our chapter. Our House Board purchased and installed a large flat screen television in the basement on behalf of the chapter. This has proven to be extremely helpful to our chapter, and has made all meetings proceed more smoothly. It has provided a way to enhance presentations because it is now possible to connect a computer to the screen.
Our chapter had a very small senior class this year, due to the unusual number of girls in that pledge class that had graduated early or transferred. As a result, we had many younger officers. Transitioning officers this year was very overwhelming, but we had a very competent junior class that helped in overcoming this challenge. Throughout the year we invited a series of Leadership Consultants to aid our officers in their new duties. Through great leadership, our philanthropy and service was extremely strong this year, and we had an amazing recruitment experience. Another big challenge our chapter faced this past year involved academics. Kappa Kappa Gamma ranked last in GPA among the four sororities present on our campus for the past two semesters. To remedy this, our chapter incorporated a series of academic programs this year in which we documented study hours for each class and reserved study rooms for our chapter.
Highlights of 2012
Awards: Best Publicity Award Nu Province, Nashville TN Signature Event Nu Province, Nashville TN Laurel Standing for Membership Recruitment
After School ESL Program Service Event The Warehouse After School ESL Program meets Tuesdays and Thursdays on the second floor of the Warehouse from3:00-5:30. The program serves K-12 students in the Danville/Boyle County area. These younger students are paired with a Centre tutor for the semester in the hopes of improving their English and helping them academically. Kappa provided a snack for the children and also games at the beginning and end of their tutoring session.
Date Auction Benefiting Organization: Big Brothers Big Sisters The event was held at the Warehouse and was open to the entire campus. Local businesses and restaurants sponsored date packages for each of the 17 males being auctioned off for a date. This event was very popular and was a good opportunity for the community to come together to raise money for a good cause.
S'mores Event with Phi Delta Theta The event was held at the Pearl fire pit for a bonfire with music, s'mores, and friends. Co-hosted by KKG and Phi Delta Theta, the event was open to all members of the campus to provide a study break and opportunity to spend time with friends.
Formal The event was held at the Danville Country Club and had a Derby theme. A photo booth with Derby hats and other props was set up for pictures. A variety of appetizer food was served as attendents enjoyed a wonderful evening of food, dance, and friendship.
Lemonade, Brownies, and Puppy booth Benefitting Organization: Centre and Danville Community The event was hosted by SGA in honor of Centre College hosting the Vice Presidential debate this fall. The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, and Kappa Alpha Theta, all participated by having a booth with free lemonade, brownies, iced tea, and patriotic puppies from the local humane society. In preparation for this event we had members from all of the sororities get involved by making gallons of iced tea and lemonade, baking hundreds of brownies, and help wash and transport puppies from DBCHS.
Sunrise Carnival Benefitting Organization: Sunrise Children’s Services For the third year in a row, we cohosted the Sunrise Carnival with the men of Sigma Chi. We had face painting, a petting zoo (with puppies from the Danville-Boyle County Humane Society), volleyball, cornhole, a pie-eating contest, ring toss, bowling, cupcake decorating, a gumball guessing game, and soccer. The director of Sunrise was extremely appreciative of our continued support. He mentioned that most of the boys do not get to leave the facility to do fun activities, so the fact that we brought the carnival to them really meant a lot to the children. It was also very important that we teamed up with a fellow fraternity because it gave a chance for the boys at Sunrise to interact with older guys that could serve as good role models for them.
Homecoming Description of Event: This is an annual homecoming festivity for our alumni and actives. Food and drinks (non-alcoholic) are provided and active and alumni can mingle throughout the house with sisters. Tours of the house are given to older alumni who graduated before Kappa had a house, and all sisters participate in a short ritual ceremony at the beginning of the gathering. We even decorated the house with individual pictures and chapter portraits that have been taken over the years since the founding of our chapter!
CARE Trick or Treat (festive face painting and candy booth) Benefitting Organization: Centre and Danville Community We once again helped support CARE by participating in this campus event that serves children of the Danville community. We painted Halloween-themed designs on children’s faces and also handed out scrumptious mini candy bars and packets of goldfish.
