The University of San Diego is an independent Catholic institution known for its commitment to teaching and the liberal arts. Students live and work in a setting of Spanish Renaissance architecture overlooking Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The university serves approximately 4,000 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students. Close to 90 percent of the freshman and a majority of upperclass students live on campus. The university offers 16 NCAA Division I sports as well as a variety of club and intramural level sports.

Two trips to the sunny coast of San Diego, Calif., have resulted in a new addition to the Kappa family. The University of San Diego (not to be confused with UC San Diego) became home to Kappa Kappa Gamma's 126th active chapter, Eta Gamma.

An outstanding group of young women became a Kappa Kappa Gamma Colony during a Colonization Recruitment held on campus September 19-21, 1997. Installation of the chapter was held November 7 -8, making these women charter members of Eta Gamma Chapter. Fifty-one colony members were initiated by Fraternity

President Cathy Thompson Carswell, Illinois Wesleyan; Chairman of Extension Juliana (J.J.) Fraser Wales, Ohio State; and the Fraternity's second delegate to the Panhellenic Conference Carol Morrison Sobek, Arizona State, also assisted with the Installation.

Alumnae from the San Diego area and members from Zeta Nu, UC San Diego; Zeta Eta, UC Irvine; Gamma Zeta, Arizona; and Epsilon Delta, Arizona State, participated in Installation activities, as well. Eta Gamma's Chapter Consultant was Anne Kieselbach, UC San Diego; Ragen Bradner, UC San Diego, served as the Coordinator of Chapter Development.

Other Panhellenic groups on campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, and Kappa Alpha Theta.

Eta Gamma Chapter was officially colonized on September 21, 1997 when 53 young women were informed that they were to represent this chapter as part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity at the University of San Diego. These women were installed as Charter Members on November 8, 1997. At that time, the University of San Diego had 4,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students. Approximately 23% of the study body was involved in Greek life. There were five fraternities; Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Delta Tau Delta, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. There were four sororities; Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Phi, Alpha Delta Pi, and the newly colonized Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Under the supervision of Anne Kieselbach, the Chapter Consultant, and Regan Bradner, the Coordinator of Chapter Development, the new pledge class took on the responsibilities of continuing the Kappa traditions.

During the first new member Recruitment in 1998 the chapter pledged 30 new members. Party themes included "Kappa Kappa Chino" coffee house, "Kappa Academy Awards," and "Kappa is Your Candle on the Water."

In 1998 Eta Gamma's President, Bridgett O'Neil was honored as the Greek Woman of the Year at USD. Also, that year the chapter reported the highest GPA among the sororities on USD's campus. The chapter goal in 1998 was P.P.U.R.C. - building a meaningful foundation through "Participation, Planning, Understanding, Respect, and Communication." The chapter worked toward this goal through philanthropy, social, fraternity education, sisterhood, and scholarship efforts.

Challenges facing the chapter in the 1990s included low participation and lack of communication. The chapter instituted a variety of ways to improve both of these areas including attendance awards for individual members, email distribution groups, reminders of upcoming events, and personal notes read at the end of meetings.

Eta Gamma members participated in many organizations and honorary societies on USD's campus. Through their newsletter, the Eta Gamma Gazette, they shared events and current activities that the chapter was involved with to the greater Kappa sisterhood of readers.

The chapter incorporated some successful scholarship ideas that included honoring members with high GPAs, hosting Scoops Night by grouping members in majors to assist each other with choosing classes, and treating the members to massages and relaxation sessions during Kappa Relief Days before finals.

Philanthropy:

The chapter participated in a variety of events that raised money and awareness, many of which were co-hosted with other campus fraternities or sororities. These efforts included a book drive, after-school tutoring, volunteering at a resale clothing store, building homes in Mexico, and gift giving to needy families during the holiday season.

In 1999 the chapter members logged more than 2,000 volunteer hours in philanthropic efforts. Some of the organizations that benefited from Eta Gamma's philanthropy included St. Vincent de Paul Center, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, Project Mercy, and the Children's Miracle Network.

Awards:

At the 34th Biennial Province Meeting, Eta Gamma received the Marian Williams-Mitch Pflugh Public Relations Award.

The chapter continued its member bonding through theme parties, sisterhood events, social exchanges with other Greek groups, retreats, campus-wide events, intramurals, Moms Weekend, and Dads Weekend. The chapter also held theme nights for each class (sophomore, junior, and senior) to honor Eta Gamma members from each school year.

