Kappa Quill Fall 2021

Fall 2021 Volume 51, Issue 1

Letter from the Executive Director Dear Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority, I hope this letter finds you well. I’ll be honest I had no clue what I wanted to say in this letter, so I put it off (sorry Christina). It has been a long two years without the warm embrace of my sisters. To put it simply I miss you all. I have found myself struggling to find motivation and keep my Kappa passion up lately. Even though Convention and Summer Leadership Retreat are exhausting meetings to run they recharge my Kappa batteries. Those meetings inspire me and remind me why I joined Kappa in the first place and why I continue to come back to serve our organization. I draw my Kappa energy from you all, the conversations we have together, singing Glory to Kappa together and the excitement from awards dinner.

To say the last two years has been hard for me as a leader of this organization is a massive understatement. I know I am not alone in this feeling of isolation being away from my sisters. I know many of you have felt similar feelings throughout the pandemic. I am grateful for the sisters in this organization that I consider family. They have saved my sanity. I am also grateful for the science that has led to a vaccine that will hopefully bring us one step closer to reuniting in the not too distant future. I can’t wait for the day to come when we can once again enjoy each other's company and embrace for a rousing rendition of Glory to Kappa.

Until then...May The Spirit Never Die,

Table of Contents

Amanda Roberge, Executive Director

Letter from the Executive Director.

Director........................ 1 Important Dates.

Dates............................................................. 1 Editor's Note...................................................................

Note...................................................................2 2 Letter from the President.

President........................................ 3 Committee Updates Philanthropy.............................................................. 4 Media & Materials................................................... 5 Merchandise............................................................... 5 Awards......................................................................... 6 Expansion................................................................... 6 Digamma..................................................................... 6 Internal Materials.....................................................7 Women's Issues.........................................................7 Meetings...................................................................... 8 SLR Recap.

Recap....................................................................... 8 Chapter Reports....................................................

Reports.................................................... 9-20

Important Dates Board of Representatives Meeting November 7 at 10am • Virtual Alumnae Association Annual Meeting November 20 • University of Southern Maine, Portland/Gorham, Maine Application Deadline for NGLA Due November 30 • Check your email for more details and the full application process Convention 2022 April 8–10 • DoubleTree by Hilton, Boston North Shore

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Mission Statement The purpose of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority, Inc. shall be to promote academic achievement, to encourage community involvement through philanthropy, and to cultivate the everlasting bonds of sisterhood. We shall fortify the values of leadership, generosity, charity, and integrity within our sisters through guidance at both the chapter and national level.

National Founders

Pat Ouellette Angie Parker Kathy Luciano Dee Tzovarras Tricia Crosby Laurie Beckwith Joanne Lobozzo Becky Ritter Joyce Welch Renie Mountain Bridgett Burtchell Bonnie Griener

Nancee Brearly Debbie Therriauly Barbie Richard Eileen Coombs Karen Kulikowski Kathi Gleason Jan Spaulding Sharon Soles Sue Caron Leslie Vartabedian Mimi McBride

Media & Materials Committee Designer & Editor: Christina Rose Social Media: Robyn Sarette Webmaster: Brittany Baldwin

Editor's Note Hello readers!

I hope everyone has begun the fall semester strong after a well-deserved summer.

You may have noticed that the fall edition of the Kappa Quill looks a bit different than year's passed. The national board and the volunteers it is comprised of have not been immune to the trials and tribulations of the past year and a half. Our focus has always been on making sure our chapters are supported, and this is even more important now. We have been reallocating our resources and brain power to take care of priorities first—both in Kappa and out. Because of this, we decided to redefine what the fall edition and its contents.

Instead, we are reverting to our roots of how the Kappa Quill started—a newsletter (just a prettier one). You can read all about what the active chapters are up to (shoutout to all of our chapters for still giving their all to fundraising, philanthropic efforts, and sisterhood!), as well as the internal workings of the National Board and the committees that work behind the scenes to serve you.

We believe in transparency, so we'd love if you took the time to meet the committee chairs and what they are up to! And, as always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your chapter consultant, the National Board, or any Board member you feel comfortable talking to.

And have no fear...you will find the edition of the Kappa Quill full of thematic content, letters from the National Alumnae Association and the Brothers, and alumnae spotlights that you know and love every spring, and we can't wait to see you reading it once again in-person at Convention 2022!

