Alpha Chi Omega - University of Kansas

Fall 2020 Newsletter

Phi Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega at the University of Kansas

Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1302838

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 0 of 3

Notes of the Lyre PHI CHAPTER OF ALPHA CHI OMEGA | UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS | FALL 2020 T his certainly hasn't been the normal fall semester that everyone had hoped for in 2020. Over the summer, we met with several other representatives from the KU Greek community via Zoom to determine how best to bring our members back to our chapter houses safely this fall. I want to also send a huge thank-you to Alyssa Scott '12, House Director Pat Hollingsworth Mayor '61, our chapter officers, and our House Corporation board for all their hard work. Alyssa and our officers worked with Headquarters to ensure that the chapter house had the supplies, sanitation stations, and quality measures in place to be safe this fall. Mom Pat has been increasing the cleaning of the house, changing how food is delivered to the members, and facilitating other overall upkeep of the house. The chapter needed everyone's help to allow our chapter members to be safe in their return. Recruitment changes during the pandemic The other change this year with the pandemic was recruitment week. Due to COVID-19, the office of Sorority and Fraternity Life felt it was necessary to facilitate the entire week through Zoom meetings. Initially, it was thought that even though the week would be through Zoom, Bid Day would be in-person. However, after further discussion, SFL made the decision to change it to virtual. Overall, it was a very successful and safe week. Phi Chapter welcomed 59 new members, and an additional 10 women through informal recruitment, which I feel is amazing after all the changes and unprecedented way to facilitate recruitment. I wish all our members, new and established, a safe and healthy year at KU. Supporting Our Sisters Campaign I lastly want to discuss something that many of our alumnae have seen and possibly given to. As discussed previously, Alyssa, the chapter executive board, and Headquarters have been working to meet all the recommendations for a safe return to the chapter house. However, with the increase in supplies and sanitization equipment, increased number of times per week for housekeeping to clean, change in food prep, and the change in our chapter live-in numbers, the chapter's budget significantly increased from the prior year's budget. The House Corporation Board unanimously decided to lower the rent for this year in our efforts to help offset some of the increased budget. However, even with our monetary assistance, the chapter still needs our help. Phi Chapter has started a Supporting Our Sisters (SOS) campaign to help the members of Phi Chapter. The campaign's funds go directly to the chapter to help their budget and maintain a level of safety for the members and Mom Pat. You can read more about the campaign on page 2. If you have given, I am so grateful and thankful for your donation. If you have not donated yet, please strongly consider donating to Phi Chapter and helping reach our $50,000 goal. These funds will be crucial for keeping our collegians safe throughout the pandemic. In turn, the HCB has decided to hold off on any renovations or cosmetic updates at this time. I wish everyone a safe and healthy fall and winter and pray that 2021 will bring an end to the pandemic. When I was a member of Phi Chapter, I always knew I loved Alpha Chi Omega, but I didn't really know much about the other sororities at the University of Kansas. This summer opened my eyes to all the wonderful chapter advisors and other house corporation members at other sororities. We all banded together to find answers to problems that not one of us had ever had to deal with. There were some heated discussions, but the goal was to make every sorority safe this year. Please, as an alumna, help our chapter meet that goal. Loyally, Stephanie Spratt Schmidt '93 President, House Corporation sportsgirl292004@yahoo.com ΑΧΩ Collaborates with KU Greek Community to Navigate Pandemic Phi Chapter Calls Upon Alumnae to Support Collegians Alpha Chi Omega Makes Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion A lpha Chi Omega has a long history of progressive leadership among sororities, as evidenced by our brand, Real.Strong.Women., and Alpha Chi's Statements of Position, which have been updated frequently to reflect changing cultural viewpoints. One of the 24 Statements of Position is Nondiscrimination: "Alpha Chi Omega does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sexual orientation, religion or other characteristics protected by applicable law. Women, including those who live and identify as women, regardless of the gender assigned to them at birth, are eligible for membership in Alpha Chi Omega based solely on five membership standards. The National Membership Standards are: 1. academic interest; 2. character; 3. financial responsibility; 4. leadership ability; and 5. personal development. "Alpha Chi Omega remains, as it always has been, a women's organization. Those assigned female at birth who live and identify as men are not eligible for membership." Per the Alpha Chi Omega website, "Diversity, equity and inclusion are unequivocally essential. But we know they have been challenging for us, for the entire sorority/fraternity industry and for our world as a whole. We acknowledge that we haven't always lived up to these principles (Continued on page 4)

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Alpha Chi Omega - University of Kansas - Fall 2020 Newsletter