Friday, July 10, 2015

Summer Spotlight


Stephanie Bernal spent three weeks of her summer in Kenya! She spent here time there volunteering at a special needs school in a town called Thika.  While at the school, she tutored the children and helped them with their classwork.  It wasn’t all work though; when they weren’t in class, Stephanie played games with and got to know the children. 
We are so proud of you Stephanie and all your amazing work this summer! 

Friday, July 3, 2015

Summer Spotlight

Alpha Chi sister, Sarah Balduzzi spent five weeks in Costa Rica! 

During her first three weeks she was in a town call Tamarindo working at an adult surf camp with campers from all over the world. For the last two weeks she went backpacking around Costa Rica.  During those five weeks she spent her days surfing, hiking, chasing waterfalls, and having the time of her life. 

Friday, May 1, 2015

Help BH Sister Yasmijn, help those in Nepal ....

Beta Eta sisters,

We reached out to BH Alumna, Yasmijn who has lived in Nepal with her family, and whose husbands family still lives in Nepal. She shares heart wrenching before/after images, and offers suggestions for how to help below.
Dear Sisters – 
I hope this note finds you well.  As many of you know, my husband (Pawan) is from Nepal.  The devastating 7.8 Richter scale earthquake that hit Nepal this weekend has been very tragic. While luckily my husband’s immediate family (parents, brother’s family and sister’s family) are safe and sustained only property damage, many lives have perished, including a dear friend, who lost both his brothers and their families (total of 9, including five children).  


We are heartbroken about our friends and family in Nepal who are scared and cold, sitting outside wondering if there will be another aftershock (50+ and counting), and fears of food and water shortages, and spread of epidemics are just starting.  The death toll is approaching 5,500 but is expected in be in multiples once all is accounted for, and damage to buildings and several UNESCO heritage sites has not even been estimated at this point.

Many have asked us about the choice of our charities – we have been working with SEBS – North America to raise funds. SEBS is Pawan’s high school alumni association – since it is a 501(c) (3) charity, your donations are tax-deductible.  We are using proceeds to (1) provide immediate medical relief (several ex-students are already volunteering on the ground and been indicating that supplies are finished), (2) food and shelter (as government / aid agencies are overwhelmed with volume of displaced people), and (3) “leftovers” if any will be used to educate orphaned children (in line with some of the other charity my school has been involved with).  Some of our personal friends are already on the ground and some plan to go soon to assist with the help.  Please note that 100% of the proceeds reaches victims (as this is all volunteer based and with no overhead; in fact, we are also offsetting credit card and Paypal charges via personal matching). http://www.sebsonline.org/misc/donate.aspx?c=NepalQuakeRelief

We are also involved with Ama Foundation, which is a grassroots US-based 501(c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing the most underprivileged children of Nepal with a loving home, education, and healthy live, and is expected to provide home and education to many children that will be orphaned because of this earthquake. I’m a board member and can tell you firsthand the wonderful work this organization does. http://www.ama-foundation.org/

We are hosting a benefit at our house this Friday at 8PM.  If anybody lives in  San Francisco/ Bay Area or know somebody that would like to come, please let me know and I’ll forward the information. 

Please help spread the word!

Many thanks!
Yasmijn (Salim) Adhikari NM'97


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Sister Shout-Out




A big congratulations to Meredith Brooks! Meredith has worked on a project all semester called Supervastness of the Reactionary Canary.  Her photographs have been hung up on the second floor of the Oglesby Union and will remain there until April 21st.  This is Meredith’s first student art exhibition at Florida State University and we couldn’t be more proud of the amazing work she has done!

Written by Megan Mollan, Publications Chair 2015


Friday, March 20, 2015

Senior Spotlight

Shout-out to senior Lucia Baglivio for landing a fulltime job as an ICU nurse at M.D Anderson Cancer Center! After graduation, Lucia will be moving to Houston, Texas to help cure cancer with one of the original, three comprehensive cancer centers in the United States.  Congratulations Lucia, you deserve it!


Thursday, March 5, 2015

20 Years Of Miracles


Dance Marathon at Florida State was celebrating its 20th year of making miracles happen this past weekend! Benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network, Alpha Chi was lucky enough to participate again this year.  Amanda Corin represented Alpha Chi as Dancer Rep this year, motivating all of the sisters participating.  Alpha Chi had about 101 sisters participating as dancers, collectively raising $50,000.  Alpha Chi sister Michelle Goldman received an award for being the second highest fundraiser, raising $5,048. 

