Volume 9, Issue 3 - November 2013

V OL UM E 9

IS SU E 3

NO V 2013

UNI VE R SI TY O F C ON NEC TI CU T F RA TER NI T Y & S O RO RI T Y C O MM U NI TY NE W S LET TE R

WWW.GREEKLIFE.UCONN.EDU In This Issue: Page 1: Homecoming 2013 Results; HV House-of-theMonth Winners Page 2: What are you thankful for?

Page 3: AKA Hosts Round-Up; Arête Teaser Page 4: KATs & Bats Recap; AEPhi Late Night Recap

“It Takes 2”—Homecoming 2013 Results After another long week of lip syncing, alma mater singing, car chalking, and float building, our Homecoming competition came to a close and each duo stood strong against the next. Congratulations to the overall winners as well as members of our Greek Community who were represented in the Homecoming Court!

Page 5: The Future of Greek Housing; BΘΠ Eating Contest Page 6: GAB 2014; Stroll For a Cause Page 7: Greeks of The Month Page 8: Senior Spotlights

Congratulations to the Husky Village House-of-the-Month Winners!

Overall Greek Winners

Pi Beta Phi (C2)

1st Place: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon

Sorority Winner

2nd Place: Delta Zeta, Sigma Chi

Tau Kappa Epsilon (E1)

3rd Place: Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Delta Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Fraternity Winner

Homecoming Court

Each month, members of the Residential Life staff will tour the houses and choose two winners. Decisions are based on:

King & Queen:  

Hayley Crombleholme – Delta Gamma & Alpha Epsilon Pi Justis Lopez – Puerto Rican Latin American Cultural Center 1st Runner Up:

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Indhira Nunez – Puerto Rican Latin American Cultural Center 

Sonny Caplash – Asian American Cultural Center 2nd Runner Up: 

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order and cleanliness of the houses

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lack of fire, safety, and housing contract violations

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overall appearance of the house common spaces

Winning houses receive points towards the Village Wars competition.

Rachel Bentivegna – Delta Zeta & Sigma Chi 

Sebastian Correa – Global House

Click here for the extensive results.

See Page 5 for the latest in Greek Housing!

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Over the past week the OFSL gave all the members of our community a chance to voice what they are thankful for.

Thank you to all who participated! Here are a select few of the responses:

“The sisters in my sorority who have my back no matter what. “ “I'm thankful for my family - the family I will be returning to for Thanksgiving and the Greek family I've found at UConn.”

“I am forever thankful for the love and support from the UConn and the Greek Community, who helped tremendously during my time of need. If not for the unconditional charity from everyone, the former inhabitants of the Bungalow would be in a very rough place. “

“I am thankful for the two newest additions in my family in the past year: two happy, healthy and adorable nephews.”

“My family, my TKE brothers, my success at school, my internship, and UConn itself for providing such great opportunities! “

“I am thankful for life, friends, family, coworkers, bosses and music.“

“I am thankful for my supportive family, loving “I am thankful that I have a loving family, good health, and 56 brothers to help me through any challenges I might face.“

friends, and beautiful AEPhi sisters. LML! “

“Brotherhood, the ability to go to college, and the place I've made for myself in life. “

“I'm thankful for my college education, my health, and all other opportunities that I am able to partake in as a Greek, as a Husky, and as an American.“

“Life. Family. My brothers.“ “I am thankful for the hard times because they made me stronger.”

“I am thankful for the opportunity to be surrounded by women who inspire me daily and who share the same values as me. I am thankful that I am lucky enough to also call these same women my best friends, and my

“I am thankful for my family, friends, and brothers. Without these people I couldn't get through my life.”

support system through good times and bad.“

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KATs & Bats Recap This year for Kappa Alpha Theta's KATs and Bats we were fortunate enough to get the involvement of over 20 teams between the men's and women's brackets. Sigma Chi took home the golden bat for the men's bracket and Delta Zeta took the golden bat from the women's - our winners not only received these golden bats but also were given gifts towards Wings, DP Dough, and Frozen Yogurt. Our Mr. CASAnova competition grew heated this year and the men were all huge contributors towards our cause for CASA. It was a tight competition but ultimately ZBT's Evan Coimbra was crowned Theta's Mr. CASAnova and Beta's Andrew DeBarge was named the runner-up. We cannot thank all 10 of our contestants enough for their energy and dedication throughout the competition. Kappa Alpha Theta's local CASA organization is called Children In Placement (CIP) and this year we were glad to have our CIP representative attend the event and say a few words - currently we are sorting through different donations to total our donation to CASA, which we anticipate to total upwards of $3,000. We'd like to again thank all of our sponsors, vendors, and participants without whom we wouldn't have been able to do this.

