Welcome Delta Omicron Chapter

THETA PHI ALPHA WELCOMES

DELTA OMICRON CHAPTER

BY STEPHANIE BEAULIEU, DELTA OMICRON

Have you ever wanted something so much that once you finally have it, it doesn't feel real? The sisters of the Delta Omicron Chapter have been recruiting women since Theta Phi Alpha visited Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) in the spring of 2020. For some, the journey started earlier, though. Back in the fall of 2018, two of the current sisters reached out to the Office of Student Involvement to see if it was possible to have a third sorority brought on to campus. From there, the excitement grew as more and more women wanted to get involved and make this dream a reality. In fall 2019, we were thrilled to hear that Theta Phi Alpha was chosen to join the Inter-Greek Council at SNHU and during the period from January to March, thirteen women were recruited. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing the school and social events to move entirely virtual. Although many people know of SNHU from their advertised online program, the transition from the in-person program to the online one was not easy. At times we felt defeated and discouraged, but we didn’t let it affect our first recruitment season. Our recruitment was nothing we ever expected. When we were all sent home in March, we never expected to be managing online school for the following year and a half. This led the small group of thirteen women to have to reach out virtually in order to recruit more women to join Theta Phi Alpha. Recruiting virtually came with a lot of challenges. We had to think of and execute ideas that got people involved and engaged, such as trivia nights, coffee dates, and philanthropy presentations. Even with the struggle of virtual recruitment, we successfully found women that aligned with the values of Theta Phi Alpha and were excited to start this new journey of their life. We are all so proud and excited to have successfully gotten the chapter installed and sisters initiated within a year of Theta Phi being brought to SNHU. We relied on our core values to bring us together and get to our goal of being initiated before the Class of 2021 graduated. Not only was recruitment a challenge, but we also had to organize and plan virtual sisterhood events. This allowed us to stay connected even while we all spent another semester at home. It was amazing to see the sisterhood that we could still create while being virtual since March of 2020. We all cannot wait until we can be together in-person and celebrate the accomplishments we have achieved as a newly installed chapter. Initiation was conducted over Zoom on Sunday, January 24, 2021. We were able to have a discussion with Grand Council and other alumnae on our thoughts and feelings towards being initiated virtually. It was a great experience being able to then share the Installation of the chapter with other collegians, alumnae, and some of SNHU faculty and Greek life. We were very honored to have Theta Phi Alpha’s National President, Tracey Liphardt, AN, as our Installing Officer. It was such a unique experience having so many sisters celebrating all the hard work we have put in and finally being installed as a chapter of Theta Phi Alpha. Even though these ceremonies were virtual, they were very special to all our sisters and will be held near and dear to our hearts. We are all excited to see what the future holds for us in Theta Phi Alpha and hopefully we will all get to be together (for the first time!) soon. Thank you! Thank you to everyone who helped us along this process. We appreciate all of the time and energy given to us. Thank you to all those who helped us become a chapter! We would like to thank the following people: • The Grand Council of QFA • Kristin Mauer Rodriguez, BA, Director of Emerging Chapters • Adele Binni, DA, Emerging Chapter

Coordinator • Katie Slocum, GM, Emerging

Chapter Advisor • Mary Humphrey, Z, Emerging Chapter

Communications Coordinator • Julia Osadchy, GD, National

Assistant Treasurer • Brianna Parker, Z, Leadership Consultant • Estela Dominguez, BU,

Leadership Consultant • Delta Eta Chapter, Big Sister Chapter • SNHU Inter-Greek Council • National Office Staff Thanks also to the many QFA sisters who contributed to our box of Ritual equipment!

INITIATES:

Ellen Albanese Alexyss (Lexy) Lema Lindsey Baldwin Kealoha “Kea” Lopez Stephanie Beaulieu Megan Mccombie Amanda Bogoslofski Molly (Kathleen) Caroline Carrozini McNeil Mikayla Cleaves Celeste Molle Hailey Davis Jenna Moretto Rose Donovan Sam Nunes Samantha Frazer Grace O’Donnell Brianna Fiquet Meagan Pennie Molly Gallagher Aparna Rai Alicia Hamilton Rachel Stein Alison Higgins Keyla Torres Shannon Joyce Megan Wallace Melissa Kennelly Abby Ward Stephanie Beaulieu is a sophomore studying business administration with a concentration in marketing and two minors in psychology and professional selling. She is currently the Assistant New Member Educator and will be serving the 2021-2022 IGC executive board as the Marketing Chairman.

Delta Omicron Chapter sisters and alumnae at their virtual Initiation and Installation.