Krafts with Kappas Benefitting Organization: Toliver, Hogsett, and Jennie Rogers Not only was this a recruitment event, it also helped serve our national philanthropy: Reading is Fundamental. RIF is the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit children’s literacy organization, and it became Kappa Kappa Gamma’s National Philanthropy in 2004. RIF’s highest priority is reaching undeserved children from birth to age 8. In the spirit of RIF, we decorated pet rocks, friendship bracelets, and brown-bag character puppets to donate to the local elementary schools (Toliver, Hogsett, and Jennie Rogers). Our chapter takes learning very seriously, and we hope our donations helped to encourage a fun learning atmosphere at school.
Patriotic Letter Writing ~September 14th, 2012 Benefitting Organization: Danville Fire Department Keeping good relationships with members of the Danville community is very important to our chapter. In honor of the anniversary of September 11th, our chapter wrote “thank you” notes to the local Fire Department for their continued service for the community. We also donated cookies to the firefighters when we delivered the letters. Afterwards we even got to witness the firefighters take a distress call and zoom out in their fire trucks with their sirens.
Humane Society Test Drive Fundraiser Saturday October 27th at the Stuart Powell Ford car dealership Benefitting Organization: Danville Boyle County Humane Society The DBCHS contacted us to let our chapter know about this great opportunity for them to raise money. By test-driving a car for only 10 minutes, we could raise each individually raise $20 for the humane society. If we brought a partner to share half of the test drive we could even raise $40! Even though this was only an optional event, in total, our support helped raise $180 for DBCHS.
One of the most important changes our campus went through in the fall of 2012 was hosting the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate. To prepare, our campus spruced up and in the weeks prior to the event set up security measures and made accomodations for the media.The “Thrill in the Ville II” offered an opportunity for Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan to address questions on a range of domestic and international issues posed by moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News. The 2012 VP Debate was the third-most watched debate with 51.4 million viewers. This rocketed our campus's recognition to a global scale.
Highlights of 2013
AWARDS:
Outstanding Greek Scholar – Preetha Suresh 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Fraternal Excellence in Recruitment – Olive 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Fraternal Excellence in New Member Education – Laurel 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Fraternal Excellence in Membership Education – Olive 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Fraternal Excellence in Risk Management – Olive 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Fraternal Excellence in Community Service and Philanthropy – Laurel 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter Distinguished Greek Leader – Sarah Cramer 5/1/2013 Grand Chapter
EVENTS:
Spring 2013
Canned Food Drive February 10, 2013 at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Benefitting Organization: Harvesting Hope Food Pantry We often see canned food drives around holiday seasons. It is rare that we don’t donate items during the holidays of Thanksgiving or Christmas. However, during non-holiday months, donations lack. Our chapter felt that it was important to give in a time that perhaps other people had stopped giving in order to keep Harvesting Hope Food Pantry thriving. Chapter members had the option of bringing either canned food items or a few dollars on the event day. Both items would be donated. The canned food items would allow immediate use, and the money donated would allow the food pantry to buy items that they needed. Total Dollars Donated for Both Projects: $3,214.67 + 94 no perishable items
Earth Day Flower Planting February 11, 2013 at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Benefitting Organization: Toliver Elementary Members came to the Kappa house during common hour in order to plant flowers to give to elementary school children on Earth Day. The flowers were planted in small plastic cups so the children can take their plant home with them and possibly plant it outside. We planted many flowers and feel that this will improve the environment. In addition, we wrote small cards with Earth Day facts for the students.
New Member Nursing Home Sock-Hop February 29, 2013 at the Danville Center for Health and Rehabilitation Benefitting Organization: Danville Center for Health and Rehabilitation The new members of Kappa Kappa Gamma did a service event in conjunction with the new members of Phi Delta Theta. The event was held at the Danville Center for Health and Rehabilitation. The new members had many things for the residents of the nursing home to do. Elvis music played the entire time creating a upbeat environment, and the new members danced with the residents if they liked. We also provided root bear and orange soda floats for an old-fashion snack. The new members also made pipe-cleaner three-leafed clovers as a fun craft for the residents. Lastly, a nail painting station was also set up for the female residents to get a pretty manicure!
