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From chapter’s History Report: Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:
'''Housing:'''
'''Philanthropy:'''As a chapter, we support various local organizations through the money we raise from Kappa Karnival and Grabba Grabba Donut. Money raised at Kappa Karnival is used to support Kappas National philanthropy, the Kappa Foundation, as well as our local organizations, the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego and Girls’ Academy. Money raised at Grabba Grabba Donut is used to support the Monarch School. In addition, the Zeta Nu chapter supports Horton Elementary school with our philanthropy, reading is fundamental.
'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''This year, our chapter added the Social Justice Chair position to our chapter council. This position was fulfilled by the wonderful Janelle Eley who made it a priority to educate our chapter on current social issues through various presentations throughout the year and during prep for this fall recruitment. Training though these presentations covered topics such as racism, classism, heteronormativity as well as gender identity. In addition to the current social issues, education on UCSDs participation in past racist events like the Compton cookout and the events that followed in Black Winter were stressed.
-----==Highlights of 2021==
'''Note Due to Chapter Registrar:'''COVID, many of our chapter events were held virtually like our Founder’s Day event,recruitment, and our new member classes initiation. However, we are grateful for Kappa’sfocus on our women's health and safety. Despite the event's cancellation, two of our membersreceived awards. This year, Sequoia Arvelo was awarded the Spirit Bowl because she hascontinuously shown the spirit of Kappa and flourishes in every task delegated to her. She workshard in her new role as New Member assistant, a difficult task in person, so even morestrenuous online. Despite the changes, Sequoia kept chapter spirits high and managed to keepthe new members excited for this chapter even in an online setting. Alongside Sequoia, JillianCarter was awarded the Ruth Heinz Memorial scholarship. This past year Jillian served as ourPlease refer chapter President and worked endlessly to your keep this chapter archives including afloat and organized amidst onlinemeetings and in person schooling.For scholarship, our chapter meeting minutes held a cumulative GPA of 3.523 for this past spring term. We arevery proud of our women's achievements this year academically. Valentina Muti served as ourVP Academic Excellence and worked towards creating new ways to keep us on track withschool. With the transition back issues to in-person learning (with some hybrid classes), this has beena difficult time for organizing oneself and maintaining a school life balance. For many of ''ourmembers, it is their first time experiencing in person learning since quarantine, requiring anadjustment period. To help, Valentina arranged study hours within the chapter in our library aswell as providing academic planning for our women who needed some assistance.The Zeta Nu Chapter participated in many philanthropy events in 2021 from the beginning tothe end of the year. Our first events of the year were organized by our Philanthropy Chair,Lauren Himpelmann. Restaurant fundraisers were organized in San Diego to raise money. Theprofits made from the fundraisers were donated to the Monarch School of San Diego in light ofour annual Reading is Key'' event. In the Fall, our biggest philanthropic event of the year, KappaKares, was held for the first time in person. Even with the new philanthropy, Lauren was able to fill put on a great event that raised money for our three philanthropies with the guidance from ourlast phil chair, Jasmine Shafie. She has put in any gaps lots of extra hours to turn the money raised intoself care kits for the children of Preuss School in San Diego. We are so grateful for her hardwork and look forward to seeing her prosper as our chapter President next year. Because of the above historical highlightspandemic, we were unable to hold our beloved Girls’ Academy event last year. If your However, thisupcoming year, Bri Taylor will be coordinating the GIRLS academy event with Preuss Schoo..This past fall, we welcomed the lovely Alpha Tau class into Zeta Nu! Our Membership Chairman,Jasmine Shafie, did a wonderful job of holding virtual recruitment and we were lucky towelcome (class member number) more lovely girls to our chapter. Following Bid Day, our newmembers transitioned into our chapter under the guidance of our New Member Chairman,Robin Suazo, and our Assistant New Member Chairman, Sequoia Arvelo, who both workedtirelessly to ensure that our new members had a smooth transition and successful transition.They both held weekly new member meetings virtually over zoom, helped guide the girlsthrough new member training, and organized the Sapphire process. Our sapphire process thisyear consisted of one active member being paired with one new