Participation continued to be a challenge, and the chapter committees worked on innovative efforts to increase attendance at events. These challenges also had an effect on finances, but the chapter was able to reorganize their budget to accommodate for the deficit. Also challenging the members were standards issues. The Standards Committee, along with other committees/officers on Chapter Council strengthened communication and sisterhood through events and awareness in order to improve morale overall for the chapter.

In 2005 the chapter reported that they received the honorable USD Dean's Trophy for the sixth consecutive year.

The chapter continuously displayed archives for members to see during Recruitment and throughout the year at meetings.

Eta Gamma hosted a successful Province Meeting in San Diego in 2009.

In 2010, the USD campus welcomed a new multicultural sorority; Sigma Theta Psi. Through Recruitment in 2010 the chapter pledged 46 new members. The chapter's many sisterhood activities, including Key Sis themed events, strengthened the relationships between actives and new members.

Scholarship remained a core value, and members were rewarded for logging study hours and maintaining a high GPA.

Philanthropy:

Strong philanthropy efforts continued through the support of AVID, Haiti earthquake relief (UNICEF), breast cancer awareness, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, MS Walk, Rady Children's Hospital, and STEP.

In 2011, 54 new members were initiated - Eta Gamma's largest new member class to date. In 2011, the USD campus welcomed two new Greek organizations; Kappa Delta and Phi Gamma Delta.

Eta Gamma Chapter has had a wonderful and successful 2012. Our spring recruitment brought us a pledge class of over 50 beautiful new members. These new girls have become an amazing asset to our chapter right from the get-go, and have continued to impress ever since. Our Bid Day consisted of an exciting bid reveal, followed by a fun filled trip to the bowling alley with froyo and dinner afterwards. The following weekend was our annual New Member retreat sleepover. New members mingled with actives and the Standards committee to learn traditional Kappa songs and chants, eat food, and bond over their new sisterhood. After that, our annual Presents date dash was held, where new members wore white and actives wore black.

Immediately after their first week in Kappa, new members began getting to know the sophomore pledge class better through "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our chapter's New Member chairman paired each new member with an older girl each week over the course of 6 weeks, so that new members could begin figuring out who they would choose as their Big sisters and who the sophomore pledge class would pick for their Little sisters. The dates were left up to the sophomore pledge class, but usually involved eating out, grabbing coffee, or even activities like bike riding or stand-up paddle boarding. In March, the big sisters give clues to their little sisters over the course of a week, leading up to a small ceremony where the Big sis reveals herself and her family to her new Little Sis.

The time immediately following Big Sis Reveal marks the beginning of Initiation. Girls strengthened the bond with their families as they went through Inspo Week, the week leading up to initiation. Each day was defined by a different color, and new members received gifts from their big sister's with different meanings on each day. This also gave active members the opportunity to explain to new member's exactly why they enjoy being a part of Kappa. On Blue Night, little sisters present handpainted keys to their big sister's, and big sister's give their little sisters pillows. This night helps girls to realize how Kappa has made a difference in the lives of other members. Following Blue Night, we have Fireside the evening prior to initiation at a YMCA in downtown San Diego. The following morning we iniated 54 beautiful new members.

In the past year our Kappa chapter held many philanthropy, social and sisterhood events. After our Presents dance, we held a "Drop It Like It's Yacht" mixer with Fiji and Lamda Chi Alpha fraternities, and our spring formal. This fall we held a mixer with Phi Kappa Theta themed as "High School Cliques", and we also held a "Kappa Klue" date dash, where girls invited guys and dressed as costumed pairs, like Barbie and Ken. We finished off the semester with our winter formal, held outdoors at the Boat House in Pacific Beach. Besides our dances, we held many sisterhood events as well as our annual Mom and Dad's weekends. We spent an entire day at Disneyland in November, and an evening shopping at Brandy Melville in Pacific Beach. We also spent a day at Balboa Park in Mission Beach, getting to bond and know each other better as sisters. Last semester we held a Bunco Night, and had prizes for people who won the Bunco games. We also had a sisterhood dinner, where large groups of girls got to know each other better at restaurants over yummy food. We also had a hypnotist come to campus and hypnotize some of our members, which led to many laughs and fond memories. Last spring also held our annual Mom's Weekend. The weekend began with cake decorating on campus, where girls and their mother's mingled with other girls from different pledge classes. The next morning, everybody met up at Torrey Pines park to go for a hike. To end the weekend, girls and their mother's went to brunch at a hotel in Pacific Beach. In the fall, we held Dad's weekend. The weekend started off with mini golf and a go karts outing, the next day featured a kayaking excursion and then the weekend ended with a beach harbor cruise.

