Changes

==2012Highlights of 2011==

This past year our chapter continued to grow in the area of recruitment. Last year, we initated 50 girls, this year we increased that number and initiated 54. This group of girls consists of a large number of sophomores, and among them one exchange student from London, England. We also had much success with our fall philanthropy. At our fourth annual Kappasta Spaghetti dinner, along with our 4 on 4 volleyball tournament, we managed to donate $5,200 to Habitat for Humanity.  In addition to donating money to the cause, our chapter participated in its first house build with Habitat for Humanity last spring. This was an incredible experience and a lot of fun, and we plan on making the house build an annual event. For the past two years we have several members volunteer to read to the students of Thomas Paine school as part of our Reading is Fundamental philanthropy. Our social calendar was packed this past year with events such as "Kappa Keys Overseas" themed pledge dance, Barn Dance, Semi-Formal, and Impromptu. Aside from social events we also coordinate many successful sisterhood events within the chapter. These include visiting the apple orchard, making cranes for a sister's hospitalized father, and going ice skating.  '''Campus:''' The University of Illinois has about 43,000 students, 31,540 are undergraduates. -Of the undergraduates, about 21% of the males and females are involved in the greek system. -We have the largest greek system in the country with 36 sororities and 60 fraternities. We also have a large number of academic related fraternities for both male and females. -We have a very diverse campus with students coming from all 50 states and over 100 countries. -There are over 1,000 registered student organizations on campus, including various clubs and activities. Kappas are always very involved in what our great campus has to offer.  '''Chapter:''' -We initiated new members in the fall, which makes the Beta Lambda Chapter a total of 181 active members. -Many of our members are part of the James Scholar Program, on the Dean's List, and members of honorary fraternities such as Alpha Kappa Psi, Phi Eta Sigma, and Delta Sigma Pi. -The Beta Lambda Kappas are also involved in a wide variety of student organizations such as club soccer, ROTC, Illini Cheerleading, the Illini Dance Team, Illinettes, Illini Pride, Business Council, Identity Irish Dance Troupe, Greek Intervarsity, and many more. -Many of our members are also involved in service and volunteer work such as tutoring, and being involved with special needs children and adults in the neighborhood.  We have faced two major challenges the past year. First, we have had trouble making sure we were financially stable. Coming into the year, Beta Lambda faced a financial debt that we struggled to climb out. Many officers were unaware of limits to their budgets. We have fixed this problem by learning to effectively budget and save our money. Also, we faced another challenge in the area of academics. Last year, Kappa was ranked 9th out of 25 sororities and we were above the average GPA of sororities. However, after last fall we have dropped to 13th. This upcoming semester we plan to increase our focus on academic work and, thus, strengthen our GPA.   ==Highlights of 2012== This past year the Beta Lambda chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma continued to grow in the area of philanthropy. In the fall we hosted our annual volleyball tournament and pasta dinner, the proceeds went the Habitat for Humanity Foundation. We also paricipated participated in a local house build. This coming spring break 24 members of our chapter are going on a Habitat for Humanity trip and will be building houses in several different states. Many members of the chapter go to Thomas Paine school and read to the students, which is one of the ways we participate in the Reading is Fundamental Philanthropy. The women of the Beta Lamda Lambda chapter not only participate in our own philanthropy but in other FranternityFraternity's and Sorority's philanthropies as well! In November of 2012 we intiated initiated 47 wonderful women! We have had several sisterhood events this past year, such as a game night called "Kappa Kookies & Games", we went to the circus, wrote holiday cards to soldiers, made christmas cookies, had a funny photo booth night, and we made valentines for the patients at Carol Hospital. Our chapter has recently added committees to our chapter council. We believe having committees benefits the house as a whole by getting more active members involved!