Alpha Chi Omega Newsletter

Alpha Chi Omega Newsletter
VOLUME 1
ISSUE 2
December 6, 2009
Happy end of the semester!
Dear Parents,
As another semester at MIT winds down, we would like to share with you
some of the things Alpha Chi Omega has done over the past few months.
Please feel free to browse through the newsletter to read more about our
Inside This Issue
week-long philanthropy event to support Domestic Violence Awareness, our
1
and many more.
Message from the Incoming
fall semiformal at the Improv Asylum, AXO Fondue, Initiation and Revelations,
President, Emily Shao
We have enjoyed being your Parents’ Chairs this semester, and hope that
2
you have liked hearing about what Alpha Chi is doing. Happy holidays, and
Message from Housing
Corporation
3
DVA Week
4
Sophomore Semiformal at
have a fantastic 2010!
Sincerely,
Minh Huynh-Le ’10 and Alex Wright ‘11
2009 Parents’ Chairs
the Improv Asylum
5
Initiation and Revelations
6
Election Results for 2010
Incoming President
Emily Shao is excited to
take leadership of the
chapter!
Message from the Incoming President
Parents and friends,
I am Emily Shao, president elect for 2010. Alpha Chi Omega at MIT has
experienced many successes this past semester. From a well attended
annual open house, to a successful family weekend brunch, to raising more
than $1500 for the local Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, sisters have taken
advantage of the plethora of opportunities to get involved. I look forward to
contributing to the growth of the sisterhood and the development of the 130
talented, young women. When I first joined AXO my freshman year, I had no
idea how much I would gain from the friendships, support, and strength of
my sisters. Now that I am in a position to serve the chapter, I hope to bring a
similar experience to all the women in our chapter.
Regarding my background, I am a junior studying mechanical engineering
and management science. Other than classes and Alpha Chi, I am also a
coxswain for the varsity lightweight men’s crew team. My past work
experiences include internships at Cummins, Weiss Asset Management, and
Barclays Capital.
I am very excited about the upcoming year and look forward to working
with my executive team to improve an already very strong and unified
chapter. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact me.
Sincerely,
Emily Shao
eshao@mit.edu
ALPHA CHI OMEGA NEWSLETTER - PAGE 2
PAGE 2
A Message from the Housing Corporation
Dear Parents and Family Members,
Alpha Chi’s home at
MIT:
As the Alumnae House Corporation president of Alpha Chi Omega, I want to
welcome you all to the MIT and Alpha Chi community. Having attended MIT
myself, I understand the pressures that are on all MIT students, and I greatly
appreciated the support and network that joining a sorority gave me. The
House Corporation oversees our beautiful mansion in Kenmore Square and is
made up of alumnae volunteers. We manage and assist on all repairs and
maintenance on the building, advise the house manager and other
executive officers of the chapter, and represent our alumnae community of
over 500 successful women to the MIT administration, the City of Boston, and
the MIT Greek alumni community.
We house 25 sisters in our home during the academic year, and open up our
rooms to female MIT students during the summer. Our chapter house has, for
the past several years, had a waiting list for those interested in moving in,
and while there are several undergraduate officers that are encouraged to
live in the house, we do not require sisters to move into the house. The
chapter's Resident Adviser, Emily Hayes, lives in the house year-round and
ensures the
safety
ALPHA ALPHA NEWSLETTER
- PAGE
2 of the women at all times and hosts study breaks and
group outings. In addition, the Corporation relies on the support of our
National Housing Corporation to oversee our corporation's finances and
assist in property management. While each member of our House
Corporation has a career and family of her own, we all work together to
ensure that our chapter house is the safest, most beautiful, and most soughtafter residence for our women. Our ultimate goal at the end of the day is to
make 478 Commonwealth Avenue not only a place to sleep and study for
our undergraduates, but also to make it a home for the women of Alpha Chi
Omega.
I welcome any feedback or questions you may have for the corporation.
You can email me or call me anytime.
Sincerely,
Raffaela Wakeman, AXO '05 MIT '08 SM '09
(518) 577-8874
raffaela@alum.mit.edu
ALPHA CHI OMEGA NEWSLETTER – PAGE 3
PAGE 3
PAGE 3
Every fall, Alpha Chi sisters put together a week-long series of events to
raise money and awareness for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. Sisters
work at a booth in Lobby 10 all week and hand out flyers with information
about domestic violence and rape. We also sell carnations at this booth for
anyone to give to their friends/family. Two more events were held
throughout the week: 1. Luminaries to show support to DV survivors and 2.
A Subway charity luncheon to close out the week.
Thank you to the DVA Week Committee for a great week: Minhee Sung
’10, Katie Creasey ’11, Rui Du ’11, and Jessica Bainbridge-Smith ’11, and
also to the VP Fraternity Relations, Jihye Kim ’10.
VP Fraternity Relations Jihye Kim ’10 poses in
front of the Clothesline Project while displaying
a great sense of humor.
Rui Du ’11, Steph Leger ’11, and Jessica BainbridgeSmith pose in front of luminaries.
An image of the lit up luminaries candles in
front of the student center.
New sisters Marcelle Nashief ’13, Julia Titarelli ’13, Liz
Simon ’13, and Audra Podany ’13 show their Alpha
Chi spirit at Luminaries!
ALPHA CHI OMEGA NEWSLETTER - PAGE 4
PAGE 4
The Sophomore Class Planned an
Amazing Fall Semiformal!
Contrary to popular belief, Alpha Chi’s “Sophomore Semiformal” is not just
an event for the sophomore class! Sophomore Semi got its name because
it is our Fall semiformal (for all sisters) planned by a committee of
sophomore sisters.
