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Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
As UCLA students, our Gamma Xi members know how important it is to take advantage of every academic opportunity and to help others in need. By donating to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, we believe we are positively contributing to society by providing children with books and opportunities to be inspired by higher education. We especially try to carry and present ourselves as potential role models to those around us. During A Day in the Life, our hearts are filled with joy and warmth as we watch the kids of Brockton Elementary and 122nd Street giggle and run around our campus as excited and potential future Bruins. Our members not only want to give them an unforgettable experience on our campus, but to also inspire them to want to prioritize academics and show them that hard work pays off. Our other philanthropy is Kappa Krismukah, where we invite our friends over to celebrate the holiday season! We have a great time at this event, and our activities include caroling, a photo booth, and decorating cookies, while raising money at the same time!
==Highlights of 2017==
The 2017 school year began with a triplet meeting for the newly appointed officers of the Gamma Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UCLA. We proudly welcomed our newly elected members as followed; Ali Cazel as President, Kylie McDougall as VPS, Katrina Fendrych as VPO, Lexie Geich as VPAE, Courtney Clement as Treasurer, Jacqueline Siegfried as Recording Secretary, Haley Gamboa as Corresponding Secretary, Allison Picchini as Registrar, Isabelle Hansen as Marshall, Montana Dunn as Philanthropy Chairman, Aliana Gungor as House Manager, Joy Van Hasselt as Risk Manager, Emily Gray as Event Chairman, Nathelie Tucker as Education Chairman, Megan Larratt as New Member Chairman, Daphne Janes Membership Chairman, Amanda Cohn as Panhellennic Delegate, and Katrina Froelich as Public Relations Chairman. Chapter Council then appointed assistants as followed; Remy O’Donnell as Assistant Membership Chairman, Julia Gierasimov as Assistant Treasurer, Hannah Sofield as Assistant Event Chairman, and Alison Schwartz as Assistant New Member Chairman. The new chapter council members prepared for their positions while our Gamma Xi Advisor Barbara Wright guided them.
Winter quarter continued with a ton of participation in sorority and fraternity philanthropies across the row as well as UCLA’s annual Greek Week where we represented Team Blue. Multiple Kappa’s partook in ZBT’s “Miss ZBT” and Triangle’s archery dodge ball. Chapter council used this time to settle into their positions and bond as leaders of the house.
Spring Quarter never fails to always be an exciting time in our chapter. We started out by having many Kappas participate in the Pediatric Aids Coalition where they danced for 26 hours straight in Pauley Pavilion to raise funds and awareness for Pediatric HIV/Aids. Our team danced hours on hours partnering with Sigma Chi. Our sisterhood Chairman Allie Cooke planned many exciting sisterhood events including paintballing, an escape room, and a TV show premiere party with pizza. One Monday night we got a surprise visit from contestants on the Bachelorette!
Our PR chairman Katrina Froelich exceeded our expectations by planning a beautiful Mom’s Day on a Malibu Wine Safari ride in the mountains where we saw and fed animals with our families. We also participated in many philanthropies including Sigma Chi’s “Derby Days”, Gamma Phi Beta’s “G-Phi Joe,” and Pi Kappa Psi’s “Pie a Pi Kapp.” Additionally, Gamma Xi had the privilege to send Ali, Daphne, Joy, Aliana, Julia, and Alison from our Chapter Council to Kappa Leadership Conference, where they were educated on roles in the house and got to bond with other Kappas from different chapters though out the country. We also got to celebrate five beautiful pinnings, one for Grace Barr (Sigma Chi), one for Valentine Oliver (ZBT), one for Bre Maughan (Beta), one for Isabelle Staff (Sig Ep), and one for Lauren Hallgrimson (Sig Ep). We finished the quarter with a senior sisterhood were Nathelie Tucker planned a send off brunch to celebrate the graduating Class of 2017’s near and dear college days coming to an end.
