Eta Alpha
| Eta Alpha | |
|---|---|
| HA | |
 | |
| Founded | March 29, 1994 |
| College | Furman University |
| Location | Greenville, SC |
| Homepage | Eta Alpha Homepage |
| Media related to Eta Alpha Chapter | |
Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, established in 1826
Eta Alpha Founded March 19, 1994
63 Charter Members
609 initiates (as of June 2013)
Some of Eta Alpha’s Outstanding Members:
Fraternity Officers: Libby Weith, Leadership Consultant 2006-20007
Fraternity Loyalty Award:
Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:
Contents
Early Years
Furman University, founded in 1826, is the third-oldest university in South Carolina. The school is named for Richard Furman, a clergyman considered the most important Baptist leader before the Civil War. Furman was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., and became the first president of the Triennial Convention, the first national body of Baptists in America.
The South Carolina Baptist Convention established Furman’s original campus in Edgefield, S.C., but over the next three decades, the campus changed locations three times before arriving in downtown Greenville, S.C., in 1851. Originally founded as a men’s academy and theological institute, the theological school broke away from Furman in 1858 to become the Southern Baptist Seminary.
In 1924, Furman was named one of four collegiate beneficiaries of the Duke Endowment. Duke Endowment grants sustained Furman through the Great Depression, helped the university merge with Greenville Woman’s College in the 1930s and bolstered the university’s effort to pursue a new campus location. Furman broke ground on its current location north of its home city in 1953. The school would also become independent in 1992, breaking ties with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
Today, Furman’s 750-acre campus features an Asian garden, a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin, the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability, a Florentine bell tower, a spring-fed lake, 13 miles of paved trails through the woodlands and an 18-hole golf course. It enrolls approximately 2,700 undergraduate and 525 graduate students.
Colonization and Installation
Kappa Kappa Gamma established Eta Alpha Colony at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. Fifty-one members were pledged to Fraternity membership on January 9, 1994. Eta Alpha Chapter was installed on March 19, 1994, becoming the Fraternity’s 125th chapter. Epsilon Kappa, South Carolina, and Epsilon Mu, Clemson, served as big sister chapters.
Before joining the Fraternity, the colony was a local sorority called Kappas. Founded in 1993, it was one of the newest of the seven local sororities that sought affiliation with National Panhellenic groups. Other NPC organizations on the Furman campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Delta.
The installation team included Fraternity President Juliana (J.J.) Wales, Ohio State; Vice President Janice (Jan) Harrenberg Stockoff, New Mexico; Extension Chairman Sally Moore Nitschke, Ohio State; and Chapter Consultant Annaliese Limb, North Texas. Between pledging and installation the colony had grown from 51 pledges to 63 pledges.
Highlights of the 1990s:
Two months after the celebration of the chapter’s installation, it suffered the loss of one of its members Jennifer Ruth Prevette who died in a car accident. Jenni had touched everyone lives with her strong spirit, enthusiasm and love of life.
Highlights of 2000-2010
After two successful weekends of formal recruitment in January 2005, 26 new members were pledged. New members attended a retreat and completed new member education during January and February. The initiation banquet was held in the University Center. Also, in February, Eta Alpha held a masquerade-themed social function at Green Valley Country Club.
Three Kappas were elected as Panhellenic Council officers. In April, Eta Alpha held its annual sand volleyball tournament, raising $250 for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and the Bobby Pearse Community Center, an after-school center for underprivileged children where Eta Alpha donated books and read to children. Eta Alpha built a book corner at the Bobby Pearse Community Center, donating more than 500 books to the center and presenting each child with a book of his or her own.
In May, Eta Alpha held a joint Academic and Senior Banquet on campus with a pizza party, senior wills and academic recognitions awarded. It held its annual Sapphire Ball with a black-and-white theme at the Greenville Hilton.
In September 2005, Eta Alpha Chapter Council hosted a leadership workshop day with chapter councils from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. The Kappas did the low ropes course at Furman in the morning and a leadership workshop with PDC Anna Edwards in the afternoon.
October was a busy month for Eta Alpha. It held the fall sisterhood retreat in the University Center where everyone watched movies, ate brownie sundaes and made shakers for Homecoming. The chapter held a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville-themed function called Kappa Rage where each sister invited three friends. A tailgate was held in conjunction with Furman’s Family Weekend.
The Founders Day celebration held by the chapter included refreshments and a program from its Education Chairman. During Homecoming week, the chapter paired with Sigma Nu fraternity and came in second place overall in Homecoming.
The chapter held is fall philanthropy event, Ready, Aim, Read! during October. Sisters sold tickets to throw darts at a balloon board set up in the University Center, and coupons inside the balloons were worth prizes. Ready, Aim, Read! earned more than $260 for our philanthropy projects.
