Welcome Home to Alpha Chi Omega!

On January 22, 2012 the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega welcomed home 51 new members and we couldn't be more excited! Bid day was so exciting as we anxiously waited for all the new members to come running through our doors. Since then we have had so much fun getting to know everyone and having various sisterhood activities. 

(New members on Bid Day "throwing it up")

This past Wednesday, we had a sisterhood event at 310 Rosemont thanks to Kelsey Martin. We had a styling and jewelry party! It was so much fun to try on all the clothes and jewelry and then take fabulous pictures. Later that night sisters and new members participated in a self-defense class put on by another campus organization. It was so much fun getting to fight with the instructors in those big suits, and since our philanthropy supports victims of domestic violence, we thought it would be great to help raise awareness. 


This past weekend our new member educators, Christine Mihelcic and Kelsey Scherzer, along with our new members and many sisters of Alpha Chi, traveled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to spend a weekend bonding and having fun while getting to know each other even better. The girls stayed in a huge cabin up in the mountains and went snow tubing! They also had fun wandering around downtown Gatlinburg that has tons of fun stuff to do.

(Girls hanging out on the porch in Gatlinburg, TN)

Every February, Alpha Chi Omega women celebrate the fine arts and their fine-arts heritage. Alpha Chi Omega was originally founded as a musical fraternity. This month we celebrate this fun fact by going to concerts on campus and going to see plays and other fine arts activities. It’s also a great way for us to show our support for other organizations on campus and to support sisters who are involved in the arts here at Virginia Tech.

Newly initiated Alpha Chi sisters!

This past week, the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega had the honor of initiating 8 new sisters into the Fall 2011 pledge class of the Epsilon Tau chapter here at Virginia Tech! We have all had such a great time getting to know them and we absolutely adore each one! We are so proud to be able to finally call them our sisters! Each one of them has already given so much back to our chapter and we could not be more proud.  Our newly initated sisters are Taylor McBryde, Taylor Riley, McKenna Creasey, Parrish Willis, Mandy Cassells, Adrienne Sanchez, Jenn Bates, and Myra Kornides. The sisters of Alpha Chi love bonding and had such a great time this semester getting closer than ever. 

   (Some members of our fall pledge class posing with our new letters!)


Not only did we initiate our new fall pledge class, but we had the excitement of installing our newly elected Executive Board members right before Thanksgiving Break. We are so excited and believe that they are going to accomplish amazing things. Right before installation, we had a chapter Thanksgiving potluck that was a huge success. Each sister brought an item and we all got to enjoy lots of food, and each other's company, which is always a great time! 


As the semester is drawing to a close, sisters of Alpha Chi are diligently preparing for exams, while the newly installed officers are finishing up their transitions with last years Executive members. We are all sad to leave each other for winter break, but are anxiously awaiting January because you that means, Formal Recruitment!  


The sisters of Alpha Chi wish you all good luck with finals and a Happy Holiday! 

Alpha Chi Omega presents Mock Rock 2011!

This past week the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega presented their philanthropy Mock Rock that helps the New River Valley Women's Center raise money and collect shelter items for victims of domestic violence. Last year, with the help of 32 participating organizations, Alpha Chi Omega raised over $17,000 to support victims of domestic violence and their children. This year, Alpha Chi Omega is striving to surpass our fundraising goal once again. 


The week before Mock Rock, the sister of Alpha Chi rock out at Kroger, asking people for donation items such as diapers, canned foods, and trash bags. The citizens of Blacksburg are always so willing to help and it warms our hearts! This year both the University Mall and South Main Krogers ran out of the donation items because so many people contributed to the cause. 


Mock Rock is a three-day event that always takes place in the fall semester. There are three separate events, along with a dime wars competition. On Monday, we hosted an event called mock band where each organization gets a group of people to rock out on Rock Band! Tuesday is wing warrior, which is a wing eating contest. The lip sync competition is always the most fun and that took place on Wednesday. Each team performs a dance, song, skit, or a combination in Burruss Auditorium. It is always so much fun to see the acts, all of the organizations put so much time into them. This year 31 teams participated and the New River Valley Women's Resource Center and the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega would like to thank everyone who participated! 

(Shelter Items from "Rocking Out" at Kroger)

(The Sisters of Alpha Chi after the show)

Alpha Chi Omega goes all out for FIJI Diamond Bowl!

