Changes
→Highlights of 2014
Gamma Xi holds chapter meetings in the dining room of our Kappa house, located at 744 Hilgard Ave. in Los Angeles. Gamma Xi is fortunate to have a beautiful home on the edge of Westwood and Beverly Hills. Greek Life at UCLA was originally funded by one person and this one person said that in order to receive funding for the houses, fraternities and sororities had to agree to have their respective houses on complete opposite sides of campus, therefore, sororities reside on Hilgard Ave. while fraternities reside on Gayley Ave. and Landfair Ave. Our house is owned by the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Board of Los Angeles. Our house currently holds 51 sisters at one time, but it wasn’t always this big. The house has been added onto and renovated many times over the years since our founding here at UCLA, but we have always had this same house.
==Highlights of 2015==
The 2015 school year began with a triplet meeting for the newly appointed officers of the Gamma Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UCLA. The newly elected members went as followed; Nicole Guffy as President, Hannah Demetor as VPS, Stephani Domako as VPO, Erin Becker as VPAE, Kylie Taylor as Treasurer, Amelia Danovitch as Recording Secretary, Annie Sasso as Corresponding Secretary, Emily Bochner as Registrar, Celeste Carswell as Marshall, Emily Hughes as Philanthropy Chairman, Bre Maughn as House Manager, Stephanie Larratt as Risk Manager, Genevieve Zimmerman as Event Chairman, Ali Welschmeyer as Education Chairman, Kevan Caroll as New Member Chairman, Michaela Monaghan as Membership Chairman, Liviya James as Panhellenic Delegate and Danielle Merrihew as Public Relations Chairman. Chapter Council then appointed assistants as followed; Julia Savage as Assistant Membership Chairman and Ariana Taghaddos as Assistant Treasurer. Winter quarter was a bit slow for our chapter, but we managed to participate in a ton of philanthropic events and put a focus on sisterhood. Gamma Xi’s Chapter Council had a blast at a sisterhood event at Disneyland. The newly elected chapter council members were able to get to know each other better and prepare for the year ahead. In addition, we participated in UCLA’s Greek Week on the White Team and ended up being the highest fundraising sorority. At the Standards of Excellence Gala, Gamma Xi proudly took home three awards for membership development, external relations, and third highest overall Standards of Excellence points. Additionally, numerous members of the chapter partook in other Greek philanthropy events such as Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, ZBT’s War of the Roses, Theta Chi’s Hair Salon, Chi Omega’s Wings for Wishes and Sig Ep Kicks for Kids. Additionally, Gamma Xi was able to surpass the all sorority and all women’s GPA.
Spring Quarter was especially exciting for Gamma Xi. Members of our chapter who are also involved in the Pediatric Aids Coalition were able to form a team of about 25 Kappas to participate in Dance Marathon (a 26 hour event where students pledge to stand on their feed for 26 hours to raise funds and awareness for Pediatric HIV/Aids), partnering with our friends in Sig Ep. The Team Blue dancer captain was our very own Ali Welschmeyer who led us fearlessly into the fight against Pediatric HIV/Aids. We had sisterhood movie nights in the courtyard and a yoga class led by Bridget Bruggeman (a second year member who is also a certified yoga instructor). Danielle, our PR chair, planned a beautiful Mom’s Day brunch at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. We also had two adorable pinnings, one for Emma Campbell (SAE) and Cassidy Pearl (Sigma Chi). Furthermore, Gamma Xi was making an important transition onto the GIN System, a new means of communication throughout our chapter in an attempt to keep all members updated in all things Kappa and UCLA. Last but not least, Gamma Xi’s Chapter Council went to the Regional Leadership Conference in April, learning more about KKG and our roles in the house, meeting fellow Kappas from other chapters, and discovering more about ourselves as a whole.
Fall Quarter came quickly and we were back at Kamp Kappa for fall recruitment. Our Membership Chairman, Michaela Monaghan, did an incredible job with rush and we ended up with 58 amazing, charismatic, and kind new members join our chapter! The house went under some renovations during Summer 2015 and all of the girls were eager and excited to see the new improvements to our already beautiful homes. Kevan planned a “Sweet Home Kappa Gamma” bid night and the entire chapter had an amazing time welcoming the new members. Ali W. planned a fun Founders Day in which the whole chapter was told about the history of our house, the background of Gamma Xi, and the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma in general. Big Little Reveal was an exciting time for all of the members taking on little sisters, and was quickly follow by Kappa Presents and Kappa’s Dad’s Day—both of which were a blast! We also had our “A Day in the Life” philanthropy in which we had over 150 students from Brockton Elementary come to campus and learn what it was like to be a Bruin for a day, while also contributing to Reading is Fundamental. They learned our 8-clap, we read them books, they ran through campus doing an obstacle course, and were sent home with backpacks full of school supplies. The kids’ smiles and laughter brought joy to each and every Gamma Xi member. We finished off fall quarter with our second philanthropy, Kappa Krismukkah, where all of our friends on campus came to our house to enjoy holiday festivities and to either donate toys to the Mattell Children’s Hospital or donate money to the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation or to Reading is Fundamental.
A word to describe Kappa’s nature this year: excitement. Our members took advantage of every opportunity to not only support our sisters, but also the students and organizations around us. From participating and donating to philanthropies of other sororities and fraternities, to attending baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and water polo games to support our athletes, our chapter was showing support to Bruins all over campus. Furthermore, our chapter loves to make good luck baskets during midterms and finals week and distributing them to other houses. During the stressful times of exams, Gamma Xi members unite, support, and help each other out in all academic subjects to ensure our girls do the best they possible can. This has paid off as we have continued to surpass the all sorority and all women’s GPA! We reward girls who have achieved academic success during our weekly meetings and we nominate a Kappa of the Week to a member who especially exemplified our womanly and true ideals during recent events. The chapter has also worked to further take advantage of the relationships with advisors by reaching out to meet with them more frequently and maintaining contact to ensure all of our chapter council members are on task and are doing all they can to improve our chapter as time goes on.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
As UCLA students, our Gamma Xi members know how important it is to take advantage of every academic opportunity and to help others in need. By donating to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, we believe we are positively contributing to society by providing children with books and opportunities to be inspired by higher education. We especially try to carry and present ourselves as potential role models to those around us. During A Day in the Life, our hearts are filled with joy and warmth as we watch the kids of Brockton Elementary giggle and run around our campus as excited and potential future Bruins. Our members not only want to give them an unforgettable experience on our campus, but to also inspire them to want to prioritize academics and show them that hard work pays off.