2,350
edits
Changes
→Highlights of 2016
We support Reading Is Fundamental because we are sisters of this organization and support our National Philanthropic traditions. As a chapter we believe in motivating and inspiring children to read and providing books to families and children who need them the most. This gives children the opportunity to follow their dreams and achieve their full potential. We want to provide them this opportunity they may not have had otherwise. We support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of our sister, Alison Callum, who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis in 2003. This past year we raised over $50,000 to help families pay for medical treatments and also to fund research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
==Highlights of 2016==
These past Spring and Fall Semesters of 2016 have brought along many great experiences to the Eta Eta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. This new year has given the Eta Eta chapter many opportunities to thrive and grow in the Greek community and to become an even greater sisterhood.
To start off the year, Eta Eta came back to school ready for what was to come. We had our first sisterhood event on February 19th, “Kappa’s It.” We decked out in matching Kappa shirts, took endless photos in the photo booth, ate tons of yummy treats, covered the house in confetti, and created endless memories. That same week, we also had 14 members of our chapter selected to be Rho Gammas for the upcoming Fall 2016 recruitment, one member on the Panhellenic Recruitment Team, and one member on the Panhellenic Executive Board. To close out the month, we had an amazing Father/Daughter day planned by our public relations chair, Kate Cowart. We spent the night relaxing and enjoying each others company at the Orlando Solar Bears Ice Hockey game with our dads.
In March before spring break, We enjoyed having our old LC, Alyssa, back for a visit the week before spring break and catching up with her.
On March 19th, we gathered our bathing suits and sunscreen and headed to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon for a fun day full of water rides and sisterhood. Even though the weather was cold and rainy, we all stayed positive and made the most of it. To end out the month, we had our first grab-a-date event, Kappa Kochella, held at Dave and Busters, where we spent the night playing arcade games and collecting endless tickets for prizes.
April was an eventful and successful month for the Eta Eta chapter. On April 2nd, we had over 50 sisters participate in UCF’s Dance Marathon, Knight-thon. As a team we all stood for 20 hours and raised over $20,000 for local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Our feet were certainly sore, but our hearts were extremely full. That same weekend, we had four of our sisters attend SEPC, where they attended various workshops about leading with purpose. They got to meet fellow Panhellenic women and Kappas from the south eastern part of the United States.
April 4-8, was Greek Week and we were paired with Sigma Pi. Gabby Bell, one of our sisters who is the VP of Administration for Greek Council, planned the Greek Week. Kappa and Sigma Pi had a huge turn out for participation throughout the week and during the various philanthropy events, such as decorating hats for children with cancer, and bagging toiletries and writing letters to soldiers.
That next weekend, the 9th, we helped organize the Cystic Fibrosis 5k on UCF’s campus. We spent the afternoon cheering on participants, lending helping hands, and bringing awareness to an organization that is very close to Eta Eta’s heart. That night we all headed to the Kappa Kastle for PJ Potluck put on by our House Chair Liz Foley. We had tons of yummy food, karaoke, and surprise sumo suits. On April 13th we cheered in Alpha Delta Pi’s annual Cheers for Charity. We may not have placed but we certainly did our chapter proud. On the 16th we spent the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We went on rides, met Disney characters, and had a blast bringing out our inner child. To close out such a great month, we danced the night away at the Heaven Event center for our annual Formal on the 23rd. We ate delicious food, danced to great music, got henna tattoos, and sang our traditional Oh Pat song to our graduating seniors. The next day, we headed to the Heathro Country Club and heard our final goodbyes from our seniors. We laughed at their stories, cried as they reminisced about their favorite memories, and learned that Kappa just isn’t four years, it’s for life.
The Spring semester for Eta Eta was one that we will all never forget. We created endless memories and exceeded all of our goals. We left for the summer ready for everything that the fall semester was going to bring. Over the summer, we had eight active sisters and an alumna attend Kappa Kappa Gamma’s biannual convention in San Diego, California, representing our chapter beautifully and having an amazing time learning about Kappa's history and bonding with sisters young and old.
