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Gamma Xi holds chapter meetings in the dining room of our Kappa house, located at 744 Hilgard Ave. in Los Angeles. Gamma Xi is fortunate to have a beautiful home on the edge of Westwood and Beverly Hills. Greek Life at UCLA was originally funded by one person and this one person said that in order to receive funding for the houses, fraternities and sororities had to agree to have their respective houses on complete opposite sides of campus, therefore, sororities reside on Hilgard Ave. while fraternities reside on Gayley Ave. and Landfair Ave. Our house is owned by the Kappa Kappa Gamma House Board of Los Angeles. Our house currently holds 51 sisters at one time, but it wasn’t always this big. The house has been added onto and renovated many times over the years since our founding here at UCLA, but we have always had this same house.
==Highlights of 2015==
The 2015 school year began with a triplet meeting for the newly appointed officers of the Gamma Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UCLA. The newly elected members went as followed; Nicole Guffy as President, Hannah Demetor as VPS, Stephani Domako as VPO, Erin Becker as VPAE, Kylie Taylor as Treasurer, Amelia Danovitch as Recording Secretary, Annie Sasso as Corresponding Secretary, Emily Bochner as Registrar, Celeste Carswell as Marshall, Emily Hughes as Philanthropy Chairman, Bre Maughn as House Manager, Stephanie Larratt as Risk Manager, Genevieve Zimmerman as Event Chairman, Ali Welschmeyer as Education Chairman, Kevan Caroll as New Member Chairman, Michaela Monaghan as Membership Chairman, Liviya James as Panhellenic Delegate and Danielle Merrihew as Public Relations Chairman. Chapter Council then appointed assistants as followed; Julia Savage as Assistant Membership Chairman and Ariana Taghaddos as Assistant Treasurer. Winter quarter was a bit slow for our chapter, but we managed to participate in a ton of philanthropic events and put a focus on sisterhood. Gamma Xi’s Chapter Council had a blast at a sisterhood event at Disneyland. The newly elected chapter council members were able to get to know each other better and prepare for the year ahead. In addition, we participated in UCLA’s Greek Week on the White Team and ended up being the highest fundraising sorority. At the Standards of Excellence Gala, Gamma Xi proudly took home three awards for membership development, external relations, and third highest overall Standards of Excellence points. Additionally, numerous members of the chapter partook in other Greek philanthropy events such as Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, ZBT’s War of the Roses, Theta Chi’s Hair Salon, Chi Omega’s Wings for Wishes and Sig Ep Kicks for Kids. Additionally, Gamma Xi was able to surpass the all sorority and all women’s GPA.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
As UCLA students, our Gamma Xi members know how important it is to take advantage of every academic opportunity and to help others in need. By donating to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, we believe we are positively contributing to society by providing children with books and opportunities to be inspired by higher education. We especially try to carry and present ourselves as potential role models to those around us. During A Day in the Life, our hearts are filled with joy and warmth as we watch the kids of Brockton Elementary giggle and run around our campus as excited and potential future Bruins. Our members not only want to give them an unforgettable experience on our campus, but to also inspire them to want to prioritize academics and show them that hard work pays off.
==Highlights of 2016==
The 2016 school year began with a triplet meeting for the newly appointed officers of the Gamma Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UCLA. The newly elected members went as followed; Liviya James as President, Tia Rabinovitz as VPS, Danielle Merrihew as VPO, Meg Hauer as VPAE, Lucky Roselli as Treasurer, Sasha Deming as Recording Secretary, Lauren Thaxter as Corresponding Secretary, Natalie Mologne as Registrar, Joy van Hasselt as Marshall, Courtney Carbonneau as Philanthropy Chairman, Zoe Borden as House Manager, Nicole Cohen as Risk Manager, Genevieve Zimmerman as Event Chairman, Tori Oto as Education Chairman, Ali Cazel as New Member Chairman, Julia Savage as Membership Chairman, Bridget Bruggeman as Panhellenic Delegate and Kylie MacDougall as Public Relations Chairman. Chapter Council then appointed assistants as followed; Molly Sanders as Assistant Membership Chairman, Courtney Clement as Assistant Treasurer, and Emily Goldman as assistant Event Chairman.
Winter quarter was a bit slow for our chapter, but we managed to participate in a ton of philanthropic events and put a focus on sisterhood. The newly elected chapter council members were able to get to know each other better and prepare for the year ahead. In addition, we participated in UCLA’s Greek Week on the White Team. Additionally, numerous members of the chapter partook in other Greek philanthropy events such as ZBT’s Miss ZBT, and Sig Ep Kicks for Kids.
