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→2012
==Highlights of 2011-2019:==
==Highlights of 2011== The Delta Alpha Chapter now consists of 91 active members, after this past fall when we received a new fairly large pledge class of 31 new sisters! We also just welcomed a spring pledge class of 9 new girls currently going through their pledging process. Seven of our active members are currently studying abroad in Florence, Barcelona and Paris. This year, 2012, we received a new THON family! We are very excited to welcome this young girl into our THON family. THON this year was a bit different than the past due to a tragic car accident of a girl in another sorority who was traveling to someone's home for a canning weekend. A “canning” weekend means going to a fellow sister’s house and being welcomed by her family for a weekend, The family provides shelter and home-cooked meals and during the day we go into the streets and raise money for the Hershey Medical Center’s Four Diamonds Fund. After this incident the THON committee proceeded to put regulatilons on canning weekend and require students participating to go to a workshop that talked about how to ensure our safety. You would then receive a wristband that showed you completed this workshop and were allowed to go! Kappa is paired with Delta Chi Fraternity once again for THON 2012. We had a birthday party for Ashley, one of our THON family members at Delta Chi which was a lot of fun, and a good chance for the new girls to get to know the family better. We held a philanthropy event this year with obstacle courses and pie eating contests, that Kappa actually won! In addition we held a Founder's Day brunch this fall at the Nittany Lion Inn. All of our sisters and alumni came together to reminisced on Kappa traditions and passed events. Here at Pennsylvania State University the Delta Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is very respected and we have a very classy reputation among the campus and fellow students. '''Campus:''' This past fall a very sad scandal actually came out about. A former football staff members here at Penn State was charged with counts of child sex abuse which shocked the campus and the entire Penn State community. There was a definite gloom that hung over the campus for a week or two, but the entire school really came together to show that this one staff member's actions do not reflect the Penn State community and the students here on campus. The members of Kappa supported the victims that were apart of these awful events by attending a football game in all blue for child abuse, and attending a candle light vigil here on campus in support of the young boys affected. In response to this, former icon football coach, Joe Paterno was fired. This caused a great unroar and a lot of emotions on campus. Though, the students stuck together and supported this man who has done so much for our school. The following football game that would be the first that Joe Paterno was not present at, was sold out to capacity and the student section was louder and had more spirit than ever. As a result there has been more student leadership, and more alumni support and a call for more transparency and administration. In the end the campus has become more unified to maintain Penn State's future goals and reputation. '''Chapter:''' Due to these events this year on campus, the Delta Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma we made an effort to represent Penn State as best as we could as a chapter to show the outside world that Penn State is not one person. We strived to raise even more money for THON, which is such an incredible cause here that our school does, and we did not want the previous events to lead us to any financial losses for this great cause that helps so many people in need. Here on campus Kappa has one of the highest held GPA's and we take great pride in our academic success. Many of our members also participate in club activities. We are a very well rounded group of young ladies. A recent visit from a Leadership Consultant helped us identify things we can improve on in our chapter. This includes become more open and welcoming to the members of other sororities who participate in our philanthropies or come to our suite for activities. In terms of making relationships, we also need to try to reeach out to nationals to and create a better relationship with the people out there who want to help us most! We also need to do a better of job of getting in our paper work on time. We are very motivated to step up and improve these things that we need to work on. We are constantly trying to better ourselves. ==Highlights of 2012==
The Delta Alpha Chapter had a great year. The Chapter consists of 117 active members and welcomed a new pledge class of 36 girls in the fall! Several girls are currently studying abroad in places such as Paris, Barcelona, Argentina, and even Africa! This year we went on many canning trips to support and raise money for THON. Our chapter is thrilled to be working with three amazing THON families and we are so proud to say we help them with all of our hearts. Through raising money for the Hershey Medical Center's Four Diamonds Fund we have gained a full understanding of how lucky we are and how our actions and hard work can help so many people that are in need of love and care. We hosted a birthday party for one of our THON children, Ashley, at our partner, Delta Chi Fraternity's house. We also raised a lot of money to donate to our philanthropy by holding different philanthropy events throughout the year. Our chapter had very successful recruitment periods and gained so many great friendships and bonds. Many pearls were given out to reward the sisters who received GPA's of 3.8 or higher. Although Penn State has been going through a tough time in the recent years, Kappa Kappa Gamma has kept a very leveled head and worked to improve the campus. As a whole chapter we supported the football team and many campus events to show our loyalty as a sisterhood and as a Penn Stater. All year we were proud to wear our KKG letters around and spread information about why we love being a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Our campus has gone through many changes that have to do with the scandal involving the coaches on our beloved football team. Like the previous year all Penn State students kept a positive attitude and maintained their pride. Kappa made sure to attend the Blue-out game to support victims of child abuse. Other recent changes on campus have included new sorority housing being built in which the Delta Alpha chapter will be able to live in next year. Many sororities are moving into the new buildings along with us, which will help us get to know many other people. The amount of girls that decided to go through recruitment this year was very high, and the Delta Alpha chapter worked their hardest to have the most successful recruitment process as possible.
