Search results matching tags 'Greek life' and 'pi beta phi'

80s Prom!

ChristinaL — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:08:00 GMT

One of the things that the juniors and seniors at Butler are most proud of is our status as children of the 1980s. Yes, we are the babies of the decade, and we really don't have too many coherent memories from it, but it still makes us feel way more retro and cool to say we lived in such a ridiculous and out-of-date era.

We celebrated this cultural golden age last night at my sorority's 80s Prom.

Dances, usually called formals or informals, are another long-standing tradition of Greek life. We rent out a space at a hotel or restaurant to host a dance, and then we all take buses over there together. If you were on the Homecoming decoration committee or if you went to prom four times in high school, then you would love this aspect of being Greek. I, on the other hand, went to precisely three dances in all of high school: two Homecomings and a Disco Dance. I left the Disco Dance early to see Harry Potter in the theatre at midnight. A lot of my friends went to dances, but that just wasn't my thing at the time.

By the time I got to college, I was a bit more of a dancer but formals were not a priority in my schedule. In my sorority, we typically have a formal and an informal dance each semester. The informal ones are the best, in my opinion, because they usually have a fun theme that involves dressing up. However, up until now, the ONLY dance I've been able to attend was a formal two years ago when I was a sophomore. I usually have a super busy schedule in the spring where I'm traveling for different conferences and am out of town on a lot of weekends, and last fall I studied abroad so I obviously couldn't go. However, here I am, a senior, now finally ready to go to my first informal. Thank goodness we picked such an amazing theme as 80s prom.

My little sister happens to be a Goodwill guru, so I asked her if she had anything she could lend me for an 80s prom. She, of course, just happened to have a bright purple, full-length, vintage 80s dress hanging in her closet. HUGE poufy sleeves? check. Bow the size of a small child on the back? check. My cousin lent me big gold hoops earrings, and I was ready to go.

Working the 80s with my old roommate, Kim!

I decided to bring my friend Jared as my date, because he was one of the 17 Butler kids in my study abroad group in Spain last fall. I love my Alcala family to pieces, and Jared and I are especially good friends because we lived across the street from each other in Spain and our host parents were close. We spent our first day in Spain exploring Alcala together with my host dad; we would walk together when we went out at night; one time, Jared even lived with my family for a week when his mama had a family emergency.

Here we are together with Don Quijote on Day 1 in Spain:

But the most epic bonding experience that Jared and I ever had was when we decided to try the gym just down the street from where we lived. We got passes for a free trial, and I convinced Jared that we should go to a group fitness class. The one we happened to pick turned out to be a mix of hip hop striptease aerobics led by a young man wearing women's workout clothing. The class was entirely populated by middle-aged Spanish women. We were definitely the only Americans AND the only ones under 30. However, the situation was so funny that we just had to get into it and dance like fools! Jared is a great dancer and not afraid of anything, so we ended up having a really fun time. After that, we would always laugh and try to recreate our aerobics moves when we went out dancing with our friends. Since the 80s were a time of aerobics and bad prom dresses, I thought I would combine the two by bringing my good old study abroad buddy.

Mini reunion at the Prom! Jared and I with our friend Chelsea who also went to Spain with us.

Although we couldn't remember any of our Spanish aerobics, we still had a great time, and it was so much fun to catch up with an old friend and hang out with all my sisters for my very first informal. Somewhere along my college career, I have become a person who actually likes dancing. I learned a lot about looking like a fool in Spain and, of course, being a Student Orientation Guide this year was all about letting loose and looking silly to help the freshmen lighten up.

If the 1980s taught us anything at all, it's that looking ridiculous is cool - as long as you're having fun!

When in Rome

BUTaylorM — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:20:00 GMT

It's a Sunday. It's 4:20 and I just visited all the sororities with some girls from my unit, 1E (except Alpha Phi. We were too late.) and, before, I was total skeptic about sororities and greek life. I had heard from friends about hazing and drinking and such at different schools and I did NOT want to be a part of that. However, after visiting all the houses (except Alpha Phi), my mind has been changed.