Service Day at the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge March 30, 2013 at the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge Benefitting Organization: Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge The Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge was having problems with beavers cutting down newly planted trees for use in their dams. As part of a service work day, members put up 200 plastic barriers in order to protect the new trees from the hungry beavers! The members not only helped out the refuge, but also got to learn more about identifying types of trees and beavers’ ecosystems!
Ice Cream Social April 10, 2013 during common hour the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Phi Kappa Tau met and held a campus wide ice cream social by giving away ice cream sandwiches. Luckily, it was one of the warmest and most beautiful days of the year so far, and students were delighted to receive a cool treat on their way out of lunch.
Formal April 20, 2013 This event was held at the Danville Country Club. Formal was an excellent opportunity to bond with sisters and brush up on our dancing.
Kolor Kombat Games April 27, 2013 at Breck Beach Benefitting Organization: Books for Barrios As an update from the paint fight, we raised $262 which will buy about 52 books for Books for the Barrios! That's 52 kids whose lives we're changing by giving them the gift of education!
Reading Picnic at Boyle County Public Library May 9, 2013
Fall 2013
Service Day at the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge October 26, 2013 at Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge Benefitting Organization: Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge The Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge has had a problem with an invasive plant species in their forest. Its’ growth is causing damage to the indigenous vegetation. The members cut down the invasive plant with loppers and added pesticide to the invasive plant stumps to prevent future growth. This was a great opportunity to protect the forest and learn more about native plant species.
Formal October 26, 2013 This event was held at the Danville Community Arts Center and had a Great Gatsby theme. A variety of appetizers were provided and the members enjoyed a night of dancing.
Homecoming November 2, 2013 During Homecoming weekend, alumni returned to the Kappa Kappa Gamma House for a morning of activities and fun. All of the active members and alumni participated in a short ritual ceremony. In the afternoon, our chapter participated in a football tailgate.
Date Auction November 16, 2013 at the Warehouse Benefitting Organization: Center for Courageous Kids At this event, there was a live auction for eighteen Centre men and Centre’s president and wife, John and Susie Roush. Dates were donated by local businesses and women who purchased the men were able to choose the date location. We raised $2,680 for the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY.
Thanksgiving with the Kappas and SAEs November 22, 2013 at the Warehouse Benefitting Organization: Harvesting Hope Food Bank This event was a Thanksgiving-themed mixer with our chapter and the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The mixer was open to the campus with a $1 admission fee or the option of bringing a canned good. All donations were given to the Harvesting Hope Food Bank. This event was an excellent way to restock the food pantry before the holiday season. There was food, dancing, and even a virgin drink bar!
Spreading Holiday Cheer with Kappa and Beta November 25, 2013 at the Campus Center The holidays can be a difficult time for those serving in the military who will not be able to come home for Christmas. Our chapter along with the men of Beta Theta Pi hosted this campus-wide event to write letters to our troops and nursing home residents. It was a great opportunity to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and to spread some cheer to the nursing home residents.
This past year, Centre College has had its largest enrollment to date. We are hoping to recruit a large pledge class in the spring due to the increased population on campus. Centre College also has a new Director of Greek Life, Alycia Tidrick. She has improved the Greek Review system by adding deadlines throughout the year and making most of the process electronic. With these new deadlines, Ms. Tidrick hopes to prevent the chapters from filling out everything at the last minute.
Highlights of 2014
AWARDS:
Outstanding Rho Gamma- Sarah Cramer 4/30/14 Grand Chapter Outstanding Chapter Program 4/30/14 Grand Chapter Outstanding Greek Athlete-Meghan Holliday 4/30/14 Grand Chapter Order of Omega Interfraternalism Award- Sarah Cramer 4/30/14 Grand Chapter Emerging Leader Award- Emily Ackemann 4/30/14 Grand Chapter
EVENTS:
Spring 2014
Karaoke Night January 20, 2014 at Bowlarama Lanes It was a fun night of sisterhood bonding while exercising our vocal cords. The idea for this event was suggested by the junior pledge class. Every Monday night the bowling alley has a free karaoke night and all the members of the chapter who attended sang that night.
