Spotlight: Director of Social Events Marissa Slavinsky

Today's blog post is brought to you by our Director of Social Events, sophomore Marissa Slavinsky!

Since I was little, the lure of event planning has been present in my life. Whether I was planning the small-scale wedding of Barbie & Ken or making some big plans for my next birthday party at the bowling alley, nothing sounded better to me than the idea of bringing a group of people together to celebrate and having the pleasure of knowing they had an enjoyable time while doing it. 

As someone who loves helping others, I wanted to be surrounded by a group of young women who would help me in return and support me in the decisions I made. I found everything I was looking for in Alpha Phi and decided to run for Social Chair my sophomore year. This was the perfect chance for me to give back to the sorority that has already given me so much, as well as explore something I would hopefully be doing long-term in the future. 

Our first exchange this semester with Lambda Chi Alpha was one for the books, some saying it was “the best exchange they’ve ever been to!” With my first event successfully behind me, I decided to be creative with Alpha Phi’s next event, coming up this Friday, March 15. Date Night is an exciting night for everyone, especially the new initiates, as it is their first experience asking dates to attend a sorority event. I decided to twist the concept of Date Night and bring some off-campus ideas right here to our Zeta Beta chapter by having our first “Date Dash.” The Alpha Phis know exactly who they are taking, where as the dates have NO idea which Alpha Phi is taking them! Themed “The Perfect Match”, each date was given a specific accessory that they are to wear to the Date Reveal to discover which Alpha Phi will be matching their accessory and taking them to the event. It all goes down Friday night, and we are SO excited!!

Although the position has its stressful moments, as any job does, it has been an awesome experience so far, and has convinced me that this is exactly what I want to do in the future. Seeing everyone, Alpha Phi’s and others, getting excited for our events and having everyone cooperating with me as I try new things is such a rewarding feeling in itself! I try my hardest to keep the girls on their toes, improving what I can improve upon, and making them a part of the process just as much as I am. I am genuinely so excited to see what the future holds for this position and for the sorority as a whole! 

AOE,

Marissa Slavinsky

Class of 2015

Alumna of the Year 2013: Holly Schoenke

We were proud to present the inagural award for Alumna of the Year at our recent Aphiasco event. The Zeta Beta chapter was founded at Loyola Marymount University in 1976. In the past 35 years we have produced many amazing alumni. The alumna we honored this year was no exception. 

Holly Schoenke graduaded from LMU in 2007. While a student at LMU she held the position of director of publicity. She remains active in the Alpha Phi organization by volunteering as Philanthropy adviser at Cal State Long Beach. When asked how Alpha Phi has influenced Holly she says that "Alpha Phi really gave me the conficence to help build my leadership skills, Alpha Phi has really helped me grow into my self and feel like I could always be me". Holly currently owns a wedding an event planning company called Simply Sweet Weddings & Events and is a wedding and event coordinator based in Orange County. 

Holly is currently being featured in Orange County's Locale Magazine. A fun fact about Holly is that she has attended every Aphiasco since her graduation from LMU. Holly, thank you for all of your support to the Alpha Phi organization and we are so proud to call you a sister. 

New Member Process

Today's post is brought to you by one of our pledge moms, Charlotte Laven!

It did not hit me that I was going to be a Pledge Mom to 60 new Alpha Phi members until I heard a stampede of 60 screaming girls on Bid Night. It made me remember that night for me 2 years prior and how excited I was. They were immediately lumped into a new friend group and on their way to joining an amazing sisterhood. I was there to introduce them to that. Over the past 5 weeks myself and The Director of Fraternity Education, Shannon Hearne have been there to guide these 60 new members on their journey as an Alpha Phi. We have gone over the moral and values of being an Alpha Phi and the foundation behind our sisterhood.

            We have met each Sunday so that they actually know the story behind this organization. A sorority especially Alpha Phi is so much more than the socials and formals that everyone sees the pictures of. It was my job to make sure that they have come to know that. During the fourth week of this process, each new member received a Big Sister. This is someone to take them under their wing and really be one of the closest members in the chapter for them. Each girl was mutually paired with her big and received different clues to who she may be during the Big/Little Week. On the final day, they received a clue of wrapping paper that a box would be wrapped in on the night of reveal. Their big would be hiding in the box and once the new member took the box off of them, they could finally be united at big and little.

  As initiation approaches at the end of this week, we are all excited to have these 60 new amazing girls be life long members of Alpha Phi. They are all so excited to be able to wear their letters around campus and show their Alpha Phi pride like no other. It has truly been a blessing to lead these amazing girls on their path to becoming an initiated member of Alpha Phi. I can surely speak on the behalf of our chapter that we are so proud to have such an amazing pledge class represent Alpha Phi.

          

Aphiasco 2013 Recap

Today's post is written by Hannah Comstock, our outgoing VP of Marketing who was the head of organizing this year's annual Aphiasco event. She was assisted by the current VP of Campus Affairs, Alex MacDonald and the Director of Aphiasco, Gabby Little John.

"This year's A-Phi-Asco was extremely special to me for a few reasons. My name is Hannah Comstock and I am the out-going VPM, making A-Phi-Asco 2013 my baby for the past year. 

