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Brianne Tatarian, Traveling Consultant 2001-2002;
From chapter’s History Report: ScholarshipDiversity, group honorsEquity, and InclusionBefore this past summer, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive ofeveryone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/awardsor socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, traditionsI had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, special eventswe were able to crowd fund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations, changes bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus or within chapterto present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, overall nature Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapterand the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the Anti-Racism newsletter this semester- a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter goalson anti-racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, challenges and how they were overcome, etcI am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.:
'''Housing:'''
'''Philanthropy:'''==Highlights of 2021==Chapter SummaryThis past year, the Eta Gamma Chapter was able to reach major milestones while operating under the limitations of Covid-19. As my time as Marshal, I have worked hard to educate the chapter on tradition, ritual, history, and instill Kappa values within our chapter. The first term in my position we were virtual, which made this difficult, especially pertaining to formal meetings. I started a “Keeping up with Kappa” segment of my announcements in addition to the inspirational reading, which I usually get from initiation script or excerpts from The Key articles. The Keeping up with Kappa segment allows me the time to delve deeper into ritual, Kappa values, history, and tradition. Sometimes I include fun facts, like a quote about the first Kappa event ahead of our Mortician’s Ball which is also Halloween themes. I also showcase Kappa alumnae doing important work in society and achieving success in their aspirations. Goals of the chapter include being knowledgeable of Kappa ritual/values/history which we lost during the pandemic and getting comfortable with formal meeting process again, reestablishing connections and friendships within the chapter and strengthening bonds of sisterhood, continuing our work in supporting social justice causes, maintaining and continuing to improve our academic performance, and learn more about our new national philanthropy. One of our members received the panhellenic scholarship which provides financial support towards Chapter dues to women embodying Panhellenic values.
'''Chapter Convention AwardsIn Spring 2021, Kappa in conjunction with Delta Tau Delta raised over $6,000 and collected over 100 food cans for Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, a thrift store dedicated to feeding and clothing the homeless population of San Diego. Over the summer I had planned many opportunities for our chapter to be involved with Reading is Fundamental and Sherman Elementary, a local school we used to tutor in the past. However, with nationals changing our philanthropy to Mental Health and Wellbeing, I had to scrap all of my ideas and start over in September. We as a chapter decided to support the JED Foundation. In the final week of classes, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including:'''friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs. To support the Susan G. Komen foundation, five Kappas set out to raise $2,300 each in order to participate in the 3-Day Walk, an event that consists of 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research. Our team did a 10 mile training walk in Torrey Pines to prepare. By asking our fellow Kappas, family members, and members of our community, all five of us managed to raise over $2,300 each. Our chapter participates in the walk every year.
'''Note to Chapter Registrar:''' Panhellenic Respresentative, Avery Barrett - Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes The Relationship Violence and back issues Sexual Assault Prevention Committee (RSVA) focuses on ensuring the safety of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not completemembers of Kappa Kappa Gamma, please research your university libraryPanhellenic, campus newspaper and yearbook archives the FSL community as a whole. We implement new ideas and forms of protection for newsworthy information about your chapterour sisters, as well as meet with community leaders to create FSL wide legislation on protecting survivors and preventing relationship and sexual violence. Please double check your Some of the things we have done so far are work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board membersto create sexual assault prevention trainings that will be put in place in Spring 2022, local Alumnae Association membersestablish an event safety form to ensure someone’s abuser is not allowed to come to a date event, or your Province Director of Chapters and plan for healing and care for assistancesurvivors on campus.
Your efforts will ensure Spring of of 2021, we were all virtual due to COVID-19. Recruitment, initiation, chapter, and sisterhood events were all held virtually. It was difficult to maintain connection and grow relationships within Kappa as we couldn’t all be together in person. This semester has been a complete breath of fresh air as we are able to hold chapter in person and have in person events. Since being back in person, I have been able to educate and accurate history of your teach the chapter for future generations ritual, tradition, and Kappa values fully and in depth. Other than our pledge class, no other class has been able to experience in person Formal Chapter. I have done my best to get us back to our Kappa roots, but there is much more to be done and am hopeful the new Marshal will be able to enjoy!continue the work I have begun.
