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→Highlights of 2021
an informational email and encouraged Kappa families to spend time together.
==Highlights of 2021==
The Beta Theta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma enjoyed a wonderful and successful 2021. The year was plentiful with events, accomplishments and the great company of sisterhood. To kick off the year we hosted a Valentines Day sisterhood event on February the 14th that included bouquet making, cookies and goodie baskets. This event was beautiful and such a fun way for the chapter to come together in the newly remodeled house for the very first time! On March 6th, the school hosted its annual “University of Oklahoma Dance Marathon (OUDM)” which is the official philanthropy event of the Campus Activities Council at the University of Oklahoma. OUDM benefits Oklahoma's children by raising money for the Oklahoma Children's Hospital Foundation and Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Kappa participated and celebrated our Miracle Child, Lucy, and had one of the largest groups of participants at the event! Beta Theta has been celebrating and raising funds for Lucy for a long time and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do it again in 2021. On March 7th, we hosted “Kappa Kares”. Kappa Kares was a philanthropy event in which Beta Theta collected school supplies and raised money for Reading is Fundamental. Kappa paired with Kennedy Elementary School in Norman and collected wish lists from teachers. In total, our chapter gifted Kennedy over $5,600 worth of school supplies and donated $2,000 to Reading is Fundamental. On April 9th, Beta Theta hosted a Greek Preview Day. For Greek Preview Day, due to COVID-19 still being a large factor last Spring, OU Panhellenic chose the day to be virtual. As a chapter we submitted graphics that contained facts about KKG such as our philanthropy, our values, our “nickname”, and a fun fact. In addition to the graphic, we provided a video to give the PNM’s a look into what it is like to be a Kappa and a Q&A session through Instagram.
On April 21st, Beta Theta had our annual “Kappa Kupcakes.” Kappa Kupcakes is our chapter's signature philanthropy event that benefitted the Center for Children and Families Incorporated. Members sold tickets to the OU community who are encouraged to come and enjoy unlimited cupcakes on the lawn. The cupcakes were bought and/or baked and decorated by members and their sisters. Our chapter raised over $7000 at this event and a good time was had by all participants. Work week, designed to prepare for our New Member Class 21’ began on the 7th of August and the sisters of Beta theta experienced ‘work week’ and getting ready for rush until the 17th of August. During work week, we hosted an “Alumni Night” for Alumni to come visit, speak with us about rush, and hear our intentions for the New Member class. During Alumni night, we started off in Kappa Hall with a brief presentation from the recruitment advisor and chairman. The presentation included introductions of the rush team, a Pickers performance, our sisterhood video, and an introduction into Kappa’s new philanthropy. The presentation concluded with a “Kappa through the decades” which included a performance/dance from the seniors and members “bumping out” the alumni as they left. The night was a great morale booster for the upcoming rush week and it was great for us to get to know alumni and learn some of their “rush tips”. The 2021 rush week began on August 17th in person. The members and potential new members all wore masks and after each party sanitation guidelines were followed. The week went splendidly and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of the fine young women who came through recruitment in 2021. Bid Day was on August the 22nd, and Beta Theta active and new members enjoyed a DJ, goodie baskets, and celebrated the joy of gaining 81 new forever sisters. On September 1st, Beta Theta enjoyed our first date party in a year since the COVID-19 pandemic halted all in-person events in 2020 and part of 2021. The evening was called “Kappa Kounty Fair” and the night consisted of cotton candy, fair activities such as balloon art and caricatures, and lots of dancing. It was a super fun event that our chapter really enjoyed, and felt extremely lucky to be able to host together in person again. On September 20th, we had Bliss E. Brown the Program Coordinator of Gender-based Violence Prevention Gender + Equality Center come to our chapter to educate us on the important of “Our Voice” and sexual prevention.
On October the 13th, we celebrated the 151st anniversary of Kappa Kappa Gamma! We gathered to “Taco ‘Bout 151 years” with a taco food truck on the lawn. Our chapter met at the house and ate dinner and reflected on how far our chapter has come as we celebrated everything Kappa! On October the 15th, We celebrated the University’s Homecoming by participating in a variety of events throughout the week of homecoming! We hand popped a float for the parade, created a dance for the rah rally with a fraternity on campus, and participated in a handful of other events to raise our school spirit. From October the 18th-22nd, we hosted our 2nd ever “Blake’s Week.” Blake’s Week was a partnered philanthropy event with Sigma Phi Epsilon. In 2020, Blake Burgess fellow OU student suddenly passed away. This event benefited the Blake Burgess scholarship fund in his honor. During this week-long event Kappa and Sig Ep hosted a powder puff football game, a cornhole tournament, and a movie night on the lawn. In total, we raised $11,438 throughout the week. This event is extremely special to many members in Beta Theta and across our whole campus. On October the 22nd-23rd New Members participated in an event called “Walkout.” Walkout is a freshman new member event where they get to have a big sleepover with their new sisters! This is one of the best ways that they get to know each other and form lasting friendships. This year it was at an alumni’s house where the freshman and new member chair enjoyed s’mores and ice breakers. On October the 30th, Beta Theta hosted a House Dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony. We invited alumni to come and tour our newly renovated home. We held a short ceremony that highlighted all of the amazing alumni who assisted with the large project. After the ceremony, we had an official ribbon cutting and ended the event with house tours. On October the 31st, we hosted an Alumni Trick-or-Treat. The chapter invited alumni to bring their children to Trick-or-Treat throughout the Kappa house. We had members dress up and decorated the entire area in cobwebs and festive decor. The children went up and down the halls of the second and third floor ending their time by painting pumpkins and doing crafts outside. On Friday and Saturday November 5th and 6th, the New Members became actives in a very special initiation. Joined by our ritual specialist and members from nationals, Beta Theta PC’21 was welcomed into being official with the traditional ceremony and celebratory brunch afterwards. From November the 10th-13th Kappa participated in performing in the “University Sing” showing, an OU event where sororities and fraternities pair together in a student-led musical. Kappa, paired with Beta Theta Pi, took home the awards, “Best Directors,” “Crowd Favorite,” and “Spirit of University Sing.” The chapter was very proud of the hard work and determination that went into this performance.
On November the 29th, Beta Theta hosted their second and final date party of 2021, “Kappa Derby.” We got to watch live horse races at the venue along with delicious food, a DJ and a photo booth. The event was very fun and interactive. On December 1st, we welcomed our new national philanthropy with our final philanthropy event of 2021, “Kappa Kookout.” Kappa Kookout was our first ever mental health awareness philanthropy event benefiting The National Alliance on Mental Illness and Southern Smash. Our chapter provided hot dogs and hosted a “smash the scale” event. Attendees were invited to come and write on a scale and smash the stigma surrounding disordered eating both metaphorically and physically. In total, we raised over $6,500 for The National Alliance on Mental Illness and Southern Smash. Our final event of 2021 was a Holiday sisterhood event that we hosted on December 5th to get morale up for everyone to finish the semester strong. It consisted of cookie decorating, goodie bags, a holiday movie, and a mini donut truck. The goodie bags were full of fun little gifts to help out with finals and self care. The sisters enjoyed a movie while they decorated their cookies. Some even took pictures of their decorated cookies so they could be posted on Instagram.
For the Beta Theta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, 2021 was an amazing year packed with events that promoted joy, philanthropic endeavors and bonds that will last a lifetime. Beta Theta is proud of the history of 2021, and is excited for it to be remembered in Kappa’s history for years to come.