Changes
→Highlights of 2014
==Highlights of 2014==
Scholarship:
-Our chapter has continued to improve our GPA both semesters. Our chapter was ranked tenth out of all of the University of South Carolina’s sororities and fraternities for the spring of 2014 and ninth in the fall of 2014 in regards to GPA.
-Our chapter fostered academic growth through Geek of the Week, 4.0 gifts, Exam Breakers during exam week, Sweet Tea with KKG, Kappa Kappaccino, and study hours.
Awards:
-Received the Silver Excellence Award from The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life for both spring and fall 2014
-Honorable mention in Recruitment and Public Relations from the Kappa Kappa Gamma National Convention in June of 2014
-Voted “Best Sorority” of the University of South Carolina for Best of Carolina 2014
Leadership:
- National Conference in Houston, TX June 25-29th, 2014: Officers attended: President, Public Relations Chairman, Event Chairman, Marshal, Treasurer
- Leadership Academy September 11th-14th, 2014 attended by Taylor Kessock
-South Eastern Panhellenic Conference (SEPC) March 28-30th, 2014 attended by Lindsay Webb
- Student Leadership and Diversity Conference (SLDC) February 1st, 2014 attended by Taylor Kessock
Traditions:
-A sister presents Lady Minerva at each chapter meeting. One sister writes a letter in a journal to a sister who inspires her and then reads her letter aloud to the whole chapter. The sister who is written about writes about another sister and reads her note aloud at the next chapter and so on and so forth.
Programs:
-We hosted a Sister Sorority of the Month Event with Delta Zeta on Feb 20, 2014. We had an ice cream social at the Delta Zeta house where we learned about one another’s sororities and histories.
-Alumni Babysitting event planned by Amy Stonecipher.
-We placed 3rd at Greek Week in April 2014.
-Our parent’s event this year was the Parent’s Cocktail, held September 26, 2014 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The night included food, dancing, and a silent auction. The auction raised $3,000 for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
-Our chapter placed second overall in USC’s Homecoming Competition by participating in events throughout Homecoming week with our Homecoming partners, Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Beta Sigma.
-Reinstallation of a Founder’s Day activity: we held a banquet at the Kappa house on October 19, 2014.
-Sisterhood Events
March 19th, 2014 – HiWire
September 30th, 2014 - Pinterest Party
October 2nd, 2014 - Cycling Class
November 18th and 20th, 2014 – UnWine
-Spring 2014 New Member Weekly Events:
• New Member Meetings are held every Sunday at 8pm in the Chapter Room (Kappa House)
• Meet with the different officers and discuss how their positions work and what you can learn from them in relation to Kappa
• Chapter Meetings are held every Monday at 8pm in the Chapter Room (Kappa House)
• Study Hours- 2/week (Library Logs in T-Coop and Kappa House)
-Fall 2014 New Member Weekly Events:
• New Member Meetings are held every Sunday at 8pm in the Chapter Room (Kappa House).
• Meet with the different officers and discuss how their positions work and what you can learn from them in relation to Kappa
• Chapter Meetings are held EVERY Monday at 8pm in the Chapter Room (Kappa House)
• Study Hours- 2/week (Library Logs in T-Coop and Kappa House)
-One Time New Member Events:
• New Member Retreat- October 4, 2014
• Learn about yourselves and the other members of your pledge class. Discuss and build upon what you and your pledge class want to contribute to the chapter as a whole. Sisterhood bonding and individual growth. The retreat involved low ropes courses which helped the new members learn to work together.
• Big/Little Reveal- April 3 (spring) and October 9 (fall)
• Initiation (OVERNIGHT)- April 4-5 (spring) and October 17-18 (fall)
-Functions:
• Spring: Mixer with Beta Theta Pi (Winter Olympics Themed), Kappa Kappa Gatsby, Sapphire Ball, Spring Luau/Senior Band
• Fall: Woodstock Function, Backwoods, Semiformal
Philanthropic Involvement:
-Members of our chapter participated in the University of South Carolina's Dance Marathon on March 1, 2014. Our team's fundraising contributed to Dance Marathon's total of $318,469 raised for Palmetto Health Children's Hospital, our local Children's Miracle Network Hospital.
-Some of our sisters participated in Light the Night, a walk benefitting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, on October 30, 2014. Our team raised $4,405.
