Chi Omega - University of Wisconsin

Nu Chapter of Chi Omega at the University of Wisconsin • Fall 2020 THE NU'S Χ Ω T his year continues to change our everyday life. Early in the year, we had discussions with our contractor to plan our summer 2020 renovation of the dining room space at our Chi Omega house at 115 Langdon in Madison. Aer we had established a timeline and a manageable budget for the project, the Nu House Board voted to put the project on hold at the end of May. e Nu House Board determined that it was essential to wait to see how UW would handle students returning to campus. UW students have returned to campus and we have 30 collegians living in the house. UW is now providing online learning. With the reduced number of members living in, Nu is facing budget shortfalls that we will be trying to reconcile in the coming days. Chi Omega and other sororities and fraternities are now being challenged across the country about how these established organizations are handling diversity and inclusion of their membership. Some students at a number of colleges have called to disband all sororities and fraternities. Chi Omega National has responded by forming a group of 27 sisters comprising both members and alumnae to work to find ways to address improving diversity, equity, and inclusion among our collegiate and alumna members. Barbara L. Kornblau '75 is a member of this special committee that will be making recommendations to the Supreme Governing Council. You can read more about this on the home page of chiomega.com. Chi Omega is encouraging members and alumnae to communicate directly with the committee by sending an email with your comments to dei@ chiomega.com. I am assured that all emails are being read. Some sisters have criticized Chi Omega National for being slow or uninterested in change. In my discussions with National directly, I have found that National hears the need for change and has set up a way to listen to experts, gather information, and come up with plans to evolve. ey want to address how we support our sisterhood during these very challenging times. Having virtual distancing is very different than the sisterhood experience that most of us remember from our college years. Chi Omega was formed 125 years ago when a small group of women wanted to gather and form a sisterhood. It has endured many challenges over its history. e message I want to share is that our organization will be changing and finding ways to be more inclusive. We will see more ways to provide support financially. Chi Omega is also addressing the need to provide mental health support. With a tight budget and a desire to reduce costs, we have decided to transition to an email version of our newsletter. is will be our last printed edition. e spring 2021 newsletter will be emailed to our database. At this point we have a limited number of emails, so please update your emails with our Pennington & Company alumnae communications coordinator, Caroline Hammond, Eta Gamma '05, at chammond@ penningtonco.com. And remember, you can always update your contact information with National at everyday.chiomega.com. Alumnae communication is crucial when it comes to strengthening our sisterhood during these stressful times. In 2019, we had an alumnae reunion in Madison. It was great to reconnect with our sisters. We're looking to provide more of those opportunities virtually via Zoom so that sisters can stay updated on what is happening at Nu and share a bit about their own lives. As we push forward together through the pandemic, it's important to reach out to our Nu sisters and provide support to those who need it most. is support can be anything from a simple note, email, or phone call to checking in and seeing how your sisters are doing. I look forward to bringing Nu sisters together through these online communications and hope to be catching up with you in the future. Loyally Yours in Chi Omega, Kathy Suckow Murtfeldt '72 House Corporation VP and Project Manager (408) 384-2571 / kmurtfeldt@aol.com Coping with Adversity at Nu Chapter MAKE-A-WISH A s most of you already know, Nu Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison supports the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin Foundation every year. Unfortunately, this year we are not able to hold our annual Walk It Out for Wishes event due to the current global pandemic. However, we will still be raising money for Make-A-Wish this semester and making up for the events canceled last semester. Last year, our Chapter raised over $35,000 for Make-A-Wish and with that money we were able to grant three wishes for children in the Madison, Wis., area. We understand that with the current state of our world it may be harder to donate, but we still want to grant as many wishes to kids as we can. We are hoping to meet our goal of $30,000 and are reaching out to our alumnae to see if you would be willing to support our fundraising efforts. We have attached the link to our fundraising page below if you would like to help us achieve our goal. In addition to donations, we will be holding a virtual auction and are looking for items people are willing to donate. Please reach out to our two philanthropy chairwomen if you have any auction items you would like to donate or if you have any questions. Each and every donation counts and will go toward making a child's wish come true. ank you in advance for your support! Link to make a donation: tinyurl.com/Nu-Chapter-Make-A-Wish Philanthropy Chairwomen Rebecca Horrow '20 - rhorrow@wisc.edu Kayla Schwartz '19 - kschwartz6@wisc.edu S haring the latest Nu news with our loyal alumnae is critical when it comes to keeping our sisterhood connected. Starting with the spring 2021 issue, e Nu's newsletter will only be published online to eliminate printing and postage costs, but we want to ensure that you're still staying up to date with all things Chi Omega. Send your email address to our communications coordinator, Caroline Hammond, Eta Gamma '05, at chammond@penningtonco.com to receive the digital version of e Nu's and other updates from Nu Chapter. Make Sure We Have Your Current Email Address! The Nu's Will Be Online Only Starting in 2021

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