Epislon Epic
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Epislon Chapter
A Message From the President Greetings Alumnae!
Summer is almost here which means that the school year is almost over! Epsilon Chapter has had a very exciting and successful year and we are excited to share our accomplishments with you! Our House Board always does an amazing job of keeping the Kappa House updated and beautiful. This fall they re-decorated our TV room and dining room, creating more modern and aesthetically pleasing common spaces for us to enjoy! This summer, we hope to have the Cathy Carswell Room, also known as the Blue Room, updated as well! Our goal is to have our house in the best condition for this coming February, when Epsilon Chapter will have the honor to host Province. Epsilon also had many updates within our Kappa Staff this year. We welcomed a new house mom, chef, and housekeeper into our family! Each of them contributes so much in order to make Epsilon Chapter the best it can be. We are so thankful to have such wonderful people working for us—the Kappa house is a wonderful place to live! After a very successful recruitment in the fall, we added 25 new members to our active roster! It is always so exciting to share our values and traditions with a new group of young women. Our passion for Kappa spread quickly to the new members! We have two new members who joined Chapter Council after winter break, as well as many other new members who took on small office positions and leadership roles within our chapter. I love being able to work with members from every pledge class. Having a diverse Chapter Council allows for us to truly maximize our possibilities. We look forward to having another successful recruitment next fall—it will be here before we know it! Epsilon organized many philanthropy events this year—including Kickball for the Kure, to raise money for Susan G. Komen, our local philanthropy, and Pizza on the Quad, to raise money for Reading is Fundamental. We also co-sponsored St. Baldrick’s Day at Illinois Wesleyan in which over $10,000 was raised to support children battling cancer. Five of our members, including myself, donated eight or more inches of our hair for the cause. We are all so proud to have been involved in such a tremendous event. This year more than ever, I have realized how much Kappa truly means to me. As President, I learned very quickly how many people are vested in our organization and are dedicated to our success. Our advisory board, house board, wonderful new Province Director of Chapters, Jenna Cicciarelli and our alumnae give so much thought and time to Epsilon Chapter. Kappa is so much more than just Epsilon Chapter, and I feel so lucky to be apart of it. Without the consistent support from all of you, we would cease to exist. Thank you so much for all that you do. All of Epsilon chapter is beyond grateful. Loyally, Emily Steele 2011-2012 Epsilon Epic Natalya Grabavoy Page 1
Epislon Epic
Recruitment
Baylie Gregurich
Epsilon Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma had a very successful 2011 Recruitment. We gained 26 amazing New Members to our chapter. Our achievement can be credited towards a great Work Week and thriving Recruitment events. Work Week is a weeklong event that takes place before school starts. Its purpose is to fully prepare the whole chapter for Recruitment. This past year, a new event was added to work week: the Conversation Workshop. This workshop teaches exceptional greeting and speaking skills along with conversation content. We are very happy with the results we got from this workshop and plan to utilize it again this upcoming year. The success of this addition is inspiration to the current Membership Chair to continue to make improvements to Work Week events and workshops, which will then carry on to another great Recruitment. More recently, a new event was added to sorority life on our campus this year that is organized by the Membership Chairmen of each sorority. This event is called the Senior Memory Walkthrough. This occasion gives the seniors a chance to tour each house on campus once more before they graduate. It gave the Membership Chair the opportunity to teach the New Members tour guidelines and procedures. It was a great way to give the New Members an overview of what to expect on the Tours Night of Recruitment. Reflecting on this past year brings hope and excitement for another successful year for Epsilon Chapter’s Membership Chairman!
