Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega- Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

BROTHERLY NEWS
Color Wars!
Issue 2, spring 11 In this issue:
Meet Your Advisors: Part 1 Service Week 2011 Preview
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By Carly Damman This year, Color Wars took place May 1 on the Rugby fields near South Green. Approximately 130 brothers showed up to compete. Although the tension among teams was high, everyone remained brothers in the end. The teams were randomly selected and each team was assigned a color, which they represented with headbands and other clothing. The teams competed in four different events including: tug-of-war, dodgeball, magic shoes and garbage. Each event played toward a certain teams strengths, allowing different teams to win each event. With sufficient smack talk and strategy, the Color Wars teams learned the keys to victory. This event wouldnt have been possible without the help of fellowship chairs, Liza Lieberman and Kelsie Shortridge and the rest of the fellowship committee. They put hard work and commitment into making the event a success. Liza and I, as well as our committee, put a lot of time and effort into color wars. It took a really long time to figure out what kinds of games everyone would enjoy playing as well as dividing everyone into teams, said Shortridge. Overall, we were very satisfied with how the event went. I think next year we need to make sure that we have a bull horn or something that will make it so that everyone can hear what we're saying. Each Color Wars event required a different strategy and each brother had their favorite event. When fellowship chair, Kelsie Shortridge was asked her favorite event she said, My favorite part of the day was the magic shoes game because it seemed like everyone was having a really good time while playing it and there was a lot of really funny stuff that took place. Magic shoes proved to be the most challenging event for many teams but also provided many laughs along the way. The official winner of this years Color Wars event was announced at the awards banquet

Awards Banquet & Senior Superlatives New Membership & Rush Ideas

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Ohio University Athens, Ohio

on Tuesday, May 31. The winner was the yellow team, which consisted of brothers Danielle Douglas, Macy Musick, Colleen Meder, Carly Wiita, Victoria Vincent, Melissa Pennington, Hannah Rutledge, Tori Carras, Brianna Mctaggart, Meredith Woods, Ashley Desiato, Sarah Csongei, Carly Damman, Ciera Blanks, Taylor Pathroff & Diego Paulett

Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega-Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

Service Week 2011: Alpha Phi Omega Promotes Healthy Living

By Abby Feldenkris Every fall Alpha Phi Omega members across the country take part in a week devoted to service projects. This year at Nationals, the theme was decided to be Promoting Healthy Living. Brothers of the Ohio University Alpha Phi Omega chapter play an important role in this years service week because Athens County is facing an increasing childhood obesity epidemic. Katie Hawkins and Lauren Mccullough took on the bold position of service week co-chairs in hopes to inspire the chapter and the community to incorporate health into their daily lives. Both Hawkins and Mccullough plan on bringing ideas to the chapter through healthy living workshops. These workshops will be taught by experts from the exercise physiology and dietetics department. Brothers will learn about the importance of exercise and nutrition and ways to incorporate them into their college lifestyle. Mccullough and Hawkins plan on having community cooking workshops led by the UCM vegan dinner savants. These workshops will provide the community with the necessary knowledge to prepare healthy meals for their families. The service week cochairs also have planned a Get Out and Play day for the Athens county schools. The chapter will also have the opportunity to volunteer in the Athens farmers market to help promote local farmers. Hawkins and Mccullough are extremely excited about every service project. The two know it will be a challenge to provide the chapter with the enough service opportunities so that each member can get there required two hours. The team has great ideas and although it will be a struggle to please everyone they will no doubt do an excellent job at coming up with a variety of healthy living projects. At the end of Service week Mccullough and Hawkins hope the chapter, campus, and the community will be more informed about what is healthy and how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Meet Your Advisors: Part One Jacob Buddha Hagman

