2,350
edits
Changes
→Highlights of 2019
==Highlights of 2019==
The women of Gamma Theta have had an exciting year! Our commitment to academics, recruitment success, and overall Panhellenic involvement have contributed to a memorable and accomplished year. We enjoyed 2019 and look forward to 2020!
The year started with spring informal recruitment, our chapter decided to participate and we are so lucky. We welcomed four amazing new members on February 10th and they were all initiated just a few weeks later. During our initiation, we had a fun movie sisterhood at the local movie theatre with popcorn and candy.
Unfortunately, in March we lost our loving advisor Mary Canady Laughlin, her passing deeply affected our chapter and we hosted a ritual in her memory. A month later, at the annual Drake FSeLebration, Mary was awarded the Outstanding Chapter Advisor award, and in her honor, Drake Fraternity and Sorority Life decided to rename the award to the ‘Mary Canady Laughlin Advisor of the Year’. Along with this incredible honor, Kappa was recognized for other awards. Our Philanthropy Chairman, Ashlie Bunten, was awarded the Outstanding Community Service award and our chapter received the 2018 Outstanding Harm Reduction & Risk Management Award.
Five of our members and our Chapter Council Advisor attended the Kappa leadership conference in Dallas and had a great time working with other chapters to better their leadership skills within Kappa.
We hosted multiple amazing events in the Spring including a resume building workshop with Drake’s Women in Business, a rock and roll themed date party, Mom’s weekend and a beautiful spring formal at Des Moines’ Rollins Mansion. We hosted Banana Splits and Books to benefit Reading is Fundamental where we raised around $1,000. $400 was used to purchase books for Monroe Elementary School here in Des Moines, 2.5% went to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and the rest went to RIF.
As college students, our academics remain the highest priority. During the year of 2019, Gamma Theta Chapter improved leaps and bounds in academics. We finished the spring semester with a 3.39 GPA.
During the summer our members worked hard taking summer classes, tackling amazing internships and getting ready to head back to campus! Some of our members worked at organizations all across the country like EMC Insurance, Edward Jones, Congress, The Heritage Foundation, Boston Medical School, and so much more.
In the fall we were eager to start up the formal recruitment process. After an exciting work week, we started our fall semester ready to take on the rest of the year. One of our members received her Occupational Therapy white coat alongside two members who received their Pharmacy white coats.
After an exciting and hard-worked five day recruitment, we welcomed 33 new members with a game-day themed bid day! And, after deciding to continuously open bid, we welcomed two more new members! 34 women became new actives in early November with their family members in attendance who were also Gamma Theta alumni and Kappas from all over the country.
Our fall philanthropy event was Kamp Kappa, we hosted the Drake community at our house where we played board games, made s’ mores, and invited members of Des Moines Children’s Cancer Connection. We raised around $3,050 which 10% went to the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and the rest went to benefit Children’s Cancer Connection.
Gamma Theta had overwhelming campus involvement this year. With two members serving as Orientation Leaders, our President, Sophie, serving on the Peer Advisory Board which oversaw Welcome Weekend for first-years and Peer Mentor and Academic Consultants, which included eight Kappa members, one woman on Panhellenic Council and six recruitment counselors. In the 2020 year, we will have four of our members serving on the Drake Panhellenic Council in positions including VP of Recruitment, VP of Recruitment Counselors, VP of Marketing and VP of Community Engagement. We were also involved in continuous clubs and organizations such as leading Active Minds, Drake Rowing Team, Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, Drake Magazine, Order of Omega, CBPA Ambassadors and so many other organization across Drake’s campus.
Our fall events included our annual Barn Party at American Outlaws, winter formal at the Des Moines Embassy Club and we finished the semester off with an ice skating sisterhood! Our members made a commitment to ensure safe and enjoyable events, which was displayed throughout the year and we hope to continue to move forward in this positive direction for upcoming events.
During recent months, we have been able to welcome our new members into our beautiful brick home. We have been able to watch these women grow into newfound leaders and friends. With the bond of our members continuing to grow, it is evident that Gamma Theta has made significant progress in our sisterhood. Overall, 2019 turned out to be an amazing year for the women of Gamma Theta.
The Gamma Theta Chapter has chosen to support Children's Cancer Connection as our local philanthropy as it allows us to give back to others in honor of our loved ones who have had cancer. This organization remains very close to our hearts. We continue to support Reading is Fundamental as it aligns with our values of scholarship and allows us to give back to the children in our community. Last, we support our sisters and thus in turn support the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation.
We celebrated our Founders Day at the local Windsor Heights Community Center, where we had a beautiful brunch spread with alumni and current members. For the first time in a few years we held the Founders Day ritual ceremony as well. We also played a fun Kahoot game where members and alumni had to answer questions about Kappa history. It was a beautiful morning in October and our members look forward to it every year!
==Highlights of 2020s:==
