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|Image= [[File:Epsilon_Rho.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1976|02|28}}
|College= [httphttps://www.tamu.edu/ Texas A&M University]
|Location= College Station, TX
|Homepage= [httphttps://wwwtamu.aggiekappakappa.comorg/ Epsilon Rho Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Epsilon_Rho Media related to Epsilon_Rho Chapter]}}
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'''2,164 335 initiates (as of June 20162018)'''
'''Epsilon Rho, Texas A&M'''
The Nehemiah Center of Navasota is our local philanthropy and where most of our time,
fundraising, and effort goes. We have 5-10 actives volunteering at the after-school program every
day of the semester. AdditonallyAdditionally, we host Kappa Kolor 5k Run and Kappa Kookout to raise money
to help provide better facilities, equipment, and books for the kids at Nehemiah.
For Oral History Project we recommend Carling Repass (heartwarming, funny story)
==Highlights of 2017==
The spring semester was an awesome one for Kappa. We kicked off the beginning of the new year with
a chapter favorite, Kappa's Semi-Formal where member's danced all night long. To begin March, Kappa
hosted our annual Kappa Dad's weekend. Dads and daughters attended lunch, took tours of Kyle Field,
and finished off the weekend at a Texas A&M Baseball game. The following weekend, Kappa was awarded
the Loyalty Award at the Aggie Greek Banquet. Loyalty is one of A&M core values and it was an
incredible honor to receive this award. Later in March, our chapter hosted our annual spring
philanthropy event, Kappa Kookout, which was a huge success! We raised $6,703 for our local
philanthropy, The Nehemiah Center of Navasota, and we even had the Aggie Ranglers come and perform
for some live entertainment. In addition to the money from Kookout, Kappa raised $14,000 for
Nehemiah by participating and winning first place in Paddy Murphy, a philanthropy fundraising
competition hosted by the men's fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In April, a few of our Chapter
Council members attended the Kappa Leadership Conference in St. Louis, Missouri and got to meet
Kappas from all over the nation. To end the semester with a bang, Kappa paired up with Pi Phi to
host Monmouth, our formal party where members brought dates and got to celebrate the end of a great
semester.
The fall semester was an eventful one to say the least. Due to Hurricane Harvey, a major hurricane
that devastated the city of Houston and many surrounding cities with record-breaking floods, Bid
Day was cancelled and the girls received their bids via phone call or FaceTime from their Rho
Gams. Fortunately, a couple weekends into school, Kappa was able to recreate bid day at the Kappa
House and celebrate our lovely 88 new members! The next couple of weeks were full of fun and
excitement for the new and old Kappas. At the end of September, Kappa had their first date party of
the year, followed by big little reveal, and then we got to initiate our fantastic new members in
October. Following initiation, Kappa teamed up with Chi Omega to host "Owloween" where members got
to dress up to celebrate Halloween with their dates. In November, Kappa raised
$24,442 for Nehemiah through our annual Kappa Kolor Auction. In December, Kappas and their dates
two-stepped the night away at our final social event of the year, Ranch Party, in celebration of
our many accomplishments in 2017 and in anticipation of a great year to come.
As mentioned above, Hurricane Harvey devastated the city of Houston. Unfortunately, many of our
members and their families were affected by this natural disaster. Thankfully, Kappas were able to
reach out and to receive help from the Rose McGill foundation. The moments like this when we are
able to help out our loved ones in time of need is what makes our chapter proud to be Kappas.
The acceptance rate at Texas A&M has grown exponentially in the past couple of years which has
increased the number of participants in recruitment, allowing each chapter to welcome more members.
Chapter Philanthropy:
The Nehemiah Center of Navasota is our local philanthropy and where most of our time, fundraising,
and effort goes. We have 5-10 actives volunteering at the after-school program every day of the
semester. In the spring, we raised $15,000 for RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
Our chapter chose to support this organization due to previous relationships and the many
opportunities it provides us to encourage literacy, or Reading Is Fundamental, to children
attending the after-school program.
The chapter room in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.
