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Gamma Omega

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==Highlights of the 2020s2020:==
Gamma Omega began 2020 with a highly successful formal and informal recruitment process in January. Three of our active members served as Rho Gammas during the recruitment process. The chapter welcomed 18 new members on Bid Day, and then recruited an additional 5 new members through informal recruitment in the following weeks. Bid Day 2020 was “Friends” themed, with outfits inspired by the hit TV show, and featured ice skating with the new members and actives. After recruitment, the VPO hosted our annual Leadership Day as we transitioned officers, with 5 returning council members and 14 new council members. We decided to incorporate a new council position at the start of 2020, naming Anna Mae Murphy as Gamma Omega’s first Sexual Respect Chair. The new member class was formally pledged at the beginning of February and began their EME training, which occured before chapter every Sunday. At the end of February, Denison hosted an FSL (Fraternity & Sorority Life) Leadership Retreat for all Denison Greek Presidents and Representatives with the intent of creating connections between the different Greek Councils and Chapters. The Gamma Omega President, Lily Anderson, and Panhellenic Delegate, Lillian Morrow, were in attendance. March was a very difficult month for the Gamma Omega Chapter. We planned to hold initiation on March 28th, during the week following spring break. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, Denison informed students that spring break would be followed by a 2-week period of remote learning with the hopes of returning to campus by April 3rd. Although the administration hoped that students would be able to return, they encouraged students to pack up their belongings in the days leading up to spring break and prepare to move home. On March 16th, Denison made the announcement that the remainder of the semester would be virtual. Because of the pivot to remote learning, the chapter’s Event Chair, Ariana Aulisi, was forced to cancel the off-campus formal that she had planned. The House Chair, Zoe Smith, and House Board President, Tina Tracy, supported members in the spring by allowing them to store some of their belongings in the Kappa House during the quick move-out. House Board was also able to move forward on renovations to the laundry room and office, as well as plan for redecoration of many rooms in the Kappa house. While at home, Gamma Omega maintained weekly council and chapter meetings over Zoom and Google Meet. Before the transition to remote learning, Stella Boeckman, the Philanthropy Chair, was planning a spring philanthropy event called Kans for Kappa, which was intended to be a food drive for Center for Hope. Following the collection, Kappa members were then planning to go to a Center for Hope location and put together activity kits for students. Additionally, Kappa was partnered with the Boys and Girls Club in Newark, where Kappa members were able to volunteer weekly. However, when the pandemic hit, Stella stepped up to the plate and created a new virtual philanthropy event. She hosted a virtual fundraiser and raffle in April, raising a total of $881 for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s COVID-19 Response Fund to help healthcare workers, vulnerable individuals, and hygiene promotion activities. With guidance from District Specialists, the Marshal, Madison Gordon, coordinated a virtual initiation for the new member class. Madison reached out to relatives of Legacy new members and invited them to the Zoom initiation to support their daughters and nieces. On April 30, 2020, 23 of the 24 new members were successfully initiated over Zoom in a ceremony lead by Kappa Headquarters. During the month of May, the senior members of Kappa were able to read their letters to the chapter during the final two virtual chapter meetings. The 9 graduating seniors were sent stoles, small gifts, and letters from their kappa families in place of the traditional senior brunch. Additionally, Gamma Omega had three virtual pinning ceremonies following chapter meetings. Denison implemented a pass or fail option for all courses due to the stress and complications of the spring semester, which allowed for students to elect to take their courses as pass or fail rather than for a grade. This prevented the VP Academic Excellence, Talia Zeiger, from receiving grades. Although she could not make Academic Progress Plans without grade reports, she worked hard to provide support for struggling members. In place of the