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→Highlights of 2021s:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Before this past summer, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive of
everyone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/or socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, I had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, we were able to crowd fund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations,bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus to present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapter and the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the Anti-Racism newsletter this semester- a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter on anti-racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, I am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.
For our celebration of 150th KKG anniversary we,during one of our chapter meetings, had girls come forward and speak about their favorite memories in Kappa and what Kappa has meant to them. We also organized a trivia night over zoom during chapter where we asked questions about Kappa’s history! It was a fun and memorable way to celebrate Kappa’s 150th anniversary.
==Highlights of 2021==
Chapter Summary
This past year, the Eta Gamma Chapter was able to reach major milestones while operating under the limitations of Covid-19. As my time as Marshal, I have worked hard to educate the chapter on tradition, ritual, history, and instill Kappa values within our chapter. The first term in my position we were virtual, which made this difficult, especially pertaining to formal meetings. I started a “Keeping up with Kappa” segment of my announcements in addition to the inspirational reading, which I usually get from initiation script or excerpts from The Key articles. The Keeping up with Kappa segment allows me the time to delve deeper into ritual, Kappa values, history, and tradition. Sometimes I include fun facts, like a quote about the first Kappa event ahead of our Mortician’s Ball which is also Halloween themes. I also showcase Kappa alumnae doing important work in society and achieving success in their aspirations. Goals of the chapter include being knowledgeable of Kappa ritual/values/history which we lost during the pandemic and getting comfortable with formal meeting process again, reestablishing connections and friendships within the chapter and strengthening bonds of sisterhood, continuing our work in supporting social justice causes, maintaining and continuing to improve our academic performance, and learn more about our new national philanthropy. One of our members received the panhellenic scholarship which provides financial support towards Chapter dues to women embodying Panhellenic values.
Special events
Last semester, all events and chapters were held virtually. This semester we have been able to have in person events. We have had two sisterhood events, Pizza in the Park, and roller blading. In October we were able to have our first social event since the pandemic, Mortician’s Ball. Saturday, the fourth of December, we will have Sapphire Ball. This semester we celebrated Founder’s Day Tea during formal chapter, performing the Founder’s Day ritual, and concluding with snacks, beverages, and had decorations set up.
Sisterhood, Lila Paul, on virtual sisterhood events –
We did a candle pass via zoom last semester towards the end so that the new girls could feel included in a long-standing kappa tradition. Although it was virtual, people said some really meaningful things about their time in Kappa and we got some great feedback from it. Another thing we did is at the end of virtual chapter meetings we would do “Hot Seat”, which is when we choose a random girl and ask her questions about herself. This was a fun way to get to know girls in the sorority especially new members. Finally, we had a “virtual game night” for the new members and sophomores at the time, this was to help the girls bond with each other because they would be each others future bigs/littles. They played kahoot trivia which was really successful because all girls were able to participate equally and get to know one another
In Spring 2021, Kappa in conjunction with Delta Tau Delta raised over $6,000 and collected over 100 food cans for Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, a thrift store dedicated to feeding and clothing the homeless population of San Diego. Over the summer I had planned many opportunities for our chapter to be involved with Reading is Fundamental and Sherman Elementary, a local school we used to tutor in the past. However, with nationals changing our philanthropy to Mental Health and Wellbeing, I had to scrap all of my ideas and start over in September. We as a chapter decided to support the JED Foundation. In the final week of classes, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including: friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs. To support the Susan G. Komen foundation, five Kappas set out to raise $2,300 each in order to participate in the 3-Day Walk, an event that consists of 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research. Our team did a 10 mile training walk in Torrey Pines to prepare. By asking our fellow Kappas, family members, and members of our community, all five of us managed to raise over $2,300 each. Our chapter participates in the walk every year.
