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'''Founded October 24, 1981'''
'''Lawrence University founded in _____ 1847 in Appleton, Wisconsin'''
'''10 charter members'''
==The Early YearsEstablishment of Zeta Epsilon==
During the weekend of April 23–25, 1981, Zeta Epsilon was colonized at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. The university is a merger of Downer Women’s College in Milwaukee and Lawrence College in Appleton and is a small, private, liberal arts institution. At the time of Zeta Epsilon’s founding, the campus had 1,100 students.
On Thursday evening, a reception was held in the Gold Room in Downer Hall on campus. Punch, cookies and a slideshow were enjoyed in addition to the beautiful singing by Eta members. Potential new members signed up for interviews to be held the next day. On Saturday, a colonization luncheon was held in Colman Hall and all of the young women were presented with invitations to membership. To the thrill of everyone in the room, they accepted their bids unanimously! A short pledging service followed and the remainder of the day was spent taking pictures, singing Kappa songs and giving many hugs.
==Installation of Zeta Epsilon==
The charter members were a diverse and multi-talented group with women from many states including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Rugby, photography, tennis, politics, advertising, math, psychology, vocal performance and theatre are few of the interests. Diane Delayo and Talby Hardy stayed with the colony until June. Sheila Cloyes, Beta Mu—Colorado, was appointed their Graduate Counselor to help prepare them for Installation in the fall and assist in making their first official year as a chapter successful.
Zeta Epsilon Chapter was installed at the local Masonic Temple on October 24, 1981. Fraternity President Sally Moore Nitschke, and Marjorie Moree Keith, Gamma Alpha—Kansas State, Director of Philanthropies, were the installing officers. Graduate Counselor Sheila Cloyes, Beta Mu—Colorado, and Field Secretary Wendy Paxton, Epsilon Omega—Dickinson, joined by Province Directors Cathy Bernotas Gelhaar, Epsilon—Illinois Wesleyan, and Jane Weinhagen Ullom, Epsilon Zeta—Florida State, assisted in making the weekend memorable. Local alumnae on various committees helped make the weekend a success.
The new Kappas were a diverse group, which included the cheerleading captain, student body president, an opera major, a rugby player and a language major who spoke Russian. Zeta Epsilon was off to a great start!
==The Early Years==
In 1981, Kappa Kappa Gamma joined three other thriving sororities on the Lawrence University campus - Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Pi Beta Phi. All of the sororities were strong on Lawrence’s little campus, and pledge classes were always 20 or more girls each year. Kappa Klans of five or six sisters each were created to help members get to know one another. Zeta Epsilon held ice cream socials, bowling parties, a pumpkin walk, and cookouts to get to know each other. Use of correct Kappa ritual and sisterhoods were great strengths of this new chapter. They established Kappa Krush (selling Orange Crush sodas with a note to be delivered to your crush) and Kappa Grab-a-Date events. In 1987 Kappa had the highest GPA on campus and were at quota for membership totals.
===Highlights of the 1990s===
Membership in all sororities at Lawrence University dropped in the 1990s, and sadly Pi Phi disappeared from campus. 1994 - 1995 were tough years. There were attitude challenges, and Zeta Epsilon held a fall retreat to try to get things back on track. A lot of time and effort was expended by the VP Standards at this time. They established a chapter goal of SALSA - Sisterhood, Academics, Leadership, Social Activities.
Zeta Epsilon held Round Robins, Kappa Krush parties, Pledge Formals, mixers, cookouts, tailgates, Shish-Ka-Quad parties, Panel/IFC picnics, Pumpkin Walks, Halloween seances, Murder Mystery parties, camping retreats, and Blue and Blue Dinners. They also participated in intermurals and activities with other sororities and fraternities. Many hours were volunteered for the Fox Valley Domestic Abuse Center and the Children’s Booth at Celebrate. January 1999 brought a formal recruitment that yielded no new members, and a time of revamping and reorganization began.
By the next school year, Kappa was first on campus in GPA, and they had a very successful Karamel Apple Sale to benefit the Fox Valley Domestic Abuse Center. Greeks now comprised 20% of the campus population.
