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Iota
,→Highlights of 2021
|Image= [[File:Iota.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1875|11|13}}
|College= [httphttps://www.depauw.edu/ DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury University]
|Location= Greencastle, IN
|Homepage= [httphttps://chaptersdepauw.kappakappagammakappa.org/iota/ Iota Website]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Iota Media related to Iota Chapter]
}}
'''3,108 126 initiates (as of June 20172018)'''
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==Highlights of 2000-2010==
To continue the work for the 90s the chapter councils of the 00s decided to focus on senior involvement and chapter bonding as their main goals. Senior members in a chapter are the ones who show the younger pledges what being in a sorority is actually like. They are the elders that are looked up by those who are just entering. The Beta Delta chapter realized that if seniors are not involved then a domino effect of younger members wanting to not be involved will follow. To counter attack this effect senior appreciation dinners were held through the years as well as various retreats for the whole chapter. These small changes helped boost morale and spirit for the seniors whom in return helped boost the spirits of the younger classes.
All around campus involvement was still on a high coming into the new decade. With growing pledge classes year after year Kappa continued to be a strong force on the University of Michigan campus. Recruitment continued to help establish strong bonds between actives and drew in many girls wanting to discover what it meant to be a Kappa. With the tragedy of September 11th all of Panhellenic at UofM postponed recruitment that year to allow time for grieving. Beta Delta participated in a campus wide candle vigil before continuing with the recruitment process.
Helping those in need was still in the forefront of the minds of the chapter for the decade. Beta Delta annual partnered up with Phi Kappa Psi to donate toys to underprivileged children during the Christmas holidays. Every year the two chapters would pick a child to buy presents for and, would then invite the child over to the Kappa house for a Christmas party of opening presents. The chapter would also participate in Relay for Life over the years.
The Beta Delta chapter over the ‘00s found the perfect balance of respecting the history and traditions of Kappa Kappa Gamma with the drive and dedication of building a bright future.
The Iota chapter focused on philanthropy work during the 00s. They held one event during each semester to benefit Reading Is Fundamental and local food pantries. In the fall semesters the members put on the Kappa Fashion show, in the later years would be partnered with Rent the Runway to raise money. During the spring semesters a poetry slam was held and hosted by the sisters.
The Iota chapter held themselves to the Kappa standard and work extremely hard to stay a power organization on campus. This hard work did seem to pay off during the 00s as they had more girls become involved and stay involved.
==Highlights of 2011==
Our Founder’s Day Ceremony was lovely, and many alumnus came back to visit for the occasion. Also in October, DePauw has Greek God and Goddess dance competition. Greek Week is a week full of fun Greek Unity events, concluding with a dance performance by each Greek house! Just like Derby Days, Kappa won! We must have some phenomenal dancers and choreographers in our house!
In November, we elected our Nomination Committee and slated new Chapter Counsil Council members. We also had a training day put on by out VPO, it went very well and we leaned how to communicate better with each other.
Later in November, we had our informal at Dave and Busters and it was pajama themed. It went well and everybody had a good time wining tickets and prizes.
We raise money for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, RIF, and Reading is Key, to help local school children learn to read and support this process by giving books and having pen pals.
==Highlights of 2017==
We began our year strongly with a new member pledge class of 24 members. We then received 3 open bids! We conducted our formal pledging and our new members began their new member education training. Big little reveal was March 6th, and we added to our families! Our new members were initiated on March 18th with a successful inspiration week. We had blue and blue dinner and our new members got their paddles!
In April, we had formal on a rooftop venue in Indianapolis. The following weekend we had our mom's weekend! We had lunch and crafts on Saturday and a brunch for our moms and guests on Sunday. The last weekend of April every year our school hosts Little 5, a bike race meant to resemble the Indianapolis 500. We had 5 women represent Kappa in the race. We also hosted our philanthropy event this weekend, Kappa Cakes! The morning of the race we prepare and sell pancakes to everyone on campus. We paired with Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority to have a very successful event for both of our chapters.
In August we welcomed everyone back to campus, and our new pledge class moved into their first semester living in our chapter house. We started classes on August 23rd. Anna Nagy, a sophomore, represented Iota at the Kappa Leadership Conference September 14th-17th. She loved her experience and met lots of Kappas from all over the country. On September 17th we took an all-Greek photo with all of the Greek chapters at DePauw. On September 23rd our chapter participated in Greek God and Goddess, an event in which each chapter choreographs a dance and competes to win. This year, chapters joined together to compete. That same weekend was also DePauw's family weekend! Everyone went out to see our Tigers play some football.
In October, we painted pumpkins as a sisterhood event! Our house mom, Mom Sue, and house dog, Prince Harry, chose the winners. On October 7th we invited our dads to campus for our dad's weekend! It was the weekend of our Old Gold football game, which is our alumni weekend. We loved spending time with recent Kappa graduates and our dads and families! On November 11th the Tigers played in our Monon classic against Wabash College. The 124-year old tradition brings alumni and families back to campus to watch the football classic. We finished off the semester strong and all headed home for winter break.
==Highlights of 2018==
This year was full of awards. Spring semester 2018, we awarded the Sally Sommer Flynn Scholarship to Mackenzie Jones '18. We also won an Order of Omega award from Panhellenic on campus. We threw a philanthropy event in coordination with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in the spring semester and raised over $800. In the fall semester 2018, we threw 2 philanthropy events, Kappa Kappa Guacamole and Kappacino for Reading is Fundamental. We also participated in the Day of the Girl with our Panhellenic council members to create sheet signs to bring awareness to sexual assault and harassment.