by Becca Reif Role in Alpha Phi Omega Delta Gamma: Community Advisor, Chapter Representative, and Region Five Alumni Communications Guru Where did you go to college? I started college at University of WisconsinPlatteville back in the fall of 2001. What is your favorite memory from being in APO when you were in college? I really enjoyed traveling to different places for service projects/conferences and meeting people. It was a lot of fun to go to a Boy Scout camp and work with people from different colleges that were as excited about doing service as I was. How did you become involved with APO at Ohio University? I got involved at OU when I moved here. When my wife was looking for jobs, I wanted her to try to get a job at a university that had an APO chapter. After I found out I was moving to Athens, I started researching as much information about the chapter, section and region as I could. I wanted to take my APO experiences in college and bring them to a new area and a new group of people. I feel that I have contributed greatly to the region, but I have learned so much more. What do you do as our chapters Community Advisor? I take a different role than most community advisorsI am much more hands on with the fraternity. I try to make myself as available as possible to people and help address and resolve any issues that arise. I also continually propose new ideas and push everyone to work hard because I want our fraternity to keep improving. What is the role APO has played in your life? This is a clich that I hate to use, but it is true: "I would not be the person I am today if it wasn't for APO." Even when I was out of school, I was involved with APO as an advisor at University of WisconsinMadison, the Beta Theta Chapter. I have learned a lot about myself and other people through being a brother. I have an APO tattoo on my leg, so that shows how much APO has become a part of my life. I have a quote I said not long ago that has become a personal motto. "I wake up everyday with three things in mind. Be a leader. Be a friend. Be of Service. I feel that if I can do those three things everyday, I will be successful in everything I do."

Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega- Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

Alpha Phi Omega-Delta Gamma Awards Banquet & Honoring of the 2011 Senior Brothers
Most Likely to Elope: Cory Harrington and Laura Hopkins Most Likely to Move Out of the Country: Gaby Swisher Most Likely to Never Leave Athens: Jen Lin Most Likely to be Arrested on Court Street: Leigha Kristoff Most Likely to Own Their Own Business: Andrew Morris Most Likely to be Extremely Late: Britney Gedeon THE Loudest: Leigha Kristoff Biggest Flirt: Kris Bader Most Likely to Have Their Name Mispronounced/ Misspelled: Mike Teplitzky and Noelle Dobrowolski Most Adventurous: Katie Devlin, Gaby Swisher, Andrew Morris Biggest Heartbreaker: Kris Bader Best Personality: Angela Schedler and Noelle Dobrowolski Most Likely to be a Millionaire: Andrew Morris Most Likely to be an Alpha Phi Omega Advisor: Laura Hopkins After being awarded with their superlatives, every APhiO senior stepped up to the microphone to acknowledge their future endeavors. We wish you all the best of luck in whatever it is you do and you will be truly missed by our Chapter! Always in LFS.

By Cleo Stoll The First Annual Alpha Phi Omega Awards Banquet showcased the best and the brightest of our dear fraternity. Many of our outstanding bros were recognized for going above and beyond their requirements for service, fellowship, fundraising, and committee participation. The peak of the night, however, came in the form of Sending Off the Seniors. A few bros got on camera and devoted their love to their favorite seniors (especially Chris Brantley, Liza Lieberman, and Monica Ruscher). Included in the celebration of our incredible senior class, was the homage to the standard high school tradition of awarding Senior Superlatives. The winners are as follows: Best Smile: Noelle Dobrowolski Best Dressed: Renee Schultheis Best Hair: Meghan Tinker Chapter Clown: Jayna Pappas Most Gullible: Megan Roberts and Angela Schedler Best Laugh: Renee Schultheis Most Likely to be President: Laura Hopkins

Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega-Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

Brothers come together in the fight for more wishes & birthdays
By. Katie Sweitzer On May 13 and May 14 approximately 100-150 Delta Gamma brothers participated in the annual Relay for Life at Pruitt Field.
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The fraternity fell short of its initial $20,000 goal, yet still managed to raise an astounding $13,000 in the pursuit of Relay for Lifes campaign of more birthdays. Leading up to the event, members of the fraternity helped to raise funds during moms weekend through t-shirt sales, Chippendales, and a brunch at Union Street Diner. A car-smash, benefit concert, letter writing parties, and an auction of various members skills and services also contributed in raising awareness and funding. Of these fundraisers moms weekend t-shirt sales, which raised a total of $1400, and letter writing parties proved to be the most successful.