-This fall we held Kappa Kickoff, a flag football tournament open to all campus organizations, on November 7th, 2014. When advertising for this event we went to each campus organization that may be interested and gave our flyers & sign up sheets. We told them about the tournament and what the money would benefit. This event, in the past, gave money to a scholarship fund that we called the Hill Family Fund started by our chapter for the children of one of our former chefs who tragically passed away along with his wife in a car accident. Every year that we have held Kappa Kickoff we have invited the Hill family to come spend time with their Kappa family and to give the organizations involved a chance to meet the family that they are providing an education for. Through the support that the Hill family has received from Kappa Kickoff, they are now in a stable financial position. Because of this, we decided to use Kappa Kickoff to help another family in need. This year’s Kickoff benefited the family of Amy Hampton Knight Caldwell. Amy was a very active member of the Epsilon Kappa chapter, and she went on to become a Leadership Consultant after she graduated. Unfortunately, Amy was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease and tragically passed away. Her death left her husband and two boys with expensive medical bills. We decided to donate the funds from Kappa Kickoff 2014 to help the family cover Amy’s medical bills. We raised over $3,500.
-Through a combination of percent nights and other various philanthropic efforts we raised over $5,000 and divided it between RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
Goals:
The three main goals from 2014 of the Epsilon Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma were as follows: make the chapter feel more involved in activities and reward those who participate, come closer to ritual, and improve attendance at events. During recruitment we took over an hour to work through different sections of chapter life and take suggestions from people on philanthropy events, socials etc. This lead to the alumni babysitting event Amy Stonecipher planned, as well as the ticket system Katie O’Donovan, our VP of Organization invented. In order to come closer to ritual, Maggie Reade announced Kappa facts at every chapter meeting, and asked a question to get people involved in fun aspects of our ritual. A reward was given at the end of the semester for those who answered the question. We restructured ritual reviews so that there was a reflection question on what Kappa means to you. There was reinstallation of doing a founder's day activity; this year we held a banquet for our Founder’s Day. To improve attendance and efficiency of taking attendance, we adopted a ticket system, EventBrite makes taking attendance extremely easy. We restructured bylaws so that attendance at chapter is more mandatory and worth our members’ time. Before members were allowed two unexcused absences per semester and could send in excuses to the Recording Secretary if they had a reason for missing. Now, all members have three absences per semester, excused or unexcused.
Our chapter holds chapter meetings in our house. Our chapter has its own house in the Greek Village. The land the house is on is owned by the University of South Carolina but each house in the Greek Village is privately owned and operated by an Alumni House Corporation. 20 sisters live in our house along with our house mom. Our chapter has only owned this one house throughout its history.
==Highlights of 2015==
Scholarship:
- Our chapter was ranked fourteenth out of all of the University of South Carolina’s sororities and fraternities for the spring of 2015.
-Our chapter fostered academic growth through Geek of the Week, 4.0 gifts, Kappa Kappaccino, Sweet Tea with KKG , Study Groups for New Members, Trivia, Yoga to foster healthy minds and bodies, and study hours.
-Our Vice President of Academic Excellence utilized an app called MyGreekStudy to keep track of study hours instead of the old fashioned paper logging system previously used.
Awards:
-Received the Silver Excellence Award, Greek Unity Award, and Philanthropy Award from The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life for spring 2015.
-Voted “Best Sorority” of the University of South Carolina for Best of Carolina 2015 for the third year in a row.
Leadership:
- Leadership Academy attended by Lindsay Bratun.
-Southeastern Pan-Hellenic Conference (SEPC) March 26-28, 2015 attended by Alex Hiser.
Traditions:
-A sister presents Lady Minerva at each chapter meeting. One sister writes a letter in a journal to a sister who inspires her and then reads her letter aloud to the whole chapter. The sister who is written about writes about another sister and reads her note aloud at the next chapter and so on and so forth.
-PR Star of the Month: every chapter meeting, a different sister with exceptional social media is given this title.
-Supportive Sister: every chapter meeting, a different sister who has been recommended for this award is named the Supportive Sister of the week, meaning she has gone above and beyond to help her sisters.
-Pan-Hell Princess award is given at chapter to the most widely involved sister of the week.
-Little sisters paint wooden keys for Big Appreciation Day (December 2, 2015).
Programs:
-Chapter Meetings are held every Monday at 8pm in the Chapter Room of the Kappa House.
