|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Phi.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1978|03|04}}
|College= [httphttps://www.ufl.edu/ University of Florida]
|Location= Gainesville, FL
|Homepage= [httphttps://kkgufufl.comkappa.org/ Epsilon Phi Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Phi Media related to Epsilon Phi Chapter]}}
The chapter has felt a deeper connection to Kappa as a whole, and has been able to truly appreciate that this group of women is not just at UF, but present internationally and has had an impact through the decades. During Initiation and Founders Day, women reflected on the significance of the Fraternity and how the women before us have set an example for us to follow and a place from which to build. Having alumnae present during initiation was special and gave solid proof that our Fraternity goes beyond the four years in college.
==Highlights of the 2020s:2020==
(Information from 2020 was a very eventful year for Epsilon Phi. Although this year has looked different than years past, our chapter history reportscontinues to look forward with a positive mindset and cherish the year we have had. This year Epsilon Phi was able to achieve great success, scholarshipbeing awarded Most Outstanding Risk Manager Award for the work of Lyndsey Kleinman, group honors/awardsour Risk Management Director, traditionsas well as a UF Greek Outstanding Scholarship Award. Epsilon Phi was also recognized as the most improved chapter by the Fraternity. Two big events that were impacted this year by COVID-19 were Formal Recruitment and Initiation. The largest change for both was the transition to becoming entirely virtual events, rather than the typical in-person. Between many summer meetings with both the Panhellenic Council and Kappa Fraternity reps, special eventswe were fully prepared to train current members and recruit potential new members virtually in August 2020. During a successful spirit week via Zoom, changes on campus or within our members learned how to speak with potential new members and generate excitement for this new chapter, overall nature in their lives with leadership from our Vice President of Membership Allison Wehle and Primary Recruitment Director Alexandra Baker. Recruitment began with the chapterviewing of round one submission videos. Potential new members submitted one minute videos of themselves and gave a brief background of who they are and what they were looking for in a sorority and college in general. In turn, chapter goalswe provided a short video of Kappa, challenges which included a house tour and open conversations between current members about our values and why Kappa is special to us. Rounds two and how they three were overcome, etcheld virtually over Zoom as well and gave current members and potential new members an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level. The traditional preferential ceremony was pre-recorded and viewed online before potential new members spoke with current members over Zoom. The entire chapter was able to close out Recruitment with a Bid Day celebration that was socially distanced outside and in small groups.)
'''Housing'''Natalie MacDougal, our Ritual/History Director, planned our first-ever completely virtual initiation. Even through zoom, we were able to host current and alumnae members, Kappa Fraternity representatives and legacy parents to experience a beautiful ceremony to initiate our New Members. We were very happy to be able to welcome 77 New Members into our chapter.
This year we celebrated our Founders Day on October 18th with a virtual zoom celebration. Our All Member Director Gaby Rodriguez put together a wonderful presentation with interesting facts and stories of the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We also held a brief Founders Day ceremony that spoke of the women who founded our Fraternity 150 years ago and how they have impacted our lives. While we were planning on hosting an in-person brunch at the house as we typically celebrate, we were still very fortunate to be able to see each other via zoom and spend time reflecting on our membership in this Fraternity.
Our Chapter was able to support the Greek community on campus by participating in other chapters’ philanthropy events before the pandemic such as Beta Theta Pi’s ‘Bring It On’, Delta Tau Delta’s ‘Miss Greek’, Alpha Chi Omega’s ‘Purple Rain’, Kappa Sigma’s ‘Splash’ and Chi Omega ‘Sandblast’, and through financial contribution after many chapters adapted their events to accommodate for the pandemic.
Money we raised:
$7,340.96 raised from Kappa Kickball
$3,929 raised from Raffles for RIF
$4,200 donated to RIF
$2,100 to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation
$500 to the Alachua County Days for Girls
Remaining $500 was received in physical checks and sent directly to Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters to be apportioned at their discretion. The money raised from Raffles for RIF has not yet been distributed.
The Epsilon Phi chapter supports local elementary school Carolyn Beatrice Parker, formerly known as JJ Finley, where members are able to volunteer and see Reading is Fundamental'''Philanthropy'''s direct impact on children in the communities around us. Our chapter works with this school because it provides members with the opportunity to interact with the children and see how their time spent volunteering makes a positive and lasting impact on their educational experiences. This is important because our members really value feeling like they made a tangible difference outside of fundraising and donating money. We were able to complete 356 hours of service at Carolyn Beatrice Parker before COVID-19 impacted our opportunity to volunteer. We were able to host Kappa Kickball at the beginning of the spring semester with 31 teams participating. Through the event, we raised $7,340 for Reading is Fundamental and we collected books to donate to Carolyn Beatrice Parker Elementary School’s Extended Day Enrichment Program. Although we normally host an in-person event for our fall philanthropy event, this year we held our first-ever fully virtual fundraiser instead! ‘Raffles for RIF’ was a two-day event, where items were raffled off to participants who purchased tickets. This event generated $3,929 for RIF.
'''Convention Awards'''Over the past year, Epsilon Phi has also taken the critical step of bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. Over the summer, we implemented our first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director, which we promptly integrated into our Chapter Council structure to ensure continual work towards these goals for years to come. In addition to our new director position, we created a committee of five women to oversee and direct programming based on the five pillars of diversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health, accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Throughout the fall semester, this committee has created programming for the chapter covering a range of topics from inclusive recruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. In addition to presentations, we have been taking feedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapter woman feels safe and supported. Finally, Epsilon Phi has been working with DiversiPhi, a diversity and inclusion initiative that connects all Panhellenic chapters at the University of Florida to create intentional changes, within our community as a whole, to ensure that everyone feels like they have a place within it.
To reflect on the year as a whole, we would like to recognize our member’s achievements and involvement. This year we had 12 Pi Chis involved in Formal Recruitment. Olivia Galler was chosen as Head Pi Chi for recruitment in 2021. We will also have four second year Pi Chis and seven first year Pi Chis in 2021. This fall we had two Florida Blue Key Taps, our President Sarah Bartolomei and member Faith Allen. One of our New Members, Angelina Deltoro, will be a Preview Staffer in 2021. Ally Mattia and Caroline Labrit are members of the Florida Future Leaders Program. Our VP of External Affairs, Mia Forsman is a Student Government Cabinet Chair and we have many Assistant Directors serving in Student Government. We also have sisters working for Florida Blue Key’s Speech and Debate as Directors and Assistant Directors. As well as involvement in ACCENT. Gracie Overstreet was an Assistant Supervisor of the 2020 Student Government Election. Hallie Richards and Jordanna Hermann are Assistant Directors for Dance Marathon, and we have 19 Captains this year. As well, we have Jordan Spira serving as Intramural Programming Assistant Director and Emily Lampi serving as Scholarship Assistant Director for the Panhellenic Activities Board.
This year the chapter experienced the sudden passing of a sister, Maggie Paxton, Member Class ’20. While grieving her loss, the sisters have learned to rely on each other for support, help out sisters in need, and remember to tell their loved ones how much they are loved.
Overall, we were very happy to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary this year. Epsilon Phi has continued to deepen our bonds of sisterhood even while facing a global pandemic. Although most of our events for the year were held virtually, our sisterhood persevered and is looking forward to the future to continue to strengthen these bonds.
------------------------==Highlights of 2021==
'''Note 2021 was a year for the books at Epsilon Phi. With the COVID-19 pandemic still being anobstacle, yet now learning how to live life in a post-pandemic way, our lifestyles were challengedand we knew we would have to work hard for our success. That did not steer us away from awonderful year together. Collectively, we faced the challenges we were presented with resilienceachieving some great things for ourselves and our chapter. Our President Sarah Bartolomei wasawarded Panhellenic Chapter Registrar:''' President of the Year for 2021 and we were so lucky to have herleading our chapter during this year.One of the things we were very excited for this year was recruitment and getting back toin-person rounds. Recruitment took place from August 19th-22nd. Like 2020, Round 1 wascompletely virtual where Potential New Members submitted one minute videos introducingthemselves and chapters submitted house tour videos. Round 2 took place over two days. Wewere able to highlight our new philanthropy initiative “Mental Health and Well-being” during thattime. Round 3 took one day and we were able to use the time to dive into our sisterhood. WePlease refer showed our sisterhood video to PNMs, got to your know them deeper, and told them all about whywe chose Kappa. Preferenetials took place on the final day of recruitment and PNMs weregreeted by chapter archives including members that they had spoken to in a previous round. Our ritual ceremonytook place at the beginning of each party and we concluded with one-on-one conversationsbetween PNMs and chapter meeting minutes members. Thanks to our Primary Recruitment Director, Ellorie Levy(MC18) and back issues Vice President of Membership, Madi Kelts (MC18), we had a very successful andfun recruitment process this year. We celebrated Bid Day on August 24th to welcome our 73new members home. Now, we currently have the largest chapter size in Epsilon Phi history!Philanthropy is another thing we were excited for this year. Thanks to Hanna Ouazanni (MC19),we achieved a lot through philanthropy this year holding multiple philanthropy events andparticipating in other chapters’ philanthropies throughout the year. In the Spring semester,Epsilon Phi organized two fundraising events. The Key first being Kappa Cookout, a drive-thru foodfundraiser. This event was held in-person as curbside pickup, in which Proceeds were donatedto Reading Is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, The Mark WandallFoundation, and EndDD (a philanthropy Epsilon Phi has chosen to support after losing ourbeloved sister Maggie Paxton). Tickets were sold at the event, donations were received, andbooks were collected to benefit these three organizations raising a total of $9,650.In the spring we also partnered with the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon to host an "End DistractedDriving 5k Fundraiser" after both of our chapters were greatly affected in the previous semesterdue to fill distracted driving incidents on campus. This event was conducted virtually in any gaps a four-dayperiod, where participants could complete the race on their own time. Additionally, the EpsilonPhi chapter hosted an after event in which the chapter members shared memories of MaggiePaxton and a guest speaker from EndDD spoke about ways to end distracted driving. Throughthe virtual 5k event, the Epsilon Phi chapter and partnering sorority Delta Phi Epsilon raised$5,529, distributed amongst EndDD and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. The success ofthis event and the awareness we were able to raise for distracted driving also led to our chapterwinning a Greek Collaboration Award from the Panhellenic Community.With the launch of the above historical highlightsnew philanthropic program for Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Phi choseto support the Jed Foundation as the chapter’s philanthropic beneficiary. If your The Epsilon Phichapter archives are not completeraised money for this contribution through our first annual fall fundraiser Let’s Taco BoutMental Health and Well-being. At this taco and nacho bar fundraiser, guests donated funds insupport for the Kappa Foundation, as well as, the Jed Foundation. Ticket sales and donations toa 50/50 raffle aided in raising over $11,299. Participation from members for this eventcontributed to its great success!We also contributed philanthropically through Kappa Kisses donating 167 bags of candy to theBoys and Girls club of Alachua County, giving care packages to UF Shands Health Careworkers, please research your university libraryand through multiple donation drives for the Hitchcock Food Pantry to educate chaptermembers on food insecurity. Our Dance Marathon team raised $25, 594 this year throughindependent fundraising to benefit UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Epsilon Phi alsoparticipated in many other philanthropies on campus newspaper such as Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Surf Frenzy,Beta Theta Pi’s Bring It On, Pi Lam Royal Fam Competition, Pi Kappa Tau Bowl, Kappa SigmaSandpit, Kappa Delta Shamrock, Sigma Kappa Shootout, Kappa Alpha Order’s cornholetournament, and yearbook archives Kappa Sigma’s Queen of the Palace. Hanna Ouazzani (MC19) representedour chapter at Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek competition and won 2nd place after raising $2,281for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Katie Tolman (MC19) represented our chapterat Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halftime and Dream Girl Competition, raising $2,262 for the CHOMPCancer Foundation. We were also the overall winners of Alpha Gamma Rho’s BuckoffCompetition, raising $500 to benefit the Moffitt Cancer Center.One achievement Epsilon Phi is proud of this year would be in winning the Inclusive ExcellenceAward from the greek community. Across the 4 greek councils on campus, our chapter waschosen for newsworthy information about your this award because of our intense effort to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to theforefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. In 2020, we implemented our first-everDiversity, Equity and Inclusion Director as well as a committee that focuses on the five pillars ofdiversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health,accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Since the creation of theseleadership roles in our chapter,we have had an abundance of programming covering inclusiverecruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. We held workshopsduring recruitment and new member education to educate members on DEI and how to interactwith people from different backgrounds. In addition to presentations, we have been takingfeedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapterwoman feels safe and supported. Please double check your work Wealso held a diversity week during black history month to educate chapter members on differentintersectional issues facing our community. This week included conversation nights, a movienight to watch Just Mercy, and a coffee tab at a black-owned business - Wyatt’s Coffee.This year, we celebrated Founder’s Day together on October 10th. We held a celebration at thehouse where we participated in ritual, enjoyed light refreshments, and played fun games! Wewere able to reflect on so many years of sisterhood and get excited for accuracythe future of Kappa. Contact There was a great turnout at this event and we all enjoyed being in each others’ presence tohonor Kappa’s founding.We initiated the 2021 new member class on October 23rd. Our chapter Advisory or was very excited to holdinitiation in person this year, hosting both current and alumni members, House Board representatives, and legacy family members in our home. Our Ritual/History Director, GracieOverstreet (MC19), was able to plan a beautiful ceremony to initiate our new members and wewere happy to welcome the 73 wonderful membersinto our sisterhood.Throughout the year, Epsilon