Changes
2018 Highlights
center and make a bigger impact than just writing a check. It allows us to create lasting relationships with the centers and foundations as well as with the victims that are a part of it. By having and fostering this
relationship, it motivates our chapter to work harder to get the best possible outcome. It is such a privilege and an incredible opportunity to meet those we help. Also, there is an added bonus of being able to spread youth literacy amongst the Boys and Girls Club and those who attend Preuss School as well. We will continue to work with these organizations and look forward to what 2018 will bring.
==Highlights of 2018==
This has been a very eventful and developing year for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. After a short hiatus of not being represented on the Panhellenic Council, we will now have Hanna Sahagon serving as Panhellenic President for the 2018-2019 year, alongside Adrianna Abele as Vice President of Service, and Jessyca Beksa as Vice President of Athletics. We also served the PHC community during the recruitment process, as Hui-Sing Leow, Hanna Sahagon, Jasmine Leja, and Sierra Stump took on the role of being Rho Gammas. Each year we have wonderful women from our chapter to step up and help others find their place in the Greek community, and at the end of the process we are more than proud to welcome them back.
At the Panhellenic Scholarship Awards this year, a total of 8 rewards were received by a number of our members, including the Overall Panhellenic Scholar which is only given to one member of the entire PHC Community. At Founder’s Day this year, Anna Corey was awarded the Spirit Bowl and it was well deserved because not only was she serving as our Marshal this term, she truly embodies the spirit of Kappa Kappa Gamma; Dylan Hutson was also awarded the Ruth Heinz Memorial Scholarship. Dylan and our president Hannah Cho attended this years Leadership Convention and our chapter was given the philanthropy award for Reading is Fundamental as well as Honorable Mention for Standards.
In terms of scholarship, our chapter was ranked 1st amongst all the sororities at UC San Diego with an overall academic GPA of 3.425 in the Spring of 2018. Dylan Hutson served another term as our Vice President of Academic Excellence and helped our girls create and achieve academic goals that they had for themselves, as well as goals for the chapter as a whole. We would have regularly scheduled Kappa study hours throughout the quarter, and ended with Kappa Kokoa and Kram to get ready for finals. At the beginning of each quarter, Dylan would pass out a “Quarter at a Glance” for anyone who needed it and highly encouraged it. During our weekly meetings she would also do “Smart Apples” where each member would write a recent academic achievement onto a piece of paper and put it into a box in hopes that she would pick their name, read their achievement to the chapter, and be rewarded with a small prize. In the Fall, she also gave out gifts to the girls who improved their GPA’s from the previous quarter. These are only a few of the ways that Dylan excelled in her position as VPAE and encouraged our chapter to reach the number one academic standing that we are at now.
We continue to carry on several of our traditions to bring our chapter closer. Our House Chair, Adrianna Abele, organized a number of sisterhoods to allow our members to strengthen the bonds we hold with each other. These events included mini golfing, Zumba and Barre classes, and an ice cream social with Tri Delta. We also reunited at the end of summer break for a beautiful beach photoshoot in light of recruitment season coming around the corner, and we were able to display these photos during Sisterhood Night. We also continue to honor the supportive sister of the week where nominations for a supportive sister are sent in and whoever is chosen is presented to the chapter and gets to choose the supportive sister to come after them. The Inspiration Book is another long lasting tradition where an inspirational woman is chosen to receive this book along with the loving message the person who received it before them has written. We hold a lot of passion for each other in this chapter and constantly remind one another how grateful we are for this sisterhood.
The Zeta Nu philanthropic involvement thrived in 2018 with multiple events and activities. Our first events of the year included Grabba Grabba Donut and Reading is Key which were organized by Caroline Habib. We would set up booths on campus and sell donuts to fellow students; and we use this fundraiser to purchase hundreds of books and supplies for Reading is Key to take to the Monarch School of San Diego where we spend the day with local homeless youth. For the biggest event of the year, Dina Blazer conducted our annual Kappa Karnival philanthropy. This event strives to raise money and awareness for our national philanthropy which is Reading is Fundamental, as well as the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Each year we invite the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego and hold this carnival event where fraternities and sororities set up booths and games for the children of the club as well as students on campus to enjoy. We also utilized Money Wars and asked for donations and sponsorships leading up to the event to be donated to said organizations. As always, this ended up being one of our most successful events and we raised a substantial amount of money while giving the children a day full of fun and play. Another event our chapter takes great pride in is Girls’ Academy, which was led by Michaela Juels. This program is near and dear to our heart because we work closely with young girls at the Preuss School and empower them to be the best that they can be and that they have the potential to succeed and never let anything get in their way. We have been approved to host Girls’ Academy again for the third consecutive year in a row and are very much looking forward to it. The women of our chapter also continued to team up with a fraternity on campus to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the San Diego Homeless Charter. Other philanthropies our chapter participated in include Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Sigma Kappa’s SK Best Dance Crew, and Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash. We can proudly say that we participated in over 20 philanthropies hosted by other chapters. The Zeta Nu chapter continually loves to participate and support all philanthropic events equally by showing up strong and spreading awareness for the respective philanthropic endeavors. We cannot wait for all of the exciting philanthropic achievements to come spearheaded by our new Philanthropy Chair, Juli Harris.
Along with the many events we hold and participate in on campus, there are a few special events that further strengthened and empowered Kappa Kappa Gamma. Each quarter we have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion presentations which were given by our very own Lauryn Robbins. These gave us insight on how to be competent and inclusive women in our own community as well as in the outside world. Leading up to recruitment, showed our sisterhood and enthusiasm at school events such as Triton Day and Transfer Triton Day which gave us an opportunity to be a resource for potential new members who may have questions about going Greek. We also had a strong presence at Summerfest and Fall Y’all which kick off the school year as a way to bring everyone together. These events gave us a chance to bond more with each other as well as portray how close we were. We really focused relaying to the potential new members not just what joining Kappa meant for us, but also what joining the greater Panhellenic community meant.
This past fall, we welcomed our new Alpha Omicron pledge class which held 37 new members and 7 of which were legacies. In October and November, we transitioned the ladies through our sapphire program and New Member Programming. The sapphiring process allowed them to meet and get to know active members while looking for a potential Big. The weekly New Member Meetings alongside that focused on integrating the new members into the chapter and the Panhellenic Community with Sexual Assault presentations, DEI presentations, and more. This programming was led by our New Member Chairman Shreya Sunkara, and her assistant Lauryn Robbins. The new members were able to strengthen their bonds with each other as well with a sleepover that allowed them to get to know each other on a more personal level which was a pivotal moment in their transition into Kappa Kappa Gamma. The new members are set to be initiated in mid January with a week long process starting with Bluelight, where each Big is able to present a loving letter for their Little, a mid-week sisterhood, and then Fireside leading into the initiation ceremony the following morning. Through this process, the Alpha Omicron pledge class will officially be welcomed with open arms and much excitement.
==Highlights of 2020s:==