Alpha Chi was paired with Alpha Epsilon Pi as well as the Lady Spear Hunters.  Together, we placed 3rd in fundraising among large pairings.  Alpha Epsilon Pi and Lady Spear Hunters each raised about $12,000.  Dance Marathon raised a total of $1,100,645.52, reaching a new high. Sisters that participated praised the event, professing it was the time of their lives.  Alpha Chi can’t wait for next years Dance Marathon! 



Thursday, February 26, 2015

Healthy Relationships Week

February 9th-13th was Healthy Relationships Week! The women of the Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Chi held and participated in events, put together by Philanthropy Chair Lauren Flannery, throughout the week to celebrate healthy and loving relationships.  The week kicked off with an ice cream pajama party.  Sisters came to the house dawned in onesies and other wacky pajamas to bond and laugh over ice cream, fruit platters, and veggie platters.
 To spread the word about domestic violence awareness and to get other students on campus thinking about the relationships in their lives, on Tuesday sisters wore the Alpha Chi Omega Domestic Violence Awareness philanthropy t-shirt with a healthy relationship sticker around campus.
On Wednesday, Alpha Chi set up a station at Market Wednesday! In the middle of the union and surrounded by all kinds of other organizations, sisters worked a free photo booth open to the public.
Finishing Healthy Relationships Week with a bang was the philanthropy event Pizza Pie with Alpha Chi. For five dollars a head, guests were ushered into the dinning room and served pizza and refreshments while Alpha chi sister Rebecca Epstein played the piano and sang.  This is the first year the Beta Eta chapter hosted Pizza Pie with Alpha Chi and the turn out was incredible. The event beginning at 6:30pm produced a line that was out the door and down the block at 6:15pm. Ultimately, 549 people attended the event, which raised just under $2000.  “I was definitely not prepared for how much support I got from everyone” says Philanthropy Chair Lauren Flannery, who is thrilled to have raised to much so donate to the Refuge House of Tallahassee.


Thursday, February 19, 2015

Sister Jenn Coates wins Panhell Scholarship to attend SEPC

Congratulations to sister Jenn Coates for receiving a FSU Panhellenic Scholarship to attend SEPC.


SEPC is short for the South Eastern Panhellenic Conference. The conference will be held March 26-29, 2015, in Atlanta, GA. Alpha Chi Omega will have 4 delegates attending the conference including Jenn. 

History of SEPC
On February 25, 1955, the Panhellenic Councils of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, and the University of Alabama entertained the first Southeastern Panhellenic Conference. The gathering of representatives from various Panhellenic Councils in the Southeast was an idea of the Auburn Panhellenic Council. The response at the first meeting was overwhelming, especially to the Auburn Panhellenic members who were particularly excited when the conference delegates voted to make the meeting an annual affair.

nvitations to the conference were sent to all schools in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. Representatives were sent from:
Birmingham Southern
Florida State
Howard University
LA Polytechnic Institute
Mercer University
Mississippi Southern College
Southwestern at Memphis
University of Alabama
University of Chattanooga
University of Georgia
University of Miami
The conference began with registration on Friday afternoon, a buffet supper for the conference delegates and Auburn Panhellenic Council members, and a business session immediately following the supper. After dinner, the women of Kappa Delta at an Open House provided entertainment for their National President.
Lucy Roy, Treasurer of the Auburn Panhellenic Council, acted as chairperson of the conference, while Beth Calovitz, President of the Auburn Panhellenic Council, presided at all business sessions. Workshops were held on campus service projects, formal rushing, Panhellenic training programs for chapter officers, sorority relationships to college and other groups, open rush and pledge quotas, Panhellenic Workshops, and Greek Weeks. The keynote speaker of the conference was Mrs. Julia Ober, Kappa Delta's National President, who gave her presentation to approximately 300 sorority members at a luncheon on Saturday.
The conference was a student-conceived, student-executed project. The efforts to educate women and share ideas and concerns continued annually at various campuses. In 1975, members voted to divide the conference participants into large and small school divisions. However, the following year, they replaced this vote, deciding to favor one large group rather than two smaller ones. In the following years, the number of participating women and schools continued to grow and is still growing, with several different schools hosting the conference over the years. In 1993, members voted to stop housing conference attendees in host chapter's houses and to establish a central meeting place for all future conferences large enough to accommodate the continuously growing number of attendees. The place named was the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, where the conference is still being held today. In 1998, delegates voted to omit the host school and elect a conference committee consisting of one delegate from each state.
In an effort to plan strategically for the future of SEPC, a thorough review of the Constitution was conducted. Through this review, the Constitution was updated and the following decisions were made at the 2005 Annual Conference Business Meeting:
  1. Removed state delineations and enabled all those who pay dues to participate in a Conference Committee application selection process.
  2. Enabled all those who pay dues to participate as a voting member of the Conference.
  3. Differentiated the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference as the annual meeting of the Southeastern Panhellenic Association.
The name change of the conference from the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference (SEPC) to the Southeastern Panhellenic Association (SEPA) allowed for the organization to become an association and continue to grow and offer additional services and experiences for members.

