Difference between revisions of "Epsilon Alpha"

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Epsilon Alpha
EA
Founded	April 12, 1955 (1955-04-12) (69 years ago)
College	Texas Christian University
Location	Fort Worth, TX
Homepage	Epsilon Alpha Homepage
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2,208 initiates (as of June 2015)

Replace this text with chapter history by clicking edit near the top right

Highlights of 2012

Just before the start of the 2012 school year, the Epsilon Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a successful workweek and recruitment week. On our bid day, August 17th, we were happy to add 65 new members to our chapter. Our Chapter’s recruitment process went extremely well this year. We are one of the few chapters on the TCU campus that not only made quota, but also didn’t get a recruitment infraction filed against us.

On August 24th all of the new members attended the New Member Retreat. They traveled by bus to an alumni's beautiful lake house on Lake Worth. There, they enjoyed enchiladas, snacks, sweets, and participated in various bonding activities. The older girls who served on the New Member Committee also went and shared with the new members how Kappa has enhanced their college experience while they have been at TCU. It was so nice that the new pledge class got to have a weekend to bond together right after the school year started so they could get to know each other better and they could get away from the dorms for a weekend.

During the week of September 17th, we had our Big/ Little reveal. The Key Sisters secretly delivered gifts to their little sisters’ dorms throughout the week before the reveal occurred on September 20th. On that Thursday, all of the new members anxiously waited at the KKG house to discover who their Big sisters would be. After the reveal, all of the sophomores took their new little sisters to dinner to begin the bonding process. The next day was the start of our Kappa Kappa Gamma Parent's Weekend. The day started out with a home football game in our new stadium. TCU played UVA in a home football game and it was fun to see so much TCU and Kappa spirit in the stands. That evening Kappa Kappa Gamme and Phi Delta Theta hosted a nigh full of great food, music, and dancing at Coopers Barbeque in the Fort Worth Stock Yards

The next significat event was our Founder's Day on October 17th. Chapter members and the Forth Worth Alumni group gathered to celebrate at RiverCrest Country Club in Fort Worth. Our former President, Lindsey Boston, shared with the Fort Worth Alumni group all of Epsilon Alpha's accomplishments over the past year and thanked them for their support. The TCU Homecoming parade was on the 19th of October and our chapter members created a float with the men of Phi Delta Theta for the parade. Our float received a lot of praise and the girls enjoyed participating in the parade around the TCU campus.

Our chapter hosted two mixers in October, called "Kappa Kamo" and "Owloween". Kappa Kamo was put on with the men of Pi Kappa Phi and everyone wore camouflage. Owloween was put on with Chi Omega and everyone dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Epsilon Alpha's Inspiration Week was from October 29th to November 2nd . Each night of the week there was a night planned for the new pledge class to bond with each grade. On senior night, all of the seniors shared their most memorable Kappa memories and shared any advice they had for the new members as they begin their college experience. On Junior and Sophomore night, the older girls shared their favorite inspirational quote with their new little sisters. On that Friday night, November 2nd, we had our Fireside service at the Kappa House proceeded by a dinner with all of key sister families. The week was concluded with the Initiation ceremony on November 3rd proceeded by an Initiation brunch. At the Initiation ceremony, the new members who fullfilled their requirements as new members, were initiated at the Hulen Baptist Church. After Initiation, the whole chapter attended an Initiation Brunch at the Colonial Country Club here in Fort Worth. Family members such as moms, sisters, aunts, cousins, etc. joined the brunch to celebrate.

We had a "Tacky Christmas" dinner at the Kappa House on December 2nd . At the dinner, everyone wore funny sweaters, vests, and other funny/festive attire. All of the members voted on best costume. The girls that won dressed up as an elf and Satnta Clause and were given gift cards. The Kappa Mother's Club provided Babe's for dinner which was a huge success.

This past semester, our Chapter was also very active in many philanthropy and greek opportunities around campus and Fort Worth. Some greek philanthropy we participated in includes BYX Volleyball, Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash, Pi Kapp Push, Pi Phi "Dodge the Arrow" Dodgeball Tournament, Mr. ZTA, and Theta 5K. Our chapter won the Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash and were the winning team of Zeta's Mr. ZTA event. Our chapter also won the Hunger Games Drive in the Panhellenic competition. There were philanthropy opportunities to donate to the Barabara Holdsworth Foundation that went towards her medical expenses due to the Texas A&M shooting, Amercan Red Cross, and Water Filtration for Haiti. As a chapter, we raised enough money to give a family in Haiti two clean water filters. Other service that took place was the Run for Life 5K for suicide prevention, volunteering for Safe Haven Women's Center, and Frogs First for the Cure Event at a Rangers baseball game. The biggest philanthropy project that our chapter participated in last semester was the Mock Election at Clarke Elementary School in Fort Worth, where chapter members taught the elementary school kids about the electorial college and how it worked to elect our next President.

