Queso Night 2016

On October 21st, the time came for us to hold our annual philanthropy event called Queso Night benefiting Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).  CASA is an organization who's mission is to provide advocates for abused or neglected children.  CASA volunteers represent these children in court and help them find permanent home so that they don't languish in a foster home.  As for the event, Queso Night is a South-Western themed event in which we serve all you can eat tachos and nachos.  The tickets were $5 in advance and $7 at the door.  Aside from the great food, there was raffles, music, and fun! This year, guests served themselves, while our sisters were in charge of drink refills and cleaning up after our guests.  This system allowed our event to run smoothly and successfully.  We raised $3500 this year, which was a considerate increase from last year! We are very proud of how much money we were able to give to CASA and the Theta Foundation.  Thank everyone for coming!

Parents Brunch

On October 16th, we held our annual Parents' Brunch! This year the Parents' Brunch was combined with our Scholarship Banquet.  It was nice, because we not only did we get to share the chapter's academic achievements with all the members of Theta, but we also were able to present them to our parents!  A slideshow with pictures of our sisters together at different events was played so that our parents could see some of the amazing things we've done so far this semester.  There was also great food, including scones, pumpkin cheesecake muffins, quiche, bacon, fruit, and other tasty treats.  Overall, everyone had a good time, and it was nice to have so many parents make it to the event. Thank you to everyone that helped make the event run smoothly!

Community Service Weekend 2017

Our chapter held a Pizza Party to help fundraise for Circle of Sisterhood in order for them to be able to send over one lucky Greek member to Africa to help build a school for girls. On March 1st Gamma Mu donated our dinner to the Boys and Girls' Club of DC in connection with Greek Life Serves! The goal of the Greek Life Serves is to connect greek life students with homeless and at-risk communities throughout the DC area. Chase Logan, a member of Spring 16, is on the executive board and organized the donations from all of the chapters. We helped distribute the meal at the Boys and Girls Club with Chase and a few other chapters. The chapter also participated in Terp Thon, which is an event where we raise money to stand on our feet for 12 hours straight for those children at Children's National Health System that cannot do so.

Leadership Retreat 2016

Last Sunday, the current executive board, officers, and general members interested in leadership roles joined together to engage in a leadership retreat. We began the day analyzing our results from StrengthsQuest. StrengthsQuest is a great program in which students take an assessment that helps them discover their strengths.  The results from StrengthsQuest were very insightful.  Not only did everyone learn about their personal strengths, but we also were informed of others' strengths.  Knowing everyone's strengths is important in forming more effective teams in the future.  Aside from this, we completed a "Stand by Your Quote" Activity in which leadership quotes were placed around the room and everyone stood by the quote that represented their own leadership style.  This was a great activity because it allowed everyone to explore the many interpretations of "leadership" and how to strengthen your own leadership style by considering the strengths of other styles.  Next, we talked about what our Fraternity means us and how we can improve it.  In order to strive for improvement, we set goals and talked about the steps we can take to achieve them.  Lastly, we talked about the oaths we took during initiation and how we can continue to uphold these vows in our daily lives.  Overall, the leadership retreat really brought us together as a chapter and gave us a lot to think about.  We now have a list of strengths to keep in mind and strive to strengthen in hopes of becoming betters leaders.  We also left with a list of goals that we will keep in mind for the remainder, as we are always aiming to improve our chapter. 

Commitment to Community Service

Our sister Lauren Ahn has been dedicated to her commitment to community service this summer with her time spent in the Dominican Republic working with Empowering Action.  Empowering Action is a non-profit organization that works to combat poverty by mobilizing expertise and resources in communities in partnership with local churches.  She was part of their Abundant Life Program, a 16-week program that helps empower participating communities to overcome poverty with relevant knowledge and tangible skills that can improve both their physical health and economic status.  As a photographer, her main duty was to take photos at all of the locations to which she went, so that Empowering Action could use them for their website, social media, prints. etc. Lauren also worked with their Virtuous Women program, which helps women make and promote their own products, teaches economic empowerment, and guides the participating ladies to become successful business women.  The little girl she's holding is the youngest of eight children who have all been raised by a single mother named Cintia.  Cintia was able to open up her first bank account ever a few weeks ago due to the money she's made with the program.  We are so proud of you Lauren for your hard work and being an example of a leading woman.  