During this years Relay for Life, 510 brothers could be seen continually walking the track in remembrance of the victims and survivors of cancer. In the middle of the track many other events, such as Miss Relay and American Idol were held to keep energy up and spirits high as the night progressed. Miss Relay is a Miss America inspired drag show pageant in which men from each participating relay team answer questions and show off their finest talents while sporting their most exquisite female garb. Our own brother, and Relay for Life Co-Chair, Eric Horton won the coveted title of Miss Relay. Pat Van Horn, fellow brother and Relay for Life Co-Chair was named Miss Relay for the Relay Planning Committee. The American Idol competition t involved three contestants all vying for the title of number one. In the end, fellow brother, and VP of Fellowship,

Liza Lieberman took first place. Members of the fraternity could also be seen playing corn hole, playing Frisbee and rugby, competing in a root beer pong tournament, participating in Zumba, and socializing with their fellow brothers, as well as various other Relay teams. Reflecting back on the night, Relay for Life Co-Chair Meredith Woods explained, My favorite part of Relay were the parts that go unnoticed. Julie Suhr our advisor walking the track for 6 hours straight in honor of the 6 people close to her that have struggled with cancer or Andy Schmitt walking 60 laps to beat his last years goal. He says he walks all of these laps because he couldn't when we had cancer and was in the hospital for months on end. Seeing how much Relay truly means to so many people is my favorite part of Relay without a doubt and it makes the hours and hours of work more so incredibly worth it.

Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega- Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

Band of Brothers: Sectionals & Regionals 11

by Jasmine Garcia On the weekend of April 1 -3 , a band of our bros traveled out to Mount Union College to have some good old fun at this years Sectionals. In attendance was not only our chapter, but others from sections 56 and 59 such as Miami, OSU, Heidelberg, Cincinnati, Kent State, and Case Western. The sectionals theme this year was "Band of Brothers" and it was military theme based. Everything was camouflage print and the Mount Union chapter opened sectionals with some songs/skits that related to this theme. During the first day, brothers had the option of choosing different workshops to attend. These ranged from bill boarding, roundtables, how to improve chapter moral, zumba and APO LEADS courses. Everyone split up and attended workshops that were helpful or interested them. That night at the banquet, our chapter found out that we won chapter of the year! The second day was the sectionals challenge. All of the chapters that were there
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participated and there were different "challenges" to complete, for example tug of war, APO history, etc. Dani Garfield, interchapter relations chair, was in attendance at this years conference, and had nothing but good words to say about this years event. I love conferences. It's a good chance to attend great workshops that help not only our chapter, but also you as a person. I've learned so much and gotten insight from other chapters to help improve how our chapter works. It's also great to make connections and to meet brothers from all over the place. Many memories were created the weekend of Sectionals, Starting from arrival, when eating dinner at Applebee's the night of arrival, Dani says, Everyone was so excited, hyper, and obnoxious together and it was just awesome to bond with my bros. When asked about improved relations with other chapters, Dani said, I think we have formed a pretty close relationship with Mount Union. We rode a bus with them to

Nationals this year and then also attended sectionals at their school, so it's nice to recognize faces and names. She also added, I think the more conferences we attend and the more effort we put into inviting other chapters to things like relay and our 5k, the more relationships will improve as well. She plans to start communicating more closely with OSU since they are making the switch to semesters as well. It's nice to have other people going through it and see what they're doing to adjust. We also got some really good ideas about improving chapter moral from an open discussion at a workshop. The regional conference will be taking place this fall, the weekend th of November 11 . It will be held at the University of Kentucky and the theme it is the same as it was for sectionals (Band of Brothers) but on a larger scale. At next year's sectionals, which will be held at Miami, our chapter plans to put in a bid for sectionals the following year to be held at OU! Get ready for a busy year of planning! this quarter was the Cinderella Prom event. The Cinderella Prom allows underprivileged girls to wear gently used prom dresses for free. Alpha Phi Omega brothers donated dresses to the charity, and then helped the girls find their perfect dresses among the large selection. Alpha Phi Omega brothers have the ability to make a difference in the lives of Athens youth with their generosity and dedication in great numbers. I love being co-chair because I get to experience the joy of the kids firsthand. I love seeing exactly where our hard work goes, Kovack said.

