 In February, the Beta Omicron Chapter of Delta Tau Delta at Cornell University received the Court of Honor award from their national fraternity. The prestigious award is given to the 20 chapters out of the 127 nationally who best exemplify chapter excellence through community service, alumni relations, membership education, academics, chapter finance and recruitment. The Beta Omicron chapter at Cornell was selected after submitting a comprehensive Fraternity Awards and Accreditation Report (FAAR) to their national chapter.
The award comes at an exciting and busy time for DTD. The chapter is currently “in the middle of a major capital campaign aimed at house improvement,” said chapter president Young Hur ’11. The campaign is focused primarily on reducing the chapters’ carbon footprint, as DTD has already pumped insulation through their walls and is working on replacing their windows with higher-efficiency, more carbon friendly models. After receiving the Court of Honor award, the chapter is “shifting [its] focus to internal programming following the successful rush of the past two years, with the hope to improve [its] philanthropy/community service contributions and to revamp [its] emphasis on academics,” said Hur.
In Fall 2009, the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity co-hosted the Battle of the Bands event at The Nines with Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.
The event featured five bands competing for a $100 dollar prize. Proceeds from the event went to the American Cancer Society.
Together, the chapters raised over $800 dollars, and the donation was made in honor of the mother of brother Emmet Kaufman '12, whose mother recently passed away after a long struggle with cancer.
According to Alpha Sigma Phi President Tyrone Stevens, the two chapters found the event highly successful and hope to host similar events in the near future.
On Sunday March 7th, the Delta Chi fraternity had the opportunity to pay a visit to Cornell Outdoor Education’s (COE) Hoffman Challenge Course.
This was their 2nd event with COE as part of a pilot program sponsored through the Interfraternity Council. The program is meant to provide constructive team-building and leadership training to the Greeks of Cornell, as Delta Chi was chosen as the IFC representative and Delta Delta Delta as the Panhellenic Council counterpart.
The afternoon’s activities were met with very positive feedback from the brothers who participated and we would suggest the program to any chapter interested in an effective and refreshing experience for their chapter.
 by Jenna Dorfman-Tandlich, Kappa Delta
On Friday March 12, over 270 students gathered at 104 West for Charity Shabbat: Kosher Creole for a Cause. The event, organized by Kappa Delta sister Jenna Dorfman-Tandlich and Alpha Chi Omega sister Jaime Freilich, in conjunction with Cornell Hillel and the Cornell Center for Jewish Living, raised over $4,000 to be donated to the American Jewish World Service Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
The dinner was structured such that the organizers asked parents, alumni, and community members to donate a small amount per attendee. They were successful in raising $15 for every person who attended the dinner. They then recruited student en masse to simply come eat dinner and have a donation made on their behalf.
The presence of fraternity and sorority community members was certainly felt at the dinner. Sisters from Kappa Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, and Alpha Epsilon Phi attended. “Greek involvement is a great way for dinners like this to be successful. The Greek community is strong in both its commitment to philanthropy and frankly, its numbers,” said Dorfman-Tandlich.
Dorfman-Tandlich noted that she hopes to increase fraternity and sorority involvement in charity Shabbat dinners (which occur once a semester) in the future by promoting them through the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Letter Council and the Panhellenic Council. She said “Charity Shabbat is great way for Greeks to publicly confirm their commitment to philanthropy while working in conjunction with members of the non-Greek community.”
by Courtney Osborn, Kappa Alpha Theta
On Sunday, February 7th, 2010, Kappa Alpha Theta held its annual Chapter Development Day at the Carriage House. Almost all of the chapter’s women were in attendance as well as a representative from the fraternity headquarters.
The objective of this meeting was to review the chapter summary appraisal form and brainstorm the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of the chapter. The chapter broke into groups and created goals for next year that would improve key areas of interest. Furthermore, the chapter placed an emphasis on leadership to the incoming officers in order to outline the expectations and qualities of their positions.
The most important goals of the semester were pinpointed by the officers and clear objectives were established as a guideline to achieve the goals. The officers then broke up into their focus groups and discussed their responsibilities as a whole and individually. Each officer made individual goals to achieve over the upcoming year and presented them to the group for feedback.
The Iota Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta is striving for a wider influence not only in the surrounding community but within the Cornell fraternity and sorority community as well. In April 2010, Iota will also be holding a Spring Ritual Retreat in response to many members at Chapter Development Day wanting to learn more about Theta rituals. This will not only connect the sisters within the chapter but also across the entire nation.