Developing Leadership Potential

We are so proud of our sister Alaina Swindell Jones! This summer she interned at USA TODAY. Here's what she shared from her experience:

"This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to intern with USA TODAY as a Strategic Brand Marketing Intern. They had me working closely with interns in all departments who happened to come from all over the United States. I became close with two girls in particular, Polly who attends Tulane University, and Margaux who attends Vanderbilt University. One day as we chatted over lunch, I happened to mention something about Greek Life and my experience with Theta. They looked at me shocked and explained that they were both Thetas at their universities as well. We had bonded over circumstances entirely separate from our shared sisterhood and discovering this commonality down the road just made our connection all the more special. Our story ended up getting recognized on the UMD Theta Instagram, and I was then contacted by the Theta Nationals’ Head of Social Media, who asked us to do a Snapchat takeover showcasing our experiences as USA TODAY interns. It was definitely a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, and I’m certain all three of us will ever forget it. It’s definitely a reminder that I’ll continue to find sisters in the most unexpected of places, which makes leaving UMD in May not feel so scary after all."

Cupcakes for Casa!

This past week the sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta got together to sell cupcakes. These cupcakes weren't just any other cupcakes; these cupcakes will be sold and in return the CASA will receive donations to their organization. This program aims to help children by giving them court appointed special advocates to give the children a voice. It was awesome to make cupcakes with my sisters, knowing that together we were helping to make a difference in the world.

Recruitment 2017 is Over!

Recruitment this year was a little different than previous years.  In years past, the third round of recruitment was skits round.  This round involved sisters putting together a short skit for the potential new members.  Skits round was meant to showcase each chapter's personalities and humor and give insight into how that chapter's sisters interacted.  This year skits round was replaced with sisterhood round.  Although Theta has always put together great skits, we were excited for a change.  Sisterhood round's name is pretty explanatory of its purpose: to display what our chapter's sisterhood is like for the potential new members.  Different ideas for how to execute this round were thrown around, but in the end we decided to transform the house into specific rooms that emulate our sisterhood. The rooms showed the sisters of Theta's excitement for game day, having fun at our philanthropy event, and a multitude of sisterhood events.  In the end the round was a success, and we are excited to initiate 41 new amazing members into our chapter!

Spring 2017 Pledge Class

Theta Spotlight: Becky Trujillo

 "Attending the CASA/ Gal Conference in Seattle, Washington was a very enlightening opportunity for me. I was picked as one of four Thetas nationally to attend. The first thing I did was meet the other Thetas. It was a pretty fun time getting to compare how Thetas in other states run, the philanthropies they have, and how Greek life in general operates. Maryland is such a large school, and Gamma Mu is such a large chapter, it was interesting to see the differences between my chapter and theirs. Despite all the differences, I found myself to be a very similar person to the other Thetas who attended. Once at the actual conference, I got to meet women from Theta Nationals, who taught me a lot about the work done behind the scenes at Theta. We set up a table and acted as the face behind the sorority. As a marketing major, I went to several breakout sessions whilst at the conference pertaining to social media, PR, and digital marketing. It was particularly useful as I hope to one day work for a non-profit, and understanding how to successfully market on a limited budget will one day come in handy. I got to hear from children who has been through the foster care system, as well as met those who spend so much time working with them. I learned about new ways Kappa Alpha Theta could help CASA. I also got to meet several people behind similar organizations who are equally devoted to helping the children. This conference inspired me to one day become a CASA, to hopefully one day do as great of good as many of the men and woman I got lucky enough to meet do on a regular basis."

 

Queso Night!

Last week, Gamma Mu hosted an all-you-can-eat fundraiser to support our philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)! All proceeds went to the organization.  We welcomed many students, alumni, advisors, friends, and family to enjoy as much queso and tacos as they could, all for a great cause! Our sisters served as waitresses and had a great time! This is an annual event we host every fall and it is always such a fun night! Here are some photos from the event:

Leading Women Wednesday!