The largest difference between this and last years event was the move from on campus to off. We have hosted the event off campus in the past so we knew we could definitely handle the challenge. We started scouting for ideal locations during Summer 2013 and eventually found the winner: The Four Points Sheraton LAX. Taking into consideration the fact that we were moving the event back off campus, the A-Phi-Asco team, me, Alex MacDonald and Gabby Littlejohn, knew we had a bit of revamping ahead of us. 

We made sure to make the event as accessible as possible, planning it on LMU parents weekend. We had a inkling that this was going to be crucial to our success. Little did we know it would be the reason we had to extend the event's capacity from 275 to 320 guests! This was the first time in many years we had hosted a sold out event. 

Almost more exciting was out newest addition to our live auction items: the worlds cutest puppy. I first heard of auctioning a puppy at A-Phi-Asco from other chapters mentioning it at our international conference and immediately knew the Zeta Beta chapter absolutely had to jump on this band wagon. We also featured a local artist, Jennifer Main, who painted live during our event. Her final drawing incorporated women's heart health and was an amazing piece of work, going for an amazing $1,700. 

The most inspirational part of the night, though, was the speech given by one of our senior members Jessi Jones. Jessi was kind enough to share her personal experience of how women's heart disease had recently directly affected her family. Jessi brought the causes the Alpha Phi Foundation supports directly home. The entire room had goose bumps as they gave Jessi a standing ovation. 

A-Phi-Asco has always been an event our chapter look forward to: a time to show our friends and family how amazing our chapter is and the philanthropic work that we do. This year, though, A-Phi-Asco's cause was able to truly inspire each and every guest in the room which resulted in the Zeta Beta chapter of Alpha Phi raising over $45,000 for women's heart health and furthering awareness for women's heart disease. It's safe to say this was one of the best A-Phi-Asco's yet!"

E-Board Spotlight: VP Marketing Leilani Mahoney

This week's E-Board Spotlight comes from our VP Marketing, Leilani Mahoney!

As a sophomore, I was uncertain about running for an executive board position but received a lot of great support and encouragement from my sisters. I've always loved the social media and apparel aspects of Alpha Phi, and ever since I became VP Marketing I have had the best time making shirts and using facebook, instagram, and twitter to document all of our fun events!

So far this semester we have had an amazing recruitment where our members received agendas with all of our events, Alpha Phi backpacks, and a new twist of slouchy sweatshirts as bid night shirts! Everyone loved their new Alpha Phi swag, especially our bid night sweatshirt designed by our awesome New Member Educator. Spring is filled with so many events such as Big Little Reveals, Date Night, Exchanges that we are hoping to get some unique apparel for!

I have learned so much already from my position and gained a lot of experience with marketing for the future. Please look forward to all of the fun photos, apparel, and updates on all of our social media!

Alpha Phi Love & Mine,
Leilani Mahoney
Class of 2015

What Alpha Phis Did Over Break

This winter break was a whole month long, so some of the Alpha Phis decided to take advantage of the time off to get together! Everyone starts to miss each other after being away for too long. Senior, Sam Abrahams, planned a little Christmas party for all the girls who live in Southern California. It was at her home in Irvine and we ate delicious food, played games, and even had a white elephant gift exchange. We had so much fun!

Alpha Phis all over California met up in various places for New Years Eve parties, including San Francisco, Tahoe, and Los Angeles. 

Aphis in Seattle!

Winter Break was a lot of fun and a great time to relax. It was awesome that some of the girls had the opportunity to hang out over break. However, all the Alpha Phis are so excited to go back to school and see everyone again!

Xoxo

Lisa Alexander

Director of Media 

Alumna of the Month: Michele Nasreen Askari

This month we are featuring one of our chapter's first members as Alumni of the Month. Michele Nasreen Askari graduated from LMU in 1980 and was one of our first presidents. 

Tell us about a memorable experience while at LMU
I traveled with the LMU Men's Basketball Team as a color commentator on KXLU Radio- it was quite an experience! Women in sportscasting roles were still quite rare in that era.

Tell us about being one of the first Alpha Phi's at LMU
Sororities were still brand new, but fraternities on campus were very supportive in helping us get established. We relied on great advisors who came from USC and Long Beach State, and interacted with the chapters at USC and UCLA. My initiation took place at the USC Alpha Phi house. I worked at a restaurant in the Marina which is now the Cheesecake Factory. Several of the guys who worked at "Chuck's Steak House" were (cute!) UCLA frat boys, so I used them as resources for date nights and exchanges.

Did any of your experiences in Alpha Phi help you in professional life?
I am a Director of Strategic Accounts for the corporate office of Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, and yes, juggling classes, a part-time job, an internship and sorority life taught me how to time-manage and prioritize deadlines, which I apply daily in my life. Recruitment was training ground for my role today when I need to meet strangers and make immediate favorable impressions. In sales we all have what is referred to as our "elevator speech"- if you were to only have the length of an elevator ride to explain to someone what it is you do, sell, endorse, what are the KEY items you would include.

Any additional information you would like to share about Alpha Phi?
One does not realize when in school how wonderful it is to have Alpha Phi sisterhood for a lifetime of connections! I am affiliated with the Chicago Alumnae Chapter and have met a great network of women of all ages here in the city. It is also fun in the workplace to discover when someone you work with is a sister, as well as connecting with sisters via Facebook.

Michele was gracious enough to share these pictures with us. We love seeing Alpha Phis in the past! 

Michele with her brother's family