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Beta Rho Deuteron

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'''University of Cincinnati founded 1807, Cincinnati, Ohio'''

 

 

'''Beta Rho Founded 1885, Closed 1885'''

 

 

'''4 initiates as of chapter closing'''

 

 

'''Reinstated as Beta Rho Deuteron on May 16, 1914'''

 

 

'''2,486 initiates (as of June 2018)'''

 

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'''2,733 members as of June 2015)'''

'''Charter Members: '''Elizabeth Antoinette Ely, Amanda Frank, Carrie Elizabeth Joslin, Nettie Oskamp.  '''Deuteron Charter Members:'''Clara Lucinda Ballentine, Eugenia Catherine Bardes, Hilda Christine Baum, Dorothy Davies Farrar, Freda Louise Gleason, Ruth Barbara Guhman, Elizabeth Charlotte Linnard, Anne Laurie McGregor, Alice Virginia Stephens, Helen Catherine Taylor, Alice Elizabeth Toms.

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'''Some of Chapter’s Outstanding AlumnaeFraternity Council Officers:'''

Mary Turner Whitney, Fraternity President, 1960-1964; National Panhellenic Conference Delegate 1955-1960; Vice President 1954-1956; Director of Chapters 1950-1954; Sally Lemker (Troup), Field Secretary 1983-1985; Robyn Schwartz (Rider), Traveling Consultant 2002-2003

'''Fraternity Council Officers:'''

'''Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:'''

Elizabeth Bogert SchofieldMary Turner Whitney, 19581972

'''Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award Recipients:'''

Anne Howell ClarkeDr. Susan W. Rockwood, 19981968, microbiologist, and Marguerite Wykoff Zapoleon, 1968, economics consultant and author Bernice Williams Foley, 1974, library director;newspaper columnist; editor  Nancy Ostrander'''Additional Outstanding Beta Rho Deuteron Alumnae''' Carolyn White (Jenkins), Graduate Counselor 1952-1954  ------------------ ==The Early Years (From The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma 1870–1976)== The University of Cincinnati, the second oldest and the second largest municipal university in the United States, was founded in 1907. This date represents the establishment of the Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio. In 1870 the city, under a state act, absorbed these colleges and established the University of Cincinnati. In 1967, by statute and Cincinnati Charter amendment, the university became the country's first municipally sponsored, 1980state affiliated university. Enrollment in 1974 was 30,332;faculty, 1,032; buildings, 110. In 1914, when Beta Rho Deuteron was chartered, these same statistics were: 2,298;575; and 13. The Kappa Kappa Gamma charter granted to the second (Beta) Rho on June 6, 1885, had been mysteriously surrendered a few months later. Alpha Phi Psi, a local group, was organized in 1904 and immediately petitioned Kappa Kappa Gamma. Finally in March 1914, after inspection by Florence Burton Roth, Michigan, Grand President, the petition was granted, and on May 19, the Installation of Beta Rho Deuteron was announced in the Cincinnati newspapers. The loyalty and devotion of the Alpha Phi Psi members were remarkable. When Beta Rho Deuteron became a reality, the alumnae—many of whom were married, and often busy with children—registered for classes, became eligible for membership in Kappa, and were initiated. The Cincinnati Alumnae Association was quickly organized, and alumnae opened their homes for meetings, rush parties, teas and even slumber parties. They remembered Alpha Phi Psi, too. and one sentence from that ritual was incorporated in the Kappa ritual that is used today in Beta Rho Deuteron ceremonies. '''Housing''' “We need a house,” the actives declared. And the alumnae supplied furnishings for a four-room apartment from funds earmarked “to be used for a house when the need arises.” For $15 rent per month in 1930, Beta Rhos stored their belongings, held meetings and competed with Kappa Alpha Theta, until a larger apartment could be found. It was on Stratford Avenue. Then in 1938, the chapter moved to a house on Woodside Avenue. By 1949, the present home on Clifton Avenue, opposite McMicken Hall, became Beta Rho’s home, financed through a second mortgage arranged by a Beta Rho alumna and her husband. It is a three-story red brick, close to campus.  After three remodels (1957, 1962 and 1967), and thousands of dollars spent, and untold Beta Rho House Board anguish, it represented a dignified Williamsburg-Colonial façade. Behind black wrought-iron gates, once part of a Paris elevator, a memorial to Pamela Woods from her parents, 30 (of 75) actives lived and the business of Beta Rho was conducted. The house was owned by the Beta Rho House Board Association. Funds from the Beta Rho Mothers Club and the Cincinnati Alumnae Association to assist in the defrayment of Convention expenses for a worthy undergraduate were at one time diverted to the use of the House Board. Two separate Beta Rho Dads Clubs, now extinct, were once joyous additions to chapter life with no noticeable generation gap. Dads Day was later celebrated with lunch at the house followed by attendance at a football game. A former January open house still exists—with variations. '''Chapter Traditions''' Once it was the custom for the whole chapter to journey to the bride’s home on the wedding eve, with the bride joining the circle for a “last” sing together. Now the circle is often formed at the wedding reception, and the groom is included. The bride’s pin, a jeweled fleur-de-lis pin, was once worn and then returned to the chapter for the next wedding. There are traditional key badges used by Beta Rho. The diamond key, with which Helen Shoemaker Damus was initiated in 1921, was given by her to the chapter as a President’s badge and was used first in 1945. The Bidlingmeyer key is worn by the sophomore who contributes the most to chapter and campus. The pledge bracelet is worn by the new member with the highest scholastic standing. The Margaret Sanger key is worn by the most recently engaged member. It has a rapid turnover! 

'''KKG’s 75th Anniversary'''

'''Additional Outstanding Mu A highlight in Beta Rho Deuteron history was the celebration of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity’s 75th birthday, October 13, 1945. More than 650 parents, husbands, alumnae, actives and friends attended the banquet in the Pavilion Caprice at the Hotel Netherland Plaza. A large committee had planned the evening, which included a dramatic musical pageant with a cast of 100. Alumnae:'''conceived, wrote and directed the historical production.

==The WWII Years==

The strength of Beta Rho Deuteron is reflected in its participation in local, national and Fraternity affairs. Chapter members and alumnae have aided in French war relief, the Red Cross, USO, blood donations and hospital service. They have also knitted many items for service people and war victims. In peace time, Thanksgiving baskets, children’s parties, hospital visits, and work in youth and rehabilitation centers have been part of the chapter and alumna programs. The university’s endowment fund and the dean’s emergency fund have been special interests of the alumnae association.

'''Scholastic Achievement'''

 

Academically, Beta Rho Deuteron has often been first in scholarship among National Panhellenic Conference groups and has earned the Scholarship Cup numerous times. As of 1974, Phi Beta Kappa has the names of 32 Beta Rhos in its files, and Beta Rho members were included in the rolls of 18 other scholarly honoraries. Two members received Geneva Scholarships. Richard and Mary Turner Whitney endowed a scholarship, as did Dr. Kenneth and Helen Wehman Gould, a memorial to her sister, Edith Wehman.

 

'''The “Singing Chapter”'''

 

The annual Interfraternity Sing on Mother’s Day began in 1923. Beta Rho earned its first win that year, and many other firsts and seconds have been won since. Permanent possession of the sing trophy came in 1945 after three consecutive wins. The “singing chapter” was performing on WLW radio, December 4, 1941, when the concert was interrupted with the news of Pearl Harbor. Original songs by Beta Rho are in the Kappa Song Book, and local musical comedy productions have claimed members’ talents. In 1949, Vaughn Monroe of big band fame chose a Beta Rho original song, “The Toast,” by Helen Beiderwelle Hanselman, in his “Salute to KKG” in a national broadcast. The words of Helen Hanselman’s “Toast” are as follows:

 

Here’s to all who wear a golden key,

Whoe’er they are, whate’er they be,

Here’s to ev’ry Kappa in the land,

To ev’ry member of our band.

Here’s to ev’ry chapter in the east or in the west,

Here’s to that Fraternity of them all the best,

Kappa Kappa Gamma, here’s to you,

Here’s to your dark and to your light blue,

Here’s to friendship great and true, Oh Kappa,

Here’s our toast to you!

 

'''Campus Honors'''

 

An impressive number of sweethearts, queens, dream girls, and goddesses, including the Missouri Valley Conference Queen and Homecoming Queens (1957 through 1961) have been Beta Rhos. Mystic 13 Chapter of Mortar Board had 110 Beta Rho members. Two Alpha Phi Psis, later initiated into Beta Rho, founded the Mystic 13, in 1913. In 1926, it became the name of the Cincinnati Chapter of Mortar Board, and all alumnae automatically became members.

 

'''Alumnae'''

The Cincinnati Alumnae Association was largely a graduate Beta Rho chapter for many years. With a presently lost insularity, there are both gains and losses. The close relationship between chapter and association has lessened, and no longer does a chapter President assume the same role as an alumna, sooner or later. The association gives annually to the House Board, arranges the Founders Day celebration for alumnae and actives, holds an “Over 40” luncheon, meets once a year at the chapter house, contributes time and money to a selected philanthropy, and offers programs of general interest.

 

The association is well represented in civic affairs. Kappas, whose leadership was developed during undergraduate days in chapters across the continent, are holding offices and have served on the boards of such organizations as the College Club, the Summer Opera Association, the Women’s Symphony Committee, the League of Women Voters, YWCA, Girl Scouts, the Garden Center and the Junior League, to mention a few.

 

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''The previous information was excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, 1870-1976. The information that follows has been gleaned from available resources including Chapter History Reports, chapter meeting minutes, letters and comments from chapter members and alumnae, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Archives, and The Key. Each chapter is expected to update its history record annually. Contact Fraternity Headquarters at kkghq@kkg.org with questions.''

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==Highlights of the 1970s==

The Beta Rhos started off 1975 by participating in homecoming with Delta Tau Delta, and attended the annual Founders Day banquet in October. They attended a welcome party for Phi Sigma Sigma, a new sorority on campus, and had their formal at the Cincinnati Club. The Kappas and Delts went to the Miami football game together that year and had a party afterward. They also had many other socials with the other fraternities on campus, including Sigma Chi and Sig Ep, and they enjoyed a Scavenger Hunt Party with Lambda Chi. Beta Rho members participated in Recruitment each quarter and had new members to prepare for Initiation. The theme for Greek Week was “All Together Greek.” They enjoyed a spring formal at the Gaslight Inn and also hosted a Mothers Day brunch. Beta Rho also worked hard to make care baskets for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

 

During fall Recruitment, 26 new members; chapter voted to participate in Open Rush for the rest of the year but decided to be very selective since they did so well during formal Recruitment. Members participated in a Dance Marathon for MS hosted by the university. A tradition began called “Mom and Dawd”—Kappa mother-daughter skits before formals.

 

In 1977 the girls had a chapter retreat on January 28 at the chapter President’s home. During informal winter Recruitment the girls hosted three parties: Valentine’s Day Party on Feb 15, Movie Party on Feb 18, and a formal brunch on Feb. 20. The committee for Greek Week was chosen and more Kappas than from any other sorority were selected to be on the committee. The Beta Rhos were so proud of their sisters for representing the chapter so well. Initiation was held April 1–2. The Kappas hosted a TGIF party with Theta Chi and participated in Sigma Chi Derby Days as well. Three Beta Rhos got the chance to participate in Buddy Week, where three girls from each chapter had exchange dinners all week and went to the other sororities to eat dinner.

Also in 1977, Kappa participated in “Safe and Free Escorts” along with the other sororities and fraternities on campus. Any woman could call this phone line, which the sorority women answered, and the fraternity men were sent to walk with them to make sure they got home safely. Kappa Kappa Gamma won songfest during Greek Week with “Pacific Moon” that spring. The Kappas placed first in academics as well.

In 1978, the chapter Marshal planned a trip to visit Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. The girls also hosted a Mothers Day Sing on April 9 and had a tea party with the Kappas from Miami University on April 23. For a philanthropy, some of the girls joined Little Sisters of the Poor. The Registrar started passing around a book she named the “Owlie Book” where the girls could write what they had been doing that week.

The 1978 homecoming saw an active nominated for Homecoming Court, and she represented Kappa well as the first runner-up. Partnering with the men of Delta Tau Delta, the ladies designed and built a float centering around the theme “The Good, The Bad and The Bearcat,” which came in first place during the parade.

In 1979 the girls of Beta Rho attended Province Meeting April 27–29. There was also a scholarship fund establish by the UC Foundation for a member of Beta Rho Deuteron. Many of the girls were active in Greek Week including one who was the publishing chairman and another who served as chairman. Another active was declared Lambda Chi Alpha Sweetheart in 1979.

 

 

==Highlights of the 1980s:==

 

The Kappas won Mothers Day sing, the Greek Week competition in 1981, as the rest of the Kappas cheered on their singing sisters! They proudly supported Kappa Kidney Camp* and had the opportunity to send girls to visit this summer camp for children dealing with kidney disease. The 1981-1982 chapter president was Homecoming Queen, and the chapter won Sigma Chi Derby Days yet again!

 

In the fall of 1982, Kappa took second place in the Homecoming float competition, with the help of Sigma Phi Epsilon. In the spring, Kappas ran in the Kappa Run for Fun, which was a Saturday morning event during Greek Week. In addition to participating in this event, which helped raise money for the chapter’s philanthropy, Kappa continued to be an active presence during all of the Greek Week events. Kappa participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days Philanthropy and from the years 1982–1984 Kappa’s won the week- long competition taking first place. A Beta Rho members was Sigma Chi’s Sweetheart in 1982.