member every week so thatthe new members could get to know the chapter better, as well as start the big/little pairingprocess. The new members were then initiated virtually on Nov 21, 2021.Chapter PhilanthropyWhat local organization does the chapter support and why?As a chapter archives , we support various local organizations through the money we raise from KappaKares and Grabba Grabba Donut. Money raised at Kappa Kares is used to support Kappa'sNational philanthropy, the Kappa Foundation, as well as our local organizations, the Boys andGirls Club of San Diego and Girls’ Academy. We are not completealso working to raise money to hold ourannual GIRLS academy at the Preuss School. We are so excited to be holding the event thisyear as we were unable to last year due to the pandemic. GIRLS academy will occur in April ofthe next year!.How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy?This year we had a change in our national philanthropy! Because Kappa Headquartersdecided to shift from Reading is Key to a mental health philanthropy, please research our chapter decided onNational Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) to support through our phil, Kappa Kares. Toraise money for NEDA, the Zeta Nu chapter sold clothing, held fundraisers at variousrestaurants, and accepted donations. Kappa Kares lasted for a week this fall. With some ofthe money raised, our chapter made self care kits for the kids at Preuss School. We lookforward to seeing what changes will be made to Kappa Kares next year and hope to be raisingmore money each year!Diversity, Equity, and InclusionHow did your university librarychapter include diversity, equity, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about inclusion (DEI) initiatives in your programming this year? (e.g., adding a DEI officer, philanthropy events, social mediaawareness campaign, chapter training, etc.).The year before this past year, our chapter added the Social Justice Chair position to ourchaptercouncil. Please double check your work This position was fulfilled by the wonderful Janelle Eley who made it apriority to educate our chapter on current social issues through various presentationsthroughout the year and during prep for accuracythis fall recruitment. Contact However, Janelle graduatedand the position was then filled by second year Melody Gentilhomme. These presentationscovered topics such as racism, classism, heteronormativity, gender identity, sexual assault.In addition to the current social issues, education on UCSDs faculty strike was presented tothe chapter. This issue involved ⅓ of the UC faculty that is non-tenured and because of thatreceives significantly low pay, and virtually no job security. To make a living, these professorsmight have to also teach elsewhere which can also negatively impact the student body.Operating in a PandemicDue to the continued risk of COVID-19 as well as UCSD school policy, our chapter Advisory or hascontinued to hold all weekly meetings, recruitment, and initiation virtually through ZOOM inorder to maintain the safety of our members. Luckily, we were able to hold Bid Day andBig/Little reveal outdoors in person! These events were of course followed within COVIDguidelines and all participants were required to have a negative COVID test. Last school year,all sisterhoods and COB were also conducted in a virtual manner. Our lovely House Board membersChairJulianna Sabile organized a virtual yoga sisterhood with our sports chair Vicky Davis, andmany more virtual activities. This past quarter, we also held both virtual and in personsisterhoods. We had a virtual tarot card sisterhood, as well as a cycling class sisterhood inperson, both of which were super fun and successful! For our formal, local Alumnae Association we also followed COVIDguidelines and required all those attending to have a negative COVID test -members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistancethechapter and their dates.
Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy![[File:Zeta nu.jpg|thumb|tarot card club]][[File:Zeta nu2.jpg|thumb|Philanthropy]]
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|Image= [[File:Zeta_Nu.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1985|11|23}}
|College= [httphttps://www.ucsd.edu/ University of California San Diego]
|Location= La Jolla, CA
|Homepage= [httphttps://wwwucsd.wixkappa.comorg/ucsdkappakappagamma/zeta-nu#!__welcome-page Zeta Nu Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Nu Media related to Zeta Nu Chapter]}}
'''University of California, San Diego established in 1960, San Diego California'''
'''1,094 129 initiates (as of June 20172018)'''
Our chapter meets on campus, either in classrooms or the main recreational center on our campus. We usually meet in a large conference style room in UCSD's Rec Center, called Rimac. The Green Room is very accommodating, providing eighty plus chairs for our chapter's use, as well as a projector and screen to show the powerpoint slides our chapter council uses to present important information to the rest of our chapter.