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|Image= [[File:Eta_Gamma.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1997|10|24}}
|College= [httphttps://www.sandiego.edu/ University of San Diego]
|Location= San Diego, CA
|Homepage= [httphttps://wwwusandiego.usdkkgkappa.comorg/ Eta Gamma Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Eta_Gamma Media related to Eta Gamma Chapter]}}
'''876 899 initiates (as of June 20172018)'''
'''Fraternity Council Members:'''
Brianne McGann, Leadership Consultant 2011-2012
Carrie Nagel Palmer, Academic Excellence Specialist (2022-2024)
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Our chapter meetings are held in USD’s University Center Forum C. The UCs are the hub of campus life at USD, which includes the main dining hall in the Student Life Pavilion, a to-go food market, various offices, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, USD’s own restaurant, USD’s bookstore, and a lounge for students to enjoy.
==Highlights of 2018==
Program Meetings:
1. Nutrition and Mindfulness – We welcomed a life coach, Sarah Andersen, and a
Nutrition and Health coach, Kayleigh Clark to our chapter meeting. We learned about healthy eating habits, exercising, managing stress, and maintaining confidence and a positive body image
2. Fitness - Our Education Chair had an instructor come into our meeting to show us some moves we can try at home to promote a healthy lifestyle.
3. Kappa Careers - There were speakers from the Humane League, MeTyme Network, Ecology Center, and IPJ at USD. It was fascinating and inspiring getting to explore various careers, with some in nonprofit organizations and start ups.
Philanthropy:
Spring: Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Kappa Theta Field Day We raised $1,193.39 for Reading is Fundamental during our Field Day at Mission Beach! There were relay races, tug of war, flag football, and other events. Field Day is a well known and anticipated event
Fall: Kappa Koncert
Our fall philanthropy event raised $3,252 for the Shades of Pink Foundation through an on campus concert. Members of our chapter as well as student performers from USD put on a wonderful night of
music, food and friends.
Events:
1. Advisor and Officer BBQ:
a. At the start of spring semester, our advisor, Deanne Palmer, and our Chapter Council had a BBQ to kick off the semester, set goals, and plan upcoming events.
2. Greek Week:
a. Eta Gamma participated in USD Greek Week teamed up with Phi Gamma Delta. While we did not win, we had an incredible week of philanthropy and Greek companionship. Rehearsal for Friday Skits went by
quickly with the wonderful FIJI men.
3. Exchanges:
a. We had exchanges in the Spring with Phi Gamma Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha. Our themed exchanged are a great time to dress up and interact with other members of the Greek community
4. Inspo Week Sisterhood Dinners:
a. One night of Inspiration week, members went to dinners around San Diego with sisters to get excited about initiation and spend some quality time with their new families!
5. Kappa Mom’s Weekend:
a. Before Mother’s Day, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa mom’s on campus and around San Diego for a cooking class, spin class, and brunch!
6. Kappa Dad’s Weekend:
a. In the fall, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa dad’s on campus and around San Diego for go karting and brunch!
7. Kappa Christmas Party:
a. In December, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at a restaurant downtown to spend some quality time with each other before the stress of finals!
Eta Gamma News
This fall, Eta Gamma introduced a new position on Chapter Council, Diversity Chairman. The position is currently filled by Lexie Rollings, an active member in the USD Women’s Center, USD LGBTQIA commons and a passionate member of the USD community. The Chapter Council nominated Lexie due to her compassion, commitment and grace. Every week during chapter, Lexie presents a few slides on relevant issues involving diversity. She presented on trans awareness, the sexuality spectrum and on the importance of hearing people with different opinions. Lexie will be working closely with our Membership Officer to ensure the members of Eta Gamma are well educated going into Spring 2019 recruitment.
Last spring, Eta Gamma welcomed 34 new members to our chapter. After a terrific new member series, we had our Big Little Reveal at the Immaculata Fountain on campus. It was a beautiful event and we welcomed our littles into our families. Initiation soon followed, and we initiated all 34 new members into the chapter.
