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|Image= [[File:Beta_Phi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1909|03|20}}
|College= [httphttps://www.umt.edu/ University of Montana], formerly State University of Montana; Montana State University
|Location= Missoula, MT
|Homepage= [https://chapters.kappakappagamma.org/betaphi/ Beta Phi Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Beta_Phi Media related to Beta Phi Chapter]}}
'''University of Montana (formerly University of Montana; State University of Montana; Montana State University) established in 1893, Missoula, Montana
'''1,923 954 initiates (as of June 20152018''')
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'''Some of Beta Phi’s Outstanding AlumnaeCharter Members:''' (If you have chapter alumnae who have received recognition in any of these three categories Eva M. Coffee, Mary J. Elrod, Ethel Evans, Edna T. Fox, Frances M. Jones, Abbie Catherine Lucy, Margaret Mary Lucy, Maude Brooks McCullough, Mildred Alene McGregor, May Elizabeth Murphy, Mary F. Rankin, Isabel Ronan, Marjorie Lee Ross, Ruth Lenore Smith, Helen M. Whitaker, Lucy Dora Alexandria Whitaker, please list them with the date(s) of recognitionEthel Marion Wilkinson.)
'''Fraternity Council Members:'''
Hulda Miller Fields, Fraternity Director of Membership, 1942-1946; Marlys Nelson (Barrett), Field Secretary 1962-1964; Marian Schroeder Graham, Director of Membership, 1966-1970, Director of Personnel 1970-1972, Director of Chapters, 1971-1972, Fraternity President 1972-1976; Lila Isbell, Field Secretary, 1987-1988, Fraternity Executive Director, 2001-2005
==Highlights of 2014==
Formal recruitment for the Beta Phi chapter for 2014 was very successful and had a total of 27 New Members who were initiated on October 25, 2014. Many members of our chapter received the LAS award in scholarship and also the Bright Future Award for incoming freshman students. During the Fall semester of 2014, our chapter GPA was 2.937. Unfortunately, we did not receive any Province awards for the 2013 year.
One of our traditions in this chapter is to do a “Snap Cup” at the end of every meeting. This allows us to say something positive about one another or the entire chapter about anything that was good for that week. Special events that we held during 2014 included Sapphire Ball, which was held at a downtown hotel, Forester’s Ball and Kappa Krush.
Our Vice President of Organization Marissa Barone, currently has a historical badge that belonged to Myrtle Buls who was a Beta Phi member from 1946. Although she passed away in 2010, she enjoyed many outdoor activities, singing and traveling. She was quoted as saying “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” Marissa was given the badge in May 2014.
==Highlights of 2020s2015== During the year of 2015, the University of Montana has added a new fraternity to campus, Alpha Sigma Phi. The University now has 4 sororities and 8 fraternities. Within our own Kappa Kappa Gamma Beta Phi chapter, we are blessed to have our new house mom, Leann, who was our old house board treasurer. We also are pleased to reward Alicia B. the Beta Phi scholarship back in April. Our chapter has also increased in size since the past couple of years. We initiated a total of 7 women in the spring and 21 women in the fall. Spring recruitment was very successful because we had over 20 women show up for our “Mexican night” and over 15 show up for the mystery dinner the next week when we normally have only about a maximum of 4 women. We then extended 13 bids to those women and ended up with 8 new members. Our formal fall recruitment was a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” theme, and at the end of the week, we extended 29 bids to women and pledged 26 women that following Monday. Philanthropy activities that our chapter has accumulated over the fall semester of 2014 and spring semester of 2015, we totaled over 2,100 hours for all 51 women. Special thanks to Jessica L, Hannah G, Krista B, Bronte B. who all volunteered over 100 hours of service. Our chapter always helps out at the annual Forester’s Ball, where this spring, we made about $230, and we donated half of it to the Kappa foundation and the other half to our fraternity brother, Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s fundraiser. Their fundraiser was that one of their brother’s girlfriends suddenly had a stroke and needed money to help pay for the medical bills, so our chapter decided to help out with their cause. Our main Reading Is Key event was held in the spring were we collected over 420 books from all the fraternities and sororities on campus. Our Senior Philanthropy event also that spring was an alcohol awareness water pong tournament that all Greek members or non-members could participate, and the seniors raised over $250 dollars and then also donated the full amount to SAE’s fundraiser. Some of the goals that our chapter council developed include: be more philanthropic, develop better communication, and be Kappa Klassy. With the goal of being more philanthropic as our probably the main focus, our chapter believed that we should continue to improve on being more involved with the other sororities and fraternities on our campus. One of the reasons why we decided on this goal was because our chapter happens to be one of the smaller chapters on our campus, and we haven’t been as representative for the other chapter’s philanthropies or