By Kelsey Morrow-Fox

Youth Service

Service is one of the three principles of Alpha Phi Omega, and fraternity brothers can give back to the community by serving its youth. Co-chair Alyssa Kovack said service dedicated to the kids of the community is important because there is such a large opportunity in Athens to affect the lives of children. Youth Service chairs had to work diligently this quarter to find

service for the fraternity brothers to help Athens youth. I wanted to try a leadership position, and since no one else was stepping up, I felt that I should. I have a real passion for working with kids, so I thought it would work out really well, Kovack said. One of the major events for youth service this quarter was the fundraiser for West Elementary School. The school held a carnival with indoor and outdoor games in order for kids to have fun while still raising money for the school. Alpha Phi Omega brothers helped set up, monitor and clean up carnival games. Another youth service project

Brotherly News, Alpha Phi Omega-Delta Gamma

Issue 2, Spring 2011

Changes to Membership & Rush

By Jenna MIller Things are changing for Rush and Membership! Rush chair Chelsea Wylie and Membership cochairs Erika Ratner and Jordin Shannon - with the help of the rest of Delta Gammas chapter - have big things in store for new pledges and actives next quarter. Formal and informal rushes are no more but theyre bringing in speed dating. Thats right speed dating! The speed dating rush will have pledges rotating and talking to each active in an effort to get to know pledges better to ensure the right pledges get picked. Were working to make the interviewing process more focused and constructive, Wylie said. This will help narrowing the pledges down. The new pledge classes will be a lot smaller than the past few quarters. The fall 2011 pledge class will be limited to around 50 pledges. Our chapter is also going to focus on fully educating each pledge on every aspect of the fraternity so they can go through the process feeling more secure and excited about being in APhiO. Each pledge meeting will be focused toward one individual aspect. We are going to have the service chairs explain all of the service events at one pledge meeting, some bros explain our history at another, and J-Board explain our risk management policy and probation policy at another and so on, Shannon said. The binder system is also being changed to a point system with longer, more in-depth interviews. This will give pledges the freedom to choose whom they want to interview and give them a chance to really get to know the actives. We really want to bridge the gap between pledges and actives for everyones sake, Shannon said. Were hoping to make the process less stressful and more interactive, Ratner said. Another thing changing families. With the large influx of new pledges this past year, many families grew bigger, while other families barely grew. The current ten families are uneven in number. But our chapters ten uneven families will soon change to 14 equal-sized families. This summer Shannon and Ratner will assign each active a new family. With the notion that bros will keep their lineage, each bro will get thrown into a pot and each family will be re-drawn, creating entirely new families. This change comes after round table discussions and a chapter-wide vote to change the organization of families. This will allow actives to get close with actives they may have never met before and to reconnect with the ones they do know, Ratner said. Any change is scary, but its also a huge, exciting step for our chapter and an opportunity to grow, Shannon said. With all of these changes in store for fall quarter, every bro will no doubt be excited to meet new pledges, do service together, and enjoy the fellowship that means so much to our chapter those that we serve. We really want to change the dynamic of the chapter and bring it back to the feeling of a brotherhood, Shannon said.

This Newsletter is brought to you by the Spring 2011 Public Relations Committee, chaired by Kathryn Lathrop. Members of the committee are Jenna Miller, Cleo Stoll, Kelsey Morrow-Fox, Carly Damman, Jasmine Garcia, Abby Feldenkris, Becca Reif and Katie Sweitzer. Photos are courtesy of the Alpha Phi Omega-Delta Gamma Facebook page, run by Historian Melissa Pennington and the Historian committee.