Alpha Epsilon Phi

PHI PHI 2011-2012

Multa Corda Una Causa, Many Hearts One Purpose Dear Family and Friends of Phi Phi,
This has truly been an incredible year for the Phi Phi Chapter. Weve accomplished so much, and Im so honored to be able to share all of our achievements with you. To start, we began the year with an entirely new executive board. Each of the nine girls works their hardest to make sure that our chapter is functioning to the greatest extent that it can be. Youll hear more about what the positions are and what they do later on. Im also so proud to say that we have continued to excel in balancing our schoolwork and grades while participating in multiple community service activities and philanthropic works. These achievements will be discussed in greater detail throughout this newsletter. Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our sisterhood. LML, Chelsea Hirsch & The Sisters of Alpha Epsilon Phi

Read All About Us!

Meet Our E-Board Activities Community Service Philanthropy

Alpha Epsilon Phi was founded on October 24, 1909 at Barnard College by seven Jewish women.

Did You Know...?

At the 1977 National Convention the giraffe was chosen as the mascot for Alpha Epsilon Phi. The pearl was chosen as the national jewel by the founders. They chose the pearl because of its glowing beauty gained through years of growth and the fact that it is a jewel that literally grows.

Meet Our E-Board!

Our Executive Board has been working extremely hard this semester to ensure that the sorority is the best that it can be. Its members are: President: Rebecca Rosen VP of Operations: Liana Messina

Our Executive Board at Preferential Party!

VP of Social Responsibility: Christine Riolo

Rebecca Rosen, President

As the president of our chapter, one of my biggest responsibilities is to make sure everything in our chapter is running as smoothly as possible. Additionally, I act as the liaison between our chapter and the Alpha Epsilon Phi National Ofce as well as between our chapter and campus. This semester, I'm hoping to improve our sisterhood bonds. Since this is the biggest our chapter has been in a while, I think it is important that we focus on strengthening our sense of sisterhood between members. Being president of Alpha Epsilon Phi is truly an honor. I feel beyond lucky that I get to lead this amazing organization that has impacted all of our lives. So far, being president has been a great learning experience and I am excited to see what else is in store.

VP of New Member Education: Nicole Kimkowski VP of Finance: Julia Vogel VP of Programming: Alexandra Sofen VP of Social Standards: Samantha Morgan

Liana Messina, VP of Operations

Myresponsibilities as Vice President of Operations include assisting the President with anything she may need, acting as the "secretary" of the sorority, recording minutes at each weekly chapter meeting and sending them to National, keeping a record of attendance, mending drama issues with the sorority and overseeing my minor board positions As VP of Operations, I hope to make our weekly Chapter meetings more fun and make it something each sister looks forward to attending. I also hope to think of new ways for sisters to stay organized and on track with our calendar, because oftentimes there are a lot of eventsoccurringin the same week. I think organization is necessary in succeeding in your duties as a sister.

VP of Membership: Sara Bernstein

Fundraiser: Caitlin Hiltz

My position means a lot to me. When I was a younger sister in AEPhi, I looked up to the girls on E-board and admired their dedication and hard work that they put into the sorority. I get a sense of pride in myself that I am working hard at what I do and putting my best effort into it. AEPhi means a lot to me because of how much it has shaped me and helped me grow into a better person, in countless ways. And in return, I want to do my best at my positions to continue making AEPhi the best it can be.

