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'''Founded on November 25, 1873,''' by four women, include Kate Ross , the first woman admitted to Illinois Wesleyan University, Millie R.Clarke, Kate B. Ross
'''1,931 initiates (as of June 2018)'''
'''Fraternity Council Members:'''
Lida Kline (Tuthill), Grand Marshal 1881 - 1882; Helen Pollock (Reed), Grand Marshal 1888 - 1890;Virginia Sinclair, Grand Treasurer 1902 – 1904, First Officer for Alumnae 1904; Beth Uphoff Black, Vice President 2010 – 2012, Director of Chapters 2008 – 2010, Director of Alumnae 2006 - 2008; Sandra Laich Fetcho, Bylaws Chairman 2010-2012, Director of Standards 2006 – 2010; Cathy Thompson Carswell, Fraternity President 1996 – 2000, Vice President 1994 -1996, Foundation Board of Trustees 1994 – 2000, Director of Chapters 1992 - 1994; Director of Personnel 1990 – 1992; Kristen Hranicka, Leadership Consultant, 2010 - 2011, Chapter Consultant, 2011 - 2012;
Julia A. Ames, initiated 1879, international journalist and founding member of the Illinois Woman"s Press Association; Judy Berry Duffek, Epsilon Province Directors of Alumnae 1983 – 1985, 1985 – 1987
Catherine Bernotas Gelhaar, Epsilon Province Director of Chapters 1981 – 1983, 1983 - 1985; Epsilon Province Director of Alumnae 1977- 1979, 1979 – 1981, 1981 – 1983; Jean Holdridge (Reeves), Graduate Counselor 1942-1943; Joan Copenhaver (Cox) Graduate Counselor 1955-1956; Carol Krueger (Culver), Graduate Counselor 1958-1959; Rebecca McLaughlin (Neigher), Graduate Counselor 1967-1968; Pamela Martin (Thiel), Graduate Counselor 1971-1973; Carlisle Judd (Hamilton), Graduate Counselor 1972-1972; Kristen Hranicka, Leadership Consultant 2011 - current;2012
The first female student at Illinois Wesleyan was Kate Ross. Admitted to the university as a sophomore, she was one of the three charter members of Epsilon Chapter, and served as its first Treasurer. Kate earned the honor of presenting the class oration at IWU’s 1874 commencement. “Neither today, nor ever, can we forget to be grateful that four years ago the Wesleyan University invited to equal privileges sons and daughters. The darkness of the past has rolled away,” she declared. “Liberty is dawning.”
Epsilon came about because in the summer of 1873, Millie Clark became interested in Kappa through a cousin at Monmouth College. Alpha then pledged Millie, but instead of going to Monmouth in the fall, she went to Wesleyan, and once there, she, Kate Ross, and Kate Graves (Walter) petitioned Kappa. The petition was granted November 25, a meeting was held, and Millie was elected chapter President. Kate Graves was elected Secretary and Kate Ross was elected treasurer.
At the second meeting, three new members were initiated : Mary Helen Kuhl, Aggie Morrison, and a Nettie Learned. A committee was appointed to draw up bylaws, arrange for framing the charter, and buy a secretary’s book. There was some discussion about the badge as Epsilon wanted a half-size key, but the chapter soon learned that the badge must be official and ordered from an official firm.
The new keys were worn first at a “social” in the spring of 1875, a party given by Professor Crow, whose wife, Lizzie Kanaga Crow, became an honorary member. The new badges created quite a stir at the party and some amusing young men came wearing huge imitation door keys sewn to their lapels.
Chapter meetings were literary, and debates were so popular that they were included in the chapter programs until the 1920s. The debates, orations, and declamations of those early meetings were taken seriously, and had little of the humorous nature which crept in with the passage of years. Early Epsilon members won state and interstate honors.During the first two years of the chapter's life, no mention is made of social events, but in 1875, Epsilon decided to give a public literary entertainment. This "exhibition", as it was called, was given with the help of Phi Gamma Delta, and consisted of a literary program including Greek and German recitations, essays, and an oration. Chapter minutes, kept carefully from November 25, 1873, broke off February 10, 1881, and did not reappear until December 2, a mystery that has never been explained. It was a time of reconstruction and at the December 2 meeting, a copy of the new constitution was requested by mail. Until its arrival, the chapter adopted the colors pink and heliotrope!