-Our parent’s event this year was the Parent’s Cocktail, which was held September 25, 2015. The event took place at the Hampton Preston Mansion; the night was filled with dancing, desserts, and most importantly, time spent with sisters and their families.
-Epsilon Kappa Founders Day Celebration: Cookies and cake were served with a yummy dinner. Sisters wore their letters to classes to celebrate our 48th Founders Day!
-Founders Day Celebration: The Education Chairman presented the Voyage of Discovery PowerPoint and the Ritual Chairman performed ritual at the Kappa house on October 14, 2015. Also as part of our Heritage Workshop, our chapter watched the Founders Day 2015 video. There was a Founder’s Day cake served at dinner the night before.
-Our Sisterhood Chairman planned many fun events, such as Hot Yoga, for our sisters!
-Senior Sisterhood Events
Photo Shoot
Bowling
Hiking
Senior Tea
Manicures and Pedicures
Exercise Class
Pot Luck Dinner
-Senior Programming Events
Finance Presentation
Self Defense
Cooking Class
-Senior Gifts
Spring: Shutterfly Scrap Book
Fall: Coordinates (of the Kappa House) Cuff Bracelets
-Fall 2015 New Member Weekly Events:
New Member Meetings are held every Sunday in the Chapter Room of the Kappa House.
Meet with the different officers and discuss how their positions work and what you can learn from them in relation to Kappa
Learn about our sisterhood and what it means to be a Kappa
-One Time New Member Events:
• Big/Little Reveal- October 13
• Initiation (Overnight)
o Spring (took place at Furman): February 27-28
o Fall: I-Week leading up to Initiation Sleepover and Initiation on October 16-17 followed by Initiation Brunch
-Functions:
• Spring:
o 1/22 Paint Party with Phi Sigma Kappa
o 2/21 Mardi Gras Function
o 4/11 Sapphire Ball/Formal: Kappa Kasino Royale
o 4/27 Kappas of the Caribbean (seniors recognized)
• Fall:
o 9/10 Fall Band
o 10/30 Backwoods
o 11/13 Semi Formal
Special Events
-Participated in Greek Week with our partners: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Phi Iota Alpha, and Phi Sigma Kappa
Philanthropic Involvement:
-Donated to Lambda Chi Food Drive in February
-3/16-3/20 Participated in TKE Week (Benefitting St. Jude’s)
-3/16-3/20 Participated in Kappa Delta’s Shamrock Week (Benefiting Prevent Child Abuse America)
-3/20 Successful percent night at Jason’s Deli
-3/21 Members of our chapter participated in the University of South Carolina's Dance Marathon; our chapter’s team raised $8,622 that was contributed to University of South Carolina Dance Marathon's total of $501,528 raised for Palmetto Health Children's Hospital, our local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. For 2016’s Dance Marathon, Our chapter posted a tweet that for each time retweeted, we would donate $0.20 to Dance Marathon. The tweet raised $133.60 for 2016’s Dance Marathon.
-3/22-3/26 Participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days (Benefiting Huntsman Cancer Foundation)
-Our chapter created a team for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Campus Walk and our team raised $2,338 for the foundation.
-4/4-4/17 April Book Drive for Midlands Reading Consortium program. Our chapter held a Greek-wide book drive in the spring, during which we collected over 250 books to be distributed to underprivileged children in local schools.
-4/14 Percent night at Salsarita’s
-4/15 Members of our chapter participated in Walk a Mile in Their Shoes.
-April Candy Grams for Reading is Fundamental.
-4/17 Our chapter's Relay for Life team raised $4,091. The money we raised was donated to The American Cancer Society.
-10/29 Our chapter created a team for Light the Night, a walk benefiting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our team raised over $4,700 and was the third top fundraising team of the Columbia walk. Our sister Allegra Marino was one of the Top Fundraising Club Members, raising over $2,000.