In Kappa, Christina Rose Assistant Vice President of Administration

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Letter from the President Hello Sisters, I hope you are all getting into the groove as you return back to class!

I find this time of year to be so exciting-seasons are changing, routines are mixing up, and Kappa activities are in full swing! While some people thrive in an environment of change, others can be debilitated. I think this is important to remind ourselves that everyone has a different response to change as we continue to press forward. To be successful in adapting to the many changes that are thrown at us, I truly believe we can accomplish this by exercising kindness, devotion and pride.

Kindness is essential in today’s world. Of course, we continue to exercise our acts of kindness by supporting organizations we are passionate about through philanthropy, but, to adapt as a sisterhood, I believe we need to hone in on the qualities of being kind. These qualities include being friendly, generous, and considerate.

While I think it’s pretty easy for us as Kappa women to be friendly, I think we can challenge ourselves to really look outside of our own four walls. We need to take into account the impact our actions and words have on other people. Each of us comes from a different background, and we need to embrace that. Being receptive to new ideas, respecting someone’s opinion (even if you don’t agree), and kindly communicating our own ideas and opinions are how we are going to develop new ideas that advance our sisterhood forward.

The technical definition of devotion is the love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. My personal definition of devotion is always supporting that “”something” no matter what. While I think we typically focus on our devotion to Kappa as the time you dedicate, the roles you’ve served as and the events you attend, I believe we can be more resilient as a whole if we are devoted to one another. I know that sorority business needs to still happen, but we can exercise devotion to one another by reaching out, checking in when

you see someone that is struggling and problem solving with them to create the best possible solution for that individual and the Chapter. No one person can keep the sisterhood alive and we need to work as a team to accomplish our goals.

As Kappa women, we always take pride in our organization, chapter or emerging chapter and ourselves, and what we as a group and as individuals accomplish. I’ve personally tried to be more prideful of any accomplishment, no matter how big or small. Sometimes, I think we can get in our own ways when it comes to taking pride in our successes. If you’re like me, I tend to fixate on the things I have not done or accomplished instead of appreciating what I have done. With all the change that has happened in the past year, I think it’s easy to be like me. I want to challenge everyone to recognize the great things that they are doing rather than the other thousand things that haven’t done yet. Everything is a process and takes time. We cannot burn ourselves out just to check off the boxes. We need to be fully present in the work we are doing and should respect our own (and other’s!!) limitations. That way, when we solve a problem, the solution is fully vetted out and sustainable.

All in all, to adapt to the changes, we need to dig into our roots of kindness, devotion and pride. Continue to focus on exuding kindness to yourself and others. Be fully present and dedicated to the works you want to prioritize this year. When good things happen, celebrate them! Don’t worry about the little things. Work as a team all while respecting yourself and others. Together, we are unstoppable!

May the Spirit Never Die,

Amanda Cronin National President

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2021-2022 National Committee Updates Philanthropy Committee What have you been up to since spring?

The philanthropy committee's ongoing goals have been improving utilization of GreekTrack for chapter and national board measurement and assessment, strengthening the partnership with the AFSP, providing mental health and suicide prevention support to the membership, and establishing a culture of having conversations about mental health. This year, we will continue all of these efforts and work on switching fundraising collection and advertising to the Donor Drive platform. This will help streamline processes, provide new opportunities for sharing and following up, and easier tracking.

Chair:

Lauren Porter Kappa Iota (Spring 2016) Years on the Board: 2 National Position: Associate Board

How has COVID affected committee operations?

Philanthropy has become more difficult in the COVID-era. Although not impossible, the options are limited and take more planning. Supporting chapters as they try to navigate that challenge has been one of the obstacles we continue to tackle.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

Philanthropy has always been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. I managed non-profit partnerships at a former job and really thrived in that job. I served as a chapter philanthropy chair my entire time as an active and no other role in life felt more perfect for me. I love the opportunity to support the AFSP partnership at a national level while supporting individual chapters in their efforts.

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Media & Marketing Committee What have you been up to since spring?

The committee has been working on the latest edition of the Kappa Quill, actively promoting our Chapters on social media, and working with various committees on promoting their work. Our goals for the coming year are to post more information on the website including expansion, anti-discrimination, and more!

How has COVID affected committee operations?

