Changes
→Highlights of the 1990s
|Image= [[File:Beta_Phi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1909|03|20}}
|College= [httphttps://www.umt.edu/ University of Montana], formerly State University of Montana; Montana State University
|Location= Missoula, MT
|Homepage= [https://chapters.kappakappagamma.org/betaphi/ Beta Phi Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Beta_Phi Media related to Beta Phi Chapter]}}
'''University of Montana (formerly University of Montana; State University of Montana; Montana State University) established in 1893, Missoula, Montana
'''2021 1,954 initiates (as of June 20172018''')
Leadership development was a key element of chapter life. Members participated in Lead to Succeed a national leadership skills development program developed by Kappa Kappa Gamma and Alpha Tau Omega, chapter retreats featured team building opportunities such as a low ropes course. Many officers attended Iota Province Meetings and Convention to share ideas and bring back new ways to improve chapter life. Tiffany Finley, Colorado, served as a Chapter Consultant to Beta Phi helping the chapter to develop its identity and build on strong qualities of chapter life. The Fraternity selected two Beta Phi’s, Dana Clader and Shawna Gary, to serve as Chapter Consultants.
Beta Phi has a long standing belief in Panhellenic and held the Presidency and other offices several times throughout the decade. Greek Woman of the Year honors were bestowed on Shannon Frantzick , Kim Francis, and Dana Pickrell. In addition the chapter received Awards for Improved Scholarship, Campus Involvement and Most Improved Sorority from Panhellenic.
The chapter was recognized at Iota Province Meetings with awards in the areas of Outstanding Alumnae Participation, Improved Scholarship and Overall G.P.A. It was a thrill and tremendous honor for the chapter to receive the Greatest Improvement Award at the 1998 Convention.
1998 Greatest Improvement
==Highlights of 2000-2010==
==Highlights of 2015==
During the year of 2015, the University of Montana has added a new fraternity to campus, Alpha Sigma Phi. The University now has 4 sororities and 8 fraternities. Within
The University now has 4 sororities and 8 fraternities. Within our own Kappa Kappa Gamma Beta Phi chapter, we are blessed to have our new
we are blessed to have our new house mom, Leann, who was our old house board treasurer. We also are pleased to
reward Alicia B. the Beta Phi scholarship back in April.
Our chapter has also increased in size since the past couple of years. We initiated a total of 7 women in the spring and 21 women in the fall. Spring recruitment was very successful because we had over 20 women show up for our “Mexican night” and over
maximum of 4 women. We then extended 13 bids to those women and ended up with 8 new members. Our formal fall recruitment was a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” theme, and at
recruitment was a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” theme, and at the end of the week, we extended 29 bids to women and pledged 26 women that
pledged 26 women that following Monday.
Philanthropy activities that our chapter has accumulated over the fall semester of 2014 and spring semester of 2015, we totaled over 2,100 hours for all 51 women. Special thanks to Jessica L, Hannah G, Krista B, Bronte B. who all volunteered over 100 hours of service. Our chapter always helps out at the annual Forester’s Ball, where
all volunteered over 100 hours of service. Our chapter always helps out at the other half to our fraternity brotherannual Forester’s Ball, Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s fundraiser. Their where
420 books from all the fraternities and sororities on campus. Our Senior Philanthropy event also that spring was an alcohol awareness water pong tournament that all Greek
was an alcohol awareness water pong tournament that all Greek members or non-members could participate, and the seniors raised over $250 dollars
seniors raised over $250 dollars and then also donated the full amount to SAE’s fundraiser.
Some of the goals that our chapter council developed include: be more philanthropic, develop better communication, and be Kappa Klassy. With the goal of
and be Kappa Klassy. With the goal of being more philanthropic as our probably the main focus, our chapter believed that we
believed that we should continue to improve on being more involved with the other sororities and
fraternities on our campus. One of the reasons why we decided on this goal was because our chapter happens to
We as a chapter also believed that these goals would help us in the challenges that our chapter faced over the year.
happened. Overall, I believe that our chapter and the University of Montana Greek system facing an “alcohol restriction” is improving and other public report cases that
Even though we have had a couple of challenges this year, some of the many traditions we have done for years still continued. Our Founder’s Day on October 13th was our 106th anniversary of our chapter on the University of Montana campus. Other
Also during our meetings, we have the “No Skip Skippy Jar,” the “Hey, Hey, I Got an A,” “Kappa Kreep,” and the Supportive Sister Bra. The no skip skippy jar is where everyone
Supportive Sister Bra. The no skip skippy jar is where everyone puts in their names if they attended all of their classes and win a prize. The got an A is
classes and win a prize. The got an A is for rewarding everyone who obtained an A in any of their classes that week. The Kappa
The Kappa Kreep is the newer one where if you spotted a sister studying, you could snapchat them
“secretly” and watch a slide show the VP of Academic Excellence would create from that week. The supportive
where the bigs’ will make crafts and write clues to give to the littles’ for them to guess. At the end of the weekly meetingsweek, our chapter has an entire week dedicated to Bigs’ and Littles’
might be one of the most treasured traditions that Beta Phi has.
We have been blessed with our chapter house still being the original house that was bought in 1931. Currently we
that it is a historical house.
==Highlights of 2016==
December was a short but exciting month for the Beta Phi chapter. On the 8th we had our Sapphire Function that was a ton of fun. Our VPO, AJ, planned a great Leadership Day on the 9th where incoming officers and outgoing officers had a great time learning about leadership. The last day of classes was on the 12th and finals ran from the 14th to the 20th. The house closed for the semester on the 21st.
