Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season to you all!  We hope you enjoy the holiday and vacation time.  Safe travels to all!

Phi Sigma Rho Newsletter

At Phi Sigma Rho we support sustainability and are considering switching to an electronic format of our biannual newsletter. We like having a formal publication that is delivered by mail twice a year, but are considering all the options that are available to us. We'd like to hear your thoughts on this! You can e-mail vpofalumnaeaffairs@phisigmarho.org or reply to this post!

Friend Sigmand P. on Facebook!

Friend Sigmand P. on Facebook to connect with other Phi Rhos and stay up to date on what's going on in PSR!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Phi Sigma Rho!

I'm on vacation this week at home with my family and friends. As it's been a year of reflection for PSR in celebrating 25 years, it's hard not to think of all the things I'm thankful for this year! Of course there is family and friends and health and all of the opportunities I've been given over the last year. But there is definitely also my sisters, the amazing things that have been accomplished in PSR, the wonderful women who have made it happen over the last 25 years, having the opportunity to be your President and lead us into the next 25 years, getting to meet the new Phi Rhos just getting started and the ones that were here from the beginning, having women around who understand what it's like at work and other areas of life - people to cry with and laugh with as necessary! So this year, I'll be thinking of all of you and being thankful for the strong sisterhood we have built together!

PRL, Nikki

P.S. What are you thankful for this year?

The Next Generation of Innovators

Up to this point, this blog has primarily been geared towards what's going on with Phi Rho. But it has always been a goal of ours to make it a forum to discuss issues that relate to PSR - women's issues, STEM, etc. I thought that highlighting the recent announcement of the White House initiative "Educate to Innovate" would be a great way to start that!

Check out the White House website for the details here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/23/next-generation-innovators

How exciting! The President wants to make engineering and science "cool" for students in the U.S.!

How does this affect us Phi Rhos? Or better, how can PSR help affect the image of science and engineering and help future students get excited about engineering?

12th National Council Fall 2009 Meeting

This past weekend, the 12th National Council got together for our first face-to-face meeting since Convention 2009. We had a very busy weekend together - since we're spread out so far across the country we needed to take advantage of this time we had together!

One of the key focuses of the weekend has been our strategic plan for the next 5 years. While we have some work to do on finalizing our plan and actions, we are all confidant that we have a great plan that will address some of the current concerns and focus areas that are important to actives and alumnae. Look for more information in the near future - but if you want the full brief of the final plan, make sure to meet us at National Leadership Conference 2010!

The other focus areas of this weekend included:
-The National Awareness Campaign
-Planning for National Leadership Conference 2010
-Budget and the 2010 grant request we will soon make to the Foundation
-Some current standards areas of concern coming from the Actives
-Continuing to streamline and improve efficiency of National Council operations and organization
-And a million other great ideas that we have been talking about!

As always, I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with my sisters - you ladies are an inspiration and great motivation to me!

Passionately Pink

In October, the Young Women's National Advisory Council of Susan G. Komen for the Cure contacted Phi Sigma Rho to ask for help in increasing breast-cancer awareness among college-aged women. Even though breast cancer awareness month may be over, it's always a good time to consider putting on events in support of a great cause! Please read the message below and consider what your chapter, your alumnae organization, or even you personally can do to increase awareness for this disease which touches so many.

I highly recommend reading the message and the suggestions for events below, as well as checking out the website for this initiative at www.passionatelypink.org. If you have any questions or ideas for events that you'd like to share, feel free to contact our Community Involvement Director, Ingrid Bauer, at Community@PhiSigmaRho.org!

Dear Phi Sigma Rho:

The Young Women’s National Advisory Council (YWNAC) of Susan G. Komen for the Cure is committed to education and awareness in fighting the battle against breast cancer. Our goal is to address issues related to breast health and breast cancer in young women and to assist Komen in finding ways to decrease breast cancer incidence and mortality trends among younger women. This year YWNAC would like to partner with your sorority to engage local college chapters to actively participate in the Passionately Pink for the Cure Initiative.

“Each year, almost 24, 000 women under the age of 45 are diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S and almost 3,000 women under the age of 45 will die of the disease this year” (American Cancer Society, 2008). Several young women on the YWNAC were diagnosed with this horrible disease at an early age. Nikia was diagnosed at age 16 while in high school; Elissa was diagnosed at age 21 and is now a two-time cancer survivor; and Bridget was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at age 21 with no family history of the disease. There are thousands of young women in the United States who face a breast cancer diagnosis each year. Young women are not immune from this disease.

We need your help to engage the young college aged women of the Phi Sigma Rho Sorority to become empowered about their breast health and overall health. October is breast cancer awareness month and we need to get the word out about this horrible disease. We would love to have Phi Sigma Rho Sorority join us in the fight against breast cancer.

Participation is simple. Contact all of your local chapters and inform them about our college wide Passionate Pink for the Cure Initiative to spread awareness and raise funds in the fight against breast cancer. Together we can save the lives of young women and men battling breast cancer.

Here are several simple and exciting ideas of how your local chapters can implement Passionately Pink for the Cure on their college campuses:

• Each chapter could sponsor a breast cancer related event for Passionately Pink for the Cure by personalizing its very own “pink website,” specific to its university. Include information about breast cancer resources in your college and local community. Share stories about sorority and campus members who have been affected by breast cancer.
• In the Pink Fashion Show: Put your best pink fashion on display at a special event for family and friends.
• Survivor Night: Ask a couple of breast cancer survivors to come and share their experiences while enjoying a special pink dessert. E-mail us if you would like to invite a speaker from the YWNAC.
• Pick your Pink: Specify a type of pink clothing -- from pink hats or shirts to pink togas—for sorority members to all wear on a specific day.
• Auction All Things Pink: Get local businesses to donate auction items that fit the Passionately Pink theme -- clothing, food, spa treatments like a pink manicure or dinner out.
• Breast Cancer Memory Wall: Have staff, students, and faculty share stories of how breast cancer has impacted them by posting their stories on a wall.
• Invite a musical artist to campus for a concert or Gospel Night: Have your campus sorority sponsor a concert or a gospel night to raise funds for breast cancer.
• Breast Health Education and Awareness Expo: Invite local community organizations involved in breast cancer screening and awareness to visit your campus to educate the campus community about breast cancer.
• Young Women’s National Advisory Council (YWNAC) Speakers Bureau: Invite a member of the YWNAC’s speakers Bureau to your campus to share her compelling story at one of your events.
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Please visit the Passionately Pink for the Cure website to learn more about how your national sorority can support this amazing cause beginning this October. The website can be found at: www.passionatelypink.org

We look forward to working with you on this initiative. Please contact the YWNAC or any member of Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Passionately Pink for the Cure team with any questions. Thanks in advance for your help and for being inspired to save lives by going Passionately Pink for the Cure.

Sincerely,

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Young Women’s National Advisory Council