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→Highlights of 2018
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.
==Highlights of 2019==
One of the most memorable first moments of 2019 was welcoming our new pledge class! We initiated ten new members who have been wonderful additions to our chapter. In the first round of primary recruitment, the potential new members get to know our chapter by casually talking to most of our members. In this round we inform the potential new members what Greek life is like at Lawrence and answer any questions that they have. There are posters of what we all major and minor in and other extracurricular activities everyone is involved with on campus. In this round we get to talk to the potential new members the most and get to know them. Round two is centered around our philanthropy. We inform them on the organizations that we support and how we do so. The Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, Harbor House, and Reading is Fundamental are the organizations that we often volunteer and fundraise for. During this round we wrote letters for little kids about our favorite books and what inspired us to read. We also made bookmarks to give to the children. We gave the letters and the bookmarks to an elementary school and public library. This round we got to know the potential new members very well. Round 3 focused on our ritual and getting to know the potential new members even more. We also made this round more personalized to our potential new members by telling them how we saw Kappa in each of them. It helps our potential new members get a really good idea what Kappa means to us and what it could mean to them.
For our winter philanthropy, we held an event on campus that we called “Kappa Kappaccino,” where we sold coffee and donuts on campus to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Another event that we hosted during spring term was Too Hot to Handle, where we had a cookout during Greek Week to raise money for the Harbour House, our local philanthropy. We will be doing an event at the local elementary school next week. For this event, we will be doing fun activities with third graders about the Wampanoags, which is a topic they have been learning about in class. We hope to get them excited about learning by doing a coloring activity, reading stories, and watching a short clip about the tribe. At this event, we will also be asking for book donations.
Our new member formal was held on the second floor of the Warch Campus Center. The theme was “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” inspired by the Dr. Suess children’s book. Our decorations included a sky photo backdrop, a map of the world for us to mark where we are all from, balloons, and streamers. We also provided snacks, such as chocolate fondue with treats for dipping, popcorn, and fruits. With our new members still getting to know their sisters, this was a great way for them to enjoy their sisters’ company and their first official Kappa event!
In the spring, we held continuous open bidding to add three new members to our chapter. For our first round, which was held in our Kappa room, we had a spa night. We got to know our potential new members by painting our nails, doing face masks together, and eating snacks. The following evening, we held a game night in our Kappa room. We played Uno, Apples to Apples, Jenga, and many other board games. We had about six potential new members come through COB’s, including one Kappa legacy. There were a few concerns raised about a few of the potential new members, however we try to give each potential member the benefit of the doubt and overlook trivial campus gossip. Ultimately, our decision came down to who we all thought would not only fit in with our chapter, but also help us improve by bringing new and refreshing ideas. We welcomed three new members into our chapter, and they have all been wonderful additions.
Senior formal was held at Pullman’s, a nearby restaurant right along the river. Dinner was provided, along with a cash bar. The formal was in honor of the graduating senior class. It was themed the “The Final Rose,” and we gave real roses to give each of them. We also had note jars for each senior, for our chapter members to leave them all kind messages and words of admiration.
Our last week of the term, we held both big/little reveal and senior sendoff together. Our three new members finally got to find out who their big was! Each big made a large sign and held it over them, and after a countdown they dropped their signs to reveal themselves. Our big/little pairs are Amy and Anna, Rebecca and Liz, and Jackie and Hannah. They are all great pairs and really enjoy spending time with each other. Following big/little reveal, the sophomores sang “I’ll Always Remember You” by Hannah Montana to the seniors. We did change some of the lyrics to make them more Kappa oriented. The juniors performed a skit for the seniors as well. We then fulfilled our tradition where our seniors give us their old Kappa shirts and we all wear everything that we are given. By the end, we are all wearing several layers of clothing and we take a picture.
In May, just before we were let out of school, we held interim elections for President, VP Finance, VP Membership, VP Membership Development, and VP Internal Affairs. While this change was announced at our Executive Board meeting, nominations and voting was completed at a formal meeting. Annika Lund was installed as VP Membership Development, Alexis Angemi was installed as VP Membership, Ally Herrera was installed as VP Internal Affairs and the proxy for Ritual and History Director, Elizabeth Liebau was installed as VP Finance, and Ceara Larson was installed as President. In less than one week, the new board was running smoothly and advancing the chapter. With this change in leadership came a change in our advisory board, who came to us with plenty of new ideas and great attitudes.
