Volume 8, Issue 4 - December 2012/January 2013

In This Issue…

Page 1: Scenes from Fall 2012; Project Arête Due! Page 2: Senior Spotlights Page 3: Greeks of the Month; Welcome BXΘ!; Congratulations on Initiation and Installation, ΓΦΒ!

Page 4: Philanthropy Recaps; Study Tips for Finals Page 5: Chapter Updates: FIJI & AEΠ

http://www.greeklife.uconn.edu/

Page 6: Career Corner; Founder’s Days; Arête Awards; Greek Leadership Retreat; Emerging Leaders Conference

Scenes from Fall 2012...

Best of luck on finals! Have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Project Arête Due FRIDAY, 12/7!

The Office of Fraternity and Sorority would like to remind all chapters that Project Arête for the Fall 2012 Semester is due on Friday, December 7th to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Student Union 315 before noon (12 P.M.).

Reminder: Important Events on January 21, 2013!

10:00am11:30am 11:00am12:00pm 1:00pm2:00pm 2:30pm4:00pm

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) SOLID Training Event Coordinator (EVC) SOLID Training Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Secretary (SEC) SOLID Risk Management Roundtable (Arête)

SU 304B SU 304A SU 304B SU 304B

Senior Spotlights Lauren Cunningham is a wonderful role model for the Greek and UConn Community. Lauren has served as Kappa Alpha Theta’s Archivist Historian, VPE, and CEO, and also held positions on the Membership Development Committee and the Nominating Committee. She is the Alumni Relations Director for HuskyTHON 2013, a presenter for the Emerging Leaders Conference, Order of Omega VP of New Member Programs, a member of the Fraternal Values Society, and a member of Rho Lambda. This past summer, Lauren attended UIFI and the Grand Convention for Theta, which truly shows her dedication and love for Greek life! Lauren works at the UConn Office of Early College Programs, which links high school students to gain UConn credit, and she also interned at Aetna this past summer, where she was a Process Improvement Analyst and lead a capstone team to create a new recruiting strategy for early in career talent. Lauren is an Economics major and Business minor, a New England Scholar, and has been on the Dean’s List for all the semesters she has been at UConn. Lauren is such an amazing person with outstanding skills that make her successful in anything she tries.

Shelby Flynn Delta Zeta

Shelby Flynn is an Elementary Special Education student in NEAG and is on the deans list. Shelby not only takes her own academics seriously but encourages all the other members in Delta Zeta to strive for their best 100% of the time, and she is easily one of the strongest leaders in our chapter. She held a secretary position in Delta Zeta and is currently on our executive board serving as the Vice President of Programs, a position that essentially ties our chapter altogether. Shelby takes it upon herself to offer her assistance to any other member on the executive board or a cabinet position and makes herself extremely available in every way she can. Additionally, Shelby is the Executive Vice President for Order of Omega, where she spreads tremendous spirit and forms new bonds with countless other Greeks. She is an amazing asset to the Community Outreach Office through JumpStart and America Reads. Last year she was the program director for JumpStart, guiding the organization to receive the award of Program of the Year. This year, Shelby is the program director for America Reads. Over this coming winter break, she is joining her Greek peers on a trip to Jamaica to build additions onto primary schools. To put it briefly, Shelby is truly an indescribable representation of Delta Zeta.

Shelby has the biggest heart and always has a collectivistic point of view before an individualistic one, which is an admirable trait, making her the perfect example of an incredible Greek Senior.

Maya Sutin is a great Greek Senior! She exemplifies everything one should expect of a senior sister. After joining Alpha Epsilon Phi her freshman year, Maya got involved by becoming Sisterhood Chair. This was the perfect first position for her because it became clear how much Maya valued sisterhood. Through planning fun bonding events, Maya showed the entire chapter how important relationships with each other are. Maya went on to be Recruitment Assistant and this year is Vice President of Recruitment. Maya showed great dedication all summer long as she planned for recruitment. Her leadership shined through during recruitment week while she led the chapter through Alpha Epsilon Phi’s most successful recruitment yet! Her calm and collected attitude put the entire chapter at ease during the craziness of recruitment. Maya is also very dedicated to her academics and maintains a high GPA. Her love for Communication Disorders is evident through the time she devotes to her studies and her e-board position in Autism Speaks U. She intends to go to graduate school for Speech-Language Pathology. Maya has continued to embody all the aspects of a wonderful sister and Greek member over the past three years. As a senior, Maya has no lack of commitment and continues to inspire younger members!

