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→Highlights of 2018
The chapter room in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.
==Highlights of 2018==
Spring: The Epsilon Rho chapter officers for 2018 attended an officers retreat Sunday and
Monday January 14th and 15th at our Vice President of Standards’ ranch house. This was the
first time that the 2018 officers worked together and were able to make a great outline and plan
for the 2018 year four Epsilon Rho. The officers established goals regarding how to complete
our action plan in the best way possible, as well as creating a tentative calendar for the next
year. This two day retreat allowed all the officers to bond as both friends and leaders in Kappa,
and helped the relationships among chapter council grow. The first meeting of the year was
held January 22nd. February was a big month for us. The standards committee hosted a
sisterhood event for Valentines Day and Mom Hurley’s birthday; both provided opportunities for
the chapter to bond and to share how much we appreciate our house mom. We had our annual
semi-formal on February 22nd. Every member volunteers at least two times per semester at the
Nehemiah Center of Navasota, an after school program to help at-risk kids reach their full
potential. The girls help the kids with their homework, help with arts and crafts, read with them,
and play activities outside. We had this all of Spring. We also hosted our Spring philanthropy
event Kappa Kookout. This event was held at our house during Dad’s Weekend, and is a BBQ
cookout that helps raise money for our philanthropies. We raised $13,833.69 for our
philanthropies: Nehemiah Center of Navasota, the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and
Reading is Fundamental. In March, we had a fantastic date party with a wig theme. We also
had an Easter sisterhood event, and the standards committee had an egg hunt around the
Kappa House for chapter members after our chapter meeting. In February, March, and April,
our Membership chairman held recruitment workshops to help the new pledge class learn about
the recruitment process and how our specific chapter functions during work week and
recruitment week. In April, a Leadership Consultant visited us and we were able to reflect on
how we were doing as a Chapter Council and as a chapter so far this semester. We had our
annual formal in April, and there was fun music and good food to enjoy with our Kappa sisters!
Our spring semester was over and our members were able to have a relaxing, travel-filled, and
successful summer!
The fall semester was a fantastic one for Kappa! We started the semester with work week,
which all of our active members attended. During this week we were able to prepare for
recruitment and get excited about our new pledge class. Recruitment week was August
19th-25th. Bid day was August 25th, and we were so excited to welcome our 86 new members
with carnival themed foods and lots of blue and blue. At the end of September, we had a
bowling date party, which then led into October where we had our big/little reveal. The new
members were then able to be fully initiated by the end of October! Our initiation was extremely
successful, and was followed by our Founders Day celebration where the alumni who traveled
in for initiation were also able to be a part of the celebration. The last weekend of October was
extremely busy as we had both our Mom’s Weekend and also our Fall Philanthropy event,
Kappa Kolor Run. Our moms were able to run in the race, and the event was super fun,
successful, and of course, colorful! We raised $23,278.96 for all of our philanthropies. Our
service involvement for the semester changed this Fall, as we decided to change directions and
start supporting a different local philanthropy, Books and a Blanket. Books and a Blanket was
started by two elementary school girls who work to promote literacy among young girls by giving
them more access to books. They focus on children in grades pre-K to 6th grade. Their project
ensures that students have books to read and a blanket to keep them warm. We saw so much
potential in helping this organization, and decided to support them instead of the Nehemiah
Center of Navasota as it was more local to our campus. One of our sisterhood events this
semester was making blankets for this philanthropy. We have also started to emphasize our
national philanthropies, Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
Our members have been able to participate in “Reading is Key” Events, where we travel to local
elementary schools in Bryan/College Station and read to different classes, while also providing
each student with their own book. We have had multiple book drives this year, had bookmark
decorating events for the children, profit shares, and Reading is Key events. In October we also
had our “Owloween” date party where we teamed up with Chi Omega and were able to dress up
in funny costumes and celebrate Halloween together. In November, we two-stepped the night
away as we co-hosted the Ranch date party with Tri-Delta. This was a fantastic way to end our
year! In December, we had our annual Triplet meeting where the outgoing and incoming
officers and their advisors met and talked about the transition of Chapter Council. We had an
incredible 2018, and we are so excited for the new Chapter Council and the 2019 year!!
The Nehemiah Center of Navasota was our local philanthropy in the Spring, but in the Fall we
changed to Books and a Blanket. Our chapter chose to support Books and a Blanket because it
allows us to be hands on with local elementary schools in Bryan/College Station and to promote
literacy right around our campus. We are becoming more involved in our national philanthropies,
Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We had several members
benefit from the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation after Hurricane Harvey, and so we love
supporting them especially as it hits very close to home with us.
In 2018, Texas A&M saw some changes. Our football program received a new head coach,
Jimbo Fisher, and we have been really excited about our football season this year.
Our chapter meets in the chapter room of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.