Pi Beta Phi - University of Illinois

P A G E 2 A lison Veit Heafitz '96 never thought she would join Pi Beta Phi. As a legacy of Alpha Phi and Delta Zeta, she had almost no doubt her search to join a smaller group of women would lead her to one of those sororities. However, Pi Phi surprised her as the women in the chapter were especially friendly and welcomed her with open arms — there really was no other choice. Having moved to Washington, D.C., the summer after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Alison immediately joined the alumnae club there and has been involved ever since. "It has enriched my life beyond words," she shared. "Being a Pi Phi and coming to a new city gave me a group of friends I had an instant connection with." Alison has continued to say "yes" to new opportunities within Pi Phi, which led to her role as Grand Vice President Collegians on Grand Council. Within her position, Alison supports the collegiate operations of 136 chapters, which is about 20,000 collegiate members. "I support a team of volunteer Fraternity Officers who support local advisors who, in turn, directly support the chapter in the areas of operations and risk management," she explained. "At the Grand Council level, I help make decisions about the Fraternity budget, changes in policy and strategic planning." For Alison, being a member of Grand Council has been the most rewarding experience of sisterhood, friendship and fun. A highlight was being a facilitator at Pi Beta Phi Leadership Institute in July 2018, where she co-led a Halo Huddle group of 13 collegiate members. "It was so great to see the impact and inspire them to serve the organization as officers," Alison said. On July 1, Alison was installed as Grand Vice President Fraternity Growth at Convention and is excited for the opportunity to continue helping Pi Phi be the best it can be. roughout it all, Pi Phi has been there for her. "It gave me a foot in the door when I was struggling and gave me the support system that I needed — it was just amazing," Alison shared. She started out working on Capitol Hill for a congressman and senator for five years before meeting her husband. After getting married, Alison worked as an auditor on NASA programs at the Government Accountability Office. She is now a stay-at-home mom and would love to be a business owner at some point. Her favorite things are baking, reading and traveling — especially taking trips to Disney. Her greatest advice? "Work to be your best self, be a good citizen of your country and always stay true to the wine and silver blue." You can connect with Alison at alisonheafitz@gmail.com. FROM ILLINOIS ZETA TO GRAND COUNCIL COLLEGIANS GIVE BACK THROUGH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY T his semester, Illinois Zeta was proud to send 12 chapter members on a Habitat for Humanity trip. Over spring break, these members chose to spend their time volunteering and building houses for people in need of help. e women drove down from Champaign, Illinois, to Parish, Alabama, and spent their week staying in a church. During the day, the women worked on a veteran's home, specifically repairing the roof, replacing wood on the exterior walls and painting the home. Vice President of Philanthropy Sophia Mallidis '17 said, "e best part of the trip was seeing the smiles on the faces of the family who would be living in the home we built." Sarah Brom '17 and Kana Tamai '17 volunteering at Habitat for Humanity.

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