This year, we went to the Improv Asylum in the North End, where we
enjoyed comedy and the company of our sisters. We also had some sisters
on blind dates, for our fall semiformal is also an opportunity to set up your
sisters. The Event is co-named “My Tie,” for the dates walk in, and their ties
are given to the female dates!
All in all, a great night! Thanks to the committee: Jane Chen-Liang,
Stephanie Moran, Dordy Sugano, Julie Harrow (all class of 2012).
Seniors Anya Shafiro and Katie Thomas.
Sisters (and some dates!) pose for a glamour shot at the AXO mansion.
Juniors Katie
Creasey and
Carrie
Deboer.
Seniors Yeseul Kim, Yuri Hanada, and Minhee Sung.
PAGE
ALPHA
CHI5OMEGA NEWSLETTER - PAGE 6
PAGE 5
Initiation and Revelations
On November 7 we officially welcomed our 37 sisters. The entire chapter
celebrated as our 37 transitioned from new members to sisters of the Theta
Omicron Chapter. Many thanks to our Warden Jennifer Buz ’10 and VP
Fraternity Relations Jihye Kim ’10 for planning a great initiation.
In the week leading up to initiation, the entire chapter participated in
inspiration week. Each new sisters big secretly gave her new little gifts and
notes of inspiration throughout the week. On Friday November 6, 2009,
The ‘Alpha Chill’ Family celebrates their new
additions
inspiration week culminated in our ceremony of revelations, were each big
sister revealed herself to her new little sister. Many thanks for to our
Mystagogue Chairs Amanda Grue ’11, Sylvie Polsky ’11, Maria Frendberg
’11, and Tayina Tardeeu ’10 for a wonderful revelations and to our VP
Education Lauren Cipicchio ’10 for a job well done.
Big Sister Lauren Rodda ’11 reveals herself
to her new Little Sister Miriam ZachauWalker ‘13
Our lovely new sisters!
Kasey Rowe
’10, Jordan
Taylor ’11,
Sandra Chen
’10, and
Margaret
Cunniff ’13
pose for a
family picture
The Junior Class celebrates after Initiation and
welcomes new addition Jillian Reddy ‘11
ALPHA CHI OMEGA NEWSLETTER - PAGE 5
PAGE 6
Election Results
On Sunday October 25 we elected our new executive
board for 2010. Led by Emily Shao ’11 as President, the
new board will continue with the wonderful work done in
2009 by the current executive board. A few weeks later
on November 8 we concluded our elections cycle with
our non-exec elections. We would like to thank all of the
officers completing there terms and wish the best of luck
to those starting there new terms:
2010 Executive Board:
President – Emily Shao ‘11
VP Chapter Relations and Standards – Alex Wright ‘11
VP Finance - Lauren Sless ‘12
VP Fraternity Relations – Amanda Fried ‘11
VP Education – Amanda Grue
VP Intellectual Development – Katie Dalrymple ‘12
VP Communications – Nicole Holm ‘11
VP Membership Development – Julie Harrow ‘12
Panhellenic Delegate – Amber Stangroom ‘12
VP Recruitment – Amy Jacobi ‘11
VP Risk Management – Jessica Bainbridge-Smith ‘11
VP Alumni Relations – Elise Hens ‘12
2010 Non-Exec Officers
Vice President Chapter Relations and Standards
Freshman CRSB Rep - Steph Greene
Sophomore CRSB Rep - Katie Kauffman
Junior CRSB Rep - Shireen Warnock
Senior CRSB Rep - Lauren Cipicchio
Attendance Chair - Cynthia Latortue
Vice President Finance
Assistant VP Finance - Sheila Lee
Vice President Fraternity Relations
Community Service Chairs - Connie Lu, Jennifer
Fasman, Elizabeth Phillips
DVA Week Fall Event Committee - Joann Lin, Cynthia Latortue,
Sheila Lee, Sarah Sprague
Lip Sync Chairs - Katelyn Snyder, Grace Yao, Ingrid Chaires
Parents Chairs - Elizabeth Phillips, Vivian Lee
Warden - Steph Leger
Vice President Education
Assistant VP Ed - Cat Johnson
Chi Connections Chairs - Kaitlyn Creasey, Jeanne Yu, Miriam
Zachau Walker, Monica Isava
KROM Chairs - Alex Jiang, Jessica Perez, Joann Lin, Lizzy Wei
Retreat Planning Committee - Katrina Ellison, Margaret Leibovic,
Katie Thomas
Vice President Intellectual Development
Assistant VP ID - Katherine Zhu
Personal Development Chair - Claudia Richardson, Jennifer Buz
Recognitions Chair - Carrie DeBoer
Vice President Communications
Historian - Katherine Zhu
Webmaster - Vivian Lee
Vice President Membership Development
Carnation Ball Chairs - Jane Chen-Liang, Stephanie Moran,
Dordy Sugano, Cat Johnson
Social Chairs - Jane Chen-Liang, Anna Christensen
Song Leader - Nifer Fasman
Sports Chair - Becca Jackson
Vice President Recruitment
Assistant VP Recruitment - Katie Creasey
College Recruitment Information Chair- Carrie DeBoer
Vice President Risk Management
Freshman Risk Representative- Sarah Sprague
Sophomore Risk Representative - Robin D
Junior Risk Representative - Steph Leger
Senior Risk Representative - Emily Houston
Vice President Alumnae Relations
2011 Class Agent - Shireen Warnock
House Manager
Assistant House Manager - Alicia Kaestli
Steward - Lizzy Wei