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Highlights of 2021
Sesquicentennial Celebration: The chapter has begun to celebrate Kappa's 150th anniversary by beginning to talk about the donation we will be donating to honor the anniversary.
This year was like no other for Zeta Omicron chapter at the University of Richmond. On January 11th, 2020 we started our formal spring recruitment and we were able to welcome 30 amazing girls into our chapter! During this week, we not only enjoyed meeting our potential new members, but also welcoming back our members in the class of 2021 as they returned from their study abroad programs.
March came and all of our lives were flipped upside down by COVID-19. Not only were classes moved online completely, but we were not able to do any of our chapter meetings in person. Zoom chapter meetings continued throughout the semester, but all felt a piece of Kappa missing from our hearts. Our campus initiations traditions did not happen, however our initiation was beautifully conducted over zoom. Throughout the semester we did not let the pandemic negatively affect the bonds of sisterhood. We held regular zoom meetings, organized zoom workout classes, and created a book/movie google doc to share our favorite "quarantine finds".
This summer was not only unique because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the racial climate in the United States. We held conversations about racisms racism and exclusion to the chapter and gave all our members a safe space to discuss their thoughts on the unjust killings of black people across America , worries about the future, and brainstorm ideas as to how we could foster a more inclusive atmosphere at the University of Richmond. Soon after, an Instagram page surfaced called "Abolish Greek Life" which encouraged all
Greek members to disaffiliate from their respective sororities and fraternities. The overwhelming majority of our members decided to stay, and a diversity and inclusion leadership team was created as a result. They worked tirelessly to organize conversations, book clubs, and offer educational resources to our sisters. We are confident that we will come out of this stronger, more educated, and more socially responsible women.
We were lucky enough to come back to campus in the fall. Although we could not meet as a big group, members still managed to see each other while maintaining social distance. This year we were sadly not able to host our usual fall philanthropy, Kappa Kourtside, but we were still able to raise $710. We donated this money to three different organizations: Higher Achievement Richmond, Operation Smile, and RIF. We feel very proud of donating to Higher Achievement Richmond and Operation Smile because they are charities which are very close to our sisters' hearts. One of our sisters co-foundedOperationSmile founded OperationSmile club at Richmond this year. We are so proud of our community contributions as members of Kappa.
In mid October, we celebrated the 150th anniversary by watching the Founders Day video asynchronously. We all thought it was really well done and enjoyed reflecting on our love and appreciation for Kappa at the following chapter. After Thanksgiving break, we did not return on campus to school and continued online classes from home. We decided to have transitions a little earlier this year, which was very successful The current CC is very confident in the chapters' choice of new executive members. They are all very passionate about Kappa and the success pf our chapter as a whole.
This year tested our resilience as a chapter in many ways. However the bond of sisterhood has the power to keep Kappas together in the faces of extreme adversity. As the vaccine gets distributed hopefully normalcy will resume. We cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for us because there is only going up from here!
Highlights of 2021
This year has been very interesting especially due to the limitations that Covid-19 has placed on us. At the University of
Richmond, we had very tight restrictions and could not use our cottage or meet in person.
Additionally at the University of Richmond we were experiencing a lot of push back with the abolish
Greek life movement on campus, delaying our already modified recruitment. Although we did
experience two losses to the chapter due to the movement, we have created a Diversity Equity and
Inclusion committee that are charged with educating the chapter and ensuring that all of our actions
moving forward are committed to preserving equity. We also were able to change our legacy policy
during recruitment, making it a fairer process. Recruitment was also changed due to the abolish
movement, with coordination from all chapters. The first two rounds were double blind, meaning that
neither the PNM or the women could see each other, creating a focus on conversation not superficial
things. This was very beneficial for our chapter, and we were able to get a pledge class of thirty-four
amazing women. Although their initiation process was virtual, we were able to make it as special as
possible, having many Kappa family members participate from all over the country. Currently in the
fall semester of 2021 a lot of our junior women are abroad and having an amazing time. We have
been able to have in person events finally and have been able to continue with some of our greatest
traditions. We had our annual Kappa Kourtside, a tennis doubles tournament for our philanthropy.
Our sophomore pledge class was able to participate in another chapters Lip Sync event, allowing
them to have amazing bonding time. Finally, we were able to have a social on November 11 th which
was a great opportunity for the whole chapter to gather.
This year Kappa Kappa Gamma changed philanthropies from Reading is Fundamental to support various mental health awareness
organizations to become leaders in recognizing the mental health crisis. This year we supported KKG
foundation and the National Alliance on Mental Health Partners. We chose to support the National
Alliance on Mental Health Partners because they prioritize normalizing struggling with mental health
and creating a community that is caring for all. We feel that this organization is very effective and
does great work helping people with mental illnesses.
How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy? This year we were able to hold our annual
Kappa Kourtside event where people donate to play in a tennis doubles competition. Leading up to
this event we were able to hold fundraisers on Instagram; and through the donations of players and
spectators we were able to raise $2,409.70! $602.25 went to the KKG Foundation and $1,807.45 went
to the National Alliance on Mental Health Partners.
Due to the University of Richmond’s tight restrictions during the early months of 2021, wewere unable to meet in person. We had zoom chapters every Sunday and had a virtual initiation. This---------------was very disappointing as the Senior class is the only class that has been able to experience all of'''Note these amazing traditions in person. We all pitched in and tried to Chapter Registrar:''' have as many bonding experiencesover Zoom as possible. As vaccines were mandatory at the University of Richmond and cases beganPlease refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues go down in the fall of ''The Key'' 2021, we were finally to fill meet in any gaps person and have formal chapter in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not completecorrect way, please research your university library, campus newspaper as well as have all of the events that we know and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board memberslove, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistanceas I mentioned earlier. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!