By: Lauren, Recruitment Vice President
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| With our lovely advisors before the Diamond Awards Banquet |
Last weekend, Mackenzie, Chapter President, and I went to Phoenix for the 160th Anniversary Alpha Delta Pi Grand Convention. As the first secret society for women, ADPi is the first to celebrate 160 years of excellence. The weekend was filled with business meetings, awards, and sit-down lunches and dinners, and some fun in the HOT HOT HOT Arizona sun (try 110°F hot!). But, it was so cool to meet all these women who have spent decades dedicating their lives to this sisterhood of ours. There were over 500 ADPis gathered at the Arizona Biltmore, ranging from collegians to newly graduated Leadership Consultants to advisors to district officers to Grand Council members (basically, the board that oversees all of ADPi's international operations). There was one woman in particular who received an award for all her philanthropic efforts to the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation, which supports our international philanthropy, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and at age 99, she has been an ADPi for 80 years! For another woman, this was her 27th Grand Convention! She attended her first in 1946! What was also pretty incredible was hearing the brief biographies highlighting the astounding careers each of these women have had, outside their voluntary involvement in ADPi. While my sisters at the Alpha Psi chapter at USC never cease to amaze me with all their incredible achievements, I felt so proud to see this level of excellence transcends states and generations, we ADPis have always been the finest.
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| All ADPis in attendance dressed in white for our convention picture |
The main purpose of Grand Convention is to elect new Grand Council members, vote on certain bylaws for the international organization to follow, and also commend all the individual chapters for their efforts over the last two years. This year, we elected Ms. Tammie S. Pinkston to the International President Position. Our chapter was fortunate enough to meet Mrs. Pinkston when she paid us a visit as a representative from Executive Office for the USC Panhellenic Something of Value alcohol awareness program. Mrs. Pinkston previously held the office of International Vice President of Finance, and she also works as a financial consultant. Needless to say, we are very proud of her and all the women elected to Grand Council, and we wish them all the best during their terms!
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| Doin' diamonds with newly elected International President, Mrs. Tammie S. Pinkston |
Now, for the awards... the Alpha Psi chapter has worked tirelessly across three Executive Boards to strengthen all aspects of our sisterhood including membership education, recruitment and retention, philanthropy efforts, scholarship finances, Panhellenic spirit, and general operations, while creating friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. Here's all the awards we received over the course of the weekend...
- Chapter Excellence
- Diamond 4-Point
- Philanthropy Excellence
- Scholarship Excellence
- Recruitment Excellence
- Panhellenic Excellence
- Harris Finance Excellence
- Legacy
- Total Member Education Achievement
- Alpha Education Achievement
- Adelphean Achievement
- Alpha Delta Pi Foundation Donor
- Alpha Delta Pi Foundation Philanthropy Contributor
- Alpha Delta Pi Abigail Davis Emergency Grant Fund Contributor
- Alpha Delta Pi Van Akin Chapter Leadership Development Fund Contributor
- Greek Licensing
...and one of our members received the Ruth Pretty Palmer Panhellenic Award for all her service to the USC Panhellenic Council over the last two years! Congrats Alpha Psi! And Congratulations to all the other amazing ADPi chapters across the globe on all your hard work! Thanks for proving once again why Alpha Delta Pi is "First. Finest. Forever. Since 1851." See you in two years in DALLAS!
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| Holding the Chapter Excellence Award (did we tell ya we were in the desert?) |
