Allison Cavato, Author at Fraternity and Sorority Life Blog

Fraternity and Sorority Life Blog

Mental Health Awareness Event

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On Tuesday November 9th, PHA, IFC, and FSLSA hosted a mental health awareness event. This event was located in Glass Hall and also had a zoom option available to students. Senior Emily West, is the Director of Social Awareness on the Panhellenic Executive Board and she took lead in executing this event for the FSL community.  

 “I wanted to tie in IFC because when it comes to mental health issues, people never think of how they can relate to males,” West said. “I feel like that also adds to the stigma of mental health of not wanting to reach out and get help, so making sure that we are starting to break down that barrier so that guys know that mental health issues happen to anyone and it’s okay to get help. I decided to bring in FSLSA because they are all about furthering social awareness in our community.” 

 Tammy Dixion, from the Missouri State Counseling Center, was the speaker for this event and she discussed a holistic viewpoint of mental health with students. Dixion had previously spoken to the Pi Chi’s during PHA recruitment, which is how West knew she would be a great speaker for the event. The goal of this event was to reach everyone involved in the FSL community and express that it is crucial to take care of your own mental health, along with making sure those around you are supported with their mental health as well.  

 “As a senior, I have seen people go through freshman to senior year and they have their own struggles and I had my own struggles so I think that talking about it and not being afraid to talk about it makes a huge difference,” West said. “If it wasn’t for having the strong support system that the FSL community has, it would be hard to have this conversation. I think people have been open about it, but I am hoping that this conversation leads us to bettering as a whole and making sure people in our community are okay.” 

 Moving forward, the goal is to have the FSL community along with the Missouri State community be more engaged with conversations regarding mental health. Making sure that everyone is supported and taken care of is a priority, and the event was a step in the right direction of making this happen.  

FSL Celebrates Its 100th Homecoming

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The week of October 11-16th, Missouri State University celebrated its 100th Homecoming. Students, staff, faculty, and alumni all came together to celebrate this very special Homecoming. This year’s theme was “Celebrating 100 Years” and each of the teams and pairings were able to individually express what 100 Years of Homecoming was to them in the events.  

 “We thought hitting the milestone of 100 years of Homecoming was an important mark to celebrate, especially this year,” homecoming advisor, Addy Emmons said. “As we social distanced the last year and half to protect our fellow Bears and greater community, the student body sacrificed a lot. When social distancing restrictions lifted, we wanted a homecoming theme to celebrate past, present, and future bears.” 

 Each day of Homecoming week has a specific event tied to it. The events are scored by judges who base their score off of creativity, originality, and how well the team tied the theme into what they did. At the end of the week, all of the scores are added up and the overall Homecoming winners are decided. This year, Alpha Chi Omega placed first, Delta Chi placed second, and Pi Kappa Phi took third place for Fraternity and Sorority Life.  

 “A weight was definitely lifted off my chest,” Delta Chi Homecoming chair Garrett Vernon said. “I felt great knowing that the work I put in paid off and I could contribute in my own way to Delta Chi’s success.”  

 Because Homecoming week is filled with many activities every day, there is a lot of hard work that goes into the planning of it. Advisors Addy Emmons and Debbie Letterman were responsible for leading the Homecoming Committee throughout the week. The Committee consisted of a group of students who coordinated the events and made sure the overall week ran smooth from all Bears participating past, present, and future.  

 “My favorite part was working with Committee,” Emmons said. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes for months in advance to make each event successful. It was fun to watch their months of hard work come together.” 

 Homecoming Court was crowned during half time ceremony of the Homecoming football game. The student nominees on Homecoming Court worked hard the weeks prior to the week of Homecoming, to campaign and showcase themselves and their involvement on campus throughout their time as a Bear. This year, Homecoming King and Queen were a part of our very own FSL community! Colin Weber from Theta Chi and Katie Sulzner from Alpha Chi Omega.  

 “As soon as my name was called, a huge wave of relief came over me,” Weber said. “I knew that all the time and work I put into Homecoming had finally paid off. I truly was in awe. It’s a weird thing to say, I was crowned as the 100th Missouri State Homecoming King and I personally can’t describe how it makes me feel other than I couldn’t be more excited to represent Missouri State and my fraternity with that title.”  