==Highlights of 2020s2018s:== Beta Phi had a great year in 2018. On the University campus, we found a new Fraternity and Sorority Involvement Director, Lacey Zinke, Delta Gamma alumna from the University of Montana 2014. In late January we had our first Chapter Council meeting where successors observe and ask questions as their predecessors continue to create and give reports. We started tabling at the Lommasson Center for Informal Recruitment. The incoming officers had a second leadership day to go over goals and team building exercises. Our goals were better PR for chapter; improve ritual; sisters first always; more effective meetings. A rookie workshop was held where they learned the COB process, a review of our Kappa values, and select-a-sis(our voting software.) We kicked off our Informal Recruitment with a hot chocolatestation full of toppings. Our second recruitment event was Sundae Fundae. We ended events with cookie decorating. Eight bids were handed out. Programming started with fire safety, evaluation procedures and general police safety. Galentines Day sisterhood where we made valentines for sisters, soon to be new members and house staff. Programming stared with Behind Happy Faces to discuss mental health. We began our annual book drive to collect books until the end of philanthropy week. Women's Empowerment Day where Fraternity Sorority Involvement arranged for a few women leaders to come and speak to sorority women. March 20 was Beta Phi's 109 birthday and we celebrated with a blue and blue dessert and some facts about our history. Philanthropy Week began, we had tabling for raffle prizes tickets, set up a percentage sale at MOD pizza and collected our book drive. There was a fun photo shoot at the house. The sisterhood divided into two groups. One collected feminine non-perishable products for the women's shelter. The other went to help the homeless at their center and organized their storage area. April saw the big/little reveal with little gifts exchanged. Programming was Cal Reynold talk to us about Allies Training. Initiation was held for four new members. Greek Week and our scholarship dinner followed. The end of the month saw an amazing senior function held at the Downtown Dance Collective. Then our going alum event for our outgoing seniors was held. After finals in May, the house closed for the summer and we all departed. In August the house was a buzz when 18 members moved back in. Over the summer the membership chairman and officers worked hard on recruitment plans. In Key Week we learned new ways to recruit and strengthen our sisterhood. Throughout recruitment and COB we pledged 19 new members. A sisterhood where we filled bags with feminine products was held and donated them to the YWCA. During national hazing prevention week we made a banner and competed against the other sororities and won! In October we held an alumnae brunch where we celebrated homecoming and Founders Day. 30 alumnae and 30 actives attended. Homecoming saw us paired with Sigma Nu and Phi Delta Theta. We created an amazing float for the parade. Big/little reveal was held and 17 new members prepared for initiation. We also had a Halloween themed sisterhood with games and snacks. November brought the Sapphire event at the Missoula Community Theatre where everyone had fun dancing. We held a philanthropy event playing corn hole raising $76 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We held Kappa flapjacks raising $210 for the Beta Phi Scholarship Fund. We also sold t-shirts where 10% of the sales went to Reading is Fundamental. December brought leadership day, a Christmas party with Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a white elephant gift exchange. Mid month the house closed and we departed for winter break.
From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:
'''Convention Awards:'''
==Highlights of 2020==
2020 presented a unique challenge for Beta Phi and the University of Montana Greek Life community as a whole due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the month of February, Beta Phi held three COB events: a Meet and Greet on the 6th, Study with the Kappas on the 12th, and House Tours and Hot Cocoa on the 19th. Bids were extended to four new members on March 7 who then went through Formal Pledging on March 9.
March 13 was the last day of classes before spring break at the University of Montana. Due to COVID-19 students were encouraged to go home for the break and not return to campus. Over the break classes at the University prepared to move online and dormitories began shutting down and sending students home. The Beta Phi chapter house followed suit, closing its doors and moving all chapter meetings, Chapter Council meetings and sisterhoods to virtual.
After the end of the semester on May 8, Beta Phi participated in their first virtual initiation ceremony held by the Fraternity's Ritual and History Content Team on May 17 where the four new members from Spring COB were officially welcomed into the Fraternity.
Over the summer the Chapter Council, under the guidance of the current chapter President, Madeleine Itschner, began preparing for the upcoming semester, virtual or not. When we were informed that we would be returning to campus for the Fall 2020 semester, President Itschner began working tirelessly on a COVID-19 safety plan for the Beta Phi chapter house. Her plan included social distancing measures in the house, requiring masks in all shared living spaces, and chapter meetings remaining virtual.
On August 10 girls masked up and began moving back into the chapter house in order to begin preparation for formal recruitment. In order to ensure the safety of all of our sisters, Beta Phi held their key week entirely online so that sisters were able to isolate themselves from each other as we came back together. Formal recruitment ran from August 30th to September 4 and contained a mixture of outside, socially distanced events and virtual events.
Classes and other school events at the University of Montana for the fall semester remained partially online and partially socially distanced. To celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma's sesquicentennial anniversary on October 13, Beta Phi held a Zoom call with alumnae where the Founders Day Ceremony and the Passing of the Light ceremony were performed by current chapter members. All the active members and alumnae were then given the link for the Facebook live event and encouraged to attend.
On November 14 Beta Phi did its second virtual initiation, but this time the Chapter Council officers conducted the ceremony. Three members were initiated. After initiation new Chapter Council officers were slated and elected and are set to take over chapter operations next semester. With finals week wrapping up on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving, the sisters of Beta Phi parted for winter break and said goodbye to a crazy year.
Beta Phi supported two philanthropic organizations this year: the Missoula YWCA and the Humane Society. These two organizations were supported by the chapter because they are local to Missoula and allowed us to directly help and impact members of our community.
Additionally, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) chairman position was created and added to Chapter Council. This chairman was also given a committee, creating the DEI committee.
==Highlights of 2021==