==Highlights of 2018==
Spring: The Epsilon Rho chapter officers for 2018 attended an officers retreat Sunday and
Monday January 14th and 15th at our Vice President of Standards’ ranch house. This was the
first time that the 2018 officers worked together and were able to make a great outline and plan
for the 2018 year four Epsilon Rho. The officers established goals regarding how to complete
our action plan in the best way possible, as well as creating a tentative calendar for the next
year. This two day retreat allowed all the officers to bond as both friends and leaders in Kappa,
and helped the relationships among chapter council grow. The first meeting of the year was
held January 22nd. February was a big month for us. The standards committee hosted a
sisterhood event for Valentines Day and Mom Hurley’s birthday; both provided opportunities for
the chapter to bond and to share how much we appreciate our house mom. We had our annual
semi-formal on February 22nd. Every member volunteers at least two times per semester at the
Nehemiah Center of Navasota, an after school program to help at-risk kids reach their full
potential. The girls help the kids with their homework, help with arts and crafts, read with them,
and play activities outside. We had this all of Spring. We also hosted our Spring philanthropy
event Kappa Kookout. This event was held at our house during Dad’s Weekend, and is a BBQ
cookout that helps raise money for our philanthropies. We raised $13,833.69 for our
philanthropies: Nehemiah Center of Navasota, the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation, and
Reading is Fundamental. In March, we had a fantastic date party with a wig theme. We also
had an Easter sisterhood event, and the standards committee had an egg hunt around the
Kappa House for chapter members after our chapter meeting. In February, March, and April,
our Membership chairman held recruitment workshops to help the new pledge class learn about
the recruitment process and how our specific chapter functions during work week and
recruitment week. In April, a Leadership Consultant visited us and we were able to reflect on
how we were doing as a Chapter Council and as a chapter so far this semester. We had our
annual formal in April, and there was fun music and good food to enjoy with our Kappa sisters!
Our spring semester was over and our members were able to have a relaxing, travel-filled, and
successful summer!
The fall semester was a fantastic one for Kappa! We started the semester with work week,
which all of our active members attended. During this week we were able to prepare for
recruitment and get excited about our new pledge class. Recruitment week was August
19th-25th. Bid day was August 25th, and we were so excited to welcome our 86 new members
with carnival themed foods and lots of blue and blue. At the end of September, we had a
bowling date party, which then led into October where we had our big/little reveal. The new
members were then able to be fully initiated by the end of October! Our initiation was extremely
successful, and was followed by our Founders Day celebration where the alumni who traveled
in for initiation were also able to be a part of the celebration. The last weekend of October was
extremely busy as we had both our Mom’s Weekend and also our Fall Philanthropy event,
Kappa Kolor Run. Our moms were able to run in the race, and the event was super fun,
successful, and of course, colorful! We raised $23,278.96 for all of our philanthropies. Our
service involvement for the semester changed this Fall, as we decided to change directions and
start supporting a different local philanthropy, Books and a Blanket. Books and a Blanket was
started by two elementary school girls who work to promote literacy among young girls by giving
them more access to books. They focus on children in grades pre-K to 6th grade. Their project
ensures that students have books to read and a blanket to keep them warm. We saw so much
potential in helping this organization, and decided to support them instead of the Nehemiah
Center of Navasota as it was more local to our campus. One of our sisterhood events this
semester was making blankets for this philanthropy. We have also started to emphasize our
national philanthropies, Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
Our members have been able to participate in “Reading is Key” Events, where we travel to local
elementary schools in Bryan/College Station and read to different classes, while also providing
each student with their own book. We have had multiple book drives this year, had bookmark
decorating events for the children, profit shares, and Reading is Key events. In October we also
had our “Owloween” date party where we teamed up with Chi Omega and were able to dress up
in funny costumes and celebrate Halloween together. In November, we two-stepped the night
away as we co-hosted the Ranch date party with Tri-Delta. This was a fantastic way to end our
year! In December, we had our annual Triplet meeting where the outgoing and incoming
officers and their advisors met and talked about the transition of Chapter Council. We had an
incredible 2018, and we are so excited for the new Chapter Council and the 2019 year!!
The Nehemiah Center of Navasota was our local philanthropy in the Spring, but in the Fall we
changed to Books and a Blanket. Our chapter chose to support Books and a Blanket because it
allows us to be hands on with local elementary schools in Bryan/College Station and to promote
literacy right around our campus. We are becoming more involved in our national philanthropies,
Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. We had several members
benefit from the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation after Hurricane Harvey, and so we love
supporting them especially as it hits very close to home with us.
In 2018, Texas A&M saw some changes. Our football program received a new head coach,
Jimbo Fisher, and we have been really excited about our football season this year.
Our chapter meets in the chapter room of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.
==Highlights of 2019==
The new 2019 Epsilon Rho Chapter Council attended their Officers' Retreat at the Kappa house upon returning from winter break, brainstorming new and innovative ideas to present to the chapter. The officers established their goals for the year and created a calendar of activities. The first meeting of the new year was held the last Monday of January.
