Eta Omicron
| Eta Omicron | |
|---|---|
| HO | |
 | |
| Founded | March 27, 2010 |
| College | Northeastern University |
| Location | Boston, MA |
| Homepage | Eta Omicron Website |
| Media related to Eta Omicron Chapter | |
Eta Omicron, Northeastern
Northeastern University established in 1898 in Boston, Massachusetts
Founded March 27, 2010
86 charter members
367 initiates (as of June 2018)
Some of Eta Omicrons’s Outstanding Alumnae: (If you have chapter alumna who have received recognition in any of these three categories, please list them with the date(s) of recognition.)
Fraternity Council Officers:
Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:
Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:
Contents
The Early Years:Edit
Northeastern University was established in 1898 as the Evening Institute for Younger Men at the Huntington Avenue YMCA in Boston. Its first class was held October 3, 1898. The institute catered to the needs of the rapidly growing immigrant population in Boston. Within a few years of its formation, it offered classes in law, engineering and finance. In 1909, the school began offering day classes, and it moved to a new location on Huntington Avenue in 1913. The school was officially organized as a college in 1916, and in 1922 it was renamed Northeastern University of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association. In a period of rapid campus expansion, the university purchased the Huntington Avenue Grounds (former Boston Red Sox ballpark) in 1929, but did not build on the land due to financial constraints during the Great Depression.
Northeastern today is a private, secular, coeducational research university. It has eight colleges and offers undergraduate majors in 65 departments. At the graduate level, the university offers more than 125 programs and awards masters, doctoral, and professional degrees. The university is the home of more than 35 specialized research and education centers. Its main campus is located in the Fenway Cultural District of Boston. Northeastern is classified as a RU/H institution (high research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Among Northeastern's past and present faculty are several Guggenheim Fellows and a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” winner, a former Democratic nominee for President of the United Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_University - cite_note-7 and a Pulitzer Prize winner.
Colonization and InstallationEdit
Following an open house attended by more than 200 interested women, interviews with Boston-area Kappa alumnae and the colonization team and an invitation-only, iris-adorned brunch, the charter members of Eta Omicron colony were pledged on January 30, 2010.
Eta Omicron was installed March 27, 2010, with 86 charter members. Northeastern’s director of fraternity and sorority life challenged the charter members to continue their excellent work as they begin a new era of sorority life on campus and in the Boston community.
Eta Omicron was the seventh NPC women’s fraternity to be established at Northeastern. The university enrolls more than 15,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students where 9,600 students were residents of the campus dorm and apartment structures. With more resident students than ever, the desire for more students to be part of a Greek-letter community increased. Northeastern’s signature cooperative education program (co-op), as well as student research, service learning and global learning, builds the connections that enable students to transform their lives and the lives of others.
The university’s outstanding support of Greek life was one of many attractions to this institution for Kappa. The charter new member class boasted the highest GPA of any Greek-letter organization at Northeastern. Eta Omicron members were campus and community leaders bringing much to this new chapter as leaders, scholars and philanthropy-focused women.
Installing officers were Fraternity President Denise Rugani, UC Davis; Director of Membership Elizabeth Bailey, Mississippi; Region 1 directors Claire St. Martin Collins, Emory, and Kelly Matyas Magyarics, Pittsburgh; Rho Province Directors Allyson Kinney, Connecticut, and Julie Carley Reilly, Puget Sound; Coordinator of Chapter Development Janice Franklin Larson, Akron, and Chapter Consultant Melissa Shearer, Vanderbilt.
Eta Omicron Chapter was Kappa’s 137th active chapter and complemented the growing, service-oriented campus Panhellenic consisting of seven other NPC groups—Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta, Kappa Delta, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Sigma Kappa colonizing in Spring 2013.
Chapter AwardsEdit
Fraternity Awards:
Risk Management Award, 2014
Academic Excellence Award, 2016
Public Relations Award, 2018
Northeastern Panhellenic Awards:
Chapter of the Year, 2013
Outstanding Sisterhood, 2013
Outstanding Scholarship, 2013
Chapter Excellence, 2013
Outstanding Scholarship, 2014
Outstanding Leadership, 2014
Achievement in Scholarship, 2014
Achievement in Leadership, 2014
Outstanding Philanthropy, 2015
Outstanding Academics, 2015
Chapter of the Year, 2016
Achievement in Philanthropy, 2016
Achievement in Scholarship, 2016
Chapter of the Year, 2017
Highlights of 2012Edit
2012 was an exciting year for Eta Omicron: we focused on involvement in Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Boston community, and on building sisterhood in general. Some of our philanthropic efforts included volunteering at the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club, where we tutored and held workshops such as baking classes. We also made valentines for troops, volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank, went to the Astra Zeneca Hope Lodge, and even helped clean up the Franklin Park Zoo! Our variety of sisterhood events this year included movie nights, ice skating, and a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts.
