Be United. Be a Leader. BE GREEK! Fall 2011 the newsletter President Armstrong Speaks at Panhellenic Meeting It was an honor to have President Armstrong come speak to the Panhellenic Council. He is a fellow Greek and completely understands what lies at the heart of Greek life. President Armstrong is also aware of our problems and set backs and offers sage advice for gaining more positive publicity. It is so encouraging to know that the leader of our campus took the time to set up this meeting with sorority women, and even went so far as to tell us how much he values and supports what we do. President Armstrong acknowledged and commended all of our women for our efforts in philanthropy, community service and the betterment of our sisters, but challenged us to remember our values and make sure that we are always acting as if we are wearing our letters. Gaining more positive publicity is a top priority for Panhellenic. In order to help aid our efforts, President Armstrong has set up a media workshop in which Panhellenic women can learn firsthand from seasoned media professionals how to can achieve this goal. It is an inspiration that President Armstrong fully believes and supports Greek Life, and I hope that this is just the beginning of our supportive and positive relationship! - Lauren Keba Vice President Panhellenic
meet the Kaylee Trapletti President Hobbies: Fashion, traveling, and making lists Candice Sampson VP Judicial and Risk Management Hobbies: Reading, Running, and Organizing board Elise Forcey VP Special Events Hobbies: snowboarding, basketball, fantasy football Lauren Keba Vice President Hobbies: Hiking, skiing, photography, drawing and painting Kaleigh Teskey Public Relations Hobbies: attending concerts, going to the beach, and traveling Megan Hall Secretary Hobbies: Reading, Sewing, and Decoupage Courtney Preston VP Recruitment Hobbies: Lacrosse, Traveling, and 49er s Football! Kristen Low VP Philanthropy Hobbies: dancing, traveling, and shopping! Jena Miller VP Treasurer Hobbies: Crafts, Singing, and Dancing Dana Mangseth Asst. Recruitment Hobbies: Dirt bike riding, dancing, and bowling Maryam Moeinazad VP Scholarship Hobbies: Shopping, hiking, going to the beach, eating, and hanging with friends! For more information on Cal Poly Greek Life, the houses, philanthropies and more, visit: greeklife.calpoly.edu or contact our advisor, Renoda Campbell at rgcampbe@calpoly.edu The Panhellenic Board wishes you a happy end of Fall quarter!
ΓΦΒ Gamma Phi Beta After a very successful recruitment, Gamma Phi Beta welcomed 73 wonderful new girls into our house. We immediately jumped into sisterhood bonding with bid night. Introductions and friendships were made over Costco pizza. New members received their first heart sis, who acts as a guild and short-term big sister throughout the week. Within the first few weeks of Fall quarter Gamma Phi Beta held the third annual Forward for Francis, a memorial walk honoring a late sister. Active and new members were able to experience some of the history of Gamma Phi Beta and participate in community service. We are only half way through the quarter but great friendships have already begun to from. This upcoming week is Big/Little week and all members are extremely excited. Bigs are enthusiastic to surprise they re little and the littles cant wait to find out who their big is. This year for revealing girls can go out to dinner with their Gamma Phi Fam. This year Gamma Phi Beta rented out the movie theater so after dinner members can come hang out and enjoy a fun movie night together. I am very excited to see how Gamma Phi Beta s sisterhood grows throughout this year.
ΚΑΘ Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta welcomed 75 new members into our house this fall. Recruitment was a big success; every active was so excited for the new additions to Theta. Bid night was full of music, dancing, and sisterhood bonding; no one wanted the night to end! During Recruitment Theta represented their house well making sure they emphasized the morals their fraternity was established on. Now they have a large loving house of 170 members and with that comes the fun of sisterhoods. This fall, Theta has already kicked off the year with many sisterhood activities. It was an important goal of theirs to make sure that actives and new members were able to get to know each other right away. Starting the year off with a soccer game sisterhood where they all met at the Theta house ate snacks and went to cheer the Cal Poly Men s soccer team. To bring in Big/Little week, the Theta ladies took a relaxing trip to the Avila Hot Springs and had a fun trivia night competition at the Theta house. Theta also welcomed the upcoming holidays by taking a trip to the pumpkin patch, followed by pumpkin carving that decorated their courtyard. Now this quarter is winding down, but all the girls are so excited for the fun sisterhoods that are planned for next quarter!
ΑΦ Alpha Phi Alpha Phi had an incredible recruitment and gained 73 PHI-nominal new members! These new Alpha Phi s are incredible athletes, talented singers and dancers, and philanthropic leaders! During the recruitment process, Alpha Phis bonded so much and reminded each other what true sisterhood is really about. From fun games on our front lawn, beach picture days and In-N-Out trips to a Moroccan-themed bid night, the Phis worked hard and had so much fun together! Alpha Phi has had a whirlwind of sisterhood events this quarter including Halloween pumpkin carving, Wii game nights, movie nights, bowling and get to know you activities at the house! Alpha Phi is so proud of all our members and excited for the year ahead! We can t wait to plan even more events to bond us together and share our sisterhood and get to know all our 73 wonderful new members!
