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|Image= [[File:Gamma_Eta.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1920|05|07}}
|College= [httphttps://enwww.wikipediawsu.orgedu/wiki/University_of_New_Mexico Washington State University], formerly State College of Washington
|Location= Pullman, WA
|Homepage= http[https://chapterswsu.kappakappagammakappa.org/gammaeta/Gamma Eta Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Gamma_Eta Media related to Gamma Eta Chapter]}}
'''2,178 552 initiates (as of 2011June 2018)'''
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'''Charter Members:'''
'''Fraternity OfficersCouncil Members:'''
Ann Fletcher Colvin, Director of Alumnae, 1980-1984;
Susanne Wolfe Vander Heyden, Director of Alumnae, 2008-2012; Ann Fletcher (Colvin), Field Secretary 1963-1965; Linda Schink (Frizzell), Traveling Consultant 1986-1987;Ashley Delich (Fosbert), Traveling Consultant 1988-1989; Linda Finnegan (Elkin), Traveling Consultant 1989-1990;Allison Marker (Rider), Traveling Consultant 1991-1992; Katie Fay, Traveling Consultant 1998-1999:
'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''
Ellen Franzen Dissanayake, 2010, author and lecturer in art and anthropology
'''Additional Outstanding Alumna'''
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In a lonely 36-by-80 brick structure standing atop a bleak and windswept hill, with prairie on the rolling Palouse hills stretching as far as the eye can see, the Washington Agriculture College opened its doors, January 13, 1892, at Pullman. Enrollment consisted of 23 students, and there were six faculty members.
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Gamma Eta chapter truly set the standard in the 80’s an outstanding chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In 1988 they won the highest award of the Fraternity – the Standards Award. Years of hard work and dedication to being the best paid off when their chapter was presented with the sterling silver punch bowl and cups by President Marian Williams.
Cooperation, loyalty, appreciation and sincerity were key words in the goals of the chapter throughout the decade. Learning to live with others in a cooperative manner while balancing academics, extra-curricular activities, work and chapter responsibilities is a big order. The women learned and lived the values of the Fraternity with an amazing support system that will last for a lifetime.
Chapter members knew that friendship and sisterhood help to maintain a successful chapter. By growing through the challenge of college life with the support of friends, women of the chapter created bonds, support systems and they became confident leaders and well-rounded individuals. Gamma Eta is a highly recognized chapter at Washington State because they maintain academic success at the individual, chapter and university level.
Information from chapter’s History Report: (Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc)
==2012==
Within the past calendar year we received a 3.2 overall chapter GPA for spring semester which was a huge accomplishment for us. In order to reward our members for their hard work we honor the members that receive over a 3.7 GPA and reward the pleadge class that meets the most of their individual goal. This year that was our pledge class of 2010. All of our hardwork paid off during recruitment. We were so thrilled to welcome a new pledge class of 50 women.
At Convention we received an honorable mention for 'Most Improved Chapter'. This year was the second year that we had the honor of having President Floyd, the President of Washington State University, over for formal dinner. In the spring our campus holds Greek Week, which is a series of competitions, games and community service work that each chapter particiaptes in. We were paired up with a fraternity in order to create a team. The beneficiary for Greek Week 2012 was KONY 2012, which brought the injustice of child slavery to our attention. All of the proceeds raised throughout the week by all chapters were sent to the KONY 2012 efforts. We are now the reigning champions for two years in a row and hope to keep that tradition going. This is something Gamma Eta is really proud of.
In October we held our annual philanthropy, Kappa Tauloween, where we pair up with the men of Alpha Tau Omega and create a haunted house for the community. All the money we raise goes to Pullman Child Welfare which is an organization in our community that Gamma Eta has been partnered with for a few years. We also held a food drive at the local Safeway to collect food for the Pullman Food Bank. This was a huge success. Not only did we hold our own philanthropies, we also participated in the philanthropies of our fellow greek chapters. A member of Gamma Eta was runner up for Sigma Epsilon's philanthropy "Queen of Hearts". We also participated in Sigma Nu's golfing philanthropy. As a chapter we participated in Check Your Boobies where we had a speaker come and help us become more aware of breast cancer and its signs. Something that hit our chapter with emotion was the Sandyhook Elementary shooting. This was such a devestating event to everyone and even more so once we found out that some of the victims were related to the greater Kappa family. We wrote letters as a chapter showing our support and love for the victims families.