Kappa followed through with its' commitment to philanthropy in 2012 by hosting many philanthropy events. We continued to hold our three main philanthropies: Ballers for Children, Journal Buddies, and Breastival. We held our annual Breastival in the fall. Breastival, a breast cancer themed carnival with activities such as "Nipple Ring Toss", "Milk Pong", and "Guess the Celebrity Cup Size". Throughout the semester we continued to hold our philanthropy, Journal Buddies, with underprivileged school children in the area. Each child is paired with a member of Kappa and they keep a journal throughout the semester in which they can communicate. At the end of the semester, we have a Journal Buddy Party, where the kids can meet the women that they have been writing to. We also held our Ballers for Children basketball tournament in the fall with the men of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Three on three teams compete in a bracket tournament to raise money for the Children's Hospital of San Diego. We had a great turn out, and many dressed up their teams with themes.

This year, Kappa also held a new philanthropy event with the men of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Called Survivor, teams could register to participate in an obstacle course race at Mission Bay Park. Although it was helf on a windy day, we managed to raise over $10,000 to benefit Orange County Children's Hospitals. We also held a raffle that benefited charity with prizes like giftcards to local restuarants and shops. We also participated in Greek Week with FIJI fraternity along with Sigma Theta Psi, the multicultural sorority, where all proceeds benefitted St. Jude's Children's Hospital. We got second place in Greek Week skits overall, and were a heavy contender in Penny Wars, with a light and friendly rivalry with Alpha Phi. Our skits were to the theme and music of the 80's, 90's and today. With the participation of FIJI men, we had a great time doing our skit, with costumes and fun backgrounds.

As always, we were eager to help other fraternity's and sorority's with their own philanthropic causes. We had a team of girls compete in Alpha Chi Omega's Kick It tournament, girls who walked in Alpha Delta Pi's fashion show, and a large team of girls who competed in Alpha Phi's powderpuff football tournament. We also had our president, Kendall Gilmore, be nominated for Beta Theta Pi's Sweetheart,

With so many great accomplishments, our Kappa chapter finished off the year strong. We grew as a chapter, both physically and figuratively, and became a lot closer. We worked hard and celebrated our academic accomplishments as well as each an individual member and the assets that she brings to the chapter.

This year, USD Greek Life was joined by Kappa Delta. Our chapter was eager to support them in their colonization, by attending their socials and informationals. Another exciting change was that our chapter was asked to be the "Big Sister" chapter to Kappa at Chapman University. Sisters are already planning how to help them during their recruitment and are thrilled to have the opportunity to create an entirely new Kappa chapter.

This past year, our chapter was put under an Academic Focus Plan. However, our sisters rose to the occasion and spent countless study hours together in the library and coffee houses on campus. This plan inspired a permanent change in sisters study habits- mandatory study hours became fun in library when groups of sisters were there. We finished the year second in GPA in all sororities on campus and third overall in all of Greek Life. It was a goal of ours to improve academic excellence in 2011 that was accomplished in 2012. It has helped us to become closer and to recognize our sisters' academic strengths.

Our chapter excelled this year on campus, and was awarded University of San Diego's chapter of the Order of Omega's Dean Trophy. This trophy is given to the best chapter on campus based in five different categories: academic excellence, social justice and selfless service, leadership, sisterhood and high social standards. Award winners are evaluated on how well these values are incorporated into the everyday life of our members. With a lot of hard work, our registrar, Kalie Flansberg, compiled a profile of every single member in our chapter to show just how great we are. It was an enormous accomplishment and something to truly be proud of.

Eta Gamma was also awarded the privilege of The Gracious Living Award at Convention this year. It was another achievement to be celebrated in 2012.