 

On November 4, 1983, the Kappas sent 1,300 balloons into the sky to raise money for the Shriner’s Burn Institute. Each balloon had Kappa’s address on it and the owner of the balloon that reached the farthest distance that was returned won $50. The balloons were sold for $1 each. Funds went to the Shriner’s Burn Institute.

The Fall of 1984 saw Cathy Cunningham nominated to be on Homecoming Court. The chapter enjoyed serenades, where the new members from the fraternities serenade the new members of the sororities. The Kappas also won Sigma Chi’s Derby days again, and winter of 1985 brought excitement for Kappa’s Formal at the Cincinnati Club.

In the Spring of 1985, the Kappas won Mother’s Day Sing for the fifth year in a row! Throughout 1984 and 1985, Kappa Kappa Gamma held philanthropies to support Kappa Kidney Camp* in Bellefountaine, Ohio.

 

At this time, the University of Cincinnati had more than 25,000 students, the majority of whom were commuters. The Greek system included just less than 10 percent of enrolled students with 10 sororities and 14 fraternities on campus. Beta Rho Deuteron had 100 members, making it one of the largest chapters on campus. The chapter continued to win contests including Greek Week, Mother’s Day Sing and intramural championships. It pledged its largest new member class—44 members! Founders Day was celebrated with alumnae during a banquet at Carousel Inn. Two members were selected for Homecoming Court.

 

 

==Highlights of the 1990s==

 

Sisterhood event: canoe trip the week before school started. Annual golf tournament a success.

Placed second in scholarship; 24 new members, ranked first academically; 89 chapter members; eight sororities on campus; annual golf tournament raised $1,400 for Kappa Kidney Camp, a program of the National Kidney Foundation of Ohio*; a chapter sisterhood event was held at the Indiana, chapter house; chapter members worked with Adopt-A-School.

 

Beta Rho hosted Gamma Province Meeting April 4–5, 1997, where the chapter received the Membership Award and an honorable mention for Advisory Board, Philanthropy and Most Improved Scholarship. Founders Day was celebrated at the UC Alumni Center with dinner and the presentation of pins to 50- and 65-year members. In addition to intramural sports and the annual golf tournament fundraiser, which raised $2,000 for Kappa Kidney Camp*, the chapter teamed with Phi Delta Theta for the homecoming float competition. The chapter was ranked second in scholarship and won Derby Days. The chapter had 85 members and was the largest chapter on campus.

Kappa Klassic golf tournament raised more than $2,500 for Kappa Kidney Camp* in 1991; sisterhood events including Initiation sleepover and ice cream social; four officers attended the General Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz.; intramural teams placed first; chapter worked hard to successfully meet the criteria of a Letter of Concern; an anti-hazing workshop was put on for all Panhellenic new members; chapter pride and cohesiveness increased throughout the year; the chapter worked to adjust to the changes in the New Member Program.

 

Spring quarter 1999: The chapter placed fourth in Greek Week; first place in Greek Week Mother’s Day Sing competition. A chapter member won the Greek God and Goddess talent show by singing opera and Shania Twain songs. Members participated in the annual Clean Up Clifton event, held another successful Kappa Klassic golf tournament and the traditional Senior Night dinner. The chapter won the Outstanding Risk Management Award at the Greek awards banquet.

 

Fall quarter: Beta Rho moved up in grade ranking from seventh to second place and pledged 21 new members. The chapter enjoyed a mentoring presentation by a professor and held an adviser appreciation event. Members worked at a Cincinnati Bengals game as a fundraiser, held a date party and teamed with Sigma Phi Epsilon to win the Homecoming float competition. They also won intramural flag football and volleyball championships.

 

Winter quarter: pledged eight new members; won intramural basketball championship; worked closely with advisers to get chapter finances back on track; 22 members named to dean’s list, improved attendance by 33 percent (a chapter goal).

 

 

==Highlights of 2000-2010==

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, Beta Rho Deuteron introduced a new event to the UC community, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence. More than 100 individuals signed up to quite literally walk a mile in a pair of women’s high-heeled shoes! The walk participants traveled down McMicken stairs to Clifton Ave., marched down the MLK hill, and finished the walk by dancing their way up Mainstreet back to McMicken Commons. The proceeds benefitted Women Helping Women, a local crisis center.

 

At the annual campus Greek awards banquet in April, Beta Rho Deuteron received the designation of Gold Chapter, the highest honor, in all four categories, which included: Chapter Management, Policy Compliance, External Relations and Membership Development. The former chapter president was named Sorority President of the Year.

 

At Greek Week 2010, the Greek system granted the wishes of seven children by raising $40,000. Kappas placed first in Step, first in Lip Sync, second in God and Goddess, and second in Greek Games. Combined with chapter attendance for all of the events and the money the chapter was able to raise, Beta Rho Deuteron placed second overall for sororities.

 

Kappa Krush Semi-Formal, Sapphire Ball and Spring Fling and a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo for the festival of lights was part of Beta Rho’s sisterhood and social program. Members joined Kappa Alpha Theta in renting a theater at Newport on the Levee for the movie “Remember Me.” The year 2010 marked another year of success and improvement for Beta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma along with its 125-year anniversary.

 

Classes began on January 4 with Inspiration Week and Initiation on January 26, 2010, welcoming 29 new members. On February 4, the chapter went to the Ronald McDonald House to host the annual Reading Is Fundamental philanthropy event where they read to children. played games, ate popcorn and made bookmarks. On February 22, a group of Kappas danced the night away in the first ever Cincinnati Dance Marathon hosted by the University of Cincinnati. The 24 hours of nonstop dancing raised money for Children’s Hospital. On February 20, chapter members dressed up in gowns and went to The Newport Aquarium for Sapphire Ball. Kappa was honored to accept the award of Chapter of the Quarter from Panhellenic.

 

After a relaxing spring break, during the week of April 12 the chapter participated in many events in support of Greek Week collecting awards of 2nd in God and Goddess, 1st place Lip Sync, 1st Step-Off, and 2nd place overall sorority in Greek Week. The chapter’s quarterly philanthropy event, Kappa Dog Night, raised $500. Beta Rho also won these Greek Excellence Awards: Designated “Gold Chapter”, the highest honor, by University of Cincinnati Greek Life Office. Amy Dulle, President for 2009-2010, received President of the Year Award in our Panhellenic Community.

On April 17 the chapter welcomed parents to the house for a dinner. April 20 marked the Greek Life Excellence Retreat, and two actives represented the chapter very well. On April 30, two new members were initiated and they welcomed a sister who transferred from the University of Akron.

 

The chapter held its spring semi-formal at Leapin’ Lizard in Covington on May 14. They participated in an inter-sorority Campus Clean Up and enjoyed interacting with members from other chapters. May 8 was the NPC “Something of Value” program where a few Chapter Council officers met with other members of the Greek Community to discuss a value-based approach to risk-management education for collegians. Beta Rho hosted its fourth annual Kappa Kup on May 22. Many teams signed up to participate in this soccer tournament in order to raise money for Kappa Kidney Camp.* The event brought in $1,000. Many Beta Rhos wrapped up the month by participating in Relay for Life on campus and had a great time getting to know each other more and helping support cancer patients in their fight against cancer. Kristen Holtahaus sang during the opening ceremony in honor of her mother who lost her battle with cancer.

 

Beta Rho teamed up with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House every Friday of the quarter. The Chapter Council voted to make one of the chapter meetings a country-western theme. Members came dressed in their favorite western attire and prizes were awarded for the best dressed!

 

 

==Highlights of 2011-2019:==

(From chapter’s History Report: 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.)

 

==Highlights of 2011==

 

Beta Rho members returned from summer break to newly renovated restrooms on the second floor. Members returned a week early for Fleur-de-lis Week, which was held September 13–17. The chapter participated in Recruitment workshops and sisterhood activities to get members prepared for formal Recruitment. At the end of September many of the girls attended a Meet the Greeks Cookout. Julie Chase was selected as an emerging leader to attend Leadership Academy as Beta Rho’s representative.

 

Classes began on September 22. On Saturday, October 2, the Kappas held their second Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault, and Gender Violence event. Campus and community participants walked a mile through campus in high heels. Q102’s Jeff and Jenn Morning Show broadcast live from the walk. All proceeds benefited Women Helping Women, a crisis center in Cincinnati, and Kappa was able to donate approximately $2,100.

 

Formal Recruitment was held October 15–18, and ended in a “Notorious KKG” themed Bid Day where 50 new members were welcomed—the largest new member class in the chapter’s history! The chapter was excited to welcome back their five members who served as Rho Gammas (Recruitment Guides).

 

Homecoming was October 30 with the theme of “Transforming Bearcats.” Beta Rho teamed up with Sigma Alpha Epsilon to create a float, which came in third place. The Friday before homecoming some girls participated in the 5K walk to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. On the Saturday of homecoming, the chapter hosted a brunch for actives, alumnae, and their families at the house in order to watch the parade. Chapter President, Sarah Stenger, was chosen for Homecoming Court.

 

The annual Founders Day luncheon was held at The Cincinnati Women’s Club on November 6. The chapter also carved pumpkins with Sigma Chi, and later hosted another Kappa Dog Night at the Kappa house. They raised $745 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Throughout the week the ladies of Beta Rho also participated in Sigma Chi’s annual Derby Days fundraiser for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They teamed up with the men of Sigma Chi to drive the Nightwalk van once a week. Each Wednesday two Kappas and two Sigma Chis were in charge of taking the Nightwalk calls and driving around campus to make sure everyone who needed it got a safe ride home. Another philanthropic event that Kappas got involved in was Special Olympics. Chapter member Porshea Monnin organized an event one Saturday each month for the Kappas to team up with another fraternity or sorority to help out with the special Olympics Program.

 

A Kappa Trainer facilitated an image-management workshop at a chapter meeting. The annual fall semi-formal, Kappa Krush, was held at a venue called “Bartini” and the theme was “Kappa Kaberet.” A week later many members drove to Anna Leverone’s house for the new member retreat on November 14. On November 18, members gathered on the front porch to listen to the gentlemen of various fraternities serenade the chapter. Kappas also attended a Tacky Christmas Sweater Social with the men of Phi Kappa Alpha at Longworth’s in Mt. Adams.

==Highlights of 2012==

The spring semester year for the ladies of the Beta Rho Deuteron chapter of 2012 started off Kappa Kappa Gamma began with the addition installation of 40 new membersofficers. Initiation was held at With the new officers came new ideas for improving the chapter! In the end beginning of February, marking we went with our Dads to Stone Lanes Bowling Alley for an afternoon of bonding and getting a couple strikes and spares! In the official addition month of 40 new Kappas February we also teamed up with Sigma Phi Epsilon to create a team for Cincinnati Dance Marathon, a 24 hour dance philanthropy raising money for Mu ChapterChildren’s hospital. Soon after, Though our legs were sore we were honored to have so many of our sisters on CDM’s executive board and morale team. At the new member formal was end of February we heldour annual Sapphire Ball at “The Syndicate” in Newport, Kentucky. It took place in downtown Indianapolis The ball was Masquerade themed and was after a lot of fun for everyone! The themedelicious dinner, which was chosen by we danced the new pledge classnight away with our newly crowned Sapphire Man, was SuperheroesDavid Clark. In accordance We were also able to hold our Reading is Key week-long event with the themeCincinnati Boys & Girls clubs. We read books, played games, each Kappa had snacks and their dates dressed up as Superheros. People got really creative laughed with the theme and some dressed up as "Kappa Superheros." "Freshmen Skits" provided a great opportunity for the new members to bond and get to know each other betterlittle kids.

Last year's theme was "With springtime came Greek Week, Relay for Life and a jam-packed Kappa calendar! At this year’s “Hollywood” themed Greek Week, the Beta Rho chapter placed 1st in belly flop, 1st in Lipsync (three years in a row), 1st in Greek OlympicsSing and 1st in Dodgeball. We also placed 2nd in volleyball and 3rd in Step." The new members worked really hard Beta Rho chapter placed overall runner-up and overall philanthropy runner-up. With Greek Week over we focused on Relay for Life teaming up with Sigma Alpha Epsilon to raise money by selling deep fried Oreos and other baked treats! In the skits, and made a lot month of memories while practicing. Another opportunity April we were also able to compete squeeze in an amazing parents weekend! We attended a Cincinnati Red’s game with our families and cheered on the other greek houses arose with Spring SingRed legs (in our adorable matching Parent’s Weekend shirts). Last year Kappa We also treated our Moms to a brunch and Lilly Pulitzer trunk show! The trunk show was paired such a hit we opened up our house to the Panhellenic community! We ended our Spring quarter with Sigma Chia “Garden” themed dance outside at the Theodore M. Berry Friendship Pavilion on the river. With better than perfect weather, everyone enjoyed taking pictures and won hitting the Spirit Awarddance floor for a night full of great memories. Spring Sports SpectacularWe also held our annual soccer tournament Kappa Kup at the end of May where we had 20 teams sign up to play as well as received team t-shirts, a 24 hour athletic event to benefit Special Olympicswere coached by our awesome soccer moms, was held in and shared lunch and refreshments with the spring ladies of 2012KKG. All the proceeds went to Kappa Kidney camp.

