Difference between revisions of "Eta Delta"

Revision as of 00:23, 5 August 2013

Eta Delta
HΔ
Founded	April 18, 1998 (1998-04-18) (26 years ago)
College	Valparaiso University
Location	Valparaiso, IN
Homepage	Eta Delta Homepage
Media related to Eta Delta Chapter

314 initiates (as of June 2013)

2012

Eta Delta began 2012 with a strong formal recruitment of ten women, who we got to know at a sisterhood event on bid day. We welcomed them with blue and blue cupcakes and played get-to-know-you games. Soon after, the new chapter council met for a leadership retreat to discuss the chapter’s goals for the upcoming year.

In February, we were visited by a Leadership Consultant, Haley Smith, who stayed for the week and helped our chapter work on efficiency and unity. We celebrated Valentines Day together at our semi-formal Kappa Krush Dance and continued the sisterly fun at a hilariously awesome Murder Mystery Sisterhood event. March brought even more chances to bond. We had another sisterhood event to learn about etiquette, and then we spent a week preparing for initiation by having a Kappa Love night, performing new member class skits, and having a new member class sleepover in the Chapter Room.

After initiating our newest Kappas, we got to know the men of Phi Kappa Psi at a unity event where we danced the night away. In April, we focused on our philanthropic involvement. We hosted a very successful Mr. and Mrs. Greek Life Pageant to raise money for Reading is Fundamental, stayed up all night at the University’s Relay for Life, and participated in Phi Psi 500. We celebrated the Monmouth Duo by having a unity event with Pi Beta Phi, where we highlighted our shared tradition of academic excellence by coming together to study.

To strengthen our sisterhood, we had movie nights in the Chapter Room every other week, and we took our sisterhood on the road by traveling to the Indiana Dunes for a picnic with a view. To honor the women who raised us, we invited our mothers to a Mom’s Day brunch. Greek Week was also in April, so we partnered up with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon to participate in trivia contests, relay races, and other friendly competitions. Sigma Phi Epsilon also joined with us to participate in a cookout and bag-o tournament.

At the end of the month, we dined and danced in style at a formal Sapphire Ball. The following morning, we paid tribute to our seniors at our Senior Banquet, where we enjoyed light refreshments as Kappa families gave speeches and parting gifts to the bigs and grandbigs that they’d miss! In may, we wrapped up our semester by bump, set, and spiking our way to third place in Sigma Pi’s volleyball tournament, and gathering together as a sisterhood to watch the Kentucky Derby.

Over the summer, we had the opportunity to send five women to the national convention in Jacksonville, Florida, where we met Kappas from around the world, learned about our fraternity, and received an honorable mention award for our Exemplary House Board.

When we reunited in August, we got to know the freshmen by volunteering at Move In Day, Dunes Day and at the Welcome Back Block Party, where we also met Valparaiso’s new Assistant Dean of Students for Greek Life, Carolyn Whittier. With her help, we recruited a large fall pledge class, adding eight new women to our sisterhood in September. We celebrated Bid Day with a sisterhood event full of food and games. Soon after, we invited our fathers to cook out and play outdoor games with us at a Dad’s Day event. We also supported Sigma Chi’s philanthropy by competing in Derby Days and participated in Valparaiso’s Day of Caring. Near the end of the month, we spent the day together at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. We also received a letter placing us on an academic focus plan, to assist us in improving our grades.

The beginning of October was also the beginning of Homecoming Week. We participated in the week’s activities and were proud of our sister who earned second place in the race to becoming Homecoming Queen. The same week, we stood by two of our women who strutted their stuff in Tri Delta’s Fat-Talk-Free fashion show. We came together to decorate paddles at a sisterhood event. Eta Delta hosted our most successful Boat Regatta fundraiser yet, and we also celebrated Founders Day with our alumni over brunch and a presentation about our history. This month, we had another visit from a leadership consultant, Rebecca Shaw.

After fall break, we helped Lambda Chi Alpha raise money at their Pumpkin Palooza, before donning our best plaid and overalls for a Kappa barn dance. We also spent time with the men of Phi Sigma Kappa at a unity event cook out. In November, we initiated our fall pledge class and elected our new chapter council. We finished out the month with a Christmas themed dance. In December, the Christmas holidays were on our minds. We had a Christmas party in our chapter room, where each sister made her own ornament for our brand new Christmas tree, ate Christmas cookies, and put together Christmas cards to send to Eta Delta’s alumni.

We stayed in the Christmas spirit with a unity event with Phi Delta Theta, where we decorated cookies to take to Hilltop preschool. In the spirit of holiday giving, we purchased gifts as a chapter to send to a sister in need through the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation’s Holiday Sharing Program. Keeping our academic focus plan in mind, we studied hard for finals, and raised our overall GPA back above the all sorority average, ending our year with much to be proud of.

In the past year, Greek Life on Valparaiso University’s campus has seen significant growth and undergone many positive changes. In the fall of 2012, we welcomed Carolyn Whittier as our new Assistant Dean of Students for Greek Life, and she implemented many changes to Greek Life on our campus. She began to host monthly roundtable meetings for the officers of all of the fraternities and sororities to meet and discuss issues pertaining to their position together. For example, the Risk Management and Event Chairmen from all of the organizations meet to discuss social events on campus and within Greek Life. In addition to these meetings, which keep us all informed, she has formed committees to update all of our campus documents for Greek Life, such as how Greek Judicial Board will operate.

In addition to these organizational changes, Greek Life hosted Valparaiso’s first ever Dance Marathon to support Riley’s Children’s Hospital. It was fun, great for Greek Life’s image on campus, and we raised over $10,000! Overall, it was a success, and we will continue to host this event together in the future. This year also saw changes in the way our campus hosts formal sorority recruitment. Many changes were made, including replacing a skit night with a sisterhood night and having more open houses in the fall to raise interest sooner. These changes and Ms. Whittier’s guidance helped all of the Panhellenic sororities have their largest recruitment in several years. One other change on our campus this year is that the President of our University has begun to plan for the fraternities and sororities to get their own houses on a new greek row. This is in the University’s ten year plan for the campus.

Eta Delta has certainly seen some changes in the past year. We have worked hard to address some organizational and risk management issues, and I believe we’ve done a good job. Our chapter is now running more efficiently and participating in dances and other social events more safely. While those aspects of our chapter have improved this past year, we have struggled with our sisterhood and making an impression on the larger campus community. We are turning now to focus on growing closer together again and stepping up our participation on campus to improve our image.