Eric Vaheb Kappa Sigma

Lauren Cunningham Kappa Alpha Theta

Maya Sutin Alpha Epsilon Phi

Eric Vaheb has been an extraordinary brother within the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He has continued to contribute not only to his fraternity, but to his university as well. Since becoming a brother, Eric has been involved with a vast amount of organizations and has been awarded many honors, such as: Order of Omega initiate, Alpha Lambda Delta honors society inductee, USG Senator for Husky Village, Husky Village Area Council VP, Member of the Honors Program, Finance Honors Program, Executive VP and VP Finance for IFC, President, CFO, and Secretary of Iranian Student association, and New Member Educator, VP of Philanthropy, Greek Week Chair, and Arête & House Enhancement for Kappa Sigma. He also had an internship with J.P. Morgan as an Operational analyst and has received a full time offer for a position as a Financial Analyst. The summer before that, Eric was an intern at Northeastern Mutual as a financial representative and was also licensed as a health/accident and life insurance producer. Eric is fluent in Farsi, Spanish, and of course English.

The amount of work Eric has put into not only his fraternity, but also his university and life show that he is a model of what the Kappa Sigma fraternity is all about.

Greeks of the Month Allison Cohen is an outstanding member of the Greek community. She demonstrates sisterhood by being an amazing and supportive sister of Kappa Alpha Theta. Last year, she held the position of Convention Awards Chairperson. She continued to show her dedication to Theta as this year’s KATS & BATS chair, which was an amazing success thanks to her!

However her service and leadership does not stop there, as she was a volunteer with Jumpstart this semester! Besides being a leader within Theta, Alli is now the Director of Strategic Fundraising for HuskyTHON 2013 and attended the Dance Marathon Leadership Conference this past summer in Atlanta! Finally, Alli demonstrates her devotion to scholarship, as she is a Spanish and Communications double major. Besides having two majors, she even extended her scholarship as to study abroad last spring semester in Spain! Alli is a truly outstanding individual and is an amazing role model, and will continue to accomplish amazing things both within Greek life and the UConn community!

Chelsea Boersma is an outstanding representation of not only Alpha Epsilon Phi, but the Panhellenic and Greek Community. She has taken on leaderships positions within Alpha Epsilon Phi and on UNITE's Executive Board as VP of Administration and Communication. Her presence on UNITE's executive board has developed her into an amazing leader in our community and benefitted the Panhellenic community to get more women involved with UNITE. Her dedication to UNITE and passion for furthering the work of Circle of Sisterhood demonstrates the true meaning behind fraternity and sorority. Chelsea anticipates going to graduate school for education and wants to be a teacher. Chelsea is an amazing senior, sister and women, and deserves the recognition for her hard work and dedication to the UConn Greek Community.

Having just joined the Greek community last fall, Jack

Hayes’s organizational skills and leadership qualities, as well as

his sincere fellowship, have quickly made him an indispensable member of Kappa Sigma. By diving headfirst into exciting initiatives, Jack has quickly become a leader in the chapter. He began his time on the fundraising committee, where he coordinated events to raise money for the communal and philanthropic needs of his chapter. This year as the philanthropy chair of Kappa Sigma, Jack has organized and executed Kappa Sigma's new annual philanthropy event, the Military Heroes Bowl. Coordinating, publicizing and executing this co-ed football tournament successfully was no small feat, but Jack made it look easy. Most recently, Jack has laid out a specific plan to improve organization and relations both in and outside of the chapter. For his ideas and his ability to lead others, he has been elected as the Grand Procurator of Kappa Sigma's Executive Committee. Jack's passion and skills demonstrate exactly what makes Greek life great. He is an outstanding brother and a valued member of UConn's student body as a whole.

Welcome BXΘ!

Visit BXΘ’s Website!