In November, Eta Alpha’s Chapter Council implemented monthly email updates from each officer to its advisory board, PDC and RDC to keep everyone informed of its goals, progress and events.
The members held the semi-formal in Furman’s new Younts Conference Center. This function was the first Greek social function on campus, and university officials were extremely pleased with Kappa’s classy, well run event. Also in November, Eta Alpha held a Recruitment event where we wrapped books and made holiday cards to give to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center.
Eta Alpha finished second-place in Chi Omega’s dance-a-thon. The chapter made it to the semifinals in intramural soccer for the first time in several years. During the course of the year, the chapter donated more than 100 books to children at the Bobby Pearse Community Center to help the children start home libraries, ending the year with age-appropriate books or magazines for each child as a holiday present. The social chairman planned several amazing functions in 2006: formal in the spring and semi-formals in the fall and winter. The chapter also hosted Kappa Rage with the theme of Kappa Kappa Gangsta in the fall where each sister could bring three guests.
Philanthropy was very successful this year, raising money through fundraisers such as Kappa Krush and a school-wide volleyball tournament. The money raised went to support the Bobby Pearse Community Center’s after-school programs via Ready, Aim, Read! In the spring, we had enough money to open a book corner at the community center, and Kappas throughout the year spent the afternoons reading to the children.
The VP Academic Excellence worked hard to keep the chapter GPA high through study groups and nerd-of-the-week awards, and the chapter was third place among the sororities. The VP Organization created a chapter survey that helped determine the chapter’s goals for the year. The Leadership Consultant visited in November, and during her visit she met individually with the officers and recruitment chairman. The advice she provided during both her visits was invaluable as the chapter planed and set goals for 2007.
The biggest achievement in 2007 was probably planning and putting together a very successful fall fundraiser. Contestants from each of the fraternities and some student organizations competed in a comical male beauty pageant. The whole campus got really involved, and the event raised more than $1,000 – half was donated to RIF and half to the pageant winner’s philanthropy of choice. The chapter was also proud to have gotten better involved in helping the Bobby Pearse Community Center again. Every week, the members helped kids with homework in the afterschool program, and at the end of fall term the chapter hosted a pizza party for them. Recruitment was very successful this year. The chapter pledged its first full pledge class since 1998, and we are definitely enjoying getting to know all the new ladies.
VP Academic Excellence did a great job this year, too. The chapter had the second-highest GPA on campus, and hoped to be in first place the following year.
The new member period saw great improvements and won an award for it at the 2007 Province Meeting. Eta Alpha’s functions this year were all very successful. Formal was held at the Commerce Club downtown and was enjoyed by everyone. In the fall, two functions were held: Rage and semi-formal. Rage was held at the Handlebar and was themed “Every Guy Loves a Girl in a Uniform.” Semi-formal was held in a new conference center on campus.
Chapter members were excited to attend the 2008 Mu Province meeting in Atlanta. They enjoyed meeting Kappas from other chapters and learning more about our organization. The chapter was excited to receive the Recruitment Award, Academic Achievement Award and the Standard of Excellence Award!
The third-annual Kappa Krush Pageant was very successful. One contestant from each of the campus fraternities competed in this comical male beauty pageant. Each fraternity was paired with one sorority for the event, and the contestants raised money throughout the week leading up to the pageant. More than $2,000 was raised and half of the proceeds went to RIF and the other half was donated to the winning fraternity-sorority pair’s philanthropies—Make-a-Wish and Children’s Miracle Network. The event was well attended by Furman Greeks and non-Greeks. Everyone was thrilled by the dedication that the participating groups demonstrated. This year’s pageant raised approximately $500 more than the previous year.
This year, the chapter was also involved with the Greenville Boys and Girls Club. Every Monday, Kappas played with the children and assisted them with homework. Chapter members looked forward to participating in its Reading is Key philanthropy, a book drive for the children at the Boys and Girls Club. The entire chapter visited this afterschool center one afternoon, and gave each child a book. The children were able to participate in a variety of activities related to reading during the event.
Eta Alpha also had great success in other Greek organizations events on campus: won Pi Kappa Phi’s War of the Roses where the members competed in activities and raised the most money for their philanthropy, PUSH America; the chapter also won Pi Kappa Phi’s No Boundaries week which also benefited PUSH America; finished second in Sigma Nu’s flag football tournament benefiting Relay for Life.
The chapter had a very successful Homecoming where it was paired with a campus fraternity and competed in a variety of activities against the other Furman Greek groups. At the Homecoming game it received first place in the category of float and chalking and came in second place overall for the Homecoming events. The chapter’s dedication and commitment to Homecoming definitely paid off. A senior Kappa was named Furman’s Homecoming Queen.
