Changes
→Highlights of 2014
We hold meetings in Marshall Hall on Sundays, it is a college owned facility. For Chapter Council all meeting are held in the common room at our Kappa House. We have a house where members have the opportunity to live together, this house is college owned. A total of seven members can live in the house at one time. This is the only house in our chapter's history.
== Highlights of 2015==
There have been many changes and improvements in Alpha chapter this year. In the spring our chapter received three new members. In February we held our annual spaghetti dinner, raising $1,800 for the Jamieson Center, which is a local community center in town. We also donated books to the Jamieson Center children in early December. In October our chapter made over 120 trick-or-treat bags for the Jamieson Center as well. Alpha chapter participated in Relay for Life and raised over $2,000 for the cause making us the largest donation by any team, our contribution made up the majority of the funds for the event. Our chapter also organized a Reading is Key event at our local library. Our Reading is Key event was Curious George themed, each child received a book, and local firemen came and read to the children to get the community involved in our efforts to promote literacy. Alpha chapter also participated in a stuffed animal drive, and collected over 75 stuffed animals to donate for the event.
In May, around graduation we held a senior alumni ceremony. At this ceremony we acknowledged and gave thanks to all of our seniors members. We also held a senior brunch in May where our chapter expressed appreciation for our seniors through speeches and gifts. We also held an alumna orientation for our seniors as the year came to an end. In August we gained twenty-two new members through formal recruitment. In October we held initiation for our twenty-two new members. In September we held our annual Pancake Breakfast event, raising $1,016 for Reading is Fundamental and $100 of the funds was donated to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Our chapter also participated in a Journal Buddies program with the local United Way elementary school. This activity involved girls writing back and forth on a weekly basis with the students of the elementary school. At the end of the ten week program a day was arranged to meet with their journal buddies and personally get to know one another. This is where the girls get to meet their buddies, play games, read books, and craft with them. Alpha chapter participated in a program called Adopt-A-Classroom. Through this program, Alpha chapter financially adopted a classroom through Charleston Hope, which will supply inner-city kids in schools with Christmas gifts. Along with our major philanthropy events, many members logged community service hours on their own.
In October our chapter celebrated Founder’s Day, where we visited and sang at the burial sites of Minnie Stewart, Anna Willits, and Susan Walker. We also hosted a Founder’s Day Banquet, in which the Eta Kappa chapter of Knox College and many Kappa alumni attended. Events such as our Founder’s Day Banquet have helped our chapter maintain close relationships with our alum and local chapters, which has always been a goal we strive to achieve. During our homecoming week, we won first overall out of all the organizations on campus. Through an awards banquet on our campus Kappa was acknowledged for many awards such as: third place in academic programming, honorable mention in campus involvement, honorable mention in community service/civic engagement, first place emerging female leader, first place advisor of the year, first place outstanding chapter program- for our pancake breakfast. Many of our members were also acknowledged for making it onto the Dean's list and for being in multiple Greek honor programs such as; Alpha Lambda Delta, Blue Key, and Order of Omega.
In relation to academics, our chapter has been ranked third in overall sorority GPA. Our academics have been a challenging area for our chapter because we strive to place first overall in GPA and help all of our members succeed academically. Our chapter has implemented study files to help our members improve. Through the application of the new GIN system our members will also be held accountable for their academics through logging study hours. Not only are members expected to be accountable through academics, we also have made efforts to improve overall accountability. A way we have dedicated time to improving accountability is through “accountability buddies”, where each member has a partner that they encourage to attend events and keep each other responsible. Another effort our chapter has made to increase accountability has been through committee meetings. By getting all members more involved in Kappa events and fundamentals, this will increase all members’ involvement and commitment to the chapter. To improve communication, which has been another weakness in our chapter, we have held two leadership trainings for incoming officers, as well as triplet meetings that involve advisors. Each officer has their own advisor, which has helped with communication because each officer knows who they should be in contact with for questions or concerns specifically. Overall our chapter had a successful year and the goals we have set for our chapter will only help us improve further.
Alpha chapter excels in the area of campus and community involvement. Not only have we donated to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, but we focus heavily on donating to the community and representing Kappa in a philanthropic way around our community and campus. The majority of our members are involved in other organizations and athletic teams, as well as honors societies. This past year we have redecorated the interior of our house with freshly painted walls and new living room furniture. This redecoration also includes a new study room available to all members, providing them with a quiet place to study. We have provided all members with an equal opportunity to hold in their possession a key to our house. This would allow them twenty-four access to a quiet and secluded study room. In our study room we also have a printer that is free to every member's use. Chapter council is also requiring a communication/leadership seminar unlike previous years. Another change our chapter has seen is the recommendation of service hours, which has not been implemented in the past. Our chapter now encourages 5 service hours per semester. Our chapter overall is becoming more responsible, such as with paying for dues on time and turning in documents on time. Another sorority on campus, Pi Beta Phi has continued construction on their new house. Our chapter has continued to work towards achieving new housing.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Our chapter frequently donates to the Jamieson Center in our town. The Jamieson Center is a non-profit organization primarily serving residents of Warren County. Their programs are designed to increase food security and help people with essential services.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
This organization directly affects the residents in Monmouth’s community and our chapter finds our commitment to this organization very important. Seeing the impact of our contributions to a local organization is extremely gratifying for our chapter, and it also gives Kappa a good name in Monmouth’s community.
==Highlights of 2020:==