In 1876, the chapter taxed each member one dollar and sent Belle Sterling (Scott) to the Fraternity Convention. That same year, Kappa Alpha Theta had been established at Wesleyan and a Panhellenic banquet was held. In 1878, after having been the hostess chapter for the Kappa General Convention, Epsilon was designated Grand Chapter and found itself filled with the spirit of expansion. In 1899, the whole chapter went to install Beta Lambda at the University of Illinois. Thirty-six years later, the thrill was repeated when Alpha was reinstated at Monmouth, and Epsilon, installing chapter, moved in en masse for this inspiring occasion.
When Epsilon entertained the Fraternity Convention again in 1890, there were signs of increasing chapter sophistication: a reception area, a tea, a formal dance, a dinner. The formerly simple Initiations, too, had changed. One member hand-printed and decorated a parchment book, which was used yearly and cherished by alumnae. The holding of mock initiations was abandoned in 1912 and Courtesy Week substituted.
==Highlights of 2011-2019:==
==Highlights of 2011==
Illinois Wesleyan University was named the 57th best value among private liberal arts colleges in a Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Best Values in its Private Colleges listing in 2011. Kiplinger’s names the top-100 private liberal arts colleges based on a combination of factors intended to measure academic quality and affordability. In addition to being ranked No. 57 nationally, Illinois Wesleyan is considered the No. 2 best value among the five Illinois liberal arts colleges that were part of the top-100 national list.
In 2011, Epsilon Chapter won the Most Improved and Sisterhood/Standards at Province meeting.
==Highlights of 2012==
Epsilon kept the standards high. For the spring semester of 2012, our chapter had the highest GPA of any fraternity at Illinois Wesleyan. The women continued to balance their academics with social events. Both the Informal “You Komplete Me” and the formal Sapphire Ball were successes. Over the summer, Epsilon received honorable mentions for both recruitment and chapter and advisory board relations at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention. Also during the 2012 summer, one of the living rooms, The Blue Room, was beautifully renovated with new carpeting and lovely furniture for a more modern appeal. With the start of the fall semester, Epsilon had a busy and successful recruitment, welcoming home 22 New Members. Kappa also held its messy annual Pi-A-Kappa philanthropy event. During the Fall Semester, the chapter also had fun at the New Member Informal “Kappas in Pajamas” and at their Semi-formal as well.
2012 contributed outstanding athletic performances on campus. A highlight of the year included the Women's Basketball team being crowned national champions, while the Men's Basketball team made it to the Final Four of the NCAA national tournament. Women's and Men's Golf, softball, baseball, Women's Indoor Track and Field and Outdoor Track and Field, and Women's Swimming and Diving also made NCAA Tournament appearances during 2012.
The construction of the new classroom building, which began in 2012, is making great progress with hopes of being complete by the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.
In 2013, Epsilon Chapter won the Chapter Advisory Board Relations and Chapter History and Ritual awards at Province Meeting.
==Highlights of 2013==
This previous year of 2013, Epsilon Chapter had many achievements. In the spring of 2013, Epsilon Chapter received the Chapter Advisory Board/Chapter Relations and the Chapter History and Ritual awards at province. There was an informal dance with the theme “True Life: I’m a Kappa” and the Sapphire Ball at the end of the spring semester. We had a philanthropy event that was a manners and etiquette class at the Kappa house with a group of Girl Scouts.There was a ceremony for the Glenn and Rozanne Parker Kemp Commencement Plaza which will serve as a backdrop for commencement ceremonies. Mrs. Kemp was a former Kappa who made donations for the building of the commencement plaza.
Homecoming Weekend, October 11-13, 2013 held special meaning for Epsilon as actives and alumna as they came together in celebration of the chapter's 140th anniversary. Two special events included honors to Epsilon women.
On Friday evening a ribbon cutting and dedication took place for two new apartment buildings housing 96 students in a campus community called the Gates at Wesleyan. The west building, Fricke Hall was named in honor of alumni Robert R. Fricke '60 and his wife, Sharon E. Fricke '60, an Epsilon sister whose generous support ensured the project.
Alice Fairchild Heath '52 was honored with the university's Loyalty Award on Saturday afternoon during the Alumni Awards Luncheon. Alice has a long family history in the Bloomington Community including 13 female relatives who were members of Epsilon Chapter. A resident of Rockford, IL, Alice has also served as president of the Rockford KKG Alumni Chapter.
During the fall of 2013 there was an informal dance themed “Kappartittaville” and there was also a semi-formal dance. We had Kappa Klassic, which was a new philanthropy event, and we continued to have Pie-a-Kappa. In both the spring semester and fall semester, we continued to write letters with our pen pals. There was a Paint the Campus Pink night that we had in order to raise breast cancer awareness. We also celebrated the 140th year anniversary of our Chapter. The Epsilon chapter welcomed 14 new members and initiation took place on November 2nd.