Christine Riolo, VP of Social Responsibility Samantha Morgan, VP of Social Standards

As VP of Social Standards it's my job to make sure the standards and guidelines that National and campus provide us with are always upheld and that we always represent ourselves well. I also reward sisters who lend a helping hand by awarding standards board points that are worth prizes at the end of each semester to encourage sisterhood. I hope to help our chapter always reect well on SUNY New Paltz in addition to AEPhi as a national organization. My position means a lot to me; I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to impact such a great group of girls and to be trusted with such a position. My position pushes me to be the best sister I can be. As vice president of Social Responsibility it is my job keep strong bonds between our sorority and other organizations such as frats, other sororities as well as sports teams through fun events. In doing this, we hope to have their support at our philanthropic and fundraising events and then give them support in return. I also oversee several minor board positions including Formal, Senior Activities, Sisterhood Assistant and our newest position Risk Management. This semester I hope to improve our relationship with other organizations by extending an invite to organizations we haven't planned events with in the past. I also want to utilize our newest position Risk Management as much a possible by making sisters aware of certain risks they may be at physically and emotionally so that each of them is safe and knows what to do in potentially dangerous situations. In the past, I have held two positions under this VP including Formal and I realized I greatly enjoy planning fun and original events for the sisters of Phi Phi. I was extremely honored to hold this position because now not only do I get to understand and help out with the positions on my minor board, but I also have a say in various things brought up at our weekly Eboard meetings, always aiming to improve the sorority so that everyone enjoys their experience in AEPhi.

Julia Vogel, VP of Finance

My responsibilities as Vice President of Finance include creating a budget for each position in our sorority. I then calculate the dues for the semester based on these budgets as well as what National asks of us. I handle all monetary parts of each position and manage our chapters bank account. Im also lucky enough to oversee our Philanthropy Chair, Community Service Chair and House Co-Chairs. I help these sisters plan events where we give back to our community and raise money for our philanthropies, Sharsheret and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundations. I hope help Phi Phi utilize their budgets to the best of their ability! I also hope to stay in great nancial standing with National. Through my guidance of our Philanthropy and Community Service Chairs, I hope our sorority can give 100% towards our philanthropies and community service endeavors because through them we can help people within our New Paltz community but also worldwide! Mostly, I hope that sisters always feel comfortable to come to me with questions or concerns. My position means getting to work side by side with 8 amazing sisters that continue to inspire me with their dedication to the sorority. By becoming a member of Eboard, Ive gained condence in myself and gotten to see rst hand how truly amazing our chapters accomplishments are. Last semester we raised $1,500 for Sharsheret. When our chapter received a hand written note thanking us for all weve done for their organization, I felt so accomplished! That such a huge organization like Sharsheret would take the time to send our chapter a personalized letter was so touching and made me that much more determined to raise more money in the future!

continuing to meet new girls everyday. However for the fall I want to continue to keep thinking of new ideas and fun events to get even more girls to show and maintain interest in our sorority. It means so much to hold this position. I have grown so much over my college experience thanks to the sororityand have always been told what you put in to it is what you get out of it. I have put a lot of effort and commitment into the sorority but the organization has given me more then I could ever believe. Without Alpha Epsilon Phi,I would have transferred home but the sorority and recruitment gave me a home away from home. By holding this position I hope I can give back even the smallest amount it has given me by changing someone else's life the way Alpha Epsilon Phihas changed mine.

Sara Bernstein, VP of Membership

My responsibility as Vice President of Membership of the sorority is to make sure the sorority is portrayed in the best light on and off campus at all times. By doing this we insure that the community perceives our organization well in order to receive new members. I along with my assistant and committee plan the rst three weeks of recruitment, where girls on campus who are not in the sorority can get to know the active sisters in the sorority and the organization they want to join. These three weeks include three general interest meetings, and other fun interactive events. Some things we did this semester were make your own candy sushi, had a game night, beauty night, and arts and crafts night. We ended our recruitment process with our semesterly pref ritual, but overall this semesters recruitment was extremely successful and resulted with 11 amazing girls who will be the future of Alpha Epsilon Phi. I hope to accomplish many things as VP of Membership. Currently we are working to create a recruitment video and a public relations video to promote ourselves on campus. But wehave already altered the spring recruitment process to make it more interactive and fun for sisters and potential new members. I have found it to be a successful change,this semester we recruited over thirty seven girls and are