The spring of 2012 proved to be an eventful semester for Eta Omicron. We earned the "Most Improved Chapter" Award for the year of 2011, showing that our efforts to be more involved in the Fraternity and Sorority Life community are being recognized. During Greek Week, we were paired with Kappa Sigma, taking part in Greek Sing and winning Greek Olympics! We also participated in Relay for Life, where many sisters walked laps around our arena all night for cancer awareness and support. The year's formal was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cambridge. Our semester was wrapped up by our annual Tea Party, where our seniors were sent off after hearing kind words about them from their sisters. Our chapter's GPA for the Spring 2012 semester was 3.361 placing third among all panhellenic sororities.
At the 2012 biennial convention, Eta Omicron earned honorable mention in academic excellence and panhellenic relations.
The fall semester of 2012 started off right with a recruitment retreat in Cape Cod. We stayed overnight at a camp, practicing recruitment skills and getting ready for another great semester. Recruitment was one of our biggest successes this year, as 34 new members joined the one uninitiated member in pledging Kappa Kappa Gamma. During homecoming, we were paired with Alpha Epsilon Pi and placed second in the annual homecoming dance competition, Take It To The Floor. We also took part in in the Light the Night walk, which raised money for leukemia and lymphoma.
On Founder's Day, we attended a luncheon at Harvard and heard alumnae talk about how they continued to stay involved in Kappa. We also sponsored our second annual Kappa Kickoff, where we raised almost $1,000 with nearly 30 participating teams. During I-Week, we had many successful events, including the big-little reveal. The week culminated in 34 new members becoming initiated on December 1, 2012, with one more being initiated in the spring. The semester ended with our semi-formal at the Longwood Bar and Grill. We finished the semester with a 3.4 GPA, placing second among all panhellenic sororities.
Northeastern University is growing rapidly, with over 44,000 students applying for 2,800 spots in the 2012 entering class. This year, the business school received a donation of $60 million and was renamed to the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. Eta Omicron is composed of a wide range of individuals who bring unique personalities and ideas to the chapter. We embrace all of our members and their points of view, striving to create an accepting atmosphere where everyone can thrive and get involved. Through our diversity as a chapter, we challenge ourselves to uphold our values every day and truly live up to Kappa standards.
Highlights of 2013Edit
2013 was a busy and exciting year for Eta Omicron! We continued to increase our involvement both in Northeastern Fraternity and Sorority Life on campus, as well as the greater Boston area. The Astra Zeneca Hope Lodge, which serves as a home away from home for cancer patients and their families, became our local philanthropy focus. We spent two nights a month baking cookies, playing bingo, and talking with guests of the Hope Lodge. Our philanthropic involvement this year also included making Valentine’s Day cards for troops, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and volunteering at the Franklin Park Zoo. Sisterhood events included a Madewell shopping event, Kappa Krumbs baking competition, Owl Pals, and weekly group dinner dates.
Eta Omicron’s hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed during spring semester. At Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards, we were honored to earn the Chapter of the Year Award, as well as the Outstanding Sisterhood, Outstanding Scholarship, and Chapter Excellence Gold Awards. We were also honored that one of our sisters, Vice President of Academic Excellence Margaret Minnig, was named Outstanding Scholar.
Our sister, Emma Caggiano, was elected as the first Panhellenic President from our chapter. During Greek Week, we were paired with the gentlemen of Phi Delta Theta, and won Greek Sing with our “Saved By The Bell” themed dance! We also won overall Greek Week, with our participation in food can collecting, Greek Olympics, and strong chapter spirit at events. Relay For Life was also a great success- our sisters collectively raised over $20,000, more than any other team on campus! At Province, we were honored to earn the New Member Program Award. We also held a Kappa Kaffeine fundraiser during finals week to raise money for the Kappa Foundation, and a Futsal tournament with Alpha Epsilon Pi to raise money for the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club.
Our formal was held on April 13th at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. To recognize one of our largest graduating classes yet, as well as future graduating classes, we created Senior Week, known as S-Week. The week included programming for seniors, as well as a night of speeches from our sisters to the graduates. We concluded the semester with our annual Tea Party brunch. Our GPA for spring semester was 3.39, ranking second among all 8 sororities on campus, as well as surpassing the all-sorority and all-women average.
We started off fall semester with a sisterhood retreat at Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. We prepared for recruitment and bonded as a chapter after a long summer apart. With the addition of another sorority on campus, Sigma Kappa, as well as an increase in the number of girls interested in Greek life, Northeastern’s Panhellenic recruitment structure was changed. Instead of four days in a row, recruitment was spread out across two weekends. Recruitment proved to be very successful, as we welcomed 33 new members of the Epsilon class to our chapter on October 7th.
Founder’s Day was hosted on our campus and alumni, including recent graduates from our chapter, joined us for a brunch celebration. Our annual Kappa Kickoff philanthropy event had its biggest turnout yet, with 47 teams signed up, and raised more than $1,000 for Hope Lodge.