First House= Alpha Chi Omega

Second House= Delta Gamma

Third House= Delta Delta Delta (or Tri-Delta)

Fourth House= Kappa Kappa Gamma

Fifth House= Kappa Alpha Theta

Last House= Pi Beta Phi

You can't really know until you get to know the girls and it's tough. At least for me. I have been trying to get involved but... it's been hard to get into some organizations. I never got a call back for BUSF which I think is kind of rude. I wanted to get in, sure, but at least tell me that I didn't make it instead of not calling. Plus, I have been working so hard at school and such that I haven't been going out to the greek events which makes it hard to get to know the girls. I'm really glad Butler doesn't make us decide until the end of our semester rather than rushing right at the beginning. It helps you to get assimilated to Butler. I just hope that, if I do end up rushing, that I get bids based on my personality and work ethic... not my looks or ability to party. Well, I think I better finish this thing up. I have work up to my ears that I must attend to. However, I leave you with a picture of old Butler. It's pretty crazy how much it has changed over the years.

Butler's Best Dance Crews

ChristinaL — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:06:00 GMT

One interesting college phenomenon is the lipsync. At Butler, we use this term on practically a weekly basis, and yet lipsyncs do not involve any singing or even mouthing the words. Butler's term "lipsync" is just another word for "group dance competition"- usually one that provides free weekend entertainment at events that raise money for a charity.

When I was a freshman, some of the fraternities hosted lipsyncs where the sororities would compete. In the last three years, this campus has gone lipsync crazy, and now nearly all the fraternities have a lipsync and the sororities have started adding their own lipsyncs for the men to duke it out. Sticking to gender stereotype, the women with the most intense, intricate, synchronized dance win, while all the guys need for a victory are some silly costumes and ridiculously humorous dance moves. Another change in the last three years is that the non Greek members of campus have joined in on the lipsync craze - Ross Hall and the Independent Council have also participated.

This weekend we had the first two lipsyncs of the year: Alpha Phi's Bounce for Beats Hearthrob competition and Lambda Chi Alpha's Watermelon Bust.

Bounce for Beats raises money for women's cardiac health. The Phi ladies jump on trampolines all day and ask for donations. For the Hearthrob competition, they give the guys a turn - they have to have at least one guy on the trampoline bouncing and they have to use heart-related music... which often = boy bands. This year, the men of Tau Kappa Epsilon won with a pretty ridiculous performance that included fireworks... that was a first. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of that, but here are some of the other guys dancing, and you can see the big crowd of people that showed up to supoort Alpha Phi's philanthropy.

On Saturday, Lambda hosted their annual watermelon-themed event to raise money for the North American Food Drive. I didn't get to stay for all the lipsyncs, but I did enjoy the humor of Pi Phi's dance, choreographed entirely to Biggie music to bring out the inner gangsta in all of us, I guess. My sisters crack me up. I applaud them for taking down the gender stereotypes and showing that women can be just as silly and fun as the guys!

Oh lipsyncs... They are definitely one of those Butler traditions that seem like a such a normal part of life until you stop to think and realize how weird they are.

Deep in the Heart of Friendship

ChristinaL — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:38:00 GMT

Well, I am back in Indiana... temporarily! We finished up with the conference on Monday night and spent Tuesday sightseeing and traveling home... I already wasn't feeling too good, and when I woke up in my own bed on Wednesday morning, I was definitely sick! I had to take a day off and rest up, because I have just been doing too much traveling recently. But, now that I'm feeling better, let me give you a recap:

The last day of the convention was so much fun and full of surprises and special guests.

We had tons of great speakers that day!

In the morning, US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson - a Pi Beta Phi alum from University of Texas - came to speak to us! She is the only female senator ever to be from Texas, and when she joined the Senate, was one of only seven women. She talked about the importance of having women well represented in every aspect of society. Her speech was a great introduction to the two other Pi Phi alumnae who received member of distinction awards - one is a noted journalist who is the editor of an African American newspaper in NYC, and the other is a doctor at Johns Hopkins.