Gamma Eta as a chapter had some goals and challeges that we overcame this past year. To improve our knowledge of chapter history, we focused on learning more about Kappa ritual. In order to achieve this, our Marshal held several programs for the chapter where we were able to learn more about the meaning behind formal chapter and initiation. We also had some historical facts read to the members during chapter.
Another goal we had was to improve our sisterhood. We are very proud of our sisterhood here but it can always be improved. We made sure to have sisterhoods all throughout the year to keep us connected. Some of the sisterhoods included a Valentine’s Day sisterhood, a shopping sisterhood located at a local boutique and movie watching sisterhoods. We also had the pleasure of getting together with the University of Idaho Kappa chapter. We all carved pumpkins and had fun getting to know members who only live about 10 miles away.
A huge change that has been made on the Washington State campus is that we are now "BYOB" (bring your own beverage). Panhellenic has enacted policies stating that there should be no alcohol served at any greek event. We are fully supportive of our Panhellenic community as we learn to follow the new rules and has made our campus safer. The changes to the alcohol policy have definitely changed the tone of the campus. The goal is to create a safer college environment in response to a number of falls and even deaths related to alcohol here on campus duing 2012. There is also a new dorm being added to our campus in order to house all the incoming freshman. Northside Residence Hall should be done by Fall 2013 and is located between Regents and Streit Hall. The renovations to Martin Statium were finished just in time for the arricval of our new coach Mike Leach. This has brought back a lot of the Cougar spirit and the games are bigger than ever. There are also plans to create Martin Stadium Football Operations Building. They are hoping to increase the recruiting potential for Washington State.
==Highlights of 2014==
During the spring of 2014 Gamma Eta tried very hard on our academic standing and had an overall grade point average of ____. In the fall of 2014, we tried even harder and obtained a 3.19 GPA as a house and were awarded second place among all the other sororities on campus. As a chapter, this is something we set a goal for and every member helped out in achieving this accomplishment. As an incentive to work hard and try our best in school, our VPAE has us bring our tests to chapter if we received an A. Every week, she picks one out of a bag and whoever gets pulled gets a pair of “smarty pants” (a pair of underwear) as a prize! It’s a great incentive that has helped us achieve second highest GPA on campus. Along with the “smarty pants,” our VPAE holds study tables three times a week for members who need that extra help.
Every year, Washington State University holds the Arête awards which is located on campus. A few of our members are lucky enough to go every year and we also received an award of our own. We received the top community service for spring 2014! This means that out of all the chapters on campus, Gamma Eta did the most community service. It’s always nice knowing that hard work pays off and that’s exactly what this award showed to every member in our chapter.
In March of 2014, we paired up with another sorority on campus, Alpha Gamma Delta, and a fraternity, Theta Chi to host the philanthropy March Madness. This was out first year being a part of the event and it went great! The men from Theta Chi were the referees and women from our chapter and AGD were paired up with the teams as coaches. Almost every chapter on campus participated along with a few non-greek individuals as well. It was awesome to see the WSU community come together to raise money and support our causes. Also in the spring of 2014, we hosted “Kickin’ it with Kappa”. Sororities and Fraternities from around campus made teams and were apart of a kickball tournament held on our football field, Martin Stadium. This was another fun and active way to get our community together and raise money for a great cause. And in the fall of 2014, our chapter held a food drive for the Pullman Child Welfare Center. We collected food individually and from the help of other chapters on campus and then delivered it to the Welfare Center, as well as helping them sort it. It was awesome to see the happiness in their eyes when they saw how much we delivered. Giving back is the one of best feelings and Gamma Eta loves doing it!
Another way Gamma Eta gave back this year is when we went to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for some community service. In September, over 90% of our members took a road trip to clean up a local water front park. Some members cleaned up a hiking trail while others repainted over some graffiti. The mayor even thanked us for doing so!
Something Gamma Eta has also focused on a lot this past year is sisterhood. Our goal was to have the strongest sisterhood on campus and many other chapters have started to see it, and even panhellenic has commented on how strong our sisterhood is as well. Each month we have had a sisterhood with at least 90% attendance and we have reached that goal every time! Our sisterhood chair has done an amazing job thinking of fun and exciting activities to do with everyone! One of everyone’s favorites is Kappa Kristmas. This year we did it a little different and it was a little more formal than previous years. Instead of having it within our chapter, we had it on campus in a ballroom. There was a photo booth, games with prizes, a gift exchange, and a catered dinner. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday season with every single one of our sisters.