During 2009 the chapter celebrated the 15th anniversary of Eta Alpha’s founding at Furman. Kappa alumnae were invited to join the members for a tailgate before the football game. Everyone had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the heritage of our sisterhood.
Recruitment was a great success this year, and the chapter was thrilled to get a full pledge class of 36 wonderful women. The recruitment committee worked extremely hard throughout the fall, and the chapter worked hard to polish its skits, dances and songs so that the rounds would be polished and entertaining. Academic Excellence put in a tremendous amount of effort this year to encourage everyone in their studies. Everyone was very proud to have the highest GPA among the seven sororities on campus.
There were several outstanding functions this year. The beautiful spring formal took place at the Gassaway Mansion in May 2009. The fall functions included: Rage and Western Date Night. The theme for Rage was GloKappa, and everyone enjoyed dressing up in neon colors and wearing hundreds of glowsticks. Western Date Night was held at a local barn and included a bonfire, s’mores, cornhole and a lot of fun country music. A new function was introduced this year. Previously the semi-formal had been replaced with the Western Date Night, so the chapter decided to bring back the semi-formal atmosphere with Kappa’s first Christmas function which was held at the beautiful Huguenot Mill. The members spent the night dancing to Christmas music and enjoying the last weekend before Winter Break.
Highlights 2011
Eta Alpha had a year of involvement, reflection and improvement in 2011. The members were able to take a look at its strengths and weaknesses, as a chapter, through two Leadership Consultant visits and a focus letter from the Fraternity Council. Thirty new members were initiated in March, and two initiated in the fall with the Clemson chapter.
The chapter held its traditional philanthropy events: Reading is Key at the Boys and Girls Club, the Kappa Pageant in the fall to raise money for RIF and coordinated a change in schools for our weekly philanthropy visits.
In March, Eta Alpha hosted Province Meeting for Mu Province and representatives from all chapters in the province attended. Eta Alpha received the Standards Award for Mu North. The chapter received the Andrus Stale Roberts Trophy for the 2010-2011 school year—a trophy presented to the sorority that makes the greatest contribution to Furman University, specifically in the areas of scholarship, leadership, religion, athletics and general excellence. It raised its GPA from the third- to second-highest on campus.
Highlights 2012
2012 was a year of excitement and improvement, within Eta Alpha and the Greek Community as a whole. Our most noteworthy accomplishment was a brand new philanthropy event. To replace our outdated fraternity pageant, we started the first annual Kappa Cook Off. Teams of fraternities competed for the best burger recipe and sororities competed for the best dessert. We charged admission for teams and for anybody in the Furman/Greenville community to eat and enjoy live music, and raised $1300. We were happy with the involvement of non-Greek students, professors, and other on-campus organizations and it was great publicity.
This year we participated in Homecoming week activities with Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Our hardwork and involvement with float-building paid off in great PR (photo on the Furman homepage) and the first prize trophy for floats! Kappa participated in many other Greek organizations' philanthropy weeks--coming in second place for both Sigma Chi Derby Days and Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash.
Internally, Eta Alpha made so many improvements that we were able to get off the focus letter that we were put on in 2011. This was achieved by every sister's own effort, as well as the hard work of chapter council and VPO, who came up with the Leadership Action Plan to follow. Areas we made great strides in were chapter efficiency, committee organization, and knowledge and appreciation for ritual. Similarly, we got overwhelming positive feedback on initiation in March, after adjustments were made to keep it more in accordance with ritual while also being a special sisterhood retreat. According to a chapter survey in December, ritual and anti-hazing policy rank highest among Eta Alpha's strengths.
Chapter council would also like to mention that this year we benefitted greatly from our LC visits and Kappa trainers, especially as our advisory board was going through many changes.
The Greek community at Furman started to undergo many changes in 2012. With the installation of a new Greek Life adviser, Cameron Smith, several aspects of informal and formal recruitment were adjusted this year. Informal recruitment rules were improved to allow us to better get to know potential new members. Our panhellenic counselors, previously called Alpha Zetas, were renamed Pi Chis. Pi Chi groups started doing bonding activities together earlier in the fall. Recruitment rules were very specific for sororities this year--more rounds, each one smaller, were added in order to make the parties less overwhelming for potential new members. Panhellenic has also become more interested in raising official quota for sororities on campus, in order to make chapters more equal in size.
As a chapter, Eta Alpha feels its members are genuine, warm, welcoming, and supportive. Our chapter is extremely diverse in our academic and personal interests, extracurricular activities, and backgrounds. We feel our chapter is strengthened by this diversity and the phrase "individually unique, together complete" fitting.
Highlights of 2020s (Information from chapter history reports, 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.)
Note to Chapter Registrar: Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
