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|Image= [[File:Zeta_Rho.jpg|200px]]
|Founded= {{start date and years ago|1988|03|19}}
|College= [httphttps://www.colgate.edu/home Colgate University]
|Location= Hamilton, NY
|Homepage= [https://wwwcolgate.facebookkappa.comorg/pages/Colgate-University-Kappa-Kappa-Gamma/186177531413076 Zeta Rho Homepage]|Media= [httphttps://wiki.kappakappagammakkg.org/index.php?title=Category:Zeta_Rho Media related to Zeta Rho Chapter]}}
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'''Zeta Rho, Colgate'''
80 charter members
==History and ColonizationEstablishment==
'''Colgate University (from the Summer 1988 issue of The Key)'''
Colgate University was established in 1817 as the Baptist Education Society of New York. In 1846 it changed its name to Madison University after New York chartered the institution to confer degrees. In 1890 the school was renamed as Colgate in recognition of the 70 years of support and service by members of the Colgate family. The school became co-ed in 1970. The campus is set upon 1,400 acres which rise from the village to a forested hill. At the time Zeta Rho was founded, enrollment was approximately 2,600 students, 60% of whom were Greek. Founded March 19, 1988 as the Fraternity absorbed the members of a local sorority, Delta Sigma Upsilon. Active members from Beta Tau, Delta Delta, Psi, Beta Beta, Delta Alpha and Zeta Beta served as big sisters for the charter class. 3 alumnae of the local were also initiated into KKG during the Installation service held at the Baptist church and presided over by Fraternity President Marian Williams. The festivities continued with a celebration luncheon and a banquet that evening held at the Hall of Presidents. The evening banquet was attended by the Dean of the College and the Assistant Dean of Students and included honoring 3 women with their 50 year pins. Formal pledging was held in the afternoon for the 39 women recruited in February after the colonization service. '''Colonization Establishment and Installation'''
Eighty women were pledged to Zeta Rho colony at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, on November 15, 1987. These women were members of the local Delta Sigma Upsilon, formed on the campus in 1980. The chapter consultant was Lisa Higham, Missouri, and the coordinator for chapter development was Mary Clarke, Colorado College. Kappa’s 117th chapter was installed the weekend of March 18-19, 1988. Marin Laidlow LeFevre, Syracuse, was the local installation chairman. Active members serving as big sisters came from Cornell, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, McGill, Penn State and Lafayette.
==Highlights of the 1990's==
The chapter was still working to improve unity in 1995, which they felt was a challenge in part because they were unhoused. To address this, dinners and other activities were organized to initiate friendships between new members and sisters who were overseas during rush. Also, sisters participated in intramural sports together.
Other challenges facing the chapter included the university initiative that, within 1-2 years, only 250 Colgate students would live off campus. As the majority of Zeta Rho sisters lived off campus, and because the chapter was unhoused, the hunt was on for a campus home for the chapter. Additionally, as many as half of the sisters in the chapter were studying abroad each semester, making chapter unity, recruitment and slating difficult. Zeta Rho was hostess for Alpha Province meeting in 1995 and received the award for Most Improved Chapter
The chapter initiated 38 members in '''1996''', making quota. As in previous years, Zeta Rho continued to be involved in campus athletics year round. Kappa was represented on the 1996 Colgate Crew, Soccer, Tennis, Field Hockey, Swimming and Cross Country teams.
This year Zeta Rho again honored one sister with the Marian LeFevre Key, which is presented each year in honor of the chapter’s long time, and tirelessly devoted, advisor. And at the 1996 Convention, the chapter received an Honorable Mention for Membership.
==Highlights of the 2000's==
Zeta Rho has recently experienced many new changes in leadership of the university as well as changes in chapter leadership. Colgate University’s 16th president has just announced that he will not seek renewal of his contract at the end of the year. Zeta Rho also said goodbye to Fouad Saleet as the Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. Additionally, Zeta Rho has added three new advisors for the risk, house, and VPAE positions.