Many awards have been given to members of our chapter this semester. Six nursing students were accepted into nursing school clinincals. Gamma Sigma Alpha awards went to Katie Brown, Laura Turner, and Molly Zuber. Savannah McDonald was accepted into Student Foundations. Margaux Hebert was elected onto Ambassadors Leadership Team that is an executive board dealing with Monday's at TCU. Our chapter, Epsilon Alpha, was awarded Honorable Mentioned at Kappa Convention for Standards and Academic Excellence. Kappa won 1st place in intramural soccer and volleyball. Avery Klunick was listed for the 2016 Junior Olympic Team for young riders.

Campus: This was the first football season that TCU was apart of the Big Twelve NCAA Division Conference. We have new sophomore and junior housing going up in Worth Hills that will be finished in the fall. At the beginning of this school year TCU Fraternity and Sorority life added a new Panhellenic Sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi and our members helped with their colonization process.

Chapter: At the National Convention this summer, our chapter received Honorable Mention for the positive progress that we have made in our Academics and our Standards. In the spring semester of 2012, our chapter was ranked 6th out of 12 among the Panhellenic sororities on campus for our chapter members grades. In middle of the fall semester, our PDC, Nancy Ellison came to announce to our chapter, on behalf of Fraternity Council, that our Warning of Probation had been removed from our chapter. Although our Warning of Probation has been removed we are continuing to work hard in our academics.

Highlights of 2013

Just before the start of the 2013 school year, the Epsilon Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a successful workweek and recruitment week. On our bid day, August 17th, we were happy to add about 68 new members to our chapter, including 17 legacies. Our Chapter’s recruitment process went extremely well this year, and we look forward to finding even more new members in the spring.

On August 24th all of the new members attended the annual New Member Retreat. They traveled by bus to an alumni's beautiful lake house on Lake Worth. There, they enjoyed enchiladas, snacks, sweets, and participated in various bonding activities. The older girls who served on the New Member Committee also went and shared with the new members how Kappa has enhanced their college experience while they have been at TCU. It was a great experience for the new members, and was not only fun, but also very serious. They got to bond with the girls they will call their sisters for the rest of their lives.

During the week of September 17th, we had our Big/ Little reveal. The Key Sisters secretly delivered gifts to their little sisters’ dorms throughout the week before the reveal occurred on September 20th. On that Thursday, all of the new members were told to be at the bowling alley for dinner. They anxiously waited outside, as their Big sisters got ready inside. The little sisters ran inside to find their family dressed in matching pajamas they were given, and the entire family bowled the night away.

Within the next few weeks was the start of our Kappa Kappa Gamma Parent's Weekend. The day started out with a home football game in our new stadium. TCU played SMU in a home football game and it was fun to see so much TCU and Kappa spirit in the stands. That evening Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Delta Theta hosted a nigh full of great food, music, and dancing at Coopers Barbecue in the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

The next significant event was our Founder's Day on October 17th. Chapter members and the Forth Worth Alumni group gathered to celebrate at RiverCrest Country Club in Fort Worth. Our former President, Alex Hembree, shared with the Fort Worth Alumni group all of Epsilon Alpha's accomplishments over the past year and thanked them for their support.

The TCU Homecoming parade was during the middle of October and our chapter members created a float with the men of Kappa Sigma for the parade. Our float received a lot of praise and the girls enjoyed participating in the parade around the TCU campus.

Our chapter then hosted a mixer called "Owloween" with the ladies of Chi Omega. It occurred during the week of Halloween and dressing up was a necessity. Both the Chi Omegas and the Kappas really enjoy this annual event, and are already looking forward to next year.