There have been a number of successes this year; however, Kappa Alpha Theta is still looking forward to make improvements and have a wider influence on the Panhellenic community.
by Lindsey Cohen, Alpha Epsilon Phi
We all know that being a student at Cornell can be a challenge; especially when you want to look great and the Ithaca Mall is your only shopping option. The sisters of Alpha Epsilon Phi recognized this issue and decided to host a trendy trunk show in Willard Straight Hall to combat the problem.
On Tuesday March 9, Shopmamie, an online boutique, arrived in Willard Straight Hall with beautiful clothing, jewelry and accessories to provide the ladies of Cornell University with unique fashions for their spring wardrobe. Everybody had a fabulous time shopping and finding new clothes for the season!
Additionally, Shopmamie donated 10% of all the purchases made to Sharsheret, Alpha Epsilon Phi's national philanthropy. Sharsheret is an organization dedicated to helping young women with breast cancer seek treatment and support during their fight against the disease.
Thank you so much to everybody who stopped by the sale - by shopping you also helped out a great cause and we really appreciate your support!
Didn't make it to the event? Look out in the fall for a winter trunk show!
by Ginny Johnson, Alpha Phi
On Saturday March 6th, Alpha Phi hosted the first ever Panhellenic Women’s Annual Tea Party.
This event brought together Panhellenic Delegates, members of Panhellenic Executive Board and chapter presidents for an hour and a half of finger sandwiches, tea and constructive chatter about the fraternity and sorority community. The Saturday morning atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful and the event was well attended.
For the women of Alpha Phi, it was very exciting to invite other Panhellenic members of the fraternity and sorority community into their house and to be able to share a little bit more about Alpha Phi’s Delta chapter. The sisters of Alpha Phi look forward to future events with members of the Panhellenic community and hope that this Tea Party starts a yearly tradition of friendly, fun interaction with the Panhellenic representatives outside of the typical meeting setting.
by Marie DiDominica, Delta Gamma
The Chi Chapter of Delta Gamma is pleased to announce that our annual Anchor Splash competition was a success!
Anchor Splash is a swimming competition among campus groups that features a synchronized swimming event and now a swimsuit competition! Anchor Splash is one of the largest and most popular fundraisers on many college campuses, more than 110 Delta Gamma chapters throughout the U.S. sponsored Anchor Splash last year.
This year, the competition was held on Sunday, March 14th at the Helen Newman pool from 11am - 2pm.
To participate in Anchor Splash, groups had to register a team of 10 or more members and pay an entry fee of $100. Once teams are registered, Delta Gamma members served as coaches for each team. The proceeds from Anchor Splash are donated to Delta Gamma’s national philanthropy: Service for Sight.
Thank you to all who attended for all of your support!
by Ginny Johnson, Alpha Phi After Ithaca’s latest snowstorm, it’s easy to see that we’re all immersed in the doldrums of winter. Free time is spent in front of the TV, drinking hot cocoa and definitely forgetting all about what it was once like to have a summer glow. What’s the solution? Joining Alpha Phi’s Self Magazine Challenge of course! Each year, Self Magazine sponsors a challenge for all Alpha Phi chapters around the country to inspire women to sign up online, set a personal goal and get in shape this winter using Self Magazines plan. All you have to do is go online to www.self.com/challenge, register, then start getting in shape! After you register, go to your Fitness Profile and say that you’re participating in the Alpha Phi Self Challenge for Cornell University to help out Alpha Phi’s Delta chapter at Cornell University. The Challenge has already started so sign up and get ready to hit the beach this spring break.
by Magan Malzberg, Kappa Kappa Gamma
March Towards a Cure: an "email-thon" held at the Robert Purcell Community Center (5:00-9:00pm on Wednesdays), Mann Library (11:30-1:30pm on Tuesdays), and Willard Strait Hall Lobby (11:00-4:00pm on Fridays) is a great way to spend 5 minutes to save lives!
Computers will be set up for your convenience, and all you have to do is send your contacts the standard email pre-written by St. Jude; this will notify potential donors about how easily they can make a difference in the lives of the pediatric cancer patients at St Jude Children's Hospital. Every donation helps, so email everyone you know during our virtual letter writing campaign!
St. Jude Benefit Concert will be held at the Nines (in Collegetown) from 9 pm - 11 pm on Wednesday, March 17th. Come out and enjoy the company of your friends while helping out the patients at St. Jude. $5 cover charge.
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