Changes
→Highlights of 2016
Relay for Life became very important to our chapter, last year one of our active members found out she has cancer and has been battling it since. We choose to volunteer at Savannahs Memorial Hospital because they are alumnae that help coordinate the volunteer days and because of the short distance.
==Highlights of 2020s2016==
April was an exciting month because we hosted a formal at Savannah Quarters Country Club and held Parents Weekend with dinner at Meinhart Winery on a Saturday night and a Georgia Southern baseball game on Sunday. We also hosted a Reading Is Key event with reading and coloring activities at the local Books A Million store. We finished the semester with a sisterhood event at Sk8 City, a roller rink in Pooler, Georgia, which was an exciting and entertaining time as we watched each other attempt to skate the afternoon away.
In July, Allison McInerney, Chapter President and Abby Layfield, Vice President-Standards, attended Kappa’s General Convention in San Diego, California. While at Convention, Zeta Upsilon received an Honorable Mention for Philanthropy, as well as the Recruitment Award for our Panhellenic size! As the summer continued, our Membership Chairman, Abby Stegall, prepared for the upcoming Recruitment with recruitment workshops and sisterhood events, such as donut decorating and an afternoon to ourselves at Splash In the ‘Boro Waterpark.
Before we knew it, August arrived and formal Recruitment was in full swing. A major change to our campus was that Chi Omega was added as a Panhellenic sorority. The long days of singing, clapping and icebreakers finally paid off when we welcomed 73 new members home to Kappa on Bid Day and showed them just how “Wild About Kappa” we are. In September, we hosted our first annual Kappa Kon Queso philanthropy event at the Kappa house, where we sold bowls of nachos and queso cheese to raise money for the next GIRLS Academy we plan to host in fall 2017. We were excited to raise $3,000 at our first Kappa Kon Queso event and look forward to making it an annual event.
On October 13, we celebrated Founders Day by hosting a formal dinner at our house for our chapter members and alumnae. Originally, Initiation was scheduled of the beginning of October, but because of Hurricane Matthew, school was canceled and therefore we postponed Initiation until the end of the month. Fortunately, the Kappa house did not sustain any damage from the hurricane. Next, we participated in Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street, hosted for local children, as well as Downtown Statesboro’s Scare on the Square, a city-wide Halloween event. And finally, after months of learning Kappa’s values and history, Angelica Concepcion, our New Member Chairman, presented the new members to the chapter for Initiation on October 28 and 29, 2016.
November started out strong with campaigning for our Homecoming queen candidate, Natalie Morris. During Georgia Southern’s annual Greek Life awards, we took home the PHA Outstanding Leadership award as well as the 5-Star chapter award, which is the highest level of achievement for a chapter based on involvement on campus, philanthropy efforts, academics and more. Leadership Consultant Claire Kozel returned in November for a second visit and sisters enjoyed meals with her as well as doing online workout videos. After Claire left we held officer elections for the 2017-2018 Chapter Council and our new officers were installed at the end of November, with Megan Caudell installed as Chapter President. Also in November we held an appreciation week for our longtime house director, Ms. Fraser. This past year was amazing and exciting for Zeta Upsilon, and it is truly shocking how fast the time went by. We look forward to the upcoming semesters, especially the fall of 2017 when our house expansion will finally be complete! In December 2016, the live-in girls moved out so that construction of the remodel and addition can begin the day after the semester ends. Zeta Upsilon’s House Board is continuing to work on a fundraising campaign to complete this remodel that will enlarge our chapter room to accommodate our growing chapter. This year we soared well past 200 members and expect another large class in the fall of 2017.