Changes
→Highlights of 2014
Our Chapter holds its meetings in the chapter room of the Epsilon Rho Kappa house. The facility is a house owned by the chapter. Our chapter house, which we own, was built in 1981. We added an addition in 2000. Girls from in newest pledge class have the opportunity to live in the house. 49 sisters (including 3 officers) can live in the house.
==Highlights of 2015==
January: The Epsilon Rho chapter officers for 2015 attended an officer’s retreat in College Station on January 16th and 17th. This was the first time the 2015 officers worked together to plan for a great year for our chapter. The officers established goals for the entire chapter to accomplish in 2015, created the chapter calendar for the fall, and made important decisions about the Epsilon Rho Chapter as a whole. This 2 day retreat allowed all the officers to bond as friends and officers and helped our Chapter Council grow. The first meeting of the year was on Monday, January 26th, 2015.
February: The In-House girls had a Super Bowl party on Sunday, February 1th. Then there was a Valentine’s Day party for the entire chapter on the 11th at the Kappa house. Our chapter had a great time country dancing at our Semi-formal, “Texas Tuxes”, on February 12th. The Nehemiah Center of Navasota is an after school program to help at-risk kids reach their full potential. Every Epsilon Rho member must volunteer at least two times a semester. The girls help the kids with their homework, help with arts and crafts, read with them, and play activities outside. On the 13th we hosted our annual RIF event (Reading is Fundamental) for the kids at the Nehemiah Center. We had Texas A&M football players come out to see the kids!! Our chapter participated in Panhellenic Preview day on February 15th. This is an opportunity for incoming freshman girls to meet each sorority. A group of our chapter council attended the Province meeting on February 20th-22nd in Dallas. They worked with other Kappa chapters and brought back valuable tools to build our chapter. We celebrated all the hard work our members put into school by hosting an Academics Banquet on Monday the 23rd. PC 14 and PC 13 had a fun evening on February 25th at the Kappa house for paddle pass. PC14 gave cute, personalized paddles to their big sisters. Dad’s day was on February 28th. Our dad’s came to College Station for a BBQ cookout and then attended an A&M Basketball game with their daughters.
March: We had a Leadership Consultant visit our chapter from March 1st-6th. She observed how our chapter functions, and provided feedback about our chapters strengths and weaknesses. PC 14 had a Ritual Review meeting on March 1st where they learned about Fireside and Initiation. There also was a Rookie Workshop meeting on Sunday, March 8th to prepare PC 14 for work week and recruitment. Roommate Reveal was March 11th. This was when PC14 discovered their roommates and their room assignment in the Kappa house for the next school year. The first Senior Programming meeting was on March 23rd. As a way to give back to the College Station community, Kappa and the fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, partnered together for Big Event on March 28th. This event was founded at Texas A&M, and is an annual university wide community service project for students to serve the local residents in College Station. Our chapters split into smaller groups and did whatever the locals needed help with, such as pulled weeds, raked, and spruced up peoples front and back yards. The second Rookie Workshop was on March 29th, which furthered PC14’s preparation for Work Week and Recruitment. There was a Senior Programming meeting on the 29th as well. We held our spring philanthropy event, Kappa Kook-Out, on March 31st at the Kappa House. Everyone had a great time eating burgers, and taking pictures, listening to music and the Pickers. We raised around $4,100 for the Nehemiah Center of Navasota.
April: We had a sisterhood event in place of our weekly chapter meeting on April 6th. We had a “Kappa Karnival” at the Kappa house with corndogs, fun slides, and cotton candy! Everyone dressed up in their High School colors for a fun “High School Heroes” Senior Date Party on Tuesday, April 7th. There was a Recruitment workshop for the entire chapter held on April 12th to prepare all members for an effective recruitment. The third Senior Programming meeting was held on April 12th. On April 15th, Kappa participated in Stompfest, which is a dance competition between different organizations at Texas A&M. Our theme was the Disney channel movie “Holes” and we received third place! We had Kappa Con Queso on April 18th. We had a Mexican restaurant, Chuy’s, cater lunch at the Kappa house for Texas A&M Parents weekend. The fourth Senior Programming event was on April 19th. On April 23rd we had our formal, Monmouth, with the sorority Pi Beta Phi. It was masquerade themed and had a live band, dancing, face painting, and fun games! As the semester began to end, our chapter had its last meeting of the semester on April 27th.
May: On May 3rd the Senior Programming Dinner was held by the Bryan/College Station Alumnae Association. The chapter room became the “Kappa Library” for all the members as finals approached. Our house mother, Martha Hurley, hosted a brunch on May 6th for everyone before finals.
June: N/A
July: N/A
August: As the summer ended, PC 13 moved into the Kappa house on August 15th. From August 17th to the 21nd our chapter attended Work Week. We worked extremely hard for a great recruitment. Over the week, we kept spirits high with costume themes everyday, and a petting zoo came to Kappa with a baby monkey and camel. Saturday, the 22nd our parents and friends supported us by watching our wonderful new skit for recruitment, which was “Kappa Through the Decades”. As a result, we received great feedback. The next week, August 23rd through the 28th, our chapter and Recruitment team gave 110% during Recruitment. “Candy Land” was our first theme, which was used the first two days of Recruitment. On Philanthropy Day, which also consisted of two days, we explained our local and national philanthropies. Girls dress up as iconic singers and sang their parts through parodies of famous songs. On skit day, we introduced our new “Kappa Through the Decades”, which was a hit! As a result of our hard work, our chapter received 88 wonderful new girls! We were ecstatic to welcome them on August 29th with the theme “Don’t Mess With Kappa.” August 31st was the first day of school. The first new member meeting was at 6pm that evening with the first weekly chapter meeting following at 7pm.
