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→Highlights of 2021
We celebrated the 150th Anniversary by hosting a virtual celebration after chapter meeting showing the significant events throughout Kappa’s history.
==Highlights of 2021==
This year has been full of exciting events for Gamma Nu. We started chapter operations at the beginning of the academic semester on January 11th, 2021. Our chapter meetings were held over Zoom, but we continued programming, announcements, and events virtually. Also, in January we had our all-officer leadership day, where all members holding a position attending a leadership workshop in preparation for their term serving the chapter. In February we continued with virtual chapter meetings and started to have more chapter events. The Recruitment team began holding rush practices, we elected members for our DEI committee, and we held a galantines sisterhood event called Kappa Kupid. In addition, February was the first of our monthly all-officer meetings, where all positions met and discussed our goals and plans for the coming year. In March, it was announced 5 Gamma Nus had been selected as Seniors of Significance for the University. These women were selected for their academic achievements, extracurricular involvement, and leadership on campus. We also held a fun sisterhood event called “Bagels and Bracelets“ in March. In April we celebrated our members with 4.0s with a 4.0 dinner. There were 147 members with a 4.0 from the previous semester. There was also a philanthropy event called Kappaccino in April, where our proceeds were donated to RIF. We were also approved for an in-person Moms‘ Weekend celebration, with fun activities planned around Fayetteville for our members. To wrap up the semester, we had a mock recruitment practice, a New Member retreat, and our Girls Academy Philanthropy event. Throughout the summer, our recruitment team prepared for recruitment through social media outreach, creating videos, and organizing for the coming weeks. Recruitment at the University of Arkansas saw the highest number of potential new members we have ever seen with 1981 women registering for recruitment. We successfully navigated the virtual and in person rounds of recruitment, giving out 163 bids to new members. The fall semester presented many more opportunities for in-person events. We started the semester on August 23rd with in person chapter. The new members had their first chapter meeting and formal pledging on August 24th. We received our grades report from the Spring 2021 semester, where Kappa had gone from 5th in grades to 3rd. Our average GPA for the spring was 3.629 and we had 157 members with 4.0s. In September we held our first in person formal chapter meeting and had our first social function in over a year. We held multiple programming events this month, had multiple percentage days, and participated in National Hazing Prevention Week. In September, our VPO Peyton Jobe was selected as Greek Woman of the month. In October, I began holding Initiation practices, Big/Little reveal happened, Leadership Applications were due, we had a Halloween function, and Gamma Nu celebrated Founder‘s Day. Founder‘s Day was particularly special as we had local alumnae receive their 50-year, 30-year, and 25-year pins during our ceremony. All 163 of our new pledge class got initiated on October 30th, which was a fun and successful event. In addition to Initiation, we held our philanthropy event Kappa Karnival in October at the Kappa house. We also had a painting pumpkins sisterhood event and Homecoming for the University. Following Initiation, we had formal chapter and a Ritual review for our new members. In November we held our combined 4.0 Dinner and Scholarship Banquet for girls who received a 4.0 in the Spring semester, where professors could be invited to attend dinner and a ceremony honoring our members. Slate calls were held November 28th and elections for new officers will be held on December 6th. We had a fantastic year at Gamma Nu and I am proud of the way our members have handled the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of maintaining our community‘s safety. I am looking forward to the coming year and seeing all that Gamma Nu will accomplish.
Gamma Nu supports SOAR, an after-school program dedicated to providing a safe and encouraging environment to the children that attend. SOAR has allowed our members to reach our local community in such an important way. A Gamma Nu alumnae connected our chapter with this organization and our members have built meaningful relationships with the kids at SOAR. We have also found that SOAR is relevant to both our previous Philanthropy of RIF and our current philanthropy of Mental Health Awareness. Through our partnership with SOAR we have seen growth in the children and community by providing a consistent source of support and engagement to the children attending this after school program.
Throughout this year, Gamma Nu partnered with local restaurants to host percentage days, where a portion of the sales made will be donated to Kappa’s philanthropy. In the spring semester, Gamma Nu hosted a book drive for Reading is Fundamental. We also held an event at the chapter house called Kappaccino, where members, students, and people within the community could pay to attend and receive dinner and a cappuccino. Gamma Nu also hosted a Girls Academy day in April. With our transition to Mental Health Awareness, our chapter voted to support the National Eating Disorder Association. In the fall semester, we have continued to hold percentage days and had a similar event to Kappaccino called Kappa Cookout. At this event, we provided burgers, fries, and watermelon to those who bought a ticket. Our chapter is very excited about our shift to Mental Health Awareness, and we look forward to all we will be doing with the National Eating Disorder Association in the future.
Our chapter added a DEI officer for this term as well as created a DEI committee. This officer attended multiple roundtables with other Panhellenic DEI officers and ran programing presentations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This included presentations on heritage months, cultural appropriation, and the importance of DEI in a sorority on a college campus. Gamma Nu‘s public relations officer has also shared multiple resources to our Instagram page for members and followers to see. I believe our chapter is receptive to these initiatives and that we are all excited to continue learning and growing as a chapter.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented the need for many chapter operations to be altered. This year we have adapted many of our typical events to ensure our members were safe throughout this time. In the Spring semester, all our chapter meetings were held online. In addition, our programming was held virtually through Zoom. For events that were held in person, we had members participate in shifts so that the number of people present allowed for social distancing. Our recruitment was permitted to be in person, as were many of our fall events due to a low number of cases in the community. However, Gamma Nu required masks inside the house and held many outside events throughout recruitment. We had Kappa Karnival during work week, where members could get cotton candy, popcorn, and play on a blow-up slide. We also held a sisterhood event at the Drive-In movie theater. The first round of recruitment was held virtually, and all other rounds were in person. However, all members and potential new members had the option to participate online. Initiation was also permitted to be held in person. During Inspiration week we held sisterhood events outside. For example, we had a bonfire at a local house where members could make s'mores and tell stories about their Kappa memories to the new members. For Initiation we also held multiple ceremonies to limit the number of people in the Fireside service and White Room. We had two fireside services and three combined Red Room and White Room ceremonies. I believe our chapter has done a great job navigating this difficult year. We provide a virtual option for our members to attend events like functions and require mask wearing when events are in doors.
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