During homecoming week, we were paired with the gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and won the annual dance competition, Take It To The Floor! Our new member period was eventful, with programming including a “Kappa Key-esta” for new members to meet actives, a Minute-to-Win-It game night, and a key and pillow exchange for bigs and littles. I-Week included many events such as our yearly Owl Prowl dinner, and culminated in the initiation of 31 sisters on November 24th.
Our philanthropy committee ran a t-shirt fundraiser and donated the money raised to the Kappa Foundation. We ended the semester with our Sapphire Ball, held at the Back Bay Hilton on December 7th. Our chapter’s GPA for Fall 2013 was unavailable at the time this report was submitted.
Highlights of 2014Edit
2014 was an exhilarating and action-packed year for Eta Omicron! Some of our main focuses this year were to strengthen our sisterhood and further our philanthropic efforts. We continued to go to our local philanthropy AstraZeneca Hope Lodge twice a month to play Bingo, bake cookies and talk to the patients and guests. Some other philanthropic events we participated in were Cards for Troops with the ladies of Delta Phi Epsilon, the Muddy River cleanup, The Johnson & Johnson Games and serving food at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans. Our sisterhood events included a trip to SkyZone, pumpkin carving, movie nights, a J. Crew shopping event, a workout at Pure Barre Boston, and the first annual post semi/post formal Brunch at Pour House.
The 2014 spring semester was a great way to start the year. Our sister, Jennifer Cordero, was elected the first Panhellenic Secretary from our chapter. At Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards, our sister Kayla Arruda won “Outstanding Scholar” and our advisor, Jan Larson, won “Outstanding Advisor”. Our chapter achievements included “Achievement in Scholarship” and “Achievement in Leadership.” We also won awards for “Outstanding Scholarship” and “Outstanding Leadership.” Overall we were ranked Bronze in Chapter Excellence.
During Greek Week, we were paired with the gentlemen of both Sigma Beta Rho and Beta Gamma Epsilon. We played an active part in the week’s activities, participating in Greek Sing and placing 2nd overall for the week. We were also involved in Northeastern’s Relay for Life and were the top fundraising team, raising $12,386, for the second year in a row. At the end of the week we hosted our Reading Is Fundamental event at Samuel Adams Elementary school. We read “The Rainbow Fish” to first-graders, played fish-themed bingo, decorated bookmarks, and every child received a book of their own to take home.
Formal was held on April 5th at Venue in Downtown Boston. As the semester came to an end seniors participated in Senior Week (S-Week) events as we graduated our last Alpha class members. One event called Alpha Bid Day was held in honor of all the Alphas who never had the chance to run into the arms of loving sisters on bid day. We invited back as many Alphas who were in the area for the event. We concluded the spring semester with our annual Love and Loyal Tea Party. Our chapter GPA for the spring semester was a 3.4, which surpassed the all woman and all sorority average. We had the 2nd highest-ranking GPA of all 8 sororities on campus.
In June, 5 of our sisters attended the 2014 biennial Convention where Eta Omicron won the Risk Management award and Honorable Mention in the areas of Ritual, Education, Academic Excellence, and Public Relations.
We started off the 2014 fall semester with our sisterhood retreat at Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. In accordance with our yearly goals, we extended the retreat to two nights so that we could devote an entire day to sisterhood bonding after a long summer away from school. We also prepared for the upcoming recruitment. Due to feedback from the Panhellenic community, the recruitment structure was changed again. Instead of having recruitment held over two weekends, it was brought back to being four days in a row. Recruitment proved to be very successful and we welcomed 36 wonderful new members into the Zeta class of our chapter on September 23rd.
We hosted Founder’s Day on our campus and active members of Eta Omicron and Zeta Alpha (Babson) chapters as well as alumni attended to celebrate with a brunch. During Homecoming Week we were paired with the gentlemen of Phi Delta Theta. We participated in the week’s events and won second place in the semester’s annual dance competition, Take It to the Floor.
The new member period was very eventful. There were many events including “Kappa Kandy Land” and Family Feud for the new members to meet and socialize with the active sisters. During Inspiration Week we held our 2nd annual Pillow-Key Exchange for the bigs and littles and the annual Owl Prowl. The week culminated in the initiation of 36 new members on November 7th.
Our annual Kappa Kickoff was held on November 16th with 35 teams participating, raising $850 dollars for Hope Lodge. Our philanthropy committee also hosted a second RIF event at Samuel Adams Elementary. To further support RIF, we brought an Ice ream truck to campus and raised over $150. Our Sapphire Ball was held on December 6th at Estate in Downtown Boston. The chapter’s fall 2014 GPA was 3.39, again surpassing the all sorority and all women’s averages.
Eta Omicron holds chapter in a university owned classroom, which changes each semester. Fall of 2014 was held in a Mugar classroom and Spring of 2014 was held in a Behrakis classroom. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite. We have never had one in our history.
