4,269
edits
Changes
→Highlights of 2011-2019
Scholarship, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, changes on campus or within chapter, overall nature of the chapter, chapter goals, challenges and how they were overcome, etc.:
'''Campus:''' Cornell University, one of seven Ivy League institutions, was founded in 1865. Cornell is composed of seven individual colleges, with more than 13,000 undergraduates attending the university. Academic rigor is the hallmark of the University as its commitment to diversity with "Any Person, Any Study" being its creed. Thirty percent of the student population is involved in the Greek community, consisting of 12 Panhellenic organizations, 42 fraternities, and 16 Multicultural Greek Letter Council chapters. Due to these numbers, Cornell University is currently the second largest Greek system in the country.
'''Chapter:''' Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to be a strong house within Cornell's Greek community. The Psi chapter was founded at Cornell University on November 24, 1883, and today consists of 111 active members.
Despite the high standing position Kappa Kappa Gamma is, there still are a few chapter challenges that can be improved. During our last council meeting of the semester, we talked amongst our group to figure out a few main goals for the following year. First, we stressed the importance of improving our communication skills by having a group email for our council to achieve convenience for our officers, form clarification for clearer transmission to each member, and a cohesive council voice to all the members during chapter. Next, we would like to concentrate on programming in general such as adding interesting and fun events to get more senior attendance, a better new member period program to allow the new member group to quickly become as comfortable as possible.
'''Chapter Convention Awards:'''
During 2011-2012, Psi Deuteron members had the opportunity during the year to participate in a program called ‘Reflections’ which raised awareness about the dangers of fat talk and the impact it has on women’s self-esteem and confidence. In the academic year from 2012 to 2013, Katie Solomon-the chapter's past president-received the John S. Dyson Citizenship Award. The award is given annually as a part of the A.D. White Leadership Conference to a student within the Cornell University fraternity and sorority community who has exemplified exceptional leadership within the Greek community, and who has demonstrated a strong commitment to community service, philanthropy, scholarship, and citizenship. In addition, Psi Deuteron chapter also received Most Spirit During Recruitment Award.
==Highlights of 2013==
This year, Psi Deuteron made great strides. We had several members of our chapter apply for Kappa scholarships and six of them were awarded aid. In addition, we were awarded the Alpha Province award for Most Spirited Recruitment for our work during recruitment week in January of 2013. We had two of our sisters elected to the Cornell Panhellenic Judicial Board, and three new members served on Cornell Junior Panhellenic Board. Our current president, Corey Matthews, participated in the Kappa Kappa Gamma Leadership Academy in October of 2013, honing her leadership and interpersonal skills in preparation for her term.
Psi Deuteron took on several new philanthropic projects in support of Reading is Fundamental. These included Cornell’s first ever annual Kappa Kickball in which the chapter invited all members of the Cornell community to participate in a kickball tournament for a fee which benefited RIF; a visit from The Nomad Truck, a boutique on wheels which generously donated 10% of the proceeds from a day of shopping. We have continued to work closely with a local Ithaca elementary school, Caroline Elementary to provide day care services, to read with children and to participate in mentor and peer-to-peer programs. One of our sisters, Erica Baevsky brought her charity work for GoPink, an organization benefiting breast cancer, to Cornell and to Kappa, putting together a gala and awareness seminar, both of which were sponsored by and participated in by Psi Deuteron’s members.
We have been challenged by new changes to the Cornell guidelines for new member education and are working hard to make sure that our chapter abides by both the standards of the University and of the Fraternity. We are also working hard to improve our leadership, working closely with Leadership Consultants and Kappa Trainers in addition to instituting extensive committees. In addition to providing services to the chapter, these committees have also served to educate and train members to take on new positions. As a chapter we have also been working to improve our recognition of exemplary members who contribute to our Cornell, Panhellenic and Kappa communities, instituting several award and incentive programs including the “President’s Key,” in which we recognize members of our chapter council who have gone above and beyond their duties to improve out chapter.
Recently, Cornell has been working very hard to make greek life as safe and positive as possible for all students. This has included a re-working of new member guidelines to include a shorter new member period as well as a dry period that closely resembles the Kappa program, in which new members are asked not to be in the presence of alcohol. This has been an excellent contribution to greek life, making the new member education period a safer and more comfortable experience for all greek chapters at Cornell. We were also very pleased by Cornell’s recent dedication to eliminate hazing on campus. Psi Deuteron has been working very closely with greek advisers to make sure that our commitment to anti-hazing is upheld and that it inspires other chapters to be vigilant about reporting and eliminating hazing. Our chapter is happy to be more integrated with the rest of the greek community, instituting women’s social and educational events, and co-sponsoring philanthropic events.
Psi Deuteron’s greatest strength, however, has always been our genuine relationships with one another and our overwhelmingly strong sisterhood. We firmly believe that, despite whatever challenges we face as a group, our dedication to one another will make us successful. Most members of Psi Deuteron would agree that our Sisterhood Dinners are the best events of our semester, where we invite all members to come out to dinner together at a local restaurant. Having all of our members in one place at one time in an informal setting is a wonderful experience and reflects our deep bond.
==Highlights of 2020s:==