The day also had a strong focus on philanthropy. Pi Phi supports literacy, and we partner with First Book, a national non-profit that donates books to low-income children and schools. Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, came to speak to us at the convention. She talked about all the excuses that people give for why they can't make a difference... and then gave examples of women throughout history who have proven those excuses wrong! She is such an intelligent, funny and passionate woman - I really admire her and LOVE her organization! I am so glad that we support it and I was thrilled to see Pi Beta Phi present First Book with $240,000 on Monday!!

We also gave $10,000 to The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation (TAKE), which was very emotional. Ali Kemp was a Pi Phi from Kansas who was murdered a few years ago. Her parents started a foundation that teaches women and girls self-defense techniques so that deaths like Ali's can be prevented in the future. We had the chance to go through the TAKE training on Monday and learn some moves! It was definitely a great experience and something that I think all women should go through... not to mention it was fun practicing my defense moves on my friend Erikaa! : )

The last part of the evening was the Wine Carnation Banquet, when the fraternity awards are given out and the outgoing national officers speak about one another. It was so sweet to hear about the friendship that our national officers have shared together. All in all, the day showed that Pi Phi is about making a sincere difference in society with our volunteer work and our fundraising... but it's also about the connections and friendships we create with one another along that jouney.

On Tuesday, the convention was all over and so we had some time to get out of the bubble of our hotel. The Gaylord Texan, where we stayed, was massive and included its own versions of some Texas highlights including the facade of the Alamo and a faux San-Antonio-style riverwalk!

But, we wanted to see some of the "real" Texas, so we ventured to the nearby downtown of Grapevine. I think some of its historical Texas charm has been amped up for tourism, but it was so stereotypically Texan that we had fun with it!

Of course, every cowboy town's gotta have a jail for the outlaws:

Overall, it was an amazing trip. I learned so much and feel inspired and ready to help lead my chapter in my last year at Butler. I am so proud to wear the Golden Arrow of Pi Beta Phi!

IN Gamma <3

Pi Phis Take Over Texas

ChristinaL — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:13:00 GMT

Howdy ya'll! ; ) I am writing to you from DALLAS, TEXAS where I am on location for the 67th convention of the Pi Beta Phi fraternity for women!

I'm not sure exactly how many Pi Phis are here, but there are 134 active collegiate chapters with at least one representative (most have two or more), and there are even more than 150 (I think!) alumnae clubs represented by at least one woman. Okay, so my by-the-numbers approach is lacking some substance but let me just say that there are A TON of Pi Phi women and we have taken over the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center in full force!

On Friday morning, our chapter president Erikaa, one of our alumnae advisors Kristi, and I all flew down from Indianapolis. It was a long day because we had to take two flights and the only thing on tv while we sat around on our layover was Michael Jackson tributes, so I had "Billy Jean," "Thriller," and that "The Way You Make Me Feel" song that's in Center Stage stuck in my head all day.

But, it was all worth it when we arrived at this HUGE convention center in Texas with *insert very large number* of our fraternity sisters! They don't lie - everything is bigger in Texas. This resort is like a small city with everything you could possibly need; until Erikaa and I took a walk this afternoon (Sunday), we hadn't been outside since Friday afternoon... crazy. There are also a LOT of Pi Phis, so everything is en masse this week.

So what have we been up to?

meeting sisters from other colleges! The best thing ever is learning how many amazing women are part of the larger sisterhood that we share. I love hearing about all the cool things they do personally... and stealing ideas from the awesome things they do in their chapters at home.

meeting alumnae!* It is a common misconception that a Greek organization is something for college students. College is only the beginning, and with so many alumnae of all ages here (literally! there are a lot of "Golden Arrows" here, which means women who were initiated 50 years ago!!), it is so inspiring to see how many women are able to stay involved in Pi Phi activities long after their graduation day. Not only do alumnae clubs support the Pi Phi chapters at colleges, but they also do their own community service and philanthropy and provide a network of friends to support any Pi Phi. If I ever move to a new city, I know that I can look up the nearest Pi Phi alumnae club and meet some passionate, intelligent, engaged women in that community. That's a great network to have wherever I go. I especially loved getting to meet alumnae from our chapter at Butler. I got to hear about what BU was like in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Some traditions like Geneva Stunts have been around FOREVER at Butler...and they're still going strong.