Kappa Kiddos Emily Anderson
Oak Lawn, IL
Courtney Baird
Ventura, CA
Shannon Baker
Edwardsville, IL
Brittany Brady
Downers Grove, IL
Carole Guffey
Verona, WI
Arin Calamari
Bloomington, IL
Jordan Hosier
Champaign, IL
Emily Johnson
Flossmoor, IL Highland Park, IL
Cassandra Dengler
Elk Grove Village, IL
Aubrey Dixon
Elgin, IL
Emily Mecartney
Jenna Ducharme
Wayzata, MN
Margaret McCarter
Kate Dunaway
Forest Park, IL
Ashley Montijo
Arvada, CO
Kati Forman
Springfield, IL
Taylor Murphy
Arvada, CO
Victoria Goodale
Shorewood, IL
Alex Partipilo
Arlington Heights, IL
Julie Govedarica
Chicago, IL
Tessy Ward
Oak Lawn, IL
Nikki Greenhill
Wonder Lake, IL
Kaitlyn Zieman
Wonder Lake, IL
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Arlington Heights, IL
Epislon Epic 2011 Stephanie Coccaro
Officers
2012
President
Emily Steele
Jennifer Long
Vice President of Standards
Taryn Mahaffey
Jordan Stewart
Vice President of Organization
Annie O’Brien
Treasurer
Kaitlin Dunn
Recording Secretary
Maggie Distler
Corresponding Secretary
Caitlin Grabarits & Meg Calabrese
Membership Chairman
Baylie Gregurich & Beth Paganessi
Laila Andoni
Philanthropy Chairman
Karianne Randick
Chelsa Green Lindsey Bakewell Brittany Brady Samantha McCormick
Lauren Martin
Marshal
Emilie Thomas
Baylie Gregurich
Registrar
Tillie Bill
Kate Roessler
Risk Management
Codee Champney
Karley Bridgewater
Social Chairman
Bridget Lam
Hillary Davis Michelle Pappas Allie Culver Amanda Knezovich Nicole Brown Chelsa Green
New Member Chairman Scholarship Chairman
Janelle Kavalunas Katie Bauer Emilee Seevers
House Chairman Education Chairman
Chelsea Kowatch
Public Relations Chairman
Natalya Grabavoy
Panhellenic Delegate
Shannon Baker
Emilee Seevers
House
Over this past summer we had many wonderful additions to the house, including new furniture for our TV room! The update not only looks beautiful, but has truly added to the comfort of the house! We have also welcomed three new staff members to our family: Scott Bachman is our new chef. During each eal he visits with the girls to make sure we were satisfied with our meals, and asks about any improvements he might be able to make for the future menu. His dishes are diverse, elaborate, and most importantly, delicious! We’re always greeted in the dining room by an excellent meal and his welcoming and friendly personality! Vicki Schultz is our new house director. She makes it very clear that her top priority is making sure we are safe and comfortable in our Kappa home! Her door is always open to girls in the house, she sits with us at every single meal, and she’s always asking about our day. She truly is our mom away-from-home. Shaunna is our new cleaning lady, and she is extremely personable, never failing to have a smile on her face. She is very friendly and warm, and goes above and beyond her duties. Around the holidays, she made us an awesome batch of decorated cookies. We love our staff and are very grateful to have them! Page 3
Epislon Epic
Panhellenic Report
Shannon Baker
This year, Panhellenic Council has made outstanding efforts to encourage Panhellenic involvement from the entire campus community. Also, the council has focused on maintaining a positive image for Panhellenic members and the entire IWU Greek community. Panhellenic has continued to make updates to its facebook page, which was created last year. This has helped everyone stay informed with what is happening within Panhellenic. Panhellenic Council used the month of February to focus on academics. It was called the Month of the Scholar. The council organized weekly study tables at Ames Library at IWU and the Hansen Student Center. It was used as a competition. Women from each sorority were able to check in at the tables before they began studying. Two Academic Skills Series were held on February 8th and 22nd. The first one was designed to educate students on how to manage stress. The second one gave tips o better ways to use the Ames library as a resource. Each chapter was able to nominate three professors as professor of the year. The winner was announced and the Month of the Scholar was concluded with a reception on February 29th. Those sorority women who made the Dean’s List were also present at this reception. We are very proud of all of the Kappas that were represented! The Panhellenic Council has continued with the Star Sister program. This program honors a woman from a different sorority each month. Kappa Kappa Gamma was chosen to nominate a Star Sister for the month of January. We chose Jenny Long. Jenny is a double major in environmental studies and sociology. She has served on the Chapter Council as Vice President of Standards. She regularly volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. She is currently traveling abroad in Tanzania. Jenny is truly roughing it! She was only allowed to bring a backpack full of stuff with her for the entire semester - wow! We are all very proud of her and looking forward to hearing all about her adventures. The Panhellenic Council has put forth a great effort to protect the sorority women at IWU and to keep their best interests at heart. In order to provide a safe environment at fraternity and sorority philanthropy events, the Panhellenic Council has recently passed a new resolution. To summarize, this resolution states that philanthropy events that have a history of violence or aggression will not be attended or hosted by NPC groups represented by CPH, philanthropy events that involve the purchase or distribution of alcohol or any other illegal substances will not be hosted by NPC groups represented by CPH, philanthropy events will not be held at bars or taverns, and NPC member groups represented by CPH will not allow intoxicated attendees to stay at or participate in their philanthropy events. We are very pleased with this new resolution and look forward to hosting and attending fun and safe philanthropy events. Finally, in coalition with the Inter-fraternity Council, Panhellenic has increased their recognition among Illinois Wesleyan’s student senate. The Greek community has always tried to be active in the student senate. However, this year, a committee has been formed in order to petition to receive funding from student senate. Panhellenic has been working with representatives and has been compromising in order to form a bond between the Greek and non-Greek communities on campus. We are all looking forward to what will come out of this committee. We have high hopes of more community participation and possible funding!