All Over the members had a great time competing summer, the Beta Rho chapter took no breaks! Hannah Motz and Liz Stoner attended the 2012 National Convention in the events such as ping pongJacksonville, FL. They attended many sessions to teach about Standards, volleyballFinance, soccerRecruitment, basketballNew Member Programs, etc. and many morebring what they learned back to the chapter. The Walk Against Domestic Violence was held in the spring; Kappa teamed up with Alpha Chi Omega to raise money and awareness for They also learned a good cause (Julian Center and Coburn Place lot from meal- both centers for battered women and children)time guest speakers, in particular GIRLS Academy. Other events in Because of the Spring of 2012 impact that Kappas participated in includedGIRLS Academy had on Liz and Hannah, Dance Marathon (the Beta Rho chapter applied and were honored to benefit Riley Childrenbe 1 of 6 chosen. Our event will be held the first weekend this upcoming March. Convention for Beta Rho was a fun time meeting Kappa's Hospital, where we won an award for from all over the most attendees United States as well as interacting with members from our chapter), Relay region. At the conference we got Honorable Mentions for Life, SNUperbowl (where we won 1st place), Risk Management and Polar Bear PlungePhilanthropy Signature Event. We were also recognized for Legacy Recruitment.

Everyone looked forward to their return to Butler (and to Kappa) We ended our summer days with a Fleur de Lis Week that went down in the Fall of 2012. Spirits were highBeta Rho chapter history books! Our membership chair Maddie put together a fabulous week filled with Kappa history lessons, proper recruitment etiquette, and we had fun bonding with our sisters while making it a great atmosphere our first ever Recruitment video, with many thanks to head up our biggest philanthropy event, Kappa Kickoff. We raised a record amount of money sister Christa Seta for dragging 130 girls around UC’s campus for Coburn placepictures, one of our local philanthropiessongs, and had a fantastic turnouttestimonials. We had fraternities participate With FDL weeks fresh in our lip syncsminds, and they were a huge success. The boys held nothing back as they sang and danced for the judges, with Delta Tau Delta winning the first place title. Homecoming 2012 was a fun event for KappaBeta Rho chapter participated in Panhellenic Formal recruitment. We were paired with Delta Tau Delta so excited to show our amazing house and had Mouse Trap as our themesisterhood to so many potential new members. We had a great time working ended the two weekend recruitment with the fraternity and being creative as we made a lifesize game board of Mouse Trap “Reeling in our front yard. Overallthe Finest since 1870” bid day complete with nautical bracelets, 2012 was a wonderful year for Kappa Kappa Gamma's Mu Chapterporch dance parties, and it will be one that we all remember. As for challenges, Mu Chapter did encounter some challengeswelcoming our 39 newest members. Among these was the issue of knowing Kappa ritual. We have worked on that by going over ritual at formal chapters and it has helped the issue significantlyalso were thrilled to welcome back our 6 amazing Rho Gammas who were disaffiliated during their times serving our Panhellenic community.

'''Campus:''' Butler University was founded Our new members joined right in 1855 time for Homecoming which UC themed this year “I Love Lucy” for Lucy the Bearcat! The Beta Rho chapter teamed up with the men of Alpha Chi Rho and continues to serve as our Homecoming chair Courtney planned a wonderful liberal arts institutionfun filled week with Hawaiian, Neon, and Disney themed nights! We ended the week with our annual Homecoming brunch, catered by Maggiano’s Italian restaurant. Butler offers more than 65 majors. Over We shared spaghetti and desserts with alumni, friends and family and watched the past five yearsHomecoming parade from our front porch where we saw our float, Butler's graduates have had an average 96 percent job placement rate, with 100 percent in education and pharmacy. our President Liz Stoner and VPAE Sarah Chant on the Homecoming court! The campus is turnout was great, the Bearcats took home to approximately 4a victory against the Miami Redhawks! With a win under the Bearcats belt,771 students, many of whom are working towards completing an undergraduate degreewe celebrated Founder’s Day at the Cincinnati Women’s Club. The majority Beta Rho chapter and local alumni enjoyed a healthy brunch of quiche and fruit while listening to presentations of Butler students are white CaucasianKappa songs, poems, and updates. Butler represents 49 countries Several alumni received 65- and 45 states50- year anniversary pins. With over 150 organizationsA special guest from Columbus gave an interesting presentation on GIRLS Academy, many of Butlerand got everyone excited to participate in such a wonderful event. Junior Sarah Clem was awarded the Gloria Gehrig award and received the honorary pin. We also had a leadership consultant with us this semester. During Kimberly's students are involved on campus. Roughly 33% visit to the University of Cincinnati she was able to meet many of the students are affiliated with a Greek organizationwomen of Beta Rho, which includes 7 sororities as well as experience many of the wonderful perks that our beautiful city has to offer. She enjoyed delicacies such as Graeters and Skyline and 6 fraternitiesalso attended a hot yoga class with Kathleen Grace (Risk). Her time spent with us was short but we were able to learn so much from her during her stay.

'''Chapter:''' Mu Chapter welcomed 40 new members The ladies of Beta Rho visited the Niederman Family Farm in February, and is now thriving with 163 members. Although many women call Indiana their home state, there are the end of October for a variety of other states represented: Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and IllinoisFall themed sisterhood. The diversity of We began the day at the Kappa house is represented through our fields of studies and passions, ranging from pharmacy where we enjoyed some pinterest –inspired apple pie muffins then headed off to dancethe farm. Along with these respective majors, many Mu Kappas are involved in a variety of other activities outside of Greek lifeWe spent the day roasting marshmallows, such as Butler University Dance Marathontaking hayrides, Relay for Lifeexploring the corn maze, Academic and Business Fraternities, and Student Governmenthanging out in the petting zoo. Mu members also participate in Besides a number little rain at the start of athletic programsthe event (and some directionally challenged drivers), including swimmingthe sisterhood went off without a hitch. Even more exciting, soccer, lacrosse, dance team and cheerleadingthis was our first sisterhood with our New Members. We are well represented throughout campus It was so nice to get to mingle with the different pledge classes and are proud break out of the many achievements our typical groups of our membersfriends. The event reaffirmed that any Saturday afternoon is better with your sisters.We also held a Halloween Date Party where we dressed up and skated at SkateTown USA!

We unfortunately had to end this year with a loss of a sister, friend and inspiration. Not only was she the most positive, free spirited person you would have ever met; she was always there for you to brighten your day. Throughout our lives with Ellen Garner we learned that we have to live life to the fullest, not care about what others think and most importantly to take chances because you never know what great story can come from it. Throughout this time we have learned the true meaning of sisterhood and appreciate this gift that Kappa Kappa Gamma has given us.

==Highlights of 2013==

The spring semester year 2013 for the ladies of the Beta Rho Deuteron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma began with some hard losses. We returned from Winter Break to some very difficult news – our sister Ellen Garner had been injured in a house fire on New Year's Day and was in the hospital in a medically-induced coma. Despite endless prayers and good thoughts, she left us on January 14, 2013 began . In the days and weeks following her death, our chapter became stronger than ever. We came together with a true appreciation for each other and it made me even more proud to be a Kappa. Ellen truly was all that was beautiful and good. As with all hard things, our Beta Rho worked to move forward together and begin the addition rest of the year, always keeping Ellen in minds and keeping memories of her close. As January progressed, we had the installation of 56 new membersofficers and the turning of a page. Several events transpired during their time as With the new officers came new members. Freshman Skits provided a wonderful opportunity ideas for improving the chapter and ideas to thrive with the semester conversion. Many new pledge class challenges were ahead as the chapter council worked to see how to bond squeeze in the activities which previously filled 5 months during our winter and work togetherspring quarters, into the 4 months of our first spring semester. Last years theme It was Once Upon a Time at Butlerchallenge from the start, but Beta Rho had a lot to look forward to for the remainder of the school year. We were also honored to have two Kappas elected into positions on Panhellenic Council-Brittany Besl and Kristy Dardano represented Kappa as VP Recruitment and VP Finance. The new pledge class used their creative minds  In the month of February, Kappas teamed up with Pi Kappa Alpha to develop create a themeteam for Cincinnati Dance Marathon, which consisted a 24 hour dance philanthropy raising money for Children’s hospital. We enjoyed a Valentine’s themed two way with the men of Beta Theta Pi and mixed up our typical dog nights by having a mix between The Bachelor coney sale with men of Sigma Chi. We were honored to have the opportunity to hold our first Girls Academy at Summit View Middle School. We hosted 50 middle school girls for an overnight event with focus on empowering leaders, the importance of respect, and the Disney Princessesservice. The event was fun-filled a great success and allowed active members to show their pride for we loved learning from the new pledge classgirls at this school and helping empower them. On March 8 we held our annual Sapphire Ball at “The Syndicate” in Newport, Kentucky. The next big event ball was fully stocked with a candy bar and after a delicious dinner, we danced the spring formalnight away with our newly crowned Sapphire Man, Rob Rice. The themefollowing morning, picked by a few bright eyed members chalked up the energy to participate in UC’s Community Plunge. We spent the morning “Springing our steps” with some of the new members, was Sapphire Ballmen of Pi Kappa Phi and worked to clean up an abandoned pathway of steps leading out of downtown Cincinnati. All Kappas dressed returned from spring break and had a parents weekend event to Hockey Game. With springtime came Greek Week, Province Meeting in different shades of blue Columbus, Relay for Life with SAE and a jam-packed Kappa calendar! We were honored and proud to receive Most Improved Chapter, Best New Member Program, and honorable mentions in Sisterhood and Membership at Province Meeting. At this year’s “Greekelodeon” themed Greek Week, the dates dressed Beta Rho chapter placed 3rd overall, with another 1st place in formal attirebelly flop, 3rd in Lipsync, and 1st in greek games. Celebrating our wonderful sorority and dancing With Greek Week over we focused on Relay for Life teaming up with Sigma Alpha Epsilon to raise money for the night away American Cancer Society. Relay for Life was a great way success as our chapter had the top fundraising with over $15,000 raised! This largely came from the support of member Christa Seta and her family who host a fundraiser in memory of her mom each year who were incredibly generous to start off the semesterdonate this money in our name for this cause this year.

The new members were initiated on March 2ndAs the semester quickly came to an end, which made for the official inclusion of 56 new members for the Mu Chapter of we hosted our first Kappa Kappa Gamma. Staying up all night playing sports Kornhole event to raise money for the Special Olympics was another huge event, named Spring SportsKappa Kidney Kamp. Kappas competed in several activities including tug We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon of war, swimming, supporting our teams and flag footballgrilling hot dogs. The Walk Against Domestic Violence To end the year, we hosted a memorial for Ellen as found in our ritual book which was also held in the spring semester. Kappa teamed with presided by a fellow sorority on campus, Alpha Chi Omegaformer fraternity president, J.J. Wales. For the first time Kappas packed their bags and made a lap around campus ended exams before we even turned the page to raise awareness and money for domestic violence and for two outstanding philanthropies Coburn Place and Julian CenterMay.

Kappas also threw an even entitled Kool off We ended our summer days with a Fleur de Lis week that brought us all back together. Our membership chair Katie put together a fabulous week filled with Kappa in which we sold snow cones and raised around five hundred dollars for Coburn Place. Other events that transpired during the spring semester were Dance Marathon (for Riley Children’s Hospital)history lessons, Relay for Lifeproper recruitment etiquette, and Polar Bear Plungewe had fun bonding with our sisters while making our Recruitment video which has become a highlight of recruitment. After As school came back into session we enjoyed our first two way of the excitement year with a fun kickball filled field day with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha. Just a few weeks into the spring semester, everyone was Beta Rho chapter participated in Panhellenic Formal recruitment. We were excited to return to campus, particularly the Kappa Kastle, for the fall semester share our sisterhood with so many potential new members as we had another year of record numbers of 2012girls going through recruitment. Back and ready for Even through some funnights of pouring down rain, everyone was ecstatic we were able to throw Kappa Klassic (renamed from Kappa Kickoff)meet so many amazing women. We ended the two weekend recruitment with a “Kappa Revolution” bid day. During this event Once again through the rain we still managed to have a 70s worthy dance party on the porch, fraternities and sororities came welcoming our 49 newest members. We also were overjoyed to Kappa welcome back our sisters who had disaffiliated to enjoy delicious cookout themed foods, kickball, and lip-syncs. The crowd was wild and the gentleman of Delta Tau Delta claimed help the first place trophy new girls find their homes in lip syncseach sorority chapter. The highlight of this event was the announcement that we had raised a record breaking fourteen thousand dollars for Coburn Place!

Our last major philanthropy event, Kappaccino, transpired new members joined right in the fall time for Homecoming which UC themed this year “Once upon a Homecoming”! The Beta Rho chapter teamed up with the coming men of the cooler weather. Kappas sold different flavored coffees to raise money for Sigma Chi and our national philanthropy Reading is Fundamental. Homecoming 2012 was another success. Kappa was paired with the freshmen class members living in Schwitzer Hall and Ross Hall. The excitement of the freshmen made for chair Elle Murray planned a thrilling experience. Last year, the theme was Books Turned into Movies. fun filled week themed nights! We chose ended the movie The Wizard of Ozweek with our annual Homecoming breakfast, catered by Maggiano’s Italian restaurant. We spent a late night decorating our yard shared breakfast with alumni, friends and family and transforming it into watched the Land of Oz. We also performed an excellent Oz-themed skit for Homecoming parade from our front porch during the annual “Yell Like Hell” and clenched first place in both the skit and lawn decorations! Overallrain where we saw our float, Kappa placed second among the paired sorority and fraternity pairs! We were beyond proud of our efforts in homecoming Education chair Sarah Clem and were thrilled to bond with Brittany Besl on the new freshmen class. At Homecoming court! The Bearcats took home a victory against the end of the semesterU Conn, we were excited to find out that we had improved in our grades and earned the Highest GPA on campus. Overall, 2013 was Kappa took a spectacular yearvictory with Sarah Clem winning Homecoming!

