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Gamma Alpha Chapter at George Mason University has raised $685 for the 2014 JBRW series and is pictured here at their local event in Arlington, VA!

The iper ALPHA OMICRON PI |

what’s inside AOII & the Jingle Bell Run AOII Foundation News

Leadership Academy 2015 AOII Convention Notes ELC Application Deadline ... and more!

DECEMBER 2014

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The 2015-16 ELC application deadline is approaching!The process to select Alpha Omicron Pi’s 2015-16 Educational Leadership Consultant team has begun - the application is available here. Submissions are due no later than January 5, 2015!

Fall 2014 was a season of growth for the fraternity. With six colonizations (three of which were recolonizations) and numerous chapters making quota, some even for the first time in their history, excitement has been high as the numbers come in.

Colonizations at Duquesne University (Alpha Mu Chap-ter) and Seton Hall University (Gamma Phi Chapter) were held September 12 - 14. Recolonizations at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (Phi Delta Chapter) on September 26 - 28 and Austin Peay State University (Pi Omicron Chapter) on September 29 - October 1 were followed by colonization at Wingate University (Alpha Epsilon Chapter) on October 3 - 5 and a recolonization at Wright State University (Kappa Delta Chapter) October 10 - 12. All of these chapters have been installed with the exception of Kappa Delta and Alpha Epsilon chapters, which will both be installed in the new year.

In addition to the above mentioned colonizations, five alumnae chapters have been installed so far during the 2013-2015 biennium. In 2013, Shreveport-Bossier City (LA) was installed in July, Greater Gadsden (AL) in August, and

Rhode Island Alumnae Chapter in September. In 2014, installations were held in El Paso (TX) in February and Northwest Georgia in April.

House dedications have kept Executive and Properties Board members traveling with Chi Ep-silon at The Ohio State University (OH) and Lambda Eta at Grand Valley State University (MI) in September, Sigma Delta at Huntingdon College (AL) in October, and Rho Delta at Samford University (AL) and Alpha Rho at Oregon State University (OR) in November, to mention just five of these events. All of our collegiate chapters who participated in fall formal recruitment completed recruitment with many of them achieving quota, including six of the chapters in new chapter development. The excitement about the recruitment successes enjoyed by those chapters continues as new members are initiated by their respective chapters. Check out the AOII Suitcase Diaries: Sisterhood on the Road blog (www.aoiisuitcasediaries.com) for one such success story. Total AOII collegiate chapter membership is nearing 16,000, which represents an incredible focus and effort by our members.

As the holiday season approaches and Founders’ Day is celebrated, it is important to recall that we were founded by four extraordinary young women who were determined that the joys of mem-bership would last a lifetime. Stella George Stern Perry, Elizabeth Heywood Wyman, Helen St. Clair Mullan, and Jessie Wallace Hughan remained devoted to AOII throughout their lives and exemplified friendship, humility and service. Once they had decided to form their own society, they climbed up a little winding staircase into the stack room of the old Columbia College Library. It was a little room with a broad window seat in a strange little peaked window. On that window seat of that quiet room, pigeons outside and snow piled high against the window pane, in the pale ruddy sunset, they pledged one another on December 23, 1896. In Stella’s words, “A little thrill of excitement, a little prayer in our hearts, a little extra warmth of affection - a dream of growth, but very little vision or realization of what was before us.” And on January 2, 1897, Alpha Omicron Pi was formally organized at the home of Helen St. Clair. Much was decided on that day, as the badge of AOII was agreed upon with the determination that it should be Alpha Omicron Pi’s only symbol in the world. To Stella, Helen, Bess, and Jessie, we are grateful for our beloved Alpha Omicron Pi.

Message from Grace Houston |AOII Executive Board Vice President

Grace

Are you interested in being an AOII volunteer?The AOII Human Resources Committee has been hard at work! While there are currently no Interna-tional Volunteer position vacancies, HRC is always interested in hearing from sisters who would like to be considered for roles in the future. To speak to a member of the HRC team about which position is right for you, please e-mail hrc@alphaomicronpi.org. Volunteer applications are accepted year-round. Visit www.alphaomicronpi.org and click Alumnae > Volunteer Opportunities.

Look out for the AOII Summer Internship application!Every summer, AOII hosts interns in a variety of operational areas at our International Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. More information and the application will be available in January 2015. Collegiate Chapter Presidents will be notified when the information and application are available! Please share this information with your chapter members.

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Leadership Academy 2015registration deadlineDecember 29

ELC Applications dueJanuary 5

Collegiate SOEs dueFebruary 1

AOII Leadership AcademyFebruary 6 - 8

Alumnae SOEs dueMarch 1

Convention Awards submissions dueMarch 1

AOII Foundation ScholarshipApplications dueMarch 1

AOII International ConventionJune 24-28

SAVE THE DATES

STAY CONNECTED!

The 2015-16 ELC application deadline is approaching!The process to select Alpha Omicron Pi’s 2015-16 Educational Leadership Consultant team has begun - the application is available here. Submissions are due no later than January 5, 2015!