==Highlights of 2015==
The 2015 calendar year was a memorable one for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Colgate University. We held Kappa Kisses in February to raise money for Birthday Klub, where we throw a party for underprivileged children and children in foster care in Madison County. In the spring, we sponsored a 5K for Alopecia in order to raise money for a cause that is deeply important to Zeta Rho, since one of our sisters was diagnosed with alopecia her freshman year at Colgate. We also hosted Professor’s Tea, which brought all of our favorite faculty members to the house. Lastly, our President, Vice President of the Organization, and our Recruitment Chairman all attended the Province Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. They had the opportunity to connect with Kappas from many other universities, as well as dedicated alumnae. Upon graduation, we learned that our former chapter President, Katharine Latta, was selected as a Leadership Consultant. We are
so proud of her!
Fall recruitment brought in 65 intelligent, caring, and involved new women to our chapter. A great deal of organization, patience, and commitment allowed recruitment to be successful. We owe it all to our one recruitment chair, who took on the responsibility that was previously delegated among four women. We also very much enjoyed a visit from our LC, Hailey, who ensured that the four days ran smoothly. All the sister of Zeta Rho had smiles on their faces throughout recruitment and we loved showing our sisterhood to potential new members. After bid day, events such as apple picking allowed the new and old sisters to really get to know each other.
Zeta Rho’s fall has been packed. We kicked off our first ever September semi-formal called Kappa Keys to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather. We had Professor’s Tea again and enjoyed hanging with our professors outside of the classroom setting. We celebrated Founder’s Day in October, and were reminded of the strong women who founded our incredible organization. We also hosted our Advisory Board for a weekend and a Kappa Trainer to learn more about Risk Management.
In terms of Philanthropy, we are proud to announce that we received the award for the best philanthropic collaboration for our fundraising efforts for the Make a Wish foundation. We collaborated with Beta Theta Pi, and are honored and excited to have received this award given by Colgate University. In October we held the annual Kappa Kickball event to raise money for Colleges Against Cancer. We also partnered with local clothing store Steph and local restaurant N13 to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. Since the holiday season is just around the corner, we just sent a holiday package to a Kappa alumnae in need through the Rose McGill Holiday Program. Lastly, Delta Delta Delta held a gala to raise money for lymphoma, as a sister of the chapter was recently diagnosed. Zeta Rho as well as other chapters on campus chose to help with the event and are excited by the Greek community coming together for a member of its own.
This has been a packed year for our chapter and we are looking forward to see what 2016 has in store!
2015 has been eventful for Colgate. The administration has been very much in a period of transition, with our former President Jeff Herbst stepping down. For the academic year, an interim president has been leading the administration. Zeta Rho is very much looking forward to the presidency of Brian Casey, who will move to Hamilton and begin his presidency in July. Mr. Casey comes from DePauw University and a few members of our chapter have had the opportunity to meet him. We believe he will be an incredibly positive presence on campus. Part of the reason we are looking forward to Mr. Casey’s arrival is due to the tension on campus between Greek Organizations and the administration. It feels as though the current Colgate administration does not value Greek Life as part of the Colgate community. However, Mr. Casey is a strong proponent of Greek Life on campus and we are hoping that our Zeta Rho will be more embraced during Mr. Casey’s presidency.
Recently, the sexual climate on campus has been the focus of discussion. In November, students expressed their frustration with the administration’s lack of transparency regarding the discussion of sexual violence on campus. Student outrage was a result of the administration’s release of data that indicated an alarming number of cases of sexual violence taking place on campus. Students responded to this alarming data by organizing a protest and a forum in which personal stories were shared. Also, a mission statement with a list of grievances was sent to the administration. We are proud to say that sisters of Zeta Rho were not only at the protest and forum, but were actively sharing their stories and opinions. Although this issue is one that has plagued our campus, the sisters of Zeta Rho have been instrumental in increasing awareness and showing solidarity.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in
your community?