'''Campus:'''Butler University was founded in 1855 and continues to serve as With a respected liberal arts institution. The 290-acre campus contains 31 buildings and offers a variety of 60 degrees. Butler is home to approximately 4,771 students, most of whom are working towards an undergraduate degree. The majority of win under the students are white CaucasianBearcats belt, but we celebrated Founder’s Day at the minority population is about 7%Cincinnati Women’s Club. Butler offers over 100 organizations for students to be involved in Several alumni received 65- and many students choose to be involved in these organizations50- year anniversary pins. Approximately 35% Nancy Carley province director of students choose alumnae spoke to be affiliated with Greek houses, which include 6 fraternities us and Junior Natalie Papania was awarded the Gloria Gehring award and 7 sororitiesreceived the honorary pin.

'''Chapter:'''Mu chapter welcomes 56 new membersOctober brought a busy month for us starting off with UC’s first “reading days.” Our event chairman Courtney Gibbons, and is now thriving planned a fun 2-way with 180 membersthe women of Theta painting pottery. Many members call Indiana their home In November, but many states are represented through Kappa’s brought back an old tradition for our members including New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and many othersannual Kappa Krush. Exemplifying Each of our diversity, our members’ majors range from Pharmacy dates were “Krushed” and had to wait until the night of the danceto see who had invited them. We had fun surprising the dates and danced the night away at the chic Venue 222 in Over the Rhine. As the semester came to a close Kappa kept our calendars full. Along During I-Week we had the joy of sharing our experiences with these majorsIlyana, our leadership consultant. During the members of Kappa Kappa Gamma also participate in many activities outside of Greek life such as Butler University Dance Marathonweek, we had family dinners, got competitive at Laser tag, Relay for Lifeenjoyed a hot yoga class, academic and business fraternities, wrapped up the week with fireside and student governmentinitiation. Members also participate in We were lucky to share our experiences with a number few of athletic activities including lacrosse, softball, and cheerleading. Mu the women from the Akron chapter is well represented throughout campus and we take pride in the accomplishments as they initiated one of our their new membersalong-side of ours.

After Thanksgiving, we took a little road trip to headquarters where the newest members were able to see even more into our sisterhood and history during a visit to the Kappa museum. We loved learning about the history of Kappa, as well as history of our very own chapter we hadn't previously known at the Heritage Museum. Additionally, Kappa finished the fall semester 3rd overall in the Greek community for chapter GPA and 2nd among other sororities. We are excited to see where 2014 will take us.

This past year has been a year of change around UC. President Santa Ono has spurred on an even greater school spirit that has made every event electric and an exciting time to be students here. This past year, we finished our first year on semesters which required a lot of changes for our calendar and how we make things work. Our chapter has found a way to continue to thrive throughout these changes and continues to grow and stay at the forefront of Greek life on campus.

==Highlights of 2014==

The women 2014 was a great year for the ladies of Mu Beta Rho Kappa Kappa Gamma. Marking our centennial at Butler the Universityof Cincinnati, we were excited for all that 2014 had to offer. January brought a smooth transition to a new Chapter Council led by President, Michelle Firsdon. To start the New Year off swinging, we partnered with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon for a 60’s themed two-way where we learned how to swing dance! Planned by our Event Chair, Brooke Duncan, we learned how to do some basic steps. It was a huge blast and also a great way to get to know the boys before we partnered with them for Homecoming in the Fall. Later in January, Kappa Kappa Gamma attended a 90’s themed social at Longworth’s Hall, a wonderful year local bar located in 2014Mount Adams. We danced to music from the 90’s alongside members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pike Kappa Alpha, and Phi Mu, a sorority to just join the University of Cincinnati’s campus! It was a great way to welcome Phi Mu welcomed 50 new members into Kappa the Panhellenic Community and could not be more excitedto form fresh friendships with them! In February, Beta Rho hosted their annual Sapphire Ball at the memorable 20th Century Theatre in Oakley Square in Cincinnati. The dinner was delicious and there was even an ice cream bar with Cincinnati’s own Graeter’s Ice Cream, a local favorite. The new members were able to bond over Freshmen skits (ball was a hit and was a great send off for our senior sisters. Beta Rho also enjoyed strengthening our sisterly bonds when our Vice President of Standards, Shelby Penn, planned an awesome Sisterhood event at Skyzone, an indoor trampoline park! We had a blast jumping around and enjoying food and drinks. Later in the February, Philanthropy Chair, Kelsey Thomas planned a dance competition between Greek Houses)“Block Party Philanthropy Night” where Beta Rho sold our classic hot dogs on the street while our neighbors Delta Tau Delta, Theta Phi Alpha, Spring Sports SpectacularChi Omega, and Sigma Phi Epsilon also sold their first signature eateries! Beta Rho’s also spent time in the spring volunteering at the local Ronald McDonald House, partnering with Kappa Delta to make breakfast for residents and their families of the shelter. It was truly an amazing experience to be able to share our time and effort to help the Ronald McDonald House run smoothly. Beta Rho did not slow down for the end of the semester as we geared up for the week-long philanthropy event, KappaccinoGreek Week, benefitting the Freestore Foodbank. Kappa had a blast showing off our step and dance routines in the variety show, displaying our versatility during their first two months before being initiated on March 28th!the Greek Games, and helping to package food to donate to the Freestore Foodbank. Beta Rho was also pleased to be awarded as Red & Black Chapter in the Panhellenic community. To finish off the semester, we had a Mom’s Day at the house where we had a Coloring Specialist teach us all how to wear our unique color best. Our senior night was filled with emotions both happy and sad as we were sad to see our sisters graduate.

In After the fall Mu Kappa kicked off summer away, Beta Rho was prepared to tackle recruitment with our Membership Chair, Emily Mehl. After two hot weekends, we welcomed 50 new members to our chapter with a wonderful semester Glitter and Blue themed Bid Day. We danced on our front porch and hosted "Kappa Kickoff" a backyard barbeque style event where the other Greek Houses compete grilled our signature hot dogs till our house was covered in a kickball tournament and then there are lipsyncs glitter. Immediately after, the women Bid Day was Homecoming Week! Many of our sisters attended Fall Ball alongside many men of Mu raised money for Coburn PlaceSigma Phi Epsilon. Kappas had their fall semi formal in which the theme The event was "Beauty hosted by Sigma Phi and was a fun twist to add to our Homecoming week line-up. After our swing dancing with Sigma Phi Epsilon, it was even more fun preparing a float with them for the Geek“Zinzinnati” themed Homecoming Parade, taking Cincinnati back to its German roots." The women dressed in as beauties in dresses and their dates in geek or nerd costumes! We were able eager and excited to welcome cheer on sister Brittany Ziegler who was a new philanthropy event to campus calledmember of Homecoming Court! This year, Cincinnati’s football games were held at Paul Brown Stadium downtown while our stadium, Nippert, Kappa Harvestwas undergoing construction. This was Planned by our fall philanthropy where Public Relations Chair Megan Beischel, we sold three different types of pie still hosted our annual brunch for our sisters and hot or cold cider. This event received great response from campus their families as we ate Maggiano’s and it was a fun way geared up to get excited for fall time!beat Miami, Oxford.

After Homecoming at Butler was a magical and fun time for Kappa, who took home most Beta Rho paired up with the men of the fun filled week's victories. The week is full Sigma Alpha Epsilon to enjoy some of competitions Cincinnati’s favorite foods such as Yell Like HellSkyline Chili and Graeter’s Ice Cream for a social. There are few things better than enjoying Cincinnati’s signature foods with your sisters! Later, Lawn DecsBeta Rho traveled to Miami, Oxford to have a two-way with our Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters at Miami! We traveled to farm where we pet cows, braved a corn maze, and Homecoming King & Queenroasted marshmallows and hot dogs over a campfire. It was so great to meet our sisters from another chapter. Mu won overall for homecoming events and were thrilled! Our At the event we had a t-shirt swap where members are involved in so many ways around campus outside of Kappa. Members take part in leadership positions for clubs and organizations such as CHAARGour chapter brought t-shirts to swap with t-shirts they brought! Also, Answers for Autismwe all enjoyed being able to spend it with our Leadership Consultant, BAMAJo, Butler University Dance Marathon and many others. There are numerous women who play sports on campus such as tennis, lacrosse and club teams. was visiting that week!

The women of Mu take pride in Once October came, we were finally able to host our chapter's history and successCentennial Celebration. We have struggled Planning started in the past spring with ritual the help of alumni Leah Nguyen and being sure that guidelines for ritual are met. We are making a conscience effort to better our chapter's understanding committee of ritual and hoping that with practice dedicated sisters. There was energy buzzing in the air all weekend. Friday evening welcomed an open house at Beta Rho for alumni and repetition we will continue family to get better in revisit the years to comeKappa house. The women of Mu were able to achieve signature event on Saturday was hosted at the top GPA on campus with Millennium Hotel located in downtown Cincinnati and included a 3.522. Mu also raised over $14silent auction, dinner,000 for our three philanthropiesspeeches from Kappa alumnae, and won multiple events on campus tons of Kappa memories relived. It was such as Yell Like Hell a blessing to see how much Kappa has influenced our sisters’ lives and were the top fundraising sorority for Polar Plunge. At Province our chapter won Most Improved for Academics. Many ladies in Mu took to see that Kappa is an organization we are a part in the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS awareness or helped by donating to the causeof forever. The women of Mu look forward to more memories together and a brighter and even better 2015!

Our October brought even more excitement to Kappa as we debuted our first annual Kappa Spelling Key benefiting Reading is Fundamental. At the event, representatives from different Greek organizations around campus is growing were contestants in size and in infrastructurea college style spelling bee. The members of Mu are quick and adaptable Guests gained entrance to these outside changes the event by donating childrens books and are ready Beta Rho collected almost 300 books to overcome any obstacle. Butler University is a private university and is small benefit children in size. There are about 4,800 students and growing! Butler offers over 100 clubs and organizations on campus to studentsthe local community. Butler is proud All of its small size but big heart, in that the student body believes in sisters had a Community of Care, blast at the responsibility event and we are excited to care for your fellow students and the university continue it on as a whole. The students at Butler are hardworking and receive a lot of guidance from professors and advisors. The job placement rate at Butler University is 96% or 100% tradition for Education and Pharmacy. our chapter!

Mu holds its chapter meetings in In November, we were finally able to welcome our 50 new members into our sisterhood. Leading up to initiation, we had a fun Inspiration Week led by Marshal, Courtney Gibbons. After 9 weeks of preparation led by New Member Chair, Liv Dulle, we were so excited to initiate our chapter owned homenew members. We hold Beta Rho had a 100% retention rate from recruitment and was thrilled to welcome all of them to our chapter meetings sisterhood. Later in November, we enjoyed our basement signature semi-formal, Kappa Krush. All of our dates were “krushed” or kitchenpinned with a ribbon leading up to the event and were able to find the Kappa with the matching ribbon. Our house The event was built hosted at the American Sign Museum, a truly hidden gem in Cincinnati that displays hundreds of retired signs from all over. It was a night filled with dancing, music, and laughter. Before we left for Thanksgiving break, Beta Rho was asked by the 1930s men of Alpha Tau Omega to build our float together next Homecoming and we said yes! Beta Rho is excited to work with some expansion work done in them and to get to know them better.  As the semester wound down, the Kappas hit the 60s. The house is books as final exams approached and were proud to have been ranked third for chapter owned and about 72 girls can live GPA in the housePanhellenic community. Mostly We kept our focus on the new pledge class will live in year ahead as we slated for the house with 2015 chapter council members and other junior girls making up . Looking back, so much has happened in 2014 for Beta Rho from celebrating our rich history at the rest University of the live Cincinnati to beginning a new philanthropy tradition. We are excited and eager to see what 2015 has in members.store for Beta Rho!

==Highlights of 2015==

2015 was a very busy year for the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma Beta Rho! As the start of a new calendar year rolled around, the Kappa house was bursting with energy for the year ahead. The Kappa’s kicked off the year with a Dog Night, planned by our lovely Philanthropy Chair Brooke Duncan. Despite the January cold, the Kappa’s were out in full force promoting our philanthropies and selling our delicious hot dogs on the porch. Kappa’s rounded out January with a 90’s throwback themed two way with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha at Longworth’s Hall in Mount Adams planned by our event chair, Lauren Cocca. This tradition has come to be one of the favorite social events for the Kappas!

February’s calendar was filled with a ton of sisterhood bonding! Kappa paired up with the women of Chi Omega for a Valentine’s themed two way filled with a gift exchange and festive activities. Our Vice President of Standards, Sarah Fretwell, planned a sisterhood for all of our fitness loving Kappa’s at DEFINE in Oakley. Lastly, the Kappas got dressed up for a night out at Sapphire Ball, held at The Redmoor in Mount Lookout. Kappas danced the night away with their sisters and dates and even had a Grater's Ice Cream bar for a sweet treat!

February came to a close as we shared some friendly competition with our fellow sorority and fraternity members in Greek Week. Kappas participated in many events throughout the week and had a blast showing off our dance and step routines at the variety show.