==Highlights of 2017==
[[File:UCSD 2.png|thumb|Zeta Nu Chapter, UCSD]]
2016-2017 have been eventful and successful years for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC San Diego. Our chapter was represented on the Panhellenic council through our very own Sydney Gillen as PHC President, and both Dylan Hutson and Karsyn Stewart on Junior Panhellenic Council. Dylan and our sister Erin Caldwell also served the PHC community as being Rho Gammas during the recruitment process. We are so thrilled that Kappa Kappa Gamma has women who are able to inspire not only those in our chapter, but also those in the greater UCSD community. We have extended our chapter values and have bettered not only our sisters, but our fellow members of Panhellenic as a whole.
For scholarship, our chapter ranked 8th amongst sororities for our overall academic GPA of a 3.278 in the Spring of 2017. Our current Vice President of Academics, Dylan Hutson, has reached many goals and plans that were set in 2016 to raise our academic improvement and promote academic excellence. Such achieved goals include extra Kappa study hours administered with both men and women in other chapters at UCSD. She provided different studying strategies such as the "Quarter at a Glance" planner to our chapter. Dylan also planned fun activities such as Smart Apples in which each chapter member wrote down an academic accomplishment on a piece of paper, she put the papers in a box, a paper was randomly selected, and the winner won a Starbucks gift card. This gave incentive to the whole chapter to achieve academic accomplishments with the hopes of getting a generous prize. Dylan also rented out study rooms and provided snacks and coffee for the chapter during finals week which was extremely helpful and served as a silver lining during a very difficult week.
In terms of traditions, the Zeta Nu chapter prides herself upon hosting sisterhoods which strengthen the bonds between the lovely ladies of our chapter. For instance, in June of 2017 we had a Drive-In Movie sisterhood where all our members went to a local Drive-In to watch the movie Wonderwoman. Not only did we get to bond with our sisters, but we also watched a movie meant to empower women to be the strongest and best they can be. We laughed, cried, and ate popcorn together which made for a simply perfect night. During the Fall of 2017 we had a very fun bid day during which we held a picnic in the park which overlooked the always beautiful city of San Diego. Here we were able to get to know the new pledge class and welcome them into our chapter with open arms. We also had a pumpkin patch sisterhood in older to get into the Autumn spirit. We picked pumpkins, took photos, and had such a fun welcome back activity that allowed us all to catch up and get to know the new pledge class. We also spent countless hours together during Recruitment Workshops and throughout the two weeks we prepared for recruitment and we became closer than ever, which really emphasized our extremely strong sisterhood. Through the many sisterhoods, we feel that our chapter has grown closer and closer, and we look forward to all the sisterhoods to come planned by our newly elected House Chairman, Athena Doshi.