traditional “Finals Pizza” event, Talia sent Kappas who had received awards and scholarships handwritten letters and Kappa stickers in the mail. Over the summer, the chapter President attended the virtual Convention, and the Kappa Patter Newsletter was sent out. Denison announced plans for returning to campus, with strict guidelines placed on Greek organizations. The majority of Gamma Omega’s members returned to campus for the fall semester, with a few studying remotely from home. With the no-gathering order from the National Panhellenic Council in place, Kappa worked to recruit members through the COB process virtually, as well as to host virtual sisterhood events. The Membership Chair, Meghan Callahan, recruited two new members, and Bid Day was celebrated virtually. Gamma Omega’s VP Standards, Emily Muckle, organized virtual sisterhood events including trivia nights, a movie night, and, once restrictions were lifted, a socially distant bonfire and s’mores night. Additionally, our PR Chair, Helen Nickerson, organized an ongoing virtual yoga and workout session. VP Academic Excellence, Talia Zeiger, continued to name members “Smartie of the Week” at chapter based on kappa member nominations. In October, when some restrictions were lifted, The Marshal, Madison Gordon, began organizing ritual events including Formal Pledging and Formal Chapters in a hybrid format, with the Chapter President, Marshal, and Tech Consultant socially distant in the Kappa house and the rest of the members on Zoom. Additionally, Kappa members participated in philanthropy events for other Greek organizations at Denison, including Tri Delta Kickball and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash. For the first time in several years, Kappa won the Anchor Splash Dance competition. Gamma Omega’s annual philanthropy event was hosted on October 31st. In order to make the event safe, the Philanthropy Chair created a new event called Kappa Carving. This event featured a socially distant pumpkin carving competition which raised $1,643 for Reading is Fundamental and the Conscious Kid. In November, the Marshal hosted a successful I-Week, with some events in-person and some events virtual. She consulted with her Specialist and received permission to host in-person F-Side and Initiation, with limited participation and social distancing. On November 14th, Gamma Omega initiated three members with only essential members present for the ceremony. Following initiation, the new actives experienced their first formal chapter and also participated in the Behind Happy Faces program provided through Kappa HQ. The VPAE sent out care packages to those who applied for scholarships and graduate or medical school which contained a handwritten note and stuffed animal. She also hosted the “Wise Owl” event, where older actives assist younger actives with course registration, virtually. During nominations for new council, Gamma Omega decided to create a Diversity Chair position, and Destiny Gonzalez was elected in the position. Toward the end of the semester, Gamma Omega received a focus letter, indicating that chapter operations needed to be improved. The incoming and outgoing council members collaborated with the Gamma District Specialists and Gamma Omega Advisors to create an action plan in response to the focus letter. This plan was centered on improving chapter communication and operations. Many Gamma Omega members received scholarships, honors, and awards in 2020. Talia Zeiger (’21) and Madison Gordon (’21) both received scholarships from the Denison Theatre Department. Annika Kanuckel-Wolfe (’22) was inducted into Theta Alpha Phi theatre honorary, and Madison Gordon (’21) was elected President of Theta Alpha Phi. Alli Holmes (’21) was in the Top 50 Student Athlete GPA. Jessica Crabtree (’22) received a Scholarship for Excellence in English, and Sarah Wilson (’20) received an English Department Scholarship as well. Kyra Colah (’21) was named a Senior Fellow in the Communications Department, and Talia Zeiger (’21) was named a Senior Fellow in the Psychology Department. Lillian Morrow (’22) was inducted into the AED Pre-Health Honorary Society, and Lily LeVanis (’21) was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta history academic society, as well as named a Senior Fellow in the History Department. Meghan Callahan (’21) was elected Vice President of the Mortar Board, Jordan Zelvin (’21) was elected Historian of the Mortar Board, and Tori Sauve (’21) was inducted into Mortar Board.
[[File:COVID Sisterhood at Gamma Omega.jpg|thumb|COVID Sisterhood at Gamma Omega]]
[[File:Hello From Denison.jpg|thumb|Hello From Denison]]
 