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Epislon Epic Karianne Randick
P hilanthropy
Kappa Kappa Gamma had an excellent year with their involvement in philanthropy! Our goals were to excel in fundraising, volunteering, and serving with others. Kappa teamed up with Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority and sold hair feathers to girls all over campus to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. Kappa also teamed up with Sigma Pi Fraternity and planned the Pi-a-Kappa event on the quad, to raise money for Reading Is Fundamental. We also started an event called Kickball for the Kure in which we raised money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure by hosting a kickball tournament on the Football Field. We organized Pizza on the Quad where we sold pizza for $1 a slice on the quad at night. It was a huge hit and campus is looking forward to another one before the end of the year! Lastly, we also brought St. Baldrick’s to Illinois Wesleyan University with Theta Chi Fraternity and Sigma Alpha Omega, the music sorority. This event is held to raise awareness for childhood cancer and money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. We raised over $7200! We are very proud of our campus accomplishments! Along with our fundraising events, we also have been very involved in the Bloomington-Normal community! We volunteered at the Lobster Boil which is a dinner and silent auction that raises money for the Illinois Heart and Lung Association’s Women’s Health Night which was held at the Bloomington Country Club. We also participated at Day of Dance an event sponsored by BroMenn and Heartland held for the Spirit of Women to promote women’s health. Kappas volunteer at these events yearly, it’s a great tradition! We also helped with Woman’s Health Night held at the ISU Bone Student Center. One of our members works for the Heart and Lung Association many of us helped her with whatever they needed. It was a very successful night and she was very grateful for our help! In regards to Reading Is Fundamental, we exchange pen pal letters with an elementary school from Palatine, Illinois. The teacher is a epsilon Kappa and the students as well as our members get very excited when receiving their letters! Lastly, we have paired up with Home Sweet Home Ministries where monthly members from our chapter help sort books, clothing, or whatever else they need help with at their warehouse and Home Sweet Home Ministries gives us boxes of children’s books in return. We really appreciate their generosity and will be using these books in a future Reading Is Fundamental event! Epsilon Chapter has been very active this past school year and we are ready to continue our services during the next year!
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Epislon Epic
Marshall
Emilie Thomas
This past school year has been very exciting. As marshal, along with Lauren Martin, we’ve initiated 26 lovely women into Kappa Kappa Gamma. Lauren led a flawless initiation, while training me how to pull off a truly memorable night. Prior to initiation, girls were encouraged to partake in various I-Week activities. These activities included Flower Side, where each “kiddo” receives a bouquet of flowers from their. Each flower represents a different aspect that the new member brings to Kappa. We also did a pumpkin carving contest within families. Each family sat together at a table and competed against others to carve the best pumpkin. Naturally, since we have so many talented women, there was no clear winner and we displayed all of our pumpkins on the front porch of our house. This semester has brought new, and fun, activities to the Marshal position. For every informal chapter, I hide a small stuffed owl toy somewhere on the first floor of the house with a Kappa ritual fact attached. During chapter, whoever has found the owl reads the fact and receives a prize. This is a fun way for the chapter to learn more about our rich history. During formal chapters, we have begun a chair “lottery.” I will select a random number out of a jar, and whoever is sitting in that chair receives a prize! Although this has a been a tough semester academically, I love my position and hope to continue to think of new and innovative ideas to incorporate ritual into everyone’s daily lives!