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2014! Our spring recruitment brought us 52 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. The following weekend, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat was a sleepover at one of the active's house where our members talked, ate dinner, learned Kappa songs, and watched movies.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Ballers for Children, Survivor, and a brand new Surf for the Cure Event. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Ballers for Children is the basketball tournament that we host with Lambda Chi Alpha to raise money Reading is Fundamental. This year we were thrilled to welcome a new event, Surf for a Cure, which our chapter hosted with Beta Theta Pi down on Mission Beach. This event combined our chapter’s Breastival and Beta’s Surf as One event. A fun day with music, carnival information games, and a surf competition the money raised helped support the Shades of Pink Foundation, the Scripps Foundation, and Life Rolls On Foundation. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Famous talent show, Sigma Phi Epsilon Soccer Tournament, Sigma Phi Epsilon Bowling tournament, Beta Theta Pi Surf Competition, and Sigma Pi Inner tube water polo. Kappas also showed their dedication by joining in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. This year with 9 girls (the biggest team yet!) walked 60 miles from Del Mar, CA to Petco Park in Downtown San Diego. As a team they raised over $30,000 and had sisters cheering them on every mile. show including a beautiful background, great costumes and props, catchy music, an adorable theme, and fun choreography.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Winter Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Beta Theta Pi with a fun theme of "Stepford Wives&Saving Lives" and Fiji with "80’s Flicks and Kappa Chicks" and a theme of "Welcome to the Jungle" with Phi Kappa Theta. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, dinner and a hypnotist show, and a sisterhood retreat. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring, where we started off the weekend with moms coming to a photobooth and then painting frames together. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a zumba class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday at the Hotel Del Coronado. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day of Nerf Gun Wars, a classic viewing of “The Sandlot” and brunch on a cruise around the San Diego Bay. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We attended Founders Day Tea on the University of California, San Diego's campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

With so many accomplishments, Eta Gamma ended 2014 on a very positive note. Not only did we strengthen our chapter while having fun, but we also celebrated our academic achievements. As of Spring 2015, Kappa ranked second out of all of Greek life for our overall GPA with improving from a 3.22 to a 3.46!! Our Smarty Panties, Geek of the Week and Kappa Academic Resource list helped us attain this accomplishment.

Chapter- Our chapter is comprised of 170 kind, funny, intelligent, and talented young women. Many of us have discussed how we did not know each other until we met in Kappa, but we are so glad that we are friends now. Through the latest recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We embrace each other's differences and strive to bring out the best in one another. We support each other by engaging in weekly "fleur-de-lis" friends, where members get paired up with other members and choose an activity to bond over, and learning about and understanding the positions on Chapter Council by utilizing our committees. Finally, we value the strengths of the five other panhellenic sororities on campus, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta and Sigma Theta Psi USD's multicultural sorority.

Campus- The recent changes to our campus are the addition of a new wonderful chapter to the greek life at USD. Sigma Pi has been added to the greek system in order to help create a more inclusive greek life for more students at USD. Pi Beta Phi is colonizing Spring 2015 and Kappas have helped with tabling for information and meeting alumni at Sorority Recruitment Informationals. We are overly excited to welcome these chapters and make them feel at home at USD.

Our chapter meetings are held in our campus's University Center Forum B. The UCs hold a lot of campus life including the school's main dining hall (The Student Life Pavilion-SLP), the to-go food market, Offices, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, USD's own restaurant and soon USD's new bookstore.

At USD there is no Greek housing, however, much of our chapter lives together on and off campus. Whether it's the dorms on campus, having your RA be a Kappa sister, or living with 7 other girls down at a house on Mission Beach there is no shortage of Kappas spending mornings cooking breakfast or sharing a laugh at dinner together at the SLP.

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2015! Our spring recruitment brought us over 50 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. Following in February actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat held on campus and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Kappa’s Kampus Feud, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Kampus Feud was brought to the USD campus as a Family Feud style game show to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $4,500. A fun day with music, walking around Mission Bay the money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas along took a Friday afternoon to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read Curious George to classrooms of first graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Eta Gamma had an amazing 2015! Our spring recruitment brought us over 50 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over frozen yogurt, painting picture frames, and a photo booth. Following in February actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the actives wore black dresses and the new members wore white. One week later the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat held on campus and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sisters dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March Kappa holds a small ceremony in which the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us Kappas. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The week leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 52 new members were initiated--a very exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter.

