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==Highlights of 2021==
Chapter Summary
Summarize the previous calendar year, scholarships, group honors/awards, Convention awards, traditions, special events, philanthropic involvement, chapter goals.
Although there were many obstacles that came due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta Alpha experienced another successful year at Pennsylvania State University.
This year, our chapter focused on the following goals:
Execute more programming and sisterhood events.
Experience a successful slating and election period
Continue to grow in all aspects as a chapter guided by Kappa ideals.
After being assigned an action plan, we made sure to follow it accordingly. We met all of our deadlines while also being able to enjoy ourselves together with movie nights and dinners in our suite. Programming opportunities in the fall semester included resume building, interview strategies, and big sister training. Kylin Flynn was the head of our nominating committee this year and the elections looked a little different from last year. In addition to individual slates and autobiographical forms, Delta Alpha piloted the interviewing process. We were able to successfully elect our officers and look forward to installing the new women in January.
This year we voted and chose to support Mental Health America for our new national philanthropy. This organization was picked because Delta Alpha believes it is important to take care of your own mental health and support others in their journey. In the short time that we have supported Mental Health America, we’ve raised around $200. Fundraising events included restaurant fundraisers and an event that took place on our HUB lawn where you get to pay to pie your friend in the face.
Delta Alpha was excited to celebrate Founders Day in person this year. Paige Fehl, our education chairman, organized a day filled with meeting Kappa Kappa Gamma’s alumni, yummy snacks, learning new rituals, and new connections within our own. Here at Penn State, not only do Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters shine within our community, but we also excel within our academics. Something fun that we like to do is called our “smart cookie award.” Each week a sister is nominated for performing well in school and is voted on during chapter council. We also have several opportunities to earn scholarships: these scholarships include an Undergraduate Merit-Based Scholarship, an Undergraduate Need-Based Scholarship, a Marisol Scholarship, a Graduate Scholarship, and a Continuing Education Grant. Last semester, our chapter averaged a 3.57 GPA, had a total of 128 members on the Dean’s List, and had 17 members maintain a 4.0 GPA.
Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why?
Since 1973, THON has been our local organization at Penn State. THON is a 46-hour long dance party fighting against childhood cancer. It is the largest student-run philanthropy org in the world, and Kappa Kappa Gamma is honored to be a part of it. In February, our chapter will send three dancers, Andrea Marciano, Macy McGrath, and Emily Barnes, to stand all 46 hours while the rest of us will be in the stands cheering them on. Last year, THON was online and we were not able to meet and dance in the Bryce Jordan Center. Instead, our THON chairs hosted our dancers and created an apartment crawl so that they knew we were all there supporting them along the way.
How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy?
We’ve raised $11,000 dollars this fall. We fundraised through bingo boards on our social media, restaurant portion proceeds collaborations, and sisterhood fundraisers, including goat yoga. We also planned a dunk-tank event with our partner THON Fraternity, Delta Chi.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
How did your chapter include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in your programming this year? (e.g., adding a DEI officer, philanthropy events, social media awareness campaign, chapter training, etc.).
Our Panhellenic Delegate, Quincy Blubaugh, created groups at the beginning of our semester to encourage sisters to participate in events with all of Greek life. Throughout Wellness Week, National Hazing Prevention Week, and Panhellenic Pride Week, our sisters attended several events. Some included were an Oracle presentation, a banner signing, and a lecture from Krystal Clark. My personal favorite was water coloring with my roommates during Wellness Week. Our sisters are also looking forward to an EME training which is essentially a Big/Little sister training event.
Operating in a Pandemic
How did your chapter operations change due to COVID-19 (e.g., how did it affect recruitment, initiation, etc. Were events/activities held virtually?). Share what you have done this year.
With many obstacles thrown our way due to the COVID - 19 pandemic, our chapter participated in virtual recruitment over ZOOM, and we welcomed 67 new women to our sisterhood. Recruitment was a lot different in the spring than it was for me my freshman year. We utilized breakout rooms so that each PNM could get their own experience and ran bump groups so everyone could meet everyone. Similar to recruitment, Bid Day and Initiation were virtual. However, after a lot of planning, we hosted an in-person bid day to make the new members feel as special as the rest of us did on bid day. Our bid day was organized so that we met all COVID guidelines. We allotted ten girls to come at a time while wearing masks and sanitizing in between groups.
Photographs
Are there any interesting photos from this year to share? e.g., screenshots of virtual meetings, pictures of chapter events that followed all public health guidelines (mask-wearing, physical distancing, etc), pictures of masks, drive-thru bid days, etc.
Meet Owen! Owen Bonn is Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Chi’s THON child. He is 8 years old and has retinoblastoma. In this first photo, he is at our tailgate and signing autographs for donations.
The second photo I included is a flier from one of our fundraisers. It was from one of our fundraisers for Mental Health America. We pied one another in the face - it was awesome!
Lastly, the third picture is a screenshot from a time we FaceTimed Owen. We try to Facetime him at least once a month to check up on him and get updates on his treatment.