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Epislon Epic
Senior Spotlights Nicole Brown: Hometown: Orland Park, IL Major: Nursing Future plans: Work as a Registered Nurse in the Chicagoland area Favorite KKG Memory: My initiation, nights spent in the Blue Room with my sisters, and Senior Pref Night Karley Bridgewater Hometown: Bourbonnais, IL Major: Business Administration-Marketing, Sociology Future Plans: Work in a sales position; eventually be an event coordinator on a non-profit organization board Favorite KKG Memory: Bid Day my senior year, realizing how many memories I had with each member, and knowing I’d spent my four years of college with them. Also Pref Night! Meg Calabrese Hometown: Orland Park, IL Major: Business Administration-Marketing Future Plans: Interning at NBC-2 in Ft.Myers, Florida this summer. Favorite KKG Memory: Drawing for an art class in the dining room with a sister for two days straight, and becoming delirious! At 5 am on the second day, as girl in our house stretched outside for her daily run, we sang “Always be my Baby” to her from the front porch of Kappa. Classic Kaitlin Clark Hometown: Newark, Delaware Major: Nursing Future Plans: Hopefully working in a general pediatrics or pediatric intensive care unit in the Chicagoland area. Favorite KKG Memory: Every single ridiculous thing that happened in the guest room during rush senior year.
Andra Cupp Hometown: Overland Park, KS Major: Accounting Future plans: Move to Kansas City and land my dream job! Hope to have a family started by 30. Favorite KKG Memory: Initiation night freshman year. I didn’t know many members of my pledge class and was still unsure about joining a sorority. I was paired up with Karley Bridgewater and so relieved to hit it off so quickly! I am so blessed and thankful for the friendship we share! Hannah Freeman Hometown: Wheaton, IL Major: International Studies (Russian and Eastern European Studies) and Hispanic Studies Future Plans: Attend London School of Economics and Political Science- 1 year MSc Comparative Politics (Conflict Studies) Favorite KKG Memory: Fall semester 2011 my pledge class really realized what brought us all together. We had a great night catching up, joking around, and getting a closer to one another. Since then, I think that we have really come together as a class, as friends, and as sisters. Jori Geiger Hometown: Watseka, IL Major: Psychology Future Plans: Going on to become a child life specialist in pediatric oncology units Favorite KKG Memory: Performing the senior skit on pledge day in front on the other members Caitlin Grabarits Hometown: Naperville, IL Major: Biology, Hispanic Studies minor Future Plans: Graduate school for masters in Genetic Counseling Favorite KKG Memory: late nights spent in the blue room
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Epislon Epic Jennifer Haske Hometown: West Dundee, IL Major: Sociology and French Future Plans: I will be attending law school in Chicago to receive my JD and LLM. Favorite KKG Memory: Sitting in the guest room with all of the seniors during rush. Just getting to reminisce on our past four years together and act ridiculous as we always do.
Michelle Pappas Hometown: Mount Prospect, IL Major: Art and Business Administration, double major Future Plans: I hope to work at an advertising agency in Chicago doing graphic design. Favorite KKG Memory: Speaking at pref night my senior year and being able to share with the chapter and potential new members how much Kappa has helped and means to me.
Allyson Keith Hometown: Normal, IL Major: Political Science Future Plans: Applying to Law School Fall 2012 Favorite KKG Memory: My favorite memories are those including the best two friends I’ve ever had in my life - I’m honored to be able to call them my sisters in Kappa & know that our friendship will continue through the years, for the rest of our lives.
Emily Schmidt Hometown: Columbia, IL Major: Elementary Education Future Plans: Student teaching in the fall, then teaching abroad Favorite KKG Memory: Pref night senior year, watching everyone that I had recruited now doing the recruiting, and realizing that I had left behind a legacy and would be leaving the chapter in great hands. Also, doing the handshake/grip with my grandmother, who is a Kappa, for the first time
Erin Moran Hometown: Bloomington, IL Major: Psychology and International Studies Future Plans: Graduate school in London for psychology Favorite KKG Memory: Senior bid day skit Molly O’Brien Hometown: Valparaiso, IN Major: Business Administration- Finance Future Plans: Personal Banking at JP Morgan Chase Favorite KKG Memory: The night of initiation junior year when a lot of girls crammed into my room to sleep, but we ended up making a dance video to “Cookie Jar Remix” instead
Hannah Squibb Hometown: Naperville, IL Major: English - writing Future Plans: Moving to Philadelphia, hopefully working for a publishing house Favorite KKG Memory: Preparing for and performing the senior skit on bid day
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