This summer, 4 of our chapter council members attended Convention in Denver, where they brainstormed, networked and had a blast meeting sisters from around the country. The creation of Diversity Chairman came from Convention.
==Highlights of 2020s:==
The Eta Gamma Chapter had an extremely eventful and positive calendar year. We started with recruitment in January before classes began and got a fantastic group of girls that the whole chapter was so excited to welcome. Our bid day was a smashing success, and the theme was Great Gatsby, which all the new members adored! We transitioned to our new officers in February and worked closely with our chapter advisors to ensure everything was running smoothly. We continued having chapter, committee meetings, bid night, a sisterhood event, and even new member training meetings. Our chapter was recognized by nationals and received the new member education award. This award is given to the chapter that educates their new members extremely well and supports them to the best of their ability. Our chapter also received an honorable mention for the Communications/ Public Relations Award Association. This award is for chapters that best exemplify a well-rounded philanthropy program that develops member awareness of a commitment to the community. We also had a handful of girls within our chapter receive scholarships from nationals last spring. We were in the midst of planning numerous things for the chapter, such as our presents event and initiation ceremony. However, everything changed when the coronavirus pandemic hit in the middle of March.Most girls returned home for the remainder of the semester. We were able to initiate all of our new members virtually last May to ensure everyone in the chapter was an official member come the end of the school year. As a chapter council, we took the time from March-May to really re-solidify our chapter goals. We wanted to focus on sisterhood and build connections with one another when that was really all we had to lean on. One of our chapter members suggested a book that would be sent around from Kappa to Kappa within our chapter inspired by the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." During quarantine and throughout the summer, the book was shipped from one member to the next and filled with anything from stories to recipes, words of wisdom, to a member's favorite memory in Kappa. In the chapter, several girls expressed that receiving the book lifted their spirits and allowed them to feel connected to their sisters during a time of isolation. During the fall 2020 semester, we chose not to gather as a chapter in person and held all of our chapter meetings via zoom. We had a total of three formal meetings via zoom as well. Since a moratorium was implemented for a select period (30 days) by Nationals, we held no in-person events as a chapter. We chose not to do so for the remainder of the semester for health and safety reasons.Regarding philanthropy, for our Perkins Elementary School Fundraiser event, which was all done remotely, we marketed through different social media platforms. We shared a video we created with our friends and family of the Perkins Elementary principal and the Philanthropy Chairs of the fraternity and sorority, explaining the demand the students and faculty need. In addition, the Eta Gamma Chapter at the University of San Diego donated $311 to the SD NAACP to address the political unrest our country has endured this past year. We wanted to help promote their mission to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of minority citizens of the United States and eliminate race prejudice. Despite the many obstacles the coronavirus pandemic caused our chapter to face this past calendar year, I believe we were still able to accomplish our main goals as a chapter. These include initiating our new members and teaching them how our chapter functions, pulling off a very successful philanthropy event and expanding our chapter's diversity and inclusion position. Lastly, and most importantly, we kept our sisterhood strong ensured that every member knew they could reach out to a sister anytime if they needed support. The University of San Diego used our chapter as an example of doing a fantastic job supporting their members during these trying times. We are so proud of everything the Eta Gamma Chapter has accomplished in the 2020 calendar year and look forward to what 2021 holds!
The Eta Gamma Chapter at the University of San Diego chose to pair with another fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, at the University of San Diego to support a local elementary school called Perkins Elementary School in San Diego, CA. 40% of the students in attendance at Perkins are homeless and 100% qualify for free or reduced lunch. We raised $18,800 remotely through Crowd Change over the course of a one week period to fund for new academic learning materials and school supplies as they navigate through these unprecedented times of COVID-19.
For our celebration of 150th KKG anniversary we,during one of our chapter meetings, had girls come forward and speak about their favorite memories in Kappa and what Kappa has meant to them. We also organized a trivia night over zoom during chapter where we asked questions about Kappa’s history! It was a fun and memorable way to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary.
