2,350
edits
Changes
→Highlights of 2018
The College of William and Mary is a tight-knit community of about 6,000 undergraduates. We are located in the city of Williamsburg, which is a small, but picturesque little village that is home to Colonial Williamsburg. Among its prime attractions are the Capitol Building and the historic Governor's Palace. Because of our well-established reputation as a challenging institution, with rigorous academic expectations, we are known as a "public ivy." We have a 12.1 student to faculty ration that allows students to get the individual attention desired to graduate with an excellent education and a deep understanding of the subject matter within our majors. It is President Katherine A. Rowe's second year as the first female president of the College, and she continues to do an incredible job. William and Mary adopted a new vision and mission statement this year after many hours and careful consideration.
The College of William and Mary again received outstanding accolades bt the U.S. News & World Report ranking it 12th among public universities in the nation. Overall William and Mary ranks 40th. Additionally, the U.S. News and & World Report ranked William and Mary 5th in best undergraduate teaching and Princeton Review ranked William and Mary 6th in happiest students. We continue to have the highest percentage of students that study abroad at any public school in the nation. Construction continues on Phi Beta Kappa Hall. The Daily Grind was bought by Aromas, and a new innovation center opened where Crustusedto Crust used to be. Lemon became a freshman dorm and Jefferson Hall returned to being an upperclassmen dorm. Work continues on the Al;muni House, which meant that our sisters were unable to have all formal there like we had in pastyearspast years. One Tribe Place was also under renovation this year. Commons and Sadler continue to get better. Our campus is home to over 470 campus clubs and organizations, each of which enjoys a high level of participation. The College of William and Mary is known for being the first college ever to have an organization that referred to itself as a "fraternity." This honor fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, was founded here in 1776. Acceptance to this fraternity is an extremely prestigious honor and privilege. Since 1776, Fraternity and Sorority life has been a great way to get involved and meet new people. Our campus houses 15 IFC fraternities, 10 Panhellenic sororities, and 6 NPHC fraternities and sororities with approximately 30.68% of student body involved in fraternity and sorority life. Other social opportunities include club sports, intramural sports teams, theatre and performance groups, and Alma Mater Productions (AMP), which is responsible for bringing comedy acts, singers, speakers, and new movies to campus for students to enjoy on the weekends, in addition to a cappella groups. Williams and Mary is listed as the 4th highest a cappella involved school nationwide. The women of Gamma Kappa are involved in nearly every aspect of college life at William and Mary. Our sisters are known for their widespread range of activities and dedication to their interests. We had sisters studying in Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, England, Ireland, and more. Gamma Kappa sisters are heavily involved in Tribe Ambassadors, the Bone Marrow Drive, the Tour Guide program, the Orientation Aide program, and various business development clubs. Sisters are also involved in different cultural groups, Student Assembly, the college's Muscarelle Art Museum, and Undergraduate Conduct Council. Various sisters are on Varsity athletic teams such as golf, lacrosse, and swimming. Many Gamma Kappas stay healthy and active through club and intramural teams including field hockey, ultimate frisbee, soccer, rowing, tennis, equestrian, and three campus dance groups, just to name a few. Other members work for the Campus Recreation Center as Group Fitness Instructors and swim instructors. Several members continue to be involved in philanthropic organizations outside of Kappa, including Best Buddies which was founded by a Gamma Kappa, an organization that pairs members with differently abled children and adults and Camp Kesey, a free, weeklong summer camp to support children whose parents have or have had cancer. Gamma Kappas are also active participants with Griffin School Partnerships, Merrimack Mentors, Tribethon and Building Tomorrow. Gamma Kappas take pride in the meaningful involvements of other sisters and support each others organizations in any way possible. We had another successful season of recruitment. We had nearly 420 women visit our house during the open house rounds. Our returns for open house, philanthropy day and sisterhood night were all exceptionally high with over a 95% return rate. Our return for preference night was also very high at 78%. On our Spice Girls themed bid day we welcomed 30 new members, including 2 legacies, 18 freshmen, 11 sophomores, and 1 junior. We initiated our new sisters on November 16th in the Wren Hall. Over the course of 2019, our education committee has worked hard to organize various programs and events. We've honored our seniors by hosting a celebration banquet and through our "Senior Spotlight" presentations, where seniors presented to the chapter on a topic of their choice, ranging from their majors or past internship experiences, to wine tasting and more. We have also had several sisters who are trained in gender and sexual violence conduct a presentation and workshop targeted toward women in the greek community. We also hosted Fear to Freedom, an event where we made over 1200 care packages for sexual assault victims and President Rowe attended as well. Gamma Kappa remains committed to service and has again had great success with Kamp Kappa, and Cappuccino. This year in the Spring was the 2nd ever Kamp Kappa. We had food, music, and different camp games like corn hole, a water balloon toss and tug-of-war. This year we raised $2,333 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation which sisters voted for and decided upon. Cappuccino, where we turn our house into a coffee house with live music, hot drinks, and baked goods, raised $2,956 this year for Reading is Fundamental, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation, and the Sapphire Scholarship. Every other Friday a group of sisters does "Book Buddies" now at James River Elementary School, where we get to spend an hour reading with elementary schoolers. In the Spring of 2019, we had 5 sisters with 4.0 grade point averages and 48 on the dean's list. The chapter GPA was 3.49, which was a significant increase from the previous Fall of 3.397. During the course of the year and the summer, sisters interned at a variety of places, including Capitol Hill, NASA, different labs, consulting agencies and so much more.
==Highlights of 2020s:==