Zeta Rho has traditionally been very involved with Reading is Fundamental, the Rose McGill Holiday Sharing Program, the American Cancer Society, and the Alopecia Areata Foundation.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
We chose to support Reading is Fundamental because it is the Fraternity’s selected philanthropy. We believe the cause is a worthwhile one, as it helps promote literacy for underprivileged children. The women of Zeta Rho are fortunate enough to receive a world-class education, and believe it is important to promote education among children. Rose McGill is also a Fraternity selected philanthropy, and we have chosen to support this cause because it directly impacts Kappa alumnae in need. The American Cancer Society has been important to our chapter, as cancer has touched the lives of many of our sisters. Lastly, the Alopecia Areata Foundation is close to our hearts. One of our sisters has this condition and she has been incredible about raising awareness. We are impressed with her strength and feel that this cause is special to Zeta Rho.
==Highlights of 2016==
Zeta Rho had a wonderful year. We had successful philanthropy events (Kappa Kisses and Kappa Kickball) and raised money for various organizations such as: KKG Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, and Hamilton Public Library. We had members participate in amazing summer internships like working with "The Today Show." We had members attend Kappa Convention in San Diego and they had a great time. We co-sponsored a charity event (Cinderella 's Closet) with Gamma Phi Beta. We had 6 Kappa women achieve 4.0s in the fall semester. We also had a member participate in the NYC Marathon! All in all, we had a great year.
Colgate is trying to make campus more inclusive. In keeping with Colgate's goal we are helping aid Colgate. We participate in school wide panels to promote Greek Life. As a chapter we make sure the girls within the chapter feel included with every event that we participate in. Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, Hamilton Public Library.
==Highlights of 2017==
in 2017 Zeta Rho had a wonderful year. We had successful philanthropy events (Kappa Kisses and Kappa Kickball) and raised money for various organizations such as: KKG Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, and Hamilton Public Library. We co-sponsored the Men's Soccer Down Syndrome Awareness game and participated in the half-time shoot out.We had members participate in amazing summer internships like working at Warner Bros., Alpha Sights, and non-profits. We had members attend Kappa Leadership Conference in Pittsburgh and we had one member attend a Leadership Academy in Ohio. We had 3 Kappa women achieve 4.0s in the spring semester.We also had members member participate in the NYC Marathon! To top it all off we had great visits from all the LCs that came and from Beth Black. All in all, we had a great year!
We participate in school wide panels to promote Greek Life. As a chapter we make sure the girls within the chapter feel included with every event that we participate in. With the recent sexual assault cases coming to light Kappa Kappa Gamma has been making sure that our sisters feel safe and comfortable on campus. Colgate's Student Government Association (SGA) is working on creating changes to the campus and we have active members in Kappa who sit on SGA to make sure our voices are being heard at those close door meetings.
==Highlights of 2018==
This past calendar year has been very eventful for Colgate's Zeta Rho Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The VP of Academic Excellence awarded 8 sisters 4.0 awards last Spring to reward their hard work and dedication the previous Fall Semester. We are still working with our administration to release the GPA's from the Spring Semester so those women will also be rewarded for their high achievement. Last spring we sent about 16 sisters abroad, and this semester an outstanding 31! Each semester, the VP of Academic Excellence also plans an event called Professor's Tea, where we invite Professors to learn more about the women in our organization; this semester we joined forces with the other Sororities on campus and hosted an joint event. Last semester we had the incredible opportunity as a chapter to assist with Binghamton's initiation and chapter installation, it was a truly rewarding experience. Our calendar year has also been filled with numerous Philanthropy events such as, Kappa Kisses (where we sell chocolate kisses), Birthday Klub (that we host for children in the surrounding community), Parent's Night Out (where we volunteer to babysit Professors' children), and Kappa Kickball. Last semester we were challenged to develop a more robust Risk Plan following our University Action Status. Through the continuous help and support of our Kappa Advisors, we are in very good standing with the administration and better prepared in the future with our newly develop Risk Plan. We have recently elected a new Chapter Council and are excited to help them transition into their new roles! One of our chapter goals over this past year have been to foster a stronger relationship with Colgate's Administration; in an effort to accomplish this we have invited several Deans, and the University President, to dinner with the chapter council in order to foster a strong relationship. Another one of our goals, is to promote and increase the number of Sisterhood events to build an even stronger sense of belonging amongst sisters. This is just a snapshot of what the year of Zeta Rho has looked like over the past year.