The month of February began with our Kappa semi-formal, with the theme "My Tie," in which a Kappa sister sets you up on a blind date and you wear the date's tie to the party, revealing the secret match. On Valentine's Day the following week, the Standards Committee hosted a sisterhood event, celebrating our House Mother, Mama Hurley's, birthday with treats and music. Other February events included a Candle Pass for a recently engaged member, as well as the Academic Banquet, highlighting the many academic achievements of our members.
The first weekend of March was Dad's Weekend! We had our annual Kappa Kookout on Friday at the Kappa house, and enjoyed barbecue with our dads. We also raised $11,368 for our philanthropies: Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and Books in a Blanket. The following two days consisted of a crawfish boil, golf tournament, and skeet shoot, all fun ways for dads and daughters to spend time together. We rounded out the month by participating in A&M's The Big Event with BYX, a Christian men's organization. We split up into teams and spent the day helping out the community in various capacities, such as planting gardens, painting fences, and more.
At the beginning of April, Big and Little Sisters exchanges wooden plaques and keys decorated with each other's names. We also hosted Parent's Weekend with an Mexican food event called "Kappa Con Queso." We also held our first of many Recruitment workshops- a great way for the Recruitment Committee to introduce the newest pledge class to the process and what it entails. Later in the month, we had a visit by a Leadership Consultant, who helped us reflect on what we excel at as a chapter, as well as what we could improve on. On April 27th, we held a retirement party for our beloved Mama Hurley and shared videos and pictures with her as keepsakes. Finally, we had a great time at Kappa Formal on April 30th, getting dressed up and dancing with our dates and sisters! As the semester drew to a close, the Academic Committee held "Kappa Libraries", proving the Kappa house as a quiet place to study for finals- complete with study snacks. With finals complete, all Kappas were free to enjoy their summers to the fullest!
Work Week started in mid-August, a great way for everyone to reconnect and prepare for the incoming pledge class, as well as meet our new House Mother, Mama Rose. Recruitment began August 18th, culminating in Bid Day on August 24th. We welcomed our 74 new members with open arms, snow cones, and fajitas, with our theme House of Blues! PC 18 received their new member pins on August 26th during formal pledging. We were excited at the end of the month to pull football tickets with Squadron 17 for the Texas State game!
We had a Karaoke Date Party at the beginning of September, dressing head to toe in denim. The Marshal committee hosted a Ritual Review for PC 18 so that they could understand the ins and outs of Initiation to make it special for their Littles. We also had Big/Little Reveal on September 25th, dressing up in costumes and spending time with our Kappa families. Our philanthropy Chairman and her committee did a fantastic job implementing a new philanthropic event, Kappa Karnival. We had carnival games, cotton candy, dunk tanks, music, and more, raising $21,764 for our much deserving philanthropies.
October 14th marked the beginning of Inspiration Week, with the return of the new member pin at our chapter meeting. On Wednesday, the Kappa house hosted an ice cream social for all members to partake in sundaes and for Bigs to give their Littles Initiation baskets full of Kappa items. A Leadership Consultant was also present throughout the week to meet with officers, give advice, and visit College Station points of interest, such as the Bush Library with chapter members. We held Fireside on Friday, with Halloween movies and fajitas afterwards, and Initiation the following morning. We had a very successful Initiation, with the chapter voting to try a Combined Service. Immediately following Initiation, we held a Founders Day Luncheon to celebrate Kappa's heritage with current members and alumnae alike. We ended October with Owloween, a Halloween date party with the Chi Omegas.
The weekend of Friday, November 8th was Mom's Weekend! We painted holiday canvases with our moms and had brunch. That same weekend, Kappas participated in Songfest with Squadron 17, a philanthropy event put on by Chi Omega to raise money for the philanthropies of all organizations involved. With the theme "Ocean's 8", we put on several choreographed dance routines for attendees in Rudder Auditorium. Later in the month, we had our annual Ranch Date Party, a country western themed party with Tri Delta. We put on our boots and two-stepped with our dates while listening to live country music. The new officers were installed November 18th, and the incoming and outgoing Chapter Councils held a transition meeting with our advisors on the 24th. In between the two, we had a "Date Dash" to celebrate the holidays! Finally, we had our Angel Tree Dash, a fun event where we all go out and buy items for children in need for the holidays.
2019 was truly a fantastic year for Kappa with many fun and fulfilling events. Throughout the year we held book drives, profit shares, and Reading is Key events where we went to local elementary schools to read and do crafts with the children. Through this, we were able to bond with our sisters and help the Bryan-College Station community, as well as our national Kappa community.