Chair:

Robyn Sarette Kappa Sigma (Fall 2005) Years on the Board: 4 National Position: Vice President of Administration

The pandemic hasn't affected our committee operations much. A lot of our focus was online and it continued that way. Having to promote online events was slightly different than promoting in-person events but not in a bad way.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I love being the social media coordinator! Seeing what our Chapters are up to, providing resources, and advocacy keep me very active. As the chair for media and marketing, having the ability to oversee how we present ourselves online and through print is important to me. Public image isn't everything but it is a lot for our organization.

Merchandise Committee What have you been up to since spring?

With the lack of in-person meetings, we wanted a way to still be able to provide our membership with Kappa swag. Our solution was to open a pop-up online store over the summer, and it will be opening soon just in time for the completion of New Member Education and the holiday season.

How has COVID affected committee operations?

With COVID delaying in-person meetings, we have been hard at work trying to figure out ways to get merchandise to our membership. We hope to see everyone lined up at the merch table at Convention 2022.

Chair:

Christina Rose Kappa Alpha Gamma (Spring 2014) Years on the Board: 5 National Position: Assistant Vice President of Administration

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I love being able to see the products I design and order worn with pride by our membership!

Online pop-up shop opening soon!

STAY TUNED ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

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Awards Committee

Chair:

What have you been up to since spring?

Marysa Mitrano

We are very excited for the awards season. More information to come!

How has COVID affected committee operations?

Having to mail out all of the awards was challenging, but we love to see the reactions of the girls getting their awards.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

Kappa Upsilon (Fall 2012) Years on the Board: 4 National Position: Secretary

I love seeing the reaction of our sisters are they receive they awards! They've worked so hard on everything and for them to get recognized for their work is very fulfilling.

Chair:

Chair:

Amanda Roberge

Brittany Baldwin

Kappa Iota (Fall 2010) Years on the Board: 9 National Position: Executive Director

Expansion Committee

Digamma Committee

What have you been up to since spring?

What have you been up to since spring?

The expansion committee is working on reviewing and updating our materials. We are also currently looking for new expansion opportunities.

How has COVID affected committee operations?

With COVID we have not been able to visit any new schools to explore opportunities.

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Kappa Chi (Fall 2014) Years on the Board: 5 National Position: Associate Board

The Digamma committee has been working on organizing alumnae contact information and sorority history.

How has COVID affected committee operations?

No we operate online anyway.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I enjoy being able to spread our ideals to others.

I enjoy getting to focus on our history.

Internal Materials Committee What have you been up to since spring?

Chair:

Amanda Cronin

The Internal Materials committee has met this semester to define our goals, prioritize projects, and define a way to accomplish these goals.

We have recognized that there is a lot to update and create, but need Kappa Chi (Fall 2010) to prioritize as we are all a volunteer staff. As a committee, we tend Years on the Board: 8 to have lofty goals and not be able to execute due to the expansive National Position: nature of these projects. This year, the committee is focused on President adjusting our language within various documents including the Chapter Book of Rituals and Sorority Manual, to edit the religious language within it and reflect current business practices. In addition to these edits, the committee this semester had a more immediate focus on an anti-discrimination policy. Research on what other organization are doing as well as discussing what is currently in our Constitution and determining if changes are needed will be done this semester.

It is the goal of the committee to have a proposal to the Chapters and Emerging Chapters prior to Convention. As we continue to incorporate more inclusive language within our day-to-day, the team recognized that we need to translate this into our internal documents and are making plans for our documents to stay current.

How has COVID affected committee operations?

COVID has not affected committee operations. We need to continue to have meetings virtually in order to have working sessions.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I enjoy serving on this committee as internal materials are essential documents that can lead and guide the board and our chapters to success. If we do not continue to change and evolve our language and business practices, I truly believe our organization would eventually fail. It's exciting to be part of the change that aids in making our organization a more inclusive place for all of our members.

Women's Issues Committee

Robyn Sarette on behalf of chair,

Jayley Handley

What have you been up to since spring?

The Women's Issues committee has been focusing on social media posts and blog posts surrounding mental health.

The biggest goal for the year is to map out the purpose of this committee in the present stance of the sorority. At Spring Board meeting there was a discussion on developmental changes in this committee on how it functions so with a new group, they hope to hammer out some details and start meeting shortly after Fall Board.

How has COVID affected committee operations?

The pandemic hasn't really affected the committee. Most of the work was done online anyway.

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I love this committee because it allows us to show what we stand for. We get to spread love and awareness for causes that mean something deeply to us.

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Meetings Committee What have you been up to since spring?