learning about our values. Greek organizations are different from other clubs because they are based on values. Pi Beta Phi's values are Intergrity, Lifelong Commitment, Honor & Respect, Philanthropic Service to Others, Personal and Intellectual Growth and Sincere Friendship.

voting on legislation and electing new leaders for the fraternity.

learning how to create more effective and meaningful programs for our chapter members. Greek life is about developing yourself as a whole, well-rounded person, and at our convention we've talked about the ways that we can help our members to grow as students, women, friends, etc. while upholding and reinforcing our values. It is a huge responsibility to put on programming that educates our chapter, but that's one of the things I love about sorority life - college women take on this great challenge to teach their peers about ideals and qualities they value.

discussing some of the challenges facing college students, like binge drinking and hazing, and how Pi Phis can be a force of positive change on our campuses when it comes to these kind of issues.

learning more about our initiation ritual and discussing why it is so important to us.

eating a lot of really tasty food. mmmm!

singing Pi Phi songs, most of which are meaningful and beautiful... and some of which are really old and silly and have ridiculous lyrics about how Pi Phis won't hold men's hands because they are angels (and thus not promiscuous enough to *gasp* hold hands) ; )

hanging out, having fun and enjoying the fellowship!

It is such a cool experience to see the larger picture of what the fraternity is all about and how it works. We also have the chance to give input into our organization and learn from its top leaders.

At dinner tonight, I sat next to the Grand Vice President of Membership! Luellen is a really big deal... and I got to pick her brain for an hour about how to really recruit the most quality members who live up to our values and will be committed to the chapter. Awesome! While she was there, the former Grand President (aka the leader of the entire fraternity), who also happens to be the most adorable little old (and feisty, intelligent, well-spoken and loving) Southern woman came up to talk to Luellen and gave me a hug. The former Grand President! Highlight of my day, for sure. Her name is Sis Mullis, and she is on my short list of very inspiring women.

I also had a great experience tonight talking to the Risk Management Officer for Pi Phi. We watched a documentary about hazing and binge drinking, and I shared with her an idea I had about a discussion that chapters could have that would be honest and open and try to get to the real issues of why college students sometimes drink excessively. Sarah was really interested in what I had to say, and we're going to stay in touch via email and our discussion might lead to new programming for the whole fraternity!

I guess I say all this to emphasize how great it is to be surrounded by the leaders that are making amazing things happen for a community of over 200,000 fabulous women. I am learning so much, but I'm not just here as an observer, and it is exciting to take an active role in my fraternity family.

More updates - and pictures - will come soon. Tomorrow is the last day of business... I'm not ready to go home!

*Christina's Grammar Public Service Announcement regarding Words That Describe People Who Graduated From An Institution:

Alumnus = singular male

Alumna = singular female

Alum = short, slang version of singular

Alumni = plural verson of alumnus - can describe a group of all males, or a mixed gender group)

Alumnae = plural version of alumna - describes a group of females

I say this because these can be very confusing for people to keep straight and as someone who works in the Alumni Office and with many alumni through campus organizations... this drives me slightly crazy. But, I will chalk it up to a lack of awareness and rectify that situation by explaining the right terminology and trust you to check yourself. My English major, grammar-lovin' soul begs of you:

Please do not use "alum" as a plural form. (I will cry.) As in: "Our alum are such great people. They have so much Butler spirit." ALUM IS NOT PLURAL, PEOPLE!

Ok, now stepping off my grammar soapbox! Have a good night : )

MOOSE!

ChristinaL — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:58:01 GMT

Here's the whole mighty Moose family - we've really grown in recent years! Below me, you can seemy branch of the family - my little sister Jackie, and my little-little Stephanie! I won't name all the rest because there are just so many Mooses but I love them alll. Aren't our antlers cool? : ) That's one of our traditions. We always wrap up Big/Little Reveal with family bonding over moose cookies and milk and some moose tracks ice cream.