 
==Highlights of 2021:==
 
As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to change many lives this year, Gamma Omega began 2021 with a round of exciting virtual recruitment. The chapter worked together to make fun decorations and goody bags for each of the active members to set up in their rooms. Though it was new for everyone, it was still extremely fun and successful and got our year off to a great start! Bid day was held in shifts in the house with socially distanced activities for all the new Kappas to run home to. This was the first in-person event after a long year of virtual meetings, so it was a big day for activities and new members alike. In the next few weeks, Gamma Omega continued holding virtual chapter meetings and events, such as the spring Leadership Day, with the new 2021 council. This council worked diligently to strengthen the chapter as a whole by working through the focus letter sent to Gamma Omega the previous year. Some new additions included weekly Minerva Moments from Marshal Katie Lauck, greatly improved communication and collaborative efforts from VPO Zoe Smith, and monthly advisor check-ins for all officers.
In February all new members received their bigs in an exciting big/little. Most families were able to meet in person and others met over zoom to accommodate quarantine sisters as we continued to navigate the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not long after, Gamma Omega held its second ever combined initiation ceremony. The pledge class was split into three different groups and initiation was done in rounds with restricted numbers of members present to accommodate the social distancing and gathering limitations set both by Kappa and Denison. Gamma Omega continued to find creative ways to work with these protocols the rest of the spring semester to keep sisterhood spirit alive. Members participated in fun online activities such as trivia competitions, bonfires, or movie nights as was available. In April, VPAE Hannah Gilson hosted the first ever Donuts and Deadlines, which has since become a tradition, to boost morale and give members a chance to meet up, hang out, and enjoy something sweet while the semester began to hit it’s most difficult point. Gilson also hosted a virtual workshop with the Knowlton Centre for Scholarly Engagement for members of Kappa and the Denison Panhellenic community at large to learn about building resumes and what to expect for virtual internships in the coming summer. Also in April, Gamma Omega held Kappachino as their philanthropy event to support Reading is Fundamental and hosted the first Kappa Cookout to give members a safe outdoor environment to spend time together before saying goodbye to the senior class.
 
In May, the class of 2021 was able to gather at the house together for one final in person formal chapter, the first since benign sent home in the spring of 2020. During this chapter they were able to read their goodbye letters to each other and the rest of the chapter over zoom, and gather in the sacred bond of sisterhood one last time. Over summer, the Kappa house went largely unused by all except House Chair Anne Matoni who was the first Gamma Omega member to live in the chapter house in decades. Kappas spent their summer involved in a number of outside activities including both in-person and virtual internships, on campus summer research, and summer jobs. Once a month, the chapter council would meet to discuss the coming year and their plans for the focus letter and chapter as a whole. During this time, Kappa Kappa Gamma also transitioned to a new philanthropy partnership dedicated to supporting those with mental illness, which was extremely well received by the members of Gamma Omega.
 
When Denison returned for its fall semester, the chapter was finally able to hold in person events again and returned to weekly chapter meetings in our house. Gamma Omega wanted to really focus on sisterhood events since our chapter had been so long constrained to zoom screens. Some activities that were introduced include weekly wellness walks with Risk Chair Annika Kanuckel-Wolfe, sexual respect movie night dialogue with Sexual Respect Chair, and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters on the house stoop. Our chapter also hosted COB recruitment in October and was able to have the first chapter-wide in person bid day since spring of 2020 on October 9th with a wild west theme planned by both New Member chair Bree Phillips and Recruitment Chair Olivia Hervey. The next day, Gamma Omega participated in Delta Gamma’s annual Anchor Splash philanthropy, and a group of our members travelled to the OSU Kappa house for our first ever joint Founder’s Day celebration.
At the end of October, our chapter held a Halloween formal, planned by Event Chair Maggie LaMaster, which was the first formal in two years and showed to be a great success.
Leading up to COB initiation, Marshal Katie Lauck held various ritual reviews and New member Chair Bree Phillips hosted a successful fully in person big/little reveal. Also during this time the AE committee held a registration dinner for all sophomores to help them plan for the coming semester as well as the second Donuts and Deadlines events, both of which were widely attended and enjoyed by the chapter at large. On November 12, a fully in person F-Side was held with the entire chapter and was followed by the annual chapter sleep-over–the first in two years. Members played games, ate pizza and cookie dough, and bonded over the release of the All Too Well short film premiere. The next morning, our new members were initiated in a combined ceremony with the entire chapter there to support them. The following day, Philanthropy Chair Kaylah Linkiwicz hosted Kappa Karnival as our first ever philanthropy event aimed towards supporting the new Kappa philanthropies. Gamma Omega also voted in the 2022 council on this day after a long run of insightful work done by the Nominating Committee headed by senior Zoe Smith. As we move into December, the chapter has begun preparing for the upcoming spring recruitment and looks forward to our second formal– a mytie event being thrown on December 11. Overall, this has been a year with many ups and downs as the chapter navigated a changing social scene and worked to increase communication and sisterhood within the chapter, but nonetheless, Gamma Omega has grown stronger, closer, and better through it all.

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