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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: Happy Valentines Day!; Arete Awards; LifeTimes Submissions Pages 2 & 3: UCGAB— Jamaica Recap Page 3: Calling all Leaders!; HusyThon 2014 Page 4: Senior Spotlight Page 5: Senior Spotlight (cont.); Greek of the Month
2014 Arête Awards The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life is proud to announce the details of the 2014 Arête Awards. Date: Wednesday, February 19th Time: 6:30-9:00pm Location: Rome Ballroom Chapter presidents will be receiving more information regarding the event in the coming weeks.
LifeTimes Submissions Want your chapter to be featured in next month’s issue of LifeTimes? Have any questions regarding the newsletter or submissions? Direct your submissions and questions to JC Gonzalez via email. Please be mindful that all submissions for next month’s issue are due by Wednesday Feb. 19th at 12 noon. Additionally, all Greek of the Month and Senior Spotlight submissions are to be filled out via UConntact under the “Forms” tab. Thank you for your cooperation and as always your feedback is welcome!
On January 4, 2014 fourteen UConn sorority women from various chapters and councils landed at the Montego Bay Airport in Jamaica to embark on a week-long journey that would prove to be life-changing. Despite flight delays and cancellations from the chilling New England weather, everyone arrived safe and sound prepared for a week of sun and service.
This country has seen War and freedom, Poverty and success, Thirst and thriving, Always circling back to disappointment, One step forward followed by Two steps back. This country has seen Liars and thieves, People have stolen the fruit And the fruit of the labors Of hard working Tainos Who just want to feed The hungry eyes Looking up at them At the dinner table. The fields are filled With broken promises And the beaches wash away The honesty of a handshake. In the end, She stands Proud, whole, and with integrity. The sun will never stop shining, The waves will never stop crashing, And the people will never stop Calling it home. -Denee Jackson, ΣΓP, Senior
The first task that the women of UCGAB: Project Jamaica 2014 completed was tearing down and then replacing siding at Gordon’s Early Childhood Institute, a school for children ages 3-6 in Negril, Jamaica that had no electricity and was crammed to capacity with students. The second half of the week our Greeks traveled to Treasure Beach, located in the southern sector of Jamaica. Once again they had the opportunity to provide their services for students and staff, this time at the Sandy Bank Primary School. Here, participants had the task of transforming an old cockroach-inhabited computer lab into a space suitable for meetings and gatherings. By the end of the project Sandy Bank could hardly recognize the now spotless and colorful sector of their school and were incredibly thankful for the extra work our Greeks had put in, cleaning up the school yard and garden. While the women put in an impressive deal of manual labor at the schools, they also had the opportunity to interact and play with the children, enjoy the breathtaking beaches and scenery, and indulge in the Jamaican culture. Some participants tried new food like jerk chicken and beef patties while others conquered their fear of heights as they zip-lined over waterfalls at the tourist attraction YS Falls. Some may say the individuals who the UConn Greeks served were lucky to have received our help but they would be wrong. The individuals who truly gained the most from this experience were the ladies of UCGAB thanks to the friendships made and lessons learned in Jamaica.
“Over the course of our seven day journey in Jamaica the only paint on our nails was from primer, and the only roach stompers on our feet were our Nikes (yes, to literally kill roaches with). We spent long days in the sun pulling siding off of a primary school to rebuild with more stable hardware, building shelves to place the books we brought for the children, and cleaning garbage out of the school yard. We were sunburnt, sweaty, and covered in dirt yet we never looked more like sorority women than during that week, united in Jamaica.” – Amanda Kohalmi, Student Trip Coordinator, KAΘ, Senior
"The UConn Greek Alternative Break to Jamaica is a great way step outside your comfort zone, expand your knowledge of the world, get to know other passionate UConn Greeks and overall have fun. You will meet amazing people and have the opportunity to perform fulfilling service to others on a global level. It was an amazing, eye opening and life changing experience that I would recommend to everyone!" —Alex Fitzner, ΠΒΦ, Senior
“The UCGAB trip to Jamaica is by far my favorite Greek memory. There are so many things I can say about the trip but you wouldn't really understand unless you experience a Greek alternative break yourself. The week was honestly so rewarding on so many levels. Through seeing the impact we made on the children in the schools, to laughing and bonding with other UConn sorority women, I truly noticed a change in myself.” —Lisa Maresca, AΦ, Junior
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The Future of Leadership...
The 2014 Greek Emerging Leaders Conference will be held on Sunday, February 9th from 10am-4pm. This year’s conference will help train 200+ emerging leaders how to impact their chapters in a variety of positive ways. If you have yet to do so, remember to submit a list of nominee’s to Monique Golden by today, January 31st. The OFSL is excited to announce our newest advancement in Leadership Education: The Emerging Leaders Program. This 7 week program will meet weekly beginning the first week of March to discuss relevant topics in Greek Life leadership. The program will meet on Wednesdays from 2-3:30pm and will be facilitated by Alex Carrier. Please consider participating in this program as it can be a great way to prepare young new members for possible executive roles in the future. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks!
2014 In just over two weeks, the UConn community will come together to support CCMC in a way that has never been done before. This year, the 15th year of this amazing 18hour dance marathon, we shoot for a goal of $500,000 in hopes to help support the renovations of a new hospital waiting room!! Its not too late to donate and support this incredible cause. Click here to watch a promo video for the event and here to donate. And remember…
FTK.
“Daniel has excelled greatly in scholarship. He has made the Dean's list every semester since Fall '10, and has received the New England scholar award in 2011 and 2012. In addition, he was president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, leading us to meeting and surpassing all requirements of IFC. Daniel also raised close to 1500 dollars in HuskyTHON as a team leader. Daniel has also served as an IFC representative since 2012.”