Autism Weekend at Center for Courageous Kids January 24-26, 2014 A group of nine women from our chapter visited our local philanthropy, the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY. These women served as Den Counselors for the weekend and were assigned to a family attending the camp. This experience was an excellent way to learn more about our local philanthropy and to bond with autistic children and their families.
Big/Little Crafting Sisterhood Event March 6, 2014 at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Art supplies were provided at the house for members to create crafts for their littles. Many women painted beautiful canvases for the new members.
Kappacino March 9th and March 16th, 2014 at Centre College’s Library Our chapter sold coffee and hot chocolate in the library during midterms. A local coffee shop donated the coffee and all proceeds were donated to our local philanthropy, The Center for Courageous Kids.
Service Day at Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge March 15, 2014 All members of our chapter went to the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge to help remove invasive honeysuckle from native trees. This event was not only a great opportunity to help preserve the wildlife but also bond with the new members of our chapter.
Cook out with Phi Kappa Tau April 11, 2014 at Centre College Brockman Commons Grill This event was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the warm spring weather and bond with the men of Phi Kappa Tau. Hamburgers and hot dogs were prepared along with a side of chips and other snacks.
Sapphire Ball Spring Formal April 12, 2014 at Danville Community Arts Center Everyone enjoyed a night full of dancing and fun. Dinner and dessert were provided.
Fall 2014
Kappa Kappa Gamma- Beta Theta Pi See Saw a Thon October 10-11, 2014 at Centre College Campus Center The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Beta Theta Pi participated in a twenty-four hour See Saw a Thon to raise money for the Center for Courageous Kids. One member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and one member of Beta Theta Pi were on the see saw at all times.
Fall Homecoming October 25, 2014 at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Homecoming provides the opportunity for Kappa alumni to come back to the house and visit with old friends and other members of the chapter. Sandwiches and snacks were provided.
Fall Formal November 1, 2014 at Pioneer Playhouse This event was full of dancing and delicious food. A local deli, Melton’s, provided sandwiches and other treats.
Kappa Krush November 14, 2014 at Centre College’s Warehouse In a 60's themed Krush, the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma were able to enjoy a night full of dancing and fun with their sisters.
Date Auction November 21, 2014 at Centre College’s Warehouse In our annual date auction, dates with twelve men were sold. Dates were donated by local businesses and all proceeds went to the Center for Courageous Kids.
Thanksgiving with Sigma Alpha Epsilon November 22, 2014 at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon House The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon celebrated Thanksgiving together by eating Qdoba. This event is a great opportunity to get to know the men of SAE and enjoy delicious food.
Christmas Craft Night at the Danville Presbyterian Church December 3, 2014 The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma volunteered at the Christmas Craft Night at a local Presbyterian Church. Some women helped the children make crafts while others assisted with dinner preparations. This event was a fun way to spread Christmas cheer in the Danville community.
Centre College continues to increase in size. Our chapter is very involved in many different organizations on campus. One of our greatest strengths is our philanthropy. We have raised over $7,000.00 for the Center for Courageous Kids.
Our chapter meetings are held in the basement of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house on Centre College's campus. Our chapter has had one university owned house for several years. Ten women are able to live in the house each year. Seven of the positions are selected on a first come first serve basis. The house manager, the president, and the president's roommate also live in the house.
Highlights of 2015
AWARDS:
New Member Education Award Centre College Greek Awards
Chapter Advisor Award Centre College Greek Awards
EVENTS:
Spring 2015
Retirement Rave with Phi Kappa Tau
January 24, 2015 at Centre College’s Warehouse This event was put together for the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Phi Kappa Tau to dance and mingle at the warehouse. The mixer’s theme was “Retirement Rave”. Dressing up as senior citizens, many of the men and women embodied the elderly with their costumes and dance moves.
Kappaccino
March 15 and 17, 2015 at Centre College’s Grace Doherty Library Our chapter sold coffee and hot chocolate in the library during midterms. A local coffee shop donated the coffee. The proceeds, $314.41, was raised for Relay for Life.