==Highlights of 2020==
Spring initiation was held virtually last school year. DePauw was sent home before Spring break, so the Iota chapter had to initiate our 22 new members virtually. This initiation included our entire new member class, as well as our marshal, new member chair, and president. This initiation was planned by ritual advisors. Fall recruitment was held virtually over zoom this year. Our chapter received one new member from fall recruitment. She was initiated virtually with our new member chair, president, and marshal. Two other Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters participated in the initiation, as well as our ritual specialist. Our bid night celebration, big little reveal, and blue and blue dinner were combined into one evening. We celebrated on our porch following COVID-19 guidelines. We dressed up and decorated the porch to welcome our newly initiated member! Our chapter has also continued to contribute to our philanthropy during this pandemic. We collected children’s books and wrote short letters in them. We distributed these books to a local elementary school in Greencastle, Indiana.
We have continued to have chapters every Monday, but all of our chapter meetings have been virtual. This includes formal chapters. We have been asking members to wear formal clothes and have cameras on during formal chapters, as we have continued to include ritual in these meetings. We have also continued to have CC meetings every Sunday evening, but these are also virtual.
Chapter Philanthropy. What organization does the chapter support?
This chapter supports reading is fundamental.
Why did the chapter choose this organization?
Reading is fundamental helps kids discover the joy of reading and books. Twenty-five million children in the U.S. cannot read proficiently. Without a strong start, children will fall behind in school, struggle to graduate and cannot thrive as members of the workforce. Kappas want to make a difference and set children on a path of growth and opportunity.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We have a multicultural chair and an education chair at Iota. These positions have incorporated many diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives into our programming chapters this year. We have had a programming chapter on being an ally. This programming chapter focused on how to be an ally and was led by our multicultural chair and education chair. We have also had a programming chapter on understanding microaggressions. This programming chapter focused on understanding white privilege, tokenism, and microaggressions. This discussion was led by our multicultural chair, along with several sophomores. It was excellent to see the youngest members of our house leading a programming chapter on DEI.
Sesquicentennial Celebration
How did your chapter celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary? Share what you have done this year.
We celebrated during an informal chapter on the week of Kappa’s 150th anniversary. This was a virtual event. Our education chair read about Kappa history and members of CC participated in reading poems or other readings. Our education chair also shared photos from Iota chapter history. These pictures were of women in the Iota chapter and many were taken in rooms or throughout the house.
Photographs
Are there any interesting photos from this year to share? e.g., screenshots of virtual meetings, pictures of chapter events that followed all public health guidelines (mask wearing, physical distancing, etc), pictures of masks, drive-thru bid days, etc.
1st photo: A picture of our KKG masks given to all chapter members by alumni.
2nd photo: A picture of a panhellenic philanthropy event. Members from each panhellenic chapter joined a zoom call to celebrate halloween with elementary school students.
3rd photo: A picture that was shared with the chapter in celebration of kappas 150th anniversary.
4th photo: Socially distant and mask wearing pumpkin painting sisterhood event.
[[File:Depauw 1.JPG|thumb|DePauw 1]]
[[File:Depauw 2.jpg|thumb|DePauw 2]]
[[File:Depauw 3.jpg|thumb|DePauw 3]]
[[File:Depauw 4.JPG|thumb|DePauw 4]]
==Highlights of 2021==
We started off this year with virtual recruitment, leading to the eventual initiation of fifteen new
members. Following the process of recruitment, we were able to organize a fun virtual bid night
for all of the new members involving trivia and bonding games where new members and active
members were able to get to know each other better. We were able to hold a virtual initiation as
well and a virtual pinning ceremony. As the year progressed, we were also able to have a
couple of philanthropy events, which included donating dog toys to the local animal shelter,
signing and then donating books to the local elementary school, and completing individual acts
of service in the winter as well as having a fundraising event in the fall where we had games,
food, and a dunk tank. We also awarded the Sally Summer Flynn award to a member of the
2021 senior class that the chapter voted on as a whole. As for goals that the chapter had, one
main goal was to resume in-person chapter and committee meetings as well as have the
opportunity to have an in-person recruitment and initiation process. We have been able to start
having in-person chapter and committee meetings and we plan to have an in-person recruitment
and initiation process in the spring.
Chapter Philanthropy
Our philanthropy supports the organization of Mental Health Alliance. We support this
organization because we felt it was very applicable and relevant in the everyday life of our
members and was most strongly favored when voting on which philanthropy our chapter wanted
to support.
At the beginning of the fall semester we held a fundraising event to raise money for our
organization in which we had food, games, and allowed students on campus to dunk our
members in a dunk tank for donations.
We included diversity, equity, and inclusion in our chapter programming by having special
guests come to talk during programming chapters on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We also held virtual meetings where we watched educational films surrounding diversity, equity,
and inclusion and afterward held a discussion to debrief the film.
During the pandemic, we held virtual recruitment and initiation over zoom. We did recruitment
like usual with bump groups and one-on-one conversation with PNMs using break out rooms.
We also had virtual chapter and committee meetings until this fall semester when we resumed
in-person meetings. We also had virtual activity nights and general chapter meetings to help
reconnect with members not on campus or members not living in the house as social gatherings
in the house were not permitted at the time.