Planning the Phuture
Author: Heather T. / Editor: Bella B. / Photos: Chapter Provided
Pi Beta Phi’s (Pi Phi’s) Vice President of Membership Experience, Grace H., is dedicated to creating long-lasting memories through her unique and fun sisterhood events. Grace loves “seeing the chapter come together” and making memories during the events that she plans. She takes great pride in watching “chapter morale increase from fun events” and she believes “it’s really amazing to have a part in that.”
As part of her responsibilities, Grace is primarily in charge of planning sisterhood events, overseeing the new member process, tracking sister’s academic success, and managing alumni relations. Grace loves how she gets to be directly involved with, “planning the fun events” that the chapter participates in as well as “being a support system for girls who may be struggling with academics” or life in general.
Pi Phi’s values are Integrity, Lifelong Commitment, Honor and Respect, Personal and Intellectual Growth, Philanthropic Service to Others, and Sincere Friendship. Grace takes a lot of pride in these values and the upcoming events she designs are intended to “incorporate these values.” Pi Phi has many exciting events coming up, including Mom’s Weekend, Galentine's Day, and Senior Lovebug.
Pi Phi’s Galentine's event is designed to bring sisters together and make lasting memories. The event will have a stand where sisters can write cute notes to each other called Cupid Cards, a photo booth, and lots of desserts. Grace jokes that “it’s not a good event unless you have food” so she made sure to include Valentine’s snacks like conversation hearts, chocolate, cookies, and cupcakes. Pi Beta Phi sister Ashley R. loved the addition of a “super cute banner for everyone to take pictures in their pink and red to get in the spirit for Valentine’s Day.” This event was a “great opportunity to bond with our sisters!”
Senior Lovebug is an annual tradition unique to Pi Phi. Every year, the most recent member class (MC) is tasked with creating a gift basket for outgoing seniors. These baskets are designed to make the seniors feel connected to Pi Phi after they graduate as well as show appreciation for the older MCs. “Everyone deserves a nice goodie basket,” Grace jokes.
Additionally, Senior Lovebug gives seniors the opportunity to create connections with younger members of the chapter. Due to the many responsibilities and emotions that accompany graduating, “it is so nice that the seniors have designated time to get to know them.” Grace explains “Senior Lovebug is a great way to get them together.” Not only is this experience memorable for the seniors, but Grace also points out how helpful this experience is for the incoming MC. Grace explained that many of the members of MC 22 will be taking littles next year and the process of planning and creating baskets is great practice for next year!
The final event Grace planned for this semester is Mom’s Weekend. Grace explains that the primary goal of this event is to “show them the memories we’ve made this year” and show the families what they do day to day. This process helps moms and special friends feel connected to sorority life. For the final day of moms weekend, Grace coordinated a group event at the FSU baseball game. This is designed to be a “super wholesome event” that connects families with the FSU community. To accommodate individuals’ schedules, Grace also provides a “list of things to do to explore Tally” and get to see the interesting sights of the city.
There are many facets of event planning that Grace tackles as Vice President of Membership Experience. Most notably, Grace learned about communication challenges and money management. She pointed out that it can be extremely difficult when dealing with vendors of contacts who take long periods of time to respond or are vague and unhelpful in their responses. She also jokes that “things are expensive” and “you don't realize how expensive something is until you’re on a budget.” Despite the challenges, Grace knows how helpful these skills will be in the real world and thanks Pi Phi for giving her the opportunity to grow in this position.
When asked about the reasoning behind the event themes, Grace points out that “it can be easy to get caught up in school work and we forget it’s ok to take a break.” It is essential to take time for yourself to avoid burnout and events like these allow women to connect and relax in social settings. Additionally, these bonding events help the chapter grow and improve their sisterhood as well as encourage individual chapter members to be better, more empathetic people in their daily lives.
“Pi Phi saw things that I didn't even see in myself which helped me grow my confidence in this position as a leader but also as an individual person.” Grace is extremely grateful for her position and the level of involvement she has attained as a sister of Pi Phi. She is looking forward to planning sisterhood events and building bonds with her sister in the future.