fundraisers as much in the past couple of years. Our chapter also believed that if we improved our attendance of these fundraisers at other chapters, it would help us improve our communication and being classy. We always have more opportunities to improve and achieve our goals, and we aren’t going to stop trying to achieve them. In order to help us achieve our goals, LC Alyssa came over a couple of weeks during the fall semester where she helped us with our work week for recruitment and recruitment at that time as well as nominations for our next year’s chapter council. We as a chapter also believed that these goals would help us in the challenges that our chapter faced over the year. Our advisors and alumna also came in to help us during our time of need in order to better build up our public relations over the entire Greek system facing an “alcohol restriction” and other public report cases that happened. Overall, I believe that our chapter and the University of Montana Greek system is improving and these challenges will continue to help us improve our image, goals, and values for all to see. Even though we have had a couple of challenges this year, some of the many traditions we have done for years still continued. Our Founder’s Day on October 13th was our 106th anniversary of our chapter on the University of Montana campus. Other traditions include the weekly “Snap Cup” that we will read at the end of our meetings. Also during our meetings, we have the “No Skip Skippy Jar,” the “Hey, Hey, I Got an A,” “Kappa Kreep,” and the Supportive Sister Bra. The no skip skippy jar is where everyone puts in their names if they attended all of their classes and win a prize. The got an A is for rewarding everyone who obtained an A in any of their classes that week. The Kappa Kreep is the newer one where if you spotted a sister studying, you could snapchat them “secretly” and watch a slide show the VP of Academic Excellence would create from that week. The supportive sister bra is just a bra that when it is given to you, you write your name and date on it just to show who has been supportive in our chapter. Outside of the weekly meetings, our chapter has an entire week dedicated to Bigs’ and Littles’ where the bigs’ will make crafts and write clues to give to the littles’ for them to guess. At the end of the week, the bigs’ will then present themselves in unique and clever ways to their littles’ and everyone gets excited. This year we had a ball of yarn start on the first floor and the littles’ had to grab their string and follow it to their bigs’ as well as having the littles’ collect articles of clothing scattered around the house to then meet their bigs’ located outside on the lawn wearing the same clothing items. One of the older traditions that our chapter does is on Friday night of Initiation, all of the actives will dress in black and walk out onto the lawn with candles to form the shape of a key while singing “Dream Awhile” for our new members to view from the President’s balcony. This might be one of the most treasured traditions that Beta Phi has. We have been blessed with our chapter house still being the original house that was bought in 1931. Currently we have about 35 women living in the house out of a possible 37 women including our house mom. Several remodels have been introduced since the original, but more recently we have remodeled the first floor and our basement. The first floor has been remodeled over the past couple of years to represent the original house back in the 1910’s to 1930’s because our house is honored with being placed on the national register of historic places in Montana. Because of this, we are required to keep our house “time period specific” with all the same colors and furniture, while still being a place that many women will continue to live in. Our basement was remodeled from the old “Pit” to the new “lounge area” by replacing the floor, repainting the walls and ceiling, adding newer furniture, a popcorn machine, and all the exercise equipment that we could ever think of or use. We still have chapter meetings in our house and continue to grow and remodel the house while remembering that it is a historical house. ==Highlights of 2016== We kicked off the new year in Beta Phi on January 24, which was move in day for spring semester. Classes started on January 25, and we were lucky enough to have our Leadership Consultant, Alyssa Sanchez, with us to start spring semester, and she stayed from January 24 to February 26. We also held a spring recruitment event on January 27 and January 29–30, we had a visit from our RDC, Brittany Henderson, and PDC, Michelle Meyers. February held a lot of new adventures for Beta Phi. Another spring recruitment event was held on February 3, and we held spring Bid Day on February 7, welcoming seven new members into Kappa! Formal pledging was then held on February 8. Another LC, Carly Wooldridge, came on February 7 and stayed until the 12th. Alyssa and Carly planned a Galentines day sisterhood for us where we wrote each other love notes. Susanne Vander Heyden came and visited us from March 6–8 and presented the importance of ritual to the chapter. There was a sisterhood held with Kappa Alpha Theta on March 12. We held Big/Little Reveal Week from March 14–18. Our LC, Alyssa Sanchez, came back to visit us March 20–25. While she was here, the Greek system had a speaker come and talk to us about mental health on campus. Vikki Day, a