During the weekend of January 19, seventy student leaders including IFC, NPHC, and PHA chapter presidents and council executive boards headed to Windermere Conference Center for a beginning of the year leadership retreat called IMPACT. IMPACT is a program from the North American Interfraternity Conference and is a campus-based leadership institute designed to foster improved relationships among campus leaders through an intensive interactive program. The program also emphasizes problem solving, leadership and community development, effective communication, and values-based decision making. During the weekend, leaders also identified and confronted issues facing their chapters and the Fraternity and Sorority Life community as a whole.
Many of the participants commented on their favorite part of the weekend. Brittany Buchannon, NPHC Chapter President and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. said “my favorite part about impact would have to be our break away sessions. This gave us the opportunity to speak freely and more candidly without much pressure from the entire retreat population. We were able to specify strategies to improve our councils as well as build more personal comfort and relationships with one another.” Alpha Chi Omega Chapter President, Alyssa Kohrs said, “I enjoyed the networking opportunities that I gained while I was at IMPACT. Getting to know all the other amazing people from the PHA, IFC, and NPHC community was so beneficial and making those connections will be useful for this upcoming year.”
The attendees gained lots of tools to help them conquer the upcoming year and make an impact on the community. Morgan Drury, Gamma Phi Beta Chapter President said, “I am most excited to make effective changes in our community this year. After having time to collaborate as leaders, we have talked about a few different things that we would like to accomplish together. I can’t wait to help improve not only my chapter but the FSL community as a whole!” Carter William, IFC President and member of Sigma Nu Fraternity said he learned a great deal about “creating cohesion across all of FSL.” He also commented about one of the sessions they attended saying, “we as FSL members truly dove into what our image is as a community[…] also addressing the harsh realities that our FSL community is encountering and working with others to plan strategies to address those realities.” Elliot McComas, Theta Chi Chapter President, shared, “I’m excited for the chance to put my chapter in a place where they can flourish into the best version of themselves. I want to use my position to empower our members to make an impact on campus and in the Springfield community and turn our culture into one that is built on service.”
We are so proud of the impact these leaders will make not only in their chapters, or in their councils, but across our campus and Springfield community this next year!
Aside from the NPHC steppers, there were other performances as well. NPHC’s President, Brittany Buchannon said, “my favorite part was definitely Essence of Hip Hop and the ASA performance. I think they captured the audience well and their performances were along the lines of stepping as well. It all flowed so nicely together.”
Many of the NPHC executive members and step show committee members spoke of the success of the show and their excitement for next years to be done even bigger and better! Committee Member Jayveon Harris said, “The attendance we expected was surpassed extensively. All the teams that we had participate were crisp and clean…The feedback I have been receiving from outside spectators has been widely positive. So all in all I believe that we did a good job giving the campus the show they’ve been longing for. We just look forward to looking back to see how we can improve the show even more for next year!”
Homecoming is an honored tradition for alumni and students alike at Missouri State University. Each year the community comes together to participate and show their school pride in a series of fun events. This year, our fraternity and sorority life community creatively worked to represent our Bears Through the Ages themed Homecoming! Judges from Missouri State University and the Springfield community determined the winner of each event, and gave appropriate points to teams who best applied originality, creativity, correlation to the overall theme, and amount of pride for MSU!
Every fall, Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) team up to co-host a BBQ for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each year, they sponsor a child and this year it was five year old Emelia. Emelia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphobastic Leukemia (ALL). Over the last two years, Mia has undergone 55 transfusions, 24 spinal taps, liver failure, and multiple hospital stays lasting up to a month. The event took place on September 18th, and with sweet Mia and her family in attendance, there was fun to be had by all!
Alpha Chi Omega’s VP Philanthropy, Katie Hansen, said, “this is the event I have been waiting my whole term as VP Philanthropy to plan. Going into the pediatric healthcare field, I have a passion for Make-A-Wish and what it stands for. It was incredible getting to work with the company directly while getting to know Emelia and her family and their story. Seeing them tear up leaving the event in gratitude made all the stress and hard work from the last few months so incredibly worth it.” When asked what her favorite part of the event was, Katie said, “hands down hanging out with Mia! She took me by surprised and was so bold in getting to know all the people who came out to support her! We drew with chalk for quite some time, she enjoyed a few servings of ice cream, and even followed me around our sorority house to get a tour and meet all the girls! Hearing her giggle and play with Morris, our house dog, was so precious.”
FIJI’s Philanthropy Chair, Logan Pieski, added that his favorite part was meeting Emelia as well. “Her personality was contagious. She is a fighter. No one should have to go through cancer especially a five year old. She has been through way more than the normal person and it doesn’t faze her. She is a person people can look up to and realize that they can overcome anything.” Logan concluded saying “Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Gamma Delta’s Make-A-Wish BBQ is a success because of who we have in our chapters. We have the go getters [that] want to get the job done. We don’t do this for ourselves, but to help out others. Katie Hansen was an incredible person to work with. She kept me on my toes and pushed me to get the job done. Ultimately, this was a success because we touched the life of Emelia, and I got to work with the best sorority on campus. This is a win-win in my book.”
