Chi Omega - University of Wisconsin

Nu Chapter of Chi Omega at the University of Wisconsin • Fall 2017 THE NU'S Χ Ω Memories of Cardinal and Straw Help Preserve Nu Chapter's Legacy W hen you reflect on your past Chi Omega experiences and think about our shared memories, what do you recall? How did we form friendships that have endured the test of time without the use of social media? I think back to our Monday night dinners at the Chapter House with the entire Chapter. We discussed upcoming football games, who we were inviting to the next formal, upcoming weekend plans, social events with fraternities, and our study schedules for important exams or term paper deadlines. It was always exciting to come down to the dining room to share in someone being pinned or engaged. Mrs. Olson, our house director, would keep the secret until Monday night when she lit a white candle that was passed by each of us until the excited member got to share her special moment. The Chapter and pledge class Monday night meetings provided an opportunity to try leadership roles, discuss upcoming events, and important issues that were happening. We took time on Monday nights to socialize together as Chi Omegas. In my era of the early 1970s, we did not have cell phones. We had landline phones in our rooms. I think there was also a Chapter House phone in the closet with the coke machine, but I do not recall having any remarkable phone calls 40 years later. What comes to mind now is that we lived in the moment. We learned how to get along as a group of women and to resolve conflicts among all of our Chi Omega members. These learned life skills were important for working with others after college. We also spent time together singing songs like "Shades." This song seems to resonate now as we try to reconnect Chi Omega alumnae and support the UW-Madison collegiate sisters. What about eating pizza late at night in a sister's room? We enjoyed going together as a group to the KK, The Pub, or The Manor on Thursday nights after studying. It was fun just to hang out together. I recall laughing in each other's rooms at the crazy things that happened to each of us. We comforted one other and cried together when someone suffered a disappointment, loss, or breakup. For football games, all of the ΧΩs sat together in the student section. One year my seat was actually removed as part of a stadium upgrade, so we squeezed closer together so that I could sit with the group. What are your memories? I would love to hear what you remember of Chi Omega. I will share these with the group as we reconnect. During my recent trips to Madison, I have been thinking about what a collegiate should expect from the 2017 Chi Omega experience. How does social media fit into the need to experience being present in the moment? What traditions should remain and what needs to be "retooled" to fit into the current member experience? We are working on regular updates to a Facebook page called Chi Omega - Nu Chapter Alumnae and Friends. Please join and start sharing your pictures! In my pledge class we had women from New York, Pennsylvania, California, and many from Wisconsin. We all shared stories about our families, travels, boyfriends, and the best classes or professors to take for our majors. Establishing friendships within each pledge class and later within the Chapter has long been a foundation for establishing a sisterhood. Chi Omega women have always prided themselves on being diverse, inclusive, and successful. These are the traditions to need to be maintained at our Chapter. Eventually, we all graduated from the UW and all went off in different directions. In the mid- '70s that meant getting a good job that was the foundation on the path to having a successful career. Or for many, it was getting married to a college sweetheart and building a life together. For some, it was traveling overseas and experiencing adventures. But we all had a shared bond of sisterhood that had been built over the four years that we lived, studied, laughed, played, and shared together. Our Chi Omega friendships continue to be a blessing. Loyally, Kathy Suckow Murtfeldt '72 House Corporation VP and Project Manager (408) 384-2571 kmurtfeldt@aol.com "In the shad evening, there will be no grieving. Even though we are leaving Chi Omega far behind us. ere'll be many memori. ere'll be many lers. Till we me• again, then we will have our reunion. ere will be toasts and singing. You can hear us bringing. Prais to you till then. Chi Os now departing. Come bid swe• adieu. Chi Os ever a†er. We will remember you."

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