4,269
edits
Changes
→2012
In February, Gamma Rho held its Valentine's Day fundraiser called Kappa Kisses. The sisters sold Hershey kisses and spiced up the sale by also selling "songs." Any member of the Allegheny community could purchase a song for a friend, and the sisters of Kappa would publicly serenade them. For St. Patrick's Day, Gamma Rho sold bags of Skittles, which went very well. In an effort to revitalize the Reading Is Key event, the sisters of Gamma Rho brainstormed and decided to launch a campus-wide talent show. Both Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa hosted the show, raising money for Reading is Fundamental and showcasing some excellent talent in the Greek and college communities. In addition, the sisters of Gamma Rho will continue to work with Head Start, an integral part of Meadville's elementary school, and will host the Active Aging service mixer with Kappa Alpha Theta. Phi Kappa Psi and the Gamma Rho members will again team up for a sports fundraising event in the late fall. Gamma Rho hopes to continue to develop the passion and dedication to both Reading is Fundamental and the Rose McGill Fund. The upcoming semester will be especially important in advancing Kappa’s education and efforts toward philanthropy.
==Highlights of 2012==
The Gamma Rho chapter at Allegheny College proved to have an eventful and very much beneficial year in 2012. We started off the Spring semester by gaining seventeen wonderful new sisters. Our new members participated in SAMS (Students Against Multiple Sclerosis) by performing a dance/lip-singing competition and we raised the most money again! As Valentines Day rolled around we launched our annual Kappa Kisses were we sell candy packages and songgrams to the students and faculty of our campus, all profits were contributed to the Rose McGill Fund.
This year Phi Gamma Delta was brought back to Allegheny's campus where we helped in the process of nominating their founding fathers and then all headed out for "A Night With the FIJIs" to welcome them to Greek life. Our chapter has seen a very beneficial improvement in the running of chapter council and the organization of our chapter overall. We wrapped up the Fall semester having successfully elected our new chapter council and preaping for the transition. As a chapter, we set some goals to follow the bilaws more effectively and have made some changes to things that have since completely improved. With the new year ahead we see ourselves opening up new doors and pushing Gamma Rho to reach it's full potential.
==Highlights of 2013==
The Gamma Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma began their 2013 spring semester by welcoming twenty beautiful new members into their home. Shortly after, the new member pledge class participated in a campus-wide philanthropic event, SAMS (Students Against Multiple Sclerosis), a lip-synching competition that raises money and awareness for those suffering with Multiple Sclerosis. Gamma Rho successfully raised the most money for this noteworthy cause.
In addition to SAMS, Gamma Rho’s members worked to raise money for the Rose McGill Fund through their annual Kappa Kisses and Song-grams event. Students had the opportunity to purchase either a delicious Valentine’s Day treat or an entertaining song-gram for another lucky individual. Along with this holiday event, the Gamma Rho chapter made great strides with their local philanthropy, Head Start of Meadville, PA. Every week, sisters volunteered at Head Start in order to read to children, clean toys, and tag books, along with many other tasks. Through much hard work and endless effort, Kappa was able to raise enough money to bring back a Book of the Month club at Head Start. Every month, each child at Head start received a book in order to encourage their interest in reading. Having the opportunity to implement a literacy program at Head Start has meant so much to us, considering the parallel that it has with our national philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. In April, along with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, Kappa worked arduously to promote our main philanthropic event: ‘Do it For the Kids’ talent show! After a night filled with great performances, Kappa and its co-sponsor raised over $1300 for their respective philanthropies. Kappa also joined with another sorority on campus, Alpha Chi Omega, to provide students with light refreshments during finals. Our mini-event, Alpha Chai’s and Kappachinos, put a smile on many faces while finals week drudged on.
In addition to our many philanthropic endeavors, the sisters of Kappa worked endlessly to promote academic excellence within our chapter. Every month, sisters were constantly encouraged to log their study hours and gather for group study sessions to maintain productivity and time management. Worksheets were created to help implement stronger organizational skills in order to aid with procrastination and other unfavorable study habits. After a semester of tough academic schedules, three members of Gamma Rho achieved a 4.0 grade point average. We couldn’t be more proud of their accomplishments! Furthermore, the chapter’s suite on the fourth floor of Brooks underwent major renovations over the previous year. Painted a lovely pale blue, filled with new furniture and an owl figurine, the newly renovated suite projects an air of optimism and happiness throughout every chapter meeting and sisterhood event.
Our alumni-relations grew much stronger over the past few months. In an effort to reestablish correspondence between alumnae and active members, a pen-pal program was created. Through this program, active members were able to connect and create lasting relationships with past sisters of Gamma Rho. Along with the pen-pal program, our Alumni Chair challenged each member to trace her respective key family back through time. Through this investigation, the sisters of Gamma Rho were able to successfully identify members of their key-family from over a decade ago! The largest alumni-relations event of the year, however, was Gamma Rho Chapter’s 125th anniversary celebration. On October 19th, 2013, the active members of Gamma Rho invited dozens of alumnae back to Allegheny’s Campus to celebrate 125 years of sisterhood. Much preparation was done in order to pull off this spectacular event. Each sister wrote letters to alumni informing them of the event and of their excitement and eagerness to welcome them back onto campus. Centerpieces were crafted to create a warm and peaceful atmosphere during the luncheon. An entertaining skit was composed to remind alumnae of traditional Gamma Rho stories and events. A ritual review session was conducted for all of the alumnae and active members. And lastly, the alumnae were treated to a special rendition of “O, Pat!” in an effort to recreate their very own run-out day. The celebration was a giant success, and everyone, both active members and alumnae, left with a renewal of their Kappa pride and spirit.
The Gamma Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma constantly strives to support the philanthropic efforts of other fraternities, sororities, and campus-wide organizations. It seeks to exude a positive image of Greek Life every single day, and it always yearns to search for new ways to promote a Panhellenic atmosphere on campus. Lately, Greek life at Allegheny has been confronted with the issue of inclusivity. As a result, the fraternities and sororities at Allegheny have been taking the necessary strides to learn about the concerns presented by students on campus in order to create a more inclusive Greek life community. The Gamma Rho chapter has gone through much advancement over the past year, and I am so proud to have had the opportunity to witness these positive changes. Although Gamma Rho has already improved many aspects of its foundational elements, the active members continue to explore their opportunities to strengthen their chapter even further. I cannot wait to see where we end up next year.
==Highlights of the 2020s==