Family night at Pi Phi

ChristinaL — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:56:00 GMT

One fun part of the new member process is finding out who your Big Sis is! This is an older member of the chapter who serves as a mentor for one of our new Pi Phis. We "reveal" the sister pairings at a fun night full of songs, games, and sugar! An old Pi Phi tradition is the cookieshine where we pass around a huge cookie, and everyone takes a piece and makes a wish while the rest of us sing Pi Phi songs. It's very cute and a fun way to welcome the new members to the families. All the beautiful ladies in blue are from my family - the Mooses!

The Spice Girls, live at Hinkle Fieldhouse

ChristinaL — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:52:29 GMT

One of my initiatives for Panhel, the group which oversees all the sororities, is for us to be a united force of women supporting women. So, I organized a fun evening for all the sorority women at a BU women's basketball game which was on ESPN. The theme was "Spice Up the Night! Girl power for women's basketball" and we had a Spice Girls costume contest and Spice Girl themed games (the sing-a-long was very popular).

Here I am with a full set of all 5 Spice Girls from Pi Phi. I had to be Scary because of my curly hair... my roomie Kim even went all out and dyed her hair red to be Ginger!

The event was SO much fun and it was the largest turnout at a women's basketball game in YEARS... success!

My Greek family at Initiation!

ChristinaL — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:45:26 GMT

My little sis Jackie and her little sis (my grand little!) Stephanie at initiation for Pi Phi. Part of this special day is letters and Pi Phi presents for our new members.

Junior year is eating my life.

ChristinaL — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't been posting as frequently as I usually do. We are starting to get into the busy portion of this semester and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Hopefully I can write a long post for you soon about one of these topics, but here's what's up in my life....

1) INTERNSHIP! I love love love it, but it is pretty time-consuming. It's so much fun to have a "big kid" job... even if they don't pay me. You will definitely hear more about this asap.

2) Greek life. I am VP of Education for the Panhellenic Association, which oversees the sororities, and this has been taking up a lot of my time! Mostly because I see this position as a way to really leave my mark on the Greek community and try new things to show people that Greeks are so much more (and usually quite different) than the stereotypes. We had a very successful event promoting women's basketball a few weekends ago (It was Spice Girls themed and we called it Spice Up the Night! Girl Power for Women's Basketball - cute right?) and our exec board went to a Greek leadership conference with 2100 people in St. Louis last weekend.

At Pi Phi, we are also busy with the education process for our new members. Last night we revealed who their Big Sisters are and so I got to help my Little Sis Jackie welcome our newest member of the Moose family, Stephanie! What a fabulous fam : )

3) School! I have SO much reading. Like, I'm not actually sure it's possible for me to finish it all ever. I would estimate I have at least 500 pages a week assigned to me for my three hardest classes combined, and my reading pace is definitely slower because I try to take notes and synthesize it all for later paper writing or class discussions. I'm doing the best I can, but it's definitely taking a toll on my sleep. Don't take two heavy-reading lit classes AND a heavy-reading history class in one semester with an internship. This will not end well for your shut-eye...

4) Hmm... where does the rest of my time go? Probably trying to keep my closet organized and pick up the mess on my floor? This is a daily battle.

5) Occasionally I have some fun. This mostly takes the form of playing clarinet at the Basketball games and dancing like a fool. I was on ESPNU doing just that a few weeks ago.

6) Trying to plan the rest of my life. yeah this sounds kind of dramatic, but I have to make some big kid choices right now such as: do I want to live off-campus next year? Where do I want to spend my summer and what should I do? What should my Honors thesis be?! and then smaller crises like: What am I doing for spring break?

So, I hope to give you a more substantial post soon, but for now it's just about stayin alive! I have another conference this weekend for the Student Foundation at U of Cincinnati. It will be good to see some friends that I have met from other colleges, but I actually wish I had the weekend to do homework. When did my life become so lame? haha.

have a good week!