The Zeta Nu philanthropic involvement thrived in 2017 with multiple events and activities due to our Philanthropy Chair, Shreya Sunkara. We started the year by making literacy bags that contained reading materials, toiletry items, and other various objects for local homeless mothers within the San Diego community. This was the first year we made the Reading Bags and it was a huge success. Following our successful Reading Bag campaign came our first annual Grabba Grabba Donut fundraiser. Kappas set up a booth on our campus and sold Krispy Kreme donuts to our fellow UCSD students. With this money we made goody bags with school supplies and books which we gave to local homeless youth during our Reading is Key event. For the biggest event of the year we had our annual Kappa Karnival philanthropy. This event strives to raise money and awareness for the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego, a center for homeless, at-risk, and abused children, by holding a carnival event where fraternities and sororities set up booths and games for the kids of the youth center as well as students on campus to enjoy. We also utilized Money Wars and asked for donations and sponsorships leading up to the event to be donated to the Youth Center. This ended up being one of our most successful events and we raised a substantial amount of money while giving the children a day full of fun and play. The women of our chapter also continued to team up with a fraternity on campus to make pb&j sandwiches for the San Diego Homeless Charter. Other philanthropies our chapter participated in include Lamda Chi Alpha’s watermelon bust, Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, and Kappa Alpha Theta’s Kat at Bat. We can proudly say that we participated in over 20 philanthropies hosted by other chapters. The Zeta Nu chapter continually loves to participate and support all philanthropic events equally by showing up strong and spreading awareness for the respective philanthropic endeavors. We cannot wait for all of the exciting philanthropic achievements to come spearheaded by our new Philanthropy Chair, Caroline Habib. Lastly, we held another GIRLS Academy ran by Erin Caldwell. We are one of the only chapters nationwide to continuously hold a GIRLS Academy and we could not be more proud. It was a fantastic weekend filled with inspirational panel speakers, workshops filled with empowering these young girls, and very many fun activities. We cannot wait to hold yet another GIRLS Academy this upcoming year.
[[File:UCSD 1.png|thumb|Zeta Nu (UCSD) GIRLS Academy 2017]]
Along with the many events throughout the year, some special events were held that further strengthened and empowered Kappa Kappa Gamma at UC San Diego. Throughout the year we had Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion presentations given by our very own Hannah Cho and Sarah Phillips. These gave us insight on how to be competent and inclusive women in our own community as well as in the outer world. The Founder's Day Brunch was a memorable experience where Zeta Nu members were able to meet with alumnae and other current members at the University of San Diego in a Kappa-filled celebration. Our sister Camille Casilang was awarded the Spirit Bowl which is a great honor. Nobody deserved it more than she did this year as she embodies every ideal that a Kappa should have. Leading up to recruitment, we showed our enthusiasm, sisterhood, and school pride as we attended Triton Day, Transfer Triton Day and Meet the Beach, events hosted by UCSD to pass out Go Greek flyers and answer any questions that potential new members have about going Greek. Other events that we had a strong presence at were Summerfest and Fall Ya’ll which are beginning of the year festivities that the entire campus gets to participate in as well. At these events we were able to portray how close of a bond Kappas have and how much we enjoy spending time with one another. We really focused relaying to the potential new members not just what joining Kappa meant for us, but also what joining the greater Panhellenic community meant.
This past fall, we were proud to receive our new Alpha Xi pledge class with very impressive number of 43 new members. In October and November, we transitioned the ladies through our sapphire program and New Member Programming. The Sapphire Program focused on allowing girls to meet and interact with actives while looking for potential Bigs. The New Member Programmings focused on integrating the new members into the chapter and Panhellenic community with Sexual Assault presentations, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion presentations, a “walk the line” activity in addition to all of the presentations guided by headquarters. These were led by our New Member Chairman Francesca Vecere and her assistant, Stefi Guillen. In our endeavors of being an inclusive chapter, we really emphasized to the new members that they did not just join Kappa, but also a greater community. We later had our big little reveal. This included a week leading up to the big event in which Bigs secretly surprised their Littles with gifts, room decorations, and nice letters. When the big night finally came Bigs gave their Littles presents and other treats to welcome them into their families. Each member in the new pledge class was presented with a flower by their Big in front of the chapter and guests at our first formal, "Presents", in mid November. New members strengthened their bonds through a new member sleepover that allowed the girls to get to know one another on a deeper, more personal level which was a pivotal moment in their transition into Kappa Kappa Gamma. The new members are to be initiated in mid January right after Winter break with a week long process. The week starts with our first event and tradition, Blue Light. This night, Bigs present to their Littles a small gift and a nice poem or small speech about how excited they are for their little to be initiated. Then, throughout the week, actives in the chapter will be meeting up and presenting an inspirational letter to at least two new members in order to show the deeper significance of being in Kappa as well as excited them in becoming initiated members. Then the ending of I-week and beginning of initiation is sparked with the Fireside ceremony leading into another sleepover and then the initiation ceremony. Through this process, the new Alpha Mu pledge class will be officially welcomed with much enthusiasm and excitement.