 

We kicked off March with Literacy week at John P. Parker School planned by our Philanthropy Chair, Brooke Duncan. All week Kappas volunteered with the students at the Cincinnati Public school by participating in Dr. Seuss themed literacy events. Kappa was able to donate many books to the children and their families that we collected at our Spelling Key last fall.

Come spring break time, Kappas traveled around the country together to enjoy a relaxing break from classes.

March came to a close with the Fiji Color Run benefiting Cystic Fibrosis where we paired with the men of Fiji and the women of Kappa Delta for a 5k around UC’s campus.

April kicked off with the Greek Excellence Awards where many Kappas were honored for their hard work and dedication. As a chapter, Kappa took home awards for Dynamic Recruitment, Membership Development and Social Responsibility. In addition many chapter council members took home pillar awards including President Liv Dulle winning the Leadership Development Award, Philanthropy Chair Brooke Duncan winning the Philanthropy and Service Award and Marshall Amy Nguyen winning the Values Integration and Personal Growth Award.

 

With the weather warming up, our amazing Public Relations Chair Maria Engels planned a Kappa Dad’s Day where we took over the Great American Ballpark to enjoy a Red’s Game together. We had amazing weather for a day at the ballpark with our dads!

Kappas joined with our neighbors Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Theta Phi Alpha and Chi Omega for a philanthropy block party to celebrate the end of the year! Kappa’s sold popsicles and had a blast spending time with our neighbors.

As finals rolled around, Kappas hit the books hard, enjoying spending time together studying at study tables led by our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Cady Aulicino. Before all of the Kappas headed home for the summer, we had a fun filled photo shoot day on campus! With great weather, it was an awesome way to end the school year with our sisters. While we were sad to send off our seniors at senior night and watch them graduate, it was amazing to see all of the new life adventures in store for them upon graduation!

 

Over the summer, Kappa sisters participated in their first Service Trip where they traveled to the Navajo Nation to serve and learned about the Navajo culture. As the first Kappa chapter to plan their own internal service trip, we are excited to continue this tradition for years to come!

 

As August rolled around, the Kappas returned to Clifton for an amazing Fleur-di-Lis Week planned by our Recruitment chair, Molly Hinken. During the week, Kappas prepared for Recruitment, reconnecting with our values and sharing a fun sisterhood at Devou Park filled with fun games and yummy food!

The ladies of Mu had a wonderful year With classes back in full of sisterhoodswing, philanthropy, and scholarship in 2015. In January members welcomed 50 new sisters to the incredible sisterhood that Kappa has to offer. Mu continues to grow each year and the women could not be more excited. There were numerous women in the chapter who received 4.0 GPAs throughout 2015, house was once again filled with smiles and many others who received above a 3.75. We implemented a new system for tracking study hours on an app and that seems to be really benefiting our members, there is even a little prize for members with the most study hours during laughter after a monthlong summer away!

The Mu chapter support a local safe haven for women called last two weekends of September Kappa participated in Panhellenic Recruitment that ended with us gaining 53 amazing new members on our “New Bids on the Block” themed Bid Day planned by our New Member Chair, Sarah Jankowski. Kappas threw it back to the 90’s and danced the evening away on the Coburn Placefront porch of 2801.  Welcoming in our new members through one of our most important values in Kappa, philanthropy, October kicked off our Literacy week. Normally To start off the only way week, we have been involved held our best dog night yet on the Kappa porch. Throughout the week, Kappas along with Coburn has been spreading awareness other fraternities and raising money for themsororities on campus, however this year we were able collected books to send a few members be donated to Coburn Place to learn more and help out any way they couldlocal Cincinnati Public Schools. We are hoping The week came to be able to do more things like this a close with Coburn our annual Spelling Key, where representatives from different organizations on campus participated in years to comea “college style” Spelling Key with Stacy Smith from Gamma Phi Beta who took home the final prize.Throughout the literacy week, Kappa collected over 1,200 books!

In This year the Indianapolis community, Mu was able Kappa’s paired up with the men of Alpha Tau Omega to celebrate a “Cats are Back” themed Homecoming to be involved in collecting old cell phones for homeless people and other people who were trying commemorate our return to get back on their feet. Some of the members were able to go to Lucas Oil newly renovated Nippert Stadium before a Colts game . Thanks to help collect old cell phones the hard work of our Risk Management Chair, Hannah Stamos, and they our Homecoming Chair, Steph Camm, we had a blast volunteeringfun filled week of events including Family Feud, a Tommy Bahama themed party and the annual Sigma Phi Fall Ball. Our public relations chairman, Maria Engels, planned an amazing Homecoming Day Brunch from Maggiano’s for all of the Kappas and their families. It was a full house watching the Homecoming parade travel down Clifton Avenue!Kappa was proud of our sister Brooke Duncan representing Kappa on this year’s Homecoming Court. To top it all off, the Bearcats pulled out an amazing win!  Come October we celebrated Founder’s Day at the Cincinnati Women’s Club planned by our Education Chairman, Laura Zenni. At this amazing event we had perfect attendance and got to recognize some amazing Kappa Alumni celebrate their many years as loyal Kappas.

One October also welcomed in the first round of professionalism events planned by our president Liv Dulle. At the first event, Kappas worked on goal Mu had setting for their professional future. At the semester was to try to get more members involved, not just in Kappa Kappa Gammanext event, but also in our community Kappas took professional head shots and learned about networking on campus as a wholesocial media. We really focused on making sure we made a presence on campus throughout  November kicked off with the year and it really paid off! tradition of Serenades led by our Song Chair, Erin Walsh. The ladies Kappas definitely captured some of KKG at Butler did really well in all 2015 Homecoming activities includingthe fraternity men’s hearts, decorating our lawn like especially the Flintstones, competing in a dance performance, and queen festivities! It was really fun men of Pi Kappa Alpha as they asked us to have all of our members participate and it really made a difference. We also saw a difference in attendance at philanthropy events Homecoming for not only Kappa but also other sororities on campus which is awesome2016!

The Mu chapter is located on Butler University’s campus Kappas were able to celebrate a great semester together with our annual Kappa Krush event at the Syndicate in IndianapolisNewport, Indiana Kentucky. Kappa dates were “Krushed” and while then had to wait until the campus is generally smalldance to find out who their beautiful date was! Stocked with a hopping dance floor and photo booth, it is growingwas a great way to celebrate the year.  Finally the time came to officially welcome our new members into the Kappa sisterhood. Our inspiration week, planned by Marshall Amy Nguyen, consisted of fun family dinners, our favorite Blue and Blue dinner, a Cyclones game, Painting Party and Firesides. Finally with a flawless initiation, we welcome 53 new beautiful sisters! Our  To connect with the new members of Phi Mu, Kappa participated in “Mid Day Munchies” on campus is making where we sold Hot dogs and Hot Apple cider and had the opportunity to learn more about our Panhellenic sisters. Before leaving for Thanksgiving, Kappas gathered together in our best holiday attire to celebrate the season and take photos for our Holiday Cards.  Upon returning from the Thanksgiving Holiday, Kappa was faced with some tough news. On November 29, 2015 we found out that our sister Natalie Altieri passed away in a lot skiing accident in California, where she was on co-op with BCBGMAXAZRIA. Natalie was a fashion design student in the College of changes includingDesign, new parking garagesArt, restaurants Architecture and even Planning. Natalie was a new sophomore dormray of sunshine whose smile could brighten any room. Her sisterly compassion, intelligence, ambition, and fierce fashion sense touched each and every Kappa who knew her. Although Kappa ended the construction is year with a lot to take Memorial Service in honor of Natalie, strengthening our bond as we celebrated the ladies life of Mu are very excited for how much Butler is growingour amazing sister.

As Butler is changing 2015 comes to a close, we are more grateful than ever for the sisters of Beta Rho and growingwe cannot wait to see what life has in store for us in 2016. ==Highlights of 2016:== 2016 was quite the year for Beta Rho! As the new calendar year rolled around, so is Mu Chapter Council officers were smoothly transitioned into their new roles and were eager to serve their chapter. We are growing Beta Rho kicked off the new year with every a Kappa Dog Night led by the new pledge class Philanthropy Chair, Ciera Woycke. Despite the cold, Kappa’s were out in full force promoting our philanthropy, wearing hot dog suits and it is extremely excitingselling hot dogs and hot chocolate on the front porch. February was a busy month for the women of Beta Rho! To start off the month, Kappa’s attended the annual Sapphire Ball at the Madison Event Center, planned by our event chairman Meryn Ramunda. Everyone danced the night away and enjoyed a delicious sit-down dinner with their sisters and dates. Later in February, Kappa’s had a blast participating in friendly competition with other fraternities and sororities on campus during Greek Week, led by 2016 our very own sister and Finance Chair Grace Sprockett. We’re so excited keep Greek Week Chair in the hands of a Kappa, with Ashley Boggs taking the reigns next year. The highlight of the week was showing off our “Boy Band’s Through the Decades” themed step and dance routines at the Variety Show. Lastly, we will celebrated sister Brooke Duncan being elected as Undergraduate Student Body Vice President!  March was a very social month for Beta Rho! To kick off the month of March, Kappa teed up with the men of Beta Theta Pi for a golf themed two-way. The next week, Kappa had a sisterhood event with the women of Kappa Alpha Theta. Everyone had a blast at the Kite & Key Sisterhood, enjoying some friendly kickball between the two chapters. Later in March, Kappa kicked off their annual Literacy Week at John P. Parker Elementary School. The children were thrilled to have around 200 Kappa’s reading and crafting with them for the week and were very appreciative for the many books Kappa donated. Finally, to close out the month, Kappa had a “Drop it like it’s Yacht” themed two-way with the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. We enjoyed the classic Cincinnati meal of Skyline and Graeter’s and had a great time making new friendships.  After Spring Break, the Beta Rho women enjoyed a Parent’s Day planned by the Public Relations Chairman, Delaney Spetnagel. Families gathered at the Kappa Palace to enjoy a nice meal and a Streetpops popsicle truck. Everyone had a blast and the parent’s loved spending time at Kappa!  To close out the year, Kappa hosted a Kappa Dog Day on Mainstreet. Kappas again heavily promoted philanthropy wearing their usual hot dog suits and selling corn dogs on campus. Shortly after the last Dog Day of the semester, Kappas hosted and participated in our organizationKappa Kup, a soccer tournament, to raise money for their sisters attending the service trip in the summer. Co-ed soccer teams from various sororities and fraternities on campus had a blast competing for the title of Kappa Kup Champion. We have Additionally, Vice President of Standards Hannah Stamos was lucky enough to represent Beta Rho at Kappa Headquarters in Columbus for a lot weekend long workshop. Our sisters are so ambitious!  As celebration for the last day of inner pledge class bonding but something unique about Mu is classes, Kappa hosted a firefighter themed date party at Uncle Woody’s. Everyone enjoyed complimentary firefighter hats. What a great event to close out the school year year!With finals the next week, Kappas hit the books hard with the support of their Vice President of Academics, Molly Hinken. Molly organized study tables and rewards for girls who achieved their goals for the semester. All of our hard work paid off when Kappa was named the second highest GPA in Greek life! Before the year came to a close though, Kappa’s enjoyed a Senior Night planned by Education Chairman, Libby Hinken, honoring the graduating seniors. Everyone watched fun video footage that included all of our the seniors’ favorite kappa memories. It was such a sweet and sentimental way to honor the seniors and to end a great school year!  Over the summer, a group of sisters mix participated in Kappa’s second annual service trip where they travelled to Washington D.C. During their trip, Kappa’s visited RIF’s headquarters and served people who were experiencing homelessness and poverty. Additionally, President Margo Ross and mingle regardless Chapter Council Advisor Emma Wright attended Kappa Convention in San Diego, California where Beta Rho was awarded the Excellence in Chapter Management Award as well as the Risk Management Award. It was an honor to receive national recognition for all of pledge class which is something many our hard work.  As August rolled around, Kappas all enjoyed a wonderful Fleur-di-Lis week planned by Membership Chairman Molly Talkers. It was so fun being back in Clifton for a photo-shoot around campus, for a fun filled day of activities and sisterhood bonding, for bumping practice with alumni, and of our members appreciate course for lunches from Eli’s BBQ and Skyline! It was a great way to reconnect with everyone and love about our chaptervalues after a long summer. Even with We also had a large number wonderful time welcoming our new house mom, Linda Doyle, to our beautiful house! Linda came from Purdue and we’re so excited to have her at Beta Rho!  The second and third weekends of womenSeptember, Kappa participated in Panhellenic Recruitment and ended up adding 50 amazing new members. To celebrate the new members, we still find ways to include all members held a birthday themed bid-day planned by New Member Chair Darby O’Connor. We had such a blast dancing the day away on our front porch and truly enjoy celebrating “like its our bid day everyday”!  For the first social of the time year, Kappa had a 2-way with Phi Sigma Kappa, a new colony on campus. This event was Phi Sigma Kappa’s first social ever and we have with were so honored to play a part in making their history. Later that week, Pike had their 4th annual cheese coney eating contest for the Karen Wellington Foundation, a foundation honoring the mother of sister Angeline Wellington. In just four days, Kappa raised $2,000 for KWF so they could send two families on a vacation, including one anotherof our own Kappa sister’s family, Haley Fogleman. Beta Rho is so lucky to share such a strong sisterhood.