We had a successful fall board! Continuing on working on having the in-person Convention coming up this spring.

Chair:

Marysa Mitrano

How has COVID affected committee operations?

Not having in person meetings has been hard but we are excited to continuing trying to have in person meetings and make them fun!

Why do you enjoy serving this committee?

I love event planning and creating a fun time for everyone. I hope to continue making events fun for everyone.

Summer Leadership Retreat 2021 Recap This year we had to make the decision to once again hold Summer Leadership Retreat over Zoom, for hopefully the last time! Although not the ideal experience, it was so special to be able to connect with so many of our sisters in the comfort and safety of each of our homes.

Our General Business meeting began as usual, when we reviewed and voted to approve the new budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Next, we discussed our national philanthropy. In 2019 a motion was made by Kappa Iota chapter to make the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention the national philanthropy. After further discussion the sorority voted to keep the AFSP as our national philanthropy for 3 years and revisit the discussion then. Now that we are approaching the 3 year mark, we had to decide whether or not to present philanthropy proposals at Convention 2022. The National Philanthropy committee put together a presentation to help weigh our options. Much discussion was had and we decided that we will not be accepting philanthropy proposals this year and that we will instead be extending our partnership with the AFSP to Convention 2023. We look forward to another year of supporting an incredible cause! Then it was time for the most exciting portion of the meeting: Risk Management! Both Courtney Stevens and Kappa Alpha Nu chapter gave presentations and touched on the topics of risk, liability, our Zero Tolerance policy for hazing, and incident reporting. Although these topics are not fun to discuss, they are important for us to familiarize ourselves with.

Next we signed off and enjoyed our lunches and then returned for some virtual team building! We Crush Events hosted a virtual whodunnit experience for us called, Murder in the Alps. We were split into teams of 10 and assigned characters to play. It was an hour full of twists and turns and plenty of our Kappa detectives were able to figure out who ~in fact~ dunnit.

Another successful Summer Leadership Retreat in the books!

—Courtney Stevens, Assistant Vice President of Membership

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Chapter Reports Fall 2021

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Kappa Lambda Husson University, Bangor, Maine This semester the Kappa Lambda sisters have enjoyed breakfast socials, dinner dates and watching one of their youngest sisters Alexa perform at football games as part of the dance team!

For the Husson University Homecoming the sisters reached out to alumni in the area and all joined together for an afternoon of BBQ and fun! Currently we are in the middle of our pizza kit fundraiser, sponsored by Little Caesar's. This is an online fundraiser that attracted a local news channel, and a small group of sisters got to participate in an interview to spread the word!

A Message from your Chapter Consultant This is my second year working with Kappa Lambda, and the girls are still doing great! They are currently working on more sister bonding ideas as many of the current actives are new, attending more philanthropy events for the fall and increasing their numbers with recruitment efforts. Working with them is always a pleasure!

—Haley Haley Sullivan

The Kappa Lambda President Felisha is bringing love and support for every position in the chapter and is doing it with a smile under her mask! They are loving the positive energy she brings, it is definitely contagious!

Looking forward, the sisters are excited about organizing a Friendsgiving, food bank volunteer work at the Good Shepherd, continuing to learn more about one another and bringing in new members! As they head into midterms, Jess, one of the older sisters, continues to work hard around campus to inform potential new members about Kappa and why they should come to our info night!

We can’t wait to see what this semester holds for them and look forward to seeing every Kappa sister hopefully in-person at Convention 2022! We want to wish every Kappa sister a safe and happy semester!

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Kappa Iota University of Southern Maine, Portland/Gorham, Maine We hope you are all doing well! A lot has happened in Kappa Iota since the last Kappa Quill. At the end of spring, we had a fun sleepover hosted by Rebekah Hall. For a lot of the sisters, it was their first time getting together in person since the start of the pandemic which made it extra special.

At the end of the spring semester, we had five sisters graduate. We are so proud of them and excited to watch them take on the next chapter of their lives! With so many graduates, we’re down to three active sisters this semester. We’ve all been very busy with such a small chapter, but we love the work that we do. We had a successful rush season and extended bids to two potential new members, Katie and Charlotte. Katie and Charlotte have both shown so much of the Kappa spirit already, and we were so excited to welcome them to the Kappa family on pinning night. We have started the education process led by our amazing New Member Educator, Carly Poulton!

