Changes
→Highlights of 2014
As the semester wound down, the Kappas hit the books as final exams approached and were proud to have been ranked third for chapter GPA in the Panhellenic community. We kept our focus on the new year ahead as we slated for the 2015 chapter council. Looking back, so much has happened in 2014 for Beta Rho from celebrating our rich history at the University of Cincinnati to beginning a new philanthropy tradition. We are excited and eager to see what 2015 has in store for Beta Rho!
==Highlights of 2015==
2015 was a very busy year for the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma Beta Rho! As the start of a new calendar year rolled around, the Kappa house was bursting with energy for the year ahead. The Kappa’s kicked off the year with a Dog Night, planned by our lovely Philanthropy Chair Brooke Duncan. Despite the January cold, the Kappa’s were out in full force promoting our philanthropies and selling our delicious hot dogs on the porch. Kappa’s rounded out January with a 90’s throwback themed two way with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha at Longworth’s Hall in Mount Adams planned by our event chair, Lauren Cocca. This tradition has come to be one of the favorite social events for the Kappas!
February’s calendar was filled with a ton of sisterhood bonding! Kappa paired up with the women of Chi Omega for a Valentine’s themed two way filled with a gift exchange and festive activities. Our Vice President of Standards, Sarah Fretwell, planned a sisterhood for all of our fitness loving Kappa’s at DEFINE in Oakley. Lastly, the Kappas got dressed up for a night out at Sapphire Ball, held at The Redmoor in Mount Lookout. Kappas danced the night away with their sisters and dates and even had a Grater's Ice Cream bar for a sweet treat!
February came to a close as we shared some friendly competition with our fellow sorority and fraternity members in Greek Week. Kappas participated in many events throughout the week and had a blast showing off our dance and step routines at the variety show.
We kicked off March with Literacy week at John P. Parker School planned by our Philanthropy Chair, Brooke Duncan. All week Kappas volunteered with the students at the Cincinnati Public school by participating in Dr. Seuss themed literacy events. Kappa was able to donate many books to the children and their families that we collected at our Spelling Key last fall.
Come spring break time, Kappas traveled around the country together to enjoy a relaxing break from classes.
March came to a close with the Fiji Color Run benefiting Cystic Fibrosis where we paired with the men of Fiji and the women of Kappa Delta for a 5k around UC’s campus.
April kicked off with the Greek Excellence Awards where many Kappas were honored for their hard work and dedication. As a chapter, Kappa took home awards for Dynamic Recruitment, Membership Development and Social Responsibility. In addition many chapter council members took home pillar awards including President Liv Dulle winning the Leadership Development Award, Philanthropy Chair Brooke Duncan winning the Philanthropy and Service Award and Marshall Amy Nguyen winning the Values Integration and Personal Growth Award.
With the weather warming up, our amazing Public Relations Chair Maria Engels planned a Kappa Dad’s Day where we took over the Great American Ballpark to enjoy a Red’s Game together. We had amazing weather for a day at the ballpark with our dads!
Kappas joined with our neighbors Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Theta Phi Alpha and Chi Omega for a philanthropy block party to celebrate the end of the year! Kappa’s sold popsicles and had a blast spending time with our neighbors.
As finals rolled around, Kappas hit the books hard, enjoying spending time together studying at study tables led by our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Cady Aulicino. Before all of the Kappas headed home for the summer, we had a fun filled photo shoot day on campus! With great weather, it was an awesome way to end the school year with our sisters. While we were sad to send off our seniors at senior night and watch them graduate, it was amazing to see all of the new life adventures in store for them upon graduation!
Over the summer, Kappa sisters participated in their first Service Trip where they traveled to the Navajo Nation to serve and learned about the Navajo culture. As the first Kappa chapter to plan their own internal service trip, we are excited to continue this tradition for years to come!
As August rolled around, the Kappas returned to Clifton for an amazing Fleur-di-Lis Week planned by our Recruitment chair, Molly Hinken. During the week, Kappas prepared for Recruitment, reconnecting with our values and sharing a fun sisterhood at Devou Park filled with fun games and yummy food!
