Delta Gamma - University of Iowa

Delta Gamma page 3 T ransitioning back to in-person events after being completely online for the spring 2021 semester was certainly interesting. We came back to campus in the fall and returned to normal, with sisterhood events and Chapter meetings penciled in. Living life virtually was a challenge; all chapters on campus struggled to stay creative, engaged, and enthused with online engagement. Fortunately, the bonds of Tau Chapter are strong! We stayed connected despite the challenges and made the most of an unusual situation. Being back to in-person events, we are in the process of reviving traditions that the Chapter has known and loved for countless years. Philanthropy events, retreats, and formals have been greatly reduced or nonexistent since the pandemic began, but we're back at it. In November, we raised $3,832 for Service for Sight through our Slices for Sight event. We also had an amazing Chapter retreat at Wilson's Orchard; the entire Chapter got together for fun activities, Chapter evaluations, and icebreaker discussions to familiarize ourselves with each other after being apart for far too long. Sisterhood events have been in full force, including tie-dye days, visits to the trampoline park, and outdoor movie nights on the front lawn of the Chapter house. As far as formals, we held a Fire and Ice semiformal in December, and the event was a great way to celebrate all we have done in the past year. We also hosted a Valentine's Day-themed semiformal dance in February. Strengthening sisterhood was a difficulty we learned to overcome over the past two years, but the wait was worth it. Tau Chapter of Delta Gamma continues to flourish as we recruited new members this past fall as well as five new Continuous Open Bidding (COB) recruits this spring! Now that life is returning to how we once knew it, Tau Chapter is thrilled to plan and prepare for an in-person recruitment this fall—the first one in two years! It hasn't been long since campus life normalized, but we've made terrific progress so far. Several events are marked off our list for the year, and we have even more to look forward to. In mid-April, we hosted our Anchor Splash event at the Iowa Recreational Event. This philanthropy event is a Tau tradition with campus-wide participation. Then, we will wrap up the academic year with a formal date party, mother/daughter weekend, and the initiation of our COBs. Throughout the past few years, our Chapter has grown as a sisterhood and as individuals. We worked through the unforeseen challenges with grace and learned plenty from it. Lucky for us, we have reliable senior sisters and wistful alumnae to lean on and look up to as we retain important Tau traditions that had to be canceled or postponed during COVID-19. We are looking forward to the rest of the semester, and before we know it, we will be back in the 305 for recruitment preparation week! ITB, Lauren McCullough '19 Chapter President Tessa Gandy '20 and Caitlin Kozlowski '20 were all smiles at our traditional philanthropy event, Slices for Sight. Verity Carstensen '21 and Lucy Rector '21 at semiformal. Tess Ellithorpe '19 and Ellie Piech '19 were elated to be back at 305 S. Summit Street for recruitment preparation. STRONGER THAN WE WERE YESTERDAY Reviving Traditions, Strengthening Sisterhood, and Looking Ahead Delta Gammas Katie Carr '20, Ellie Piech '19, Maggy Centeno '18, and Cailey Hiam '18 participating in Dance Marathon in early February. Several other Tau sisters were dancers at the event, and fundraised throughout the year. As a whole, the University of Iowa raised $1,361,184.28 for the kids! Sarah Howell '20 and Sabina Reisz '20 at the bowling event organized by Emily Cummings '20 in February.

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