==Highlights of 2019==
2019 has been a very successful year for the Zeta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
One of our main philanthropy events, Kappa Kisses, was hosted in February of 2019, in which we sell chocolate kisses and people can anonymously send chocolate kisses to someone else.
Our calendar was full of fun events that our chapter sponsors, such as Birthday Klub, where we open our house to local children for fun and games, and Kappa Kickball, in which teams from groups across campus will sign up to be a part of our kickball tournament. In both the fall and the spring, we hosted Professor's Tea, as a way to foster a strong relationship between the Zeta Rho chapter and our campus' professors, organized by our VP of Academic Excellence.
We had 18 members with 4.0 GPAs during the spring semester of 2019, all of which were recognized for their hard work and dedication. In addition, we won the Broad Street Challenge for the second year in a row, in which we have the most members of the President's Club out of the Greek life organizations on campus. Our philanthropy has raised a significant amount of money over the past year for Reading is Fundamental, and we are very excited to continue this trend.
In the past year, Colgate's new dean of students, Dean Flores Mills, has made a significant effort reaching out to greek houses on campus. We welcomed her into our home to bridge the gap between the Colgate administration and greek life. In addition, our Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Advising, Tristan Hilpert, resigned from his position this past fall. Our chapter has been adjusting to this change, since we've had to connect with different parts of the staff within the Colgate administration.
We celebrated Founders Day by opening up our chapter's archives for people to look through and understand our history through a slideshow. In addition, we had lots of blue snacks and candy to celebrate Kappa Kappa Gamma's colors.
==Highlights of 2020==
The chapter is very proud of how it adapted to the pandemic in 2020, even as it still made great strides together. For the entire semester most of the sisters were on campus at Colgate; however, we never could meet all together. We led everything virtually for the most part, including a virtual recruitment process and initiation. Our recruitment process gave us a pledge class we love and our initiation was with around 200 people, including advisers and alumnae on Zoom.
Following Covid-19 guidelines we had pumpkin carving and tye dying on Kappa’s front lawn in shifts. We focused on Kappa’s ritual and shared that via Zoom in and outside of chapter. A large focus of the semester was on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and to stay politically aware and conscious as a chapter. We also participated in sustainability events on Colgate’s campus.
We celebrated Kappa’s sesquicentennial by live-streaming the celebration virtually and ordering in food; our celebration followed Colgate Covid-19 restrictions. We also reviewed more of Kappa’s history around this time, so we were aware of what we were celebrating and the importance of Kappa to all of us. Some chapter members shared virtually what Kappa meant to them.
We also focused on academics as we do every semester even though school was somewhat remote, and weekly acknowledged our sister’s academic achievements weekly to add a sense of motivation. We highlight on the Medusa Movement that took place at Colgate as well as sexual violence.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion played a large role in this semester for our chapter. Although we met virtually, we were all very conscious of the social movements going on around us and wanted to acknowledge that as much as possible to improve our chapter. We added a DEI officer, Caroline Haigood. We also met with other Greek chapter at Colgate to learn more about DEI and had a few meetings with just our chapter to talk about ways to stay aware and improve the chapter. These discussions were mainly led by Caroline and our sisters. They were very open discussions with a lot of participation from the sisters. I think it was a great way to make more people aware and conscious of their actions.
==Highlights of 2021==
2021 was a very exciting year for the Zeta Rho Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. For starters,
we were able to hold in-person chapter meetings for the first time since the COVID-19
pandemic started, which allowed chapter members to become more familiar with traditions
and build stronger connections with fellow sisters. However, COVID-19 still had an impact on
many of our events, making adaptability, communication with leaders, and organization in
planning crucial to our chapter’s success this year.