September: PC 14 had formal pledging at the September 7th meeting. We had a wonderful LC visit us from September 13th-18th who reminded our chapter what it means to be a Kappa. She also showed us our chapters strengths and what we can improve on this year. September 22nd was an exciting night for PC 15 because it was Big Little reveal at the Kappa house. Our first date party, Kappa Kappa Galaxy, was held on September 24th. It was out of this world!
October: To kick off October, PC 14 had a Ritual Review on Sunday, October 4th to prepare for Initiation and Fireside. During our next meeting, October 5th, we had an academic banquet. The members who earned excellent grades received gift cards or small gifts. Composite pictures were taken on the 8th and 9th of October at the park near the Kappa house. The entire chapter attended Ritual Review on October 11th. We prepared for Fireside and practiced ritual to ensure that initiation would run smoothly. Our chapter spiced things up for Founders Day on October 12th by attending a zumba class just for our sorority. Everyone had a blast!
To celebrate PC 15’s initiation, Epsilon Rho went ice skating for our Initiation week event on the 14th. Our chapter had Fireside at the Kappa house for PC 15 on Friday the 16th. The next morning, we had Initiation. 88 wonderful girls in PC 15 officially became members of our chapter. On October 29th we had a date party with the sorority Chi Omega. It was “Owl-oween” themed and everyone decked out in creative Halloween costumes. It was great having an event with another sorority. On October 30th Epsilon Rho planned to participate in the Panhellenic Trick or Treat on the Row event, but it was canceled due to bad weather. Every year kids who live in the area play games in front of the Kappa house with our members from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
November: During November, our chapter went through the voting process for the upcoming 2016 Chapter Council and planned for our biggest philanthropy event, Kappa Kolor Run. We had two profit shares for the event; one at Chipotle on October 10th and another one at Chick Fil A on October 17th. For a fun treat, we had a sisterhood event on the 18th. Our chapter saw the premiere of Hunger Games at the movie theatre in College Station. We held banners around campus for a few weeks leading up to Kappa Kolor, which was on November 21st. It is a 5k run around sorority row in College Station. Chapter members are stationed throughout the race throwing powdered paint at the runners. Every runner received a t-shirt before the race and food was provided for everyone afterwards. Another part of the event was a silent auction; we had great items such as a David Yurman bracelet, and an Apple watch. In the three years our chapter has hosted Kappa Kolor, this was the most money raised. About 885 people attended the race and our chapter raised $50,572.29 in total. This was a huge accomplishment for us and appreciated by our philanthropy, Nehemiah Center of Navastoa. That weekend our chapter also celebrated Mom’s Day. Our members and their moms attended a Happy Hour Meet and Great on Friday October 20th. There was a shopping event at a local boutique just for Kappas and our moms as well a tour of the Kappa house on the 21st. Finally, there was a luncheon at the Traditions Country Club Century Room on the 22nd. On November 20th and 21st, Epsilon Rho participated in Songfest, which is a dance competition hosted by Chi Omega that organizations pair up to compete in for two days. This is a great way for organizations to make friends with their partners and raise money for their philanthropies. We competed with Squadron 17, which is part of the Texas A&M Corps, and we raised $2,200 for Nehemiah. Elections for the new officers were on November 23rd, and they were inducted at the November 30th meeting.
December: Our chapter had our last date party of the semester, Ranch Party, on December 3rd with the sorority Tri Delta in Bryan, TX. Everyone put on their cowboy boots and had a great time two stepping the night away. On Sunday the 6th, the new and old officers, and advisors attended the Triplet meeting to discuss each position for the new officers. On December 7th, we had a Christmas party as our last meeting of the year.
Describe the recent changes on your campus and describe the overall nature of your chapter.
Several great changes happened over 2015. Texas A&M was honored to have Dr. Michael K. Young step in as our new President in May. While he is not an Aggie, he has extensive experience and has been a great leader this past semester. Texas A&M also finally finished their new football stadium over the summer. The new stadium will be the largest in the SEC and will hold 102,500 fans. Epsilon Rho is very genuine and down to earth chapter. We love to volunteer at our local philanthropy, Nehemiah. It has been a wonderful opportunity that positively impacts spirited kids and even our members. We are also a very enthusiastic chapter, love friendly competition, and love supporting other chapters at Texas A&M. We are flexible, and willing to try new things for the benefit of the chapter overall.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Epsilon Rho raises money for The Nehemiah Center in Navasota, which is an after school program for young children in the town of Navasota, TX. We have members of our sorority volunteer at Nehemiah everyday. We raised 4,100.39 from Kappa Kookout in the Spring, and $50,572.29 for Kappa Kolor in Fall of 2015. We also raised $2,200 for Nehemiah through Songfest.
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
We chose Nehemiah because they are a loving organization that is positively changing kids lives. The people who run Nehemiah are so passionate, but they need help encouraging and working with the children. We felt a desire to get involved and help Nehemiah in anyway we can. Since our National Philanthropy is Reading is Fundamental, we promote the importance of reading. We want to build strong reading skills in these children, and illustrate how school provides endless opportunities.