[[File:UCSD 3.png|thumb|UC San Diego, Zeta Nu Chapter]]
In the past year, our chapter had decided to keep the list of goals from the previous year and we strived to achieve all goals in 2017 by being proactive members, showing up promptly and strong to most events which proved successful at Kappa Karnival and through campus involvement. Our Standards Chairman, Jasmine Leja conducted a program in which she presented a Standing Rule and Bylaw of the Week. This allowed the chapter to really see the sometimes obscure rules that our sorority enforces and it subdued any confusion there may be regarding what is expected of the members of this chapter. Transparency was also promoted through open forums where women were able to openly speak about their feelings or ask questions. This year, we are striving even more to uphold chapter-wide goals through the inclusion of the new pledge class so that there is a smooth and seamless transition into creating a very cohesive and team-oriented chapter. We cannot wait to achieve so much more in the upcoming year and we know that new goals will be met in order to better the chapter.
Finally, the year 2017 proved that Kappa can compete with the best as we dominated in ISS sports with many victories as well as amazing fan participation. We are thrilled for more sports opportunities in the future and we know that winning the Sports Banner is in the near future. A tremendous pinnacle in 2017 was when Kappa Kappa Gamma received the Outstanding Chapter of the Year award at the annual Greek Awards Convention on campus. We strive to achieve the same goals this year as seen in our great success through athletic excellence, our incredibly successful Kappa Karnival, and our amazing educational programming. Thus, we hope to be just as successful, if not more, this upcoming year and look forward to what 2018-2019 has in store for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Located in scenic La Jolla just minutes away from the beach, the University of California, San Diego is known as one of the top public research institutions in the nation since its founding in 1960. With over 25,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students, UCSD is ranked the 9th best public university in the country and 37th best overall among the nation's top 50 universities. The Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the eleven Panhellenic sororities at UCSD. With over 120 active members, we are also one of the largest sororities on campus. The members of the Zeta Nu chapter pride themselves in maintaining good relationships with not only the other chapter in the Panhellenic council but with other school affiliated organizations as well. We always strive to support and represent within our chapter, Panhellenic, and
within the campus as a whole.
[[File:UCSD 4.png|thumb|Zeta Nu Chapter 2017]]
Our chapter continually supports and donates to the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego and Kappa Foundation. We host Kappa Karnival in order to donate to this center that helps homeless and at risk youths in the San Diego area. We also pair up with a local elementary school for our Reading is Key event in which we donate books and interact with the children by reading, playing, and crafting with them. We also participate in the Homeless Charter with other fraternities and sororities to make sandwiches for the homeless in our community. Lastly, we are proud to say that we continuously host GIRLS Academy at UCSD’s Preuss School.
We chose these organizations because they are directly related to the community that we are a part of in San Diego. Most importantly, it gives our chapter the opportunity to interact with the children of the
center and make a bigger impact than just writing a check. It allows us to create lasting relationships with the centers and foundations as well as with the victims that are a part of it. By having and fostering this
relationship, it motivates our chapter to work harder to get the best possible outcome. It is such a privilege and an incredible opportunity to meet those we help. Also, there is an added bonus of being able to spread youth literacy amongst the Boys and Girls Club and those who attend Preuss School as well. We will continue to work with these organizations and look forward to what 2018 will bring.
==Highlights of 2018==
This has been a very eventful and developing year for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. After a short hiatus of not being represented on the Panhellenic Council, we will now have Hanna Sahagon serving as Panhellenic President for the 2018-2019 year, alongside Adrianna Abele as Vice President of Service, and Jessyca Beksa as Vice President of Athletics. We also served the PHC community during the recruitment process, as Hui-Sing Leow, Hanna Sahagon, Jasmine Leja, and Sierra Stump took on the role of being Rho Gammas. Each year we have wonderful women from our chapter to step up and help others find their place in the Greek community, and at the end of the process we are more than proud to welcome them back.
