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→Highlights of 2021
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.