-10/20 and 10/27 Brookland-Cayce (BC) Grammar Parenting Session Babysitting
-10/27 Percent Night at PDQ
-10/29 Trick or Treat with the Greeks
-11/3 BC Grammar Parenting Session Babysitting
-This fall we held Kappa Kickoff, a flag football tournament open to all campus organizations, on November 7, 2015. This year we decided that the money raised through Kappa Kickoff would be donated to our new chapter philanthropy, the SEGA Girls School. Our chapter had t-shirts and buttons made to promote the event. Aspyre, an apartment complex in the Columbia area, had a table and handed out drinks. Cromers, a local gourmet shop, sponsored our event as well. PDQ donated to our event as well and provided the lunches served to our sisters. The Philanthropy Committee set up a corn hole set that people could play for one ticket which cost one dollar. There were also various raffles for prizes such as a free spray tan, restaurant and grocery store gift cards, and a spa gift card. Each entry into the raffle cost $1. The weather was a little dicey, but our sisters and the Kappa Kickoff teams had a wonderful time together raising money for the SEGA Girls School.
-11/9 Harvest for Hope Food Bank (40 sisters)
-11/10 BC Grammar Parenting Session Babysitting
-11/10-11/13 Percent Days at Glowout Salon
-11/16 BC Grammar Fitness Night
-11/17 BC Grammar Parenting Session Babysitting
-11/16-11/20 Pencils and Compliments on Greene Street
-12/2 Percent Night at Southern Squeezed
-We made weekly trips to read to the children at local elementary and middle schools.
Goals:
Three of the goals that Epsilon Kappa worked to achieve this year were: try to take all of our sisters’ ideas into account, promote more of Kappa’s ideals during recruitment, and to remind ourselves of our values and why we were founded throughout the year. Our social chairman often created chapter surveys to decide function themes and Chapter Council created a survey at the end of the spring semester to hear the chapter’s concerns. Also, sisters received support when they came forth with ideas, and concerns of members were taken seriously and addressed. Lastly, our chapter had a successful values-based recruitment. Kappa Leadership Consultant, Whitney, and a representative from Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters, Marty, assisted us through the recruitment process, guiding us by Kappa’s values. We began recruitment by discussing what values matter most to us. As a result, we now have 113 wonderful new sisters. We reminded ourselves of our ideals by trying to uphold them throughout the year. Many sisters partook or started movements or events that have positively impacted our chapter and the University of South Carolina campus. Dropping out of the Homecoming competition was another way that our chapter stayed true to our values. Our words and actions inspired each other to be sisterly and represent Kappa to the best of our ability.
Our chapter welcomed a pledge class of 113 new members into our sisterhood this year. A Kappa sister transferred to South Carolina from Georgia Southern and was accepted into our chapter. It was very special since we already shared a bond of sisterhood with her! The state of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, and our chapter faced hardship when Hurricane Joaquin ultimately caused catastrophic flooding, especially in Columbia and Charleston. Our sisters came together to collect various necessities, including clothing, food, and toiletries, for the victims of the flood. Many sisters volunteered their time and effort, aiding the recovery efforts of the city.
Our chapter dropped out of the University of South Carolina’s Homecoming Week competition due to how the Homecoming Commission handled events throughout the week. We strongly believe in the four pillars that guide our Greek Community: leadership, scholarship, friendship, and service. In dedication to those pillars and standing in solidarity with everyone that is included in the Greek Community, NPC and NPHC organizations alike, we believed it was the best plan of action to withdraw from Homecoming and act out our vision for a community based on mutual understanding and support to all.
Also, our House Director and Chapter Council worked together to introduce the film, The Hunting Ground to our chapter as well as other chapters in the Greek Community. Counselors and other qualified personnel spoke to us about sexual assault, how to prevent it, and the actions to take if assaulted. They were available to speak to any members of our chapter after the showing. Our chapter signed an It’s On Us banner with the pledge painted on it as a sign of our dedication to end sexual assault.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community? SEGA Girls School, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Reading is Fundamental
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Our chapter chooses to support Reading is Fundamental (RIF) because it is Kappa Kappa Gamma’s partner. RIF is wonderful because it gives underprivileged children the gift of reading and it unites all Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters together. The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation is also important to our chapter since one never knows when she will be in need of her sisters’ help. We are all sisters and supporting each other during difficult times is important to us. Our chapter voted on a new chapter philanthropy this year that we plan to continue to support. The result of the vote was the SEGA Girls School, a residential secondary school for bright motivated Tanzanian girls who otherwise are unable to attend school due to extreme poverty. We felt that the SEGA Girls School ties into RIF since The SEGA Girls School values the education of disadvantaged youth like RIF does. Also, The SEGA Girls School is an organization that our fundraising could really make a difference for.
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