2,350
edits
Changes
→Highlights of the 2020s:
==Highlights of the 2020s2020:==
The Beta Upsilon chapter in the spring of 2020 held all functions per usual. we started on the week of January 11th and 12th with our recruitment practices, called “Kamp Kappa” with all current pledge classes. During this time the girls are able to run through the ropes of recruitment and practice the rounds and talk about ideals based recruiting and the future of the chapter. Spring 19 and all who were receiving littles within this new pledge class attended ritual reviews and practiced for the initiation of the new members. The following week, recruitment week took off and our girls were put to work! Recruitment started on the week of the 19th and continued during the weekends for the next two weeks. We gained a new pledge class of 38 girls and welcomed them home on Bid Day, February 2nd. The following day on the 3rd the new members attended the New Member Pinning Ceremony and started their new member meetings with the new Member Chairman. They had their new member retreat on the 13th of February and ended the weekend with our annual “Kappa Crush” date party. The following week of the 16th was the begging of the Big/Little Clues, where the new members were given clues by their big of who they were. Our Big/Little reveal was on the 20th, and the girls were so excited to see who their big finally was after a week of clues! Inspiration week took place that Saturday and started the week of the initiation process. During inspiration week, we had an Ice-Skating sisterhood Event at the local ice rink and spent time skating and having fun with our sisters and new members. that week also included the return of the new member pin ceremony, ritual reviews for the bigs and initiation practices. To finish off the week we had our crest ceremony and finished the weekend with initiation. We were so excited that during this initiation, the beta upsilon chapter had initiated their first alumna, who is also the current house director, Rickie Huffman. This was a huge milestone in our chapter’s history because she was only the 12th overall alumna initiated within the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. To kick off March, our newly initiated pledge class had their first ritual review and ended with our parents’ weekend. Over that weekend we had our parent date party on Saturday the 7th and had our Golden Key Luncheon the following day. The Golden Key Luncheon was a fundraiser for our philanthropies, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer research Endowment Fund. We had guest speakers and parents and members and local alumni were able to take place in raffles and had a buffet style lunch served. To honor our 4.0 members, we hold a dinner for them every semester and the dinner for that semester took place on March 6th. Our Spring Break began that weekend,little to know shortly after that would be the last time we were on campus for the semester. During the end of the spring semester and virtual classes, the elections of the Panhellenic Executive Board were completed, and our member Blair Lewis was the new Vice President of Communications. Over break the university had informed all students and staff that we would switch to remote learning due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It was unfortunate that we were not going to be able to see our sisters for the rest of the semester, but all kept in touch over the following months. The chapter continued the weekly chapter meetings, and it was a nice way to keep all of us together and keep all members still involved within our organization. We had to become creative with all the ways we could virtually spend time together, which was now going to be the new “norm” for us. Our members had completed their spring semester and were at home with their families for the summer break. with COVID-19 still spiking and spreading over break, girls were limited on the travel and contacted we had with one another in person to make sure we all kept one another safe. Our break was filled with sisters participating in FaceTime calls, emails, and social media to make sure we all were staying healthy and to check in on one another in such hard times. unfortunately, although we were allowed to return to campus, 90% of classes were to be held virtually the upcoming fall semester. The was going to be challenging for our chapter council to continue their duties and events now switching virtually. But with resilience, our chapter council had found a way. We started the fall semester with themed chapter meetings and giving away prizes to the member best dressed. As in person events and meetings were now cancelled, we still found ways to have chapter and member involvement. We had our virtual founder’s Day on October 13th and celebrated the 150th year of Kappa Kappa Gamma. our Sesiquentcentennial celebration was very important to us and celebrated in a way to keep all our members safe and healthy. Our Education Chairman had put together our founder’s day with alumna speakers and our annual house board meeting with all members present. Alumna had the time to share their favorite memories of kappa, and what kappa has given them. We also opened the floor to current members, and it was a heartwarming time to share with each other all the amazing things this organization has given us. We all can agree it had given us many friendships, memories, and had opened so many doors for all of us to excel and become the best version of ourselves. Our founder’s day concluded with pictures of the house over the years and all the members and pictures from over the past decades. Later on in the semester, our Risk Management Chairman had put together a dunking Donuts drive thru for our members which was a great pick me up before we had all gone home for thanksgiving break. She had also spent time doing a chapter game night of two truths and a lie, and members were able to send in fun facts about themselves for sisters to guess! Prizes we also given away for winners and our chapter had really loved getting to know some interesting things about one another. We unfortunately would not be having any in person classes and most students would return home for the rest of the semester when leaving for fall break over thanksgiving. Panhellenic meetings were now virtual and members joined in, being able to interact and had played a Kahoot trivia game against the other sororities on campus. A member of our chapter, Emily Lyle had won first place out of over 100 other women! We had finished off the semester with the presentation of the slate and our 2021 Chapter Council elections and voting was held virtually over formal chapter meetings to conclude our chapter functions for this school year. This past year was nothing short of unique, and like said before we had faced it with the utmost resilience.
