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'''3.390 ,649 initiates (as of June 20142018)'''
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'''Charter Members:'''
Mabel Edith Gore, Eva Howe, Laura Bell Leach, Sallie Loveland, Evelyn Smith, Bertha Anna Starr, Rose Diana Wagner, Mabel Wemple.
'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''
Jeannette Greever Rustemeyer (Jameson), Director of Philanthropies 1958-1960, Director of Membership 1960-1962; Vicki Whitaker (Henry), Field Secretary 1966-1968; Juliette Ast (Dols), Traveling Consultant 2001-2002
'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''
Virgil Crook Barritt, 1964, Senior preceptor at Institute of Logopedics in Wichita, Kan.; speech and hearing expert; educator; Kay Cronkite Waldo, 1982, human relations/training; Kate Brosnahan Spade, 2004, Handbag and fashion designer, philanthropist;
'''Additional Outstanding Omega Alumnae'''
Rebekah Thompson Eldridge, 1969 Chairman of the Foreign Study-Foreign Student Scholarship Committee; Jeannette Greever Rustemeyer (Jameson), 1970-1974 Chairman of the Finance Committee;
Patsy Piller (Shelton), Graduate Counselor 1945-1946, Heritage Museum Board Chairman 1988-1990;
==Highlights of 2012==
The Omega chapter holds meetings in the new basement room in the house of Kappa Kappa Gamma because it is large enough to fit our entire chapter. The Omega chapter has had sophomores and juniors live in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house together in the past. However, now, because of our growing chapter, all sophomores and about 20 juniors are able to live in the house together. We have 83 spots available in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.
==Highlights of 2015==
Over course of January 1, 2015 through December 15, 2015, the Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was progressive, successful, and involved. The Standards committee continued to implement new ideas. They are continuing the “Kappa of the Week” journal that travels from girl to girl each week. They have office hours directly after chapter. The spring sisterhood event was cookie decorating. This past fall the sisterhood event was gingerbread house making. Both were a great success and enjoyed by all. The event committee planned many successful events including, Kappa Krush, Kappa Phi Delt Wedding, mom’s weekend, Monmouth, dad’s weekend, Prohibition, and Tis the Season. The house manager worked hard with our cook, wait staff, house board, and our new house mom to provide more variety and healthier options to lunches and dinners.
We have had a great year of academics this past fall and spring. In Spring 2015 we got 5th on the hill. The Academic committee implemented new study hours this fall that provide the women with a quite area to study that is monitored and has study snacks. The philanthropy committee created a very successful new event called, Kappa kick-off for Philanthropy. They raised $5,317.65, which will all go to Girl’s Academy, Leadership Retreat for middle-school girls.
Members got involved in community with events like, Natural Ties, Adopt-A-School, Festival of Trees, and Jubilee Café. We had one sister elected on the Panhellenic Executive Board for the position of informal recruitment. There were distinctions in Risk Management and Legal Liability, Member Development and Education, Leadership and Campus Engagement, Community Awareness, and Chapter Management.
Campus: There were many more renovations on Jayhawk Boulevard. The new Business school will be finished by Spring 2016. There is a new dormitory on Daisy Hill. They also just demolished a dormitory on Daisy Hill, which they will make the location into a surface parking lot. This will provide more parking for KU students.
Nature of the Chapter: There were renovations to our first floor restrooms and new hard wood floors were put in on the first floor. Kappa’s at KU continue to stay active and involved on campus. The chapter continues to strive to be leaders in all we do, representing Kappa in all we do. The sisterhood and bond continues to grow and stay strong.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Our Chapter Philanthropy this past fall was “Kappa Kick-off for Philanthropy” on September 23rd. We had a nacho bar sponsored by Burrito King. The philanthropy committee raised $5,317.65, which will all go to Girl’s Academy, Leadership Retreat for middle-school girls. Our chapter Philanthropy this past spring was Reading is Fundamental at Kennedy Elementary School. Our chapter helped the school run a family game night and donated the books we collected at the beginning of the school year. At the beginning of each fall every member of our chapter donates four books that go to local schools for Reading is Fundamental. Members donated hours to community through Natural Ties, Adopt-A-School, Festival of Trees, Jubilee Café, and volunteering at the hospital and on campus.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
Our Chapter chose Girls Academy because it is an awesome retreat for young girls in middles school. Girls, especially teenage girls are prone to low self-esteem. Society puts these ideas into girls’ brains that beauty is the most important thing, making girls feel like they are not good enough. Girls Academy gives young girls the tools they need to have self-confidence and leadership.