At the Panhellenic Scholarship Awards this year, a total of 8 rewards were received by a number of our members, including the Overall Panhellenic Scholar which is only given to one member of the entire PHC Community. At Founder’s Day this year, Anna Corey was awarded the Spirit Bowl and it was well deserved because not only was she serving as our Marshal this term, she truly embodies the spirit of Kappa Kappa Gamma; Dylan Hutson was also awarded the Ruth Heinz Memorial Scholarship. Dylan and our president Hannah Cho attended this years Leadership Convention and our chapter was given the philanthropy award for Reading is Fundamental as well as Honorable Mention for Standards.
In terms of scholarship, our chapter was ranked 1st amongst all the sororities at UC San Diego with an overall academic GPA of 3.425 in the Spring of 2018. Dylan Hutson served another term as our Vice President of Academic Excellence and helped our girls create and achieve academic goals that they had for themselves, as well as goals for the chapter as a whole. We would have regularly scheduled Kappa study hours throughout the quarter, and ended with Kappa Kokoa and Kram to get ready for finals. At the beginning of each quarter, Dylan would pass out a “Quarter at a Glance” for anyone who needed it and highly encouraged it. During our weekly meetings she would also do “Smart Apples” where each member would write a recent academic achievement onto a piece of paper and put it into a box in hopes that she would pick their name, read their achievement to the chapter, and be rewarded with a small prize. In the Fall, she also gave out gifts to the girls who improved their GPA’s from the previous quarter. These are only a few of the ways that Dylan excelled in her position as VPAE and encouraged our chapter to reach the number one academic standing that we are at now.
We continue to carry on several of our traditions to bring our chapter closer. Our House Chair, Adrianna Abele, organized a number of sisterhoods to allow our members to strengthen the bonds we hold with each other. These events included mini golfing, Zumba and Barre classes, and an ice cream social with Tri Delta. We also reunited at the end of summer break for a beautiful beach photoshoot in light of recruitment season coming around the corner, and we were able to display these photos during Sisterhood Night. We also continue to honor the supportive sister of the week where nominations for a supportive sister are sent in and whoever is chosen is presented to the chapter and gets to choose the supportive sister to come after them. The Inspiration Book is another long lasting tradition where an inspirational woman is chosen to receive this book along with the loving message the person who received it before them has written. We hold a lot of passion for each other in this chapter and constantly remind one another how grateful we are for this sisterhood.
The Zeta Nu philanthropic involvement thrived in 2018 with multiple events and activities. Our first events of the year included Grabba Grabba Donut and Reading is Key which were organized by Caroline Habib. We would set up booths on campus and sell donuts to fellow students; and we use this fundraiser to purchase hundreds of books and supplies for Reading is Key to take to the Monarch School of San Diego where we spend the day with local homeless youth. For the biggest event of the year, Dina Blazer conducted our annual Kappa Karnival philanthropy. This event strives to raise money and awareness for our national philanthropy which is Reading is Fundamental, as well as the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Each year we invite the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego and hold this carnival event where fraternities and sororities set up booths and games for the children of the club as well as students on campus to enjoy. We also utilized Money Wars and asked for donations and sponsorships leading up to the event to be donated to said organizations. As always, this ended up being one of our most successful events and we raised a substantial amount of money while giving the children a day full of fun and play. Another event our chapter takes great pride in is Girls’ Academy, which was led by Michaela Juels. This program is near and dear to our heart because we work closely with young girls at the Preuss School and empower them to be the best that they can be and that they have the potential to succeed and never let anything get in their way. We have been approved to host Girls’ Academy again for the third consecutive year in a row and are very much looking forward to it. The women of our chapter also continued to team up with a fraternity on campus to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the San Diego Homeless Charter. Other philanthropies our chapter participated in include Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Sigma Kappa’s SK Best Dance Crew, and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash. We can proudly say that we participated in over 20 philanthropies hosted by other chapters. The Zeta Nu chapter continually loves to participate and support all philanthropic events equally by showing up strong and spreading awareness for the respective philanthropic endeavors. We cannot wait for all of the exciting philanthropic achievements to come spearheaded by our new Philanthropy Chair, Juli Harris.