[[File:Beta Upsilon 2020 Graduation.jpg|thumb|Beta Upsilon 2020]]
[[File:Beta Upsilon Graduates 2020.jpg|thumb|Beta Upsilon 2020]]
==Highlights of 2021:==
The spring semester of 2021 has perhaps been the most unique semester in Beta Upsilon chapter’s history, as our members and chapter council tried to navigate through the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and make the most of a time where we were unable to participate in our normal events and traditions. We began the semester off with recruitment during the week of January 30th, and we received 35 wonderful new members on Bid Day, which took place on February 7th. Due to university and Kappa Kappa Gamma protocols during the pandemic, each round of recruitment, including Bid Day, took place over Zoom. Despite these restrictions, Beta Upsilon welcomed our Spring 2021 new member class by providing our new members with a Bid Day basket filled with Kappa shirts and sweet treats, as our theme was Kappa Kandyland! The members who lived in the house made a Bid Day banner for our new and active members to take pictures with on their own time, in a safe and socially distanced way. Beta Upsilon celebrated our spring 2021 Bid Day over Zoom and social media, making it just as special as a typical Bid Day. Our New Member Pinning Ceremony was also held over Zoom on February 9th, where 35 women pledged their name and interest to the Fraternity. Big and Little clues were dropped off at the house by the big sisters, picked up later by the little sisters, and presented over Zoom during the week of March 1st. Our New Member Chairman and Risk Management Chairman worked diligently to provide our new members with an in-person, socially distanced, Big/Little reveal at the house on March 6th. Although we had to forego the traditional initiation sleepover this year, on the morning of March 13th, Beta Upsilon proudly initiated 35 women into our sisterhood during a Zoom ceremony that combined both Fireside and Initiation services. Many alumnae were in attendance and able to witness our beautiful ceremony. We held a Zoom event with our new members for the first time on March 24th called Powerpoint Night, where our members made funny powerpoints and shared them with the chapter. On March 30th, our members took their composite photos in the Mountainlair, which is West Virginia University’s student union building. West Virginia University’s Greek Life joined in the Spring 2021 Greek Week from March 29th- April 2nd where our members participated in a banner decorating competition, WVU trivia night, and a tik tok challenge. Our university held a Greek Day of Service event on April 11th, which many of our members attended and helped repaint a wall on our campus with all of our Greek Life community. On April 14th we held a virtual Sisterhood Event and watched a movie with the whole chapter while we wore our new matching Kappa sweatshirts and sweatpants! Seniors were given a senior ceremony and a senior Fireside on April 15th, where all seniors were invited to the house for a traditional ceremony, as well as to share their experiences with the chapter over Zoom. Beta Upsilon worked hard to provide the Chapter with an in-person philanthropy event to support Kappa’s national philanthropy, which at the time was still “Reading is Fundamental.” The philanthropy event, Kappa Kakes, was held at the house on April 24th, where we raised money by selling pancakes to our community. On April 25th, our Education Chairman held a special senior send off ceremony with just the seniors, where they shared senior superlatives and had a delicious lunch at the house. We held a second Sisterhood Event on April 28th where we had a yoga retreat outside for all of our members! To get everyone ready for finals week, we held a Kappaccino drive thru event at the house on May 1st and we bought donuts and coffee for our members to pick up to help them get through their studies. This spring semester brought many awards to Beta Upsilon. Due to our incredibly hardworking chapter council, with the help of our active members, Beta Upsilon was presented with the Excellence in Risk Management award by our university’s InterFraternity Council. We also had many members participate in the Nolan Burch Greek Leadership Academy to help learn about and prevent hazing in the Greek Life community. At the end of the semester, Beta Upsilon was placed on a probation by Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters for Sisterhood and Risk Management concerns, but since then we have been dedicated to creating a better chapter environment for years to come. Chapter council and active members have listened to and understood the concerns Headquarters have presented to us, and we have taken this opportunity to change the chapter climate by putting forth the effort to create stronger bonds, all the while upholding the safety and well-being of our members and chapter as a whole.