Highlights of 2015Edit
Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a delightful 2015 school year. We started the year with five main goals: to increase organization within committees and allow members the opportunities to gain more leadership; to focus on individual well being of sisters and strengthen the sisterhood of EtaO; to improve internal organization and structure of Chapter Council leadership; to increase Panhellenic involvement and visibility on campus; and to foster growth and understanding and appreciation of Kappa.
We were able to achieve all of these goals, for example by restructuring how we hold second chair position elections, holding countless bonding sisterhood events and implementing a Chapter Council bonding initiative to help the council realize and appreciate each other’s skills and leadership endeavors. We are also proud to support our sister Sneha Pandya who was elected to be Panhellenic President at Northeastern for the upcoming 2016 year. Some examples of the sisterhood events we put on included a kickboxing event, movie nights, pottery painting, ornament decorating with other chapters on campus, and J Crew and Brandy Melville shopping events.
The Spring semester of 2015 started wonderfully for Eta Omicron as we won “Outstanding Philanthropy” and “Outstanding Academics” for our chapter in the annual Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards. Our sister, Ashley Karsenty served as the Panhellenic Secretary as well. At the end of the school year, four of our sisters attended the biannual Province meeting.
We were also very active in our school’s Greek Week, participating in Greek Sing and placing second overall in our Greek Week competitions where we were paired with the gentlemen of Delta Tau Delta and the ladies of Delta Phi Omega. As a kickoff to Greek Week we also participated in the annual Relay for Life on campus. We won the Double Dare Competition and received $500 for our team, bringing our total fundraising as a team to over $16,000.
Formal was held on March 28th at The Inn at Longwood. We ended the school year with Senior Week (S-week), with seniors participating in a multitude of activities including Senior Wills and Goodbyes. We graduated 24 incredible seniors. Our last event of the year, the Love and Loyal Tea, was spectacular and we honored our much deserving sister Cara Henderson with the Loyalty Award. Our chapter GPA for the Spring semester was 3.38, ranking fifth out of the eight sororities on campus, as well as surpassing the all-women and all-sorority average.
We started our Fall 2015 with our annual sisterhood retreat to Camp Burgess in Cape Cod. We prepared ourselves for Recruitment with workshops and strengthened our sisterhood through bonding activities and competitions. Interest in recruitment continues to increase on campus and more than 500 girls came out for formal recruitment. Eta Omicron proved to have a very successful recruitment, welcoming 35 excited members to the Eta Class on September 30th.
This year the Eta Theta (Harvard) chapter hosted Founder’s Day on their campus and active members of Eta Omicron and Zeta Alpha (Babson) chapters as well as alumni attended to celebrate with a brunch. During Homecoming Week we were paired with the gentlemen of Beta Chi Theta and Alpha Delta Phi. We participated in the week’s events including the annual dance competition, Take It to the Floor. Our sister, Christy Murphy also ran for Mayor of Huntington Avenue, the first contestant ever from our chapter. The new member period was carefully planned so as not overwhelm while simultaneously integrating the newest class. There were many events including Pumpkin Carving, a self defense class, and a “Minute to Win It” competition for the new members to meet and socialize with the active sisters. The annual New Member Retreat was held at an active sister’s house in Topsfield, MA. During Inspiration Week we held our 3rd annual Pillow-Key/Fleur-de-Lis Exchange for the bigs and littles and the annual Owl Prowl. The week culminated in the initiation of 33 new members on Saturday December 5th.
Our annual Kappa Kickoff was held on October 25th with 28 teams participating, raising $900 dollars for the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. We also held a Bar-B-Que afterwards for our sisters and the participating teams. In one of the most interesting Education Chapters, Eta Omicron held its first “It’s On Us” presentation, facilitating discussion and understanding about sexual assault on college campuses. The last week of the semester, we held S-week and celebrated our four graduating fall seniors. Our Sapphire Ball was held on December 12th at CandiBar in Downtown Boston. The chapter’s Fall 2015 GPA was not available at the time this report was written.
Eta Omicron holds chapter in a university owned classroom, which changes each semester. Fall of 2015 was held in a Cargill classroom and Spring of 2015 was held in a Churchill classroom. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite. We have never had one in our history.
The biggest recent change on our campus was the remodeling of Curry Student Center, where all Panhellenic Sororities hold formal fall recruitment. The first floor was renovated and now includes a mini amphitheater.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
A major focus of the Spring semester was increasing our philanthropic endeavors. We held our annual Reading is Fundamental event on March 31st at the Sam Adams Elementary School. We worked with the same class we had worked with the year before in their second grade classroom. We read “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie,” played bingo, and made bookmarks with the children. Additionally, we changed some of our activities with our local philanthropy, the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. Instead of Bingo, we started playing trivia and held a SuperBowl Party. Lastly, we held our first annual Lip Sync for Life, a Jimmy Fallon style LipSync Battle, and raised over $600 for the Hope Lodge.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Our chapter chose to support the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge in 2013 because many of the women in the organization felt personal connections to the Lodge. We are all affected by cancer in one way or another and thought this would be the best place to devote our time. We are also able to do hands on work at the Lodge and we interact with the guests, instead of solely donating money and that was important to our chapter.