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Kappa’s Kampus Feud, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at our Journal Buddies party that we host on the USD campus. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Kampus Feud was brought to the USD campus as a Family Feud style game show to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $4,500. A fun day with music, walking around Mission Bay the money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas along took a Friday afternoon to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read Curious George to classrooms of first graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Children's Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Gamma Phi Beta's Almost Famous talent show, a 5k run for the Ronald McDonald House, and Sigma Pi’s Dancing with the Greeks.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Winter Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Theta, and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, and a sisterhood shopping event. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a yoga class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday in Downtown San Diego. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day Go-Kart Racing, a sunny day of Kayaking in La Jolla and a morning of breakfast burritos at the driving range. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We attended Founders Day Tea on the University of California, San Diego's campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

With so many accomplishments, Eta Gamma ended spring 2015 with awards from the most improved GPA and the most improved chapter awarded by Panhellenic.

Eta Gamma had an amazing 2016! Our spring recruitment brought us 34 new members who were eager to get involved right from the start. The new members possess leadership skills unlike any other. Our exciting Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over a game of Escape Room. Because of this, we learned how to work together and really bond. Following in February, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where the active members wore black dresses and the new members wore white. A few weeks after, the new members enjoyed bonding with each other, the Standards committee, and several sophomores at their new member retreat. The retreat was held at an active member's house and consisted of ice breakers, kappa songs, and skits.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during "Sapphire Sis" dates. Our New Member chairman paired up an active with a new member so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had hour different Sapphire Sister dates, in which active members treated the new girls with dinner, coffee, or just meeting up on campus. In March, Kappa holds a small ceremont in chihc the Big Sis reveals her family to a new member. In the meantime, February also brought with it "class nights," where the sophomore, junior, and senior pledge classes each hosted an activity with the new member class to get to know them better.

Big Sis Revealing is a very special and memorable time for us in Kappa. Having a Kappa "family" allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters. The weeks leading up to initiation is called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member's big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sis' exchange pillows and decorated keys, and new members have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to the active members. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning of Kappa to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initation at the YMCA in downtown San Diego. The next morning 34 new members were initiated--avery exciting and momentous day for our entire chapter!

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year we put on four main events: Journal Buddies, Field Day, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Strides for Survival. Journal Buddies is a program where we write letters about college to underprivileged school children and then are able to meet them at the end of the semester. We like to encourage the students to aim for college by answering any questions they have and inspiring them with our own stories. Kappa’s Field Day was put on with the fraternity Phi Kappa Theta to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the fall and the well-respected Children's Hospital of Orange County. This year continuing with new philanthropy events, Strides for Survival was a 5k walk which brought together the students of USD and the San Diego community and we raised over $3,200. This fun day was full of music and walking around Mission Bay. The money raised is to benefit the Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas also took two Friday afternoons to go to Sherman Elementary in downtown San Diego to read books to classrooms of kinder to fifth graders. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations including letter writing for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and by providing teams for Delta Tau Delta Dodgeball, Phi Gamma Delta's Knockout, and a 5k run for the Ronald McDonald House.

Apart from the philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Sapphire Ball Formal, we also had many exciting events such an exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta, Beta Theta Pi, and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events like picnics in a park, roller skating, and a sisterhood shopping event. We also try to keep up our sisterhood throughout each semester by having "family" dinners with our big and little sisters and also having surprise sisterhood meetings, where we play fun games and participate in activities to build our sisterhood. Mom's Weekend was in the spring. The moms and daughters spent the morning getting active with a yoga class by the bay and had a wonderful brunch Sunday in beautiful La Jolla. Dad's Weekend in the fall brought us together with our dads over a competitive day of Go-Kart Racing and a morning of brunch in La Jolla. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We hosted Founders Day Tea on campus. It was a moving experience to hear from many alumni about how Kappa has changed their lives and made an impact on what they chose to do after they graduated college. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming with fun activities such as cooking classes and yoga.

Our chapter is comprised of kind, funny, intelligent, and talented young women. Many of us have discussed how we did not know each other until we met in Kappa, but we are so glad that we are friends now. Through the latest recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We embrace each other's differences and strive to bring out the best in one another. We support each other by engaging in weekly "fleur-de-lis" friends, where members get paired up with other members and choose an activity to bond over, and learning about and understanding the positions on Chapter council by utilizing our committees.

The recent changes to our campus are the addition of a new wonderful chapter to the Greek Life at USD. Last year Pi Beta Phi colonized in the Spring of 2015, and Kappas have helped their transition here on campus. Unfortunately, one of the chapters here on campus lost its charter. Because of this, however, Eta Gamma has learned to really value our chapter and the amazing women we call sisters.