The members of Beta Upsilon were excited to return to campus this fall and get back to participating in university and chapter life! We kicked off the year with some fun sisterhood bonding at the house on August 26th where we painted mini canvases. Then, on August 31st we held a shake party at the house provided by a local business, Star City Nutrition. On September 4th, Beta Upsilon Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted a brunch at the house for a small group of PNMs during informal recruitment. In preparation for our first in-person football game day since 2019, we made a chick-fil-a brunch at the house to fuel all of our members for the fun game day on September 11th! We held our New Member Pinning Ceremony on September 16th for our 4 new members. Afterwards, we invited our Spring and Fall 2021 member classes to spend the night at the Kappa house and take part in fun games! Our first annual Kappa Kornhole philanthropy event was a success on September 26th, where we raised over $1000 for Kappa’s new national philanthropy for mental health. The week of September 28th, Kappa participated in WVU’s Greek Games and even won the Musical Yoga Mat competition. On September 30th we held our second Sisterhood Event of the semester, Kappa Koffee, where we supported a local coffee shop, called The Grind, by purchasing a coffee for all of our members. Kappa Kappa Gamma celebrated WVU’s Homecoming on October 1st by making a parade float with the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, the theme was “Space Jams.” We finally welcomed home our 4 new members with a Bid Day event at the house on October 3rd, where everyone dressed in blue and blue! On October 13th we held a small Inspiration Week event where our seniors passed down a favorite Kappa shirt and a favorite Kappa memory to each of our new members. Then we officially initiated our 4 new members on October 16th with a full in-person ceremony. Founders Day took place that Sunday, October 17th, where we had lunch at the house and had so much fun singing ‘O Pat’ in the street! On October 23rd we held a Sisterhood Event at pumpkin patch where our members participated in a hayride and painted our own pumpkins. On November 7th we held a 4.0 brunch at a local restaurant, Iron Horse Tavern, to commend our members who have received a 4.0 GPA. We went out with a bang this semester with a fun Formal event at a local venue called Almost Heaven Bar & Grill on November 13th. The next day, our members participated in our philanthropy event called Hoops 4 Huggins, a basketball tournament that supports our local philanthropy the Norma Mae Huggins Foundation, and we raised over $1000. We’re finishing up our semester with a winter Sisterhood Event on December 2nd, where we decorated holiday cookies and wrote cards to people who are spending the holidays in our local hospitals. Our active members and chapter council have really stepped up and taken initiative this semester by building a wonderful sisterhood and creating an amazing chapter climate, despite the setbacks of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beta Upsilon supports the Norma Mae Huggins Endowment Fund. This foundation supports the fight against cancer and is important to Kappas at West Virginia University because the foundation was created in honor of Bob Huggins’ mother, who is currently WVU Men’s Basketball Coach. This foundation is incredibly important to our local community and we are proud to be able to help in any way we can. To support Kappa’s national philanthropy, on September 26th, Beta Upsilon held the first annual Kappa Kornhole event, which was a success. The participants and our members had an incredible time and we raised over $1000 towards the GED Foundation.
In the spring, Beta Upsilon elected our first DEI chairman, who has been dedicated to informing the chapter on all things regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our chapter council had many educational meetings and conversations about DEI and we were committed to spreading positive diversity, equity, and inclusion on our social media platforms, mainly through Instagram.
-----------------------------