==Highlights of 2016==
Over the course of January 1, 2016 through December 15, 2016, the Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was sucessful, involved, and progressive. The Standards committee continued to carry out new ideas. They have continued "Kappa of the Week" journal which is passed on from girl to girl. They have also started "Kappa Kinder" which is also passed on from girl to girl and each girl does a kindess like paying for someones meal behind you in a drivethrough. Directly after chapter they have their office hours.
The event committee planned many successful events including, Prohibition, Kappa Krush, Kappa Phi Delt Wedding, mom's and dad's weekend, Monmouth, and Tis the Seaosn. The house manager and assistant manager worked out a new parking arrangement that is much more organized . Also they are always working with our house mom to keep the house clean and finding ways to improve.
This past fall and spring we have had a good year with acedemics. In the fall we we 7th on the hill but this spring we have made it back up to 4th on the hill. The academic committee has study hours and they now have random prizes for those who have logged the most hours giving girls incentive to study.
The Philanthrophy committee held yet another very successful philanthrophy event called, Kappa kick-off. Overall they rasied $6,158 and all of the proceeds go to Girls Academy, which is a Leadership retreat for middle school girls. Memebers got involved in different organizations like Natural Ties, Adopt-A-School, Jubilee Café, and many more.
Campus: Many new renovations happened on Jayhawk Blvd. The new Business building, Capital Federal, was finshed and now open to the students. They knocked down a dorm up on Daisy Hill to make room for more parking and are still working on it.
Nature of Chapter: This summer Kappa is going to renovate all of the bathrooms on the second and third floor. Also they redid the walls of the dining room during the summer. Kappa is and continues to stay active in the commuinty and on campus. We strive in representing Kappa in everything we do and continue our strong bond of sisterhood.
Our chapter chose Girl's Academy because it is an amazing way to help middle school teenage girl's express themselves freely and gives them an awesome weekend retreat. This retreat gives teenage girl's a way to escape all judgement and to be themselves. Teenage girl's are prone to low self-esteem and by the end of this retreat we want everyone leaving to be confident in themselves in everyway. Girl's Academy gives teenage girls the tools they need to be self-confident and to show leadership.
We meet in a room downstairs in Kappa that we call the Girl Cave. This is also where we hold our study hours.
[[File:Omega chapter room 2016.png|thumb|Omega chapter room]]
==Highlights of 2017:==
Throughout this past year, January 1, 2017 to December 15, 2017, the Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has focused on bettering our rituals, encouraging members to become more involved, and focused on the ideals that are important to us. We had a ritual specialist come to our house and give us some background on exactly where our ritual came from and many important aspects about it. Our Chapter was awarded Chapter of the Year, which was chosen by the Panhellenic association. Our scholarship board continued to give out scholarships to deserving applicants. We have also continuted "Kappa of the Week" which is a tradition we do every Monday at chapter.
Our event chair planned had many successful events this year year, which included Roaring 20s, 'Tis the Season, Maskeyrade, Phi Delt Wedding, Monmouth, and of course Mom's and Dad's Weekend. All live-ins have been very helpful with cleaning, parking, and working with our House Mom. We had a successful initiation filled with lots of joy and excitement. We have maintained our standing as 4th on the Hill for our academics. Our Standards Committee has improved and strived at bettering our Chapter as a whole. We partcipated in Rock Chalk Revue this past March, and we were paired with Phi Delta Theta. Our theme was "Cut It Out" and we received many awards such as Best Leading Actress. Our 3rd annual Nacho Night was a huge success again this year; we raised $6350 and can only hope that the success of this event will increase in the future. Girls also are involved in many other organizations around the Lawrence area, such as Natural Ties, Kennedy Elementary School, Tree Lighting, and other philanthropic events.
Campus: The University of Kansas is always striving to improve their campus. The recently finished Earth, Energy, and Environment building is modern and includes many new lab areas for students to use. They also finished building new dorms on Daisy Hill for additional student living areas. They have also begun building a new Union next to Allen Fieldhouse in order to make it in a more centralized area.
Nature of the Chapter: The bathroom renovations were finished and all live-in members have been very pleased. We also got new Wi-Fi with better connectivity and areas of the parking lot were fixed that were causing issues. Our Academic Committee started a new tradition this past year called a Raffle Drawing. For every "A" on a test or a paper, you get a ticket with your name on it entered into the raffle. Then, a couple times per semester, two names are drawn and the winners receive gifts for their hard work. Kappa has always been a very active part of our campus and we do everything we can to present out Chapter in the best way possible.