Service Event at Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge April 11, 2015
All members of our chapter went to the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge to help with small tasks around the refuge. This event was not only a great opportunity to help preserve the wildlife but also bond with the new members of our chapter!
Spring Formal
April 11, 2015 at the Danville Country Club Everyone enjoyed a fun night of dancing. A small buffet with dinner and desserts were provided as well.
Fall 2015
Kappa Kappa Gamma and Beta Theta Pi See Saw a Thon
September 18-19, 2015 in front of the Centre College Campus Center The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Beta Theta Pi participated in a twenty-four hour See Saw a Thon to raise money for the Center for Courageous Kids and Wilderness Trace. The seesaw was in front of the campus center and one member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and one member of Beta Theta Pi had to be on the see saw at all times. This was held during family weekend so we had many activities during the day such as snow cones, popcorn, a food truck, and corn hole.
Service Event at Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge
September 26, 2015 All members of our chapter went to the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge to help take down a research area that a Centre Professor was using. The members of our chapter went in two shifts and split into smaller groups to help carry out different tasks.
Fall Homecoming
October 10, 2015 Homecoming provides the opportunity for Kappa alumni to come back to the house and visit with old friends and other members of the chapter. Sandwiches from a local deli called Melton’s were provided along with other snacks and drinks.
Cardiac Weekend at the Center for Courageous Kids
October 23-25, 2015 A group of twelve women from our chapter visited our local philanthropy, the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY. These women served as den counselors for the weekend and were assigned to a family attending the camp. This experience was an excellent way to learn more about our local philanthropy and to bond with children with cardiac conditions and their families. For many of our twelve women this was their first time at CCK. A few had volunteered other weekends or even worked full time over the summer.
Koloring With the Kappas at the CARE Halloween Event
October 29, 2015 in the Hazelrigg gym at Centre College The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma took turns working a booth at the CARE Halloween event put on by CARE at Centre College. This event gave children from the community the chance to get candy and play games inside the Hazelrigg Gym. Many organizations on campus had booths, and even a haunted house, for the children to visit. At the Kappa Kappa Gamma table Halloween themed coloring sheets along with crayons were provided and candy was distributed.
Fall Semi-Formal
November 7, 2015 at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, KY This event was full of dancing and delicious food. Jimmy John’s sandwiches were provided along with other snacks and drinks.
Ugly Holiday Sweater Party with Delta Kappa Epsilon
November 20, 2015 at the Delta Kappa Epsilon House This event was full of dancing and ugly holiday sweaters with the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Delta Kappa Epsilon.
Christmas Craft Night at the Danville Presbyterian Church
December 2, 2015 A handful of women from our chapter volunteered at the Christmas Craft Night at a local Presbyterian Church. Our women helped the children make holiday inspired crafts. This event was a fun way to spread Christmas cheer in the Danville community.
Centre College continues to increase in size. Our chapter includes many girls who are involved with several other organizations on campus. Our involvement on campus and our involvement with our local philanthropy are two of our chapter’s greatest strengths.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Our chapter traditionally raises the most money for our local philanthropy, the Center for Courageous Kids. CCK is a not for profit Medical Camping Facility located in Scottsville, Ky. It is a place where children living with life threatening illnesses and their families can come free of charge and have fun, find respite, feel normal and forget about their everyday struggles. For one of our chapter’s biggest events, the See Saw a Thon, we raised around $4,500 for the Center for Courageous Kids!
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Our chapter chooses to support the Center for Courageous Kids because we believe they are an organization that provides great services for children with illnesses. The camp is free of charge for all families so donations to CCK go a long way. Many women of our chapter have volunteered during family weekends or even worked the full summer at CCK. It is a place very special to many of our members.
Highlights of 2016
AWARDS:
Risk Management Award, Centre College Greek Awards; New Member Education Award, Centre College Greek Awards; Outstanding New Member Award - Dzeneta Velic,Centre College Greek Awards
EVENTS:
Spring 2016
Birthday Party Mixer with Phi Kappa Tau - January 8, 2016 The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Phi Kappa Tau got together to dance and mingle in the basement of the PKT house. The theme of the mixer was “Birthday Party” thus members wore party hats and played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.
