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→Highlights of 2021
2020 was full of change, not only for our sisters at FSU, but around the world. COVID-19 brought a global pandemic that completely changed how we interacted with one another. We were encouraged by the resilience and adaptability of our sisters as they learned to navigate a virtual world. Classes, sisterhood events, recruitment, chapter meetings, etc. were all moved to a virtual platform starting in March. Although this was challenging to not see our sisters face-to-face, we were thankful that we still had the opportunity to engage and encourage one another through this challenging time. Prior to lock down, our sisters welcomed spring PC20 and attended a disco-themed date function called KKGroovy. Throughout 2020, our sisters involved in Dance Marathon and Light the Night at FSU, climbed to the top 3 fundraising team in both organizations. Our sister, Taylor Williams, was awarded the 2020 Miracle Network Dance Marathon Distinguished Leadership Award. The resilience of Epsilon Zeta in the classroom gleamed brightly as we were in the top 5 for highest GPA among the 17 Panhellenic chapters on campus. We began the fall semester with our first-ever virtual Recruitment. Our Recruitment Team tackled the challenges of zoom with grace. We had the honor of initiating 72 new members in a completely virtual initiation. The passion of our members extends beyond our chapter. Our sisters continued their involvement on campus serving in leadership positions and as active members. A few of these organizations include: Autism Speaks U, Student Government Association, Strike Magazine, Best Buddies, American Sign Language Association, and the Garnet and Gold Scholars Society. Despite the challenges and change that 2020 brought, our sisters at Epsilon Zeta we able to persevere and encourage one another.
Kappa at FSU supports Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. This year we were able to host our annual Chips and Cheese with KKGs fundraiser. This event consists of a giant nacho bar in the backyard of the house. We were grateful to have been able to host this event in the spring before the shut down because of COVID-19. In the fall, our Philanthropy Director conducted our first-ever virtual philanthropy event. She created a virtual scavenger hunt through Facebook to raise money for both RIF and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Her creativity and adaptability helped Kappa to find ways to fund raise despite being in a global pandemic.
For the 150th anniversary of Kappa, we celebrated by having a Kappa themed dinner decked out in keys and fleur-de-lis’. Our sisters dressed up in their blue and blue, and some even came dressed as their favorite Founder. We had Kappa themed dessert made by our lovely Chef Katie. Later in the night, we held a Zoom Trivia Night on Kappa History. Our sisters were able to participate and learn about what was accomplished in the 150 years of Kappa. There were fun prizes for those on the leader board to add some incentive to the competition.
2020 has been nothing short of challenging, but the support of our sisters has been there through it all. We are excited for another year of encouragement, inclusivity, and growth as we take our passion for sisterhood into 2021.
[[File:Bid day.jpg|thumb|house and sisters]]
==Highlights of 2021==
Chapter Summary
Summarize the previous calendar year, scholarships, group honors/awards, Convention awards, traditions, special events, philanthropic involvement, chapter goals. In the year of 2021, the Epsilon Zeta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma implemented a few new things. One of these includes the Kappa Key system. This is an incentive program that encourages sisters to be involved in Kappa and display our values of loyalty, friendship, and love. Sisters can get points for things like living in the chapter house, being involved in another organization, or getting an A on an exam. Members who have the most points will get rewarded throughout the year. We keep track of this through the Omega One app, which we have implemented as well this year. We also use Omega One for attendance at chapter meetings and for various announcements. In addition, Chapter Council was fortunate enough to take an Executive Board retreat to bond more and prepare for the upcoming year! The chapter has continued to keep members involved while adjusting back to normal after the past year.
Chapter Philanthropy
What local organization does the chapter support and why? As a chapter we decided to support the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for our philanthropy. NAMI is a great organization that focuses on education and advocacy. NAMI offers many services such as support groups for different mental illness diagnoses or groups such as AA.
How did the chapter support Kappa’s philanthropy? Our chapter was able to raise over $4,000 with our event, “Kickin’ it with the Kappas.” The event was a kickball tournament. For our service event we assembled mental health goodie bags. The goodie bags included journals, an acupuncture sensory ring, a mental health tip card, and advice about mental health during the holidays. We passed these bags out around campus to anyone who wanted one.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
How did your chapter include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in your programming this year? (e.g., adding a DEI officer, philanthropy events, social media awareness campaign, chapter training, etc.) Our chapter included diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives throughout this past year through the addition of the DEI officer, hosting events that were geared to educate members about various social identities, and by doing research prior to picking themes / names for sisterhood, philanthropy, and date function events. We also approached recruitment through a new lens in hopes of making the experience more inclusive for both active members and potential new members. Some steps we took to achieve this were removing any preference of heat requiring hairstyles for recruitment and using inclusive language in order to accommodate for conversation where one party may identify with different pronouns or have other preferences regarding varying social identities.
Operating in a Pandemic
How did your chapter operations change due to COVID-19 (e.g., how did it affect recruitment, initiation, etc. Were events/activities held virtually?). Share what you have done this year. This year, Initiation was held in person! The ceremony was held in two groups to ensure each ceremony was small enough. In the Fall semester, our chapter evolved to allow a virtual option for chapter on Sundays. Over the summer, recruitment had a few rounds online, but was mostly conducted in person at our chapter house. Founders Day was an in-person event as well. For date functions and events, an alternate virtual option was always offered. Our chapter has been able to offer both virtual and in-person ways for members to get involved in all our activities and events.