Leading Women Wednesday- Samantha Sabol and Maddy McCaslin

This semester, our sisters Sam and Maddy have been working at the U.S. Capitol building for an Arizona congressman. Some of their responsibilities include attending congressional hearings, giving Capitol tours, and answering constituent questions and concerns. We are so proud of you both for all the work and long hours you've put in! #LeadingWomenWednesday

Summer Adventures!

One of our sisters, Dahlia Ghafir, interned at Discovery! Here's a little bit about her experience:

"I worked at Discovery Communications for the Frontline Engineering department. It was a neat job because no two days were alike. I was able to shadow many engineers and it was an incredible learning experience. My favorite part of the internship was probably the hands on experience. I was able to acquire skills that I wouldn't necessarily be able to strengthen in the classroom. I also really loved showing the engineering department that even though I am a girl, I am just as capable of engineering work as a male is. Oh and obviously working for Discovery was awesome in itself, especially during shark week!"

-Dahlia Ghafir

Here's a picture of a treat during shark week at her internship!

Katie's Service Trip!

Katie recently traveled to Haiti where her group held a soccer camp for young Haitian girls. Their goal was to empower under-privileged girls through soccer games, scrimmages, arts & crafts, and songs. "It was humbling working with so many children that experience inequality and hardship on a day-to-day basis. Many girls traveled through busy streets full of dirt and smoke from burning trash, through a river, and eventually up a small dirt road to reach the soccer field. But despite the challenges they faced, they showed unconditional love and support to our group. I'm so grateful for this experienced and how I was able to use a sport I love to help others." We're so proud of you, Katie! 

Theta's summer trips!

Our sister Katie, along with 10 other Thetas from chapters around the U.S. and Canada, spent last week in New Orleans serving the community where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest ❤️ #thetaservicetrip

Our jet-setting sister Jessica has been in Copenhagen the past couple weeks on a study abroad program focusing on corporate social responsibility and emerging markets

Teal Toes with GW Theta!

This fall, Gamma Mu Theta hosted Gamma Kappa Theta at GW in support for a great cause, teal toes! We had lots of laughs & best of all, we got to support an amazing cause, Teal Toes.

Sisters Abroad: Austrailia

Our sisters Lauryn, Kelly, Haley, Sonali, Nikki, Alaina, and Nicki have been studying abroad together in sunny Sydney, Australia this winter break on the International Business Cultures for Engineering and Technology winter program

During this past winter break, seven Gamma Mu Thetas traveled all the way to Sydney, Australia. They completed a course about cultural immersion-in regards to business and engineering. During their time on this three-week UMD program, they visited engineering companies and saw how it was operated in Australia. This helped them gain the knowledge to learn about how to do business across cultures. "It was the best experience of my life I wish I could do it again” – Nikki Cavett

National Hazing Prevention Week

Gamma Mu had a blast today taking over @kappa_alpha_theta snapchat to talk about #nhpw2016!

During National Hazing Prevention Week, we're excited to highlight several college chapters that have gone above and beyond in executing hazing prevention programs and creating supportive chapter environments. Chief Panhellenic Officer Kate Myers shares, "At Gamma Mu, we strive to support each other and develop our members into leaders within the University of Maryland community. We uphold expectations that both the Panhellenic Council and headquarters set for us as a chapter, and by abiding by them, we promote inclusion and safety." Kate said Gamma Mu began the fall semester with a showing of the movie "Haze," which tells the true story of fraternity member Gordie Bailey, who died from hazing-related alcohol poisoning. The chapter followed up the film with a discussion about the insidious roots of hazing and the often-downplayed risks of overconsumption.

This week, the chapter has partnered with several other Greek groups to discuss hazing facts and myths and is proudly displaying an anti-hazing banner. Great work, Gamma Mu! #LeadingWomenDontHaze#IBelieveinGreeks #NHPW2016