This past September we continued with our Nacho Night Kappa Kick-Off Event. Each member was required to sell 6 tickets and we raised $6350 overall, which is over $200 more than the past year.This year we took a different approach and decided to split our proceeds between 4 major philanthropies. We chose the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Research Foundation, Children's Mercy Hospital, Mark Miller Foundation, and the Kappa Foundation. In the spring, our philanthropy was Reading is Fundamental at Kennedy Elementary School. Every girl donated 4 children's books that were given to them at the beginning of this year. This is such a great opportunity to give back to our community and to give kids the opportunity to read.
Our Chapter chose to donate to those 4 organizations because they were all more than deserving of the money and it gave Kappa the opportunity to give back to multiple organizations. The CRPS research foundation is especially important to our chapter because one of our senior's moms suffers from this awful disease, and since there is no cure for it, donating to research for it is an excellent way to help. The other 3 organizations were more than deserving of the donations as well and we took many options into consideration before deciding upon them.
==Highlights of 2018==
Throughout this past year, January 1, 2018 to December 15, 2018, the Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma has focused on bettering our rituals, encouraging members to become more involved, and getting more involved with our philanthropy. We have reeducated members on our ritual and put in a lot of practice to improve our formal chapters. Our scholarship board continued to give out scholarships to deserving applicants. We have also continued "Kappa of the Week" which is a tradition we do every Monday at chapter to recognize and praise each others accomplishments.
Our event chair planned many successful events this year year, which included Roaring 20s, 'Tis the Season, Kappa Krush, Phi Delt Wedding, Monmouth, and of course Mom's and Dad's Weekend. All live-ins have been very helpful with cleaning, parking, and working with our House Mom. We had a successful initiation filled with lots of joy and excitement and we happily welcomed new members. We have maintained our standing as 4th on the Hill for our academics. Our Standards Committee has greatly improved and strived at bettering our Chapter as a whole. We participated in Rock Chalk Revue this past March, and we were paired with Beta Theta Pi. Our theme was “Rock Chalk Rec” and we received awards such as Best Leading Actress. Our 4th annual Nacho Night was a huge success again this year; we raised around $6,500 and can only hope that the success of this event will increase in the future. Girls also are involved in many other organizations around the Lawrence area, such as Natural Ties, Kennedy Elementary School, Tree Lighting, Student Alumni Leadership Board, and other philanthropic events.
[[File:The Girl Cave Omega.png|thumb|The Girl Cave, located in the lower level of the house, is big enough to hold the whole chapter for meetings]]
Kappa’s new house mom has been a great addition to Omega Chapter. She has been very involved to make sure that logistics are running smoothly. The live-ins have bonded and are sad to see their time living in our beautiful Chapter passing by. Omega Kappas have gotten involved on campus and in the community. This year, girls have joined clubs, student groups, and have pursued jobs both on and off of campus. Our Academic Committee continued the tradition this past year called Raffle Drawing. For every "A" on a test or a paper, Kappas got a ticket with their name on it entered into the raffle. Then, a couple times per semester, two names were drawn and the winners received gifts for their hard work. Kappa has always been a very active part of our campus and we do everything we can to present our Chapter in the best way possible.
This past September we continued with our Nacho Night Kappa Kick-Off, raising around $6,500. Each member was required to sell 6 tickets and we raised thousands to donate to the charities that were selected. Our proceeds were divided and sent to 4 charities. A majority of the proceeds went to The Lauren and Kathleen Oliver Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of our sister’s family members. As a Chapter, we were honored that we could donate to help a fund so close to our hearts. The other charities that we divided the proceeds between were Susan G. Komen of Greater Kansas City, supporting The Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. In the spring, we had one philanthropy event for Reading is Fundamental at Kennedy Elementary School. A group of Kappas went to the elementary school to read, make bookmarks, and interact with the kids. At the end of the events the kids got to pick out a book to take home. We carried this into the fall, completing four more similar events. This is such a great opportunity to give back to our community and to give kids the opportunity to read. Our Chapter chose to donate to those 4 organizations because each one has a special meaning to us. The scholarship as well as the Susan G. Komen fund directly affect current Kappas and their families. We are always looking for ways that we can give back to our sisters. The donation to The Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon went to help one of their members recover after a terrible incident. With great importance behind each organization, Kappa members were highly encouraged to raise as many funds as we could to supplement them to our greatest extent.
