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→Highlights of 2020s:
==Highlights of 2020s:==
2020 was definitely a year of change and growth for the Zeta Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Representing our chapter on Panhellenic Council for the remainder of the 2019-2020 year was Natalia Lodl who served as New Member Organization. In addition to serving on the council, our women also participated in the PHC community as Rho Gammas for this past recruitment in fall. These women included Ashley Cadena and Chloe Hillman. We are so proud of their decision to guide the new members to their now sisters. Our chapter is continuously inspired by our women's dedication to serving now just our chapter but the panhellenic community as a whole. We look forward to seeing all that the new women on PHC will achieve.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s Panhellenic Awards were conducted via Instagram stories. The Zeta Nu chapter was awarded Chapter of the Year for 2020 and our president, Shreya Sunkara, was awarded President of the Year. In addition, our Founder’s Day events were also not held in person due to the pandemic. While this is very unfortunate due to this year being Kappa's 150th anniversary, we are grateful for Kappa’s focus on our women's health and safety. Despite the event's cancellation, two of our members received awards. Like last year, Amarra Olado was awarded the Spirit Bowl because she has continuously shown the spirit of Kappa and flourishes in every task delegated to her. She works hard in her new role as New Member Chairman, a difficult task in person, so even more strenuous online. Despite the changes, Amarra showed grace and managed to keep the new members excited for this chapter even in an online setting. We love Amarra and can't wait to see what she accomplishes as VP Standards this coming year. Alongside Amarra, Dina Blazer was awarded the Ruth Heinz Memorial scholarship. This past year Dina served as our chapter President and worked endlessly to keep this chapter afloat during these changes of the pandemic. Additionally, each year Panhellenic provides New Member Scholarships at the end of formal recruitment. This past fall 2020, we had 3 lovely new members, Maria Ayala, Sandiela Dimatulac, and Nguyen Huynh, who were able to win this award.
For scholarship, our chapter held a cumulative GPA of 3.743 for this past spring term. We are very proud of our women's achievements this year academically. Katy Chambers served as our VP Academic Excellence and worked towards creating new ways to keep us on track with school. With the transition to virtual learning, there was concern for our chapter's mental and physical health which could have impacted some of our women'Philanthropy:'''s scholarship. However, Katy worked diligently to ensure each woman felt supported this school year in every aspect of their life. She arranged study hours within the chapter and with other sororities and fraternities as well as providing academic planning for our women who needed some assistance.
This year, our House Chair, Izzy Vismara, worked to strengthen our relationships within our chapter by upholding various chapter traditions and organizing several sisterhoods throughout the year. Due to the transition online, these vents were held strictly over zoom. We had various movie nights as well as cooking workshops led by our president. Because the transition was somewhat rough, we hope to increase our chapters' sisterhoods this upcoming year as we have become more accustomed to the virtual setting.
The Zeta Nu Chapter participated in many philanthropy events in 2020 from the beginning to the end of the year. Our first events of the year, Grabba Grabba Donut and Reading is Key, were organized by our Philanthropy Chair, Jasmine Shafie. Booths were set up on our campus’s main walkway, where our women fundraised and educated fellow UCSD students on the philanthropies we have come to know and love. The profits made from the donuts sold (graciously donated to us from Sidecar Donuts) were used to purchase books and supplies for the Monarch School of San Diego in our annual Reading is Key event, in which we spend the day reading and spending time with the homeless youth of San Diego. However, once Grabba Grabba Donut was over, there was a quick transition to distanced learning and our chapter was unfortunately unable to attend the Reading is Key event. Despite this, the money raised will be donated directly to the Monarch School of San Diego. In the Fall, our biggest philanthropic event of the year, Kappa Karnival, was held virtually. Even with the drastic changes, Jasmine was able to put on a great event that raised money for our three philanthropies. She has put in lots of extra hours to turn the money raised into gift boxes for the children of the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego. We are so grateful for her hard work and look forward to seeing her prosper as Membership chairman. Because of the pandemic, we were unable to hold our beloved Girls’ Academy event this year. We are hopeful for next year's possibilities.
This past fall, we welcomed our Alpha Rho new member class which held 27? new members. Following bid day, which happened to land on the 150th anniversary, our chapter began the process of integrating the new members into our chapter with the guidance of our New Member Chairman, Amarra Olado, and her assistant, Daryl Hutchins. Being virtual, these women had to work extra hard to help form the bonds between the new member class and with the chapter as a whole. They hosted weekly New member meetings and organized our sapphire program in which a new member is paired with an active at an attempt to foster new relationships and create a support system for the new members. Events between the sapphires included frequent facetimes and any other virtual communication. These new members were then initiated on Nov 23rd, following the virtual initiation which combined key events from initiation and fireside.
As a chapter, we support various local organizations through the money we raise from Kappa Karnival and Grabba Grabba Donut. Money raised at Kappa Karnival is used to support Kappas National philanthropy, the Kappa Foundation, as well as our local organizations, the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego and Girls’ Academy. Money raised at Grabba Grabba Donut is used to support the Monarch School. In addition, the Zeta Nu chapter supports Horton Elementary school with our philanthropy, reading is fundamental.
The Zeta Nu chapter chose these organizations because each one holds a special place in our hearts. Our founders emphasized literacy so it is important to us to continue this value within our philanthropy. We are so thankful for having the privilege of being able to interact with each and every one of these organizations on an intimate level. Our chapter looks forward to seeing the bright faces of the children whose lives we can help impact. However, because of COVID we were only able to see the children at our Kappa Karnival event. Despite this, our chapter's Philanthropy chair made gift boxes to be delivered to the children of The Boys and Girls Club of San Diego with the money raised from Kappa Karnival. In addition, the money raised from this year's Grabba Grabba Donut will be donated to the students at Horton Elementary.
