Alpha Chi elected to VP Public Relations on FSU Panhellenic

Beta Eta's own Whitney Payne was elected and installed as the 2011 Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations for Florida State Universities Panhellenic!  The chapter could not be more proud.

You can send her a congratulations card at
Alpha Chi Omega
518 West Park Avenue
Tallahassee, Fl 32301
attn: Whitney Payne

GO NOLES!!!!

In lieu of a DVA post.. today I encourage all Beta Eta's to turn on their TV's and cheer on our beloved Noles vs University of Florida...

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.. -protecting your identity

Check out their site here 

They offer a great deal of information.. We found the protecting your identity helpful.. and it offers great tips we can all use...

Identity theft is rampant in the United States.  Survivors of domestic violence must take extra precautions to proect themselves from abusers who use identity as a means of power and control.  Abusers may use survivors' credit cards without their permission, open fradulent new credit cards in survivors' names (ultimately ruining their credit) or open credit cards in children's names.  Misuse of survivors' social security numbers is also common in the context of domestic violence.  Abusers may fradulently use survivors' social security numbers to stalk, harass or threaten survivors.  Read more to learn how to protect yourself if you are experiencing this type of abuse.

Survivors experiencing abuse should contact their local domestic violence program for immediate support.  Check your local yellow pages or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (operated by the Texas Council on Family Violence) at 1-800-799-SAFE to be connected to the program in your area.

Steps to Take to Protect Your Identity

¨     Relocate.  Moving across town, across the state or across the country puts physical distance between you and the abuser.  Be sure to obtain an unlisted phone number and be aware of the Full Faith and Credit provisions in your restraining order, which make the order valid when you travel to another state or tribal jurisdiction.
¨     Apply to the address confidentiality program in your state.  These types of programs allow individuals who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or other types of crime to receive mail at a confidential address, while keeping their actual address undisclosed.  Rules and eligibility vary from state to state.  Click here to see a list of address confidentiality programs in states across the country.

¨     Open a post office box to receive mail.  Abusers may be able to open fraudulent credit cards by responding to credit card offers received in the mail.  A post office box may prevent this if only you have access to it.  Be wary of the confidentiality policies of non-government post office box centers such as Mail Boxes, Etc…and the fact that it may not be possible to remain anonymous in rural towns while accessing the post office.

¨     Protect your incoming and outgoing mail.  Shred all credit card offers that come in the mail along with other documents that have your name, address and/or social security number on them.  Mail bills and other sensitive documents directly from the post office instead of from the mailbox on your porch or at the end of your driveway.  Call 1-800-5OPT-OUT to stop receiving credit card offers in the mail.

¨     Guard your social security number.  Do not use your social security number as a general ID, PIN or password.  Request to have your social security number removed from documents you receive in the mail and ID cards for health insurance, driving, work, etc…  Click here to read about changing your social security number.

¨     Check your credit report.  The best way to determine if someone has committed fraud against you is to check your credit report with all three credit bureaus at least once per year.  Visit www.annualcreditreport.com to obtain a free yearly credit report.  You can also make a request to have a fraud alert placed on your credit report.  Click here to find out how to contact the credit bureaus.

¨     Report suspected fraud.  Contact local law enforcement if you know of or suspect fraud and ask to file a report.  Check and/or close accounts you believe have been tampered.  File a report with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-ID-THEFT and the Social Security Administration Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271.  File copies of police reports with credit bureaus. 

¨     Protect information you give out.  Never give any identifying information over the phone or through email or the internet unless you initiated the call or have verification that the website or email communication is secure.

Other Helpful Websites:

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Nonprofit Consumer Information and Advocacy Organization: www.privacyrights.org

Identity Theft Resource Center: www.idtheftcenter.org

Federal Trade Commission: www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

The National Center for Victims of Crime: www.ncvc.org

US Department of Justice: www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html       

The Silent Secret

Carolyn Cox spoke at the Foundation Luncheon during Alpha Chi Omega's 2008 Convention.
She has since launced her website, Carolyn, the Silent Secret. Click here to visit.  She has a video on you tube, which can be viewed below. It is truly an amazing story.. 

Alumnae Spotlight: Joanna Quraishi

Joanna was initiated into Beta Eta in the fall of 2003 . During her time as a Beta Eta, she served as Philanthropy Chair, VP Membership Development, participated in Dance Marathon, and wrote the skit for Alpha Chi Omega's recruitment with AXO sister Sarah Howell. She was also a member of the Honors college and Order of Omega. Joanna graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2007 with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and a minor in Psychology. Joanna is one of several Beta Etas in her family. Her stepmom, Lisa Brock, was a Beta Eta in the late 70s, and her younger sister, Cheyenne Overby, was a new member in the fall of 2006.

