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Delta Lambda

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2012
==Highlights of 2011== The past year held a number of proud moments and achievements for the Delta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The year began with a fabulous pledge class of 51 young women, who were brought closer together by the participation in two annual philanthropic events on campus. Bump It Thump It, put on by Kappa Alpha Order is a volleyball tournament that takes place in early February and benefits Muscular Dystrophy. The second event that the new members participated in was Putting on the Hits, put on by Delta Zeta, which benefits deaf children. The new members choreographed their own dance and practiced day in and day out. Their hard work paid off and they won 1st place in the competition, which is a huge accomplishment. The year also included a wonderful Mom’s weekend were members and their mothers participated in a silent auction at Brickstreet that raised $2,907 for the Kappa Foundation.  In April we sold hotdogs at out annual Kappa Dog Night fundraiser, which rose $401.70 for Reading is Fundamental. The semester also included themed socials, pledge class firesides, and a lovely formal at The Elms. These events were a great way for the new members to get involved with the chapter and learn to love it just as much as all of the active members do. We started the 2011 school year of just right! Our first major event was Dad’s weekend, which is always a personal favorite of the Chapters. Dad’s weekend events included a tailgate and a football game as well as appetizers at Decibel. The next weekend we held our annual philanthropy, Kappa Klassic. This event takes place at a local golf course, Hueston Woods, during this event our very own members caddy for the groups of golfers. We were blessed with a warm and sunny day and a full course, we ended up raising $4,200 for Kappa Kamp Kidney.  Members also continued active participation in Opening Minds Through Art, which is a program that helps senior citizens with dementia express themselves through art. Greek Week was another event that gets the whole Greek community excited, especially our chapter. Members participated in activities such as football, soccer, swimming, and even a blood drive. We had a lovely Founders Day Brunch on campus at the Marcum Inn, where we had Gretchen Thomas, a former Miami University Kappa (1978) speak with us and share some of her fond memories of our chapter. The chapter loved hearing her stories, especially her daughter Chelsea Thomas (2012). The semester wrapped up with many sisterhoods, a trip to Butterfield farms, and a wonderful semi-formal at Brickstreet. The year ended with elections, where a new Chapter Council was elected, eager to make changes.  '''Campus:''' This past semester the Westboro Baptist Church picketed at Miami University. The Westboro Baptist Church is an Independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals of American servicemen and desecrating the American flag. When the Greek Community found out about the picket, all of the chapters decided to do something to distract the Oxford Community from the racial and hateful slurs that would be heard. The Greek Community put on a “carnival” type event that took place the same time as the picket. This counter activity was a great way to foster unity and tolerance, Kappa Kappa Gamma had a booth at the event were participants could write notes to soldiers, thanking them for all they have done for our country. As well as the carnival that took place the community asked students to sign a pledge to avoid the Westboro Baptist Church protest. This event put a positive spotlight on the Greek Community and brought all of the chapters closer together.  '''Chapter:''' The members of Delta Lambda hold themselves to the highest standard of scholarship with a cumulative GPA average of 3.40. We had 4 members who achieved a 4.0 GPA this past semester; these ladies were honored at Founders Day Brunch. Several of our members were abroad last semester in Prague, Rome, China, and France. As well as traveling the globe, many of our members are also actively involved in various campus activities and service organizations including Campus Activities Council, Adopt-A-School, Best Buddies, Miami University Women in Business, Opening Minds Through Art, and the Women’s Club Lacrosse Team. We are very proud of our sisters’ involvement throughout the Miami and Oxford community, and the positive representation that they bring to Kappa.  One of our biggest problems was our chapters’ lack of knowledge and awareness of Kappa history. We have addressed this problem by placing a larger emphasis on our history; we have increased ritual and song review as well as implemented other important Kappa facts. Once a month our Marshall will provide the chapter with “Kappa Fun Facts”. This has been a great way to teach out chapter fun and interesting things about Kappa that they will remember, and want to learn. Our chapter was also concerned with the lack of commitment in committees that every girl is assigned to. In order to increase committee involvement, each committee has sub-leaders, and committee nights are held twice a semester after chapter. We continue to pass around a box for suggestions for improvement where people can give their personal feedback.   ==Highlights of 2012==
2012 has been a successful year for the Delta Lambda chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We started off the year by welcoming 53 new members that had an immediate connection with our existing members. Within their first week as new members, they participated in Bump It Thump it, a philanthropy volleyball tournament benefiting muscular dystrophy facilitated by Kappa Alpha Order. Building on their new found friendships, the new member class continued to work in collaboration to prepare for Delta Zeta’s philanthropy, Putting on the Hits. 10 new members choreographed the dance and taught the rest of the pledge class, as the props team worked hard to create props that would support their “KKG Overseas” theme. They rehearsed everyday until it was perfect and created a fantastic end result as well as amazing bonds with their new sisters. After working to help other chapter’s philanthropies, we focused to put on our own spring philanthropy events. First, the chapter put on its annual Kappa Dog Night fundraiser, where the girls sold hot dogs in collaboration with Beta Theta Pi. At the end of the night, we raised $800 to benefit Reading is Fundamental. We also raised $4000 for the Kappa Foundation through our Mom’s weekend silent auction, which turned out to be a wonderful chance for the moms and daughters to get to know each other, complete with brunch at Brickstreet. Our members also spent time with the Opening Minds through Art program, in which we paint with dementia patients to help them stay in touch with their inner feelings.
More specifically, the Delta Lambda chapter is proud to have the second highest GPA on campus, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.39 including 16 members with a 4.0 gpa. We are continuing to encourage scholarship this year by organizing dinners where each major can meet to exchange advice and information to help their sisters in similar majors. Besides our schoolwork and our involvement in Kappa, our members are involved in all kinds of organizations including Campus Activities Council, Women in Business, Panhellic Council as well as several publications. Kappas are active on campus, but also have a large presence internationally, as we have members studying in places like Italy, France and Australia.
 