2010 marked a new initiative for SEPA with the addition of the Southeastern Greek Leadership Summit (SEGLS).  SEGLS exists to create awareness regarding prevalent realities existing within culturally based Greek organizations nationwide.  SEGLS is an auxiliary program of SEPA and therefore stands as an independent organization.  Additional information is available at http://www.segls.com.

learn more about SEPC by clicking here SEPC






Saturday, October 4, 2014

Our Amazing New Members! #NM14 - There's Always Sunny Skies with Alpha Chi by Your Side

Katy Alexander, Plantation
Sara Anderson, Orlando
Kylie Ariotti, Jupiter
Kristi Babb, Saint Johns
Sari Babkes, Plantation
Erika Bailey, Ringoes
Hope Baisley, Fuquay Varina
Erica Baranski, Lakeland
Stephanie Bernal, Miami
Katie Blumenthal, Fort Lauderdale
Alex Bretz, Jupiter
Bailey Brown, Acworth
Kaitlyn Brown, Palm City
Megan Brownell, Northville
Lauren Burkhart, Coral Springs (L - mom - Gamma Iota)
Katie Campbell, Rockledge
Rachel Cantelou, Melbourne
Mia Carastro, Tampa
Brittany Casciano, Fairport
Colleen Chatfield, Pembroke Pines
Kayla Copley, Coral Springs
Alexa Copperstone, East Williston
Taylor Dake, Jacksonville Beach
Hannah Dawkins, Saint Petersburg
Cori Day, Gulf Breeze
Adriana Diaz-Granados, Boca Raton
Mindy Do, St. Petersburg
Taylor Dowling, Saint James
Hailey Edwards, Chester
Alicia Ferrari, Miami
Jessica Gehring, Palm Beach Gardens
Emily Gibson, Jupiter
Celia Gisleson, Upper Saint Clair
Lexi Goldberg, Cape Coral
Corinne Gorant, Boynton Beach
Jordan Greene, Viera
Stephanie Haley, Jensen Beach
Carrie Hall, Largo
Mia Harding, Sarasota
Ashley Hartford, Milton
Chelsea Hauck, Ocean Ridge
Sarah Hoffman, Harrisburg
Danielle Hogan, Ocoee
Cory Hohler , Bradenton (L - mom & aunt - Alpha Omicron)
Alexa Huffman, Lake Mary
Erin Kahle, Coral Springs
Gabrielle Kilker, Jacksonville
Rebecca Koontz, Weston
Sari Kossoff, Orlando
Katie Krueger, Debary
Gabriella Lipson, Ft. Lauderdale
Emily Malcom, Palm City
Kyla McAuliffe, Palm City
Kayla McNulty, Bradenton
Megan Miller, Jacksonville
Michelle Moore, Hillsborough
Mackenzie Murray, Ft. Lauderdale
Shannon Nichols, Lutherville
Sarah Pedersen, Simsbury
Skye Pennebaker, Miami
Abby Pruitt, Jupiter
Michelle Reese, Coral Springs
Delaney Riggins, Bradenton
Yahira Rodriguez, Coral Springs
Carly Roman, Doylestown
Madison Schiefelbein, Lake Mary
Lauren Schwerdt, Highlands Ranch (L - gmom - Sigma)
Monica Shevock, Boca Raton
Andreia Silva, Westfield
Sarah Smith, Caldwell
Violet Soliz, Springfield
Morgan Stuckert, Naples
Kadi Swiniarski, Naples
Rachel Taspek, Sarasota
Alyssa Tencza, Fort Lauderdale
Gianna Traylor, Bradenton
Makenzie Wirth, Orlando