Beta Chi Theta, nicknamed “Beta Chi,” is a national South Asian interest social fraternity established in 1999 at the University of California, Los Angeles. The fraternity rests its principles on six main pillars. The first and foremost principle of the fraternity is Brotherhood. Further principles include following Tradition, Service to Humanity, promoting South Asian Awareness, striving for Academic Excellence, and creating a Nationwide Network.

Beta Chi Theta prides itself as an organization which seeks to support and collaborate with other Greek organizations on campus. Philanthropically, Beta Chi Theta concentrates its national efforts on Beating Heart Disease along with the American Heart Association.

The Intercultural Greek Council and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life are pleased to welcome Beta Chi Theta Fraternity, Inc. to UConn in Spring 2013.

Congratulations to our newest chapter, the Eta Theta Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta!

On November 17th, the Gamma Phi Beta (Eta Theta Chapter) at the University of Connecticut celebrated their installation with a ceremony and brunch at the Hartford Marriott. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, as well as UConn as a whole, would like to welcome the 120 women of Gamma Phi Beta to our campus community!

ΚΣ Military Heroes Bowl On Sunday, November 11th, the brothers of Kappa Sigma hosted their first ever Military Heroes Bowl in the Student Union Mall. Teams of 7-9 players participated in a single elimination co-ed flag football tournament. Additionally, Kappa Sigma also hosted a canned food drive to benefit the Hands on Hartford food pantry. Whichever team arrived to play with more canned goods had the choice between kicking off or receiving at the beginning of the game! Kappa Sigma’s Military Heroes Campaign was designed to honor and aid the thousands of wounded military veterans returning from active duty. The campaign provides charitable donations to organizations such as the Fisher House, a segment of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund that provides free housing to wounded veterans and their families throughout their rehabilitation. More information can be found at this link—http://www.kappasigma.org/content/military-heroes.

ΠΚΑ Fire Truck Pull On Saturday, October 27th, the brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha proudly presented their new philanthropy event, the Pike Fire Truck Pull. Held during the middle of the day at W-Lot, the event featured teams of 15 fraternity men or women competing to pull a fire truck the fastest. Pike had the unique opportunity to donate all proceeds to the family of their brother, Connor Tluck, whose father recently lost his fight against brain cancer. Pike was proud to crown Sigma Chi and Delta Zeta as the winners of their divisions for their first ever Fire Truck Pull!

Use These Study Tips to Help You Prepare for Finals!

Good Luck, Everyone! 

Prepare in Advance: Studying takes time. Making time in advance of your finals in order to adequately prepare is important.

Rather than cramming the night before your big test, plan out different days and time-blocks, during which you can review effectively!

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Take a Break: Marathon study sessions aren’t always the most effective way to learn and review information. Reward yourself with breaks every 45 or 50 minutes. Just make sure you aren’t doing the reverse; rewarding 15 minutes of work with 45 minutes of Twitter and Facebook isn’t exactly effective.



Sleep Well: Lack of sleep has been proven to affect focus, memory recall, anxiety, and immune system function. No one wants to be sick and perform poorly on finals! Be sure to get the recommended amount of sleep per night during finals studying: 7 to 8 hours.

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Reduce Your Stress: Although a little stress can be helpful in encouraging you to complete your work, too much can be detrimental to your well-being. Relieve some stress by being active, doing an activity you love, or rewarding yourself with some relaxation.

Approximately one year ago, two men came from Lexington to the University of Connecticut and introduced what they called ‘FIJI’ to 68 enthusiastic students. These men stood tall and were the epitome of a standard of excellence that the Delta Colony now strives to accomplish. These men embodied friendship, knowledge, service, morality and excellence.

FIJI is proud to say that after a year of being a colony, there are now over 100 brothers who are either undergraduates or graduates of the University of Connecticut. After a year of being a FIJI, the brothers are now an incredibly strong and cohesive unit.

Their primary focus has been to become a recognized chapter, focus on maintaining their strong brotherhood, and to other FIJI graduates that they can include in their family.

