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The Zeta Sigma Chapter holds their weekly meetings in the Chapter Room of our sorority house. The House is owned by the University of North Texas. The Kappa Kappa Gamma house at the University of North Texas was built in 2003. The house is owned by UNT and 24 girls, including the president, can live in the house. Every girl gets the opportunity to live in the house. The house at UNT is the only house that the Zeta Sigma Chapter has had.
==Highlights of 2015==
The Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful and rewarding year for two thousand and fifteen.
Here at Zeta Sigma we have had plenty of accomplishments this year. When it comes to holding our sisters accountable for their actions, we excel in that because there is equal treatment of all members when it comes to standards. Positive standards and the reinforcement of positive spirit and morale we have noticed has been on the rise this year, whether it be through rewards or spotlighting a sister for her actions. Through interactive and exciting sisterhood events we have see new friendships flourish and grow strong with the bonds of Kappa.
2015 was a wonderful, philanthropic year for the ladies of the Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In January, the ladies passed out pencils that were blue and said “Have a Great Semester-KKG!” They handed them out on the Onstead Promenade and were able to provide UNT students with something on their first week on classes to wish them well! In February, the Kappas sold carnations on campus for those last minute Valentine’s Day shoppers and wrote Valentine’s to Veterans during their weekly chapter meeting.
In March, the annual University of North Texas Big Event was held where UNT organizations are assigned a task to help out the Denton community all on one day. Our chapter was assigned to help replant a garden in Lewisville and clean up the area surrounding it. March was also the month that the 1st Annual Kappa Kookout took place! It was an exciting late night food event at the Kappa Kappa Gamma House. Guests were treated to a brisket sandwich, potato chips, a pickle, brownies, and a drink! The chapter room was decked out in BBQ/Texas theme and the ladies wore their cowboy boots and bandanas. We had a blast hosting over 300 students in our home and raising over $3,000 for Reading is Fundamental! We also had a book drive at the event to lower the price of admission and raised around 75 books.
In April, Hawk Elementary in Denton helped Kappa host their very first Reading is Key event. In the library of the school, first graders were invited to participate in several reading and writing stations that the Kappas were in charge of. They read “The Duckling Gets A Cookie?!” to the students and helped them make bookmarks and Venn diagrams. At the end of the event, they got to pick out their very own “Click, Clack, Moo” book to take home for themselves. The 2nd Annual Kappa Krawfish was hosted at the end of April in the UNT Sorority Courtyard on a Friday evening. Advisor, Veronica Abshire, and her father and sister helped to cook the 200 pounds of crawfish for the guests and did an excellent job! Homemade seasoning, the outdoor game cornhole, and a table full of desserts helped make the night a success. $2,000 was raised for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation! The spring semester closed out with the Kappas completing over 1,300 hours of community service, the most we have had in several semesters. Over the summer, several girls continued their philanthropic efforts by volunteering at summer camps and church camps.
When the fall semester started, the ladies hit the ground running! During work week for Fall Recruitment, they collect canned goods to be donated to the Denton Community Food Shelter. They “adopted a block” through the Adopt-A-Block program at UNT and were assigned the area near the Athletic Center to clean up throughout the year. In September, a family weekend brunch was held during the University’s Family Weekend. They had a wonderful spread of breakfast foods for family members, friends, and boyfriends to eat while they waited out the rain that was happening outside! The brunch was philanthropic because they asked family members to bring canned goods in lieu of a payment for the food. These cans would be used during the Homecoming community service event, “Canstruction.” Kappa Kappa Gamma was partnered with Pi Kappa Phi and successfully built a replica of the McConnell Clock Tower out of over 2,500 packages of ramen and canned goods. During the Homecoming Parade, instead of passing out candy to the children watching with their parents, books were passed out! There were over 300 books passed out that day and it was wonderful to see the children get so excited about getting their very own book to take home!
In October, the ladies partnered with Delta Sigma Phi to help them pull off the 3rd Annual Frightmares at the Maple Street Sanatorium. The haunted house took place on Thursday and Friday night and the overarching theme was an insane asylum. The Kappas dressed as patients, nurses, and children and donned bloody makeup that made them look extra scary. The event nights were a success and over $1,500 was raised for Reading is Fundamental. Also in October, the Kappas volunteered back at Hawk Elementary at their Literacy, Math, and Science night, once again being in charge of several stations located throughout the school. The last event that the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted in the fall semester was the Project Linus event. On December 1st, the Kappas opened their home to all of the Panhellenic women on the North Texas campus to help make fleece tie blankets for children around the Denton and Dallas area. They had a hot chocolate bar, sweet treats, and watched a holiday movie as they tied blankets with their Panhellenic sisters. There also was an area for ladies to make donations to the Presbyterian Night Shelter to help them during the holiday season. The Kappas ended the semester with over 1,500 hours of community service completed! They had an amazing year and can’t wait to continue giving back to the local community and to the national philanthropies, Reading is Fundamental and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
For events, Kappa Kappa Gamma had a date party at Hyennas Comedy Club in Downtown Dallas. The ladies enjoyed listening to Heather McDonald, who is known for her role in White Chicks, and her appearances on Chelsea Lately. During football season, we tailgated with many different fraternities such as Delta Sig, Sigma Chi and many more! We loved the food, friends and fun times that we had while during the Mean Green football season! We finished the year at The Stonegate Mansion in Fort Worth, for the Fall Formal that was themed “Poker and Pearls”. There was a DJ, photobooth and different tables to play at such as blackjack, roulette and slot machines. This year was filled with fun events for Kappa Kappa Gamma!
This past year for Zeta Sigma has been the best yet in the area of academics. The chapter achieved its highest GPA yet with a 3.18, which was a 0.04 jump from the previous semester. All together, we had a total of 36 girls make a 4.0 over the last year as well! Since this has been our highest GPA so far, the VPA surprised all of the girls with a donut party one of the mornings during work week. In the spring of 2015 there was a smart cookie party where all the girls were divided up by major and then they could meet with each other and eat cookies! This allowed everyone to get to know and exchange contact information with other girls in their major so they could use each other as a resource. Lastly, in the Fall, the chapter had their annual banquet. All the families and friends were invited to a nice dinner to recognize the girls who made the Dean's List and President's List. For the girls who made the President's List, they were rewarded with a pearl for their badge. Overall, it was a very successful year for the Zeta Sigma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Throughout the year, the chapter strived to stay very involved in other Panhellenic events besides just our own. This was done by attending different philanthropy events such as Alpha Phi’s Pancake Phi’st and Chi Omega’s Chiochella. The chapter also held a sister sorority event with Alpha Delta Pi. During this event we bonded with our Panhellenic sisters by painting balloons filled with paint and throwing them on banners that said “ADPi loves KKG” and another saying “KKG loves ADPi”. This made an cute decoration that both chapters hung outside their houses. We all had a great time this semester getting to know other people and always look forward to meeting new girls throughout Panhellenic.
The University of North Texas recently had a soft opening for the new Student Union. The Union is place for students to study, eat, have classes, and much more.
The Chapter’s House is currently getting updated. The house has received new furniture in the foyer and new chairs in the chapter room. In the near future, the house will also be getting a coach and curtains. The ladies are excited and thankful for these new additions.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and Reading is Fundamental.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
National Philanthropy