ΧΩ Chi Omega After spending the summer apart we kicked off Fall Quarter with Recruitment School or also known as Polish Week. Jenn Smitheram, our Recruitment Chair, brought great enthusiasm and innovative ideas to get Omicron Mu excited for this Fall s Formal Recruitment. Our House Tours Song, We Got More Bounce in Chi Omega written by Tessa Paneri and choreographed by Vanessa Reapor, for example, definitely raised chapter morale with the endless bouncing and catchy lyrics. exchanges, date dash, socials lots of costumes you will make! Kim Chin, our Sisterhood Chair, kept us busy with back to back sisterhood events: Movie Night at Downtown Cinema and Roller-Skating at Central Coast Sports Arena in Santa Maria. At movie night, we had a private screening of the featured film, Bridesmaids and an 80 s themed roller-skating event. In October, Chi Omega also had our first ever Parent s Weekend Luncheon at Madonna Inn planned by our Parent s Weekend Chair, Rachel Bethancourt. We also had the honor of participating in a Sister Twister with Alpha Epsilon and Lambda Sigma Gamma in Avila Valley Barn. Aside from our tremendous sisterhood events, the Executive Board surprised Omicron Mu with another Date Dash and a dinner with the Basketball Team!
ΑΧΩ Alpha Chi Omega This fall Alpha Chi Omega showed what it meant to be a Real, Strong, Woman while getting to know potential new members throughout the duration of formal recruitment. From the traditions of our Preference Night, to our Philanthropy craft that supports victims of domestic violence, recruitment represents every aspect and value of this chapter. We welcomed 73 outstanding new members to the sisterhood after formal recruitment, and recently welcomed six additional new members in October! Moments after each bid card was signed, new friendships were made and the Alpha Chi family grew bigger. From movie nights spent laughing at Bridesmaids and our annual Red Carnation Ball to celebrate Founder s Day, to picking pumpkins at Avila Valley Barn, new members and actives forged bonds through sisterhood events. Alpha Chi Omega understands the underlying definition of sisterhood: a feeling of unity among women. We cultivated this bond through these special events, Lyre Buddies, and weekly Dinners for 15, where sisters build new friendships with the new members over a delicious meal. Sisterhood is the driving force behind Alpha Chi Omega s unification as not only a sorority, but as a family away from home.
ΑΕ Alpha Epsilon This fall, Alpha Epsilon held a successful recruitment, with thirteen top-notch women accepting bids. The week began with a Sunday afternoon picnic where the potential new members got their first introductions to the sisters while snaking on petite fours and desserts. The second evening, the sisters and invited girls showed their culinary skills during a dinner of sushi making and cookie decorating. The third and final evening, the ladies creatively decorated vases to be later donated as holiday gifts. Bid night dinner was a lively yet intimate affair in which each invited girl excitedly accepted her bid into the sorority. Also this quarter Alpha Epsilon held their annual Parents Weekend. The sisters and their families held a Shabbat dinner, toured the SLO Botanical Gardens, tailgated and watched the Cal Poly Mustangs football team, and had a brunch on Sunday morning! It was a great way for Alpha Epsilon to meet everyone s families and show off their close sisterhood. All of the parents, grandparents, siblings and friends who attended had a wonderful time! Alpha Epsilon is very exited to end the quarter by going to Disneyland. All the sisters cannot wait to spend the day together at the happiest place on earth.
ΣΚ Sigma Kappa For this years recruitment Sigma Kappa had an extremely successful fall. With over 650 girls going through rush we ended with a pledge class of a little over seventy girls! With a 90% return rate, we were incredibly pleased with the outcome! Our advisors and former presidents thought it was one of the best years of recruitment we ve ever had because of good attitudes and a closeness or bond of the girls already in the house. As for sisterhood, Sigma Kappa embraced the wonderful fall weather and took a camping trip to Pismo beach. Activities included setting up tents, eating a lot of really good food, telling stories by the bonfire, waking up early morning to do yoga on the beach. Needless to say it was a wonderful weekend and it gave the new pledge class to bond not only among their pledge class but with the older girls as well. Along with camping on the beach we also had a line dancing night at the Grad where we danced the night away to country music and got all dressed up.
ΑΟΠ Alpha Omicron Pi Recruitment this year was a huge success. 72 new girls joined the AOII family, including some third years, a fourth year, and out-of-state girls from Oregon, Kentucky, and Texas. The theme for Bid Night was Breakfast at Tiffany s, which set the perfect, classy scene to welcome the new pledge class. There was a catered breakfast for dinner, and the night was a whirlwind of welcome signs, cute totes, new member education supplies and shirts, getto-know-you games, and a carefully assembled slideshow. All of the active AOII s and the new pledge class were eager to start bonding through their many fun sisterhood events. The first activity of the year was a giant paint war. Everyone met at a park in old clothing, divided up into teams, and dove into this fun competition. AOII also has many smaller sisterhood events such as trips to get frozen yogurt and movie nights. They are excited to begin planning their favorite sisterhood event their annual retreat to Disneyland! It is so fun to spend the day with all of your sisters in the happiest place on earth. It has always been a truly magical weekend.