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→Highlights of 2016
This year, we were sad to see four sisters leave our sisterhood for various reasons. These were great losses to our chapter, but we saw them as an opportunity to look within our chapter and build upon our strengths, and understand our weaknesses and work through each and every one. Despite these recent events, we have continued to grow as a chapter and support each other. We have accepted the outcome and what has happened and hope to only learn from this experience in the coming year and become stronger from it.
Washington and Jefferson College is a small, private liberal arts school with a main focus on academic excellence. The students of W&J are well-prepared for careers in business, medicine, law and a variety of other professions. The Greek community is an integral part of W&J with a majority of the student body actively participating in the Greek life on campus. The Greek community enables the students to be actively involved on campus and plays a central role in the philanthropic and social events of the campus. This year we welcomed a new Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Kaitlyn Bamrick, who has proven to be an instrumental part of our Greek life thus far. Also this year, our campus has started the construction of a new auxiliary gymnasium to our existing Henry Memorial Gymnasium. Students are very excited for the complementation of this addition to our beautiful campus.
Over the past year, Kappa Kappa Gamma has proved to be an essential part of the Greek community as well as the W&J community. Our members pride themselves on being actively involved in a widespread assortment of sports, clubs, and activities. Three out of the five members of the Student Government Association Executive Board are Kappas, and we are extremely proud of their involvement and their leadership roles. Our members are involved in the various activities on campus, but we also pride ourselves on our academic success and achievement. The Zeta Lambda chapter sets a positive example to all potential new members and the student body in general with numerous sisters whom achieve Dean’s List (semester GPA of 3.5+) and Alpha/Beta scholars (who represent the top students at the college in terms of overall grade point average). By showing academic excellence to the college, a strong commitment to each other, and having well-established ties to the community, Kappa Kappa Gamma is an ideal example of Greek Life in our small community at Washington and Jefferson College.
Previously mentioned was our major annual philanthropy event, Catch for the Cure, which is held during the spring semester. We generally raise a couple thousand dollars for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer awareness. Several sisters’ family members, including mother, grandmothers, and aunts, have been affected and we make sure that we recognize survivors and those who have lost their battle with the terrible illness. In the past year, we began training at the local animal shelter in order to become more involved with the community. All of our sisters received training in order to begin walking dogs and playing with cats at the shelter in the spring semester. All of our sister are very enthusiastic to work with the shelter and provide any help we can. In early January, we teamed up with the brothers of Alpha Tau Omega to collect gently used coats to donate them to the Washington City Mission to ensure those who are less fortunate than us have the necessary outerwear to bare the cold weather. Before Easter, our sister packed over 100 Easter eggs with candy and sent them to troops overseas. October is Domestic Violence Awareness, and we paired up with the brothers of Phi Delta Theta to sell donuts for the Domestic Violence Center in Washington, and called this event “Donut Let Love Hurt.” This past month we also teamed up with the brothers of Beta Theta Pi to decorate Christmas cards for soldiers overseas, who can’t be home for the holidays. We understand their sacrifice and wanted to thank them for their support and share some holiday spirit. Also this month, we held an event with the sisters of Delta Gamma to respond to notes children from the LeMoyne Community Center in Washington wrote to Santa Clause. We saw the importance of imagination and encouraging hopes and dreams, and again wanted to share the holiday spirit with the community.
In combination with local community philanthropy, we also support our national Kappa Kappa Gamma philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. In April, our sisters had the opportunity to compete against other sororities and fraternities on campus during the College X Games, which were held at the Meadows Casino in Washington. We had three Kappa teams that competed in events varying from bowling to basketball to even an obstacle course! Every sister that participated had a great deal of fun and we were even able to win $400 for Reading is Fundamental in the process. Our Zeta Lambda chapter is dedicated to helping our community and supporting our national philanthropy in any way possible, and we strive to out due ourselves in the following year.
Kappa Kappa Gamma Zeta Lambda Chapter is fortunate enough to have beautiful house on campus. Twenty-four lucky members are able to live in the house each year. Living in the house can be a blessing because you’re surrounded by your best friends and sisters and always have someone to lean on for support or closets to raid when you have nothing to wear! We have a Chapter Room downstairs where we hold chapter every Sunday at 8:00 pm. Across from the Chapter Room is the Party Room, which is the ideal place to hold Standard Meetings, meetings of other varieties, or just a place to study or watch a movie because comfortable sitting is provided. Also downstairs is a small kitchen and the presidents suite for the outgoing president to live in during their final year at W&J. 301 Chestnut Street will always be home to our Zeta Lambda chapter.