After graduation, Joanna moved to Los Angeles, where she'd interned the previous summer for Jimmy Kimmel Live (and lived with sorority sister and friend Erin Price, NM 01). She took a job on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in June 2007 and worked there for three years as a writers' assistant until the summer of 2010 when she left to pursue a career in scripted television. She can be seen in reruns of the Ellen DeGeneres Show doing various silly things from demonstrating the Shake Weight to giving George Lopez a massage. Joanna currently lives in Los Angeles with sorority sister (NM '04) Brittany Canasi.

Most recently, Joanna entered a contest to win a job as a vitamin company's Good Mood Blogger. She's remained consistently in the Top 20, and if chosen, will be Nature-Made Sam-E Complete's Good Mood Blogger for 6 months. The competition is vote-based, and today is the final day to vote for round 1. Please support a fellow Beta Eta by clicking this link and voting for Joanna: click here

Collegiate Homecoming Update

Last week was a CRAZY busy week for the collegiate chapter, full of homecoming festivities... The week began with WarChant, the Chilli Cook off (the chapter placed 3rd) and a concert by Ludacris. On Monday, members participated in a blood drive, and Spear-it night. Tuesday, the chapter participated in skit night with their pairing Phi Delta Theta. Wednesday was the Seminole Festival and Garnet and Gold Gala (attended by some members). Thursday, members participated in Renegade recess. Friday, members enjoyed a half day of classes, the homecoming parade and Pow-Wow.

Pictures will be added soon... so be sure to check back

Saturday, the chapter attended the tailgate with their pairing Phi Delta Theta, and of course the Football game.

Sunday, the chapter welcomed alumnae home for a brunch and then enjoyed some downtime before Chapter, and slating for elections!!!

The Right Questions of Relevance

Below article, as published in the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors Essentials E-Newsletter. Essentials is a monthly educational e-newsletter provided to AFA members to learn about a variety of topics. The Essentials Editorial Board plays an important role in the Association’s Strategic Plan and ongoing efforts to provide excellent resources and services to members. If you like the article below, you should consider subscribing to Essentials for $45 per year.

by:John Shertzer, Leadership Ventures
August 2009

Questioning the relevance of fraternities and sororities is a powerful approach for catalyzing change. We, as members and advocates for fraternal organizations, should always be concerned with relevance. However, exploring this topic is not without its dangers.

When examining fraternal relevance we need to add the question, “Relevant to what?” A thing cannot just be relevant on its own. Fraternal organizations can ask if they are relevant to any of the following: their members, their future members, and the growth of society. Our relevancy to institutions of higher education should also be considered, but this is far less important than the others.

Take first, the question of whether or not we are relevant to our current members (both undergraduates and alumni). We do not exist without our members, and they will only stay invested if they find their organizations to still be relevant to their lives.  Are we contributing something to their lives that would not otherwise exist? Are we making our members better? Are we instilling transformational values?  Are we developing their leadership capacity? Are we providing them with a band of brothers/sisters that pushes them to be more than they otherwise would be? The ideal fraternal experience should grow an individual in all of these areas – but that assumes all men/women start their journey at the same developmental place. Of course, this is not the case. To borrow a baseball analogy, if our goal is to help young men/women reach home plate, we should remember that some start on third base, while others are only in the batter’s box. In addition, many will not reach home plate until they are alumni. Regardless, the relevant fraternity can demonstrate that the individuals who took the oath of membership were changed in a positive and substantial way.

What about future members? We are membership-based organizations, and thus, the greatest determinant of our sustainability is our relevancy to future generations. Colleges and universities could tell us to go away tomorrow, yet we could survive if unaffiliated men and women still saw us as relevant. Is this not how many NPHC organizations are able to grow their rosters significantly outside of the walls of higher education? To determine our relevance to future members, fraternities and sororities need to ask the following question: Do we offer a choice to men and women that is so compelling and so unique, that they feel something will be missing from their lives without it? A fraternal organization that can answer this question in the affirmative can then build a confident recruitment plan. 

If we can achieve relevance to our members and future members, is that enough? Not quite. We do exist within a larger entity, and thus, we must ask ourselves if we are meeting the needs of that entity. You may be thinking this entity is higher education. I would look beyond higher education and see our “host” as society at large.

We have been connected to colleges and universities since our founding, and it would be foolish to ignore that relationship. However, I think it is fair to wonder if we would have come about even if colleges and universities never existed. If our values are timeless, our lessons are transcendent, and our fellowships are lifelong, I believe society would have found a way for us to exist regardless. Our connection to colleges and universities brought about the Greek letters that give many of our organizations identity and has always provided us with the opportunity for more academic discourse. We are stronger organizations because of the resources provided to us by colleges and universities. In addition, since we draw almost exclusively from college student populations, we would not be fulfilling our relevancy to our members if we did not help them achieve their scholarly goals. 