Epsilon Alpha's Inspiration Week was from November 4th to November 8th . Each night of the week there was a night planned for the new pledge class to bond with each grade. On senior night, all of the seniors shared their most memorable Kappa memories and shared any advice they had for the new members as they begin their college experience. On Junior and Sophomore night, the older girls shared their favorite inspirational quote with their new little sisters. On that Friday night, November 2nd, we had our Fireside service at the Kappa House proceeded by a dinner with all of key sister families. The week was concluded with the Initiation ceremony on November 9th proceeded by an Initiation brunch at the famous Joe T. Garcia's. At the Initiation ceremony, the new members who fulfilled their requirements as new members, were initiated at an Alumni's house. After Initiation, family members such as moms, sisters, aunts, cousins, etc. joined the brunch to celebrate.

This past semester, our Chapter was also very active in many philanthropy and greek opportunities around campus and Fort Worth. Some Greek philanthropy we participated in includes Pi Kappa Push and Theta 5K. During Pi Kappa Push, the pledge class of 2013 were taught a song by members of the sophomore class, and performed it in front of the Pi Kappa judges at the competition between the sororities. However, the biggest philanthropy project that our chapter participated in last semester was the reading at Clarke Elementary School in Fort Worth. Chapter members took time out of their day to go read to the children of Clarke Elementary school. They read to children anywhere from 5 years old to 10 years old. It was called the Kappa Christmas RIF where we purchased a book collection so that every child in the elementary school was able to take a personal book of their own home. The kids of Clarke Elementary School told our Philanthropy Chair how much fun they have every year with us, and how much they are looking forward to the Kappas reading to them in the near future. We also participated in "Blood is Thicker Than Letters" that was our blood drive with Kappa Alpha Psi (all African American fraternity) and Kappa Lambda Delta (asian female sorority). We then had various book drives for mother's and father's weekend, with the addition of Kappa Krawfish and Kappa Kickball. We also had our day at the Humane society where we donated 25 bags of dog food and like $480.00 that we raised at meeting. All of these events that we participated in were filled with fun and enjoyment, and we can't wait to see what other fun events come within the next year.

Many awards have been given to members of our chapter this past semester. Three members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were selected to be member of the Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Honor Society. Amanda Adrian, Caitlin Ivie, and Virginia Moore all received this wonderful achievement. 19 members of our chapter were carefully selected to be on the deans list this year, which the chapter is very proud of. Chelsea Kinder was elected to be a "Frog Camp" facilitator where she will introduce new students to the world of TCU and the city of Fort Worth. Maddie Holmes, a Junior in our chapter, was selected to be on the School of Nursing Dean's list, which is one of the most rigorous schools at Texas Christian University. We would like to recognize Jackie Smith who was elected Vice President of Finance and Administration for TCU Panhellenic Council, and Margaux Hebert who was elected President of TCU Panhellenic Council. The awards for our chapter are simply still arriving in full throttle, and we look forward to seeing what our chapter can achieve this year.

Campus: This was the second football season that TCU was a part of the Big Twelve NCAA Division Conference. The new sophomore and junior housing was finished for the beginning of school, and was open for living. The campus is growing at such a rapid pace that another dorm is in the process of being built, and should be ready for school to start in the fall. Kappa Kappa Gamma is planning on having an event with the newest sorority on campus, Alpha Omicron Pi in order to help them with their colonization process.

Chapter: Although the Warning of Probation for Academics was lifted, the chapter has been working very hard to keep their grades up. We dropped one spot in the standings by a very small margin, but are looking forward to this semester so we can jump above the average of all sororities, and make the top five.

Highlights of 2014

Just before the start of the 2014 school year, the Epsilon Alpha Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a successful workweek and recruitment week. On our bid day, August 22nd, we were happy to add 70 new members to our Chapter, including 16 legacies. Our Chapter’s recruitment process went extremely well this year.

On September 5th all of the new members attended the annual New Member Retreat. They traveled by bus to an Alumnae's beautiful lake house on Lake Worth. There, they enjoyed pizza, snacks, sweets, and participated in various bonding activities. The upperclassmen who served on the New Member Committee attended the retreat to share with the new members how Kappa has enhanced their college experience while at TCU. It was a great experience for the new members, and they were able to bond with the girls they will call sisters for the rest of their lives.

The weekend of September 13th marked the start of our Kappa Kappa Gamma Parent's Weekend. The day started out with a home football game in our new stadium. TCU played Minnesota and it was fun to see so much TCU and Kappa spirit in the stands. That evening, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Delta Theta hosted a night full of great food, music, and dancing at Coopers Barbeque in the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

During the week of October 2nd, we had our Big/Little reveal. The Key Sisters secretly delivered gifts to their little sisters’ dorms throughout the week before the reveal occurred on October 2nd. On that Thursday, all of the new members were told to be at the Kappa house wearing a certain costume that was delivered in their basket sometime during the week. They anxiously waited outside, as their Big sisters got ready inside. The little sisters ran inside to find their family dressed in matching costume they were given, and the entire family bowled the night away.