==Highlights of 2020==
Throughout our first semester of 2020, our chapter was still able to have social gatherings and date parties that were not affected by COVID-19. We started off our year with a few profit shares at Jasons Deli, Grub, and Chick Fil A where we were able to raise money for our philanthropies while enjoying good food and company. We were also able to have our semi-formal which was a great turnout and lots of fun for our chapter. Our theme was “Kappa Krush” and it took place on February 13th. We were also able to support our philanthropies by hosting our largest spring event, “Kappa Kookout”, raising $20,049. This year we were able to host Kookout at a new location and it was a great turnout! We were able to have this event the same weekend as Dads weekend so we enjoyed country music and barbeque with our dad Friday night. The next day we enjoyed crawfish at “Krawdads” at the Kappa house. After a very long summer of preparing for the fall semester virtually, we were able to come back to College Station in August. We prepared for rush during a virtual work week, including daily deliveries of fun activities and food. After preparing for a virtual recruitment, we started recruiting our newest pledge class via zoom. On August 16th we were able to have a unique bid day for the new members. After finding out they were Kappas through email, the new members were picked up by a Bid Day buddy and got to alternate going to the Kappa House to receive Bid Day goodies and food. On October 24th we held two virtual Initiation ceremonies, welcoming 86 new members. Although this year looked very different for us we were still able to grow as a chapter and bond while representing Kappa Kappa Gamma.
We support Books and a Blanket, Reading is Fundamental, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and Brazos Valley COVID-19 Community Relief Fund. We have chosen to support Brazos Valley COVID-19 Community Relief Fund and Books and a Blanket because they are local organizations that have the same values as us. We love to support and work with Books and a Blanket because it goes with our love for reading and helping the local kids. We also felt that Brazos Valley Relief Fund was a great way to give back to the community in such a difficult time.
We plan on adding a DEI officer this upcoming year to help promote and educate our chapter on diversity and inclusion. We also watched a TED talk addressing racism during one of our chapter meetings. Additionally, A&M Panhellenic
put together a Greek Assembly to educate everyone.
We celebrated our anniversary by holding a zoom meeting for all members, advisors,and parents who wanted to join. We presented a PowerPoint representing Kappa over the years with a special video honoring our chapter. We also started a Kappa Fit Club which encouraged our members to walk or run 150 miles as a chapter which was a fun way for us to be active and celebrate Kappa.
==Highlights of 2021==
The Epsilon Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had an amazing year, despite all of the
adjustments we had to make due to the pandemic. In the spring semester, we were able to
have Kappa kolaches and a book drive for the panhellenic community at A&M where we
were able to remain physically distant and have a drive through breakfast! We also had an
amazing recruitment, although it was partially virtual. Our New Member chair planned a fun
and safe bid day, which was so much fun because it has been so long since the chapter has
been all together due to Covid. We were also able to have in person fireside and initiation,
which was very special. We were able to connect with our Epsilon Rho alumni, and spend
time as a chapter learning about Kappa’s history. We had two different combined services,
and celebration of founder’s day at the Kappa house following initiation. It was very
rewarding to pass down the rituals to the new member class, and teach our active members
some new information as well. This semester, our events chairman has been working so hard
to plan date parties, and we have had so much fun being able to spend time together in this
way. We were able to host Flatland Cavalry at our date party Kappa cavalry, and we have also
had Owloween with Chi Omega, and House of Blues with Tri Delta. Coming up this next
week, we will also be having our Jingle Bell formal! This has been such a fun and exciting
year for our chapter of Kappa, and we are looking forward to the Spring semester!
Chapter Philanthropy
Our chapter supports the local philanthropy Books and a Blanket in the Brazos valley area. It
is an amazing organization that promotes child literacy in areas of College Station and Bryan
that may not have access to books and educational tools. We donated books to this
organization from our many book drives, and have spent time reading to children in our area.
This past semester, we have now switched our local philanthropy to support the National
Alliance on Mental Illness, which has been very rewarding as well.
We supported Kappa’s national philanthropy by hosting many philanthropy events to raise
funds for Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma foundation. Some of these
events included Kappa Kookout in the Fall where we raised $35,000, and Kappa Kolaches in
the Spring. Although it was a difficult year navigating the pandemic, our philanthropy chairs
still put on amazing events!
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
This year we had a new addition to our chapter council, which was our diversity, equity, and
inclusion (DEI) chair! She did a great job at finding beneficial and informative trainings for us
all to watch, and we gained a lot as individuals and as a whole chapter because of these
workshops.
Operating in a Pandemic
We have taken many precautions during the pandemic to keep our members safe including
requiring masks in large gatherings, proper sanitization, socially distanced events, and covid
testing for all. We were required to wear masks during the in person rounds of recruitment,
and this helped us have a safe and fun bid day. We are excited to be back in business this year,
and hope to continue to do our part and remain safe and healthy!