Caitlin Hiltz, Fundraiser

My responsibilities as Fundraiser are to nd different ways to raise money to help lower our dues. Something that I have done to do this is for each week either my assistant or someone on my committee will recycle bottles and cans that are at the AEPhi house that sisters have brought throughout the week. Also on April 15th we will be having a garage sale. What I hope to accomplish/improve on as Fundraiser is to try and nd other ways that we could fundraise to help lower our dues. What my position means to me is that I am the person who is helping out all sisters by nding ways to raise money that can be used to help lower our dues. I myself pay for my dues, as well as many other sisters, so I am so happy to be the sister who is in charge of nding ways to lower our dues by doing different fundraisers.

became initiated. Being able to help sisters get higher grades and do well in school is extremely important to me. I love every single one of my sisters more than anything and I love being the one who they can turn to if they are struggling academically. Being able to be a younger sister sitting on E-Board has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me. I have learned so many skills that I can truly use for the rest of my life. All in all, if it werent for Alpha Epsilon Phi I dont know where else I would have found almost 50 girls who are all amazing best friends and even better sisters.

Alexandra Sofen, VP of Programming

As Vice President of Programming, my responsibilities include making sure that all sisters are upholding their academic standards to the best of their ability. I work condentially with at-risk sisters (sisters with a GPA of 2.5 or lower) to help them raise their GPAs and achieve goals to get better grades in school. I oversee positions that help us grow as an organization whether it is through sisterhood activities, such as easter egg hunts or baking contests, or through our rituals and heritage activities. I communicate with the United Greek Association to keep our ties close with the other sororities and fraternities on campus. My favorite responsibility includes giving out smarty sister money with Beckys face on it to sisters with good grades. At the end of the semester the sisters can use their smarty sister money towards an AEPhi clothing auction. I hope that within my time being VP of Programming I can accomplish my goals of bringing new ideas into the sorority. I have so many great ideas and plans for the upcoming semester such as a Scholarly Sister Award for the sister who goes to the library the most amount every month. Being Vice President of Programming means everything to me. I have put my heart and soul into AEPhi since the day I

Nicole Kimkowski, VP of New Member Education

It is my responsibility to teach the new members all of the local and national information and guide them through an eight to nine week process where they learn to become the best sisters they can be. I plan out the entire new member education process alongside our president and serve as aliaisonfor my new members to campus and nationals. I want to come up with more efcient ways to help the girls feel comfortable and ready to be the best they can be once initiated into the sorority. My position means everything to me. I have wanted the honor of holding this position ever since I was initiated in spring 2009 and have worked really hard to get it. I take it very seriously and make sure that I am upholding my responsibilities at the best of my ability.

So if Thats EBoard, Whats Everyone Else Up To?

All of our sisters work hard to ensure that all the little details that go into our chapter are taken care of! Below is a list of all of our active sisters that hold a position. Our president oversees all positions, whereas the Vice Presidents only oversee their specific minor board.
Vice President of Social Responsibility: Christine Riolo Formal Co-Chairs- Amanda Abrams, Gabrielle Blinderman Senior Activities- Caroline Monahan, Laura Zabolotsky Sisterhood Asst.- Kaitlin Indelicato Risk Management Chair- Kelly Cutrone Fundraiser: Caitlin Hiltz Asst.- Kathleen Tierney Committee- Kaitlin Indelicato, Ariel Solomon, Raflina Longo Vice President of Membership: Sara Bernstein Asst. Rush- Ariel Solomon Rush Committee- Marina Kuzminer, Jodie Dorfman, Raflina Longo Public Relations- Alex Siegel Web Chair- Jenna Harris Spirit Co-Chairs- Alex Siegel, Naomi Scher Vice President of New Member Education: Nicole Kimkowski Assistants- Kathleen Tierney, Jodie Dorfman, Krystyne Mancuso