State Farm Hall was opened in the fall of 2013, being the home for the departments of Business Administration and Economics. Illinois Wesleyan celebrated their homecoming on October 11 through October 13 with the theme “A Class Act”. Illinois Wesleyan also renovated the Dugout, which is where students can go eat or grab a snack. The newly renovated Dugout which opened in the fall of 2013, provided students with healthier options to eat. There were other improvements such as Wi-Fi added all over campus, a bike rental program, and a single stream recycling.
==Highlights of 2014==
During 2014, Epsilon chapter had many achievements. Once again, our chapter received the honor of having the highest GPA within all of Greek life and of all student organizations on campus. At convention, we received the national risk management award. We had a spring informal dance in February with the theme "Kappa Kappa G things" and a formal dance, Sapphire Ball, in March. In the fall, we had another informal dance, with the theme "Come on Barbie let's go party." We also had our annual semiformal dance in early October. Further, a few philanthropy events took place throughout the semester. The first event was Reading is Key in February. In March, we hosted a "Kappa Kappucino" night at our chapter house during finals. Our annual "Pie-A-Kappa" event took place in early September. "Kappa Klassic" was also held later in September. Finally, throughout the year, girls in our chapter wrote pen pal letters back and forth with children at a local elementary school. In the fall, we welcomed 26 new members into our chapter after formal recruitment.
Over the summer of 2014, a few renovations were made to our chapter house. The third floor bathroom was updated, along with new paint and wallpaper in our foyer and the first floor bathroom. Also, three rooms on the third floor received new, white furniture. Also during the summer months, a travelling statue exhibit was installed on the quad and around campus. In December, our university president announced his retirement for the spring of 2015. In the fall, renovations for our athletic building, the Shirk Center, began. Construction will conclude in the fall of 2015. Homecoming week took place during mid-October, with the theme "Off the Charts."
We hold informal chapter meetings at our privately owned house in the living room which we call the "blue room." Formal chapter meetings are held in our chapter room. Our current chapter house was built in the 1960s. The house holds 46 girls. There are three floors in the house, and girls can live in single, double, or triple rooms. Before the current chapter house was built, our members lived in another house on campus, called Adams Hall, which still stands today.
==Highlights of 2015==
During 2015, Epsilon chapter had many achievements and made a great deal of memories. Once again, our chapter received the honor of having the highest GPA within all of Greek Life and of all student organizations on campus. In March, we held our annual Mom’s Day event, which included brunch at our chapter house. Our annual Dad’s Day was held in October, which included a tailgate event at the Illinois Wesleyan football stadium.
Further, we had three dances this year. In the spring, we had an award show themed informal. Each pledge class dressed up as nominations from a different award show category, such as the Grammy’s, Academy Awards, etc. Our annual formal dance, called Sapphire Ball, was held in March. This fall we had another informal dance with the theme “Kappa Kappa Gatsby.”
Additionally, we hosted a few philanthropy events this year. In April, we held our annual “Reading is Key” event at a local daycare. Our annual “Pie A Kappa” event was held in September, followed by “Kappa Klassic” in October. In November, we partnered with a fraternity on campus to host a “Turkey Trot.” Also, throughout the year, girls in our chapter exchanged pen pal letters with children at a local elementary school. We held two PR events on campus this year: A lemonade stand in April and a hot apple cider stand in October. Finally, in early November, we initiated 22 new members into our chapter following formal recruitment.
In late 2015, Illinois Wesleyan University elected and installed a new president. Further, a fountain called “Aspiration” was introduced to campus. The fountain resides on the new “mini quad” which has been upgraded with landscaping and sidewalks to suit its name. In addition, renovations to our athletic building, the Shirk Center, continued throughout the year. There were a few changes made within our chapter house as well. We received a new television, along with a new chef.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Susan G. Komen
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Our chapter chose Susan G. Komen as our local philanthropy because it is an organization to which all women can relate. Breast cancer is a disease that primarily affects women, and many girls in our chapter know women who have been personally affected by it, making it a very meaningful and inspirational experience to support this organization.
==Highlights of 2016==
During 2016, Epsilon Chapter has made great strives to become outstanding leaders, better our values, and better our public relations. It started at the beginning of the year when our Public Relations Chairman brought "Why Kappa Wednesday" to our chapter. This is where our members post on social media on Wednesdays and explain why we choose Kappa. In January, we also had a Kappa Trainer come and speak to our Chapter Council and our whole chapter on values. We held a gala and hosted Kappa Karaoke in our house. Throughout February, we made strives to strengthen our sisterhood by participating in a sisterhood self defense class and Greek week. This enabled us to work together.
We had three dances this year: Kappa Kappa Throwback (February 12th), Sapphire Ball (April 23rd), and Kappa Kappa Space Jam (November 4th). Two of our biggest accomplishments philanthropically and public relation wise was our Golden Key Gala held on April 9th. This Gala was used to raise money and awareness about Reading is Fundamental and to reach out to our Alumnae and other chapters on campus. Other philanthropy events this year included "Reading is Key" event where we spent a day at a local day care, annual "pie a Kappa" held on the quad, and "Kick it with Kappa" to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. Some of our public relations events this year included: Breaking Barriers and events on the quad where we give away cookies or candy to our colleagues. In November, we initiated 23 girls into our chapter after formal recruitment.
In 2016, Illinois Wesleyan University finished the renovations on the Shirk Center, our athletic building. They also changed the way we dispose of waste in our dining halls. We have three bins: one for waste, one for recyclables, and one for composting. As for our chapter, our kitchenette and our chapter room were completely redone. In the kitchenette we now have shelving and cabinets where we can store plates, bowls, and utensils. Our chapter room has new hard wood flooring.
Our Chapter has continued to raise money and support research through the Susan G. Komen foundation, because it is a philanthropy that all women can appreciate considering that the disease primarily affects women. Bloomington is one of the locations where there is a "Race for the Cure", and there are many women in our house that have been personally affected by breast cancer making this philanthropy one that is meaningful and dear to many.
Our chapter meets in our chapter room. Our chapter room has just received new flooring.
==Highlights of 2017==
During 2017, the ladies of Epsilon have made it our mission to improve our chapter’s campus involvement, academics, and sisterhood. We kicked off our spring semester with multiple sisterhood events that allowed us to bond and work together as a team. These continued throughout the year with activities like competitions between pledge classes and movie nights in the TV room for the whole chapter. We added two new members to the pledge class of 2020 in the spring as well. Our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Allie Paradis, promoted our excellence in the classroom by having weekly competitions for study hours and studying with a sister. These motivated us to always get our work done!
We had three dances this year and they were so fun! Our spring informal dance was themed Denim on Denim. We had our annual Sapphire Ball in April where we said goodbye to all of our graduating seniors. This fall, we had another informal themed Sweet Home Kappa Gam. Our new members got to pick this year’s informal theme and we loved it! Our two biggest philanthropic events were our annual “Pie a Kappa” event on the quad and “Kick it with Kappa”, both benefiting our local philanthropy, Susan G. Komen. We also hosted a “Girls who go Greek” event outside our home for all the Greek women on campus to come and hangout with us.
Our beautiful home just got a new addition this fall: a brand new back patio! It is perfect and just what we imagined, and we can’t wait to finally be able to use it in the spring! We also redid our study room, the Wise Owl.
We have continued to support our local philanthropy, Susan G. Komen, because it is a cause that many women feel emotionally connected. Overall, it has been a great year for us here at Epsilon and we feel as though we have accomplished many of our goals. We can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store! We were also lucky to have another visit from Fraternity President Beth Black who is an Epsilon Kappa!
==Highlights of 2018==
We participated in reading buddies in the spring for RIF as well as Hoops for Hope for Susan G. Komen. We also raised money for RIF through Pie-a-Kappa in early fall 2018 as well as a Reading is Key event for RIF in November and a tabling event for Susan G. Komen for breast cancer awareness. Our biggest philanthropy event of the year was the Golden Key Gala in the spring benefiting RIF. We won Chapter of the Year in Spring 2018 at the FSL awards and our advisor Erin won Adviser of the Year. We also received a Civic Engagement Award. We were paired with Sigma Chi for Homecoming Week and we took first place. Something our chapter worked on this year was improving our chapter GPA by awarding people for various academic things such as studying with a sister, not skipping any classes, and getting an A on an exam.
The class of 2022 at IWU is the largest incoming class in five years with over 500 students and one of the most diverse in the university's history. Illinois Wesleyan added an e-sports program and facility in Hansen Student Center in fall 2018 where students can professionally compete in online gaming. IWU also changed the design of its athletic logo and wordmark logo.
Susan G. Komen is a philanthropy that all people and all women especially can relate to as we all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. Our chapter feels emotionally connected to this organization and therefore feel it is important to raise money and awareness towards finding a cure for breast cancer.
==Highlights of 2019==
January 18, 2019- Epsilon Chapter held an ice skating sisterhood at Pepsi Ice Center. It was a good jump into the new semester!
February 15-17, 2019- Select members on the executive board went to the Kappa Leadership Conference in Texas for the weekend. Here they met with other Kappas and learned the foundations of sisterhood and values shared in our fraternity.
February 22, 2019- Epsilon Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma help their spring informal.
February 27, 2019- Epsilon Chapter held a Yoga Class Sisterhood at Shirk Gymnasium to support body positivity week directed by the Panhellenic Council.
March 3-8, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had an LC visit for the week. Many of the members had the chance to meet with her and bond over ritual, their positions within the chapter, and ways to improve their role in the chapter. The LC presented a powerpoint in chapter on the values of being a Kappa.
March 23, 2019- Epsilon Chapter held their annual Golden Key Gala and raised $5,353 for our national philanthropy, Reading Is Fundamental.
March 24, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had an EME training from 10-12pm. We discussed ways to improve our sisterhood within our house, as well as in the community.
March 25-30, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their spring Inspiration Period. Initiation was held on March 29 and 30.
April 2, 2019- Epsilon Chapter was granted awards for Sorority New Member of the Year and Outstanding Chapter Program/Event Award for the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards.
April 7, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had Moms' Day. The day consisted of spending time with our moms at the house with games, food, and a silent auction!
April 24, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their last sisterhood of the Spring 2019 semester. Due to stress from finals, we had a Spa sisterhood to de-stress and relax from our academic responsibilities.
April 26, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their annual Sapphire Ball. We said goodbye to our loving Seniors, spending time together with good music and food.
September 11-15, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their fall recruitment with a Heaven on Earth theme for Bid Day!
September 25, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their first fall sisterhood. The sisterhood was themed Kappa Kampfire with s’mores and fun!
October 23, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had a Halloween themed Sisterhood. We each carved pumpkins and had a good time!
November 4-9, 2019- Epsilon Chapter had their fall Inspiration Period. Initiation was held on November 8 and 9. We had a flower sisterhood to bond with our sisters on November 6 and a new member retreat on Thursday November 7th.
The incoming class of 2023 was welcomed from 22 states, 10 countries, and 27% of the class self-identifies as a student of color. This year Illinois Wesleyan University welcomed a new Interim President, S. Georgia Nugent for the 2019-2020 academic year, while they search for its next president.
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We believe in giving back to our community and youth, especially, which is supported through Reading Is Fundamental which helps provide books and a better eduation to the underserved children in our community. Stay Alive brings awareness to mental health which we believe is an important topic that should be talked about especially in university. Breast Cancer Awareness is a sentimental topic and we chose to support this organization and cause because of how close it is to many of the members' hearts.
==Highlights of 2020==
Chapter Summary
We started this year with an ice skating sisterhood at the Bloomington ice center on January 24th, 2020. This was a fun way to get together after a long winter break. Our next event was another sisterhood. At this sisterhood, we frosted cookies for Valentine’s Day on February 12th, 2020. We delivered the cookies to all of the other sororities and fraternities on campus. We had our spring informal on February 21st, 2020. The theme “Kappa never goes out of style” was chosen by the senior class. Due to COVID-19, we were sent home for the rest of the semester. We had one member initiated virtually. This was on May 2nd. We had a virtual work week to prepare for recruitment the week of August 9th, 2020. We then had a completely virtual recruitment from September 10th to the 12th. We had a socially distanced Bid Day on September 13th. We had a virtual sisterhood on September 16th, 2020. We played a Kahoot based off of fun facts about each sister in the chapter. Homecoming week was from October 5th to the 10th. All of the events were virtual. We had 5 new members participate in a dance competition, where our other members were able to watch a live streaming of it. Our next sisterhood was Flowerside. This was on October 21st and was a great way to begin inspiration period. This event was virtual as well. The new member retreat was held on October 22nd. This event was held in person in an on campus space with social distancing. Initiation took place on October 24th and was virtual. We won three awards this year. We won the Panhellenic award, the Recruitment award, and the Most Improved Academics award. We also had honorable mention for Philanthropy award. Chapter operations were altered significantly because of COVID-19. All of our executive board meetings and chapters were held virtually, as well as many other events as I described.
We chose Reading is Fundamental for our philanthropy, because there is a literacy problem in America. This organization tries to provide resources to children in need by donating books and raising money. Stay Alive was chosen because it breaks the stigma surrounding mental health issues and helps support those who are struggling. The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation helps sisters in many ways, with the most common being scholarships.
We added a DEI director position. This position is under VP Member Development. We had elections and have filled this position for the next term. Due to COVID-19, we could not have our normal Founders Day ceremony. Our chapter had small groups watch the Facebook live program. Our Bloomington---------------Normal Alumnae Association brought festive cookies to the house to celebrate too.