Our chapter has continued to donate money to the KKG Foundation. We have also held an event called Strides for Survival, which is a 5k run/walk on Mission Bay. There were over 300 people in attendance. Over $5,000 was raised for the Shades of Pink Foundation. In addition, our Reading is Key event was a major success! We read a book to all students of kindergarten to fifth grade at a local elementary school, Sherman Elementary School. Afterwards we did an art project with the students, and each child received a book. To raise money for these books, our chapter put on an event called "Field Day," where we invited the entire student body and the middle school class we were writing back and forth to (Journal Buddies!), to participate. There was outdoor events where each team competed and all money raised in sign-up fees, raffles and through a dunk tank went to RIF. The amount of money raised for RIF was $10,000. In addition, our chapter has also put on various community service events such as making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, making blankets for the Ronald McDonald Foundation, hosting beach cleanups, and writing letters to soldiers for the holidays. We are also very proud of sisters who participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk. This 3- day walk is 60 miles long, where women and men walk to fight to end breast cancer. We had three of our members participate in this walk this year.

Eta Gamma is very passionate about helping fight to end breast cancer. The Shades of Pink Foundation support more than 115 women in five counties. Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have extra financial burdens places on them during treatment and recovery. Common issues are insurance payments, food, transportation, childcare, and other essentials of daily life. This Foundation offers temporary financial assistance during their time in need. We chose to support this organization because it is a local philanthropy that we are really passionate to help.

Eta Gamma has had an outstanding 2017! Our spring recruitment brought us 34 new members who were eager to get involved and participate right from the start. Our eventful Bid Day consisted of getting to know each other over fun sisterhood games and delicious food. In March, actives and new members danced the night away at our annual Presents dance, where active members wore black dresses and the new members wore white. This is always such a special and fun event for both actives and new members.

After their first week in Kappa, our new members had the opportunity to get to know the sophomore pledge class during “Sapphire Sis” dates. Actives and new members were paired up so that the girls could get to know each other and start finding a big or little sister. They had four different Sapphire Sis dates, in which active members treated the new girls to dinner, coffee, frozen yogurt, or just meeting up on campus. After dates were done and girls were matched up, Kappa holds a Big-Little ceremony to introduce the big sis and the rest of the family to the little sis in a fun way. Afterwards, families go and get dinner together and bond! Big Sis reveal is a very special and memorable time for us in Kappa. Having a Kappa “family” allows us to develop an important lifetime bond with our sisters.

The weeks leading up to initiation are called Inspo Week. Each day, a new member’s big sis gives her a gift of a certain color or importance that teaches them something about what it means to be a Kappa. On Blue Night, big and little sisters exchange pillows and decorated keys, and actives have a chance to talk about what Kappa means to them. It is a special moment for the new members to understand the meaning and value that Kappa holds to the active members. Fireside was held the night before initiation, and the next morning the new members were initiated. This is always such an exciting and momentous day for our chapter!

Kappa held and participated in many philanthropy events on and off campus. This year, we put on three main events: Field Day, Reading is Key at Sherman Elementary, and Kappa Koncert. Kappa’s Field Day was put on in order to raise money for the Reading is Key event we hosted in the Fall semester. We ended up raising $2,400 for Reading is Key! Our Kappa Koncert featured students at USD displaying their vocal talent, and ended up raising $3,000 for Shades of Pink Foundation. Kappas also went to Sherman Elementary School on a Monday morning to read books to elementary school students. Kappas also participated in philanthropy events with other sororities and fraternities to benefit various organizations.

Apart from philanthropy events, Eta Gamma also has had many memorable social and sisterhood events this past year. Along with Presents and Sapphire Ball Formal, we also had many exciting events such as exchanges with Phi Gamma Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha. We had many memorable sisterhood events, such as going to a pumpkin patch, having a kappa “Friendsgiving” with a catered thanksgiving meal, Disneyland, and planned dinners. We also have surprise sisterhood activities after some chapter meetings, where we play fun games and bond. Mom’s Weekend was in the spring, and featured a cooking class, a workout class, and a beautiful beachside brunch. Dad’s weekend was in the fall, and featured go cart racing, shopping at the Little Italy market, hanging out at the beach, and a fun brunch. Both weekends were filled with sisters and their parents getting to know each other. We hosted Founders Day Tea on campus, which was an incredibly special experience. It was so amazing to hear from so many alumni about their special experiences with Kappa and how many continue to participate in Kappa after graduation. Seniors also participated in Senior Programming activities such as yoga and sampling wines at a local winery.