Chapter Philanthropy:What organization(s) has your chapter historically/traditionally raised money To start off October, Kappa participated in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, led by Derby Days Chair Kelly Higgins. Throughout the week, Kappa’s attended numerous events and ultimately came in first place forthe fourth year in a row! Later that week, Kappas attended a Greek Alumni Panel organized by President Margo Ross. Many notable alumni of the Greek community were active in the panel, or donated hours including Kappa National President J.J. Wales. It was a once in a life time opportunity to, speak with her in your community?person and hear her insight about Kappa and professionalism.

The Mu chapter of KKG supports three organizations every year these includeweekend after, Reading is FundamentalKappas celebrated Founder’s Day with a delicious brunch planned by Education Chair Libby Hinken. It was an honor being able to celebrate and recognize many Kappa Alumni for their strong loyalty. On October 11th, The Kappa Foundation, and held the third annual Kappa Spelling Key honoring our local philanthropy the Coburn Place, RIF. Our members raise money and donate for each organization through different philanthropy events throughout the  This year. In 2015 Mu held Kappaccino, Kappa Kickoffpaired with the men of PIKE to celebrate a “Bearcat for President” themed Homecoming. Thanks to our Risk Management Chair, Sarah Imhoff and Kappa Harvest for our Homecoming Chair, Grace Jenkins, we all had a safe and fun week of the students on campus. We sell different things like pieevents including a Teachers and Mythical Creatures two-way, apple cider, coffeea cookout and pomping, a Rock Stars and grill food Groupies themed two-way at these eventsMillions in Mt. At Kickoff we host a kickball tournament against Lookout Square, and the fraternity houses on campusannual Sigma Phi Ball. To top it all off, which is always very funour Public Relations Chairman Molly Somerville planned a delicious Homecoming lunch from Maggiano’s for all of Kappa and their families to enjoy. After the tournament there are lip syncs that the boys make up and perform!

The members To end the month of Mu also volunteer time at The United Methodist churchOctober, Kappa’s celebrated Big Little Week. Each day, this is where members read bigs surprised their littles with homemade crafts and all things Kappa to kids help prepare them for sisterhood. The week culminated with Big Little Reveal on Sunday after the littles’ new member meeting. The littles were so surprised and try excited!  Kappas were able to promote literacy celebrate a great semester with the annual Kappa Krush event. This year, Kappa Krush was held at Urban Artifact, a great new brewery in Northside. Between Adriatico’s pizza and a young agefull dance floor, the event was a blast!  Finally, the time came to officially welcome our newest sisters and show them the true meaning of sisterhood. Our inspiration week, led and planned by Marshall Erin Walsh, consisted of family dinner dates, a roller-skating sisterhood, and Fireside Ceremony. The kids week culminated with a flawless initiation of 44 new sisters! 2016 was a busy year for Beta Rho and we could not be more grateful for our wonderful sisterhood and all we’ve accomplished. We are really so excited to see what 2017 has in store for Beta Rho! ==Highlights of 2017:==  The Beta Rho’s had a very busy yet fun 2017! It all started with an awesome Leadership day to transition our new Chapter Council. The girls had a packed day of activities and eager group discussions to have us come see them so prepare for the year ahead. Transitions were followed by a visit from our members have enjoyed this. Leadership Consultant, Merrill Weber! We also have had members volunteer at Gleaners which is a food bank in downtown Indianapolisweek filled with meetings and fun activities to show her around Cincinnati and hear about her ideas to improve our chapter. For  At the past year end of January, we had members going our first dog night of the semester and it was a huge success! Our philanthropy chair, Haley Weber, and her sisters, threw on their parkas and gathered with hot chocolate on the front porch to Gleaners support our incredible philanthropy.  February was filled with more fun activities from the women of Beta Rho! Our new event chair, Carley Lucas, put on an amazing Sapphire Ball. The women and their dates bet on Kappa for the night with a casino themed formal hosted at the Phoenix downtown. We dressed in our finest attire and celebrated together with lots of dancing and a delicious dinner. To celebrate Valentine’s Day with our sisters, Kappas got together on the basement couches for donuts and the bachelor just a few times days after formal. With February coming to a close, our new education chair, Claire Binford, held a program night with Liv Dulle and Brooke Duncan about campus involvement during our last chapter meeting of the month! In March, or sowe had our first Two-Way of the semester with the men of Beta Theta Pi. Why did your chapter choose this organization(s) to support?Kappas brought out their best tacky tourist outfits and started swinging their clubs during putt-putt!

