| Zeta Gamma | |
|---|---|
| ZΓ | |
 | |
| Founded | October 4, 1980 |
| College | Centre College |
| Location | Danville, KY |
| Homepage | Zeta Gamma Homepage |
| Media related to Zeta Gamma Chapter | |
Replace this text with chapter history by clicking edit near the top right
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.