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Highlights of 2018
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'''Highlights of 2020s2018: Include information from chapter history reports, 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.'''
Eta Rho’s 6th year on Cal Poly’s campus started out strong. The start of a new year came with the training of our new council at the annual Leadership Day where each council member got to learn from their predecessor and bond with the other girls who will be beside them every step of the way for the next year. All our members couldn’t be more excited to get the new year rolling.
We started off the quarter enjoying a dinner with the men of Sigma Pi. The next weekend in February we hosted our annual Kappa Parent’s weekend where girls get to show their parents around our beautiful home and introduce them to some of their Kappa sisters. The main event for this weekend is the brunch we host for all the families. In the past we have had the brunch at Madonna Inn, but this year we decided to switch it up and have the brunch at Slow Brew Rock, which was an absolute hit and might just become our new tradition.
The month of February had many more fun events that followed. We had a dinner with Theta Chi that was “Jarty in the USA” theme, our annual sisterhood movie in Atascadero where our sisters gathered to watch Fifty Shades Freed, and a sisterhood event where we volunteered at Growing Grounds to help our community. Then we moved into the first weekend of March, which was filled with Kappa everything. We started out the weekend with our Reading is Key event at CL Smith Elementary. The kids love when we come in to read and do crafts with them, and we also donate books that they get to keep and take home. That same day we had Eta Rho’s 6th birthday party at Central Coast Sports Arena in Santa Maria, where we dressed up in our best 70’s decade’s outfits, ate our weight in Buffalo Wild Wings, and roller bladed with our sisters. The following day we had our Semi formal at embassy suites. We finished out the month of March with another dinner, but this time with the men of Beta Theta Pi.
April was just as exciting and filled with a variety of events. We had an impromptu acai sisterhood, a senior spa day at Sycamore Hot Springs, and a Lulu sisterhood. The seniors raved about how amazing their spa day was and loved the chance to get to bond with their fellow seniors, as well as be provided with a nice get away where they could relax and forget about the stress of graduating and entering the real world in a few short months. Whereas, the Lulu sisterhood was a hit because we could all bond over our obsession for cute workout clothes and get a huge discount on many of our favorite items.
The rest of spring quarter we had the opportunity to really reflect on what Kappa means to us and why we chose to join this amazing organization. We were able to reflect on ourselves, take the time to be with our sisters and focus on our relationships and giving back to our community, not just our social events that often become our sole focus at times.
We had a few more events to finish out the school year. The seniors had a senior day where they got food at Libertine, bonded, and finished out their day with senior
pictures with the lovely Matthew Lalanne. We also had a big sisterhood event in place of our usual Spring formal at Santa Margarita Ranch. The event was carnival themed including face paint, glitter tattoos, cotton candy, tacos and our senior sendoff “Roast and Toast.” Lastly, we finished the quarter with our annual philanthropy Kappa Splash. The men of Zeta Beta Tau won for the third year in a row, and we were able to raise over $1,500 for Reading is Fundamental. Everyone loved spending the day at the pool, tanning, hanging out with friends, competing, and most importantly raising money for a great cause.
It was now the bitter sweet time of summer break where everyone is excited to be on break from school, but sad to be separated from their sisters for 3 months. Girls went in all directions for summer break. Some stayed in SLO, some went abroad, some had amazing internships, and others just had a nice relaxing summer at home. No matter where everyone ended up, we all couldn’t be more excited to be reunited in the fall.
Two weeks before the start of school in the fall, our sisters returned to SLO to attend our annual fall sisterhood retreat. We usually make this trip to Disneyland, but this year we decided to switch it up and do a cabin retreat at Big Bear Lake. Girls got to stay in cabins and have sleepovers just like when we were younger, have bonfires where everyone told stories or played games to get to know each other better. There was a plethora of fun activities to participate in each day. Some of the activities offered were archery, a high ropes course, and a rock climbing wall. In addition to an impromptu soccer game and yoga with one of our sisters leading the class.
When everyone returned from the retreat it was time to jump right into Spirit Week. The Iota class had a few days of practice just for them to go over the basics of recruitment and offer them time to ask any specific questions they may have, but more importantly a time to bond with the members of their pledge class before we welcomed our new Kappa class. Then, a few days later, the entire chapter joined the Iotas and we all practiced for the much anticipated and biggest event of fall quarter. Although the week was spent practicing for recruitment in order to best prepare us to recruit the most amazing and genuine girls we can, we also had mini sisterhoods every day after training to allow for us all to get to know every single girl and become closer as an entire chapter. This year’s Spirit Week was one for the books and definitely something to be emulated in the future.
