Changes
→Highlights of 2014
We hold chapter meetings in our chapter house on the North edge of campus, owned by our chapter. The chapter-owned house we currently have was built in 2008. It is the second house in our chapter's history. It houses 40 of our Kappa sisters, mainly upperclassmen and we are so lucky to have the wonderful Jill Rusher as our house mother. We are thankful to our Alum and House Board for helping our incredible in-house experience run smoothly.
==Highlights of 2015==
2015 was a great year for the Gamma Phi Chapter at SMU. This year, our chapter saw incredible academic performance improvement, successful new social activities, and a remarkable Recruitment. In the spring, we gained 58 new members. We enjoyed a fun-filled and celebrated Bid Day in January and officially initiated our new members on March 21, 2015. The week of February 22nd, we enjoyed a week-long visit from our leadership consultant and learned of ways we can improve our chapter and heard of things we were doing well. On March 30th, we had our first Easter event with the Wesley-Rankin after school program with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha. We had an Easter egg hunt, played games, and had a cookout for the kids, and it was a tremendous success. We had another successful Monmouth formal with Pi Beta Phi on April 18th and enjoyed the traditional formal that is a rich part of our history. This fall, we had many new and exciting changes and activities at the Gamma Phi Chapter. We continued our tradition last year of having “Brunch with the Boys” where one Friday a month we invited a different fraternity to have brunch with us at the house. A new tradition that we have not practiced in over 10 years was a candlelight celebration during which we celebrated one of our senior members who got engaged in June. In October we also participated in a Halloween service event at Wesley-Rankin’s after school program again with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha. We played games, spent time with the kids, helped them with homework, and ate LOTS of candy! November was an incredibly busy month for the Gamma Phi chapter. For the first time ever, the entire Gamma Phi chapter celebrated the 145th Founders Day with the Kappa Dallas Alumnae Association at the Dallas Country Club. We were honored to be included in the celebration and meet Kappas who have been dedicated to our chapter for many years. On November 15th, we had our second annual Holiday Bazaar to raise money for Reading is Fundamental and enjoyed huge success with the event. The Akola Project, the non-profit philanthropy that our chapter always supports, was also in attendance at the bazaar and sold a great amount of jewelry to help raise additional funds for their causes. On November 22nd, we hosted our second annual Kappa Kappa Gameday event in which we celebrated the start of the SMU basketball season with a gathering outside of the gymnasium. We are incredibly proud of the success our chapter has had this year and look forward to an outstanding 2016.
This year, Southern Methodist University finished its four-year long centennial celebration. Panhellenic had the most number of girls ever sign up for rush with numbers topping 600 girls. This allowed the Gamma Phi chapter to welcome a higher than usual new members to our 2015 pledge class. The Gamma Phi chapter continues to strive for excellence and improvement creating a sense of drive and determination throughout our chapter. Our chapter's outlook on the 2016 Gamma Phi year is hopeful and ambitious as we continue our tradition of excellence in leadership, campus involvement, academics, and sisterhood
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
We traditionally raise money for Reading is Fundamental and our local chapter philanthropy, the Akola Project. For service hours, we have become very involved in the local Wesley-Rankin after school program over the last several years.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Reading is Fundamental is our national philanthropy and one that the Gamma Phi chapter holds dear. We are fortunate to attend such an outstanding university and wish to promote the love for learning and reading by hosting book drives and raising money for RIF. The Akola Project was started by a Gamma Phi alum and seeks to promote female empowerment and business leadership in impoverished countries such as Uganda through its jewelry business. We believe in our alums and providing a helping hand to women who seek to empower their communities in places that usually do not value women or see them as world changers. The Wesley-Rankin after school program aligns with our mission of spreading the love for reading and learning is working to make a impact on the youth of south Dallas. We have loved the kids we mentor, tutor, and love on their and hope to continue our partnership going forward.