Highlight of 2016Edit
Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an exemplary 2016 school year. In January, we crafted five main goals that we hoped to accomplish within the year: to raise chapter GPA by 0.02 (to 3.4) by December 2016; to decrease unexcused absences by 50%, to have attendance of at least 12 women at Fraternity Sorority Life events and Panhel meetings, and further to have an appropriate number of teams at Panhel philanthropic events per the Panhel Chairwoman’s discretion; to increase understanding and appreciation of ritual; and to form a strong relationship with our new philanthropy.
In the spring we volunteered at our new local philanthropy, Christopher’s Haven, for the first time on January 28th. We go to Christopher’s Haven bi-monthly and help out wherever we’re needed. Christopher’s Haven is a home away from home where children can stay with their families while undergoing cancer treatments at Massachusetts General Hospital. Most of the time we hang out with the kids and families playing games, watching shows, and making crafts, but other times we help parents with chores they don’t have time to complete. We have volunteered with Christopher’s Haven eleven times thus far and we cannot wait to strengthen our relationship even further.
Northeastern welcomed Chi Omega as its ninth sorority on campus in the spring of 2016. For the first time in our chapter’s history we held an informal spring recruitment. It was extremely successful and we welcomed nineteen lively Thetas to our chapter on February 4th. During their new member period, they attended events with older pledge classes to get to know our chapter. They attended the annual new member retreat, which was held at Emily Horn’s house in Franklin, Massachusetts. The new members also attended other annual events such as Owl Prowl and our Pillow/Key Exchange with their new big/little pairings. We were proud to initiate all nineteen women on April 9th.
In Northeastern’s annual Greek Week this spring, we were paired with the gentlemen of Kappa Sigma fraternity. We participated in Greek Olympics and our annual dance competition, Greek Sing, finishing first in both of these events. Also, our sister, Dina Hagigeorges, won Greek Goddess. The entire chapter’s participation and involvement in Greek Week played an active role in our overall first place finish. At the end of Greek Week, we won the Silver Achievement Award as well as Achievements in Scholarship and Philanthropy. Over the summer, two of our sisters attended Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national convention where we won the Academic Excellence Award and received honorable mentions in greatest improvement and panhel.
We ended the spring semester with senior week - an exciting time to celebrate the hard work and dedication our sisters have put in during their college careers. Our chapter participated in events such as Senior Legacy Night and Senior Wills and Goodbyes. Our annual Tea Party was held at the end of the week, where we honored Adriana Levy with the Loyalty Award. The week concluded with us graduating 25 of our wonderful sisters. We also attended Formal on April 22nd on the Spirit of Boston. Our final spring GPA was 3.471, ranking first out of all sororities on campus. Upon returning to campus in the fall, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat. We held this event in campus classrooms, where we spent time bonding through games, activities, and recruitment workshops. Formal recruitment was held during the following two weekends. Eta Omicron successfully welcomed a new Iota class of 30 spirited women on September 26th. The new member period was filled with activities to integrate the newest pledge class into our chapter. We held our traditional events, such as our new member retreat, but also adopted new items to our new member curriculum, such as Every Member Education. I-week was successful in increasing sisters’ understanding and appreciation of our ritual. All thirty women were in good standing both financially and academically, which led to them being initiated at the end of their new member period on November 19th.
This year Babson’s Zeta Alpha chapter hosted Founders Day on October 15th. Active members of Eta Omicron and Eta Theta of Harvard were in attendance, as well as alumnae from various chapters. We celebrated our founding with brunch, presentations, awards, and engaging conversations. Eta Omicron held numerous sisterhood events this year to strengthen the bonds in our chapter. Some events included crocheting, pumpkin carving, and a TITLE Boxing event. We had amazing chapter meetings, as well, including a speaker presentation about the It’s On Us campaign. We also participated in Northeastern’s Homecoming Week Events, which included our annual dance competition, Take it to the Floor, where we placed second with the brothers of Beta Theta Pi. Our sister, Savannah Knisely, ran for Mayor of Huntington Avenue.
