Colors for CASA, Date Party, and Dakota Days

Colors for CASA

Our 3^rd annual philanthropy event took place on September 27^th at St Agnes school. All the Thetas were up at the crack of dawn to set up for the run, which began at 8:00 AM. We had about 130 runners participate in the 5K and many more who attended the pancake feed. The total money raised was more than $2,000 and it all went to the Southeast CASA program located in Yankton. 

 Our awesome philanthropy director, Kathleen Serie, did a fabulous job planning the event.

Date Party

“Peace, Love, & Hippies” was the theme for Theta’s Date Party. Everyone put on their hippest threads, flower headbands, and grooviest glasses to celebrate after a great philanthropy event. The dance took place at the Old Lumber Company downtown. 

Dakota Days

The 100^th Dakota Days took place the week of October 11. The week was filled with events organized by the Dakota Days Executive Board. We had 4 Thetas on the Executive Board who planned the events, including Yotes Got Talent, Vermtown Bash, a Historic Photo Recreation, the parade, and coronation. 

A few Thetas participated in acts for Yotes Got Talent and Rayna Pearson showcased her ability to “speed paint” which won her 3^rd place. 

Erika Swenson led Kappa Alpha Theta's parade float into winning the President’s Choice for the Best Student Float in the  Saturday morning parade. 

There were nine Thetas nominated for Dakota Days Royalty, and we are proud to say that for the 5^th year in a row, a Theta has been crowned Miss Dakota.  We are so proud of Lindsey Montileaux and her accomplishment!  We are so lucky that we had a chance to make our mark in the 100^th Dakota Days! 

Back Into the Swing of Things

It’s crazy to think we’ve been back in Vermillion for over a month!

We moved in on August 12 and began preparing for Formal Recruitment, which was a week early this year. Instead of starting recruitment after Freshmen Move-In Day, it began on Tuesday before the rest of their class of 2018 moved in on Friday. The freshman class was informed of recruitment during their campus tours, and registration days. There was a great turnout with over 200 women who signed up! The week ran spectacularly and we ended the week on Bid Day with 36 beautiful new Thetas!

The first Coyote Game Day was last weekend, on September 6^th. We had a blast “adopting” the football team and some of the women in the chapter sent the team some homemade cookies to wish them good luck. It’s great that the Thetas “adopt” the team because we already have so much support for the team! We have 5 Coyote cheerleaders, a drum major, a twirler, and a whole bunch of Coyote Crazies in the stands!

We are currently gearing up for our fall philanthropy event, Colors for CASA, which will take place September 27^th in Vermillion! Our philanthropy director has been busy organizing the event, planning the 5K route and pancake feed. We’re so excited to spend the day supporting a cause we all believe in! For more information, check out the information from our Facebook page below!

Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of South Dakota presents Colors For CASA 5K walk/run and pancake feed on Saturday, September 27th, starting and ending at the St. Agnes Catholic School: 909 E. Lewis St., Vermillion, SD. Registration starts at 8:30am, and the walk/run begins at 9am. A fee of $13 in advance and $15 day-of gets you registered to run, a t-shirt, and admission to the pancake feed! Not into running? No problem! A ticket to the pancake feed is just $5, and goes from 8:30am-11am in the St. Agnes Catholic School cafeteria. Get registered in the MUC at the Colors For CASA table from 10am-2pm, Monday-Friday, starting Monday, September 15th, and again the following week. If you have questions or would like to register, contact Kathleen Serie at kathleen.serie@coyotes.usd.edu. Proceeds to benefit the Southeast CASA Program of South Dakota. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, and its volunteers are dedicated to helping abused and neglected children navigate through the court system.

February Highlights

The month of February was very busy for the women of the Alpha Rho chapter! We’re looking forward to Spring Break next week!

New Members:

We are so excited to announce that we added six new members to our chapter! They are all wonderful women and we are excited to see where membership in Kappa Alpha Theta will take them!

Date Party:

We had a successful Date Party with the theme of “Holidays.” Members and their dates dressed as Christmas, Mardi Gras, Election Day and everything holiday in-between.

Strollers:

The women of Kappa Alpha Theta were so proud to take home the second place trophy at the 91^st Strollers Show on February 22. They worked together with the men of Phi Delta Theta and Tau Kappa Epsilon to put on a great show with a theme of “How I Met Your Mother” set in the 1920s.

 

Academic Recognition Night:

The Alpha Rho chapter was recognized at the University’s Greek Academic Recognition night at the Women’s Basketball game against NDSU Thursday night the 27th. 72 women were welcomed to walk across the stage with a GPA of 3.5 or higher last semester. We had a great turnout and had a blast watching USD beat NDSU in overtime! 

Sisterhood:

A Sisterhood event was held Friday, the 28th. All of us women gathered together at the St Thomas More Newman Center and played “step on the line” and did affirmation squares while bonding with our sisters. It really is a great life to be a Theta!