Eta Gamma has also encouraged all members to donate to help Las Vegas shooting victims and victims of the California fires. Some members have been affected by these tragedies, and Eta Gamma’s Chapter Council has offered emotional support to these women.

There was an addition of a wonderful new sorority, Pi Beta Phi, which was colonized in Spring 2015. Kappas have greatly welcomed their transition here on campus, and now they have grown into a flourishing chapter here at USD. Unfortunately, one of the chapters here on campus lost its charter last year. Because of this, however, Eta Gamma has learned to really value our chapter and the inspirational women we call sisters.

Our chapter is comprised of kind, funny, intelligent, strong, and talented young women. Through the latest values-based recruitment, we have all become so much closer. We strive to continuously embrace each other’s differences. The Senior pledge class has gotten to know the new pledge class, as many of the Junior pledge class is abroad. Overall, we are always trying to plan sisterhood events to increase bonding, as this is very important to our chapter as a whole!

Our chapter has continued to donate money to the KKG Foundation. We have also hosted an event called Kappa Koncert, which was held at USD and featured many talented student singers from the USD student body (along with some of our own kappa sisters!). It was an amazing night, with beautiful pink decorations, Chipotle catering, raffles, photo booths, and great music. $3,000 was raised for the Shades of Pink Foundation. In addition, our Reading is Key event was a major success! We read books to students at a local elementary school, Sherman Elementary. We also were able to donate books to this school! To raise money for these books, our chapter put on an event called “Field Day,” where we invited the entire student body to participate. There were outdoor events where each team competed and all of the money that was raised in sign-up fees, raffles, and other activities went to RIF. The amount of money raised for RIF was $2,400. In addition, our chapter takes great pride in supporting other chapter’s philanthropy events, such as running in Alpha Delta Pi’s 5k run to support the Ronald McDonald House, and making teams in Delta Tau Delta’s Dodgeball tournament to raise money for JDRF (among many more!).

Eta Gamma is very passionate about helping fight to end breast cancer. The Shades of Pink Foundation supports more than 115 women in five countries. Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have extra financial burdens placed on them during treatment and recovery. Common issues are insurance payments, transportation, childcare, food expenses, and other essentials of daily life. This foundation offers temporary financial assistance during their time in need, so they can focus on improving their health and fighting cancer. We chose to support this organization because it is a local philanthropy that we are very passionate about. So many women are affected by breast cancer, and Eta Gamma strives to help!

Our chapter meetings are held in USD’s University Center Forum C. The UCs are the hub of campus life at USD, which includes the main dining hall in the Student Life Pavilion, a to-go food market, various offices, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, USD’s own restaurant, USD’s bookstore, and a lounge for students to enjoy.

Program Meetings: 1. Nutrition and Mindfulness – We welcomed a life coach, Sarah Andersen, and a Nutrition and Health coach, Kayleigh Clark to our chapter meeting. We learned about healthy eating habits, exercising, managing stress, and maintaining confidence and a positive body image 2. Fitness - Our Education Chair had an instructor come into our meeting to show us some moves we can try at home to promote a healthy lifestyle. 3. Kappa Careers - There were speakers from the Humane League, MeTyme Network, Ecology Center, and IPJ at USD. It was fascinating and inspiring getting to explore various careers, with some in nonprofit organizations and start ups.

Philanthropy: 1. Spring: Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Kappa Theta Field Day

  a. We raised $1,193.39 for Reading is Fundamental during our Field Day at Mission Beach! There were relay races, tug of war, flag football, and other events. Field Day is a well known and anticipated event 

2. Fall: Kappa Koncert

  a. Our fall philanthropy event raised $3,252 for the Shades of Pink Foundation through an on campus concert. Members of our chapter as well as student performers from USD put on a wonderful night of 

  music, food and friends. 

Events: 1. Advisor and Officer BBQ:

  a. At the start of spring semester, our advisor, Deanne Palmer, and our Chapter Council had a BBQ to kick off the semester, set goals, and plan upcoming events. 

2. Greek Week:

  a. Eta Gamma participated in USD Greek Week teamed up with Phi Gamma Delta. While we did not win, we had an incredible week of philanthropy and Greek companionship. Rehearsal for Friday Skits went by 

  quickly with the wonderful FIJI men. 