Our university has been slowly transitioning into a more policy compliant environment, which Gamma Eta has been adapting to very well. It has given us more time to focus on sisterhood, as I stated before.
Gamma Eta holds our weekly chapter meetings in our kitchen. Our chapter room is actually too small for our whole chapter to fit into comfortably. Our chapter as a whole is owned, not rented and is a house. Around 60 girls live in the chapter house and many girls live together once they move out, either their junior or senior year. And none of our members wear a historical badge.
==Highlights of 2015==
Throughout the year of 2015, Gamma Eta tried very hard on our academic standing. In the Spring of 2015, we obtained a chapter average of 3.33, which triumphed the all-sorority average at Washington State of a 3.21 and also the all-women average at Washington State of a 3.2. Overall, Gamma Eta got third on campus for best grades. As for the fall of 2015, we are still currently in class, but we hope to achieve an even higher GPA as a chapter. Our VPAE has always done such a good job giving incentives for our women to try their best in school. This past year, our VPAE has been awarding a member with a “smarty pants” every week at chapter and the prize is a gift card to Starbucks or a place of their choice. It’s a great incentive that has helped us achieve our high GPA. Along with the “smarty pants,” our VPAE has implemented a new study plan where our members, if they are on the study plan, need to get a certain number of points per month. In order to get these points, our members need to attend study tables, go to teacher office hours, get a tutor, etc.
Every year, Washington State University holds the Arête awards which is located on campus to award Greek members for their accomplishments. A few of our members are lucky enough to go every year and we also received two awards of our own. First, we were presented with the “Outstanding Risk Management” award. We were very happy with this award because we were policy compliant with every event we held throughout the year and it was nice to be recognized because of it. Secondly, an individual member from Gamma Eta was presented with “Outstanding Member of the Year” award, Anne Bakmis. She joined Gamma Eta through informal recruiting last spring and has been such asset to the chapter through all of her involvement and positivity she radiates.
During October of 2015, we co-hosted KappaTauloween with our neighbors Alpha Tau Omega. KappaTauloween is a haunted house that is put on just around Halloween time so everyone is in the spirit to get spooked. Every member helped in some way to help this philanthropy be successful. Some members sold tickets prior to the event and others sold tickets the night of at the door. There was also an array of baked goods and drinks people could purchase at the door and many of our women were inside waiting to scare our brave participants. This year we raised a total of $1,105 that will go to Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 1, 2, 3 philanthropies!
Another way Gamma Eta gave back this year is when we went to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for some community service. In September, over 90% of our members took a road trip to clean up a local water front park. Some members cleaned up a hiking trail while others repainted over some graffiti. The mayor even thanked us for doing so! Giving back is the one of best feelings and Gamma Eta loves doing it!
Something Gamma Eta has also focused on a lot this past year is sisterhood. Our goal was to have the strongest sisterhood on campus and many other chapters have started to see it, and even PanHellenic has commented on how strong our sisterhood is as well. Each month we have had a sisterhood with at least 90% attendance and we have reached that goal every time! Our sisterhood chair has done an amazing job thinking of fun and exciting activities to do with everyone! This year we have done things from rent out a movie theater for all of our members to watch a movie together to painting plates to all dressing up as boys and just having fun together. All of our members would say our sisterhood is stronger than ever.
Our chapter room is actually too small for our whole chapter to fit into comfortably so Gamma Eta holds our weekly chapter meetings in our kitchen, but at times we rent out a classroom for special chapters, like elections and transitions. Around 60 girls live in the chapter house and many girls live together once they move out, either their junior or senior years.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? Many of our members donate hours to local animal shelters and play with all their animals. Every year we also go to a local elementary school to read to students there as a part of 1, 2, 3.
==Highlights of 2016==
While 2016 was a very trying year for Gamma Eta and the Greek community at large; we saw lots of opportunity for change. As a chapter, we were able to collectively come together as a united front and spend time bettering ourselves as well as helping those around us.