The Delta Colony has recently accepted 20 new members to the Gamma Class. They are excited to adopt these lucky gentlemen as part of the FIJI Brotherhood. FIJI has also voted to elect a new cabinet for the upcoming calendar year. The Delta Colony is very excited for continued progress with these newly elected men and it is proud to soon transition the following FIJIs into their new roles: Connor Scott - President Zach Sena - Treasurer Jacob Schwartz - Recording Secretary Colin David - Corresponding Secretary Colin Treanor - Historian The Delta Colony has recently raised a total of $1250 for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief through our philanthropy, FIJI Football, and colony donations. They have also recently adopted a road in Mansfield, CT for the next two years.

FIJI is excited for what their brotherhood can accomplish for the University and Greek community and they are proud to celebrate one year as a strong, motivated, fraternity.

On October 14th the brotherhood of Alpha Epsilon Pi woke up bright and early for a semesterly tradition: a New York City trip to visit the place of Alpha Epsilon Pi’s founding. Brothers and pledges packed on to a train in New Haven and traveled down to Washington Square Park, right next to NYU where the fraternity was founded. After a brief lecture about the arch in the park and the early days of Alpha Epsilon Pi, visiting alumni got the chance to explore the local chapter’s history to the Alpha Kappa pledge class.

It was amazing and humbling to hear brothers who went to UConn in the early 2000’s talk about how much Alpha Epsilon Pi has grown over the past few years. As proud members of this established chapter, the brothers sometimes forget how hard older members had to work to get Alpha Epsilon Pi to where it is today. Going from a chapter of 20 members to one that consistently pushes 100 every year is an amazing accomplishment, and they made sure to thank the older members for their commitment to improving the chapter and promised to continue their work.

The event also proved to be the perfect networking opportunity. Undergraduate brothers got to talk to alumni about their careers and life after college, and alumni got to hear what was new at UConn, which has changed so much in such a short period of time.

Just as it happens every semester, brothers left the city with a greater appreciation for Alpha Epsilon Pi at UConn and nationally.

Career Corner Winter vacation is not only a break from your typical busy course load but it also serves as an opportunity for you to work on some additional projects that were pushed to the side this semester – especially those projects related to your career. Capitalize on the downtime this winter break and start to create rough drafts of those important career related documents such as cover letters or résumé. Maybe take the time to do some research on potential careers or internship opportunities, or create an elevator speech to market yourself at the upcoming spring fairs.

Adequately preparing this winter break will put you in a better spot this spring semester when the work load picks up again. The Career Services website will be an important and convenient resource for you to refer to over break, www.career.uconn.edu, and as soon as you get back in January come visit us in 201 Wilbur Cross to review all of your hard work!

From all of us in the Department of Career Services we wish you a relaxing and productive winter break!

The OFSL would like to wish a Happy Founder’s Day to the following organizations in our Greek community!

Lambda Theta Alpha—Dec. 1975 Sigma Lambda Upsilon—Dec. 1, 1987 Kappa Sigma—Dec. 10, 1869 Lambda Alpha Upsilon—Dec. 10, 1985 Delta Gamma—Dec. 25, 1873 Zeta Beta Tau—Dec. 29, 1898 Tau Kappa Epsilon—Jan. 10, 1899 Alpha Kappa Alpha—Jan. 15, 1908 Zeta Phi Beta—Jan. 16, 1920 Kappa Alpha Theta—Jan. 27,1870

Nominate Here Calling all chapters and councils! The Greek Emerging Leaders Conference is planned for Saturday, February 9th, 2013. The theme of this year’s conference is “Waves of Change: Oceans of Opportunity”. The OFSL needs your help. Program submissions are now live on our website, www.greeklife.uconn.edu. The OFSL is looking for programs which will explore a variety of leadership styles, help new members gain valuable leadership skills, and teach emerging Greek leaders how to apply their skills to their chapter and the greater Greek community. All proposals must be submitted by Monday, December 10th at 12 noon.

Do you know an outstanding Greek Senior? How about a member in any Greek organization that goes above and beyond for their chapter? Nominate them for a Senior Spotlight or Greek of the month! Anyone in the Greek Community can submit nominations, and you can find the nomination forms here: Senior Spotlight; Greek of the Month.

Do you want your chapter to be featured in the newsletter? Please send all submissions to Kaitlin Latham at Student1498@ad.uconn.edu by 5pm Wednesday, January 30th to be featured in the February edition.