April was one of the busiest months for Beta Rho! We grabbed our shopping bags and headed over to Lululemon for some shopping and goal based activities with the lovely women of Tri Delta. We had such a great time hanging out with other panhellenic women and discussing our goals with our favorite store! Our lovely Vice President of Standards, Leigh Ann Popik, hosted a few kappa women at the Beta Rho Chapter for an alumni panel. We loved hearing stories from our graduated sisters and spending time with them during Greek Week. Following that, Beta Rho put on an amazing performance in the variety show choreographed by our very own Claire Binford and Hannah Isfort.  On Tuesday, we had a fun surprise waiting for us at Kappa when we headed over for chapter. It was a second bid day surprise!! Carley, Leigh Ann, our president Claire Suetholz, and a few other upperclassmen helped to plan a wonderful surprise for all actives with pizza, a DJ, and some fun bonding time with sisters. That same week we also had a special senior night for all of our sisters graduating. As always, it was sad to see them leaving but amazing to hear about all of the wonderful experiences they have had in Kappa. Next, we hosted a “minute to win it” game themed Two-Way with the men of Sigma Chi. It was a blast! We also headed over to Woody’s for a date party. It was camouflage theme, and the girls took pictures with our camouflage decorated wall and spent time with friends. Finally, April ended with an amazing Parent’s Day put on by Jenna Groth! Beta Rhos and their parents headed to the house for some food and then we were off to cheer on FC Cincinnati together at Nippert Stadium. During the summer, 21 Beta Rho’s packed up and headed to Costa Rica for our first International Service Trip! We spent an entire week working with children in a daycare and an orphanage. We also shared some wonderful meals together with our host families and explored the city of San Jose. The trip ended with a fun day zip-lining through the mountains and then we were on the next flight back for FDL week! To start off the school year, Sarah Imhoff, our Membership Chair, put together a fun and jam-packed week filled with sisterhood activities, recruitment practices, and informative presentations.  Soon enough, formal recruitment was underway and we met some amazing women. Beta Rho was so excited to welcome 59 new members to our sisterhood! In order to properly welcome these new sisters, our new member chair, Kennedy Gennari, planned a Sweet Home Kappa Gamma themed bid day! The day was filled with face paint, dancing on the porch, music and pizza.  Beta Rho got right down to business with a core strong workout sisterhood! It was so fun to bond while getting in a great sweat session. Even more fun activities followed with our “Down in the Denim” Two-Way. Kappas dressed in all of their denim and headed over to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house for a delicious skyline dinner. To top off the week, the men of Phi Sigma Kappa came over to our house to paint pumpkins and indulge in some pie.  Founders Day was also a huge success for Beta Rho this year! Claire Binford put on a birthday themed celebration with the help of her committee. It was an honor to celebrate our history and hear from the alumni. Beta Rho ended the month of October with an amazing homecoming week planned by our homecoming chair, Kelly Lamb. It was also risk free with the help of our Risk Management chair, Emily Greely. We paired with the men of Beta and packed the week with fun activities. We were able to have a petting zoo, create blessing bags, and even spend the night at Mio’s for some pizza and an EDM daughters and disappointed fathers theme! Our alumni homecoming brunch planned by Public Relations chair, Molly Somerville, was the perfect way to end the week. The girls came with their families as well as alumni to eat some food and head out to watch the parade from Kappa’s front porch.  Big Little Week came next for the women of Beta Rho. Each day the bigs surprised their littles with gifts in a basket. The littles were treated to Kappa apparel, canvas’, spa supplies, and some of their favorite items leading up to reveal! The bigs and littles were so excited to finally be revealed after the new member retreat on Sunday.  The day for Kappa Krush finally came as Kappas headed down to The Octave, a bar in Covington, for a night of dancing and some Chik-Fil-a! The night was perfect, and everyone had a blast. We also had Casey Richard, a leadership consultant, come stay with us to help outgoing officers with transitions, help improve the chapter, and try some Skyline chili! Our Vice President Organization, Noelle Weber, did a fantastic job preparing the chapter to welcome our guest. We loved having her there to celebrate the “wedding” Two-Way of event chair Carley. Pi Kappa Alpha joined us for some cake at the palace to honor the bride.  New traditions also begun in November with our Vice President Academic Excellence, Grace Sprockett, planning a first annual Panhellenic Academic Brunch. 10 women from each chapter joined us at our house for brunch, photos, and a speaker panel to honor their excellence in academics! It was perfectly executed and hope to pass it off to a new sorority to host every year from now on.  Inspiration Week finally came as the new members had completed their training and were ready to be fully welcomed into our sisterhood. Our marshal, Kelly Higgins, planned a fun I-week consisting of Scallywag Tag and putt-putt, family dinners, and a Fireside ceremony to prepare our new members for initiation. Congratulations to our 60 new sisters!  Beta Rho had such a busy year, but we are so grateful for all of the memories this amazing organization brings us. We could not be more excited to get back to school and make 2018 even better!  ==Highlights of 2018== The Beta Rho’s had a very busy yet exciting 2018! It all started January 7th with an amazing Leadership Day to transition our new Chapter Council. The girls had a day to participate in activities and group discussions that set the overall goals and tone for the new Kappa year. Transitions were followed by a visit from our EME trainer, Christie, who shared about the values we should hold as women of Kappa Kappa Gamma. At the end of January, our VP of standards, McKenzie Goyert, planned our first sisterhood of the semester! Kenzie and her sisters braced the cold while they embraced their inner figure skater.  February was filled with more fun activities for the women of Beta Rho! Our new event chair, Kelly Lamb, put on an amazing Sapphire Ball. The women and their dates whipped out their masks for the masquerade themed formal hosted at the Newport Syndicate. We dressed in our best and celebrated together. On February 24th, Beta Rho had the privilege of attending LeadToday where we engaged in large and small group discussions, participated in team building activities and, as a chapter chose , set goals for the 2018 year.  March 5th – 9th was our first Literacy Week of the semester led by our new Philanthropy Chair, Tessa Walsh. Beta Rho raised $500 for Reading is Fundamental. Our members loved dressing up as hotdogs, watching the competitiveness of the hot dog eating contest, and sipping on some hot chocolate. Later that month, we had our first two-way for the semester. We paired with Beta Theta Pi and got our "golf on" as we played a round of putt-putt on the man made course around their house. The last Saturday of March, Beta Rho had a day with our parents during our Parents' weekend. We started with appetizers/dinner at the chapter house and then headed to the Cyclones hockey game at the US Bank Arena. During the first week of April, we participated in all of the Greek Week activities, including an amazing performance in the variety show. Following Greek Week, Beta Rho attended University of Cincinnati's Greek Excellence Awards, where we were recognized for our achievements in many ways. Claire Suetholz was named sorority President of the Year for her time serving Spring 2016 - Fall 2016. Our chapter was awarded Best Community Service Project for our service trip to Costa Rica, where 21 members volunteered at an orphanage. Finally, we placed as runner-up for Leadership Development and Overall Premier Chapter. Beta Rho is proud of our achievements and ecstatic that we were recognized at Greek Excellence Awards. On April 6th, 35 members of the Beta Rho chapter headed to The Ohio State University for the initiation of Beta Nu's new members. We loved having the opportunity to reinstate our Beta Nu sisters! The next week we celebrated our seniors at their senior night; it is always sad to see them leave, but it is amazing to hear about all of their wonderful memories that Kappa has given them.  Our Panhellenic Delegate, Carly Schmidt, planned a sisterhood with the ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta. We worked up a sweat while one of our Beta Rho alumnae, Amy Nguyen, taught us a Barre 3 class. We finished off the month with our date party with the theme of “hip hop and hippies.” It was fun to see the groovy costumes of our sisters while we celebrated the past semester.  During the summer, our President, Noelle Weber, attended the Kappa Kappa Gamma Convention, along with a member of our Advisory Board, Mindy Moellering, House Board members Karen Weed and Susan Bushman and our Alumnae Association Board member, Nancy Carley. Beta Rho was awarded Excellence in Chapter Management, the Recruitment Award, and an Honorable Mention for Advisory Board and Standards. Noelle attended many workshops at convention and brought all of her new knowledge back to the chapter. At the end of summer, 14 Beta Rho’s packed up and headed to Costa Rica for our second International Service Trip! They spent an entire week working with children in a daycare and an orphanage. To start off the school year, Claire Binford, our Membership Chair, put together an upbeat week filled with sisterhood activities, recruitment practices, and informative presentations that went over the logistics of recruitment. Soon enough, formal recruitment was underway. Beta Rho was so excited to welcome 43 new members to our sisterhood! In order to properly welcome these new sisters, our New Member Chair, Carley Lucas, planned a pop art themed Bid Day! The day was filled with pictures, dancing on the porch, and socializing with our new members.  Beta Rho channeled our inner Bob Ross at our Phi Sigma Kappa Two-Way. We dressed up, split into teams, and had a group painting competition. Beta Rho started the month of October with an amazing Homecoming Week planned by our Homecoming Chair, Izzy Meltzer. We paired with the men of Sigma Phi Epsilon and packed the week with pomping and celebrating our school pride, while winning 3rd in the float competition! Our Alumnae Homecoming Brunch planned by Public Relations chair, Kate Mangarella, was the perfect way to end the week despite the early wake up call. The girls came with their families, as well as alumnae, for breakfast and coffee before we headed out to watch the parade from Kappa’s front porch. Fall Dog Night was record breaking as we raised $1000 that we were able to donate to Reading is Fundamental. Founders Day was also a huge success for Beta Rho this year! The Alumnae Association and our Education Chair Caroline Kerber put on a tea party themed celebration with the help of her committee. It was an honor to celebrate our history and hear from Sarah Johnson, the granddaughter of one of Kappa’s founding members, Martha Louisa "Lou" Stevenson. Big Little Week came next for the women of Beta Rho. Big Sisters made the week special for their little sisters with Kappa gifts and a pajama themed party after the new member retreat on Sunday.  Kappa Krush finally came as Kappas enjoyed a perfect “night under the stars.” The night was full of dancing and delicious appetizers. Inspiration period came as the new members completed their Every Member Education training and were ready to be welcomed into our sisterhood. We were excited to welcome three additional women into our chapter through Continuous Open Bidding. Our Marshal, Emily Greely, planned an exciting Inspiration Period as we went rollerskating, spent time with our Kappa families, and prepared our new members with the Fireside ceremony. Congratulations to our 45 new active members! Tessa Walsh, our Philanthropy Chair, planned a new philanthropic event to raise money for our application for Girls' Academy. We had our first ever Keys on Campus, Mac N' Keys and Mac Shack Night. We were able to raise about $1000 with these combined events; we are steps closer to having the opportunity to apply for Girls' Academy.  Beta Rho had such a busy year and we are so grateful for all of the memories this amazing organization brings us. We could not be more excited to get back to school and make 2019 even better!  ==Highlights of 2019:==The Beta Rho chapter has had a very busy and exciting 2019! At the return of our winter break in January, the annual Leadership Day was held to transition our new Chapter Council members into their new positions. Following transitions, the semester quickly picked up speed with a visit from our LC Morgan Hulick at the start of February. February was filled with more fun activities for the women of Beta Rho! Our new Philanthropy chair, Julia Huston, planned an epic Literacy Week. During this week we spent time with the students of Ethel M. Taylor Academy, an inner city school where we have a joint Adopt a Class with the Cincinnati Alumnae Association. We gathered on our front porch to sell hot dogs for Reading Is Fundamental, our Fraternity philanthropy. We raised about $1,000 and donated 100 books to local schools! At the end of our busy Literacy Week our members and their dates dressed up for our Sapphire Ball at the Belle Event Center on February 15th, which was planned by our new Event Chair, Bailey Bathalter. The following week, our VP of Standards, Grace Brethel, planned our first sisterhood of the semester! The sisterhood event was sleepover themed and time was spent watching movies and hanging out in the Kappa basement in honor of "Galentine's Day." The next day our Panhellenic Delegate, Aim Wanasathop put on a sisterhood activity with the ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha. This past year the Zeta chapter rejoined Cincinnati’s campus, so our members were very excited to be together and get our workout on with a Barre 3 class. The next couple of months included collaborative events with the men of Beta and SAE, and the women of Theta Phi Alpha and Chi Omega. Again, our Panhellenic Delegate, Aim, planned another great sisterhood event in March with Theta Phi Alpha. Women of both chapters got together for the season finale viewing of the Bachelor. During the first week of April, we paired with the men of Beta Theta Pi as we played a round of putt-putt on the man-made course around their house. During this week we also participated in all of the Greek Week activities, including a performance in the variety show. Following Greek Week, Beta Rho attended University of Cincinnati’s Greek Excellence Awards, where we were recognized for our achievements. Senior, Sasha Dubson, was named Greek Scholar of the Year. And Sarah Stoner, who was our Panhellenic President, was named Greek Woman of the Year! With summer quickly approaching Recruitment Chairman Mia Turnbull held a pre-recruitment workshop to get members focused and excited. That same week on April 11th, we finished off the month with our date party with a wig themed celebration. Members and their dates broke out their craziest wigs to celebrate the spring semester coming to an end. In honor of a great semester, Chapter Council surprised the chapter with a sisterhood on the front porch during our last meeting. Beta Rho enjoyed a "Kappa Loves the Cats" themed party while dancing, eating pizza, having a treat from the donut truck and taking pictures with the UC Bearcat. At the end of the summer, 10 Beta Rho women packed up their things and headed to Cusco, Peru for our third International Service Trip! They spent the week working in an underprivileged childcare center, along with exploring the culture and getting to visit Machu Picchu. While the spring semester was exciting, it was also bittersweet for our wonderful seniors who finished out their last semester in Kappa. However, the fall semester quickly picked up. The Kappas returned to Clifton for an amazing Fleur-di-Lis Week planned by Recruitment chair, Mia Turnbull, the week prior to the start of classes. During this week, Beta Rho had a ritual review presented by a Fraternity Ritual/History Specialist and prepared for recruitment by reconnecting with our values and sharing a fun sisterhood by having a yoga class at Bellevue Park. As classes finally begin, the Kappa house was once again busy after a long summer away. To start off the school year, Mia Turnbull, filled the weeks leading up to recruitment with fun, upbeat, recruitment practices and informative presentations that went over the logistics of recruitment. Soon enough, formal recruitment of 2019 had begun! Beta Rho was so excited to welcome 44 new members to our sisterhood! Our New Member Chair, Hannah Stonecipher, planned a House of Blues themed Bid Day! The day was filled with all things blue, dancing on the front porch, pictures, and celebrating our new members. The following weekend our Philanthropy Chair, Julia Huston, decided to bring back a philanthropy event from the 80’s, called "Run Like a Girl." Students showed up ready to walk in heels to support women empowerment and raise money for Girls Academy. Beta Rho will be hosting Girls Academy in the spring of 2020 at Walnut Hills Middle School. This event will be paid for solely from chapter fundraising. Julia Huston has done a great job planning events and making Girls Academy possible! The focus of this event is to empower middle school girls to be their full and best selves. We are so excited to be able to make this event happen. Following recruitment in September, we continued to stay busy. We had a “tacky wedding” two-way with the men of Pike, helped SAE put on a Haunted House for kids, and a week of spooky sisterhoods at the Dent Schoolhouse, followed by a movie night in the Chapter room. CC and AB had a philnathropy sisterhood on October 20th where we made lunch at the house for 60 women and then delivered and served it to them at Shelterhouse. We really enjoyed spedning time with LC Fee Pauwels during her visit from October 20th thru the 25th. We danced the night away on October 25th with Kappa Krush which took place at The Drinkery.  On Sunday, October 27th, our Philanthropy Chair, Julia Huston, planned a very successful event with Pi Phi called “Brunch and Books.” Leading up to this event both chapters had a book drive competition to see who could raise the most money and collect the most books. We all celebrated our Monmouth Duo event with some pancakes and together Kappa and Pi Phi were able to collect over 1,200 books to donate! Founders Day was also a huge success for Beta Rho this year! The Alumnae Association and our Education Chair, Lindy West, put on an amazing celebration to kick off Kappa's Sesquicentennial. Beta Rho started off the month of November with an amazing Homecoming Week planned by our Homecoming Chair, Hannah Keller. We paired with the men of SAE and packed the week with painting our float and celebrating 200 years of the University of Cincinnati! Our Alumnae Homecoming Brunch planned by Public Relations Chair, Obelle Mayfield, was an amazing success. Active Members as well as Alumnae brought their families to celebrate and enjoy breakfast sandwiches and coffee before heading out to the front porch to watch the parade. The following week was our much anticipated I-period and Initiation! Our Marshal, Riley Tanner, planned an exciting week filled with a bowling sisterhood, time spent with our Kappa families, and prepared our new members for initiation. Congratulation to our 43 new active members! The following week was our Kite and Key Date Party with the women of Kappa Alpha Theta. Ladies of both Kappa and Theta, along with their dates, grabbed their flannels and cowboy hats for the Coburn Place because western themed event at Woodrow Theater. And right before Thanksgiving Break our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Brooke Frazier, planned an awesome Academic Brunch. Alumnae came to discuss job opportunities and professional experience with members. This past year has been a very successful time in regard to academics, we value have study tables twice a week for everyone to come to the house and get their work done. We also have a resume drop box set up for women to receive tips when apply to jobs and an alumnae spreadsheet was created to encourage actives to expand their network. Beta Rho was named second highest GPA in spring semester for Panhellenic! Throughout this past year the active members of Beta Rho have joined with alumnae to celebrate UC’S Bicentennial. From February through the week of Homecoming in November, the same number of active members and alumnae have celebrated together at an alumna's home for BP Bearcat Bicentennial events. Beta Rho has loved celebrating 200 years with Bearcat alumnae brunches and dinners. We are so grateful to everyone that hosted. We are looking forward to continuing these alumnae events with the Sesqui Soirees in the spring as we continue to celebrate our sesquicentennial. Beta Rho has had such a busy 2019. We are so grateful for all of the memories that this amazing organization has brought us. We could not be more excited to get into the swing of things in 2020! This year on campus was very exciting for everyone, the University of Cincinnati celebrated their Bicentennial with the theme "Boldy Bearcat." School pride could be felt throughout the campus all year long. The Bicentennial Committee planned the Alumni "Bicentennial Bash" on Friday night of Homecoming at Fifth Third Arena on campus. There were special participants in this year's parade in celebration of the Bicentennial as well. Kappa alumna and honorary co-chair of our capital campaign, Marty Humes and her husband Tom had a special place on a firetruck during the parade as honorary co-chairs of the Bicentennial Committee. Our chapter supports the organization Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). RIF is all about supporting child literacy and teaching others about the importance of making an impact on our young community and their ability to read. Kappa works to raise money and collect books to donate to inner city schools. Kappa also shares an Adopt a Class with our Alumnae Association at Ethel M Taylor Academy where active members join alumnae once a