Spring Quarter was especially exciting for Gamma Xi. The position of recording secretary was transferred to Nina Romans. Members of our chapter who are also involved in the Pediatric Aids Coalition were able to form a team of around 10 Kappas to participate in Dance Marathon (a 26 hour event where students pledge to stand on their feed for 26 hours to raise funds and awareness for Pediatric HIV/Aids), partnering with our friends in Sigma Chi and UCLA’s School of Nursing. The Team Blue dancer captain was
our very own Becky Stepp who led us fearlessly into the fight against Pediatric HIV/Aids. We had sisterhood yoga and acai bowls in the courtyard taught by our very own sister Bridget, a Brandy Melville Private Sale, a calligraphy/art workshop, and a Denny’s pancake breakfast. Kylie, our PR chair, planned a beautiful Mom’s Day brunch at Fleurish on San Vicente Boulevard. We also had two adorable pinnings, one for Sarah Sanders (ZBT), one for Nicole Guffy (Sigma Chi), one for Hadley Nolan (ZBT), and a conjoined pinning for Eryn Voight and Victoria Pacos (Sigma Chi).
Furthermore, Gamma Xi was making an important transition onto the GIN System, a new means of communication throughout our chapter in an attempt to keep all members
updated in all things Kappa and UCLA. An exciting addition to this spring quarter was volunteering at the Sunshine Preschool Gala in Brentwood. We had around 10 members attend, and we loved getting the opportunity to make an impact on the community surrounding us. Additionally, we attended Sigma Chi’s Derby Days philanthropy. Last but not least, four members from Gamma Xi’s Chapter Council, Liviya, Danielle, Kylie, and Joy, went to the 71st Biennial Convention in June, learning more about KKG and roles in the house, meeting fellow Kappas from other chapters, and discovering more about themselves as a whole.
Fall Quarter came quickly and we were back at Kamp Kappa for fall recruitment. The position of Panhellenic Delegate was transferred to Montana Dunn and the position of Housing Chairman was transferred to Natty Tucker. Our Membership Chairman, Julia Savage, did an incredible job with rush and we ended up with 65 amazing, charismatic, and kind new members joining our chapter! The house went under some renovations during Summer 2016, including getting central air conditioning, and all of the girls were
eager and excited to see the new improvements to our already beautiful home. Ali planned a “Welcome To The Big Leagues” bid night and the entire chapter had an amazing time welcoming the new members. Tori planned a fun Founders Day in which the whole chapter was told about the history of our house, the background of Gamma Xi, and the founding of Kappa Kappa Gamma in general. Our dessert consisted of cake, in order to celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma’s birthday, which was an idea from the leadership training seminars. Big Little Reveal was an exciting time for all of the members taking on little sisters! During fall quarter this year, we also had a very exciting outdoor movie sisterhood, which followed Kappa Presents and Kappa’s Dad’s Day—both of which were a blast! We also had our “A Day in the Life”philanthropy in which we had over 150 students from Brockton Elementary and 122nd Street come to campus and learn what it was like to be a Bruin for a day, while also contributing to Reading is Fundamental. They learned our 8- clap, we read them books, they ran through campus doing an obstacle course, and were sent home with backpacks full of school supplies. The kids’ smiles and laughter brought joy to each and every Gamma Xi member. We finished off fall quarter with our second philanthropy, Kappa Krismukkah, where all of our friends on campus came to our house to enjoy holiday festivities and to either donate toys to the Mattell Children’s Hospital or donate money to the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation or to Reading is Fundamental. Fall Quarter wrapped up with the exciting news that we were off of the Focus Letter due to our hard work and great improvements!
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
A word to describe Kappa’s nature this year: improvement and dedication. Our members took advantage of every opportunity to not only support our sisters, but also the students and organizations around us. From participating and donating to philanthropies of other sororities and fraternities, to attending baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and water polo games to support our athletes, our chapter was showing support to Bruins all over campus. Furthermore, our chapter loves to make good luck baskets during midterms and finals week and distributing them to other houses. During the stressful times of exams, Gamma Xi members unite, support, and help each other out in all academic subjects to ensure our girls do the best they possible can. We also partake in Kappa Kappucchinos, where we hand out free coffee on Bruinwalk to UCLA students walking to class throughout the day. We reward girls who have achieved academic success during our weekly meetings by nominating a KKGenius and we nominate a
Kappa of the Week to a member who especially exemplified our womanly and true ideals during recent events. We also nominate a “Polished Kappa” each week by rewarding a woman who portrayed the classy values that Kappa Kappa Gamma admires at an event that week with nail polish! The chapter has also worked to further take advantage of the relationships with advisors by reaching out to meet with them more frequently and maintaining contact to ensure all of our chapter council members are on task and are
doing all they can to improve our chapter as time goes on.
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
As UCLA students, our Gamma Xi members know how important it is to take advantage of every academic opportunity and to help others in need. By donating to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, we believe we are positively contributing to society by providing children with books and opportunities to be inspired by higher education. We especially try to carry and present ourselves as potential role models to those around us. During A Day in the Life, our hearts are filled with joy and warmth as we watch the kids of Brockton Elementary and 122nd Street giggle and run around our campus as excited and potential future Bruins. Our members not only want to give them an unforgettable experience on our campus, but to also inspire them to want to prioritize academics and show them that hard work pays off. Our other philanthropy is Kappa Krismukah, where we invite our friends over to celebrate the holiday season! We have a great time at this event, and our activities include caroling, a photo booth, and decorating cookies, while raising money at the same time!