The Fall 2016 semester was the beginning of a new school year for Eta Eta. Before classes started, we spent two weeks preparing to recruit the best new member class yet. We were all reunited on Monday, August 8th to begin our annual Spirit Week. We spent those days learning the ins and outs of recruitment, step clapping, singing, and creating new bonds with sisters. That Saturday, August, 13th, Beth Young put on our Alumnae Tea event. Many Eta Eta alumnae came by for refreshments and gave advice to active sisters about the upcoming recruitment. The next Monday, the 15th, started off Formal Recruitment, and ended on the 20th, when we welcomed 60 new members and our 14 Rho Gammas home. Our new members, Psi class, and the rest of the chapter hopped on busses and headed to Disney Springs where we had a delicious dinner at the House of Blues and ended the night with an exciting show at Cirque de Soleil.
September was a month full of family and fun. On September 17th, Kappa opened its doors and welcomed the families of our sisters for UCF’s Family Weekend. We had yummy barbeque catered to the house and then headed over to the stadium to watch our Knights play Maryland. Just a few weeks later, we had a big surprise in store for our new members. On October 2nd, they were welcomed into their new Kappa families on Big-Little Reveal. We had covered every door in the house with personalized decorated banners and watched as our new members ran into the arms of their excited bigs.
The following week was UCF’s annual homecoming week. We laughed at Comedy Knight, Danced on Concert Knight, and ended the week with the best college tradition in the nation, Spirit Splash. Our sister, Hannah Starner, served on the Homecoming Executive Board and helped make this Homecoming week one to remember. Our homecoming liason, Stephanie Sharf, took charge and helped make this week so successful. Kappa was partnered with Alpah Epsilon Pi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon for the week, and we then proudly took home first place for participating in homecoming events all week.
October was also the month we had our Inspiration week planned by our marshal, Amy Willsey. We had a delicious house dinner of tacos catered by the parents of sister Karen Enamarado, spent time with our Kappa families, and bounced on trampolines until we couldn’t anymore at Rebounderz. We ended the week with 58 newly initiated sisters on October 22nd.
That following Thursday we participated in Zeta Tau Alpha's annual Zeta Lip Sync benefiting breast cancer education and awareness. Our sisters worked extremely hard and put on a flawless performance for the Greek Community. To end out the month, we took a trip to the Central Florida Zoo, a sisterhood event put on by our VP of Standards, Colette Lowndes. We spent the day looking at animals and playing endless sisterhood games. We also had our annual Founders Day brunch on the 30th to celebrate the 146th year of the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma, organized by our education chair, Andrea DiMayo. We enjoyed a lovely brunch and reflected on the six founders that started the organization we all call home.
The month of November was one to remember. To start off the month, we participated in Pack to Attack, packaging meals for families in the Orlando area. The following week we had our annual Semi-formal on the 10th at Mangos Tropical Café, put on our by our Event Chair, Ingrid Onoriod. We ate delicious Spanish food and enjoyed an energetic show put on by some of their dancers. Our Fall philanthropy event, Kickin’ it with Kappa, took place on November 13th. We headed over to UCF IM fields and cheered on many members of the Greek community as their organizations participated in games of Kickball and donated books to Reading is Fundamental. RIF raises money and collects books to donate to local schools for children that might not have books to read. Pi Beta Phi took first place for the sororities, while Sigma Pi took home first place for the fraternities. This semester also was very successful for our IM teams. Paola Ramos, our IM sports chair, led us to many victories. We remained undefeated in flag football and took home first place in Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Phi Hoops, Delta Zeta’s Hike for Hearing Flag Football tournament, and Gamma Phi Beta’s Moon Ball event!
To end out the semester, we had a house dinner put on by our house chair Liz Foley, and heard senior wills, organized on by our Education chair, Andrea Dimayo. We filled our bellies with breakfast food catered from Too Jay’s, decorated Christmas ornaments, exchanged cookies, and listened as our graduating seniors said their goodbyes.
Finally, December 1st we had our last event as a chapter, a grab-a-date at Dave and Busters.
Eta Eta has had an amazing year. The most prestigious accomplishment of our chapter was when we were awarded 1st in academics out of all of the UCF sororities. This was a first in chapter history, and it was all due to the hard work of our sisters. 2016 brought many wonderful opportunities to our sisterhood and helped us surpass our goals as a chapter. We have grown so much as a chapter and can’t wait to see what new opportunities and experiences this new year has to offer.
==Highlights of the 2020s==