Fall 2016-Spring 2017

PRESIDENTS ADDRESS:

Ceres has had a fantastic year so far! Our chapter has been very active and involved both on campus and in the community over the last year. In January we had our Spring retreat which took place in Brookings. At retreat we worked on chapter and committee goals and planning, and participated in community service events at the Brookings Humane Society and the United Living Community. We also spent some sisterhood bonding time at the SplashZone Waterpark! Additionally, our chapter had a successful recruitment during spring semester, and we welcomed four wonderful new members into Ceres, and we celebrated their activation at our Family Day event. Also, in March our chapter had three representatives attend the Ceres Conclave in Verona, Wisconsin. Fall retreat took place in July in Spirit Lake, Iowa, where we were able to enjoy some fun time on East Lake Okoboji! Our sisters have worked hard, and have made great achievements this year both within Ceres and outside of the chapter. Not only in their academics, but in other clubs/organizations as well. I am looking forward to what this next semester has in store and all that we can accomplish!

-Tammy Putz

SENIOR SPOTLIGHTS:

During my time in Ceres, I was fortunate to have served in the roles of New Member Educator, Vice President, and committee chairpersons for clothing and Greek Week. Additionally, I also represented Ceres as the Vice President of Operations for the College Panhellenic Association. My favorite memories from Ceres are girls' nights are the house and Bid Day 2015 when I returned to the chapter after having been disaffiliated as a Rho Gamma. I graduated this spring with a degree in Spanish and my Family and Consumer Sciences Education degree will be complete in December. I will be student teaching in Houston, Texas this fall. My plan is to teach full-time in Houston upon my official graduation at the end of student teaching.

-Kali Lenhoff, Alpha Psi

Throughout my time in Ceres, I had the opportunity to serve at Alumnae Relations Chair and Recruitment Chair. I am so proud of how far this chapter has come since I joined in Spring 2013. After graduation, I will be getting married on June 3rd, 2017 and then moving to Pierre, South Dakota.

-Katelyn Jerde, Alpha Omega

My time in Ceres has been one for the books. Coming in as a sophomore I dived in as scholarship chair, and then moving into the role of treasurer for the 2016 year. I also lead the 2015 Date Auction that raised just over $2000 for Relay for Life. Within Ceres, I was able to make an impact on others as well. I was the 2015 Miss International Buckskin World Queen, the 94th Little International Secretary, and the Fall 2016-Spring 2017 VP of Programming for the College Panhellenic Council. Ceres helped me grow as a leader, team member, and sister. I am now looking to use my animal science degree make a difference within the Ag community.

-Sarah Lynd, Beta Alpha

I loved my three years of being an active member in Ceres Women's Fraternity. I served as the Recruitment and Community Service chair. I will be moving home for the summer, and will be lead teaching the school age program and a daycare. In August, I will be relocating to Houston, Texas to student teach in a kindergarten classroom. I plan on continuing to teach in Houston after I officially graduate in December.

-Jenna Rathlisberger, Beta Beta

I graduated with a health education degree. I am moving to Sioux Falls, SD and will be attending Southeast Tech in the fall for Diagnostic Medical Sonography. I joined Ceres in 2013 and it has really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I have done more things within this chapter than I ever thought I would during college. I was able to become more outgoing, lead a group of 50 outstanding women, and grow professionally. There is so much I can thank Ceres for, and I appreciate everything these past 4 years in the chapter has brought me.

-Molly Reiffenberger, Alpha Psi

INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS:

Beta Epsilon Pledge Class

Kaylee Rosenkranz

Major: Agriculture Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Windom, MN

Kaelyn Platz

Major: Agriculture Communications

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Comfrey, MN

Shania Biers

Major: Advertising

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Rapid City, SD

Sierra Lutz

Major: Mathematics

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Bruce, SD

Kristina Rice (Pictured on left)

Major: Family and Consumer Sciences Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Johnston, IA

Ashley Engbrecht

Majors: Pre-nursing, Health Science and Health Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Marion, SD

Samantha Gonzalez

Majors: Agriculture Education and Spanish Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Laredo, TX

Kayla Rounds

Major: Psychology

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Dallas, TX

Alivia Wuestewald

Major: Human Development and Family Studies

Year: Junior

Hometown: Sioux Falls, SD

Beta Zeta Pledge Class

Dani Capp

Major: Interior Design

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Belle Fourche, SD

Bethany DeBoer

Major: Agriculture Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Archer, IA

Emily Rogers

Major: Agriculture Education

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Marshall, MN

Sydnie Peters (Pictured on left)

Majors: Agriculture Leadership and Animal Science

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Winner, SD

EXECUTIVE TEAM SPOTLIGHT:

President:

The current chapter President is Tammy Putz. She is a junior Agriculture Education major with a minor in Animal Science, and is in the Beta Gamma pledge class. Her favorite thing about Ceres is that there are so many ways to get involved and take on leadership roles within the chapter and Greek Life as a whole.

Vice President

The current Ceres Vice President is Alison Krieger. She is a junior Agricultural Business major with a minor in accounting and is in the Beta Gamma pledge class. Her favorite thing about Ceres is being in an organization where she has met several amazing individuals that has made a difference in her life and will continue to make a difference in her life.

Treasurer

The current chapter treasurer is Amanda Bauman. She is a junior Early Childhood Education major and a member of the Beta Gamma pledge class. This past year, Amanda served as the Vice President of Administration on the College Panhellenic Board, where she learned more about all the other Greek chapters and make an impact on the Greek Community while enhancing her leadership skills.

Secretary

The current Ceres secretary is Callie Kukuchka. She is a junior Animal Science major and a member of the Beta Gamma pledge class. Callie's favorite things about Ceres are the opportunities to expand her horizons and all the wonderful ladies she has a chance to meet.