Education chairwoman, Riley Steinly –
As Education Chairman this semester, I worked on strengthening relationships with campus organizations such as the newly founded Gender Equity and Sex Positivity club. I met with our campus FSL director to design an alcohol and drug awareness program meeting for February that addresses the specific needs of our chapter. I reached out and developed stronger relationships with the senior class to better craft the senior experience in a way that was beneficial for all. I planned and put together an individual Founders Day Tea event for our chapter that expressed the significance of our founding sisters while bringing our girls together in a way that followed covid protocols. Our chapter also met or surpassed the necessary attendance for all Kappa mandated programs this past year. Most recently, we were able to support one of our own on her journey for Miss Volunteer America by giving her a platform to educate us on the ties between gut health and mental health. Throughout the year I’ve done my best to keep the girls updated on pressing social and environmental issues on a national and campus level
VP Academic Excellence, Emma Jesanis –
As VPAE this year it has been amazing to see the academic accomplishments we as a chapter have made. Our biggest accomplishment as a chapter is our GPA improvement. From last year, we had a significant increase in our overall average chapter GPA. This resulted in us being second overall in ranking for sorority GPA’s on campus this year! This is huge for Kappa Kappa Gamma because it shows how much our women value education and how much everyone’s hard work pays off. I know everyone is working their absolute hardest and have no doubt that grade reports will be great again after this semester comes to a close!
Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why? Every year we change our local philanthropy to support causes that our chapter members care about and are passionate about. This way we can best represent the needs and current interests of the chapter. In the Spring, we decided to support Auntie Helen’s Community Thrift, to help the homeless community in San Diego, which is significant within our city, and was especially in need during the pandemic.
This semester, our chapter as a whole, voted to support the Jed Foundation. We felt it was the best fit for our chapter as it is centers around mental health of teens and young adults, with many if not all, of us young women having struggled in some way in regard to mental health in our lives. It is a cause we deeply care about and feels personal to us. We were extremely excited to hear about the change in Kappa’s philanthropy to mental well being, with many of us feeling heard and supported by the decision. Next week, KKG in partnership with Alpha Pi Sigma, a multicultural sorority, will be holding a wellness event for the entire USD community, including: friendship bracelet making, painting, an affirmation board where people can write positive notes to self, donuts/coffee, and therapy dogs
Previous DEI chair, Astrid Najarro –
As the first official DEI chair not only of Kappa nationally, but of all of FSL at USD, there were many things I had to learn on my own. Before the summer of 2020, the Diversity and Inclusion chair of KKG was responsible for educating members to be inclusive of everyone regardless of race, sexuality, religion, and/or socioeconomic status through weekly discussions centered around equity and inclusion and initiating a “Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment” training during work week. With the resurfacing of the black lives matter movement in the summer, however, I had to think outside the box and do something bigger than simple conversations. With the help of my sisters, we were able to crowdfund over $500 to donate between two national bailout organizations, bring about social media awareness through the KKG Instagram page, and be the first sorority on campus to present the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion chair to nationals. Now, Kappa Kappa Gamma officially has a DEI chair across the United States because of the groundwork laid by the Eta Gamma chapter and the support from other chapters nationally. To continue the work we have been putting in, I created the weekly Anti-Racism newsletter this semester- a newsletter compiled by myself and five other Kappa women committed to educating the chapter on anti-racism. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, I am glad that I have been able to help guide the new D&I chairs from other chapters on campus to be leaders in their respective communities.
Current DEI chair, Lena McZeal –
My goal is to have all members feel like this chapter is a safe place to be themselves and accept all members of the sorority for who they are. AS the DEI chairwoman, I work to combat issues of racial and identity discrimination not only within the campus community, but in our world today. I work to educate and support all members and love all the womxn in this sisterhood!
Our weekly DEI newsletter is emailed to all members, as well as posted on social media for the wider community and public to access. We also post Instagram stories pertaining to and educating on current social justice issues and sexual assault + relationship violence.
Panhellenic Respresentative, Avery Barrett -
The Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee (RSVA) focuses on ensuring the safety of the members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Panhellenic, and the FSL community as a whole. We implement new ideas and forms of protection for our sisters, as well as meet with community leaders to create FSL wide legislation on protecting survivors and preventing relationship and sexual violence. Some of the things we have done so far are work to create sexual assault prevention trainings that will be put in place in Spring 2022, establish an event safety form to ensure someone’s abuser is not allowed to come to a date event, and plan for healing and care for survivors on campus.
Spring of of 2021, we were all virtual due to COVID-19. Recruitment, initiation, chapter, and sisterhood events were all held virtually. It was difficult to maintain connection and grow relationships within Kappa as we couldn’t all be together in person. This semester has been a breath of fresh air as we are able to hold chapter in person and have in person events. Since being back in person, I have been able to educate and teach the chapter ritual, tradition, and Kappa values fully and in depth. Other than our pledge class, no other class has been able to experience in person Formal Chapter. I have done my best to get us back to our Kappa roots, but there is much more to be done and am hopeful the new Marshal will be able to continue the work I have begun.
