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→Highlights of 2015
==Highlights of 2015==
During the year of 2015, Eta Kappa has grown in areas that were once weak and continued a tradition of
leadership. In January, we held formal Panhellenic Recruitment. Thanks to the due diligence of our
Membership Chair and her committee, we met quota and also were given a quota addition. We were
immediately able to hold a COB event in an attempt to reach total. We welcomed 9 new members to Eta
Kappa as our Winter Formal class, the largest new member class we have had in recent history.
During February, Eta Kappa joined Nationals to hold Academic Excellence Month. Different families
competed against each other throughout the month to see which family could accrue the most study hours
in order to win a prize. The competition was fun but it’s rewarding to see the bonds built from studying
together! We also raised funds for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation through our annual event, Kappa
Krush, which we table to have students and faculty send cans of Krush Soda to friends during the week
leading up to Valentine’s Day. Our annual Semi-Formal dance was also held in February at Cherry Street
Grill with the theme of “Every Kiss begins with Kappa”, it was a fun and safe event for all the Kappa’s and
their dates.
In March, we ended the term in full force with the initiation of our new members, our annual Reading is
Key event at the Discovery Depot, which is hold as a way to support Reading is Fundamental, and elections
for chapter council.
Early April was a time for our officer transitions. Our annual event, Kappa Kabin, was held as a way to
unite the new Chapter Council and create goals for the upcoming year. The Chapter Council for 2015-2016
hopes to increase communication and cohesion within the council in order to grow to new heights within
each position. Following the Earthquake in Nepal, we partnered with the Pi Beta Phi and held a “Pi’s and
Kappacino” event in order to give funds to the Nepali Earthquake Relief Fund. This event was very close to
our heart due to the fact the one of our sister’s is from Nepal and there is a very large Nepali population on
our campus. We were even able to raise $640! Our new philanthropy chair and her committee also created a
Little Free Library for local children with the idea of “take what you need, leave what you want”.
Throughout the term, we participated in various events that we have a tradition of being a part of such as
Greek Week, Alpha Phi Omega’s Walk-a-Thon, and Tri Delta’s Kickball event for St Jude.
We also hosted a Leadership Consultant in the Spring, we were very excited to welcome Whitney back to
our chapter!
The school year was finished off with our Formal, which was held at the Burg Bar and Grill and with our
annual Senior Sendoff event. We couldn’t be more proud of the 10 Eta Kappa seniors who graduated in
June of 2015!
Over the summer, our Public Relations chairman worked tirelessly to update our website and worked with
our Membership chair to design a great shirt for our Fall Informal Recruitment Bid Day. We also wear these
shirts to Pumphandle, an event our school holds each year prior to the beginning of classes starting where
all students, faculty, and staff meet on the lawn to shake hands.
Fall term saw lots of success for Eta Kappa. We held our most successful Fall Informal Recruitment and
welcomed 4 new members to our chapter. Our New Member Chairman held an amazing Bid Night event of
cookie decorating, games, attending the Volleyball Game on campus where one of the New Members was
playing, and ending it with a movie night at the house. Our Vice President of Standards and Standards
Committee organized a special Secret Standards event in lieu of a chapter meeting. This Secret Standards
event was our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch! We picked out pumpkins, sipped apple cider, enjoyed a
hayride, and ended the trip riding on their mini cow train- an Eta Kappa favorite.
Our chapter also championed a new major philanthropic event called the Kappa Kolor Run! Our
Philanthropy chairman worked tirelessly to create a fun event that was accessible to our entire campus. We
were able to raise $470 dollars for OLE Nepal, an organization working to create access to education in
Nepal following the major earthquake there earlier this year. We were also selected to for the Rose McGill
Holiday program for the first time! We raised money to buy Christmas gifts for a Kappa in need and
wrapped the gifts together as our Brunch Buddies event, a new event our chapter implemented this year that
consists of our members having brunch and performing a philanthropic service.
Some other new additions to our chapter was using GINsystem to log study hours in study spaces
throughout campus as well as an attendance competition to encourage members to take active control of
their membership!
At the end of the term, we were able to initiate 3 of our 4 New Members after a successful Inspiration
Period. Eta Kappa holds the tradition of having meaningful events during the inspiration period. The
remaining member was unable to initiate at that time due to the Women’s Soccer team making it to the
Conference final which occurred during our initiation. We are happy to say, however, that Elmhurst College
was gracious in hosting our New Member and two of our active sisters and she was initiated!
Knox College was recently able to hire a new Greek Life Advisor, Eleanor Kahn. Eta Kappa was happy to
welcome her to our campus, she has been very accessible and a great resource for our chapter. Our chapter
has also been very active within the Greek community. Currently, we are the most represented organization
in Order of Omega, a National Greek Honor Society in which two of our sisters, seniors Mackenzie
Anderson and Cassidy Jones, hold the executive positions of President and Secretary, respectively. Eta
Kappa prides itself on being very well represented on Panhellenic Council as well. Senior Emily Powers is
the President of Panhellenic Council, a high honor. In the Spring, our chapter received an All Greek Award
for best Academic Program.
Eta Kappa has held itself to a higher standard than perhaps ever before. As a whole, our chapter has been
refreshed and uplifted this year. It is the opinion of our chapter that officer transitions in April brought new life to our chapter as these officers began to work together in ways that harnessed our potential. Our
members have been showing willingness to bring Kappa to new heights, as explained through the many new
endeavors throughout the year. It if for this reason that we feel we have most triumphed in overcoming
apathy and eagerly embraced new opportunities, which has allowed us to truly live up to Kappa Kappa
Gamma’s ideals.
As mentioned above, Knox College hired Eleanor Kahn. She serves as Campus Life Staff in many roles, one
of which is the Greek Life Advisor, a position that ceased to exist for a year at our school.
Chapter Philanthropy:
What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money for, or donated hours to, in your community?
Traditionally we fund raise for Reading is Fundamental and hold a major RIF event each Winter, which we
upheld this year. We also fund raise for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation each Winter with our Kappa
Krush fundraiser, which is also described above. This Fall we were also chosen to participate in the Rose
McGill Holiday Program, which we enjoyed so much!
Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?
An Eta Kappa tradition is to choose an organization to fundraise for each year that is near and dear to a
sister’s heart. In the past, we’ve supported sisters who suffered from Crohn’s Disease, a sister who has had
ongoing battles with Heart Disease, an orphanage that a sister worked at personally in Botswana, and more.
We raised funds for the Nepali Earthquake Relief Fund this year on two separate occasions, due to how
close the cause was to one of our sisters and the Nepalese community at Knox College. We paired in a new
event with Pi Beta Phi, Pie’s and Kappacino’s, in the spring. We also created another new major fundraising
event, the Kappa Kolor Run, as a way to replace an older, outdated event our chapter had held in the past.
We raised over $1000 in the year 2015 for the Nepali Earthquake Relief Fund and were even able to meet
the Director of the organization.
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(Information from chapter history reports, scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.)
'''Note to Chapter Registrar:'''
