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→2012
==Highlights of 2011== January: The Epsilon Rho executive council started out the 2011 year by attending an officer retreat at the home of advisor, Carole Gruen. At the retreat officers had the unique opportunity to increase the unity of the executive council by sharing ideas and engaging in fun team building activities. February: On February 27th, we held Semiformal at Downtown 202 in Bryan, Texas. March: March 5th was "Dad's Day" for the Epsilon Rho Chapter. March was highlighted with the successful and fun campus-wide service opportunity, The Big Event on the 27th in which the Owl, Minerva, and Sapphire groups were paired with the fraternity Ol' Ags to volunteer yardwork services to locals. We ended the month with our first recruitment workshop which was held from 2-4pm on Sunday the 27th . April: April 2nd was our annual formal dance, Monmouth, hosted with the sorority Pi Beta Phi at The Hilton. On Sunday the 3rd, KKG Connections was held with a few Alumni from Dallas from 2-4pm. The purpose of KKG Connections is to get to know your local alumni and have connections when you graduate and start life in the real world. Friday the 8th was Texas A&M's Annual Chilifest Cook Off. Sunday the 10th was Epsilon Rho's second Chapter Workshop from 2-4pm, where everyone was required to get their dresses approved for recruitment. Wednesday April 13th was Stompfest, a stomp competition among the sororities and fraternities. The theme was "Back to the Basics" and Epsilon Rho dressed to the theme of "A&M Traditions" and we won second place. On the 16th Kappa BBQ which was a purely social event took place and parents and friends were invited for a delicious home cooked meal. May: Senior Date Party was themed, "Viva los Seniors" and was held on May 2nd at Schotzis. In order to prepare for finals, the Kappa house was a quiet zone and our chapter room was used as the "Kappa Library" to study. Compared to previous years, more and more actives are taking advantage of the “Kappa Library” as a resource and this year there were many delicious snacks to choose from, provided by our VP of Academic Excellence. June & July: Summer was a time for recruitment preparation. Melanie Urmeovich the Head of Recruitment and her assistants spent a lot of time in College Station. Epsilon Rho won the prestigious Panhellenic award from A&M for our outstanding participation in Texas A&M University’s Panhellenic system. August: PC '10 moved into the house on the 13th and then we began the month with work week on Sunday the 14th. During this week, we held a special night for our parents and friends to preview our skit that we were to perform for the potential new members during recruitment. We celebrated Bid Day and the arrival of our 44 new members, including 6 sophomores, with the theme, "Don't Mess with Kappa" where the chapter dressed in Texan attire and boots. September: On the 25th we had KKG Ritual Review, where actives went over Kappa rituals and practices songs. On the 29th, our informal social event, K-K-Jean was held at The Tap. In September, Kali Davis attended Leadership Academy in Ohio on behalf of Epsilon Rho, and met many different Kappas from around the country. October: October 16th was Chapter Ritual Review from 2-4pm. Composite pictures were taken on the 12th, 13th and 14th of October. October was a big month for Epsilon Rho because on Friday the 21st, KKG Fireside took place. The new members came to the house after their lovely Italian dinner and joined the actives for an evening of fun and surprises. They spent the night and bonded with the actives until they were left for a peaceful night of rest, waiting in anticipation for the morning to come. The women were initiated on Friday October 21st. We also started volunteering at Nehemiah, our local philanthropy during October. We celebrated Founders Day at our October 17th meeting where there was a founders day cake and our officers spoke about the history of Founder's Day and Sarah Atkins was formally affiliated as well. Brittany Sutherland, the Nominating Committee Chair explained what nominating committee is and when nominations would take place. The next week on the 25th , Owloween took place and we implemented a new system to make check in for events easier through googledocs. Sunday the 30th, Mom's Day was organized by Megan Montgomery at the Kappa house from 2-4pm. 130 mother and daughters total were present and there were snacks and treats provided while they decorated mugs purchased from U-Paint-It. Trick-or-Treat on Sorority Row took place on Halloween and Kappa was paired with Sig Ep. November: On Friday November 4th, New Member Presentation was held. This is an event in which the new members are presented by a male family member or friend at David