COLUMNS

November Issue

The University of Maryland, College Park

Fall 2014

The Panhellenic Association is excited to welcome

GAMMA PHI BETA

to the University of Maryland in spring 2016!

What Was the Process for Choosing

the Chapter to Extend to?
By Vikk Shepelev
three organizations they felt tatives met with Department
After delegates passed the would be good fits for the Greek of Fraternity and Sorority Life
vote to open up for extension, community at UMD. These or- staff, received a tour of the camthe Panhellenic Association Advi- ganizations were Phi Mu, Kappa pus, visited chapter houses and
sor, Kahlin McKeown, initiated an Kappa Gamma, and Gamma Phi land spaces to explore the difapplication process to select the Beta. These three organizations ferent housing options and gave
extension
committee.
The rigorous application
process ensured that
the committee would be
well rounded and comprised of appropriate
people. The committee
consisted of members
of different Panhellenic
chapters, recent alumnae, several chapter
advisers, a Panhellenic
Photos regarding extension presentations from @UMDPHA Instagram
officer, and a staff member at the University of
Maryland. These individuals met visited the university on Nov. 4, 5, a presentation. Prior to the preto analyze statistics and data, and and 6 respectively to learn about sentations, DFSL encouraged
to evaluate the campus in relation the campus and to present to in- Panhellenic officers and chapter
to the organizations that applied. terested members of the commu- presidents to attend a Q&A sesBased on this and additional re- nity.
sion. This gave the community
search, the committee selected
Each organizations represen- leaders the chance to get to know

each sorority in a more intimate

setting. After each presentation,
the Panhellenic Executive Council asked those in attendance to
provide feedback through the
Terplife mobile phone app. The
feedback form asked attendees to reflect on and
rate each component of
the presentation. The extension committee used
this feedback when they
met to discuss the presentations, and to ultimately
choose the organization
they would propose to
vote on.
The extension committee proposed to extend to
B at the Panhellenic
Delegates meeting on Nov. 1, and
on Nov. 25 each chapter voted
whether they did or did not not
want to invite B to join the
UMD Greek community!

DPhiE Hosts Most Successful Deepher Dude Yet

By Reilly Dunn
On Oct. 28, Delta Phi Epsilon hosted its annual Deepher Dude event at Ritchie Coliseum to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The event
involves teams from each fraternityas well as several sports teams, like golf and rugbylearning a choreographed dance routine, taught to
them by a E sister. The theme this year was legends, which meant music from some of the greats like Madonna, Justin Timberlake and
Whitney Houston. Though all showed exceptional talent, this years winner was Alpha Delta Phi and their magical dance to the music of the
legendary Britney Spears. The Peoples Choice Award was a new addition to the event, where each team begins with an empty bucket, and
by the end of the event the team with the most money in their bucket wins. Our first ever Peoples Choice Award winner was the team for Phi
Sigma Kappa! We were also honored to have Ashely Silcoxa cystic fibrosis survivorcome speak to us again. Overall, Deepher Dude raised
$15,873 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the most it has ever raised. Thank you to all who supported!

Questions? Comments? Email Jessica at umdvppublicrelations@gmail.com

Page 1

2014-2015 Panhellenic Executive Board

President - Alex Broseker
Vice President of Judicial Affairs - Cait Brown
Vice President of Community Affairs - Talya Laster
Vice President of Recruitment - Vikk Shepelev
Vice President of Administrative Affairs - Kaitlyn Silk

Vice President of Social Responsibility - Tricia McLaughlin

Vice President of Academic Affairs - Camille Baroni
Vice President of Public Relations - Jessica Evans
Vice President of Membership Development - Katie Skrzyniarz