The fall semester concluded with our Semi Formal and Senior Week. Semi Formal was held at Guilt Night Club in Downtown Boston on December 10th. Senior week celebrated our one December graduate. Unfortunately, the fall semester GPA was not available at the time of this report. Our philanthropic endeavors were very strong in the 2016 school year. In the spring, we hosted our annual Lip Sync for Life Event with the brothers of Kappa Sigma and the sisters of Alpha Epsilon Phi where we raised $600 for Christopher’s Haven. Additionally, we attended Northeastern’s annual Relay for Life event on March 18th. As a whole, Northeastern raised over $260,000 and as women of Kappa Kappa Gamma, we contributed over $21,000 to this total. We were proud to be the top fundraising organization at Northeastern and we also surpassed our fundraising goal of $20,000. Furthermore, we made two trips to the Greater Boston Food Bank this year. During each trip, we made 6,000 meals possible and sorted through 9,000 pounds of food. We also held a Cards for Troops event with Delta Phi Epsilon. To support our national philanthropy, we held a RIF event on April 12th at the Samuel Adams Elementary School. We read The Giving Tree to three first grade classrooms and donated books to over 60 students. We held another RIF event at the same school in our fall semester, where we read Corduroy and did activities centered on the theme of the book. We gave each student a book and we donated the remainder of the books to the school. Also to benefit RIF, we had an ice cream truck come to campus and half of the profits went to RIF. Lastly, we held our annual Kappa Kickoff philanthropy event on October 23rd and raised $855 for Christopher’s Haven.
Our chapter meetings are held in rooms owned by Northeastern. Chapter meetings were held in 97 Cargill Hall and 200 Richards Hall in the spring and fall semesters, respectively. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite and we have never had one in our history. Achieving our goals was an essential part of our 2016 school year. We successfully raised our chapter’s overall GPA by booking study rooms and enforcing academic excellence goals. We decreased absences by enforcing rules with recording secretary and VPS check-ins, utilizing surveys to plan events, and taking attendance at all planned events. We increased our Panhel attendance by utilizing committees for panhel meetings. Also, our sisters gained a better understanding and appreciation of ritual through our two Inspiration weeks. Lastly, we have positively promoted our new philanthropy and logged attendance hours to ensure we are forming a strong relationship with Christopher’s Haven. Overall, the 2016 school year has been a year full of sisterhood and high achievements for the amazing women of Eta Omicron.
Highlights of 2017Edit
The Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a wonderful year in 2017. In early January, the Eta Omicron Chapter Council developed five goals for the chapter to move towards achieving throughout the year. These goals were to form a stronger relationship with the other Northeastern fraternities and sororities on campus and the greater Northeastern communities, to increase understanding and appreciation of rituals, bylaws, standing rules and history, to emphasize sisterhood in all aspects of chapter life and programming, to make better use of committees, and to increase study hours by 50%.
During the spring semester our chapter had many events to help strengthen sisterhood within our sorority as well as our relationships with other sororities on campus. We held events such as exercise classes and holiday celebrations within our sorority as well as with other organizations and chapters.
In March, Northeastern had its annual Greek Week, for which we were paired with the gentlemen of the Pi Delta Psi and Beta Gamma Epsilon fraternities. We participated in Greek Sing and Greek Goddess as part of the Greek Week festivities. During the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony, our chapter was incredibly honored to be named Northeastern’s Panhellenic Chapter of the Year for 2016.
In April, we celebrated our soon-to-be graduates and all their accomplishments and the hard work they had put in throughout their years at Northeastern with Senior Week. We held events including Senior Wills and Legacy Night, and arranged other fun events for the seniors to celebrate together as a graduating class. We had our annual Tea Party on Sunday April 2, where we honored our sister Emily Horn with the Loyalty Award. We graduated 30 incredible sisters at the end of this week. Our Formal was our last event of the semester and was held on April 22 at the Taj Hotel rooftop in Boston. Our sisters had a great time celebrating all of their hard work and achievements with one another after another great semester before parting for the summer.
On the first Saturday of the fall semester, September 9th, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat, located for the first time at YMCA Camp Beckett in Beckett, Massachusetts. Sisters spent time bonding and enjoying each other’s company by playing games such as Red Rover and mastering the high ropes course the camp had to offer. Our sisters spent the night in cabins strengthening our sisterhood before returning to campus Sunday afternoon.
Formal recruitment began the following Saturday and spanned two weekends. On September 25th our chapter welcomed 41 excited new members into our Kappa class. 2 members of our Kappa class were transfer students from Dickinson College and Marist College who were initiated into our sorority at their past colleges and were being welcomed into Eta Omicron with the new members. We hosted a Founders Day celebration at the Northeastern Alumni Center on October 22nd for our sisters. Also in attendance were members of the BIAA and members from the Harvard University and Babson College chapters. We had a lovely ceremony and brunch to celebrate our fraternity. On October 29th our Nominating Committee met to slate sisters for our new Chapter Council. At formal chapter on Tuesday November 7th we selected our officers for 2017.
We hosted our annual Owl Prowl on Wednesday November 1 to provide another opportunity for active sisters and new members to relax and get to know each other a little better. Our families were very excited to grow at our Big/Little reveal that Friday, November 3rd. With initiation approaching, our Inspiration Week began Sunday November 12th. On Thursday, we held our canvas/fleur de lis exchange for bigs and littles. We held our Fireside ceremony that Friday November 16th after a week filled with sisterhood events and bonding opportunities. After Fireside, the soon-to-be initiates and their bigs spent time bonding in a sisterhood cozy.