 During the week of Homecoming, Fraternity and Sorority Life was able to showcase University spirit in unique and creative ways. Chapters already cannot wait for next year to continue to showcase the community, personality, and members.  

Check out the recap of FSL winners below:

 Decorate Downtown: 

  1. Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Sigma 
  1. Sigma Sigma Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon  
  1. Sigma Kappa, Sigma Pi, Phi Gamma Delta 
  1. Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Zeta, Xi Omicron Iota, Kappa Alpha Order  

 Chalk-n-Rock: 

  1. Delta Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Kappa Phi 
  1. Gamma Phi Beta 
  1. Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Zeta, Xi Omicron Iota, Kappa Alpha Order  

 PSU Window Painting:  

  1. Delta Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Kappa Phi 
  1. Alpha Sigma Alpha, Sigma Nu, Pi Kappa Alpha 
  1. Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Sigma 

 Can We Build It: 

  1. Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Chi, Pi Kappa Phi  

 Rockstar: 

  1. Alpha Omicron Pi  
  1. Theta Chi 
  1. Alpha Chi Omega  

 Maroon and White Night: 

  1. Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Sigma 

 MO State Live: 

  1. Delta Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Kappa Phi  
  1. Alpha Delta Pi, Theta Chi 
  1. Alpha Sigma Alpha, Sigma Nu, Pi Kappa Alpha 

 Field Day: 

  1. Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Chi, Pi Kappa Phi 
  1. Alpha Sigma Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu  
  1. Theta Chi, Alpha Delta Pi 

 Parade Walking: 

  1. Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Sigma 
  1. Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu, Alpha Sigma Alpha 
  1. Sigma Sigma Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon  

 Parade Car: 

  1. Alpha Delta Pi, Theta Chi  
  1. Delta Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Kappa Phi 
  1. Sigma Kappa, Sig

A Recap of Panhellenic Recruitment

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Coming into the 2021-2022 school year, there were many unanswered questions. Students, teachers, and faculty all stood in question on how this school year would differ from last school year. People wondered if the mask mandate would still take place, if classes would be in person, if we would have all of the normal events and activities that occur during the year, and ultimately if students would be able to stay on campus for the full year. 

One thing that did remain constant from previous years was Panhellenic Recruitment. Recruitment took place on August 26th-29th. The first two days were online through Zoom, and the second two days occurred in person. Rebecca Neumann, Vice President of Panhellenic Recruitment, was responsible for planning and executing the recruitment process for both the new members and the active members. Maggie Fix, President of Panhellenic Association, was able to support and help Neumann with anything she needed. 

“I thought of myself as the cheerleader or the manager,” Fix said. “Becca was the one running the show, I just made sure she felt supported and on track. We always had a really good time together, even though there were times that were stressful.”

Day one of recruitment is split into two days which consist of showing the potential new members of each of the eight National Panhellenic chapter houses, learning information about recruitment as a new member, and talking with women from each chapter. The second day was in person and  the potential new members were able to go into up to five houses and have deeper discussions with the women in the chapter and learn about their sisterhood. The third day, the potential new members were able to speak with a maximum of two houses and have longer, more in depth conversations with the active members. 

“I was so happy to have in person recruitment because I felt like I made a true connection with the girls I talked to in person,” new member Alyson Embleton said. “I feel like I would not have gotten the same connections if the whole thing was over Zoom.”

Following recruitment was bid day. Bid day was in person this year, allowing the new members to ‘run home’ to their new chapter. Over 450 women met at the north mall and were able to open up their bid cards at the same time. Once they were opened, the new members got to go celebrate with their new chapter at the chapter house. Panhellenic Association was very happy to have an in-person recruitment and bid day this year, and they hope to keep the in person activities going throughout the year. 

“I was really happy with how recruitment went,” Fix said. “I think the numbers were identical to last year, even though we expected it to be smaller. Becca’s number goal was hit and i think everyone is super excited for her. I’m glad we got to do some of it in person and getting to see people go home on bid day instead of everything on zoom was really exciting. I’m hoping that next year things will fully return to normal.”

The Panhellenic and Fraternity and Sorority Life community are really excited about continuing in person events this school year and are looking forward to growing stronger as individuals and as a community.