In the spring, we hosted our annual March Madness Philanthropy with Alpha Gamma Delta and Theta Chi. This philanthropy consisted of a four-on-four basketball tournament, with members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Gamma Delta, and Theta Chi serving as the coaches, and members from other sororities and fraternities making up the teams. We had an amazing turnout, with participants from almost every chapter on campus, over 150 players, and 41 teams. We raised a total of $1140, allowing us to give each chapter that participated $380! In December, Gamma Eta held a movie night up on campus at the CUB, and took donations at the door, which were donated, to Pullman Child Welfare. Gamma Eta also headed up the Greek wide philanthropy in December, Holiday Lane. This event served as a way for Washington State University’s Greek Row to give back to the community of Pullman and was a fun way for younger kids to relish the holiday season! Children and parents who chose to attend were given a stocking they could decorate and were encouraged to walk around Greek Row to enjoy the decorated Fraternities and Sororities. Members from each house greeted the kids with candy as they came by, and parents who stayed back enjoyed hot coffee, cocoa and cookies at Ruby Park. Not only does Gamma Eta love hosting philanthropies, but we also do our best to attend other chapter’s philanthropies and support our fellow Greek friends and community.
Gamma Eta has consistently been an academically driven group of women, with a passion to learn and a willingness to help others succeed in school. In May of 2016, our chapter had a cumulative GPA of 3.29, finishing with third highest of all sororities on campus. Gamma Eta’s GPA was .12 higher than the average of all sororities being 3.17. As an incentive to continue to keep our grades up throughout the semester, our VPAE awards two members each week at chapter as “Geek of the Week”, and both recipients receive a Starbucks gift card.
We had an incredible year of recruitment, with two passionate and steadfast recruitment chairmen, a loving and positive president, and a hardworking group of women spending endless hours practicing. All the hours put into recruitment were definitely worthwhile, we received 53 amazing new members! Without the guidance of our devoted, inspirational, and thoughtful New Member Chairmen, our new pledge class wouldn’t be where they are today, as their first semester at Washington State University comes to an end.
We publish a biweekly newsletter called "The Key." The newsletter is a fun way to inform parents, alumni, members, and many others about all of the upcoming, past, and current activities that Gamma Eta is involved in. It highlights someone as the "Geek of the Week", the "Polished Kappa" of the week, and the "Clean Kappa" of the week. The member who has received the recognition of either of the three awards is rewarded with a gift card or treat. The newsletters usually have some kind of a theme. For instance, during Valentine's Day the newsletter featured a segment called "Kappa Crush" where members were able to submit little notes of appreciation for another member within the chapter.
==Highlights of 2021==
January brought the start of another school year online. Weekly chapter was held online and consisted of a PowerPoint and each executive updating the chapter on relevant information. We also welcomed 3 new members into the 2020 new member class.
February included big little over zoom put on my the last New Member chair: Taylor Byrne and a galantine sisterhood hosted by the sisterhood chair: Savannah Slife. Member Class 20 got to receive their bigs after a long wait. Some of them even received two bigs. Another exciting thing was we created a new appointed position called Body Positive with Alexa Bakken running it with switching meetings every other week with the DEI meetings.
Summer brought lots of outdoor fun for members all over. During the summer came the news that recruitment would be in person as well as classes. The news that the House would be opening and able to hold 40 girls in the coming fall semester was exciting to all.
September was a packed month for Kappa and WSU. We enjoyed our first football game as well as a date dash: CougStock with Theta, Fiji, and Pike. We had a movie night, study with sisters, and mini-golf sisterhoods. Kappa Nationals came out with 8 new philanthropies supporting mental health and as a sorority, we chose to support Mental Health America. To support this new philanthropy we raised money by donation, selling merchandise, and a yoga event raising over $5,000.
November was a little more relaxed but just as fun. Fall formal was at the golf course. Everyone looked beautiful and had fun dressing up. We also voted for our new executive board for the coming year. For veterans day there was no school but we held a movie night, we love our Scoot Eastwood. Panhellenic hosts the arete awards and Gabi Isaak, Kylie Gage, Emily Foley, Audrey Curtis, and Sophia Snyder went to represent Kappa. We won the Public Relation award that night. Thanksgiving break was a nice break in the semester and everyone was excited to go home.
As we wave 2021 goodbye we look back on all the memories made and look forward to making more in the coming year. Go Cougs! Go Kappa!
Pullman Child Welfare. We want to give back to our community and supporting this cause lets us help the community around us to the best of our ability.Though multiple different philanthropic events. Including online merchandise sells, fundraiser, and a virtual 5k run. A yoga event and haunted house are some of the in person events we hosted to raise money.
We revoted out DEI officer for another year. We also held a philanthropy event that was chosen by our DEI officers. We sold merchandise and a viral 5K. We help bi-weekly meeting to education our members.