A L P H A
P H I
F O U N D A T I O N
THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP: A STORY OF ALPHA PHI, SPORTS AND MUD By Patricia Kolowich (Θ-Michigan)
Mud matted my hair. It oozed into my eyes, my ears and between my toes. I was drenched. I thought life couldn’t get better than this. Then the ball was in my hands. I ran as fast as I could through that sea of mud. I scored! We won. Oh, life did get better.
Mud Bowl participants are (from left) Becky Knowlton Dickson, Jill Quackenbush Laurich, Nancy Nowicki and Annamarie Kersten.
Playing in the Mud Bowl – a University of Michigan Homecoming tradition – is a cherished Alpha Phi memory. Mud Bowl, a Sigma Alpha Epilson and Phi Delta Theta-sponsored mud football competition, first brought together two important parts of my life: Alpha Phi and sports. Since I was a little girl, sports have been essential to my happiness. I even made them part of my profession – sports medicine. I’m lucky to do what I love. When I joined Alpha Phi, I thought, “I’m joining the best sorority on campus. Great!” It seemed simple. Now I look back on years of Alpha Phi moments – memories that didn’t end after only four years – and I know Alpha Phi is for a lifetime. In college, my sisters brought me Tab® (is this stuff still around?) when I needed to stay awake for all-night study sessions. When I went to medical school, they listened as I debated for hours about specialty choices. When my 30th birthday came and I was away from home, they traveled across the country to surprise me with a huge reunion. Last year, the same women celebrated with me when my team – the Detroit Red Wings – won the Stanley Cup. (I’m one of the team’s orthopedic surgeons.) Twenty-six years after Mud Bowl, I’m still cheering with my Alpha Phi sisters. I’ve had other pinnacles in my life – particularly being the only orthopedic surgeon sent to oversee the National Hockey League at the Salt Lake Olympics last year. But I’ll never forget diving into the end zone at Michigan and screaming with my sisters. That same experience of support in college has to be available for women today. No matter how sophisticated and educated we’ve become, no matter how many professional fields now welcome women, there’s Alpha Phis play in 1976 Mud Bowl. nothing like the feeling that comes from knowing your sorority encourages you, helps you learn new things and urges you to develop the old. That’s why I’m a member of the Foundation’s Power of 100*. My gifts support programs that help women gain confidence and support through lifelong Alpha Phi friendships. And I hope that one fall day, each of these women will have her moment in the mud. Patricia Kolowich, M.D. and her family (husband Jared Buckley, son Patrick and twin legacies Jessica and Jacqueline) live in Northville, Mich. She has been a Power of 100 member for three years. *Editor’s Note: The Power of 100 is a group of women who give annually at least $1,000 to the Foundation. To learn more, contact Executive Director Rebecca Andrew Zanatta (BQ -Washington State) at rzanatta@alphaphi.org or 847.316.8950.
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