This past week the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega participated in Diamond Bowl! Their philanthropy supports the Jimmy V Foundation. The Jimmy V Foundation is dedicated to saving lives by helping find a cure for cancer in memory of North Carolina State University Basketball Coach, Jim Valvano. FIJI raises so much money each year and we always have so much fun participating, so it wasn’t even a debate when we decided to participate again this year!

The week’s events included a brotherhood auction, two hand touching and tackling brothers on campus, and ended on Sunday with a flag football tournament. FIJI Diamond Bowl is held a few weeks before FIJI’s main philanthropic event called The FIJI Run Across Virginia. This event is a cross-state run culminating in the presentation of the UVA vs. Virginia Tech game ball at the annual game in late November. Both the UVA and Virginia Tech chapters participate and it is always a great success. They hold Diamond Bowl in advance to raise additional awareness and support for their amazing cause.

We all had so much fun chasing around the brothers on campus, and the brotherhood auctions are always very entertaining. The sisters of Alpha Chi love getting down and dirty to play football for a great cause, and had so much fun playing against the other sororities that participated.

Upcoming this week the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega are preparing for our fall philanthropy Mock Rock. This week we will be collecting shelter items at the local Kroger stores for the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley. 

Alpha Chi getting ready to start a game of flag football!

Alpha Chi Goes All Out for Homecoming 2011

It is that time of year again! Each fall Alpha Chi Omega looks forward to participating in Virginia Tech’s Homecoming week, and especially love this years theme: 85 Years of Timeless Traditions at Virginia Tech.  As sisters, we take even more time during Homecoming week to hang out and remember all the great times we’ve had together here at Virginia Tech. Who doesn’t love hanging out on campus with the beautiful weather and even more gorgeous maroon and orange leaves everywhere. We are fortunate enough this year to have a Homecoming Candidate, and we love hanging out on campus campaigning for her and getting to know other students and faculty.

Homecoming is not only a time to attend football games, parades, and spirit rallies, but also to reflect on Virginia Tech’s history, students, and faculty that make it such special place in each one of our hearts. Within the Greek Community, Homecoming Week is a great way for chapters to come together and celebrate being Greek and getting to know each other better by attending speakers and other planned activities. We all have such a special bond being Greek and this week is a great way to come together as a smaller community within Virginia Tech’s student body to show everyone how great it is! Alpha Chi Omega is looking so forward to getting to know our paired organizations better and wish our candidate, and all the other Greek candidates, the best of luck!

We hope everyone has a happy homecoming week! Go Hokies!

Alpha Chi Omega Sister Spotlight: Katie Barham!

This past week a sister of Alpha Chi Omega, Katie Barham, was recognized in the Collegiate Times for her philanthropic endeavors in part with the Virginia Tech Women’s Center’s initiative called S.A.V.E.S. on their fight to end dating and relationship violence.

S.A.V.E.S. stands for Sexual Assault and Violence Education by Students, and is a peer education organization that strives to raise awareness of sexual assault and violence through outreach and education in hopes that through their commitment, we can create a safe and accepting environment throughout the Blacksburg/Virginia Tech community. The members of S.A.V.E.S. have been trained in ways of educating people about intense subjects such as sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence. Members of S.A.V.E.S. go around to organizations on campus including sororities, fraternities, residence halls, and classrooms to get the word out about these serious issues that are faced on our campus, along with other College campuses all across the country, but people tend look over.

During the month of October, the Red Flag Campaign takes place which is one of the Women’s Center’s main initiatives that deals with relationship violence. This movement’s purpose is to teach the public how to recognize “red flags” in relationships and lasts through out the month of October, which is national Domestic Violence Awareness month. Alpha Chi Omega joins in every October to promote the Red Flag Campaign since our philanthropy is to support victims of domestic violence in the New River Valley.

Katie is very passionate about this issue because she says it “goes so unnoticed on college campuses,” and that’s what motivated her to join S.A.V.E.S.  A domestic violence act occurs every 15 seconds somewhere in the United States, and its so inspiring to her sisters and members of the community that Katie, along with other members of S.A.V.E.S., are taking a stand and educating others about domestic violence on Virginia Tech’s Campus.

If you or a friend is in an abusive relationship, the Women’s Center can provide individual and group counseling, shelter, advocacy, and accompaniment to the hospital or legal proceedings. The center is located at 206 Washington St. (0270). To make an appointment, call (540) 231-7806 (between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday).If the center is closed, and you need immediate support, call the Women’s Resource Center of the NRV’s 24-hour hotline at (540) 639-1123. If you are in immediate danger, call 9-11.