AEPhi Late Night Recap Alpha Epsilon Phi hosted their annual Late Night at their house in Husky Village on October 17th! We sold challah bread French toast to raise money for one of our national philanthropies, Sharsheret. Sharsheret, meaning "links" in Hebrew, is an organization that connects women with breast or ovarian cancer and their families. We understand how important it is to have the support of our sisters through everything so Sharsheret is very close to our hearts. We are so grateful to everyone who stopped by for some challah French toast to support our philanthropy. We raised over $420 for Sharsheret!

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Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Hosts Undergraduate Round-Up The Lambda Tau chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. successfully hosted the North Atlantic Region’s 2013 Undergraduate Round-Up. The conference was held from September 27th-29th at the Farmington Marriott in Farmington, CT- and ran under the theme “Superwomen Capturing the Promise: Changing the World One Chapter at a Time”. Planning the conference required tireless efforts from April until September. Despite only having 12 members in the chapter, the lovely ladies of Lambda Tau graciously hosted 560 members of the sorority throughout the weekend. Under the guidance of their Regional Director, Mrs. Constance R. Pizzaro, their devoted Graduate Advisor, Ms. Brittney Yancy, and sponsoring graduate chapter, Epsilon Omicron Omega, the ladies were able to host one of the most sensational undergraduate conferences to date. The chapter was very pleased to receive numerous accolades from both undergraduate and graduate members of the sorority, and look forward to using the conference planning skills they have acquired in the future.

Maggie Hsu, "Creator of Mochi Magazine" Date/Time: Monday, November 4th, 7:30 pm @ Student Union: Asian American Cultural Center(4th floor) Maggie Hsu is one of the creators of Mochi Magazine, a fashion magazine geared towards young Asian American women. Come join the sisters of Kappa Phi Lambda and learn about her experiences with Mochi Magazine as well as learn about her leadership role in the community.

The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life would like to wish a Happy Founder’s Day to the following organizations: Alpha Epsilon Pi (11/07/1913) 100 Years!!

Gamma Phi Beta (11/11/1874) 139 Years Sigma Gamma Rho (11/12/1922) 91 Years

Arête Awards 2014 Know an outstanding member of the community that should be recognized with an Arête Award?

Click here to nominate that someone.

Deadline is January 5, 2014.

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Third Annual Beta Theta Pi Eating Contest Are you interested in eating pie for a great cause!? The brothers of ΒΘΠ are hosting their 3rd Annual Beta Theta Pi Eating Contest on Sunday, NOVEMBER 10th! Come out and help them raise money for the Holy Family Homeless Shelter in Willimantic. This event will be full of excitement as teams compete to see who can eat their own 6" apple pies the fastest. The fastest guy's team and girl's team will win trophies!

Don't like apple pie? You're still welcome to come and throw a whipped cream pie into the face of any of our members! Enter our pie baking contest to have be judged by Greek life's finest fraternities and sororities. The group that enters the best tasting pie also wins a prize.

The event will be running from 3:30PM to 6:30PM on Fairfield Way outside the Student Union.

The costs are $50 to enter pie eating teams, $10 to enter a pie into the competition, & $2 to pie a brother!

To register email andrew.laflamme@uconn.edu with your team names and the number of members for each team. Also include if you wish to bake a pie to enter the competition.

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The Future of On-Campus

Regarding Submissions

Greek Housing

Do you want your chapter to be featured in an upcoming issue of the Newsletter?