Along with the many events we hold and participate in on campus, there are a few special events that further strengthened and empowered Kappa Kappa Gamma. Each quarter we have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion presentations which were given by our very own Lauryn Robbins. These gave us insight on how to be competent and inclusive women in our own community as well as in the outside world. Leading up to recruitment, showed our sisterhood and enthusiasm at school events such as Triton Day and Transfer Triton Day which gave us an opportunity to be a resource for potential new members who may have questions about going Greek. We also had a strong presence at Summerfest and Fall Y’all which kick off the school year as a way to bring everyone together. These events gave us a chance to bond more with each other as well as portray how close we were. We really focused relaying to the potential new members not just what joining Kappa meant for us, but also what joining the greater Panhellenic community meant.
This past fall, we welcomed our new Alpha Omicron pledge class which held 37 new members and 7 of which were legacies. In October and November, we transitioned the ladies through our sapphire program and New Member Programming. The sapphiring process allowed them to meet and get to know active members while looking for a potential Big. The weekly New Member Meetings alongside that focused on integrating the new members into the chapter and the Panhellenic Community with Sexual Assault presentations, DEI presentations, and more. This programming was led by our New Member Chairman Shreya Sunkara, and her assistant Lauryn Robbins. The new members were able to strengthen their bonds with each other as well with a sleepover that allowed them to get to know each other on a more personal level which was a pivotal moment in their transition into Kappa Kappa Gamma. The new members are set to be initiated in mid January with a week long process starting with Bluelight, where each Big is able to present a loving letter for their Little, a mid-week sisterhood, and then Fireside leading into the initiation ceremony the following morning. Through this process, the Alpha Omicron pledge class will officially be welcomed with open arms and much excitement.
==Highlights of 2020s:==
2020 was definitely a year of change and growth for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Representing our chapter on Panhellenic Council for the remainder of the 2019-2020 year was Natalia Lodl who served as New Member Organization. In addition to serving on the council, our women also participated in the PHC community as Rho Gammas for this past recruitment in fall. These women included Ashley Cadena and Chloe Hillman. We are so proud of their decision to guide the new members to their now sisters. Our chapter is continuously inspired by our women's dedication to serving now just our chapter but the panhellenic community as a whole. We look forward to seeing all that the new women on PHC will achieve.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s Panhellenic Awards were conducted via Instagram stories. The Zeta Nu chapter was awarded Chapter of the Year for 2020 and our president, Shreya Sunkara, was awarded President of the Year. In addition, our Founder’s Day events were also not held in person due to the pandemic. While this is very unfortunate due to this year being Kappa's 150th anniversary, we are grateful for Kappa’s focus on our women's health and safety. Despite the event's cancellation, two of our members received awards. Like last year, Amarra Olado was awarded the Spirit Bowl because she has continuously shown the spirit of Kappa and flourishes in every task delegated to her. She works hard in her new role as New Member Chairman, a difficult task in person, so even more strenuous online. Despite the changes, Amarra showed grace and managed to keep the new members excited for this chapter even in an online setting. We love Amarra and can't wait to see what she accomplishes as VP Standards this coming year. Alongside Amarra, Dina Blazer was awarded the Ruth Heinz Memorial scholarship. This past year Dina served as our chapter President and worked endlessly to keep this chapter afloat during these changes of the pandemic. Additionally, each year Panhellenic provides New Member Scholarships at the end of formal recruitment. This past fall 2020, we had 3 lovely new members, Maria Ayala, Sandiela Dimatulac, and Nguyen Huynh, who were able to win this award.