90s/00s Kappa Krush - April 2, 2016 at Centre College's Warehouse In this Kappa Krush, the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma dressed up in 1990s/2000s themed costumes and enjoyed a night of dancing and fun.
Kappaccino - April 5, 2016 at Centre College’s Grace Doherty Library Our chapter sold coffee and hot chocolate in the college library. A local coffee shop donated the coffee. In addition, we delivered coffee and baked goods to students. The proceeds went to our local philantrophy, Centre for Courageous Kids.
Service Event with ASP - April 12, 2016 The women of Kappa got together with the After School Program. We brought books donated to RIF and read each child a book of their choosing.
Spring Formal - April 23, 2016 at Ashley Inn Sisters enjoyed dancing and fun at the beautiful Ashley Inn. This outdoor location was the perfect place to celebrate our sisterhood. Food was provided by the Danville Bistro.
CCK Weekend - April 29-31, 2016 A group of Kappa women from our chapter visited our local philanthropy, the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY. These women served as den counselors for the weekend and were assigned to a family attending the camp. This experience was an excellent way to learn more about our local philanthropy and give time to these children.
Fall 2016
See-Saw-A-Thon with Beta Theta Pi - September 23-24, 2016 in front of the Centre College Campus Center The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Beta Theta Pi participated in a twenty-four hour See Saw a Thon to raise money for the Center for Courageous Kids and Wilderness Trace. The seesaw was in front of the campus center and one member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and one member of Beta Theta Pi had to be on the see saw at all times. This was held during family weekend, so we had many activities and treats during the day such as snow cones, popcorn, a food truck, and corn hole.
Casino Night - October 22, 2016 at Goggin's Warehouse This was the first annual Casino Night hosted by the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon during Homecoming Weekend. The event was held in Goggin’s Warehouse and students and alumni enjoyed games, food, drinks, and raffle prizes.
CARE Trick-or-Treat - October 27, 2017 The women of Kappa set up a haunted putt-putt golf hole at the annual CARE Trick-or-Treat. Children from the Danville community came by to play putt-putt and trick-or-treat.
Owloween Kappa Krush - October 28, 2016 at Centre College's Warehouse For this Halloween themed Krush, the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma dressed up in costumes and enjoyed a spooky night of dancing and fun.
Semi-Formal - November 5, 2016 at Goggin's Warehouse This event, themed Under the Stars, was full of dancing and delicious food. Fresh Market supplied chicken and pasta along with other snacks and drinks.
Chapter Service Event with Kappa Delta for Wilderness Trace and Bluebird Market -November 12, 2016 For this event, the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Delta, our college’s newest sorority, helped Bluebird Market by passing out flyers for a Saturday shopping event to support therapies and pre-school education. In addition, we helped clean, landscape, and paint for Wilderness Trace, a chid development center in Danville, KY.
CCK Weekend -November 18-20, 2016 A group of Kappa women from our chapter visited our local philanthropy, the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY. These women served as den counselors for the weekend and were assigned to a family attending the camp. This experience was an excellent way to learn more about our local philanthropy and to give time to these children.
Highlights of 2017
Because of a focus letter read to us at the beginning of the school semester, the Zeta Gamma chapter has faced a lot of incoming deadlines. As a result, many events have been made obligatory, and standards council was notified that many sisters felt they were attending events not because they wanted to, but because they had to. Our chapter council jumped to fix this issue as we became fearful that Kappa would soom become a chore for many instead of a passion or enjoyment. The VP of Standards has created new sisterhood events, from Planner Parties with free succulents to an Ugly Mug exchange to Warm and Fuzzy games to help with these concerns. Through several chapter surveys conducted, moral has seemed to increase due to these activities.