Applications for On-Campus Greek Would you like to nominate someone you know Housing in Towers are live! Click here to for Greek of The Month or Senior Spotlight? be a part of the potentially all Greek Please consider the following: building for the 2014-2015 academic  Submissions are due by the 15th of the year.

Encourage those from all organizations to sign up and get excited.

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Help us promote Greek unity and expand Greek Housing here on campus.

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Applications are due to the OFSL by November 15th.

month in order to be feature in next month’s issue.

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Submissions for Greek of The Month and Senior Spotlight are to be filled out via OFSL’s UConntact page under the “Forms” tab.

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All other submissions, or questions regarding submissions are to be addressed to J.C. Gonzalez at student2212@ad.uconn.edu Thank you for your cooperation!

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The Sisters of the Concordia Chapter of Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. and the Hermanos of the Xi Chapter of Latino América Unida, Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity, Inc. invite you to our 3rd Annual Stroll For a Cause on Saturday, November 2, 2013 5:00 p.m. (with Doors opening at 4:00pm) at the University of Connecticut Storrs Campus, Student Union Ballroom.

The event will once again be open to the public for students, family and friends. There will be an admission fee of $6 for UConn students, and

$4 for Greeks with Para.

Greeks make sure you come with para, UConn Student with your Student ID -- if we can't confirm your status you will have to pay the difference at the door.

Confirmed Organizations Competing: Sororities: 1. Sigma Gamma Rho 2. Lambda Theta Alpha 3. Sigma Lambda Upsilon 4. Lambda Psi Delta

Fraternities: 1. Phi Beta Sigma 2. Iota Phi Theta 3. Lambda Upsilon Lambda 4. Pi Delta Psi 5. Delta Epsilon Psi

Congratulations to those selected to be a part of GAB for 2014. This year two trips will be running: The first, from January 4-11 will be traveling to Negril, Jamaica and the second, from March 15-22 will be traveling to Indianapolis.

Negril, Jamaica

Indianapolis

Amanda Kohalmi, KAΘ

Michelle Rumery, ΓΦB

Isabela Galvao, ΠΒΦ

David Best, IΦΘ

Dionna Jackson, ΣΓP

Alexandra Sibert, ΔZ

Goetti Francois, ZΦB

Shoshannah Henry, ΣΓP

Alicia Benjamin, ΔZ

Britt Smith, ΔZ

Richard Smith, IΦΘ

Casandra Holveck, ΔZ

Kurston Butler, ΔΓ

Stephanie Varanelli, ΔZ

Danielle Kosinski, ΔZ

Molly Leahy, KAΘ

Alicia Ceglio, ΠBΦ

Catherine Virola, KAΘ

Stephanie Orts, KAΘ

Kayla Perkins, ΓΦΒ

Alexandra Fitzner, ΠBΦ

Elizabeth Wallett, KAΘ

Dannielle Reid, KKΓ

Jackie Weiss, AEΦ

Allison Kucia, ΔΓ

Lisa Maresca, AΦ

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From her nomination: Lisette has profoundly impacted our community by her commitment to our organization and campus involvement. Throughout her time as an Hermana, she has pledged her commitment towards humanitarian service efforts and it’s about time we serve her.

Aside from her own charitable projects, she has led and continues to lead the Community Service and Philanthropic efforts at the Alpha Omicron chapter since she helped to charter it back in 2011. She has witnessed the struggles that affect someone from becoming a fully functioning adult, from basic reading and writing to language and health illiteracies. This has pushed her to go beyond the call of duty to ensure that other people do not face the same fates due to a lack of resources. Her inspiring attitude, avid leadership, and positive energies to want to better her campus, community and traditionally marginalized groups are often admirable and contagious. Her individual service project includes the No Freeze Homeless Shelters in Willimantic, in which she is highly involved with. One of her individual leadership roles includes being an official Disney Campus Representative, where she acts as a direct resource for Disney Internships to the UConn students. However what we think truly sets her altruism and leadership apart is her humility. Conversely she is always fully active in our chapter as a networker, guide and sister. Lisette truly embodies what Greek Life is about. Her passion for involvement, professionalism, and her loyalty to leveraging our strengths Lisette Espinal, ΣΛΥ truly makes her Alarmingly Outstanding.