This year our chapter held 2 initiation ceremonies so that we could accommodate all of our new members and their busy schedules. On Saturday November 18th we were ecstatic to initiate 38 new members into our chapter and pass 18 senior sisters through their final Red Room ceremony. During this ceremony, one new member was also initiated to the Delta Nu chapter of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. On Sunday November 19th, one senior sister went through her final Red Room ceremony and 2 more new members were initiated into our chapter. We could not be more excited to have welcomed 40 wonderful new sisters to our chapter!
Our chapter meetings are held in rooms owned by Northeastern. Chapter meetings were held in 201 Mugar Hall and 101 Churchill Hall in the spring and fall semesters, respectively. Our chapter does not have a house, lodge, apartment or suite, and we have never had one in our history. Our last event of the semester was our Semi Formal, which was held at Guilt Nightclub in Boston on December 1st. Our sisters danced the night away and celebrated all their triumphs and achievements from the semester.
Philanthropy played a major role in our chapter throughout the year. We partnered with Alpha Epsilon Phi to host our annual Lip Sync for Life event on March 20th. On March 22nd, our sisters volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank, where we helped sort food and make many meals possible for those in need. On March 24th our chapter participated in Northeastern’s Relay for Life event, raising a total of $21,879 for the American Cancer Society and were proudly named the top fundraising team for the event. We held our Reading is Fundamental event of the spring semester on April 1st at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury Crossing, MA. For this event 13 of our sisters visited the school to read Fish Out of Water to the first grade students and brought them all books to take home with them.
On Sunday October 15th we held our fall philanthropy event, our annual Kappa Kickoff flag football tournament. The event started at 2 PM and we had a total of 42 teams. We were very excited to have raised just over $1,100 for our local philanthropy Christopher’s Haven. On Friday December 1st, we held our Reading is Key event of the fall semester. For this event, 15 of our sisters visited the first grader classes at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury, MA. We used the money we had raised throughout the semester to purchase books to give to each student, and handed them out at this time. We read The Giving Tree to the students and engaged in a fun, educational activity with them. Their enthusiasm and gratitude was palpable, and our sisters truly loved having the opportunity to bring more literature into these children’s lives.
Achieving our goals was a vital part of our 2017 school year. We successfully formed stronger relationships with the other Northeastern fraternities and sororities on campus and the greater Northeastern communities by creating a sign up sheet for every Fraternity/Sorority Life event to ensure that members of our chapter were present at every event, collaborating with and supporting other organizations on campus, and doing our best to hold an event each month with our Panhel pair. We increased our sisters’ understanding and appreciation of rituals, bylaws, standing rules, and history by presenting a bylaw/standing rule of the week at chapter and in the TWIK each week, practicing a ritual song at every chapter, and emphasizing both Kappa and chapter history throughout the New Member period. Our chapter emphasized sisterhood in all aspects of chapter life and programming by promoting standards as a resource to strengthen relationships and mediate conflicts, encouraging rearranged seating at informal chapter meetings, and offering one internal sisterhood event per month. In order to make better use of committees, our chapter chose to give members of the committees titles or roles when appropriate, host one committee bonding event per semester, and create a group agreement per committee including method of communication and goals. Our final goal was to increase study hours by 50%, which we worked to achieve by encouraging sisters to log their study hours on the Gin System, rewarding the sister/group of sisters with the most study hours at the end of each determined period of time, and creating study groups and teams by major. For the spring semester we had the highest GPA on campus for the 4th semester in a row. In conclusion, 2017 has been a year of many accomplishments and sisterhood for the incredible sisters of Eta Omicron.
Highlights of 2018Edit
Eta Omicron had an incredibly successful 2018! Early in January, we devised three main goals to continue to strengthen our chapter even further: to improve accountability by increasing attendance, better recruitment by refining organizational abilities and refining recruiting skills, and to ensure that there is respect and proper education for ritual.
In the spring, we were able to accomplish a remarkable amount, strengthening our sisterhood, philanthropic relationships, as well as our relationships with the other sororities and fraternities on campus. Philanthropically, we continued our bi-monthly visits to Christopher’s Haven, our local philanthropy, as well as hosted and co-hosted several events throughout the semester. In January, we partnered up with the brothers of Kappa Sigma to craft cards for those with chronic illnesses. In February, we visited Community Servings with the gentlemen of Alpha Kappa Sigma and prepared meals for those in need. We also hosted our annual Lip Sync event with the women of Alpha Epsilon Phi, raising $1,123, half of which went towards Christopher’s Haven.
