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Distinguished Alumnae -By Cheryl Wozniak Thompson '00 Recently, it was brought to my attention through e-mails to the Sigma Psi alumnae mailing list from Marie Vanaman that Florence Ellinwood Allen 1904 was a Sigma Psi Alum. Florence distinguished herself in many ways. She broke many barriers in the judicial world. In 1909 she was the first woman appointed to be assistant county prosecutor, in 1920 she was the first woman elected to be a judge, and in 1922 she was the first woman to be elected to sit on a state (Ohio) supreme court. (These facts and more can be found on the website http://www.stanford.edu/group/WLHP/papers/flo.html.)
It occurred to me that it might be nice to have a small wall in the house dedicated to "Distinguished Sigma Psi Alumnae" (many small colleges have similar walls). It would be nice for actives and alumnae alike to know of these sisters and their achievements, and would be something impressive for the actives to show the rushees. I was wondering if anyone knew if another alumna or two who might also fit this category. I was thinking of maybe an 8x10 frame with a picture and/or article about the sister in it, but I am certainly open to suggestions. If you have any nominations for the wall and/or suggestions, please call me at 440-449-9855, e-mail me at clw8@alumni.cwru.edu, or visit www.sigmapsi.org and fill out a nomination form.
Elsie Davies Memorial Scholarship The recipient of the 2002 Elsie Davies Memorial Scholarship is Sara Gencur. Sara will be graduating in the spring with a degree in mechanical engineering. She hopes to have a career working in product design/management, preferably in the biomedical industry. Sara is from Husdon, Ohio. She has held numerous offices in the sorority, including Recording Scribe, Vice President, and President. She hopes to hold the office of Pledge Educator before she graduates.
Scholarship applications are distributed in the spring each yaer, and the alumnae board makes their decision over the summer. Every year the decision process is very difficult. The alumnae board wishes to congratulate all of the sisters who applied for their outstanding achievements.
I VS. AE? What's with that funny 'ae' at the end of alum, you ask? Why do we chose to call outselves the Sigma Psi Alumnae, while CWRU publishes everything with alumni? Do you remember studying a language in high school or college? Maybe French or Spanish or even Russian? Remember learning about male and female nouns as well as singular and plural ones? The alum-something word comes from Latin, and like in Latin, it has male & female, singular & plural versions. So a male graduate of an organization is an alumnus. Put a couple of them together (or have a mixed gender group), and they're alumni. For the female version, one graduate is an alumna, many of us make alumnae.
That's how one gets the Sigma Psi Alumnae Corporation.
Ways to be involved Many alumnae have asked how they can be involved when they do not live in the Cleveland area. There are many ways, with varying amounts of time commitment!! If you have any questions on these ideas or want to volunteer, please send an e-mail to Cheryl (cheryl@sigmapsi.org) or Marie (marie@sigmapsi.org). More suggestions are also welcome! Pins: We are in need of a jeweler to supply us with our pins. Until a new one is found, no new pins are available. Alumnae board members have been trying for years with no luck... Maybe you can find one? Insurance: This task is normally the vice president's responsibility. However, at this time the position is open. There is a need for someone to call our insurance carrier and see if they are willing to renew (and at what rate) as well as calling other companies to get quotes. There is also paperwork to be dealt with. This is mostly a matter of making some phone calls and making sure all of the paperwork and payments are taken care of. Scholarship: This is also a responsibility of the vice president. It is also something that can be taken care of by an alumna that is not in the Cleveland area. In the spring, the alumnae board will need someone to prepare the application (the basic form has been created), notify all of the actives, handle the receipt of the applications, distribute for judging, award the winner, and have their name added to the plaque (Marie may be willing to handle the plaque!). Newsletter contributions: Articles for the newsletter are always welcome! It is published approximately twice a year, so it's always a good time to write an article. If one is ambitious, a recurring column could be started, depending on interests. Maybe a "career paths" column or "notable Sigs" column, etc... Letter drive: Do you have a set of letters you haven't worn in a while? Willing to part with them? The actives would love them. Anything in good condition can be sent to the chapter (Attn: Alumnae Liason, 11923 Carlton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44106). If you don't have any letters (or you don't want to part with them)- are you handy with the sewing machine and have a couple of hours? It's easy to pick up a couple of inexpensive shirts or sweatshirts and sew some letters on with fabric scraps. Letter drive II: Why don't you show the actives your support, and write them a note? Just send them a hello, or a "congrats on all the new pledges". How about "Happy Thanksgiving"? It would be wonderful (and impressive) to walk into the house and see notes or postcards from all over hanging on the wall. Send them to: Alumnae Liason, 11923 Carlton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44106.