Special events
Last semester, all events and chapters were held virtually. This semester we have been able to have in person events. We have had two sisterhood events, Pizza in the Park, and roller blading. In October we were able to have our first social event since the pandemic, Mortician’s Ball. Saturday, the fourth of December, we will have Sapphire Ball. This semester we celebrated Founder’s Day Tea during formal chapter, performing the Founder’s Day ritual, and concluding with snacks, beverages, and had decorations set up.
Sisterhood, Lila Paul, on virtual sisterhood events –
We did a candle pass via zoom last semester towards the end so that the new girls could feel included in a long-standing kappa tradition. Although it was virtual, people said some really meaningful things about their time in Kappa and we got some great feedback from it. Another thing we did is at the end of virtual chapter meetings we would do “Hot Seat”, which is when we choose a random girl and ask her questions about herself. This was a fun way to get to know girls in the sorority especially new members. Finally, we had a “virtual game night” for the new members and sophomores at the time, this was to help the girls bond with each other because they would be each others future bigs/littles. They played kahoot trivia which was really successful because all girls were able to participate equally and get to know one another
Education chairwoman, Riley Steinly –
As Education Chairman this semester, I worked on strengthening relationships with campus organizations such as the newly founded Gender Equity and Sex Positivity club. I met with our campus FSL director to design an alcohol and drug awareness program meeting for February that addresses the specific needs of our chapter. I reached out and developed stronger relationships with the senior class to better craft the senior experience in a way that was beneficial for all. I planned and put together an individual Founders Day Tea event for our chapter that expressed the significance of our founding sisters while bringing our girls together in a way that followed covid protocols. Our chapter also met or surpassed the necessary attendance for all Kappa mandated programs this past year. Most recently, we were able to support one of our own on her journey for Miss Volunteer America by giving her a platform to educate us on the ties between gut health and mental health. Throughout the year I’ve done my best to keep the girls updated on pressing social and environmental issues on a national and campus level
VP Academic Excellence, Emma Jesanis –
As VPAE this year it has been amazing to see the academic accomplishments we as a chapter have made. Our biggest accomplishment as a chapter is our GPA improvement. From last year, we had a significant increase in our overall average chapter GPA. This resulted in us being second overall in ranking for sorority GPA’s on campus this year! This is huge for Kappa Kappa Gamma because it shows how much our women value education and how much everyone’s hard work pays off. I know everyone is working their absolute hardest and have no doubt that grade reports will be great again after this semester comes to a close!
Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why? Every year we change our local philanthropy to support causes that our chapter members care about and are passionate about. This way we can best represent the needs and current interests of the chapter. In the Spring, we decided to support Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, to help the homeless community in San Diego, which is significant within our city, and was especially in need during the pandemic.
This semester, our chapter as a whole, voted to support the Jed Foundation. We felt it was the best fit for our chapter as it is centers around mental health of teens and young adults, with many if not all, of us young women having struggled in some way in regard to mental health in our lives. It is a cause we deeply care about and feels personal to us. We were extremely excited to hear about the change in Kappa’s philanthropy to mental well being, with many of us feeling heard and supported by the decision. Next week, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including: friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs
Previous DEI chair, Astrid Najarro –As the first official DEI chair not only of Kappa nationally, but of all of FSL at USD, there were many things I had to learn on my own. Before the summer of 2020, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive of everyone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/or socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, I had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, we were able to crowdfund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations, bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus to present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapter and the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the weekly Anti-Racism newsletter this semester-a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter on anti-----racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, I am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.Current DEI chair, Lena McZeal –My goal is to have all members feel like this chapter is a safe place to be themselves and accept all members of the sorority for who they are. AS the DEI chairwoman, I work to combat issues of racial and identity discrimination not only within the campus community, but in our world today. I work to educate and support all members and love all the womxn in this sisterhood! Our weekly DEI newsletter is emailed to all members, as well as posted on social media for the wider community and public to access. We also post Instagram stories pertaining to and educating on current social justice issues and sexual assault + relationship violence.