NPHC & UGC Chapter Spotlight

AKA

By Emma Ratpojanakul
Thirteen women founded the
Tenacious Theta Nu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at
the University of Maryland March
2, 1974. These women chartered
the chapter during a time of political strife and racial tension on
campus.
This year, members celebrated
the chapters 40th anniversary
and the chapter remains very
active to this day. The Theta Nu
chapter has many signature programs such as Pillow Talk, Healthy
Eating, and voter registration. Its
events focus on community needs:
education enrichment, health
promotion, family strengthening,
environmental ownership and
global impact, according to the
organizations national website.
Nationally, the founding members established AKA Jan. 15,
1908 at Howard University. Ethel
Hedgeman Lyle, along with 15

other women, founded the sorority with the vision of creating an

organization that embraced sisterhood and the advancement for
women of color. They sought to
alleviate problems facing young
girls and women in society in
order to help them gain a higher
social status, strengthen AfricanAmerican families, and promote
high scholastic and ethical standards, chapter member Francesca Gross said. Members incorporated AKA to maintain perpetuity
on Jan. 29, 1913.
To this day, sisters wear 20
pearls to represent the 16 founders and 4 additional incorporators, Gross said. Nationally, AKA
has 265,000 college-trained
members that are all dedicated
to personal and professional development and social change to
encourage equality of all citizens
of the world, according to its national website.

By Lauren Watson
Twenty years ago, 10 women
founded Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc. at the State University of
New York at Albany. According
to its national and local website,
its founders aimed to promote
awareness of Asian-Asian American cultures through leadership,
outreach, individual, community
interaction and the bonds of sisterhood.
At the University of Maryland,
the Tau chapter has 36 active
members; the biggest chapter in
the United Greek Council.
Im super dedicated because
we have a group of amazing, wellrounded, talented women, Chapter President Jessica Wang said.
Last spring, their chapter won
the UMD UGC Chapter of the Year
award and was the runner-up for
its chapters national Sistership
of the Year award.
Not only do these women ex-

cel in their sisterhood, but they

are also dedicated to their national philanthropy, Combat the
Violence Against Women. Women
regularly team up with CARE and
the UMD Health Center to put on
events such as the Clothesline
Project and the Survivor Garden.
On Dec. 3, Z will co-sponsor
LISTEN: A Sexual Assault Awareness Panel with Delta Gamma.
It is the first of an event series
encompassing three aspects of
sexual assault awareness: listen,
speak, and act. A panel of experts
will discuss their direct knowledge and experience with sexual
assault.
This semester, the sisters goal
was to get more involved with the
cultural side of their chapter, so
they are working closely with the
Asian-American Student Union
and other cultural student organizations in order to co-sponsor
fun events in spring 2015.

By Nicole Laferriere
Panhellenic women from each
chapter volunteered at PHA Day
of Service, Nov. 9. Ten women
from the 15 sororities, the community service chairs from each
chapter, the members of Junior
PHA, and the Panhellenic Executive board attended. While each
chapter individually has their
own community service events
that only its members participate
in, PHA Day of Service allows the
entire Panhellenic community to
come together in order to give
back and help others. The Panhellenic Association values service, and a day in which the entire
community can provide service

unites women from all different

chapters for a greater, common
good.
There were four organizations
that women provided service for
in order to help the town of Edmonston, Md. The first was the
Anacostia River Cleanup in which
women picked up trash along the
river through the town. The second was the Community Forklift
where women painted little libraries and placed them around
town, organized furniture, raked
leaves and cleaned up yards, and,
finally, stirred paint so that it
could be reused. Another organization the volunteers provided
service to was the Green Street

project; women helped pick up

trash as well as learned more
about making streets eco-friendly. Finally, women volunteered at
Eco-city Farms where members
helped prepare the plants for
the cold, harsh winter in addition to painting signs for the tour
through the farms for visitors.
Lianna Meiburger, a sorority woman, participated in Day
of Service and said she really enjoyed her experience. It was awesome getting to help out another
community in the company of
not only my sisters but also other
members of the Panhellenic community, she said. This was the
first Day of Service that Meiburg-

er participated in, and she found

it so rewarding that she plans to
participate again next year.
PHA Vice President of External Affairs Talya Laster organized
the event and said she was very
satisfied with the outcome. We
completely revamped Day of Service since previous years and will
definitely stick with this model in
the future, she explained.
Laster hopes to include more
of the Greek Community in future
Days of Service as well as other
non-Greek organizations. She also
said she was very happy the town
enjoyed all of the volunteers time
and hard work.

Sorority Women Give Back at Day of Servcice

ThePanhellenicAssociationwisheseveryonegoodluckon
finalsandasafeandfunwinterbreak!

Editor: Sara Goodwin

Adviser: Kahlin McKeown
umdpha.com

Page 2