With classes back in full swing, the Kappa house was once again filled with smiles and laughter after a long summer away!
The last two weekends of September Kappa participated in Panhellenic Recruitment that ended with us gaining 53 amazing new members on our “New Bids on the Block” themed Bid Day planned by our New Member Chair, Sarah Jankowski. Kappas threw it back to the 90’s and danced the evening away on the front porch of 2801.
Welcoming in our new members through one of our most important values in Kappa, philanthropy, October kicked off our Literacy week. To start off the week, we held our best dog night yet on the Kappa porch. Throughout the week, Kappas along with other fraternities and sororities on campus, collected books to be donated to local Cincinnati Public Schools. The week came to a close with our annual Spelling Key, where representatives from different organizations on campus participated in a “college style” Spelling Key with Stacy Smith from Gamma Phi Beta who took home the final prize. Throughout the literacy week, Kappa collected over 1,200 books!
This year the Kappa’s paired up with the men of Alpha Tau Omega to celebrate a “Cats are Back” themed Homecoming to commemorate our return to the newly renovated Nippert Stadium. Thanks to the hard work of our Risk Management Chair, Hannah Stamos, and our Homecoming Chair, Steph Camm, we had a fun filled week of events including Family Feud, a Tommy Bahama themed party and the annual Sigma Phi Fall Ball. Our public relations chairman, Maria Engels, planned an amazing Homecoming Day Brunch from Maggiano’s for all of the Kappas and their families. It was a full house watching the Homecoming parade travel down Clifton Avenue! Kappa was proud of our sister Brooke Duncan representing Kappa on this year’s Homecoming Court. To top it all off, the Bearcats pulled out an amazing win!
Come October we celebrated Founder’s Day at the Cincinnati Women’s Club planned by our Education Chairman, Laura Zenni. At this amazing event we had perfect attendance and got to recognize some amazing Kappa Alumni celebrate their many years as loyal Kappas.
October also welcomed in the first round of professionalism events planned by our president Liv Dulle. At the first event, Kappas worked on goal setting for their professional future. At the next event, Kappas took professional head shots and learned about networking on social media.
November kicked off with the tradition of Serenades led by our Song Chair, Erin Walsh. The Kappas definitely captured some of the fraternity men’s hearts, especially the men of Pi Kappa Alpha as they asked us to Homecoming for 2016!
Kappas were able to celebrate a great semester together with our annual Kappa Krush event at the Syndicate in Newport, Kentucky. Kappa dates were “Krushed” and then had to wait until the dance to find out who their beautiful date was! Stocked with a hopping dance floor and photo booth, it was a great way to celebrate the year.
Finally the time came to officially welcome our new members into the Kappa sisterhood. Our inspiration week, planned by Marshall Amy Nguyen, consisted of fun family dinners, our favorite Blue and Blue dinner, a Cyclones game, Painting Party and Firesides. Finally with a flawless initiation, we welcome 53 new beautiful sisters!
To connect with the new members of Phi Mu, Kappa participated in “Mid Day Munchies” on campus where we sold Hot dogs and Hot Apple cider and had the opportunity to learn more about our Panhellenic sisters.
Before leaving for Thanksgiving, Kappas gathered together in our best holiday attire to celebrate the season and take photos for our Holiday Cards.
Upon returning from the Thanksgiving Holiday, Kappa was faced with some tough news. On November 29, 2015 we found out that our sister Natalie Altieri passed away in a skiing accident in California, where she was on co-op with BCBGMAXAZRIA. Natalie was a fashion design student in the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning. Natalie was a ray of sunshine whose smile could brighten any room. Her sisterly compassion, intelligence, ambition, and fierce fashion sense touched each and every Kappa who knew her. Kappa ended the year with a Memorial Service in honor of Natalie, strengthening our bond as we celebrated the life of our amazing sister.
As 2015 comes to a close, we are more grateful than ever for the sisters of Beta Rho and we cannot wait to see what life has in store for us in 2016.
==Highlights of the 2020s:==