For continuous open bidding of fall 2019, we had a spa themed night and a game night. We played board games together and had two potential new members stop into our room and express interest in Kappa. We gave one bid out to Jordan Adamson and she accepted the bid. Bid night was a pajama theme and we had snacks and got to know our new member after welcoming her in by singing Rah Rah and Oh Pat. VP Membership bought the snacks and set up the room. Since it was for one new member, and the two potential new members that expressed interest are teammates and roommates of current members, the rounds were kept simple so we could focus on getting to know the potential new members. We did not utilize any committee members as it was not necessary. Since we were only giving out one bid, we really wanted to find the best fit for our chapter. We wanted someone who is compassionate, responsible, and showed interest in being a part of our chapter. We had members who did not already know the potential new members chat with them during our spa and game nights so they could get to know them more before discussion and voting.
On November 12th, we held big/little reveal in our Kappa room so Jordan Adamson could find out who her big was. On the table we left a crossword puzzle that included hints about her big. These hints included her favorite sports, classes, hobbies, and interests. Each word contained one letter from her name, which was circled prior to starting the puzzle. Once Jordan finished the puzzle, she scrambled the circled letters to find out that Lauren Turner was her big. Lauren then opened the door to officially reveal her identity.
This term we had the privilege to initiate four new members: Jordan Adamson, Jaqueline Feldy, Elizabeth Jonjak Plahn, and Anna White. On November 16th, we had our FS ceremony, with one alumnae present. The following morning, November 17th, we held RR and WR. We also had two alumnae present for these ceremonies, who both read for RR. Initiation ran very smoothly, and we are so excited to teach our new members all about Kappa’s ritual and the secret songs that they have been waiting to learn.
On November 3rd, we held our elections. Tali Berkowitz was the head of the Nomination Committee, with Jessica Hopkins and Celina Vidos in the committee. During our chapter meeting, Tali presented the slate, and we voted on each position as a chapter. Ceara Larson was re-elected as our chapter President. Elizabeth Liebau was re-elected as VP Finance. Erin Lengel was re-elected as our VP Operations. Ally Herrera was elected for VP Membership Development. Anna Kallay was elected as our new VP Membership. Emma Gilshannon was installed as VP External Affairs. Genesis Rosiles was elected as our new VP Internal Affairs. Annika Lund is now our new Standards Director. Elizabeth Jonjak Phlan was elected as our new Event Director. Kylie Lydon was elected as Risk Management Director. Celina Vidos was elected as the Administration Director. Emily Hoeft was elected as our new Facilities Director. Amy Courter was elected as our new Ritual and History Director, however she stepped down from her position the following week, so Lauren Tuner was elected in her place. A week later we also held Leadership Day at one of our advisor's homes, to help make our transitions smoother and to better understand one another’s leadership styles.
We had the Minnie Stewart van come to campus Friday November 1st from 3-5 pm. Due to the weather, we moved the van into the Kappa room. They brought a ton of cool and interesting Kappa items, such as an original gavel, seal, and several other objects from the founding at Monmouth College. They also had a VR set that animated the creation of Kappa where we were able to see our founders sign the original documents that brought Kappa into being.
Some of the most memorable campus-wide changes and events that have occurred over this past year includes the infamous Polar Vortex. During winter term, temperatures dropped to a record-breaking –50 degrees in Appleton. Our classes were cancelled for a majority of that week, and it was considered unsafe to go outside without the proper clothing on. With record breaking low temperatures such as this, it was almost certain that you could get frost bite within minutes of being outside. Another change on campus was with our meal plans. The meal plans changed from a set number of meal swipes and culinary cash over the course of a whole term to a set number of meal swipes renewing weekly with a set amount of culinary cash to last the entire term. For the most part, this change was not been widely appreciated by students. Administration is already considering changing it, since it has caused many issues when people run out of their set amount of culinary cash and do not have enough meal swipes to account for all their meals for the week. Overall, we have had a very interesting and fun year, and we are looking forward to what is to come.
Founders Day 2019 was held at our adviser, Christina’s home. It was a lovely affair, and we chatted with our sisters, alumnae, and advisers. We had a delicious brunch and discussed the significance of the upcoming 150th anniversary. We conducted the Founders Day ceremony from the Kappa website and sang two songs: "On the Heart of Each Sister" and "Dream a While of Kappa". Overall, it was a success, and the celebration was enjoyed by all!
Zeta Epsilon supports Reading Is Fundamental, Harbour House, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Each of these organizations is very important to our chapter.