The active sisters of Kappa Iota were excited to learn that the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Alzheimer’s walks were happening in person this year, and we attended both of them in September. We even had a potential new member who joined us at both of the walks! We’re also looking forward to going to the Breast Cancer walk later in October. The active sisters have been dedicated to getting in individual philanthropy hours and we collectively have almost twenty hours right now, and we’re just getting started!

This semester has been challenging with such a small chapter, and we can not express how grateful we have been for the support of our amazing alumnae, especially Ashley Rose who offered to partner with us in a fundraiser selling Scentsy products. We are thankful to be part of such an amazing and extensive family and excited to show Katie and Charlotte what it means to be a Kappa!

Kappa Iota’s leadership skills have really shown through as they take on this fall semester. They are working harder than ever to rebuild their chapter and the commitment they have shown is unrivaled! Each sister exemplifies kindness and integrity in all that they do. May The Spirit Never Die! —Courtney Courtney Stevens and Nicole Hallahan

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Kappa Sigma Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire Since returning to campus in the fall the active sisters of Kappa Sigma chapter have been keeping busy with sisterhood bonding events, recruiting, tabling, and community service opportunities. We started off our year with high hopes to expand our chapter during the fall rush season. During the first week of school we were able to jump into recruitment at the student activities fair, where all the clubs and organizations on campus had the opportunity to table and recruit. At the activities fair we handed out rush schedules and were able to get our name out by talking to many different students from all years.

Our sisters were eager to recruit new members this year and worked very hard to put ourselves out there during rush season. We hosted a total of four rush events which included a luau theme, bracelet making, masquerade ball, and the iconic classy girls wear pearls rush.

Our recruitment season ended successfully and we were able to extend a total of five bids, which were all accepted.

Since then we have been busy with our New Member Education program which will soon be coming to an end, and we will be welcoming the five new members into our sisterhood as the 66th class. After welcoming our new girls in we will have a total of nine active members. Although we had struggled the past few recruitment seasons due to the pandemic, we were finally able to get back on track this semester and welcome a great group of new girls.

Our favorite community service event we participated in this fall was Gather Fest, which was hosted by one of our alumna, Gail in her own apple orchard. This is an event we participate in every year in which we all get together with the Kappa boys and our alumnae to gather bushels

I could not be more proud of this chapter for really buckling down this semester and showing that the bonds of sisterhood are everlasting.

Their support for one another is unmatched and I am so happy to be by their side.

—Robyn Robyn Sarette

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of apples to donate to Gather, a local food pantry. This event has been a great way for us to all come together and do something for our community, while also staying involved with our alumnae and brothers.

The sisters have also been busy working to better our connections and get involved with other Greek organizations on campus. We have organized events with both Kappa Delta Phi fraternity, and Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity where we were all able to get together, and get to know each other more. We send a sister to weekly Greek council meetings where a representative from each Greek organization on campus attends. These meetings have been very useful for us to be able to connect with each other and talk about how we can better Greek Life on campus, and show the school how beneficial Greek Life has been for us.

In the upcoming week we plan to go on a sisterhood bonding hike on Rattlesnake Mountain to hang out and get some fresh air together. Whether it’s an official sisterhood bonding event, or just hanging out, we are always making time to be with our sisters!

Kappa Omicron Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts As we start a new semester, Kappa Omicron has been working endlessly to make up for lost bonding time due to Covid-19. We did virtual community service hours, philanthropies, and some in person and virtual sister bonding activities.

The sisters of Kappa Omicron held a small welcome back to school photoshoot where sisters got to catch up and see each other face to face in a Covid friendly environment.

In a few weeks, the sisters of Kappa Omicron will be going to a local pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins and participate in a corn maze. Later in the week the sisters will join together to decorate the pumpkins and watch a Halloween movie. We also plan to do our annual Kappa thanksgiving and Secret Santa. We all love getting together and doing a fun activity that allows us to take a break from our college lives.

This month, the sisters of Kappa Omicron will be volunteering at the Day of Community service at our school. We actively take part in our communities local charity walks and runs, and any volunteering opportunities we can come across.

We also participate in virtual community service through 7 Cups of Tea. The sisters of Kappa Omicron are very excited for everything we have planned this year, and are especially excited to welcome a new class of sisters this fall! We are thankful that things are getting back to normal and are looking forward to accomplishing another successful year!

The Kappa Omicron chapter is a group of wonderful women who have made a tight knit family on their campus that values diversity, inclusion, and of course, kindness. I have only been their CC for a few months, but I am so excited to spend this year getting to know them!