The next significant event was our Founder's Day on October 17th. Chapter members and the Forth Worth Alumnae Association gathered to celebrate at RiverCrest Country Club in Fort Worth. Our former President, Alex Hembree, shared all of Epsilon Alpha's accomplishments over the past year and thanked them for their continual support.

The TCU Homecoming parade was during the middle of October and our Chapter members created a float with the men of Phi Gamma Delta for the parade. Our float received a lot of positive feedback and the girls enjoyed participating in the parade around the TCU campus.

Epsilon Alpha's Inspiration Week was from October 19th to October 25th. Each night of the week there was an event for the new members to bond with each grade. On senior night, all of the seniors shared their most memorable Kappa memories and shared any advice they had for the new members as they begin their college experience. On Junior and Sophomore night, the women shared their favorite inspirational quote with their new sisters. There were also opportunities for the entire chapter to bond such as breakfast at the Kappa House or a workout class at the recreation center. On that Friday night, October 24th, we had our Fireside service at the Kappa House followed by a dinner with the Key Sister families. The week was concluded with the Initiation ceremony at the Kappa house on October 25th followed by a brunch at Colonial Country Club. The brunch was a celebration with family and friends recognizing and welcoming our new Kappa Sisters.

Our Chapter then hosted a mixer called "Owloween" with the ladies of Chi Omega. It occurred during the week of Halloween. Both the Chi Omegas and the Kappas really enjoy this annual event, and are already looking forward to next year.

The fall semester, our Chapter was also very active in many philanthropy and greek opportunities around campus and Fort Worth. Some of the many greek philanthropy events we participated in includes Pi Kapp Push and Theta 5K. During Pi Kapp Push, the pledge class of 2014 were taught a song by members of the sophomore class, and performed it in front of the Pi Kapp judges at the competition between the Sororities. We also participated in the Lambda Chi Watermelon Bash to benefit the philanthropy Feeding America and the Delta Tau Delta blood drive. Kappa also had members participate in the Delta Gamma Anchor Bowl for the visibly impaired.

Epsilon Alpha’s philanthropy project last semester included a mentorship program at George C. Clarke Elementary School in Fort Worth. Chapter members took time out of their day to go read to the children of this Elementary school. They read to children anywhere from 5 years old to 10 years old and assisted with homework during their afterschool program. The children of George C. Clarke Elementary School have repeatedly reported how successful this event is and how much they are looking forward to the Kappas reading to them in the near future. We are looking forward to having our second Kappa Kolor Run in April to raise money for George C. Clarke Elementary School.

Our Chapter has received many wonderful awards this semester! 9 Kappas were selected for the Deans List, and 3 of our members were selected for the prestigious TCU Scholars award. 3 Kappas, Diana Schwene, Colleen McKee, and Kaitlyn Cosenza, were selected to be part of the TCU Rangers team. Colleen McKee is also serving as a mentor for the organization Leaders for Life. Sarah Zavitz received the Dorothea Humphrey scholarship for spring 2015 and was also chosen to be on the Harris College Professional Development and Education Committee. Samantha Armstrong started the Interprofessional Student Health Organization club, and Haylee Vieregg and Grace Dominique started the club “Nourish” to raise awareness about hunger. Margaux Hebert completed her term as TCU Panhellenic President and Jackie Smith completed her term as Treasurer for TCU Panhellinic. We have 2 Kappas, Rachel Fikse and Taylor Holstrom , in the Neeley Fellows Program, and Mary Laurel Horan is a member of the Neely Next Generation Leadership Program. Kappas are extremely involved on campus and we can't wait to see what awards come our way this semester!

Campus: This is the third football season TCU was a part of the Big Twelve NCAA Division Conference. A new multipurpose facility opened in the spring semester that offers new dining options for students.

Chapter: Epsilon Alpha worked hard last semester to focus on Academics. We were able to improve to 6th in rankings on TCU campus, and our overall Chapter GPA is now above the all sorority average. We look forward to working hard this semester to continue improving.

Our chapter house is owned by the university. Around 30 sisters can live in the house.