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→Highlights of 2016
Approved by the chapter: December 11, 2016
==Highlights of 2017==
The year 2017 has been another exceptional year for the Eta Pi Chapter at NYU. Our sisterhood
continues to be comprised of ambitious and hardworking women who are always there for each
other. We have 168 initiated members from diverse backgrounds, cultures, states and countries.
At the 20162017 Fraternity and Sorority Life awards this past spring, our chapter was given the
award for Outstanding Community Involvement. We sent sisters to the Kappa Leadership
Conference in the spring and Leadership Academy in the fall. Our sixth year on campus has
proved to be our best one yet and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for our chapter.
Our chapter has a strong sense of community and sisterhood, strengthened by the various
sisterhood events held by our Vice President of Standards, Katherine Salsgiver, and our Events
Chairman, Monica Spafford. Events ranging from a Spa Day to a Picnic at Smorgasburg to a
PopupShop Event had sisters enjoying spending time together while exploring NYC. We hosted
an unforgettable Formal, Date Party and Family Weekend Brunch in the spring and a wonderful
Semi Formal this fall, organized by Monica. Once again we received first housing pick of the
Greek life penthouses. Our House Chairmen, Jenny DeCandia and Hannah Nelson, provided a
warm and welcoming space for sisterhood events and Kappotlucks.
Eta Pi’s members have once again shown their dedication toward academia. We had 42 Kappa
Kappa Geniuses (girls with a GPA above 3.7) and 11 girls with 4.0 GPA’s in the spring along
with sisters initiated to Order of Omega. In order to help our sisters though their academic
pursuits our Vice President of Academic Excellence, Angella Jiang, reserves study rooms at the
campus library after chapter and 24 hours a day during exam weeks. She also organized our annual Keyed in Networking Brunch which allowed our sisters to network with alumnae and
further excel in their fields.
This Fall, Eta Pi welcomed our wonderful new Iota class during formal recruitment led by our
Membership Chairman, Ximena Tellez. Our recruitment theme, Start the Spark with Kappa
Kappa Gamma, celebrated female empowerment! The new member process began with an outer
space themed bid day, showing our newest members that Kappa’s Out Of This World. The new
member period continued with an exciting big/little week and weekly new member meetings all
planned and led by our New Member Chairman, Acacia Dougan. Acacia prepared the Iotas to
become active members and helped them acclimate to life in the chapter. We initiated our
fiftyone new members in early November at a beautiful and meaningful ceremony organized by
chapter Marshal, Morrisa Cohen. This year’s Initiation Ceremony was made even more special
by our incredible alumnae involvement, including attendance by four Kappa moms and a
biological sister along with numerous Eta Pi alumnae.
As always, Eta Pi has continued to participate within the NYU Greek Community assisted by our
Panhellenic Delegate, Kate Goodman. Going above and beyond, Kate led our chapter through a
successful Alice in Wonderland themed Greek Week, planned events with other chapters, and
updated the chapter bylaws to allow sisters to fulfil their semesterly Panhel requirement by
attending one Panhel GA meeting or by attending two events put on by other chapters. This
change has allowed our sisters to support other organizations’ events, spreading even more
Panhel love! Additionally, we had many sisters serve in leadership positions within the
Panhellenic community, including members who served as Recruitment Guides for Fall Formal
Recruitment and two sisters, the maximum number possible, on the 2017 Panhellenic Executive
Board. Representing KKG beautifully, Morrisa Cohen served as Vice President of Judicial
Affairs and Claudia Yuan served as Graphic Design Chair.
2017 was filled with social and philanthropy events cosponsored
with other organizations
including sandwich making for the Bowery Mission, game nights, and a Greekwide
Assassins
Game! Maria Free, our Philanthropy Chairman, held our annual Reading Is Key event at PS64,
making crafts and helping the kids write their own short stories. Our largest philanthropy effort
of the year has been starting the Eta Pi Scholarship Fund. Thanks to the House Board,
Headquarters, and the NYC Kappa network, we are more than halfway to our fundraising goal!
In 2017, Eta Pi had over 30 dancers, 20 volunteers and 2 executive board members participate in
the 5th annual New York Dance Marathon to raise money for the Andrew McDonough B+
Foundation. Led by our NYDM Team Captain, Paris Reise, we hosted chapter fundraisers, sent
emails, and participated in fundraising challenges to raise $38,000, contributing to the record breaking grand total of over $603,000 for the fight against childhood cancer! Throughout the
year we were also able to spend time with our B+ Hero, Aubrey, thanks to the coordination of
our B+ Hero Liaison, Niyousha Ahmadi. We went bowling, played in the park, painted,
celebrated her 9th birthday in our penthouse, and even had sisters go to her house in Brooklyn
multiple times a week to tutor her. Our sisters have spent countless hours in 2017 fighting
childhood cancer through planning, fundraising, and spending time with Aubrey; we are so
proud of their hard work.
A highlight of 2017 was our annual Founders Day Celebration, co-hosted with the New York Alumnae Association. With over 180 sisters, both active and alumnae, we celebrated our six
incredible founders, 147 years of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Eta Pi’s fifth birthday! We had the
honor of having Fraternity President, Beth Black, as our keynote speaker for the event, which
proved to be truly inspiring. It is definitely an event our chapter will remember for years to
come!
The Presidential badge was given by the New York Alumnae Association at the chapter's
installment. The badge was passed down to Jen Morrisette, then Ivana Rodrigues, then Rebecca
Calvo, then Madeline Jerge, then Annalise Bissa, and it currently resides with the 2017 Eta Pi
President, Maria Guadagno. The badge is inscribed with “ΗΠ”, “NYU” and “11/8/11.”