Gardner, the jewelry store. The next morning was Tri Deltas Game day, which many Kappas participated in. During the month of November PC 11 had an anti-hazing meeting that was required by Panhellenic. At the November 14th meeting, the slate was presented and elected on November 21st. Our new philanthropy event, Kappa Kook Out took place on Thursday November 17th from 5-8 pm and it was a huge success! The week before the event banners were held alll round campus, at Academic Plaza, on West Campus, in the Commons and on the corner of Texas and George Bush. We set up for the event all afternoon with three letter signs on each sign of the house and one in the back yard, many tables and chairs in the back yard with red plaid table cloths. Country music was played and the event was truly a success. Over $10,000 was donated to the Nehemiah Foundation of Navasota this past year, and our donation made a significant impact on their ability to serve the surrounding community of Navasota. On November 30th, we held Kappa Kappa Chino, which is a nonprofit, non-fundraising event where Kappas volunteer their time to pass out free coffee, provided by Starbucks on various locations around campus. The Kappa Powder Puff Team, which is part of Panhellenic Intramurals, placed 4th out of 18 teams - Congratulations! December: We began the month on Thursday December 1st where we had Ranch Party with Tri Delta. On December 4th from 2-5pm the newly elected officers had their "Triplet Meeting", where they had training with the previous officers and alumnae advisors. Academic Banquet was December 5th and PC'09 was awarded the PC with the highest GPA. We also have 8 young women who have 4.0 GPA's overall. KKP (Most Valuable Kappa) awards, were presented to; Stephanie Gonzales of PC'11, Meredith Barnes of PC'10, Sarah Wiggins of PC'09, and Brittany Sutherland of PC'08. Exams began the next Friday December 9th through Wednesday the 14th, then all the Kappas went home for a wonderful break. Epsilon Rho worked to achieve the chapter GPR and remain in high scholastic standing among the sororities on campus. Girls who got A's on tests were rewarded and "No Skippy" recognized girls who did not skip class. After surpassing the GPR goal of 3.33 for the fall semester 0f 2009, the chapter voted on a GPR goal of 3.35 which challenged every girl to work hard in school. The "Test Bank" served as a great way for girl's to look at old tests in a certain subject, allowing them to practice and prepare for an upcoming test. When the chapter room isn't in use for chapter meetings, it is set up the Kappa library with tables and lamps for girls to study in a quiet location. By providing these helpful resources, the 2011 spring and fall GPR's were 3.3. Currently 8 actives have an overall GPR of 4.0 and around 15 actives achieved a 4.0 GPR for the 2011 fall semester. In order to increase participation on campus in the chapter as well as support other organizations, the executive council implemented a points system and split the chapter into six "Kore" groups. Members would receive a point everytime they attended another organizations philanthropy, and each group was assigned to attend a certain philanthropy event. The “Kore” groups also helped in making sign-in at meeting faster and more efficient. Girls now check in by group rather than new member class like in previous years. We also announced a new, hands-on philanthropy approach in which girls would have the opportunity to volunteer at the Nehemiah center and work with local children several times a week. Through Nehemiah, the chapter worked on the service component of philanthropy by tutoring and playing with at risk children. In the year of 2011, approximately half of the women in each pledge class volunteered at Nehemiah a few times a week and we had a combined number of 1,000 service hours. ==Highlights of 2012==
January: The Epsilon Rho executive council started out the year 2012 by attending an officer retreat at the home of advisor Carol Gruen. During the retreat goals were made for the new year, decisions were discussed, and a positive attitude was implemented. Officers were able to strengthen the unity of the Council and get to know each other through team building activities. A profit share was held at Chick Fil A on the 26th and at Red Mango on the 31st. Profit Shares consist of encouraging members and friends to go to a specific place, like a restaurant, and tell the cashier that you are in support of a certain organization, like Kappa. The restaurant then donates a portion of the proceeds raised during that day and it is a win-win situation. The restaurant gets more business because of our marketing and we earn money for our philanthropy. Through these profit shares we raised $300 for the Nehemiah Center of Navasota during the month of January.