After an exciting summer of internships, travel, and summer classes, we were back and ready for Kamp Kappa in preparation for fall recruitment. The position of Recording Secretary was passed on from Jacqueline Siegfried to Cecelia Montalvo as she and many other Kappa’s decided to expand their knowledge abroad fall quarter. The position of House Manager was transferred to Maggie Borse. Our newest pledge class moved into the house with many new renovations and our fabulous House Mom, Carolyn Lombardo. Over the summer our House Board updated our kitchen with new floors, tables, wall decorations, and countertops. Our study pit received new floors and our courtyard received new comfortable outdoor furniture. Kamp Kappa was a huge success thanks to our Membership Chairman Daphne and our Assistant Membership Chairman Remy O’Donnell. Within the week of preparation, we filmed our recruitment video, strengthened our sisterhood with an ice cream truck and games at the park, along with focusing our attention on value based recruitment. We successfully added 65 dazzling new members to join our chapter! We welcomed the new members after a long week with an amazing “Kappa Kappa Space Jam” Bid Night planned by Megan Larratt.
Nathelie Tucker planned an exceptional Founder’s Day dinner with blue cupcakes to celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma’s 187th birthday. Presents was an exciting time for our new pledge class and active members as we got to invite our families into Kappa Kappa Gamma and spend time with them over UCLA’s Parent’s Weekend. Within the same weekend, Katrina Froelich planned a fun Dad’s Day event at the Rose Bowl Stadium with burgers and company from Sigma Chi Fraternity. We had a very successful big little reveal week where our families grew even bigger! We also had our “A Day in the Life” philanthropy in which we had over 150 students from Brockton Elementary and 122nd Street come to Campus to learn what it’s like to be a Bruin for the day. Our sister’s read them books, played games with them, and sent them off with backpacks and big smiles on their faces. These children managed to put an even bigger smiles on our faces as we patiently await their arrival next year! Our second philanthropy of the quarter, Kappa Krissmukkah, was a huge success where Montana Dunn added a karaoke contest raising money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. All our friends on campus enjoyed holiday festivities while also helping out by donating cans to the UCLA food cabinet and toys to the fire station. We invited a lovely Leadership Consultant, Megan Duffy, into our home for a week to help strengthen roles in the house and oversee our chapter. We unfortunately finished the quarter in a panicked state of mind as the Skirball Fire came dangerously close to our campus. With the leadership from our President, the support from our members, and UCLA community as a whole, we kept each other safe and successfully finished our finals week strong.
A word to describe Kappa’s nature this year: unity. Our members took every opportunity to positively come together to support each other, support organizations, and support UCLA as a whole. From strengthening our bonds with countless sisterhood events this past year, to standing as one in times of natural disasters, our members continued to express selflessness to others. Through out this year, Gamma Xi has truly realized the strength and power we have as women in today’s society. The only thing better than one woman is a whole chapter of them! Not only do we stand in unity as a chapter, we like to share it with others all over campus. During midterms and finals week we make make good luck baskets, distributing them to other houses. We partake in an event called Kappa Kappucchinos in which we hand out free coffee on Bruinwalk to UCLA students. Our academic achievements within the chapter do not go unnoticed. During our weekly meetings we love to shout-out a KKGenius and a Kappa of the Week to exemplify to our chapter our true ideals. In addition, we also like to shout-out a “Polished Kappa” that has acted with great poise by giving them a nail polish! Last but not least, girls love to “sunshine” each other at the end of meeting with a small note or gift letting them know we appreciate them.
Traditionally we donate to Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. As Gamma Xis and UCLA students in general, we value every opportunity to help others in need. By donating to Reading is Fundamental we believe we are making a positive impact in society by helping provide children with backpacks and books to inspire them to higher education. Not only do we donate money, we want to make a difference by first handedly interacting with children carrying ourselves as role models. We strive to inspire the children showing them that hard work pays off. During our Krismukkah philanthropy, we celebrate the holidays with fun games while raising money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation that continues to support us year to year.
Our chapter of just over 190 meets every Monday night in our Dining Room of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We meet together for a formal dinner where we welcome row walks to inform us on activities in our Greek community as well as the UCLA community as a whole. We then gather for our weekly chapter meeting to discuss chapter news as well as to strengthen our sisterhood bond.
