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We chose the MS society because a former Epsilon Mu chapter member’s family was effected by MS. We wanted to support her and her family while they were struggling and continued this organization after she graduated. We decided this year to help with the Reading Initiative because of our strong connections with helping develop strong readers in elementary aged children.
==Highlights of 2016==
The Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a group of caring, fun, intelligent and motivated woman. The 247 of us work together to make sure we all meet our goals and always striving to be better. We are a very tight knit group of woman and we always have one another’s backs. Clemson Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the most well rounded chapters on the Clemson University campus with the involvement each sister has, the grades we make, and the excitement we have to make Kappa the best it can be. Every woman in Epsilon Mu makes an effort to know one another and make sure everyone feels welcomed. With such a large number sometimes it can be hard to feel connected, but as a Clemson Kappa, you feel more united with this group of girls than any other smaller organization.
This year was incredibly eventful and successful for the Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We accomplished many wonderful things and are proud of the progress we have made over the past year! We welcomed and initiated 69 new members this year, 9 of which were legacies. Grades have not yet been released for the fall 2016 semester, but as of August 2016 we had a strong 3.50 grade point average. We strive to always focus on academics and encourage each member to shine in this area. Due to our hard work in academia we were placed third out of twelve sororities in highest grade point average and rose above the all sorority grade point average of 3.45. We continue to raise our standards for academics and hope to rise higher on the grade point average scale. Our sisters are involved in various clubs outside of Kappa including Office of Admissions, Student Alumni Association, Student Government, Honor and Business societies, Varsity Athletics, and many more. We find ourselves gathering together on Sunday nights at chapter and taking pictures together on Letter Shirt Tuesday. We enjoy spending all the time we can together.
Philanthropy has always been an important part of our chapter and this year was no exception. This year we had an extremely successful Reading is Key program in the spring, and decided to give back to the local schools again in the fall with yet another Reading is Key event. This year, we decided to do different events for each grade at a local elementary school, so we could spend more individualized time with the children. Our sister love going to the schools and getting to spend the afternoon reading and playing with the children. During recruitment we allowed girls to play a small game on philanthropy round and if they won we donated more books to the local schools. In the spring we hosted a successful Kappa Kickoff, which raised more money than ever. In addition, our sisters participated in small service events around the community throughout the semester to continue to give back.
We pride ourselves on our involvement in other Greek chapter’s philanthropies. This year we won both Alpha Phifa, a soccer tournament, and Sigma Nu Powder Puff, a flag football tournament put on by a fraternity on campus that donates to Dabo’s All In Foundation. These were great wins for Kappa! We put in a lot of work, effort and sisterhood to make sure we came through with the wins. In addition, we placed second in the Greek Week dance competition and had a solid finish overall in the weeklong competition. One of our greatest achievements again this year was winning the Homecoming float competition. Our sisters, along with brothers of our partnered fraternity put many long hours into building an outstanding float that represented the past, present, and future of Clemson. Additionally, we helped the Greek community raise over $20,000 for Circle of Sisterhood.
Our theme for this year was “Aspire to be Extraordinary.” We went through every event, rush, and extracurricular activity with this as our mindset. We wanted to make sure we went above and beyond as not just being sisters, but with our community and making our chapter the best it could be.
Here at Clemson University, tradition is imperative. We hold the same standards to our chapter. Some of our traditions include our seniors jumping in our reflection pond on bid day, doing Kappa Is during preference round, and doing big/little reveal before Initiation.
The Greek community of Clemson grew this year by adding a new sorority, Pi Beta Phi. We were so excited to help welcome our sister sorority to our beautiful campus. We had a movie night with Pi Phi in October to get to know our new Panhellenic sisters better. Additionally, the relationship between Greek life and the university is bettering each day and it is very exciting to watch the progress we as a community are making. We were able to have more events on campus and to work with the university more closely about policies regarding our community.