The Univeristy of Kansas is always striving to improve their campus. The recently finished Earth, Energy, and Environment building is modern and includes many new lab areas for students to use. This building has lots of study space that Kappas used during finals. The athletic department and KU endowment are working together to fundraise for the proposed renovation of the Memorial football stadium. The Burge Union has been completed by Allen Fieldhouse, housing many events and get togethers for student groups across campus. The University of Kansas hired a new head football coach for the upcoming 2019 season, and Douglas Girod has become active on campus as the Chancellor.
==Highlights of 2019==
Three council members attended convention this past year and they brought home various insights and tips that we have implemented into Omega chapter. We celebrated one of our members going to Law school, another getting accepted into detal school, and a third getting accepted into Pharmecy school. Omega chapter is proud of our womens' academic focus and love to celebrate every achievement. One of our members had an article published in the University's newspaper, The University Daily Kansan. Many women have accepted shcolarships through our donors and alumni scholarship committee for their involvement and achievements. Women have also travelled abroad to Italy, the UK, Australia, Austria, and other various countries to widen thier breadth of knowledge. While we miss them here at Omega, we are so proud of thier courage and love to hear about their expereinces!
Over winter break Omega chapter's dining room was renovated. Our members are loving the fresh new room and we are thankful to our House Board! The School of Journalism here at KU went under renovations in 2019. They recently open it up to show off thier improvements. The school now provides many more study spaces for students to work at and a new boradcasting room. Omega women are eager to use these new study spaces on campus. Omega chapter's nature is kind, determined, and fun-loving. Our women are dedicated to their studies and love to be involved on campus, as well as kind-hearted individuals.
We supported the KKG Foundation, LOKO Organization, and Reading is Fundamental. This past year we also supported the Sam Serrano fund. The Omega Chapter chose these orgainzations because we want to help our sisters and we enjoy Kappa's philanthropy, RIF. We donated to the Sam Serrano fund in memoriam of one of our member's sibling. This donation was close to home and affected every chapter member. We are eager to support our sisters in any way that we can.
We held our founders day ceremony at Omega chapter. Alumni's attended the ceremony and we recognized a past chapter president for her dedication and achivements during her time at Omega chapter. Our current members were eager to volunteer to perform the Founder's Day ceremony, and our Kappa Singers performed as well.
The Minnie Stewart Van visited our chapter and our members had a great day exploring it and learning all about Kappa Kappa Gamma's history. The virtual reality provided our members with a deeper appreciation and insight and into Kappa's founding. Our chapter is planning on learning and teaching more about Kappa's history and ritual in 2020.
==Highlights of 2020==
Pre COVID-19, we were able to have our Kappa Krush date party and our scholarship dinner honoring everyone from fall 2019. Once the pandemic hit and we were no longer on campus, we had an “at home” mom’s weekend where everyone enjoyed the extra unplanned time we had with our moms, since we couldn’t all be together in Lawrence. Our Fall Formal Recruitment was all virtual this August and we are so excited to welcome in PC 20 during these crazy times. [[File:Omega Bid day 2020.jpeg|thumb|Omega bid day 2020]] This fall we were able to run safe philanthropy events like a school supplies drive and a few restaurant percentage nights. This year was a strange one, but we tried to make the most of it!
[[File:Omega with masks.jpeg|thumb|Omega with masks]]
[[File:Pref night with masks.jpeg|thumb|Pref night with masks]]
[[File:Omega Zoom meeting.jpeg|thumb|Omega zoom meeting]]
[[File:Omega thank you.jpeg|thumb|Thanking supporters]]
This year we collected and donated school supplies for The Lawrence Schools Foundation. This is a local foundation and we are helping students and teachers in our area. It’s a great organization to work with and see the change we are making in our own community.
We added a DEI officer this year and she is very excited to start working with all of us and bringing new ideas to our chapter. During chapter council and chapter meetings we are all very open about current events in our world and it is always great to hear everyone’s thoughts and have open discussions. Our PR chair was very good at staying updated on topics and keeping all of us aware as well.
We watched the virtual celebration of Kappa’s 150th anniversary. At chapter we talked about how thankful we are for Kappa and the friendships and memories it has given us.
==Highlights of 2021==
==Highlights of 2020s:==