—Lily Lily Gibbons

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Kappa Upsilon University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts Last semester our chapter decided not to move forward with New Member Education program and we did not put through a new class for Spring 2021. Instead we took the time to improve our communication and sisterhood overall. We held meetings and workshops on better communication, active listening, and trust in order to get us into a better position to return to campus this semester!

As we can tell so far this break greatly paid off for us and the return to campus has gone as smoothly as possible. With our current active chapter at fifteen sisters, many people have stepped up in order to take on two positions within the chapter. We have already had a very successful recruitment process, thanks to our amazing recruitment chair Courtney Mayer, and now have started the New Member Education program with five amazing women! All of the big sisters for this incoming class are from the virtual class that went through last year and the whole chapter is very proud of how much these women have grown in the past year

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Kappa Upsilon has worked hard virtually during the pandemic and now are thriving back on campus!

Their enthusiasm and passion has been a bright light during these dark times. We are so excited to see what their first semester back brings them! Keep up the great work ladies!

—Chrissy Chrissy Ryan and Courtney Stevens

and very excited to see them step into the roles of big sisters in the near future!

As for some philanthropic updates, we are currently focusing on UML for St. Jude's that’s coming up this semester as well as our national philanthropy, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We are very excited to announce that five of our sisters and one of our new members are on the St. Jude's executive board. One of whom being Erin Young who has taken on the role of Executive Director of St. Jude's as well as being one of the two New Member Educators. We have an AFSP Out of Darkness walk scheduled for Saturday October 16th and a More than Pink walk for Breast Cancer scheduled for October 23rd. The "More than Pink" walk is with a fellow Greek organization on campus, Sigma Phi Omicron.

Kappa Chi Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire Our Fall Semester is fully underway for the sisters of Kappa Chi. This semester we chose “Back to Reality” as our recruitment theme!

We are very proud of how well our different themed events during recruitment went this year! We are taking in four amazing new members and we are so excited to bring them into our sisterhood. For big/little reveal, each big decorated a box for their little, and hid under the box during the reveal! The big/ little reveal was super fun and we all had an amazing time surprising the girls with their big! We are very excited to see where this semester takes us!

Philanthropy is something each and every sister holds close to our hearts so we have been focusing more of our time this semester towards philanthropy! We have already had a service event most of our sisters went to. This past Sunday most of our sisters helped facilitate a treasure hunt around the Lake Massabesic, called Massabe-SEEK. Sisters helped point people the right direction, helping tabling, as well as hiding small wooden animals around the trail. This event is in memory of their son Dillon, and since his passing they have raised over 7,000 for families affected by Peroxisomal Disorders. During our New Member Education we have also been very productive at making cards for St. Jude's Hospital.

Bonding is super important for the sisters of Kappa Chi. We have plans to decorate cookies, as well as have a Halloween murder mystery dinner! This month we also have a pumpkin picking bonding/philanthropy event. The sisters of Kappa Chi will be picking upwards of 100 pumpkins and transporting them to three different group homes around New Hampshire. Afterwards we will be carving some pumpkins together!

The sisters of Kappa Chi are very eager for an in-person Convention! With a strong focus on philanthropy, sister bonds, and academics, we are very thankful to all be sisters of Kappa Chi!

Kappa Chi has been a joy to work with. I have watched them start to strengthen their relationship with their university, as well as Nationals. Keep up the amazing work and I can't wait to meet your newest class when they cross!

—Andrea Andrea McKevitt

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Kappa Alpha Gamma State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York What a great beginning of the semester it has been for Kappa Alpha Gamma so far! We were all so excited to be back after the long summer, and even more excited because this semester, we were finally able to operate as an inperson, socially-distanced chapter for the first time in over a year! It was so good to see some familiar faces, and meet some sisters we hadn’t even been able to meet in person yet. Last spring, we welcomed four amazing, strong women into our organization.

We have been adjusting so well, and have been having a blast together!

We just finished up our recruitment for the fall semester, which went great. Our theme was The Wizard of Oz, and we led with the phrase, “There’s no place like Kappa!”

We have been able to keep our sisterhood strong, with our sisterhood chair planning events like game night and the creation of a Kappa Playlist, which we each added a meaningful song to. We also had one of our first culture Nights of the semester hosted by our Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chairs. We each brought a symbol or piece of our culture and talked about why it was so important to us. It really gave us the chance to get to know each other! Also, this past weekend, September 26, was the walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention here in the Hudson Valley. Many of our sisters attended and were able to receive donations toward the foundation. We have been booked and busy, and we would not trade it for the world!