For scholarship, our chapter held a cumulative GPA of 3.743 for this past spring term. We are very proud of our women's achievements this year academically. Katy Chambers served as our VP Academic Excellence and worked towards creating new ways to keep us on track with school. With the transition to virtual learning, there was concern for our chapter's mental and physical health which could have impacted some of our women's scholarship. However, Katy worked diligently to ensure each woman felt supported this school year in every aspect of their life. She arranged study hours within the chapter and with other sororities and fraternities as well as providing academic planning for our women who needed some assistance.
This year, our House Chair, Izzy Vismara, worked to strengthen our relationships within our chapter by upholding various chapter traditions and organizing several sisterhoods throughout the year. Due to the transition online, these vents were held strictly over zoom. We had various movie nights as well as cooking workshops led by our president. Because the transition was somewhat rough, we hope to increase our chapters' sisterhoods this upcoming year as we have become more accustomed to the virtual setting.
The Zeta Nu Chapter participated in many philanthropy events in 2020 from the beginning to the end of the year. Our first events of the year, Grabba Grabba Donut and Reading is Key, were organized by our Philanthropy Chair, Jasmine Shafie. Booths were set up on our campus’s main walkway, where our women fundraised and educated fellow UCSD students on the philanthropies we have come to know and love. The profits made from the donuts sold (graciously donated to us from Sidecar Donuts) were used to purchase books and supplies for the Monarch School of San Diego in our annual Reading is Key event, in which we spend the day reading and spending time with the homeless youth of San Diego. However, once Grabba Grabba Donut was over, there was a quick transition to distanced learning and our chapter was unfortunately unable to attend the Reading is Key event. Despite this, the money raised will be donated directly to the Monarch School of San Diego. In the Fall, our biggest philanthropic event of the year, Kappa Karnival, was held virtually. Even with the drastic changes, Jasmine was able to put on a great event that raised money for our three philanthropies. She has put in lots of extra hours to turn the money raised into gift boxes for the children of the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego. We are so grateful for her hard work and look forward to seeing her prosper as Membership chairman. Because of the pandemic, we were unable to hold our beloved Girls’ Academy event this year. We are hopeful for next year's possibilities.
This past fall, we welcomed our Alpha Rho new member class which held 27? new members. Following bid day, which happened to land on the 150th anniversary, our chapter began the process of integrating the new members into our chapter with the guidance of our New Member Chairman, Amarra Olado, and her assistant, Daryl Hutchins. Being virtual, these women had to work extra hard to help form the bonds between the new member class and with the chapter as a whole. They hosted weekly New member meetings and organized our sapphire program in which a new member is paired with an active at an attempt to foster new relationships and create a support system for the new members. Events between the sapphires included frequent facetimes and any other virtual communication. These new members were then initiated on Nov 23rd, following the virtual initiation which combined key events from initiation and fireside.
The Zeta Nu chapter chose these organizations because each one holds a special place in our hearts. Our founders emphasized literacy so it is important to us to continue this value within our philanthropy. We are so thankful for having the privilege of being able to interact with each and every one of these organizations on an intimate level. Our chapter looks forward to seeing the bright faces of the children whose lives we can help impact. However, because of COVID we were only able to see the children at our Kappa Karnival event. Despite this, our chapter's Philanthropy chair made gift boxes to be delivered to the children of The Boys and Girls Club of San Diego with the money raised from Kappa Karnival. In addition, the money raised from this year's Grabba Grabba Donut will be donated to the students at Horton Elementary.
This year for Kappa’s 150th anniversary, Minnie Stuart Van visited a house where a few Kappas live. Many of our members stopped by to see the Van and learn about the history of this sorority. We were so grateful for this special opportunity and the chance to fill closer with our sisters. In addition, ritual presentations were given to the chapter and the newest members that emphasized Kappa's anniversary and its importance. It was very fortunate that our newest pledge class’s bid day happened to land on the 150th anniversary.
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