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Changes
→Highlights of 2016
We typically raise money for Harbor House in Appleton, WI. The chapter choose this organization because this is a place that benefits greatly from our fundraising.
==Highlights of 2017==
This year was as one would expect, full of numerous activities that brought sisters together in the name of Kappa. Our chapter has deferred recruitment, so our recruitment takes place the second week of January, just after our term has started. The week leading up to this is full of crafting, practicing, and total focus on recruitment. It's nice because we use this big event as a way to boost Kappa spirit and reteach all members about Kappa's symbols, history, philanthropy, and everything in between. Increasing Kappa pride and Kappa spirit has been a main focus the last couple terms, and this was a perfect way to kick off the new term in the name of Kappa.
We flowed through this term with our normal weekly meetings, and volunteered on MLK jr. day as a sisterhood, but the biggest importance was making our new pledges feel welcome and at home as they began their Kappa education journey. During the week of February 6-10, our Philanthropy Chair put on an event called "Kappa Krush" where students could purchase Crush soda cans for a $1 and leave a note that can be delivered to their "crush". This money was donated to Harbor House in Appleton, WI. As the term continued, the chapter felt it important to address the possibility of seasonal affective disorder and personal well being through a programming event lead by one of our faculty wellness members, Erin. This was extremely important because the second term of the year tends to be the hardest, and we wanted every sister to be understood and feel a comfort in her sisters.
We were lucky enough to be able to schedule our LC visit to coincide with our Inspirational Period, including everything revolvimg around initiation. This was an amazing opportunity to have a graduated sister come in and remind the chatper of what this is all about and make sure everything ran smoothly and accurately. Our LC was amazing and we learned so much from her. Because of the other Greek chapters on campus, we added sisters through continuous open bidding in the spring as well. Having two initiations back to back helped bring our sisterhood together and continue educating everyone on all things Kappa.
In May, WE WON OUR GREEK WEEK. The amount of participation from Kappa members was unbelievable and extremely awesome. Not only did we show our fellow greek organizations a lot of support, we also hit our philanthropy event (Too Hot To Handle, a wing eating contest) out of the park. Everything was so successful and we were able to help out a lot of good causes in the process.
As our year came to a close, we showed our support for our sisters through "nerd days" that help with studying and coping with the stresses of finals, and an alcohol awareness programming event that educated everyone on informed drinking habits to help keep everyone safe and smart in the upcoming summer.
Our chapter is fortunate to have many leaders within our group. This leadership can be seen out of Kappa (in things like athletics, clubs, and the conservatory) and in Kappa through the particiaption in leadership conventions and other committees. Our sisters have seemed to take to heart our goal of increasing Kappa pride.
Because we met the number requirement for chapter members, we did not do recruitment or initiation in the fall. This was a nice break because instead of focusing on teaching new members about Kappa, we were able to focus on becoming a tighter sisterhood with the sisters we already had.
We did philanthropy events, including our known Kappa Karmel Apples, and sisterhood events, such as going to the trampoline park together, going to the pumpkin patch, having stress free nights in the Kappa room, and even just getting meals together. We had elections on November 12th and will be transitioning those positions when we return for the next term. This year was the beginning of a huge Kappa pride and spirit turn around in our chapter. As everyone gets closer, they love each other more, and love Kappa more for bringing them together. It only goes up from here.
Not a lot of big changes have happened on campus. There seems to be a certain stigma in regards to Greek life, but we are slowly working on that through diversity intiatives and personal invitations to events. We, as Greek life, are trying to open up more and become more approachable and inclusive.
Our chaper has been on a focus letter this year. We have been working hard to get off of it, but some things take more time than others. We have, however, made a lot of progress and only see more improvement from here. Having pride in being a Kappa, working on sisterhood, and having an overall respect for being a Kappa has been our goal and our focus. We plan on continuing to work on all of this and make our chapter the best it has ever been. For philanthropy, we stick to the Kappa Foundation, Harbor House, and (because we do not have RIF near us) varying organizaitons that help local children (the elementrary schools, blessings in a backpack, the Boys and Girls Club, etc.). This year has been fairly diverse in philanthropic hours because so many of our sisters are involved with different things. Some volunteer with the special olympics and ask sisters to join. Others have their own events they are holding (like a Halloween party for kids with disabilities, or an Hour of Power swimming event) and we will usually be the primary volunteers. Our commons kitchen has a food recovery program that was started by a Kappa, so we tend to be the majority volunteers for that too. Everything varies, other than our Kappa bound philanthropy, but if a sister asks us to volunteer, we support it. In regards to our Kappa based philanthropy, every year we hold Kappa Karamel Apples, Kappa Krush, and Too Hot to Handle to support them. The organizations and events we chose to participate in all fell under what our chapter considers respectable and impactful. We all just want to continue making a difference in people's lives, especially those in our community. We hold meetings in our chapter room, located in the Panhellenic wing of one of the university owned dorms. It hasn’t changed for many years now. We do not have a house, nor have we ever had a house. We are working on changing the interior decoration in our chapter room in the near future.