March again proved to be one of our busiest months. We started off with a spectacular sisterhood event at Rollerworld, where we skated the night away in ‘90s fashion. As the beginning of Greek Week, a Monopoly-themed Relay for Life quickly came upon us. Through donations and our Kappa Kaffeine booth, we were able to raise $16,282 for the American Cancer Society. Sister Cole Rifkin won Mayor of Monopoly, making our whole chapter proud as we walked into the early hours of the morning. With our Greek Week pairs, the brothers of Alpha Kappa Sigma and Lambda Phi Epsilon, we competed and placed second in the annual dance competition, Greek Sing, and our sister Laura Shannon ran for Greek Goddess. During the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony, we were proudly honored to be named Northeastern’s Panhellenic Chapter of the Year for the second year in a row. Due to the incredible efforts of the Chapter Council of 2017, we were also awarded the Academic Excellence Award, earned the Highest GPA in Panhellenic, and our president, Sydney Smith, won Panhellenic Council Outstanding President.
We began to close the spring semester with our Formal that was held on April 7th at the W. Prior to formal, sisters gathered at a local restaurant for brunch in preparation for the night of dancing ahead. During Senior Week, we celebrated all of the hard work and achievements of our seniors with Senior Wills and Legacy Night. We held our Annual Tea Party at the end of the week, where we honored Jessica Adrian with the Loyalty Award. We officially transitioned 27 women into alumna status and completed the spring semester with a chapter GPA of 3.596.
Over the summer, three of our sisters attended Kappa Kappa Gamma’s national convention where we were awarded with the Public Relations Award. We received four honorable mentions for New Member Programming, Excellence in Chapter Management, Gracious Living, and Academic Excellence. For the second year in a row, we conducted a Summer Health Challenge in which pledge classes competed to promote healthy living. This challenge served phenomenally to improve public relations as well as encourage keeping in touch over summer break.
For the first weekend of the fall semester, our sisters attended our annual sisterhood retreat at YMCA Camp Beckett in western Massachusetts on September 8th and 9th. We focused on strengthening our sisterhood and put a large emphasis on ritual and the values we were searching for with recruitment approaching so soon. Through high ropes courses and relay races, we were able to strengthen our bonds and return back to Boston on Sunday, exhausted but eager to start recruiting. Formal recruitment was held during the following two weekends in Northeastern’s student center. On September 24th, Eta Omicron excitedly welcomed the wonderful Lambda class of 52 new members. We were thrilled to integrate a Kappa transfer from Syracuse University into our new member class. The new member period was filled with activities including the new member retreat, where women participated in their first Kappa Kozy and were able to get to know each other off campus.
On October 14th, we hosted a Founders Day celebration in Northeastern’s Alumni Center. We were joined by alumnae, members of the BIAA, as well as Gail Simpson Owen, the Fraternity President, and Alpha District Director Andrea Stanfield who we were ecstatic to welcome to Eta O. We had a beautiful ceremony accompanied by a fantastic brunch and celebrated our fraternity with pride. To prepare for another successful year, the nominating committee met on Saturday, November 3rd to slate our sisters for the new Chapter Council. At formal chapter on Tuesday, November 13th, we elected our Chapter Council officers for the 2019 academic year.
The fall was also filled with several events that deepened our bonds as sisters. We went apple picking at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, MA, attended an Xtend Barre class, carved pumpkins, relaxed together during a spa night, and even returned to Rollerworld and had even more fun the second time. We participated in Homecoming Week with our partners, the brothers of Phi Delta Theta, and competed in Take It to the Floor, the annual dance competition. Bigs were finally revealed to eager littles on November 4th, right before we hosted our annual Owl Prowl on November 7th. Here new members and active sisters were able to mingle and get to know each other better. This action-packed week was followed by Inspiration Week, where bigs and littles exchanged pillows and fleur de lis on Thursday night and we prepared for initiation with the Fireside ceremony on Friday night. After the ceremony, bigs and littles held a cozy in order to emotionally prepare for the upcoming ceremony in the morning. The following morning, Saturday, November 17th, we initiated the fifty-one new members.
In addition to all of our sisterhood events, philanthropy was one of our main focuses throughout the fall. We hosted our annual Kappa Kickoff event, a flag football tournament that we open up to the entire university. This year we were able to raise $1,356.13 for Christopher’s Haven. Through t-shirt sales, we were able to raise $310 for Reading Is Fundamental. We organized a fundraiser for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation at Love Art Sushi, raising $37.87. With the brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi, we crafted card for the Boston Homeless Veterans Shelter and with the brothers of Delta Tau Delta, we created cards for Remy, a patient undergoing treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. To support our national philanthropy, we visited Orchard Gardens Public School for our Reading Is Fundamental event on November 30th . Ten of our sisters read Make Way for Ducklings and bonded with the students. We are very proud of our philanthropic endeavors this year and we are excited to continue to watch our relationships flourish.
The fall semester came to a close with our Semi-Formal and Senior Wills. Semi-Formal was held on November 30th at Kingston Grille & Bar and our sisters celebrated our accomplishments of the semester and danced the night away. Senior Wills was held for the twelve seniors who graduated in December. The chapter reminisced and was able to give the graduating seniors the sisterly goodbye they deserved. These seniors were transitioned into alumnae status during a formal chapter meeting on Tuesday, December 4th.