We have three sisters who will be graduating this semester: Nicolette Cappuccilli, Lauren Lasker and Samantha Laske. We also have two sisters who will be student teaching next fall: Amy Visser and Kayla Gordineer. We are sad to see them go, but we are so proud of them and so thankful for all they have done for Kappa Alpha Gamma.

We are so excited to see what the next couple of months have in store for us. We can't wait!

This is my first year on the board and as a chapter consultant and working with the girls of Kappa Alpha Gamma. I am so proud of how hard at work they are already since going back on campus this semester. They are working so hard to support each other as everyone gets readjusted to being on campus. In these transitions they continue to be an example of what sisterhood means. It has been so touching to see the ways in which they display our national ideals within their chapter as well as professionalism in their chapter functioning. I am so happy to continue working and learning from these wonderful ladies!

—Jayley Jayley Handley

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Kappa Alpha Iota Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania During this fall, we were finally able to be a little more together, and we held more in person activities than we did last semester. It was so nice and refreshing to see all the girls back on campus!

The Kappa Alpha Iota chapter of Shippensburg welcomed three wonderful potential new members into the sorority on October 3rd. These girls displayed an incredible amount of passion, dedication, kindness, and everything else you would want in a new sister. These girls will start their process in the coming days.

We have loved watching Kappa Alpha Iota blossom! They handle any challenges that present themselves with grace.

The pandemic provided them with a minor setback and now they’re ready for their comeback!

May The Spirit Never Die! —Courtney Courtney Stevens and Erin LaPerche

During this semester, our national philanthropy chair has organized two incredibly successful food nights in which we sold out of food within the first few hours. We plan to continue these biweekly as the semester goes on. In terms of service hours, we are doing a blood drive with a service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, on October 24.

We also helped out with security at a music festival on September 17th and 18th.

We wanted to wait until after recruitment to host sisterhood events, but we held a movie night after bid day with the potential new members and we plan to do a pumpkin picking sisterhood with the Kappa Delta Phi fraternity on campus.

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Kappa Alpha Nu University at Albany, Albany, New York The sisters of Kappa Alpha Nu are continuing to enjoy this school year while working hard to strengthen our presence on the UAlbany campus, excel academically and raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Kappa Alpha Nu has been a bunch of troopers during this semester, keeping sisters in touch virtually when being in-person is not possible. They're dedicated to keeping the Kappa spirit alive with sister bonding activities, and have been engaged with educating potential new members!

This semester we will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary on the —Emma Emma Wenig University at Albany campus! We are excited to announce that we have 33 active sisters on campus after having 9 sisters join last semester. We currently have 3 sisters on our College Panhellenic Executive Board and one of our members is a Greek Ambassador, representing all 28 organizations at the University at Albany. Sadly, this spring, 11 of our active sisters will be graduating fromthe University at Albany. We are sad to see them go but, we know they will do wonderful things after graduation.

Our sisters are continuing to excel academically as more of our sisters are being inducted to honor societies on campus such as Gamma Sigma Alpha and Rho Lambda. We also have been working very hard by planning many exciting events on the UAlbany campus to grow our sisterhood and our community presence. We recently held our biannual Kappa week, a week dedicated to service, awareness and fundraising for our philanthropy, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. We held two programs that week, one on suicide prevention and awareness trivia and the other hosted with UAlbany’s Counseling and Psychology Services surrounding social media and its role in mental health. We also held two events surrounding distressing on campus for our mental health. The first was therapy dogs that we had hosted with the Schenectady Chapter of Therapy Dogs on campus. Our other event was Kappa Karaoke that ended the week with a raffle fundraiser and dedication to our philanthropy. In total, we had over 100 attendees between the 4 programs/events.

We also held four fundraising events including Kappa Karaoke, Chipotle Dinner, Breakfast at the Kappas tabling and lastly a social media Bingo Board fundraiser. In total, we had raised almost $1200 during our Kappa week with huge campus support and many of our peers stepping up to share their story and thankfulness of our cause.

Since Kappa week, we have also collaborated with another organization surrounding the effects of hazing and how to prevent it as well as our participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Walk this upcoming weekend.