In our earliest beginnings – starting with Phi Beta Kappa at William and Mary – we were founded to add something that was not available elsewhere. The men who started this movement, which eventually would lead to the Union Triad and Miami Triad, did not ask permission from their institutions to exist (Anson & Marchesani, 1991). Neither did the women who bravely followed suit some years later. The idea of fraternity was such a powerful idea that, like the inalienable rights for which our nation’s revolutionaries fought, this idea deserved a right to exist. I wonder if we have forgotten this and have fallen victim to the idea that we have to continuously justify our existence. Our right to exist is defined by whether we are still relevant to our members and the larger society. With all due respect to colleges and universities, who give us so much, it cannot be truly up to them to decide. They can make it far more difficult for us to exist, which is why we nurture the relationship.

Ask yourself if you believe a fraternity or sorority to be just a part of a college or university, or if you believe a fraternity or sorority to have its own place in the world? Belief in the former is a belief that we go wherever colleges and universities wish to take us. Belief in the latter is a belief that we go wherever our purpose allows. Our organizations are one of the greatest social inventions in human history, deserve to exist at no one’s behest but our own, and will persevere as long as our purpose, our members, and society want us to exist. 

The tension between fraternities and their “host institutions” has always been present (as demonstrated by the Great Snowball Rebellion of 1847) (Anson & Marchesani, 1991). This tension, if managed and balanced, actually helps both sides. In some ways, fraternal organizations provide colleges with a “voice of the people” and colleges challenge fraternities to raise their standards. This tension is becoming increasingly imbalanced in favor of higher education. Much of this started with the work of the Franklin Square Group, in which fraternities and sororities gave far too much away to college/university presidents. Ever since then, umbrella organizations have been reacting to the demands of presidents, all the while asking for very little in return. By allowing that group to affect so much, and to take the reigns on the discourse, we may have betrayed our founders by implicitly asking for permission to exist.

Simply by asking the question of whether or not we are relevant to our host institutions, we are positing the possibility that we are not. We are falsely expressing that we might not matter. We do matter – now more than ever.

I do not propose that we fight against institutions of higher education whenever we can. We should do everything we can to build a bridge, since that will ultimately benefit our members and make us stronger. However, we should be careful to tie our relevance (and thus our destiny) to institutions that did not really want us to exist in the first place. What can we give our members? What can we give our future members? What can we give our society? Those are the questions of relevancy we were meant to answer.

References
Anson, J., & Marchesani, R. (Eds.). (1991). Baird’s manual of American college fraternities. Indianapolis, IN; Baird’s Manual Foundation, Inc.

Light the Night!

The Beta Eta Collegians will walk with their team in Light the Night on Veteran's Day.

As a fundraiser, they will be wearing banana suits, sundae suits and serving ice cream (and taking tips) on THURSDAY, November 4th, at the Brusters on 1709 W Tharpe St, Tallahassee

PLEASE, stop by between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to buy some ice cream and help support Light the Night.

Yummmm: Bruster's Flavors!

http://www.brusters.com/flavors.asp

Domestic Violence Awareness ..

Countdown to the 1st Annual Lucky Stars Reunion Weekend!

Countdown to the 1st Annual Lucky Stars Reunion Weekend!

1st Annual Lucky Stars Reunion Weekend

FRIDAY

* Potbellys- $20
• Meet anytime after 11:00AM on the patio at Potbellys.
• Parade begins at 2:00pm.

* Talk n Tours- FREE! 3:00-5:00pm at the Beta Eta House
• Come for house tours and to learn more about Xi Omega Xi.
• Be entered into a raffle for a free membership (or renewal) for stopping in!
• If you wanted to add any XOX weekend event, you may register here.

* Decade Waltz- $25
• Meet at 9:00pm at Bullwinkles and then we will be visiting Ken’s, Red Rocks (the old Big Daddys), Tomahawk Sports Bar, Lower Lounge, and end again at Bullwinkles.

SATURDAY

* Tailgate- $20
• Final location to be published. Starting at 12:00pm.
• Wear XOX shirts!
• Bring your own chair, warpaint, and games to share!
• $20 payment includes beer, snacks, and XOX cup.

* Football Game
• Game starts at 3:30pm.
• Tickets purchased with the XOX block may be picked up at the tailgate.

SUNDAY

* Brunch- FREE!
• Come to the house 10:00am-12:00pm for brunch, reconnect with sisters, and to learn more about Xi Omega Xi.
• Be entered into a raffle for a free membership (or renewal) for stopping in!

All weekend we will be selling raffle tickets for a Faith Hope Love necklace. All proceeds will benefit the Beta Eta Love & Loyalty Fund. $1 for one ticket; $5 for 6 tickets; or $10 for 15 tickets.



Weather Report: Be sure to check www.weather.com for the most up-to-date weather information for Tallahassee! Looks like it’s going to be chilly!

We are so excited and cannot wait to see you!!

The latest? Shirts are at the printers!!