As a larger goal for our chapter over the past year, we have worked to upkeep values of
academic excellence and diversity, equity, and inclusion, which we can see through the
wonderful work of our VPAE, Education Chairman, and DEI Chairman. Additionally, the
chapter wanted to increase our connection to Fraternity ritual and history and incorporated
ritual reviews and history nuggets into our weekly chapter meetings, as our chapter felt as
though COVID-19 largely impacted our ability to connect with our chapter’s ritual. The focus
on ritual is something that we are very proud of as a chapter and plan to continue as we
transition Chapter Council officers.
We held informal recruitment virtually during the Spring of 2021, allowing us to virtually
initiate new members into our chapter. Although COVID-19 required this recruitment
round to be virtual, we were able to successfully navigate this platform! Additionally, we
held formal recruitment during the fall, and hosted parties in the back of the chapter house
in tents for the first two nights, transitioning to inside the house for preference night, as
smaller numbers allowed us to do this. After the completion of a wonderful formal
recruitment, we were able to have a beautiful, in-person initiation ceremony where 62 new
members were initiated into our chapter. In addition, we were proud to have two Kappa
Kappa Gamma legacies attend the initiation, and pin their daughters during the pinning
ceremony.
In addition to a successful new member program and initiation ceremony, Zeta Rho was
proud to engage in many philanthropic events this semester! In the beginning of the year
Kappa sisters participated in a campus wide clean up, emphasizing our chapter’s focus on sustainability,
which we also worked hard on this year by reducing plastic waste in our
chapter house.
In terms of academic excellence and education, our council did a great job
with weekly encouragement of sister’s successes as well as organizing a great event, “Kappa
Konnections.” During this event, over the course of a week, over 30 Zeta Rho alumnae came
to speak about their experiences in various industries, offering the chapter a great
opportunity to receive insight into many different career paths post-graduation.
We also hosted an event called “Professors Tea,” where members of our chapter each invited one
professor for an opportunity for chapter members to connect with professors outside of the
classroom. In addition, it was really neat to meet Zeta Rho alumnae through this event, and
this is something that we would love to continue in the future. In terms of other
philanthropic endeavors, our chapter collected 1,157 books for the StockBridge Valley
Central School, hosted a kickball event (“Kappa Kickball”) to raise $3,185 for Active Minds
and the National Eating Disorder Association, and hosted a virtual yoga class, hosted by Pam
Miles, in which we raised roughly $13,000 for the West Penn Oncology T7 Wing, in support
of our sister battling leukemia. Lastly, we were able to coordinate a variety of sisterhood
bonding events, such as chipotle dinners and Kappa Krunch, which allowed chapter
members to build stronger connections with each other.
Lastly, we welcomed a few new advisers to our Advisory Board - a new Academic Excellence
adviser, and a new Event Chairman and Panhellenic adviser - ensuring our chapter has the
alumnae support it needs to continue to grow and improve.
Our chapter is very proud of the strides we made this year while keeping in mind our broader
emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In 2020, we added a DEI officer and committee
to our council, and in 2021, we continued to strengthen this position while taking input from chapter officers, chapter members, and the broader Greek life community. With this, we
emphasized the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in chapter meetings and were
prepared to promptly respond to any issues that arose within our chapter. We are proud of
the work that our DEI officers have done over the past two years, and we continue to
emphasize the importance of maintaining a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in our
chapter moving forward.
Throughout many obstacles, we were able to host a hybrid mix of in-person and virtual
events this semester. Our biggest accomplishment was being able to host an in-person formal
recruitment and initiation, according to guidelines, for the first time since the start of
COVID-19. In addition, the chapter was very successful in hosting virtual/socially distance
philanthropic events, including a socially-distanced Kappa Kickball event, a virtual Yoga
fundraiser, and a virtual career workshop, called Kappa Konnections. Overall, our chapter was
successful in navigating the ever-changing nature of COVID-19, ensuring we were able to
maintain chapter events and traditions while staying safe and following local and state
protocols.
