Alpha Chi Omega - Kansas State University

ALPHA CHI OMEGA 3 Get to Know the 2015-16 Chapter Officers President Haley McMurphy '13 was our past V.P. Intellectual Development. Haley is excited to give back to Gamma Zeta as the chapter has given much to her. Haley loves puppies and fresh flowers. V.P. Chapter Relations and Standards Kylie Wilcox '14 will do great because she truly cares about the women and wants to ensure their wellbeing. Kylie loves Sour Patch Kids, being outside, and dance parties. V.P. Finance Brie Thomas '14 will be great at finance because of her attention to detail. Brie loves gluten-free cookie dough! V.P. Risk Management Natalie Windham '14 hopes to zip line in Costa Rica someday and her favorite movie is the Breakfast Club. V.P. Ritual and Fraternity Appreciation Bethany Chegwidden '15 enjoys singing and is a go-getter! V.P. Recruitment Jordan Stuckey '13 was accepted into the social work program and loves pizza and pasta. V.P. New Member Education Abby Waters '15 will be a great new member educator with her compassion and tender heart. A fun fact about Abby is that she is scuba certified. V.P. Public Relations and Marketing Jena Ernsting '14 will do great because she is positive and puts her all into everything that she does. V.P. Membership Programming Elle McAlister '14 is super fun-loving and will put her all into planning sisterhood events for the women. Panhellenic Delegate Tori Matta '14 is minoring in Japanese and is a K-State cheerleader. V.P. Intellectual Development Lizzie Young '14 is very dedicated and loves cookie dough. V.P. Facility Operations Ellen Blackwell '14 is from Santa Maria, Calif., is involved in FFA, and came to K-State for agriculture education. V.P. Philanthropy Elaina Latimer '13 was re-elected as V.P. Philanthropy. Elaina will continue to do great as she focuses on making traditions out of our philanthropy events. She loves M&Ms. Karen Schmidt '81 Stays Involved With Alpha Chi Omega's Philanthropy Alumna Takes Pride in Being a Gamma Zeta A s a Gamma Zeta alumna, Karen Schmidt '81 understands the importance of staying connected to the sorority. One of the ways that she maintains her lifelong Alpha Chi Omega commitment is through her duties as the executive director of Women's Initiative Network in Wichita, Kan. WIN helps and provides hope to survivors of domestic violence through a "supportive environment for women in transition, providing social, educational, and general life skills that allow them to regain job security in today's work force." "I am in some ways more closely connecting to Alpha Chi. Knowing that the cause I'm working for every day is Alpha Chi's philanthropy gives me a greater sense of pride in my work," Karen says. As an undergraduate, Gamma Zeta gave her tools to help her succeed in the future. Prior to starting college, she was a fairly shy person, but being in Alpha Chi helped her learn how to work with others. "Being in the sorority helped me learn to be more outgoing and involved in activities. It also gave me more experience in learning how to get along with a wide variety of personalities," Karen says. She simply describes her sorority experience as life changing. "The feeling of belongingness was there from the beginning and grew stronger each year," Karen reminisces. "I can't imagine what my college experience would have been without Alpha Chi." One of her favorite memories was her senior formal. She recalls having a great time taking pictures, dancing, and living in the moment before graduation. "We knew we wanted to stay in touch, we were just unsure how that would look after leaving K-State." To this day, she still keeps in touch with Shawn Lockwood Fowler '81, Mary Morse Larson '81, Cindy Ditzler Himmelburg '81, Shawn Lampkin Nutter '80, and Allison Melster '80. In her spare time, she loves to participate in her online group, the Adventurous Babes Society. It encourages women to participate in activities that are outside of their comfort zone, while making new friends in the process. Karen and her husband, Trace Taul, recently adopted a dog named Duncan. They have two sons, Aaron (28) and Dalton (23), attending K-State. To learn more about WIN, you can visit www. wichitawin.org. Her hope for everyone is to not only work at increasing awareness of domestic violence, but also talk about what can be done to help victims and the organizations that assist them. Karen can be contacted at ksuwillie84@cox.net. Website - www.alphachiksu.com Twitter - @AXOGammaZeta LinkedIn - Alpha Chi Omega—Gamma Zeta Instagram - AlphaChiKSU Facebook - Alpha Chi Omega Alumnae— Kansas State University Alpha Chi Omega—Gamma Zeta Chapter Pinterest - AlphaChiKSU Visit Us Online l i f f 8

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