The Zeta Gamma chapter has struggled over the last few years trying to find an efficient philanthropy event, and for the first time in spring of 2017, Zeta Gamma put on their first Kapparoni and Cheese event. This event was continued in the fall of 2017, raising a successful $1,757.60 with the selling of more than 250 tickets on campus. In addition, Zeta Gamma continued their philanthropy collaboration with the Episilon chapter of Beta Theta Pi at Centre College, raising an additional $4,435. This puts the total for the semester at $6,192.60. All proceeds were donated to Center for Courageous Kids (our local charity) in Scottsville, Kentucky. The philantropy chair also held the chapter service event at the local library in Danville, Kentucky where sisters cleaned the yard, shelved books, and cleaned shelves as well as many events with the After School Program, a campus organization where students tutored or mentored elementary kids. On March 8th, sisters and people invited from other organizations including other sororities, STAND, and Alpha Phi Omega (the latter two being service-oriented organizations on campus) participated in a Center for Courageous Kids weekend where students hung out and helped families with special needs children as they enjoyed their weekends at the center. Philanthropy chair also instituted a new pen pals program between sisters and elementary kids from Tolliver Elementary.
In addition, another chapter goal was to improve sisters' relations with their professors. VP of Academic Excellence decided to revive our annual FaculTea party that had failed a few years back. Sisters were encouraged to each personally invite their favorite professors, and all professors invited were presented with a certificate for their wonderful teaching and mentorship. Sisters hosted and conversated with teachers at the party, and professors made comments about the high impression Kappas were making in inviting professors into their home and taking the time to get to know them.
The Zeta Gamma chapter also brought many social events into the Kappa atmosphere where sisters and non-sisters were able to enjoy each other's company. Event chair successfully put on events such as Mocktails, a Kappa Krush, a cookout mixer with the Delta chapter of Phi Tau Kappa, and a semi-formal held at the local art center. On Founders Day, the Registrar, Marshall, and Education chair collaborated to create a fun Founders Day celebration. Before ritual, the chapter participated in a fun chapter history Jeopardy game where the winning team was raffled for a prize. The Founders Day celebration ended with cake, ice cream, and cookies.
On Homecoming day, an alumnae notified us that a fellow sister of hers had recently passed away, and she passed on her Kappa artifacts to us. We set up a small memorial table to her where alumni came to pay their respects. In addition, an email was sent out to alumni asking for old pictures to share with our chapter on Founders Day, and many were still being sent after Founders Day. These pictures sent after were used to decorate some of the house and celebrate our alumni and history.
As a closing point to all these accomplishments, the Zeta Gamma chapter received many awards in the past year at the annual Greek Awards ceremony on campus, including best dedication to risk management, community service collaboration, and best female athlete.
Due to a lack of diversity on campus, Centre College has established new diversity initiatives that have included Greek life, a major foundational point in Centre's lack of diversity. The Zeta Gamma chapter has responded by creating a new officer position, Diversity chair, who acts as a liason between the campus' Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity Initiatives, our sisters, and other Greek chapters and informs the chapter of diversity events and issues as necessary. Also, Greek life has recently been informed of a new policy change that may introduce fines for dress code in public Greek events. Zeta Gamma's PHC delegates have rallied with other chapters in petitioning against this policy, resulting in a delay of voting of this policy until the spring of 2018. Overall, the Zeta Gamma chapter has experienced days of extreme togetherness in fighting these issues as well as new philanthropic, academic, and social events that have pushed our traditional boundaries to increase effectiveness and campus involvement. The chapter is strong in our passion to improve but recognizes its problems in sisterhood and time management.
The Zeta Gamma chapter traditionally raises money and sends sisters to weekend retreats for Center for Courageous Kids (CCK). In addition to the money and hours donated to CCK, Zeta Gamma also works with the After School Program on campus, reads to Tolliver Elementary school for RIF on National Reading Day, and conducts several programs with Tolliver Elementary including a monthly pen pals writing.
The Center for Courageous Kids has an amazing goal of providing a fun weekend away for special needs kids and their families where the staff are trained to handle special needs. They have always been gracious to the Zeta Gamma chapter for our help, and there has always been an overwhelming chapter support of this organization. The After School Program is a program that the Zeta Gamma chapter has had sisters involved in, and sisters have also always interacted with Tolliver Elementary in various other campus organizations. It only made sense that since we already had those connections and bonds, we should bring the whole chapter into involvement too.
We meet in the basement of the Zeta Gamma chapter house, perfectly able to seat about 80 people.