Kappa Trainer, also came on March 24 and presented to the chapter about responsibility. Our VPS, Katie Wickham, held a sisterhood on March 30 that was a pj party. April was a pretty busy month for our chapter. Spring break approached fast and when we came back it was Inspiration Week which ran from April 11–15. The Dropping of the Pin ceremony was on April 13, FS was held on April 15 and Initiation on April 16. We initiated six women into our chapter. The week following was our Philanthropy Week, which ran from April 18–22. We teamed up with Liquid Planet on April 20 for Kappa Kappaccino where a portion of the proceeds went to Reading is Fundamental. That night we held hydration pong, a fundraiser for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and also an event to raise alcohol awareness in our community. Our senior function was on April 23. That next week, the 25th-29th was Greek Week for the University of Montana. Fun competitions were held all week and ended in a group get together on Greek row. On April 27, we had our Scholarship Dinner and celebrated the academic accomplishments of our sisters. On April 30, we played games on our yard with Kappa Sigma and spent one of our last weekend’s together for that year. May was a short and bittersweet month. We had a photoshoot together on the May 1 before going into dead week. On May 7 we had an event to honor the seniors and historical pins were passed down. Alumnae came, and we got to hear their stories. Finals week was April 9–13. Seniors graduated on May 14, and we all said goodbye for the summer. August came around and the whole house was back together. We moved in on August 21 and got started with Key to Success Week from August 22–2h. Leadership Consultant, Rachael Schaaf, stayed with us from August 21–26. Classes began on August 29 and the semester was in full swing. September started with one of our favorite times of the year, Recruitment Week! Recruitment Week ran from September 5–9 with Bid Day being on September 10. After Recruitment, we held continuous open bidding for another week. In total, we welcomed 29 new members to pledge into Kappa. Carly came back to give us an alcohol awareness workshop on September 24. Homecoming Week was September 26–October 1. We partnered with Sigma Chi and Kappa Sigma for our homecoming float for the parade. October started with Big/Little Reveal Week October 10–14 and Family Weekend was October 14–16. We had LC, Claire Kozel visiting from October 16–21, which was also our Philanthropy Week. We held Kappa Kappa Flapjacks on the 19th to raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The chapter held a fundraiser at Chops where the proceeds were donated to RIF. We had Kappa Jam, a dodgeball tournament on October 22. Susanne Vander Heyden also paid us another visit from October 16–17. We had Scholarship Dinner on October 26 where we showed off the accomplishments of our sisters. November started with initiating our new members. Inspiration Week ran October 31st to–November 4 and we initiated 20 members on November 5. Connie Tyler stayed with us for Initiation. We had a great Kites and Keys event with Kappa Alpha Theta where we made Christmas ornaments. A thanksgiving sisterhood and composites were held on November 16 and we had elections on November 21. Right after that was Thanksgiving break. December is a pretty slow month for our chapter as we get ready for finals and winter break. We held a Christmas themed sisterhood on December 7 where we made mugs. The last day of classes was December 12 and finals ran December 14–20. ==Highlights of 2017== The Beta Phi chapter has had a fantastic year in 2017. On the University campus, we found a new president and a new Fraternity and Sorority Involvement Director. Beta Phi also worked this past year to find local philanthropies in Missoula to support like Watson Children’s shelter, Animeals, and the Humane society. Beta Phi chapter started the new year together by moving into the house on January 21st. Classes started the 23rd, that was also the same day officers were installed. February was a fun month for Beta Phi. We held three C.O.B. events on the 1st, the 8th, and the 15th. From the 12th to the 17th we had a visit from the wonderful LC, Claire. Claire joined us for our spring C.O.B. Bid Day on the 16th where we offered 10 women bids. Our new members were formally pledged on the 21st and we had a fun winter photoshoot on the 26th. March was a great month for getting to know our new members. We had a sisterhood on the 7th where we made tie blankets that we donated to Watson’s Children’s center here in Missoula. We also had a fun photoshoot on the 11th. The women of Beta Phi had a great time on Spring Break from the 18th to the 26th. The week after Spring Break was a busy week for us. From the 27th to the 31st we competed in Greek Week with the rest of our Greek system. Beta Phi got second overall and first for sororities. The same week was our Big Little week with reveal on the 31st. April was a very busy month for the women of Beta Phi. On the 7th our philanthropy chair Hailee planned a cleanup of the Bitterroot trail. From the 10th to the 15th we had our Inspiration week, with dropping of the pin on the 12th, Fireside on the 14th, and Initiated 6 members on the 15th. On the 12th we also had a sisterhood where we watched movies with sisters. From the 9th to the 14th we also had a wonderful visit from the LC Claire. On the 