Welcome to the Family, Spring '13!

Recruitment is: overwhelming, exhausting, anxious, exciting, chaotic, nerve-wracking.  It asks of you your time and your patience.  But the rewards are unbelievable.  Ask any Pi Delta and she will tell you that not only is it worth it, but it is an experience that truly goes unmatched.  Over these past few weekends, the Greek community at the University of Maryland has been busy with spring formal recruitment.  With rounds last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as well as this past Friday and Sunday, every Greek member and Potential New Member has been searching for a perfect fit.  And it is with enormous pride and love that we introduce our new pledge class of spring 2013!  Thirty-nine beautiful, talented girls have already made their mark on our chapter as they have been welcomed home.  Older sisters are eager to share with them the joyful experiences they have had thus far in AOII and our new girls show little hesitation in divulging in all the chapter has to offer.  Monday night, Feb. 4^th, was bid night where, following tradition, PC’13 ran from Chapel Hill to our front doors where they spent the evening having dinner and getting to know Alpha Omicron Pi- their new home.  Congratulations, ladies!  We have seen in each and every one of you the qualities desired of an AOII and love you unconditionally already!

 Pi Delta during the House and Values Tour of recruitment on Jan. 25th. 

Welcome, PC’13: Arielle Abrams, Tanya Bagheri, Clare Bailey, Rae Baron, Holly Barra, Melissa Bean, Emily Catron, Katie Cauley, Rebecca Connor, Ciara Delehanty, Maggie Doran, Maddie Dwivedi, Bethany Fincher, Maura Fries, Jody Herron, Cara Hissey, Tori Janus, Delaney Kelly, Hannah Kim, Rachel Kuff, Morgan Lash, Kelly Lawrence, Ali Mazurek, Katie McCreanor, Catherine McGrath, Katharina Mitchell, Erin O’Keefe, Joy Phifer, Colleen Phillips, Ericka Rocke, Casey Rozek, Andrea Safirstein, Jordan Sallinger, Abbey Sauber, Jillian Sikora, Klarissa Tan, Amy Vaccaro, Shaill Vasavada, Kristen Wolfe. 

When You Leave Here, Don't Forget Why You Came

Although it is always sad to see a sister go, joy and pride take the forefront when it comes to the graduation of Theresa Dipeppe and Megan Krenzke.  On December 30, 2012, Theresa and Megan both graduated with Bachelors of Science in marketing and supply chain management.  Throughout their time at the University and in AOII, these girls have left significant marks on our chapter and community while at the same time carved themselves paths toward a bright future. 

Theresa is originally from Montgomery County, MD and joined AOII in the spring of 2009.  As a student in the Smith Business School, Theresa participated in the Design and Innovation in Marketing Fellows Program which provided her with priceless hands-on experience.  And she was a part of the Media, Self, and Society Scholars program her freshman and sophomore years.  Her involvement spread far beyond her academics, too.  As an AOII, Theresa served as House Manager and Vice President of Administration.  She holds a special place in her heart for the countless memories, especially her first year of recruitment.  “You get to learn so much about yourself, your sisters, and the chapter,” she says.  “It brings everyone so close together and you get a bunch of new sisters once the process is over.”  
         Theresa currently works full-time for Maier & Warner, a PR/Marketing firm in Rockville, MD.  She is a Marketing Specialist for the firm and manages client accounts through marketing, social media, and budgeting for advertisements.  We know her success is inevitable and wish her all the best!

Megan comes from Damascus, MD and is a member of the AOII fall ’08 pledge class.  During her time at UMD her biggest involvement was with the chapter.  She dedicated herself as Vice President of Recruitment as well as Chapter President!  She attended convention in Tuscon, AZ which remains one of her fondest memories.  Impressively, Megan was also a member of the Greek Leadership Honor Society known as the Order of Omega.  At the same time, she kept up with academics and graduated with University Honors. She was also a student in the Smith Business School. 

          Her time at Maryland was irreplaceable.  She will never forget “Snowmagedon” of 2010 or the spring break cruise in 2011.  And the chapter will never forget all she has done for it.  At the end of January, Megan will begin full-time with PepsiCo.  “I’m really excited! I’ll be working as a demand planner in Columbia, Maryland.”  Good luck, Megan!

The entire Pi Delta chapter cannot adequately express how grateful we are to have had these girls and to continue to know them.  They have provided examples of leadership, friendship, and excellence for the house to model itself after; true contributors to the strong sisterhood we pride ourselves on having.  And since you are both staying in the area you have no excuse to not come back to visit! We will be watching to see all the amazing things you do, ladies. Alpha love!

