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Chi
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Philanthropic efforts included the KKG Foundation, Kappa Car Wash for RIF, Walk for Diabetes, Relay for Life, Light the Night Walk for Leukemia, food drives, blood drives (including 15 Chi Kappas donating blood for victims of the 9/11 tragedy), Cinderella Dress Project, Children’s Hospital, Marcy Open Homes School After School Project, and the Kappa Classic Golf Tournament as well as Breakfast at Kappa to fund the Girls Academy Pilot Program. Chi has been running a very successful Girls Academy since 2015.
Chi has received many awards and distinctions in the 2000s. At the 2004 Kappa Convention, Chi received awards for Finance, Panhellenic involvement, and Recruitment. In 2005 the University of Minnesota awarded them the New Member Program Award, and Chi received the Greatest Chapter Improvement and Standards awards at Kappa Province Meeting. University awards for Chapter of Excellence, Outstanding Academic Program, and Outstanding New Member Development were awarded to Chi in 2010. In 2015, Chi had the highest GPA on campus, and they won the university’s Chapter of Excellence Award again. They were awarded the Academic Excellence Award at the 2014 Kappa Convention and all around Greatest Chapter Award at the 2013 Province Meeting.
In 2005 - 06, Chi helped to establish the new Eta Iota Kappa chapter at Creighton University. In addition to all of their philanthropic activities, Chi began to organize many more social and sisterhood events. Each year lots of Chi Kappas were chosen to be fraternity sweethearts. In anticipation of their 2010 100th anniversary of the chapter house, a Parents’ Association was founded. This helped to bring lots of chapter house improvements to Chi, including painting, new draperies, other window coverings, and bedspreads. Air conditioning was installed, gardens were landscaped, and a new website was created. More house renovations were completed in 2011.
Campus trends included a greater awareness of sexual assaults on campus and efforts to prevent them and a new light rail system that was expanded in Minneapolis and St. Paul to help to connect the 3 separate campuses more safely.
'''Campus:''' Over the past fall of 2011 Washington avenue has been under construction. They are renovating the streets and putting in a new light rail, that will connect to the existing light rail system and improve transportation on campus. There also has been a lot of other renovations to various buildings on campus.
'''Chapter:''' Over the past year our house has been renovated by an HGTV designer, the main living room, chapter room and kitchen has been renovated. Also our chapter has revised the standing rules and bylaws within each chapter council position and overall chapter council. III. Chapter Challenges: (Describe them and how the chapter met and overcame them.) One of the major challenges of our chapter is maintaining a high enough GPA to compete with the other sororities on campus. But this has become an issue that our chapter has taken very seriously. In order to strive for a high GPA and overall positive academic reputation our chapter has required study tables, and a log book to record and keep track of the hours that each member of the chapter has spent studying.
During the fall of 2013, Chi Chapter brought Something of Value to the University of Minnesota for the very first time. Something of Value is a national program that encourages discussion of high-risk behavior that Greek communities partake in. The day included a mock trial, discussion of our values, and an opportunity to create an action plan in order to decrease and eliminate high-risk behavior. Chi Chapter invited two members from each pledge class to participate in this event. It was very influential for our chapter as well as the other sororities that participated. Also, Chi Chapter participated in a weekend-retreat for Girls Academy, having the opportunity to attend Northeast Middle school and empower young women. Overall, it was a very influential and impactful year for Chi Chapter. We feel as though we grew strong bonds within our chapter and with other Greek communities through our active participation in philanthropies.
We received the all around Greatest Chapter Award at the 2013 Province Meeting.
The University of Minnesota is constantly evolving. Currently, the University is building a light rail that runs through the campus that will connect downtown Minneapolis to downtown St Paul. The light rail has been under construction for four years and will be running in the fall of 2014; which is a very exciting event for all the students and faculty at the University of Minnesota. Also, the University of Minnesota has recently updated Northrop Memorial Auditorium. Northrop Memorial Auditorium is an enduring symbol of the University and the focal point of the Twin Cities campus. It has been under construction since 2011 and opening April 2014.