19th our fabulous VPAE planned a scholarship dinner where we celebrated our academic accomplishments. On the 20th we had an event with Delta Gamma where the two houses did crafts together. The 20th was also the Greek Awards where we won an award for excellence in Alumni relations and our sister, Augustine, won the outstanding senior award. On the 22nd we had our Senior Function and it was so much fun. The seniors also had their retreat on the 23rd. From the 24th to the 28th we had our spring philanthropy event. On the 29th our seniors officially went Alum at a brunch with our alumni association. May was a short and sweet month for Beta Phi. On the 3rd we had an event with Kappa Alpha Theta where we Tie-dyed t-shirts. The last day of classes was on the 5th. Finals ran from 8th to the 12th. Move out and Graduation were on the 13th. Beta Phi came back from the summer ready for recruitment and a new school year. We moved into the house on the 19th. Our Key to Success week ran from the 21st to the 25th. On the 25th we had a Color Me Kappa sisterhood. During this week we had a visit from our amazing LC Megan from the 20th to the 24th. Classes started on the 31st. September was focused on recruitment events. Formal recruitment ran from the 11th to the 14th, with Bid Day on the 15th. We gave out 25 bids. Our first formal pledging ceremony was on the 18th. We had a C.O.B. event on the 19th and our C.O.B. bid day was on the 22nd where we invited 7 new women into our chapter. Our C.O.B. formal pledging was on the 25th. October was a busy and rewarding month for Beta Phi. On the 14th we participated in the Homecoming parade with Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu. We celebrated Kappa Founder’s Day on the 15th with brunch where we invited alumni to celebrate with us. Our Big Little Week was from the 16th to the 20th, with reveal on the 20th. On the 17th we had an event where we painted pumpkins with the wonderful women of Alpha Phi. On the 23rd we had a chill sisterhood where we studied and watched Halloween movies together. Our philanthropy week went from the 23rd to the 28th. On the 24th, a few of our members went the local elementary school and read to kids. We had Kappa Kappa Flapjacks on the 25th where we had an all you can eat pancake buffet, on the 26th we partnered with the local Chipotle and had a fundraiser with them, and on the 28th we had our dodgeball tournament, Dodge For A Cause. District Director Amanda Ruffo paid us a wonderful visit from the 29th to the 31st. November was an exciting month for Beta Phi with initiation. From the 13th through the 18th we had our Inspiration week. We had our Dropping of the Pin ceremony on the 13th, Fireside was on the 17th, and we initiated 24 amazing members on the 18th. On the 14th we took our composite. On the 15th our incredible VPS, Katie, planned a sisterhood where we made each other friendship bracelets that had a word that reminded us of the other sister. We had our Thanksgiving break from the 22nd to the 26th. We ended November with elections on the 27th. December was a short but exciting month for the Beta Phi chapter. On the 8th we had our Sapphire Function that was a ton of fun. Our VPO, AJ, planned a great Leadership Day on the 9th where incoming officers and outgoing officers had a great time learning about leadership. The last day of classes was on the 12th and finals ran from the 14th to the 20th. The house closed for the semester on the 21st. ==Highlights of 2018s:== Beta Phi had a great year in 2018. On the University campus, we found a new Fraternity and Sorority Involvement Director, Lacey Zinke, Delta Gamma alumna from the University of Montana 2014. In late January we had our first Chapter Council meeting where successors observe and ask questions as their predecessors continue to create and give reports. We started tabling at the Lommasson Center for Informal Recruitment. The incoming officers had a second leadership day to go over goals and team building exercises. Our goals were better PR for chapter; improve ritual; sisters first always; more effective meetings. A rookie workshop was held where they learned the COB process, a review of our Kappa values, and select-a-sis(our voting software.) We kicked off our Informal Recruitment with a hot chocolatestation full of toppings. Our second recruitment event was Sundae Fundae. We ended events with cookie decorating. Eight bids were handed out. Programming started with fire safety, evaluation procedures and general police safety. Galentines Day sisterhood where we made valentines for sisters, soon to be new members and house staff. Programming stared with Behind Happy Faces to discuss mental health. We began our annual book drive to collect books until the end of philanthropy week. Women's Empowerment Day where Fraternity Sorority Involvement arranged for a few women leaders to come and speak to sorority women. March 20 was Beta Phi's 109 birthday and we celebrated with a blue and blue dessert and some facts about our history. Philanthropy Week began, we had tabling for raffle prizes tickets, set up a percentage sale at MOD pizza and collected our book drive. There was a fun photo shoot at the house. The sisterhood divided into two groups. One collected feminine non-perishable products for the women's shelter. The other went to help the homeless at their center and organized their storage area. April saw the big/little reveal with little gifts