 
==Highlights of 2013==
 
The year of 2013 was very successful for the Delta Lambda chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We started off the year by welcoming 57 new members that had an instant connection with our chapter. Within their first week as new members they participated in Bump It Thump It, a philanthropy volleyball tournament benefiting muscular dystrophy facilitated by Kappa Alpha Order. As the girls continued to get know one another within their new pledge class they continued to be a helping hand to other Greek Community events. The New Members participated in the Delta Zeta event Putting on the Hits. A dance competition between the Greek Life on Miami’s campus. As the girls choreographed their own dance and practiced it to perfection there was a great turnout. Despite the music stopping in the middle of their dance, the new members were able to show their spirit by winning us the Team Spirit Award.
 
After helping out our Greek Communities philanthropic events, we aimed towards our events for the spring semester. Our first even being the Kappa Dog Night, we had a fantastic turnout by raising $300 with the help of Phi Gamma Delta. We continued to raise $4,000 for the Kappa Foundation through our Mom’s weekend silent auction. This was held as a brunch for the mothers and daughters as they bonded with one another. It also allowed the new members to further their relationships with their new class. We then had a fantastic formal, which was held at the Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Many of the girls enjoyed traveling to the big city for this event. Our members also participate in a local program called Opening Minds through Art, which works with elderly dementia patients to further their imaginations by creating art. It is a great opportunity for many of our members to make a strong connection with our community.
 
After returning back from the summer break, our chapter was ready to get back together and create brand new memories. We began the semester festivities with our Dad’s weekend, which included bowling and a cook out. Our girls enjoyed bonding with their fathers at the many different events such as the hockey game. We continued our philanthropic events by hosting our Kappa Klassic golf tournament. Although it was a rainy day, our chapter had an absolute blast raising money and caddying for the golfers. We raised an astounding $6,000 for the kids, which was just as successful as previous years. We then participated in many events during our Greek Week competitions, coming close to winning. This was a great way for the girls to build stronger relationships between each of the pledge classes and even develop bonds with our fellow Greek community. One of the biggest chapter bonding events we had this fall was the Butterfield’s Farm event. While we made s’mores, held a hayride, and sat by a campfire with our sisters, we made many memories. We then held Founder’s Day Brunch on campus, which was a great way to appreciate the history and legacy behind Kappa.
 
The Delta Lambda chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is located in Oxford, Ohio at the historical school of The Miami University. Being a college town, the University offers an array of more than 500 different student organizations, including 50 Greek organizations. Many students of Miami University participate in Greek Life, which makes a strong community among campus. The Greek community strives to go above and beyond the expectations asked of us but know there are some negative reputations of our campus, such as underage drinking. Our Greek life aims to abolish that stereotype by emphasizing the philanthropy events and history behind our chapters. In hopes of reminding our community and ourselves what Greek Life really stands for.
 
The members of Delta Lambda hold themselves to the highest scholarship with a cumulative GPA of 3.34.We had 7 members who achieved a 4.0 GPA this past semester. We honored these girls accomplishments at our Founders Day Brunch. We also had several members who studied abroad this last year, that included places such as Spain, Luxembourg, and Paris. As well as traveling abroad many of our girls participate in student organizations around campus, such as Women in Business, Women’s Club Soccer and Lacrosse Teams, Best Buddies, Panhellenic Council, and many more. We are proud of our sisters’ and the accomplishments they have strived to make in the past year.