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Since we go to reading buddies on a weekly basis, the kids recognize many sisters and look up to us as role models. Many of them aspire to go to college already at such a young age and want to be just like us when they get older. It is always a very special time for us because we see what kind of positive impact we have on the kids who may be growing up in less fortunate conditions than our upbringing. This year we voted as a chapter to support the Alzheimer’s association because it was a cause dear to us. Alzeimers is a terrible disease that many sisters in our chapter are personally affected by, and because of the personal connection our chapter had with this disease.
==Highlights of 2016==
The Delta Kappa chapter started off the spring semester in January with both recruitment and bid day. Greek Week followed quickly after and we were paired with Lambda Chi Alpha and Kappa Sigma. We donated blood and helped raise over $34,000 for United Cerebral Palsy. Throughout the year we also participated and raised money for several fraternity’s philanthropies including Lambda Chi Alpha, Kappa Sigma, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi, and Alpha Sigma Phi. In addition, we participated in the Panhellenic Pride Week this fall, which raised $26,000 in three days for the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation.
During Homecoming this fall, we paired up with Alpha Sigma Pi and had a great time participating and cheering on our team. We participated in the opening ceremony, Homecoming King and Queen, Organized Cheer, the parade, boat burning and fireworks. Our sister Toni Farrell competed in Homecoming King and Queen and was named a princess! Many of our chapter members were in the crowd to cheer her on.
This year we had members tapped into Order of Omega, Rho Lambda, and Omicron Delta Kappa. We also had many sisters win individual awards at the AGLO awards night in the spring. During the Kappa Kappa Gamma convention this past summer, the Delta Kappa Chapter won the Gracious Living Award. We also received honorable mention for the Standards and Advisory Board categories.
Last January, the University of Miami inaugurated the sixth President, Julio Frenk. He has started leading the University in new directions through his plan called the “Roadmap to Our New Century.” We are excited to see all that President Frenk accomplishes during his time at UM.
This year in particular, we started focusing on hosting several small sisterhood events throughout the semesters to create a deeper bond within our chapter. The standards committee hosted Galentine’s Day, Movie Night with the Transfer Student Association, KKG Ribbon Making, and a field trip to Sky Zone in the spring. Throughout the fall semester, the committee hosted a spooky sisterhood event and “stuff a plush.” The idea of stuff a plush was for sisters to make two stuffed animals, one for themselves and one to be donated to the children at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. The House committee also started hosting potluck dinners throughout the semester before chapter meetings, and there was even a macaroni and cheese contest during one of them. To wrap up the semester, there was a chapter holiday dinner that included a cookie exchange as well as a white elephant gift exchange. We hope that by planning many sisterhood events throughout the semester rather than a few big-budget ones, our sisters can become closer and we can allow our Delta Kappa bond to continue to grow.
'''Philanthropy'''
Kappa Kappa Gamma as a national organization supports Reading is Fundamental. In the Fall of 2016, Delta Kappa took into consideration the importance of reading programs across the country that foster the imagination and improve reading performance. The importance of reading on long-term literacy resonated with our chapter. Our mission is to support children within our community with an opportunity to embrace their imagination and create a lifelong love for reading. Throughout the fall and spring semester, our chapter raised about $2000 and $1300, respectively.
Within the chapter, sisters have a continuous chance to participate in our weekly reading program “Reading Buddies” in cooperation with Branches South Miami. Sisters visit a local afterschool care center every Friday afternoon and bring each student from K-5th grade a book that they read with us in an effort to promote higher literacy rates in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. Our weekly visits have created close ties with Branches as an organization as well as with the kids we interact with. As such it creates a personal environment where these children can feel comfortable reading and speaking to us. Even at that age the children are curious about their education and always ask questions about college such that we’re hopeful it inspires them to continue their education and view us as positive role models. To further resonate the importance of literacy at a young age we hold a “Reading is Key” event in which we have activities and food for the children as well as a package of books to continue their personal reading. Working directly with the community at large enables our chapter to directly impact the city they now live in and continue the efforts of a cause we so dearly support.
==Highlights of the 2020s==