month to spend an hour crafting with our kindergarten class. We also donate to local a philanthropy, The Karen Wellington Foundation, which provides family vacations to those who are suffering from cancer. Our chapter chose to start supporting Adopt a Class several years ago when we were approached by alumnae Nancy Carley to participate in a hands on philanthropic opportunity. Through this program we are able to provide kindergarten children with books and mentorship once a month. Karen Wellington was a Kappa, who sadly lost her battle to cancer and her daughter Angeline just graduated from BP this spring. The Cincinnati Alumnae Association and our Education Chair, Lindy West, put on an amazing Founders Day celebration at Western Hills Country Club. Beta Rho is currently in the middle of a non tax deductible capital campaign to update 50+ year old electric in the house, add fire suppression (sprinklers) and air conditioning. Partnering with the campaign committee, members of the chapter helped assemble pop up owl personal invitations to Founders Day, which were sent to all campaign donors, many of which are not BPs. As a result, alumnae attendance this year was higher than it has been in many years. All donors received a ribbon pin depicting their donation level and were recognized by the Campaign Chairs. Everyone received an inspirational quote booklet. This year we enjoyed a buffet for the fist time, which was extremely well received, especially from the chapter, as it included hot breakfast options. We sang Happy Birthday to Kappa and everyone blew out the candle on their cupcake. For the first time, chapter members and alumna seating was intermingled, giving everyone an opportunity to get to know each other better. Our keynote speaker Dr. Candace Kendle, Beta Rho '67, was so excited by the invitation to speak and wanted to find the perfect topic to appeal to an audience of womenranging in age from 18 to 85, that she chartered a plane for a "girls" trip to Monmouth. On October 7th, Candace, along with five other alumnae, traveled to Monmouth College where they met with the President of the College, the Dean of Students, received a walking tour of campus from the College Historian and ended the day with a tour of The Stewart House where Fraternity President, Gail Owen, drove into town to meet them. Dr. Candace Kendle was one of seven female pharmaceutical students at UC in 1967. She went on to become a college professor and then started her own pharmaceutical company, Kendle International, with her now husband. She took the company public and then sold it. Since then she started a non profit "Read Aloud 15 Minutes, every child, every parent, every day", where she currently serves as President and does not take a salary. Candace inspired all in attendance at Founders Day with her stories about her humble beginnings, of tenacity, how Kappa has always been there for her, including a Kappa alumna who not only encouraged her to attend UC, but also helped pay her Kappa dues and about giving back and paying it forward. Five 50 year members received their pins along with a very special 65 year member, Sarah Miller Johnson, Theta '54, granddaughter of our founder, Martha Louisa "Lou" Stevenson Miller. Everyone had the opportunity to take pictures in front of our 150 balloons in a photo booth area, complete with birthday props. Chapter members all agreed this was one of the best and most fun Founders Day events they've attended. Seniors all said it's been their favorite Founders Day. We're looking forward to an even bigger and better Sesquicentennial Founders Day celebration in 2020!    --------------------------- ==Highlights of 2020:== The year of 2020 was a crazy one for Beta Rho. Amidst all the struggles of COVID-19, our sisterhood is still stronger than ever. With our newly elected chapter council settling in, we had an eventful transition day that set us up for a successful year. January was very simple, but our semester quickly started picking up in February. We kicked off February with our Chapter Council and Advisory Board sisterhood at a local bowling alley. Later that week on February 8th, Night for the Fight was in full swing. This event was started by a Kappa several years ago, and we continue to support it. Night for the Fight is a fundraiser to help raise money and awareness for childhood cancer. The day after on February 9th, it was a busy one for Beta Rho. We had GIRLS academy leader training, a cycle bar sisterhood , and the start of literacy week with a craft day! Continuing on through literacy week, we had our annual Kappa Dog Night where we sell hotdogs on our porch to raise money for RIF. That night also doubled as a Kendra Scott fundraiser in which 30% of the proceeds went to RIF. Overall, we raised over $800 that night. Nearing the end of February, the chapter was getting ready to put on our GIRLS Academy Event. On the night of February 28th we prepared and had another leader training. Finally, early morning on the 29th, GIRLS Academy was in full swing. The event was a big success and had such a great impact on the girls attending. Throughout the entire month of February, we held a book drive competition with the men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Collectively, we raised over 800 books that we donated to schools around the area. Early March we started off strong with the initiation of one our new members followed by a cycle bar fundraiser. This fundraiser raised over $300 for our philanthropy. That night on March 7th, we celebrated our formal, Sapphire Ball. Our theme was Great Gatsby and we danced the night away at the Newport Syndicate. The day after our formal, Katelyn Edgbers, our membership chair, held a membership review. At this review we went over some recruitment basics to get our mind on all things FDL & recruitment. Sadly, our semester was cut short once COVID-19 started to set in. We were sent home from campus on March 14th and all in person events were suspended. As we flustered around to try to still make spring 2020 memorable, we kept our chapter in the loop with weekly PDF updates that gave our chapter announcements. Throughout March and in to the summer, we did things to keep our sisterhood alive. We hosted zoom meetings and virtual game nights to keep everyone engaged. We also sent out information packets that included a quarantine survival guide and things to do while at home. While the summer months were hard, even though we were apart, our sisterhood grew stronger.  In April, Collage Panhellenic awards we announced. Beta Rho took home the gold! We won CPC Outstanding chapter and CPC overall premier Chapter! In the midst off all these challenges, we persevered and made the best of the situation. Our chapter council took these months to basically start over. We had to throw out everything and start from scratch so we could have an enjoyable fall 2020 semester. We worked on ways we could have events, and how we could keep girls engaged so that when it was time to come back together, it would feel like we were never apart. The fall 2020 semester started off strong as our house girls moved in safely, the weekend of August 14th. We hit the ground running on August 17th with our virtual FDL week. Here we learned all things virtual recruitment and how to have a successful recruitment. Throughout the next two weeks, we had recruitment practice almost every night. We even practiced bumping with the NYU Kappas!  During the month of August, Convention awards were announced! Beta Rho had swept the floor with the awards. We won the Chapter/Advisory Board Relations Award, Most Improved Academic Excellence Award, and we were inducted to the KKG Foundation Adelphe Society. We also took home the honorable mentions from the Advisory Board award, Ritual Award, Gracious living Award, Panhellenic Award, Standards Award, and the Sally Moore Lifelong Education Award. With all of our practice and hard work, on the weekend of September 11th, we held our very first virtual recruitment! We absolutely killed the recruitment game, adding 42 lovely new members to our sisterhood! On September 13th, we celebrated these new bids with a drive thru car parade! We safely went to all the dorms, screaming and cheeering for our new girls!! We closed out the month of September with out vitual homecoming week with the men of Sigma Chi! We hosted zoom events like speed dating and trivia to get to know them better, it was a blast! We also had our very first virtual event night on September 29th. Thanks to our event chair, Shelby Mecklenborg, we had a Netflix party where we all virtually watched “What A Girl Wants”! The beginning of October was pretty laid back, until we kicked off our Founders Day celebration! On October 17th, Carrie Cramer, hosted an outstanding virtual Founders Day celebration. Later that week, we hosted a Chipotle fundraiser in which we raised $300 for RIF! As the semester started to close in fast, we put together many last minute ideas to make in memorable! The first week of November was celebrated as big little week, the new members would come to the house one by one and grab their baskets! Following that week, we had a safe and social distanced big/little revel! On November 4th, we had our very first POD event night! Our risk manager and event chairmen worked extremely hard to get these pod nights approved. We assigned members to a pod and they could only participate in events with these people while still being COVID-19 safe. The event was a charcuterie board contest, the winners got amazon gift cards!  The following week of November 9th was the start of I-Week! On November 10th, we had a donut truck come to campus for our members. On November 12th we had our I-Week POD sisterhood. PODs did events like bowling or candle lab. Finally on November 14th, we welcomed 42 new members as our sisters. Initiation was completely virtual and all three ceremonies were combined into one. The ceremony was short and sweet, but still had all the aspects of making it important to Kappas ritual. The day after initiation, Nom Com met to create the slate. Then on November 17th, the slate was presented to the chapter. Later in November, we hosted another POD event night on the 22nd. The PODs did the same type of activities, but rotated. On November 23rd, we held a virtual 2-way with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha in which we played Family Feud. The next day at chapter, the slate was voted on and approved. We then left for thanksgiving break, nearing the end of our semester. The Monday back to school we had a joint chapter council meeting so the new officers could get a feel for what it was like. Finally, on December 1st, we installed the newest chapter council. This year was filled with celebrations as well as challenges for Beta Rho. However, we still came out on top. Our sisterhood is stronger than ever, and that is something we hope to continue into the spring semester. We are beyond grateful for all the battles we fought because it ultimately made us a stronger organization and stronger women. We cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for us. What organization does the chapter support? Our chapter supports the organization Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). RIF is highly motivated all about supporting child literacy and teaching others about the importance of making an impact on our young community and their ability to read. Kappa works to raise money and collect books to donate to inner-city schools. Kappa also shares an Adopt a Class with our Alumnae Association at Ethel M Taylor Academy where active members join alumnae once a month to spend an hour crafting with our kindergarten class. How did your chapter include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in your programming this year? (e.g., adding a DEI officer, philanthropy events, social media awareness campaign, chapter training, etc.). This year was a busy one for our diversity and inclusion chair, Sami Weis. She put so many hours and a great deal of effort into our chapter to ensure that we promote diversity and inclusion. Sami was very involved within our chapters as well as other councils. Every chapter, Sami did a presentation a different student organization, their impact, and how to get involved. She also introduced a new segment called “council spotlight”. Within this spotlight, she highlighted new members every week across all four Greek councils on our campus. She discussed what organization they were in depending , their accomplishments, and a little about them. One activity ami started was the council wide “Boo Bag”. She made Halloween bags for a chapter within each council and they had to carry on the tradition of “boo-ing” another chapter. This kept all councils included with one another to promote friendship and diversity. Sami also created a presentation on diversity and inclusion and gave it to the chapter during FDL week to ensure we promoted a diverse and inclusive recruitment. ==Highlights of 2021:== It has been a very busy year for the Beta Rho Chapter of KKG. It all started with virtual transition day January 21st of 2021. This was the first step of the new chapter council and holding seeing how we were going to work with each other accountable . That next few months we continued to find our groove as a group, building our relationships and discovering our leadership styles with the help of each other. In February we had virtual trivia nights with SAE to celebrate Valentine’s Day and a sisterhood trivia night to spend time with each other and get to know each other a little more. As we moved into March, we celebrated our annual PIKE wedding over zoom and watched our sister Lucy get “married” for the night. We continued with chapter as normal and had a ritual review for the newest pledge class to help develop our ritual and tradition in the younger members. On top of this, we were amid the planning and rehearsing for our virtual COB initiation. April was a busy month starting with the initiation of our COB girls on Saturday the 3rd. The following week we got busy with getting involved in Greek week and earning points for Kappa. As April came to a close, the active members of KKG finished up the semester strong, acing their exams and preparing for a much-needed break of a very hectic and stressful year. We stayed close throughout the summer by sharing pictures and videos of vacations and the things we were up to during the summer months. Everywhere you looked there was a kappa somewhere living their best living; for one it was hiking Angel’s Landing out west, for another it was co-oping in Portland. Summer flew by and we were back to school. We started out the year with an energy packed FDL week to get ready for recruitment that was soon approaching. We spent the whole week together learning more about the values of kappa and connecting with our sisters we haven’t seen in three months. We started out the first day of school strong on April 23rd . The upcoming weeks were busy as we got into our rhythm of chapter council on Sundays, chapter on Tuesdays, and now bumping practice at least twice a week. We celebrated the beginning of school with a PIKE x Kappa two way on Friday, September 3rd. The following Sunday we did a virtual bumping practice with our sisters at NYU. After many, many practices, and a lot of hard work we started recruitment the weekend of September 17th to the 19th. We started virtual, giving girls a look into the house by creating a video sharing the stories of some of the house girls and providing some information on the logistics of living in the house and being a kappa. We continued in person after the open house round and had an opportunity to get to know each PNM on a deeper, more personal level. We celebrated the end of recruitment with an amazing bid day on September 26th welcoming our amazing 26 new members. October was just as action packed as the beginning of the new semester. We celebrated the UC bearcats with our parents during parents weekend the second weekend of October and anxiously awaited the coming of semi-formal.  After many successful chapters, program nights, and ritual reviews we were finally to October 22nd and ready to dance the night away at Twenties for Kappa Krush. The next week we participated in a virtual professionalism workshop that had been in the works since the spring semester. We celebrated the end of October with Founders Day on the 30th and got to interact with our amazing alumni and cerebrated our sister Elena as she received the Gloria S Gehring award. November started with a bang, homecoming was in full swing, and we had a full week of events with our partners Sigma Chi. We had movie night, a cookout, karaoke night and even speed dating. We watched the parade from the Kappa porch eating breakfast with our parents, friends, and family before heading off to tailgate and to watch the bearcats pull out another win. We celebrated mental health week right after homecoming, raising money for our philanthropy during our fundraiser pups and slush with Men for Mental Health and posting bingo boards on our social medias. I-week happened the very next week with a full week of bonding time with our sisters. We used this week as a reflection period to look back on our years of Kappa and what we wanted our future look like an upperclassman active or alumni. We had bowling night on Tuesday, family dinners on Wednesday, movie night on Thursday, and closed the week out with initiation on Friday night and Saturday morning. After a crazy busy month, things settled down as we prepared and voted on the slate, welcoming our next chapter council on November 30th. Despite the unrecognized challenges of moving back in person, every Beta Rho member faced these challenges head on and showed up eager to get involved and represent what it means to be a Kappa. The perseverance and support of each member during yet another transition period was a really special thing to watch. Here’s to a great year and to the years to come. Our local philanthropy is Adopt-A-Class. To those of you who don’t know what that is or what it entails, we basically adopt a classroom, just like the organization says, at the local elementary school Ethel M. Taylor. Every Friday, a group of active members attend our adopted classroom to participate in a snack and an activity. Sometimes our activities include reading a book to the students or doing a craft with them. Occasionally a special guest joins us and does an activity for the class. For example, this year around Halloween a scientist joined us and did a special experiment for the kids using dry ice, some dish soap, and a pumpkin. What better way to give back to our community than to help positively influence the future generation of it. It’s also an awesome to way to help some the teachers in our community by providing extra resources and special experiences for the kids.  This year we rebranded our philanthropy event and instead of having dog night we had pups and slush and had the wonderful opportunity to partner with the UC organization Men for Mental Health. Pups and slush included selling slushies on the front porch and having therapy dogs around the whole night for everyone who bought a slushie to hang out with. This was a huge success for us, and we raised a larger amount of money than we have in the past with dog night. Partnering with Men for Mental Health was a great way to better market ourselves and spread awareness about the fundraiser. We even made the fundraiser a bit of a competition by having two different colored slushies, blue for Kappa and red for Men for Mental Health and seeing which color (organization) could raise more money. Partner with these men also brought more customers and donors that we may not have reached by ourselves.  We incorporated two DEI chairs into our chapters to help continually educate us and inform us about ways we can become more inclusive. They were especially important during Black history month, offering bits of info nuggets and fun facts to better educate us on black history and how we help our current political and social climate regarding racism and stereotyping. Our DEI chairs were incredibly helpful in making our members more aware of their privilege and how we can use our privilege to help others in the most respectful way. For example, it was recognizing the Coburn Place helps teach women little things we could do to help, like not wearing a costume on Halloween that appropriated another culture and calling out people who were victims . We wanted to focus on cultural appreciation not appropriation.  This year we were much less restricted by the different rules and regulations surrounding Covid-19. Thankfully we were able to have a hybrid recruitment this year. Our first two rounds were virtual which allowed us to share a video of the Kappa house and talk with many, many girls. The next weekend we were able to speak with all the PNMs in person and get to know them a little better. It was interesting having to recruit with masks, but the chapter faced this safety measure head on and didn’t let it hinder their own experience or the experience of the PNM. After we recruited our wonderful new member pledge class and an energy filled bid day on the front porch, we were able to plan multiple date parties and fun sisterhood events to further build the new bonds we had created with our new members. It was exciting to finally be able to get together in person; creating and deepening the relationships with our new members and sisters is just better when you can do it face to face. Initiation was amazing and it was so exciting for the chapter to be able to have it in person. Each pledge class put in a ton of work learning the new songs and making it a special time for the new members. Our current senior pledge class is the only pledge class before this year to have been on the active side of initiation, so it was a learning process for everyone.  ---------------------------  '''Note to Chapter Registrar:''' Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of really bad domestic violenceThe Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, these values as wellor your Province Director of Chapters for assistance.

We have also traditionally supported Gleaners because it is Your efforts will ensure a large organization that contributes to a lot of people’s meals who cannot get one themselves. This is just another example complete and accurate history of people helping people. These organizations value what Kappa values most, which is our sisterhood. The women truly love to support these organizations because these organizations love your chapter for future generations to support people in our communityenjoy!

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