exchanged. Programming was Cal Reynold talk to us about Allies Training. Initiation was held for four new members. Greek Week and our scholarship dinner followed. The end of the month saw an amazing senior function held at the Downtown Dance Collective. Then our going alum event for our outgoing seniors was held. After finals in May, the house closed for the summer and we all departed. In August the house was a buzz when 18 members moved back in. Over the summer the membership chairman and officers worked hard on recruitment plans. In Key Week we learned new ways to recruit and strengthen our sisterhood. Throughout recruitment and COB we pledged 19 new members. A sisterhood where we filled bags with feminine products was held and donated them to the YWCA. During national hazing prevention week we made a banner and competed against the other sororities and won! In October we held an alumnae brunch where we celebrated homecoming and Founders Day. 30 alumnae and 30 actives attended. Homecoming saw us paired with Sigma Nu and Phi Delta Theta. We created an amazing float for the parade. Big/little reveal was held and 17 new members prepared for initiation. We also had a Halloween themed sisterhood with games and snacks. November brought the Sapphire event at the Missoula Community Theatre where everyone had fun dancing. We held a philanthropy event playing corn hole raising $76 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We held Kappa flapjacks raising $210 for the Beta Phi Scholarship Fund. We also sold t-shirts where 10% of the sales went to Reading is Fundamental. December brought leadership day, a Christmas party with Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a white elephant gift exchange. Mid month the house closed and we departed for winter break.
From chapter’s History Report: 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.:
'''Convention Awards:'''
==Highlights of 2020==
2020 presented a unique challenge for Beta Phi and the University of Montana Greek Life community as a whole due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the month of February, Beta Phi held three COB events: a Meet and Greet on the 6th, Study with the Kappas on the 12th, and House Tours and Hot Cocoa on the 19th. Bids were extended to four new members on March 7 who then went through Formal Pledging on March 9.
March 13 was the last day of classes before spring break at the University of Montana. Due to COVID-19 students were encouraged to go home for the break and not return to campus. Over the break classes at the University prepared to move online and dormitories began shutting down and sending students home. The Beta Phi chapter house followed suit, closing its doors and moving all chapter meetings, Chapter Council meetings and sisterhoods to virtual.
After the end of the semester on May 8, Beta Phi participated in their first virtual initiation ceremony held by the Fraternity's Ritual and History Content Team on May 17 where the four new members from Spring COB were officially welcomed into the Fraternity.
Over the summer the Chapter Council, under the guidance of the current chapter President, Madeleine Itschner, began preparing for the upcoming semester, virtual or not. When we were informed that we would be returning to campus for the Fall 2020 semester, President Itschner began working tirelessly on a COVID-19 safety plan for the Beta Phi chapter house. Her plan included social distancing measures in the house, requiring masks in all shared living spaces, and chapter meetings remaining virtual.
On August 10 girls masked up and began moving back into the chapter house in order to begin preparation for formal recruitment. In order to ensure the safety of all of our sisters, Beta Phi held their key week entirely online so that sisters were able to isolate themselves from each other as we came back together. Formal recruitment ran from August 30th to September 4 and contained a mixture of outside, socially distanced events and virtual events.
Classes and other school events at the University of Montana for the fall semester remained partially online and partially socially distanced. To celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma's sesquicentennial anniversary on October 13, Beta Phi held a Zoom call with alumnae where the Founders Day Ceremony and the Passing of the Light ceremony were performed by current chapter members. All the active members and alumnae were then given the link for the Facebook live event and encouraged to attend.
On November 14 Beta Phi did its second virtual initiation, but this time the Chapter Council officers conducted the ceremony. Three members were initiated. After initiation new Chapter Council officers were slated and elected and are set to take over chapter operations next semester. With finals week wrapping up on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving, the sisters of Beta Phi parted for winter break and said goodbye to a crazy year.
Beta Phi supported two philanthropic organizations this year: the Missoula YWCA and the Humane Society. These two organizations were supported by the chapter because they are local to Missoula and allowed us to directly help and impact members of our community.
Additionally, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) chairman position was created and added to Chapter Council. This chairman was also given a committee, creating the DEI committee.
==Highlights of 2021==