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→Highlights of the 2016
==Highlights of the 2016==
This year was another exciting year for Kappa Kappa Gamma at Santa Cruz. In the winter of 2016 we were involved in clothing drives to help donate clothes to the homeless shelter. We also had a magical night at semi-formal where we dressed up and danced the night away. This same theme was continued into spring with our formal dance which was a throw-back to the 90’s. We had fun dressing up for this blast to the past! We also took time to honor our graduating sisters and celebrate their time as Kappa and undergraduate students at UCSC. There was a senior tea and special meeting where they gave our chapter advice for the future. At the end of the year we watched so many amazing sisters graduate and wished them well as they start their next chapter in life.
Over the summer a few of our sisters were able to attend convention down in San Diego. They came back with a wealth of new knowledge that they shared with all of us through stories and a presentation during meeting. The Fall was an exciting season for our chapter. We welcomed a new Panhellenic sorority to our campus as well as went through our own rush events. Many of our sisters were involved in the selection, and establishment of Kappa Alpha Theta and our sisters were excited to expand Greek life at Santa Cruz. Our own Fall rush went extremely well. We welcomed 60 new sisters to our chapter. Through the remainder of the year we have been involved in teaching our new sisters kappa history and values. This class has eagerly learned and embraced Kappa which makes our members excited for their contribution in the years to come. We also put on a breast cancer bowling philanthropy that we do yearly with the men of Sigma Pi and our annual fall date dash event. Overall this year has been a year of growth and strengthen for our chapter.
==Highlights of 2017==
2017 was an awesome year for Kappa Kappa Gamma's Eta Mu Chapter here at Santa Cruz. To kick off 2017, we had the transition of our old Chapter Council to our new Chapter Council. February was a busy and exciting month for Kappa. We held our annual Presents Brunch to have bigs show some of the most important women in our lives their littles. During this month we also had an LC (Leadership Consultant) come and visit, and our sisters got the chance to show her what Eta Mu chapter and Santa Cruz is all about. Semi-formal was also in the month of February. The theme was Valentine's Masqureade and the chapter and their dates had fun dancing the night away. In March, some of our sisters participated in the Polar Plunge that was a philanthropy opportunity in which we raised money for the Special Olympics. April was another jam-packed month for Eta Mu as we started our spring quarter.
We had our 1st annual Kappa Kickball Event, which was a kickball tournament where other fraternities and sororities on campus competed to help us raise money for Reading is Key. We had our annual etiquette dinner in April as well and celebrated Eta Mu chapter's 10th birthday party where our active and alumni members got together for a nice lunch to celebrate this milestone. Our Reading is Key event took place in April too, where a couple of our sisters got to volunteer their time at the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls club reading, playing, and facepainting with the kids. May was a spirited month for Eta Mu as UC Santa Cruz held its annual Greek Week competition. During this week, all of the Greek organizations got to participate in fun events led by our Inter-Greek Council. Kappa participated in events like lipsync, a pizza eating contest, and Powederpuff. For Powderpuff we won for our 5th straight year in a row. During this month we also had our formal which took place at the Gilroy Gardens. It was a beautiful venue and our sisters and their dates got to dance under the lights for our last formal event of the school year. Towards the end of the 2016-2017 school year, we got to honor our graduating Kappa sisters.
We had a senior tea held for these sisters and at one of our final meetings had a special moment in which they shared some advice with the chapter as they continue their undergraduate careers. In June, we watched and supported all of our graduating seniors and wished them well on the next chapter of their lives.
Over the summer, many of our sisters got the chance to travel around the United States and the world and partake in awesome jobs and internships. Fall was an exciting part of the year for our chapter. In September we prepared for recruitment and in October we welcomed 50 new members into our chapter. Our recruitment went extremely well this year and Eta Mu has been very involved in teaching our new sisters about Kappa's history and rituals. Rho class has eagerly learned and embraced Kappa, which makes our sisters excited for their contributions in the years to come as they will become our future leaders. In November, we finally initiated our 50 new members into our chapter. Also in this month we held our annual Spare the Hooters philanthropy event in which we teamed up with Sigma Pi to raise money for a local breast cancer awareness organization here in Santa Cruz and had an amazing Thanksgiving Dinner with all of our sisters.
Overall, this year has been a year of growth and learning for Eta Mu chapter. Our Chapter Council did an amazing job working together and putting on events for our chapter to enjoy. Despite some minor setbacks, Chapter Council worked seamlessly together in order to overcome the hurdles with the support of the chapter and our advisor. As a chapter, we have come together and participated in many philanthropic events and have enjoyed the events put on by our hardworking officers and their committees.
Last year, we welcomed a new Panhellenic organization onto campus, Kappa Alpha Theta. This year for recruitment, it was awesome getting to work with another Panhellenic organization and recruit more girls for not only Kappa but also for Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta. As for our Santa Cruz campus, there has been continued political movement and mobilization in response to the decisions President Trump and his administration are making. There has been growing solidarity and collaboration between different organizations to make Santa Cruz a safe community and environment for all of our students. As for Eta Mu chapter, we have been been continuing to improve our participation in Kappa events that we hold as well as share new ideas that the chapter can implement in order to improve this aspect of our chapter. Many of our sisters have also had amazing ideas that have promoted more sisterhood. Eta Mu has been expanding, improving, promoting participation and sisterhood, and informing the newer classes about Kappa's history and rituals.
There are a multitude of organizations that our chapter has traditionally raised money for and have donated our time to. One of the organizations that we primarily focus on giving back to is Reading is Fundamental. We also raise money for local breast cancer awareness organizations in Santa Cruz and donate our time to homeless shelters to help out our community. Numerous of our sisters are also involved in Camp Kesem, which is a non-profit organization that raises money to send kids whose parents have been affected by cancer to camp for a week during the summer.
RIF is a nationally recognized organization that is working to improve literacy in kids by providing them with access to books of their very own through community involvement and donations. Kappa Kappa Gamma has been a long time partner with RIF and our chapter wants to help raise money for this amazing organization. We held our Kappa Kickball tournament and have given our time to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz as our Reading is Key events in order to raise money for RIF. We also choose to support local breast cancer awareness organizations, homeless shelters, and Camp Kesem because the missions of these organizations are close to many of our sisters' hearts.
==Highlights of the 2020s==