Vice President of Operations: Liana Messina Alumnae Chair- Jennifer LoCascio Asst. Alumnae- Katie Mortensen Sunshine/Awards- Alicia Blakely Parents Letter- Chelsea Hirsch Historian- Gabrielle Blinderman Birthday Chair- Marina Kuzminer Phi Times- Caroline Monahan, Raflina Longo Vice President of Finance: Julia Vogel Philanthropy- Jena Lagonia Asst. Philanthropy-Jenna Harris Philanthropy Committee- Naomi Scher, Kathleen Tierney, Amanda Abrams House Co-Chairs- Rio Calderon, Christina Contelmo Community Service-Leah Hechtman Vice President of Social Standards: Samantha Morgan Standard Board- Cara Tringali, Katie Mortensen, Stephanie Brauchler, Krystyne Mancuso Parlimentarian- Stephanie Brauchler Vice President of Programming: Alexandra Sofen 2nd Avenues- Jennifer LoCascio Activities- Kelly Cutrone UGA Rep- Marina Kuzminer Pan-Hel Delegate- Amanda Abrams UGA/Pan-Hell Alt- Naomi Scher Phi Muncher- Jodie Dorfman, Stephanie Brauchler Heritage Chair- Hayley Landau Ritualist- Jennifer Montano

Activities Chair Kelly Cutrone (L) and Community Service Chair Leah Hechtman (R).

Activities
Activities chair Kelly Cutrone says that she likes to make activities that all girls will enjoy and are fun. She tries to make it so that everyone can bond with different sisters and even show their competitive side at times. A little friendly competition is never a bad thing and keeps everyone spirits high! Her favorite event was the Bake- Off that we had last semester. Her inspiration for it was from the Food Network cooking show competitions. All the girls got grouped in to small groups and they then decided to create a dessert that they hoped would win the "judges" over. We all came together and each group presented their dessert to the judges and overall the judges decided which desert they liked the most based on a point system. Everyone had a great time and got to try everyones dessert in the end! For the rest of the semester she is planning to have some more things going on such as a scavenger hunt, an easter egg hunt, a crafting night, another Bake Off or an another cooking battle,and a spring picnic where we will play games like kickball, have tye dying and even have a water balloon ght!

Community Service
Leah Hechtman, our Community Service chair, has provided the sisters of Alpha Epsilon Phi with many new and exciting opportunities to do good in both our local community. Throughout the semester we have been volunteering at PTA meetings at local elementary schools. Once a month two to three sisters go to the meetings to provide childcare while their parents are in the meetings. We play games and do activities with the children, and hope to continue doing so. This semester we are also becoming involved in a new community service event -- The System of Care Conference. Parents of children with special needs attend the conference to meet other parents going similar situations. Our role as volunteers to the conference is to provide childcare for the children, who range from 1-15 years old. While their parents are attending the conference from 4:30 to 7:30, we will help feed the children a snack and dinner. In addition, we will play board games, do arts and crafts, watch movies, and even go on the playground with them. Leah hopes to get Alpha Epsilon Phi involved with other venues in our community in the future. She hopes to become involved with an elderly community, as well as with an animal shelter.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation was founded by an alumnae sister, Elizabeth Glaser.

Wanna Donate to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation?

Visit our team website at:
http://support.pedaids.org/ site/TR/AlphaEpsilonPhi/ General/1179555817? pg=team&fr_id=1230&tea m_id=4340

Philanthropy - AIDS Walk

Our 11th annual AIDS Walk to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is taking place on April 1. Jena Lagonia, our Philanthropy chair, has planned a walk starting with a Zumba warm-up led by sister Jodie Dorfman and ending with lunch at McGillicuddys Restaurant and Tap House. Participants will meet in the Elting Gym at 11:30, and the walk will begin at 12:15. We are going to sell raffles and have a bagel brunch before we begin! Our goal this year is to raise $3,000. Help support us and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation!