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→Highlights of 2021
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==
2021 was a year for the books at Epsilon Phi. With the COVID-19 pandemic still being an
obstacle, yet now learning how to live life in a post-pandemic way, our lifestyles were challenged
and we knew we would have to work hard for our success. That did not steer us away from a
wonderful year together. Collectively, we faced the challenges we were presented with resilience
achieving some great things for ourselves and our chapter. Our President Sarah Bartolomei was
awarded Panhellenic Chapter President of the Year for 2021 and we were so lucky to have her
leading our chapter during this year.
One of the things we were very excited for this year was recruitment and getting back to
in-person rounds. Recruitment took place from August 19th-22nd. Like 2020, Round 1 was
completely virtual where Potential New Members submitted one minute videos introducing
themselves and chapters submitted house tour videos. Round 2 took place over two days. We
were able to highlight our new philanthropy initiative “Mental Health and Well-being” during that
time. Round 3 took one day and we were able to use the time to dive into our sisterhood. We
showed our sisterhood video to PNMs, got to know them deeper, and told them all about why
we chose Kappa. Preferenetials took place on the final day of recruitment and PNMs were
greeted by chapter members that they had spoken to in a previous round. Our ritual ceremony
took place at the beginning of each party and we concluded with one-on-one conversations
between PNMs and chapter members. Thanks to our Primary Recruitment Director, Ellorie Levy
(MC18) and Vice President of Membership, Madi Kelts (MC18), we had a very successful and
fun recruitment process this year. We celebrated Bid Day on August 24th to welcome our 73
new 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 and
participating in other chapters’ philanthropies throughout the year. In the Spring semester,
Epsilon Phi organized two fundraising events. The first being Kappa Cookout, a drive-thru food
fundraiser. This event was held in-person as curbside pickup, in which Proceeds were donated
to Reading Is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, The Mark Wandall
Foundation, and EndDD (a philanthropy Epsilon Phi has chosen to support after losing our
beloved sister Maggie Paxton). Tickets were sold at the event, donations were received, and
books 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 Distracted
Driving 5k Fundraiser" after both of our chapters were greatly affected in the previous semester
due to distracted driving incidents on campus. This event was conducted virtually in a four-day
period, where participants could complete the race on their own time. Additionally, the Epsilon
Phi chapter hosted an after event in which the chapter members shared memories of Maggie
Paxton and a guest speaker from EndDD spoke about ways to end distracted driving. Through
the 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 of
this event and the awareness we were able to raise for distracted driving also led to our chapter
winning a Greek Collaboration Award from the Panhellenic Community.
With the launch of the new philanthropic program for Kappa Kappa Gamma, Epsilon Phi chose
to support the Jed Foundation as the chapter’s philanthropic beneficiary. The Epsilon Phi
chapter raised money for this contribution through our first annual fall fundraiser Let’s Taco Bout
Mental Health and Well-being. At this taco and nacho bar fundraiser, guests donated funds in
support for the Kappa Foundation, as well as, the Jed Foundation. Ticket sales and donations to
a 50/50 raffle aided in raising over $11,299. Participation from members for this event
contributed to its great success!
We also contributed philanthropically through Kappa Kisses donating 167 bags of candy to the
Boys and Girls club of Alachua County, giving care packages to UF Shands Health Care
workers, and through multiple donation drives for the Hitchcock Food Pantry to educate chapter
members on food insecurity. Our Dance Marathon team raised $25,594 this year through
independent fundraising to benefit UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Epsilon Phi also
participated in many other philanthropies on campus 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 Sigma
Sandpit, Kappa Delta Shamrock, Sigma Kappa Shootout, Kappa Alpha Order’s cornhole
tournament, and Kappa Sigma’s Queen of the Palace. Hanna Ouazzani (MC19) represented
our chapter at Delta Tau Delta’s Miss Greek competition and won 2nd place after raising $2,281
for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Katie Tolman (MC19) represented our chapter
at Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halftime and Dream Girl Competition, raising $2,262 for the CHOMP
Cancer Foundation. We were also the overall winners of Alpha Gamma Rho’s Buckoff
Competition, raising $500 to benefit the Moffitt Cancer Center.
One achievement Epsilon Phi is proud of this year would be in winning the Inclusive Excellence
Award from the greek community. Across the 4 greek councils on campus, our chapter was
chosen for this award because of our intense effort to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the
forefront of our conversations and actions as a chapter. In 2020, we implemented our first-ever
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director as well as a committee that focuses on the five pillars of
diversity we have chosen: LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women empowerment, mental health,
accessibility, and racial and ethnic diversity and linguistics. Since the creation of these
leadership roles in our chapter,we have had an abundance of programming covering inclusive
recruitment practices, ableism, cultural appropriation, and racial slurs. We held workshops
during recruitment and new member education to educate members on DEI and how to interact
with people from different backgrounds. In addition to presentations, we have been taking
feedback from the chapter to ensure that every chapter woman feels safe and supported. We
also held a diversity week during black history month to educate chapter members on different
intersectional issues facing our community. This week included conversation nights, a movie
night 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 the
house where we participated in ritual, enjoyed light refreshments, and played fun games! We
were able to reflect on so many years of sisterhood and get excited for the future of Kappa.
There was a great turnout at this event and we all enjoyed being in each others’ presence to
honor Kappa’s founding.
We initiated the 2021 new member class on October 23rd. Our chapter was very excited to hold
initiation in person this year, hosting both current and alumni members, House Board
representatives, and legacy family members in our home. Our Ritual/History Director, Gracie
Overstreet (MC19), was able to plan a beautiful ceremony to initiate our new members and we
were happy to welcome the 73 wonderful members into our sisterhood.
Throughout the year, Epsilon Phi used many techniques to foster academic success. Ally Mattia
(MC19), our Academic Excellence Director for 2021, ensured academic success this year by
providing one-on-one academic progress plans for any chapter members who wanted or
needed extra assistance. She met with them regularly and helped plan scheduled study hours
to make sure they were excelling in their academics. For all members, we hold Kappa Kafe
weekly. This is an event where Kappa provides an environment to collaborate with fellow
members in their studies along with snacks to keep everyone actively engaged in their study
material or homework. Another program we had this year is academic mentor/mentee. In this
program, young members were matched with older members of the chapter with similar majors
or professional goals. We also had academic programming this year on the topics of academic
success, mental wellbeing, and career readiness. At chapter meetings, we reward students by
performing a weekly random prize drawing for members who feel they have accomplished
something special like receiving an A on an organic chemistry exam or getting the internship
they applied to. We also had a successful professor dinner and resume building workshop
recently. All of these programs combined allow Epsilon Phi to maintain a high academic
standing among the chapters at the University of Florida. We are so proud of our members who
receive scholarships for their academic success such as one of our new members, Kayla
Wiechens, who receives the UF Benacquisto merit based Scholarship. Jackie Hunter (MC18)
receives the D.C. Gator Club Scholarship. Erin Ennis (MC20) receives the UF Presidential
Scholarship. 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 members
admitted 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 Long
from MC20.
This year our chapter did not miss out on the fun. Within the Xi district, Epsilon Phi was the
chapter holding the most events despite the challenges presented by the pandemic thanks to
our hard working Risk Prevention Director Payton Zweber (MC19) and Event Director Katie
Tolman (MC19). In the spring, we were able to hold kickball socials with Delta Tau Delta, Phi
Kappa Tau, and Alpha Gamma Rho. These events were successful in keeping some normalcy
while ensuring that we did not contribute to the spread of COVID-19. In conjunction with this, we
were also able to hold a date function at Social Midtown, an Outdoor Sisterhood Barn Party, and
2 formals. With the challenges of the pandemic becoming less prevalent in the fall semester, our
chapter was able to have socials with chapters such as Zeta Beta Tau, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi
Kappa Tau, and a successful homecoming week with Alpha Gamma Rho. In the fall we were
able to have many successful date functions as well and we are looking forward to semi-formal
in a few weeks.
There is a lot of member involvement from the year that deserves to be recognized. This year
we had 11 Pi Chis involved in formal recruitment, with Olivia Galler (Member Class 18) serving
as Head Pi Chi for 2021. Christine Tao (MC18) was recently tapped into Florida Blue Key. Bebe
Gardner (MC20) was chosen as a preview staffer for 2022. We also have sisters involved in
Student Government, Senate, ACCENT, and Gator Growl. Harper Self (MC19) was an Assistant
Supervisor of the 2021 Student Government Election. In Dance Marathon, we have many
Assistant Directors: Karson Keiber (MC18), Gwyneth Bishara (MC20), Katerina Rettino (MC20),
Chelsea Nicholls (MC19), Olivia Galler (MC18), Graylin Skates (MC19) and our president
Madeleine Maclaren (MC19). As well as 19 captains in DM. Coral Rodriguez-Lipstein (MC20)
was chosen as a Peer Leader for the Cohort of 2022. Jordan Spira (MC20) was elected as
Activities Vice President for the Panhellenic Executive Board. One of our new members, Brooke
Burton served as Vice President of Service for Junior Panhellenic. Katherine Pearson is the
Vice 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 many
other sister cicerones as well.
We continue to grieve the loss of our sister, Maggie Paxton (MC20), as we near the 1 year
anniversary of her passing. We will be holding a memorial for Maggie at the house in December
to allow a space for people to share their happiest memories of her. Our chapter has made sure
to take a 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 like
University Avenue safer and 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 with
each other over the past year are ones we will forever be thankful for. We hope 2022 has all of
the excitement, happiness, and achievements that we had in 2021, and we are excited to
continue to improve our chapter for years to come.
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