2,350
edits
Changes
→HIghlights of 2018
2018 was a great year for Kappa Kappa Gamma. We began this school year welcoming new house mom, Lynn. She has been a great addition to our chapter! Our officers continued working hard to facilitate a healthy environment in the sorority and worked to formulate a new chapter council structure. We are excited to see this play out next year. This calendar year the chapter raised money for Northwestern Dance Marathon at our annual Kappasta event. It was a great way for the new pledge class to bond with each other and older members. The chapter is now looking forward to next years Dance Marathon where we will be supporting Chicago Public Schools and the Evanston Community Foundation. Each year we support and raise money for Dance Marathon. Dance marathon is an important part of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the Northwestern community because we feel it is important to support local causes and support each other at the same time. As students at Northwestern, we want to give back in any way we can, and supporting Dance Marathon allows us to help charities that are close the campus, whether that be in Evanston or Chicago.In the fall the chapter supported Reading is Fundamental by sponsoring a profit share at Blaze Pizza where part of the profits from each pizza sold were donated to RIF. It was such a fun time and a great way to raise money and awareness for RIF. The chapter also took trips to local elderly homes and read to the residents there to further help the Evanston community. The chapter holds their meetings on campus in the sorority house. Due to an influx of violence on campus, there have been increased secruity measures around the sorority quad and the chapter has responded by walking in groups at night and being aware of our surroundings. All sororities came together to implement group walking and safety measures. The chapter was very happy for our alumnae Meghan Markle on her marriage to Prince Harry. We are very fortunate as the house board has recently provided our kitchen with new appliances for the members to use. We now have access to a toaster oven as well as a panini maker, allowing the members more freedom in the kitchen.
==Highlights of 2019==
2019 was a great year for Upsilon! The winter quarter period, from January to March, began with our formal recruitment. Upsilon was honored to receive a pledge class of 25 new members. From Big/Little week to Rock 'n Bowl, our new members began to feel right at home on 1871 Orrington Avenue. Four of our chapter members additionally visited Dallas, Texas for Kappa Leadership Conference, where they learned the importance of leading by example. Thanks to our VP Member Development, we participated in a fabulous education programming about eating disorders. Our annual philanthropy event, Kappasta, was an extreme success, organized to raise money for Dance Marathon. Upsilon and Pi Kappa Alpha raised over $2500 for Communities in Schools of Chicago! Alongside Kappasta, Upsilon engaged in a Soul Cycle fundraiser for NUDM as well. To end out our winter quarter, the Kappa NUDM team raised $71,000, placing second in the large team category for best performing fundraising teams! After our spring break, the chapter came back in to wrap things up and prepare for summer. During our spring quarter, we engaged in many programmings, on topics such as sexual assault and bystander intervention. We additionally met with our district specialists and advisers to develop an Action Plan in lieu of the probation we were placed on in March. Our Philanthropy chair additionally planned an impressive event at our local philanthropy, Cornerstone Community Outreach Center, reading with underprivileged Evanston youth. To end April, we engaged in a homemade fondue sisterhood event in the Kappa Kitchen! May was filled with Kappa fun - including a great formal at Trophy Room as well as a laser tag sisterhood event! When we returned in September, we picked up right where we left off, progressing through the Action Plan and making strides towards becoming the best possible version of Upsilon. We were lucky enough to be visited by the 150 Year Sisterhood Van, where we learned a bit about the past 150 years of Kappa history as they made their way across the country from Monmouth to Convention! Additionally, our Risk Manager presented an incredible hazing prevention workshop in preparation for new members this winter. In November, we hosted an impressive philanthropy event, our first ever Family Weekend Brunch & Silent Auction to support our local philanthropy, Cornerstone Community Outreach and our national philanthropy Reading is Fundamental in the Kappa house. Finally, we closed off November with a fabulous Sapphire Ball formal at Clutch Bar in Chicago as well as a cookie decorating sisterhood event before reading and finals weeks. We can’t wait to see what is in store for Upsilon near year, and how great of a chapter we can continue to aspire to be! "
Northwestern has become a politically correct and inclusive campus. Northwestern has begun creating gender neutral bathrooms throughout campus buildings as well as engaging in discussions pertaining to how journalists should report on traumatic situations, as per the Daily Northwestern's coverage of the protest surrounding Jeff Sessions' speech on campus. Additionally, Northwestern celebrated its 150th anniversary of admitting women into its student body this past year, which was an incredible feat for the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma to celebrate. Northwestern is also experiencing a decline in terms of Greek life - less women are choosing to undergo recruitment overall, which results in smaller pledge classes for all chapters. This makes ensuring that Kappa's brand is a positive and welcoming one overall all the more important for Upsilon in order to ensure its success for many years to come.
We support Cornerstone Community Outreach. It is a local homeless shelter in Evanston. The women of Upsilon are lucky enough to have a home on 1871 Orrington Avenue and we want to enable other Evanston residents to have somewhere they can call home like we call the Kappa house.
We welcomed the Minnie Stewart 150 Year Sisterhood Van as it stopped on our campus! We also bought a banner to hang on the porch of our house to celebrate."
==Highlights of 2020s==