From her nomination: Samantha Sánchez is the president of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. This position in her chapter is not easy. She has to fill in shoes that the previous presidents have and it's not an easy task. Every year the organization tops the previous year in terms of events. During the summer prior to the semester starting Samantha was keeping in contact with Cindy Pierce for the Lambda Ladies' event "Safer, Saner Sex" where Cindy was talking about sex in college and how to be smart about having sex in college as well.

This event even got onto the front section of Focus in the Daily Campus. Samantha is also the head of strolling practices for upcoming shows/events. She participates in KUBE as a mentor for kids during some weekends. Also, Samantha is a student Supervisor for North Dining Hall.

Samantha Sánchez, ΛΘA From her nomination: Brianna has been an integral part of her chapter since she joined in Fall 2011. She became involved right away and has remained an active sister into her senior year. Brianna has held several positions throughout her time in Alpha Epsilon Phi, most recently leading AEPhi, Beta, and TKE to Homecoming victory as our Homecoming Chair. Throughout all of homecoming, Brianna remained positive and encouraged everyone to get involved. Beyond Homecoming, Brianna is very supportive and a sister than anyone can go to and she will be there for them.

Brianna Braun, AEΦ

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From her nomination: Sam Cummins is not only an extraordinary senior in Kappa Alpha Theta, but also a truly outstanding student at UConn. She is in the Honors Program, and is double majoring in molecular and cell biology and an individualized major in global health and social issues. She is also in the Combined Program in Medicine, which means she is already accepted into the UConn Medical School. Sam has been a member of Theta since the Fall of 2011, and is currently serving on the New Member Education Committee and the Scholarship Committee. Her dedication to Kappa Alpha Theta and all of her sisters is seen by all. Sam is on the HuskyTHON Management Team, and is the co-director of hospital relations. She works with CCMC to update them on the work of the HuskyTHON Management Team, as well as keeping in touch with the Miracle Families for each of their major events. Sam currently serves as one of the Pre-Medical Society's Co-Presidents. She plans and executes meetings to guide pre-medical students in their undergraduate years and last spring she organized the Health Professions Conference at UConn. She has also spoken at the Open House pre-med presentation for incoming students. In addition to all of her extracurricular involvements, Sam does about 15 hours of research every week on campus, and has had research internships over the past few summers. She is an outstanding sister and undoubtedly demonstrates all four pillars of Greek life in all that she is involved in. She will truly be missed in Theta when Sam Cummins, KAΘ she graduates!

From his nomination: Since Chris "Otter" Ottersen was initiated in Fall 2010, he has been a leader in Beta Theta Pi. He's been an officer every year, serving as Athletics Chairman in 2011 & 2013 and Chapter Relations Chairman in 2012. He is heavily involved in recruitment for both Beta and the UConn community. This is his third year as a Husky Ambassador Program Coordinator where he's in charge of the Husky for a Day program and open house volunteers. On top of all this, he is also a manager for the men's basketball team. Scholarship is important to Chris, as his cumulative 3.7 GPA has helped Beta maintain its outstanding GPA. This spring he will graduate with a dual degree in Accounting and Sport Management and has already accepted an offer to work for the accounting firm EisnerAmper in New York City next year. Otter will be greatly missed by his chapter for his outstanding character and great sense of humor.

Words alone cannot describe the tremendous impact that he has had on Beta and the UConn community. We feel lucky to call him our brother and look forward Chris “Otter” Ottersen, BΘΠ to seeing what’s in store for his bright future.

From his nomination: Ever since pledging Phi Gamma Delta in Fall 2012, David has been a passionate member of the fraternity. Showing his devotion to help Fiji in many ways, brother Arciniegas has shown leadership in becoming co-social chair while also working closely with Pledge Ed and recruitment committees. But most importantly he has managed to make brotherhood his first priority. He regularly seeks ways to improve brotherhood with new ideas, events, and helping out with those extra flex passes! Known affectionately as Boat Kid by his friends, David has been an important part of Fiji's growth and chartering at UConn.

David Arciniegas, FIJI

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