Rush: As always, it would be wonderful if alumnae could be in Cleveland for rush (both formal and informal) to help out- that's always a big deal. However, that's not possible for many. Rush ideas are always welcome, though. Please mark your calendars- formal rush is currently set for:
Sigma Psi Marketplace Bic click pens- Pub glasses- If you are interested in the glasses at this time, please check the online marketplace page for an updated price to ship the glasses. Or, if you live in the Cleveland area, you can contact Marie (marie@sigmapsi.org) and arrange to pick up the glasses.
To order, send a check payable to "Sigma Psi Alumnae Corporation" and a note indicating the items and quantities. Mail your order to: In addition, online ordering with Paypal will be available. In the coming months, we hope to have obtained cling decals for the back window of your car and also travel mugs. Please check the website (www.sigmapsi.org) for the most current list of items. Photos of the items will also be available on the website.
Suggestions of any other items that you would be interested in purchasing are always welcome!! Please send your requests to marie@sigmapsi.org or include themi the comment section of the datasheet.
Alumnae Tea On Sunday, October 13 the actives hosted an Alumnae Tea at the sorority house. Alumna Barbara Dale Collins from the class of 1956 was asked to be a featured alum. She brought along fellow Sigs Chris Silwinsky Seylitz '54, Jeannine deNobel Love '58, and Marcia King Snavely '58 to describe life in the sorority in the '50s to the actives and other alums. A tidbit that came out during the afternoon was that the alter cloth with Sigma Psi needlework was made by the Guilford house mother, Louise, at the request of Jeannine. Marcia is a wonderful piano player and treated everyone to some of the Sigma Psi songs, which everyone sang along to. As a refresher, here are the words to two Sigs songs...
AIN'T WE GOT FUN
WE NEVER KNEW
Sigma Psi Spotlight: 1920s As the start of what I hope is a regular feature, below is a snapshot of Sigma Psi during a period of time that few of us can remember. I sent alumna Adele Henkel Bossart-Newman of the class of 1928 some questions about Sigma Psi and the University when she was an active. She was kind enough to reply and provide Sigs a look into the like of a Sig in the 1920s. I hope that you enjoy it!
Alumnae/Active Buddy Program- Despite a few bugs, the buddy program has gone quite well this past semester, and we'd like to continue it. The actives that wish to participate have once again contributed information about themselves. (Note: follow link to buddy page BUDDY PROGRAM- I didn't retype the information for the online newsletter.) We hope that you will decide to become a buddy to one of them for the 2003 calendar year. The program has changed a bit- we eliminated the mentoring of offices. It was, unfortunately, a little impractical to arrange (don't worry- we're establishing something to take its place- please see the next article). Please consider buddying up with an active based on their career interests of simply to correspond with one. Ready to become a buddy?? Please send me a note or an e-mail letting me know which active(s) you would like to match up with. And don't be shy about volunteering for more than one! :-) Also, if somebody has already partnered with an active, you too can match up with them. There is no limit to the number of buddies. With 500+ alumnae and <50 actives, the potential is huge. Once I receive your e-mail or note, I will send you contact information for the active(s) and you should then initiate the program with a phone call, e-mail, letter, or maybe coffee break (for those that live close to the University). Please do not let distance from Cleveland discourage you! This works well for both those that live near and far!! Happy Buddy-ing!!
Requests for active buddies can be sent in on the alumnae datasheet, as an individual note, through the website, or by e-mail. Please send to: or
Thanks for everyone's interest in helping make this program succeed. Both the actives and I are excited to get this going!
Sorority Office Mentoring This fall semester, some of the actives and alumnae partnered up as buddies. The idea was to provide mentoring of the actives for their career interests or their sorority offices. Mentoring of the actives with their sorority offices proved to be a little more difficult than expected. The actives do not have elections until the end of the semester which does not leave much time to find buddies. In addition, offices can change unexpectedly when the semester begins or even in the middle of the semester. The guidance that alumnae can provide to the actives for their offices is still something that is important. What I ask is that alumnae offer to provide guidance on offices that they held. I will collect the names of all of the volunteers and create a master list for the actives with the offices and the alumnae that held them. I will then provide the actives with this list at the beginning of every semester. This list will be a resource for the actives as they need it. You many get an e-mail or phone call asking for advice during the semester, or you may not. But the important part is that we are there for the actives when we are needed.
When you return your datasheet, please include the offices that you would like to be considered a mentor for. You can also send an e-mail to marie@sigmapsi.org.
Volunteer Contributors
Volunteer writes for the Sigma Psi newsletter are sought for a new career development column for the newsletter. Some possible topics could be:
Interested Sigs should indicate their possible topic(s) when sending in the datasheet or by e-mail (send to marie@sigmapsi.org).
Alumnae News ‘30s... ‘40s... ‘50s... ‘60s... ‘70s... ‘80s... ‘90s... ‘00s...
Deaths
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