This year we have had a couple exciting changes to our campus. The light rail that runs from St. Paul to Minneapolis that they have been working on for a few years is finally up and running. This new an improved light rail doubles the size and scope of the old light rail. This new form of transportation runs through the center of our campus right down Washington Avenue. This gives students another way to get to and from West Bank, East Bank, and St. Paul, and makes our campus connectors (our university's transportation system) occasionally less crowded, especially during the cold winters. This new light rail also gives students easier access to the Twin Cities. We are now able to easily find our way to Mall of America, The Capitol, and everything further and in between. Another addition to our campus this year was having the Vikings play at TCF stadium. This caused major traffic and swarms of people in parking lots cheering and playing music relatively early on Sunday mornings. However, it also brought excitement to campus. It was fun to walk outside our dorms, apartments, and houses to hear the roaring of the crowd and the loud horn. It was weird to think while watching it on TV that the game was happening not even a mile away from you. Although you wanted to avoid being on the roads when the game started and ended, and music was playing outside your dorm on the one day you got to sleep in, hosting the Vikings was a pleasure and a exciting addition to campus.
Our chapter is filled with girls of diverse personalities who are friends with all different type of students on campus. Our chapter exhibits many different arrangements of hobbies, passions, and ideas which forms strong relationships between our girls and makes getting together a fun and exciting experience every time.
We hold our chapter meetings in our chapter owned facility. Our chapter owns two houses that give members the opportunity to live together. The first house is what we call the main house. This is where Monday night dinners are held, it is where the kitchen is, and where our chapter meetings are held. The main house is mainly where freshmen and sophomores live, but also occasionally juniors. The second house is what we call the annex. Opposed to the main house which fits 21 members, there are 19 girls who live in the annex. The annex is mostly filled with juniors and occasionally seniors. Both of our houses are owned by our chapter.
We were awarded the Academic Excellence Award at the 2014 Kappa Convention.
==Highlights of 2015==
Chi Kappa Kappa Gamma has had an exciting year full a new events and challenges. This year Chi chapter was awarded the Chapter Excellence award. We were also very happy to come in with the 3rd highest grade point average out of all the houses here at the University of Minnesota. Our grade point average requirement is a 2.7, and our current grade point average is 3.43. In 2015, Chi had the highest GPA on campus, and we won the university’s Chapter of Excellence Award again. Also, Panhellenic elections were recently held and two members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were voted on to the PanHellenic Executive Council taking the positions of President and Vice President of Recruitment.
Another event that we are very proud of is our recruitment process. This year, the University of Minnesota had the largest number of girls go through recruitment since Greek life began at the University. We, along with other chapters, received our largest pledge classes with 56 girls, and initiated 54 girls. We were also very proud of our recruitment process considering we had 100% retention rate after open house. This year, our recruitment chair started the position of new member recruitment assistant, which has never been done on campus. Our assistant worked along side our recruitment chair to help with any problems, learn the ropes of the process and be the liaison between the members going through recruitment process for the first time, and our recruitment chair.
Our chapter can be described as a diverse group of girls who have different personalities and interests, yet form one cohesive group that makes for a funny, caring, intelligent, goal-driven, friendly and diligent chapter. The differences between every individual are what make our chapter unique yet exciting.
Locally, we have done book drives for Marcy Open Homes School and for a semester girls would visit this school during an after school program and hang out with the kids, play games and do crafts. We also used a large amount of the money we raised to help us put on the weekend for Girls Academy.
Marcy open homes is a school very close to our campus, therefore the Chapter feels as though it is our responsibility to help this school reach it’s full potential. We hope to be able to supply this school with the tools and supplies they need to give these kids the education that they deserve.
==Highlights of 2016==
2016 was a year full of growth and prosperity for Kappa Kappa Gamma's Chi Chapter located here at the University of Minnesota. We have more than 150 members and can house 40 Kappas each year between the main chapter house and the annex next door. The women of Chi Chapter were rewarded for their dedication to their academics, leadership and philanthropy. Academically, Chi Chapter excelled by being recognized as the number one GPA out of the fourteen PanHellenic chapters on campus. Not only was that an amazing accomplishment in itself but Chi Chapter was able to achieve and maintain such a status for the second semester in a row with a GPA chapter average of 3.43.
Our Chapter has also been able to extend its success in the PanHellenic community by maintaining a presence on the executive board. This past November, the PanHellenic community elected two members of Kappa Kappa Gamma onto the University of Minnesota's PanHellenic Executive Council - taking the positions of Vice President of Public Relations and Vice President of Recruitment. Chi Chapter is composed of individuals who strive to better themselves and those around them which has allowed our Chapter to achieve all that we have. The individuals of Chi Chapter have built up such a chapter by being dedicated to their studies, developing their leadership qualities, giving back to the community and recruiting individuals who show promise in such areas. By living and practicing by such standards and rules expected from being a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma we were very fortunate to receive Honorable Mention for Recruitment, Public Relations, Finance, Gracious Living, House Board and Academic Excellence at the 2016 Chapter Convention. In addition our Chapter also achieved Adelphe Society Status for our cumulative donations being over $10,000.