The first week of school we kicked off our annual fall photo off with Asia Croson. She always takes amazing photos for us and all the girls that were able to attend the photoshoot were so excited to receive her pictures. Recruitment this year was split into two separate weekends in order to minimize class conflicts and hopefully help manage people’s stress with balancing school and recruitment right at the start of the new school year. The first weekend of recruitment went so well we couldn’t wait to get the next weekend started, but we were also happy to have a break during the week to be able to catch up on sleep, schoolwork, and give us the energy and motivation we needed to finish out the second weekend strong and recruit some amazing new girls into this sorority. Bid Day finally came around on October 8. It was blue and blue themed at Higuera Ranch, and we were so thrilled to finally welcome home our new Kappa pledge class! The theme and decorations were such a hit that this might just be a recurring theme in the future. Everyone came decked out in anything blue they could find. Some
girls even wore blue wigs to show their dedication and love for our new Kappas.
The new members had so many events to go to during their first few weeks that gave us the opportunity to show them how great Kappa is and teach them to love it just as much as we all do. Their first event was Founder’s Day at Madonna Inn on October 13th, followed by our new fall philanthropy, Kappa Karnival, and a dinner with Zeta Beta Tau and Kappa Sigma the next two weeks.
In the past we have done a 5K run for our big fall philanthropy that benefits Jack’s Helping Hand, but this year we wanted to do something new. We decided to put on a carnival for other Greek Life to compete in games against each other, and then after the competition open it to the public to provide fun games and prizes for our community to participate in. All proceeds from the carnival were donated to the Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center, and we raised over $7,000 in our first year! We have high hopes for this philanthropy to expand even more in the future and get more of the SLO community involved in such a great cause.
We finished off October by volunteering at Growing Grounds once more because they are always very accommodating of our large number of girls wanting to help and we love giving back to them in any way we can. The next month was packed full of even more fun events for the new members including two more dinners with California Philanthropy Group and Tau Kappa Epsilon, as well as our date party Kappa Krush and the much anticipated Big/Little Reveal!
Big/Little reveal is usually every girl’s favorite part of fall quarter because the new members find out who their big is, the actives get their littles, and everyone’s family grows a little bigger. This year the new members were at their new member retreat at the Kappa House and were told they were going to Mitchell Park down the street for a bonding activity, but little did they know their bigs were patiently awaiting in their boxes they decorated, ready to jump out and surprise them! The Kappas were all so amazed when they walked up and saw all the boxes, making Big/Little Reveal a huge success. After the event, everyone went out with their new families to bond and get some food.
Later that same night was Kappa Krush. Kappa Krush this year was at Grillhouse, but we switched up the theme a little from the past two years. In the past we had everyone dress up with their dates as a dynamic duo or perfect pair, but this year we thought it would be fun to dress up with our dates as a rhyme without reason. The best part of the night was trying to figure out how everyone’s’ costumes fit together and rhymed. This was our last event before we left for Thanksgiving break, and when we came back from break we jumped right into I-week and the initiation process for the Kappas.
I-week began with the returning of the new member pins where we catered Buffalo Wild Wings for the whole chapter to celebrate the start of the initiation process for our soon to be new actives. The week continued with a bowling night at mustang lanes for the entire chapter, a Zumba class at the rec center, and finally a movie night in downtown SLO to watch the new Grinch. Fireside was finally here, and we held this at The Guild Hall on Friday November 30th. All of the Kappas and New Member Chairman had a sleepover at the Kappa House after Fireside and couldn’t be more excited to finish out initiation Saturday morning. We continued with the initiation of the Kappas on Saturday December 1st in the Performing Arts Center on campus; they were no longer new members and officially become active members of Eta Rho. This year we even had
a few family members of the new members drive to SLO to help initiate their sister, which was very special for those girls. The Kappas were all so excited to finally be active members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and celebrated by going out to brunch with their families.
We finished out Winter quarter by electing our new council, and we couldn’t be more excited to see where they lead Eta Rho next. We have high hopes for their success and know they are all so eager to take on their new roles. We can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for us!
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'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!