Daniel White, ΣΑE
“Jamie continues to amaze me everyday. She convinced me to run for a position on our executive board and embodies many qualities of a leader. She is always supporting and encouraging everything I do and has shown me the true meaning of sisterhood. She puts everything she has into this organization and represents our chapter well, exemplifying what a true Delta Gamma is.” Jamie Girolamo, ΔΓ
“Danielle Adams has spent the last four years being both a motivated and incredibly dedicated sister of the Delta Zeta sorority. Danielle has served on the Executive Board for two consecutive years, both as Vice President of Academics and Vice President of Programming. Danielle's dedication to her organization goes far beyond the positions she holds, and includes being one of the most supportive and caring people Delta Zeta has the pleasure of having. After four years in the organization, Danielle has touched the heart of all sisters, both as a friend, a sister, and an incredible role model. This incredible young woman manages to balance an intense academic work load, challenging and demanding positions, and still makes time to support her sisters in all endeavors. Delta Zeta is blessed and incredibly proud to call her a sister.”
Teri Chung, KΦΛ
Danielle Adams, ΔZ
“Teri is very involved with Greek life. She is not only the president of IGC, but also works for OFSL, and is Vice President of our Chapter. She constantly represents Kappa Phi Lambda and Greek life in a very positive light and is proud to be apart of Greek life which is obvious to anyone who talks to her. All her positions in Greek life show what a great leader she is. Personally, I see her as a role model and many people always go to her with questions whenever they ask about Arete, or questions about paperwork, or Greek life in general. I also find surprising that with all the positions Teri holds, she still finds the time to complete her school work. She finds a really good balance between her academics and extracurricular activity. She always attends sisterhood events and community service events to the best of her ability. She is one of the most active sisters in Kappa Phi Lambda.”
“Kazi has made notable contributions to the community through his discipline and commitment towards our organization, Delta Epsilon Psi Inc. And throughout campus. As a Computer Science & Engineering major he is able to balance a rigorous course load and still make time for his other commitments. Across his time as a brother, Kazi has many accomplishments that has lead his organization to reach new heights in its short two year existence on the UConn campus. From the moment he joined DEPsi he held numerous executive board positions. He has served as President of our chapter for the past year while also being involved on the executive board for the Pakistani Community at UConn (PCUC) as the Community Service Chair. Kazi has had a lifelong passion for community service and philanthropy. He has sets high standards for himself and the brothers in our chapter by performing over fifty hours of community service per semester. He is an active mentor and tutor to many high school students. Under his leadership, Delta Epsilon Psi hosted their first ever Bone Marrow Drive successfully registering over 100 donors. He also lead one of our fraternity’s signature philanthropy events, Dodging Diabetes, for the first time. Through this event, we were able to donate $300 to our philanthropy, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, while giving the UConn community something to enjoy at the same time. He also spearheaded our longest running event, Chai Time, a bi-weekly open discussion to all UConn students about currents issues in the community as well as the world as a whole. He has never missed an event while active and has contributed significantly to the Asian American community as a whole. His most recent accomplishment is being the Pledge Educator for our Fall 2013 class of new members, of which we had 14 new members, the largest class our chapter and council has seen to date and more than doubling the size of our chapter. His outstanding dedication to all that he is involved in Kazi Shahjahan, ΔEΨ has made him an example to all the brothers in his organization as well as all that have met him and shows exactly what Greek life is all about.” “I think Lexa Eliades is an ideal example of an outstanding senior sorority member in many different ways. Her positive and giggling attitude is something no one will ever forget about her and her drive to motivate not only herself but others irreplaceable demonstrating leadership, scholarship, and sisterhood. Lexa was Delta Gamma's Director of Scholarship this past year and implemented many different strategies to push the girls of Delta Gamma to not only achieve a good standing GPA but pushed girls to be the scholar of the week. With this she created an award called "smart cookie". Each week sisters could nominate a sister that demonstrated great academic achievements ranging from being in the library all week to getting a good grade on an exam or even getting a job/ internship! I think this really pushed DGs to push above and beyond in our academics. As an outstanding sorority member Lexa was also always one of the first to be there when someone needed an open eardemonstrating great great sisterhood. As busy as Lexa was being a senior, she always made time for anyone and was always the one to make you laugh even in some of the saddest moments. When Lexa leaves UConn she will have definitely made an impact on not only Delta Gammas but everyone she has come in contact with. She will be missed but definitely NEVER FORGOTTEN!”
Lexa Eliades, ΔΓ
“Monisha has demonstrated her impressive leadership abilities within Kappa Kappa Gamma and the greek community. She has been an active member of her sorority by holding positions such as a Standards Committee member, Public Relations assistant, alumni assistant, and Public Relations Chair. She has always encouraged sisters to participate in HuskyTHON, having been a dancer for three years and now being a dancer representative for this year. Monisha also attended UIFI on an OFSL scholarship and was nominated to attend the Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Workshop. Wanting to become more involved in the greek community, she did PR for National Hazing Prevention Week for two years and facilitated Greeks Against Sexual Assault. Monisha also was a part of RMT, and the following year became the Vice President of Recruitment on the Panhellenic Executive Board. She is a double major in Journalism and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies and is currently applying to law schools to focus on criminal, international, and homeland security law. Monisha has always been a supportive sister who inspires others in her sorority to become involved and to give back to others. She is a determined individual who will, without a doubt, continue to be successful in all of her endeavors when she graduates this upcoming spring.”
Monisha Rao (left), KKΓ