==Highlights of 2013==
-The Delta Alpha Chapter had a very fulfilling year. The Chapter now consists of 149 active members and initiated a new pledge class of 54 girls in the fall, including three legacies! Our chapter had a very successful recruitment process and integrated our new members with the enthusiasm to uphold Kappa’s traditions. This year our chapter participated in many fundraising activities to raise money for both THON and our national charity. We went on many canning trips with our partners in the Delta Chi Fraternity, sent Thonvelopes, and created many fundraising events with the local restaurants such as Five Guys and Cold Stone. This year our chapter is working with two amazing THON families, who are loving and caring. It has brought our chapter so much pride to get to know these families and we are so excited to spend the weekend with them for THON weekend. Participating in such a meaningful organization has made every girl in our chapter proud to be supporting such a cause. In academics, our chapter gave out many pearls to the girls that earned a GPA of 3.8 or higher to recognize and reward their academic achievements.
As a whole chapter we work to improve our sorority, our school and our community. All year we work to spread awareness of the great benefits of sisterhood and the bonds formed in Kappa Kappa Gamma. However, like every other organization we have faced some challenges that we have worked to overcome together as a chapter united. Some chapter challenges that we have met in the past and continue to work on is being more organized with our documents and struggling to turn in important paperwork in on time.
Our members and the new CC has been working endlessly to overcome these challenges by working with our advisers and staying on top of our tasks. Every girl takes their individual responsibility seriously in order to achieve everything our chapter is capable of. The last challenge that we have met as a sorority is being able to handle a new pledge class of fifty- four girls, the biggest pledge class we have had yet. This was a challenge for not only our sorority, but all sororities on campus as the number of girls going through recruitment has increased yearly. Integrating such a big group of girls into our chapter brought about many organizational issues within the sorority. This is a challenge that we faced with grace and our now proud to say that by working together have successfully integrated the new pledge class.
Our Penn State campus has undergone many changes this year including new housing for all sororities to move into. Our chapter moved into a new building this spring semester. This move has given us the opportunity to meet the other sororities that also moved into the building, allowing all the sororities on campus to become closer to each other, and given all Pan-Hellenic women the opportunity to get to know each other and make us closer as a whole. There have also been some changes within Pan- Hellenic itself because new sororities have been invited to join the Greek community on campus. Some new sororities will be coming on to our campus for the upcoming year, and we have also said good -bye to other sororities that have left our campus. Pledge classes are now bigger than they have ever been on Penn State campus. This increased Greek life as a whole on campus.
As a chapter we continue to change and improve. Our members are still working tirelessly to represent Kappa Kappa Gamma accurately, giving our sorority the reputation that it deserves. As a chapter we stick together and support our sisters to the fullest. The biggest change within our chapter has been the increase in pledge class size and our sisters are also working very hard to include the new pledge class that has grown significantly this year and will probably continue to grow in the upcoming years.