3. Exchanges:

  a. We had exchanges in the Spring with Phi Gamma Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha. Our themed exchanged are a great time to dress up and interact with other members of the Greek community 

4. Inspo Week Sisterhood Dinners:

  a. One night of Inspiration week, members went to dinners around San Diego with sisters to get excited about initiation and spend some quality time with their new families! 

5. Kappa Mom’s Weekend:

  a. Before Mother’s Day, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa mom’s on campus and around San Diego for a cooking class, spin class, and brunch! 

6. Kappa Dad’s Weekend:

  a. In the fall, Eta Gamma hosted Kappa dad’s on campus and around San Diego for go karting and brunch! 

7. Kappa Christmas Party:

  a. In December, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at a restaurant downtown to spend some quality time with each other before the stress of finals! 

Eta Gamma News This fall, Eta Gamma introduced a new position on Chapter Council, Diversity Chairman. The position is currently filled by Lexie Rollings, an active member in the USD Women’s Center, USD LGBTQIA commons and a passionate member of the USD community. The Chapter Council nominated Lexie due to her compassion, commitment and grace. Every week during chapter, Lexie presents a few slides on relevant issues involving diversity. She presented on trans awareness, the sexuality spectrum and on the importance of hearing people with different opinions. Lexie will be working closely with our Membership Officer to ensure the members of Eta Gamma are well educated going into Spring 2019 recruitment.

Last spring, Eta Gamma welcomed 34 new members to our chapter. After a terrific new member series, we had our Big Little Reveal at the Immaculata Fountain on campus. It was a beautiful event and we welcomed our littles into our families. Initiation soon followed, and we initiated all 34 new members into the chapter. This summer, 4 of our chapter council members attended Convention in Denver, where they brainstormed, networked and had a blast meeting sisters from around the country. The creation of Diversity Chairman came from Convention.

The previous calendar year we have continued having scholarships, group honors/awards, traditions, special events, and chapter goals. Part of Founders Day we had two awards go out to Lena McZeal and Avery Barrett. We also had awards going out through Kennedy Ellison VPA Smartie Panties system where we award those who have done well on an assignment with a starbucks gift card typically once a month. We announce the winner of the raffle randomly during the chapter to celebrate the person who did well on their assignment. The events that we have continued as a chapter include Carrie Duda planning Morticians Ball, Kappa Kappa Jamma, Spring Fling, and Presents. We have also had events that maintain our sisterhood through Mychaela Thomas’s sisterhood bonding events where we had events at Soul Cycle, Rockin’ Jump, and Alo Yoga. Mikayla Phelps also continued our chapter's traditions by having a family weekend in the Spring where there was a brunch planned and cocktail hour for those 21 and older. Another tradition of Kappa that we had was having senior wills where the seniors and the underclassmen met on the beach and gave away things of personal significance to the younger members as a way of saying goodbye. There was also a senior experience planned by Quincy Hammer where the seniors met at Hot Spot Pottery for some fun. Lastly, Bella Derosa planned an amazing big little reveal event where we were able to maintain the tradition of the excitement of welcoming the new members into our Kappa family.

We selected the JED foundation for the last academic year and in the spring we supported them by selling donuts on campus and raising awareness. This academic year we as a chapter voted to switch to the National Eating Disorders Association. 

Through Avery Barrett’s philanthropy work and dedication we have had events such as Walk to End Alzheimers and Kappa Katwalk where we raised money for National Children’s Cancer Society. We also had a beach cleanup event with another Fraternity on campus. 

Our chapter celebrated Founders Day with the work of Samantha Schuetze and the San Diego Alumnae Association. An event was planned where there was a brunch, gave out awards and celebrated and paid respect to the Founders of Kappa.

The way in which our chapter includes DEI initiatives in our programing this year is primarily through Bella Serna and her task force's work on creating a weekly newsletter. There they have the opportunity to speak up about anything that is going on in the world that deserves space to be talked about.

The way in which we have celebrated the connection with our chapter, local alumnae associations and the Fraternity this year was by having members attend the Kappa Convention in Palm Springs and the Kappa Leadership Conference in Ohio. Lena McZeal, Nikki Greiwe, Bella Serna, and Olivia Falcon attended the Kappa Convention and were able to make connections with Kappas from all over the country. Francis Fitch attended the Leadership Conference in Ohio and was able to represent our chapter and make connections with more Kappas.