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

We are happy to say that this fall we were able to give back to the Brookings community by helping out with the annual fashion show at the United Living Community nursing home, picked up trash during highway clean up, and served during Feeding Brookings. This spring, we served at Boys and Girls Club during their pancake party, Feeding Brookings, and picked up trash during highway clean up. We are excited to give back and serve the Brookings community next semester!

FOUNDERS DAY & FAMILY DAY:

We celebrated our 25th Founder's Day on November 19, 2016. We had nearly 200 people in attendance and initiated eleven new members into Ceres. The day started off with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new house where President Barry Dunn spoke. Later in the evening we came together for a meal, awards, dance and the election of our new officer team. We also enjoyed a speech from our Prominent Woman in Agriculture Donna Moenning.

Family Day was held April 8, 2017 we had 150 visitors and guests in attendance to celebrate another great year for Ceres. Our guest speaker for the event was Sally Nielson. We initiated four new members and said goodbyes to 10 senior members.

We look forward to getting together again to celebrate 26 years of Ceres on November 18, 2017! This year the event will be held at Club 71 on campus. More details coming soon! If you have any questions or would like to RSVP, please email breanna.vogel@jacks.sdstate.edu.

FUNDRAISING:

In the fall, we participated in a butter braids fundraiser earning nearly $600. This spring we had our third annual All Greek Date Auction which was held after Valentine's Day. We raised nearly $2,000 for our philanthropy, Relay for Life. We also had a Culver's and Pizza Hut fundraiser over South Dakota State FFA Convention raising around $400.

RECRUITMENT:

In the fall, after a long, and very fun week, we kicked off formal recruitment by initiating 10 beautiful sisters! For spring, during informal recruitment events, we gained 4 amazing sisters. We look forward to what they will do for and with Ceres. In addition, we look forward to formal recruitment this fall, and to gain new sisters!

PLEDGE CLASS:

The 2016-2017 school year was a successful year for Ceres with recruitment and membership education! in the fall semester, Ceres gained 11 new women in the Beta Epsilon pledge class. New members included Kaylee, Kaelyn, Shania, Sierra, Nattie, Kristina, Zara, Ashley, Samantha, Kayla, and Alivia. During this semester, Haley Christenson was the head pledge educator with Michaela Simon and Tammy Putz as the assistants. In the spring semester, Ceres welcomed four wonderful new ladies into the chapter. Dani, Sydnie, Bethany, and Emily are the members of the Beta Zeta pledge class. We had another great semester of membership education with Michaela Simon as the pledge educator, and Tammy Putz and Megan Knutson as the assistant educators. The new members completed a pledge project where they created and decorated a stepping stone for their pledge class. It will be displayed outside of the Ceres house. We hope this is something we can continue with future pledge classes, and could even become a tradition. We are looking forward to everything that all these new members will bring to the chapter in the coming years!

CPH:

There were some exciting updates within CPH this past year. Upon returning from Academy, the CPH Executive Board brought all of their new information and ideas to the rest of the CPH board. One of the ideas that was implemented included updating the term; changing it to coincide with chapter officer transitions. The executive board positions were also updated to become a better fit for how Greek Life at SDSU operates. This was done by adding new responsibilities to positions, altering the judicial chair position, and ultimately fine tuning the executive positions to make the board more efficient. Exploring the option of extension was another topic of discussion for the CPH board. Greek life is continually expanding at SDSU and we as a board wanted to see it continue to thrive. Adding another chapter on campus would offer more diversity and options for women to be a part of the awesome experience being a Greek Jackrabbit is. The possibility of extension was voted on and chapters are awaiting to hear back from their internationals to decide if they should proceed further. Ceres was represented well by our outstanding members who received an award the night of the VW awards. Special mention to Breanna Vogel for receiving the Outstanding New Female Award and Kali Lenhoff for being awarded the title of Outstanding Active within the Greek System Award. Ceres as a chapter was also honored to be awarded both New Member Education and Outstanding Member Recruitment awards.

AGRICULTURE ORIENTATION:

Throughout the last year, Ceres has been working on involvement in the Agricultural Community on and off the SDSU campus. Ceres was involved in socials, Ag-Day at SDSU and at the Washington Pavilion, speakers, and many other things. Ceres was part of the College of Ag and Bio Club of the Year, although we did not win, we came close and will be working hard to win next year! In the next year, we plan to do many more events on and off campus starts with the social we have coming up!

RELAY FOR LIFE:

For Relay we raised a total of $4,719. The Relay theme this year was Hawaiian with a tagline of "Get RE-leid for Life." We had a really fun time at Relay with our sisters and the best part was leading line dancing for all of the participants of the event. It really got everyone involved and looked as if they were all having fun. We also had fun at the different tables of the different teams, especially with the PIKE table where they were doing mediocre face painting. It was cool to do something for a good cause with another Greek team there. We had a lot of sisterhood bonding that happened with the games and even had one of our sisters win the selfie challenge! Overall, this Relay went really well!

HOUSE UPDATES:

Ceres just finished its first academic year in the new house in Greek Village at 721 2oth Avenue, Brookings, SD 57006. The house was completed in the fall of 2016. Not only has the house been housing 18 beautiful ladies but has become the heart of the chapter thanks to all of the alumni, their families, and friends of Ceres. As grateful as we have been for the gifts and donations, if you are wanting to donate you can find our wishlist here:

Ceres House Wishlist:

Shoe Rack (for 18 pairs or more)

Cleaning Supplies

Toilet Paper & Hand Soap

Organization Shelving

Kitchen Stools

Book Shelf

TV/Projector - DVD Player

Pots & Pans

Shower Curtain

Ice Maker

Printer (also ink, paper)