Phi used many techniques to foster academic success. Ally Mattia(MC19), our Academic Excellence Director for 2021, local Alumnae Association ensured academic success this year byproviding one-on-one academic progress plans for any chapter memberswho wanted orneeded extra assistance. She met with them regularly and helped plan scheduled study hoursto make sure they were excelling in their academics. For all members, we hold Kappa Kafeweekly. This is an event where Kappa provides an environment to collaborate with fellowmembers in their studies along with snacks to keep everyone actively engaged in their studymaterial or homework. Another program we had this year is academic mentor/mentee. In thisprogram, young members were matched with older members of the chapter with similar majorsor professional goals. We also had academic programming this year on the topics of academicsuccess, mental wellbeing, and career readiness. At chapter meetings, we reward students byperforming a weekly random prize drawing for members who feel they have accomplishedsomething special like receiving an A on an organic chemistry exam or your Province getting the internshipthey applied to. We also had a successful professor dinner and resume building workshoprecently. All of these programs combined allow Epsilon Phi to maintain a high academicstanding among the chapters at the University of Florida. We are so proud of our members whoreceive scholarships for their academic success such as one of our new members, KaylaWiechens, who receives the UF Benacquisto merit based Scholarship. Jackie Hunter (MC18)receives the D.C. Gator Club Scholarship. Erin Ennis (MC20) receives the UF PresidentialScholarship. Lola Coutelle (MC19) is in the University Scholars Program. Harper Self (MC19)currently receives the Fall Panhellenic Essay Scholarship. And we also had 5 chapter membersadmitted into the UF College of Nursing Traditional BSN program this year: Meredith Fortini,Christina Simitses, and Katie Troshinsky from MC19 as well as Taylor Stevens and Lauren Longfrom MC20.This year our chapter did not miss out on the fun. Within the Xi district, Epsilon Phi was thechapter holding the most events despite the challenges presented by the pandemic thanks toour hard working Risk Prevention Director Payton Zweber (MC19) and Event Director KatieTolman (MC19). In the spring, we were able to hold kickball socials with Delta Tau Delta, PhiKappa Tau, and Alpha Gamma Rho. These events were successful in keeping some normalcywhile ensuring that we did not contribute to the spread of Chapters COVID-19. In conjunction with this, wewere also able to hold a date function at Social Midtown, an Outdoor Sisterhood Barn Party, and2 formals. With the challenges of the pandemic becoming less prevalent in the fall semester, ourchapter was able to have socials with chapters such as Zeta Beta Tau, Lambda Chi Alpha, PhiKappa Tau, and a successful homecoming week with Alpha Gamma Rho. In the fall we wereable to have many successful date functions as well and we are looking forward to semi-formalin a few weeks.There is a lot of member involvement from the year that deserves to be recognized. This yearwe had 11 Pi Chis involved in formal recruitment, with Olivia Galler (Member Class 18) servingas Head Pi Chi for 2021. Christine Tao (MC18) was recently tapped into Florida Blue Key. BebeGardner (MC20) was chosen as a preview staffer for 2022. We also have sisters involved inStudent Government, Senate, ACCENT, and Gator Growl. Harper Self (MC19) was an AssistantSupervisor of the 2021 Student Government Election. In Dance Marathon, we have manyAssistant Directors: Karson Keiber (MC18), Gwyneth Bishara (MC20), Katerina Rettino (MC20),Chelsea Nicholls (MC19), Olivia Galler (MC18), Graylin Skates (MC19) and our presidentMadeleine Maclaren (MC19). As well as 19 captains in DM. Coral Rodriguez-Lipstein (MC20)was chosen as a Peer Leader for assistancethe Cohort of 2022. Jordan Spira (MC20) was elected asActivities Vice President for the Panhellenic Executive Board. One of our new members, BrookeBurton served as Vice President of Service for Junior Panhellenic. Katherine Pearson is theVice President of UF’s German Club. Jackie Hunter (MC18) is the President of Order of Omega.Erin Ennis (MC20) is the Chair of Presidential Hosting for Florida Cicerones and we have manyother sister cicerones as well. We continue to grieve the loss of our sister, Maggie Paxton (MC20), as we near the 1 yearYour efforts anniversary of her passing. We will ensure be holding a memorial for Maggie at the house in Decemberto allow a space for people to share their happiest memories of her. Our chapter has made sureto take a complete stand against distracted driving and we are so proud of our member, Kailey Kiss(MC17), for creating an organization on campus called Florida Not One More to make roads likeUniversity Avenue safer and accurate history to prevent tragedies like Maggie’s passing in the future.Overall, we are so happy with the year we had at Epsilon Phi. The bonds we have created witheach other over the past year are ones we will forever be thankful for. We hope 2022 has all of your the excitement, happiness, and achievements that we had in 2021, and we are excited tocontinue to improve our chapter for future generations years to enjoy!come.[[File:Florida pics.png|thumb|chapter]][[File:Fla3.png|thumb|party]][[File:Fla4.png|thumb|sisters]][[File:Fla5.png|thumb|funtimes]][[File:Fla6.png|thumb|more fun]][[File:Fla7.png|thumb|in front of house]][[File:Fla8.png|thumb|Gator football]][[File:Fla9.png|thumb|sisterhood]]