What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? Many of our members donate hours to local animal shelters and play with all their animals. Every year we also go to a local elementary school to read to students there as a part of 1, 2, 3.
Why did your ==Highlights of 2016== While 2016 was a very trying year for Gamma Eta and the Greek community at large; we saw lots of opportunity for change. As a chapter choose this organization(s) , we were able to collectively come together as a united front and spend time bettering ourselves as well as helping those around us. In the spring, we hosted our annual March Madness Philanthropy with Alpha Gamma Delta and Theta Chi. This philanthropy consisted of a four-on-four basketball tournament, with members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Gamma Delta, and Theta Chi serving as the coaches, and members from other sororities and fraternities making up the teams. We had an amazing turnout, with participants from almost every chapter on campus, over 150 players, and 41 teams. We raised a total of $1140, allowing us to give each chapter that participated $380! In December, Gamma Eta held a movie night up on campus at the CUB, and took donations at the door, which were donated, to Pullman Child Welfare. Gamma Eta also headed up the Greek wide philanthropy in December, Holiday Lane. This event served as a way for Washington State University’s Greek Row to give back to the community of Pullman and was a fun way for younger kids to relish the holiday season! Children and parents who chose to attend were given a stocking they could decorate and were encouraged to walk around Greek Row to enjoy the decorated Fraternities and Sororities. Members from each house greeted the kids with candy as they came by, and parents who stayed back enjoyed hot coffee, cocoa and cookies at Ruby Park. Not only does Gamma Eta love hosting philanthropies, but we also do our best to attend other chapter’s philanthropies and support? our fellow Greek friends and community. Gamma Eta has consistently been an academically driven group of women, with a passion to learn and a willingness to help others succeed in school. In May of 2016, our chapter had a cumulative GPA of 3.29, finishing with third highest of all sororities on campus. Gamma Eta’s GPA was .12 higher than the average of all sororities being 3.17. As an incentive to continue to keep our grades up throughout the semester, our VPAE awards two members each week at chapter as “Geek of the Week”, and both recipients receive a Starbucks gift card. We have had an incredible year of recruitment, with two passionate and steadfast recruitment chairmen, a loving and positive president, and a hardworking group of women spending endless hours practicing. All the hours put into recruitment were definitely worthwhile, we received 53 amazing new members! Without the guidance of our devoted, inspirational, and thoughtful New Member Chairmen, our new pledge class wouldn’t be where they are today, as their first semester at Washington State University comes to an end. Each year, Washington State University holds the Arête Awards, which highlight and honor impactful individuals and chapters as a whole. A few of our members were fortunate to attend and between individual and chapter wide, Gamma Eta was awarded four this fall! Our Risk Chairman won Outstanding Community Builder of 2016, our New Member Educator won Outstanding Executive Member of 2016, and Gamma Eta won Outstanding Social Justice and Outstanding Global Citizenship! These four awards speak volumes about our chapter’s ability to hold us to a higher standard, while still maintaining a passion to grow and learn. This past fall semester was definitely a wake up call for not only our chapter but also the Greek community as a whole. With many changes implemented from Panhellenic and ICF, Gamma Eta focused on the positive, and made light of a controversial time, by sticking together. Sisterhood has been something Gamma Eta has always prided ourselves on, and something we always supported these organizationswill. With an incredibly creative and zealous sisterhood chair, we had monthly sisterhoods, with over 90% attendance at each one. With our university continuing to transition into a more policy compliant environment, Gamma Eta has been adapting remarkably well. This shift has allowed our chapter to focus on our sisterhood, leadership, and dedication to enhancing our community.
==Highlights of 2020s:==