In the time to come, we plan on hosting our first ever program surrounding diversity with our newly instated Diversity Chair position as well as we are currently planning our first ever Alumni Association Event this November to connect our active sisters with the roots of our chapter.

As our sisterhood continues to grow, our bonds continue to strengthen, and our sisters continue to excel, we look forward to the rest of this semester and seeing all other chapters do so as well.

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Kappa Alpha Xi Utica College, Utica, New York Kappa Alpha Xi has had a great 2021 so far! Last semester, we held our big philanthropy event, our annual Mystery Prize Board, where participants choose a number and receive a prize that corresponds with that number. Through this event, we raised over $300 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention!

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Kappa Alpha Xi! They are a strong, resilient, and compassionate group of young women. I am in awe of their dedication to philanthropy and sisterhood. These beautiful ladies have truly found their forever friends!

I can’t wait to see their sisterhood grow and flourish.

We also had a successful spring recruitment and new member education process that were held completely —Angelica Angelica Masser virtually, where we were able to welcome three new sisters into our sisterhood. We also sent Valentine’s Day cards to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, which was a very rewarding and fulfilling experience for us.

This fall, we had another successful recruitment, and we have begun the process of welcoming two more women into our sisterhood. We participated in an Out of Darkness Walk at Mohawk Valley Community College, which was hosted by AFSP representatives. We have also had so much fun collaborating with other organizations on the Utica College campus; we ran a casino night with other Greek organizations, and we were able to participate in our school’s Unity Walk as well. We are in the process of planning our big philanthropy event for the fall, our annual Pizza Taste Off event. For this event, we sell tickets to our friends and family, and they are able to come taste different pizzas from restaurants around the community and choose their favorite!

We have had so much fun in 2021 so far, and we are looking forward to the future, where we will continue to benefit our philanthropy, strengthen bonds within our sisterhood, and make lasting memories. We are so excited for what is to come!

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Kappa Alpha Omicron State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, New York This fall semester has been the most hectic one yet! With the impact of COVID and trying to keep our organization alive on campus, our chapter has been very busy. The impact of COVID on our campus has been one of the biggest struggles we have had to endure. With COVID cases rising, as well as people on campus getting sick not knowing if it’s COVID or not, it has been scary.

However, despite the struggles we endured, we have adapted to these changes by resorting to doing our events online instead of not having events at all.

Events that we had last semester were virtual rock painting and paper plate awards. When COVID was at its highest, we still managed to stick together as a chapter. Another way we overcame these changes is by following our campus’ guidelines when regarding COVID. This semester we have hosted COVID safe

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Kappa Alpha Omicron has been working so hard over the last few years. As their Chapter Consultant, I am so proud to have them receive their charter in the spring.

The girls have been working hard to get their name out there on campus and are currently educating a fall class. Keep up the great work! You are doing amazing.

—Andrea Andrea McKevitt

events that strengthen our sisterhood. Sisterhood is very important to us as a chapter. Supporting one another is crucial when developing trust among all of us. When a sister is in need, we’re always there for her.

Our biggest event of the semester so far has been fall recruitment! It was a long three days, but a worthwhile, successful experience. Our chapter had a 70s theme with the colors pink, orange, and yellow with the phrase “That Kappa Show”. After all of our hybrid hard work on both Friday over zoom and Saturday in a COVID safe space, Sunday’s outdoor bid day celebration we accepted five girls! To this day, they are all going through education and all the sisters are so proud of them. On October 9, we have our national philanthropy walk for AFSP in Syracuse! We are all looking forward to this event and have been fundraising to our goal of $1,000.

Kappa Alpha Pi Emerging Chapter Union College, Schenectady, New York This term the members of Kappa Alpha Pi Emerging Chapter have 23 active sisters and are in the process of welcoming 5 potential new members into our sisterhood!

This fall we are working on sister bonding and getting to know each other on a deeper level. Additionally, we are planning our first Kappa Ball for the winter term!

Our chapter goal for the term is using more inclusive language throughout our chapter meetings, and in our daily lives. We’re also hoping to complete 138 philanthropy hours!

Kappa Alpha Pi Emerging Chapter has been nothing but wonderful to work with.

KAPi is working hard on sister bonding and truly showing their dedication to the sisterhood. It truly has been an amazing opportunity to watch these ladies grow into Kappa women. We cannot wait to see the things they accomplish in the upcoming year as they work hard to earn their charter.

—Rebecca Rebecca Fransman and Christina Rose

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