Fall 2012 With Pi Delta

Our chapter’s fall 2012 semester began with excitement and reunion when we welcomed back all of our sisters who were abroad during spring 2012! Rachel Miller, Rachel O’Dell, and Kayleigh Schultz were in Barcelona; Katie Franke, Dana Berber, Jacquelyn Lichitan, and Amy Vitale were in Australia; Molly Bumbera and Erin McGrain spent their semester in Rome; Erica Davis returned from London; Nicole Kozlowski was in Sevilla; and Naomi Tesfai came back from South Africa.  Every year we have an impressive amount of girls spend their semesters all over the world and though their experiences are never regretted, it is always beyond thrilling to have them return to us at home on College Avenue.  As a reunited chapter, we eagerly jumped back into our lives as loyal Terps and dedicated AOII sisters for an incredibly successful fall semester.  

Senior Molly Bumbera about to be pied at our philanthropy event.

          Philanthropy is a crucial component of Alpha Omicron Pi.  This semester, all three of our main philanthropy events were able to occur- finally! (Last semester, fate dealt an unfortunate hand and schedule conflicts/weather got the best of us).  We owe a big “thanks” to our philanthropy chair, Amy Young, who did a fantastic job in coordinating it all for an outstanding turnout.  In October, we hosted our Strikeout Arthritis kickball competition on Fraternity Row, cosponsored by several other fraternities and sororities.  The day was perfect with beautiful weather, music, and food.  In November, we hosted our "AOPie in the Face" event in front of our chapter house where brave sisters volunteered themselves to be ‘pied’ for the cause!  And later that month, our spring ’12 pledge class hosted our bi-annual Spaghetti Dinner at our chapter house.  Members from all over the community came out to enjoy all-you-can-eat spaghetti and added to our philanthropy contribution of over eight hundred dollars this semester!  Thanks to help from the entire chapter and community, we were able to give back to the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation in an enormous way.  Our new philanthropy chair Ashley Nonemaker is already strategizing how we can top this in the spring. 



Another major highlight from fall 2012 was Homecoming Week in October.  This year, we were paired up with the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon and together we had one of our most successful Homecoming Week’s in recent history.  At the highly-anticipated skit competition, “AOEP” took home second place in backdrop and placed second in overall skit!  We all were overwhelmingly proud of our skit chairs, painters, and everyone who participated to make it as successful as it was.  We also went on to place second in the Olympics portion of the competition!  The week was full of energy, unity, excitement, and hard work paying off.

"AOEP" at the Olympics competition, where we came in second place

As these past few months have drawn to a close and winter break is upon us, it is rewarding to reflect on another incredible semester as an AOII sister at the University of Maryland.  Whether it was winning first place in the banner competition in Sigma Chi’s Derby Day’s, co-sponsoring the newly-colonized sorority Alpha Xi Delta’s first philanthropy event, supporting Miles and Smiles for Michaella in memory of our sister Kayla Libby, hosting three successful open houses, watching the talents of our own Kayla Taitz on E’s Opening Act, enjoying the beautiful renovations our house has received thus far, ranking third highest GPA out of all fourteen UMD sorority chapters, or simply grabbing dinner together on Route 1, our sisterhood continues to grow in every sense of the word.   As individuals and as a unit, we are blessed to be where we are today.  We are grateful to have each other and look forward to an exciting rest of the year, and to welcoming a new pledge class in a couple short months!  Best of luck to all our sisters who will be attending service trips or studying abroad this break, and those who will be studying abroad for the spring 2013 semester.

 

Upcoming Philanthropies

We have a busy month ahead of us--Pi Delta will be cosponsoring and participating in several philanthropic events throughout April and May! Visit the following links for more information and to find out how to get involved!

Students Helping Honduras & AOII: HonduRun (In Honor of Kayla Libby):

http://www.facebook.com/events/320459348018255/

Strike Out the Competition (Proceeds go to the Arthritis foundation)

http://www.facebook.com/events/306476109421754/

All are welcome to attend these events and we'd love to see you there!

AOIIs at TerpThon!

Terp Thon is a philanthropic student organization at the University of Maryland that in two short years has already raised close to $200,000 for Children's National Medical Center. AOIIs participated in the event and helped the organization raise over $268,000 for the kids! Visit terpthon.org for more information

Big/Little Reveal

Two of Pi Delta’s newest members with their bigs and “family”

On February 24^th, our new members arrived at the AOII house for a “big” surprise—they were finally able to know who their “big sisters” are! The event was a great success and a memorable night for all of our new additions!

Rose Sale

Getting everything set up for the sale!

This Valentine’s Day, Pi Delta hosted our annual Rose Sale at our house on College Avenue. We  sold over 40 dozen roses and raised over $500 in just a few hours to help fund research for Juvenile Arthritis!