<< Are you interested in being an AOII volunteer?The AOII Human Resources Committee has been hard at work! While there are currently no Interna-tional Volunteer position vacancies, HRC is always interested in hearing from sisters who would like to be considered for roles in the future. To speak to a member of the HRC team about which position is right for you, please e-mail hrc@alphaomicronpi.org. Volunteer applications are accepted year-round. Visit www.alphaomicronpi.org and click Alumnae > Volunteer Opportunities.

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Look out for the AOII Summer Internship application!Every summer, AOII hosts interns in a variety of operational areas at our International Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. More information and the application will be available in January 2015. Collegiate Chapter Presidents will be notified when the information and application are available! Please share this information with your chapter members.

Register NOW for Leadership Academy 2015: To Protect and to Serve! Collegiate Chapter Presidents, Vice Presidents of Standards and Standards Advisers are invited to this weekend-long training focused on AOII values, difficult conversations, membership retention, working with your team and much, much more! Register online by clicking here or find the link on the AOII website under Events, then Leadership Academy. While on the website, be sure to also check out the Frequently Asked Questions and the Schedule of Events. Registration ends December 29 - beat the holiday rush and register TODAY!

AOII LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2015

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Make sure YOUR chapter is represented in To Dragma!Do you read the Collegiate and Alumnae News sections of AOII’s official magazine? This is the place where we keep our members up to date on what’s happening in the worlds of our chapters across the U.S. and Canada, and YOU provide these updates! The 2015 To Dragma reporting deadlines are January 15 for alumnae chapters and April 1 for collegiate chapters. All reports must be submitted through AlphaLink.

We also love to receive high quality photos from our chapters for inclusion in To Dragma. Photos MUST be 1 MB or larger in file size to be used in the magazine. The best way to ensure your photo is large enough for print is to send the original image file - files saved from Facebook and other social media, websites, etc. have been compressed during their upload to the second-party site and are too small for print. Send your pho-tos for consideration directly to todragma@alphaomicronpi.org!

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AOII LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2015

Alpha Omicron Pi 2015-2017 Executive Board Election ProcessThe process to elect the Executive Board for the 2015-2017 biennium is underway! The Nominating Trustees have been hard at work preparing for elections at Convention 2015 in Los Angeles. You can get involved in the Executive Board election process! Stay connected to the process by reading updates on the Executive Board Election Process page on the AOII website. Below is the remainder of the elec-tions process timeline. Contact NT@alphaomicronpi.org with questions or comments!

Dec. 20, 2014 Eligible candidates are posted on the XBEP page on the AOII website.

Dec. 20, 2014 - Jan. 15, 2015 Candidates solicit fifteen nominations from initiated members.

Jan. 17, 2015 Candidates are notified whether or not they have received enough nominations and may continue in the election process.

Jan. 17 - Feb. 15, 2015 Candidate interviews and reference checks.

Feb. 15, 2015 Initial Ballot is announced via email from HQ.

Feb. 15 - 24, 2015 Candidates solicit four endorsements from members of Council.

February - March 2015 (TBD) Candidate Forum is open for members to pose questions to candidates.

March 1, 2015 Final Ballot is announced via email from HQ and in the Call to Convention.

Make sure YOUR chapter is represented in To Dragma!Do you read the Collegiate and Alumnae News sections of AOII’s official magazine? This is the place where we keep our members up to date on what’s happening in the worlds of our chapters across the U.S. and Canada, and YOU provide these updates! The 2015 To Dragma reporting deadlines are January 15 for alumnae chapters and April 1 for collegiate chapters. All reports must be submitted through AlphaLink.

We also love to receive high quality photos from our chapters for inclusion in To Dragma. Photos MUST be 1 MB or larger in file size to be used in the magazine. The best way to ensure your photo is large enough for print is to send the original image file - files saved from Facebook and other social media, websites, etc. have been compressed during their upload to the second-party site and are too small for print. Send your pho-tos for consideration directly to todragma@alphaomicronpi.org!

AOII AwardsInternational Convention 2015Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about awards at Convention 2015 in Los An-geles! The awards submission deadline will be March 1, 2015. Consideration for awards will be dependent upon chapters meeting their Standards of Ex-cellence deadlines of February 1 for collegiate chapters and March 1 for alumnae chapters. The submission process will be available online soon! An announcement will be sent directly to chapters and shared through AOII’s official social media when the awards website is open.

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AOIIFoundation News

On the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, the world engages in Giving Tuesday. The AOII Foundation’s #GivingTuesday campaign was a huge success, with a total of over $2,500 donated in honor of the Giving Tuesday movement! The AOII Foundation wishes to thank each one of you who shared our posts and donated to our Loyalty Fund. You helped make our #GivingTuesday successful! We Give Thanks for YOU!

#GivingTuesday was a huge success!

Looking for the perfect gift? Look no further! Holiday gifts can be made in honor of a special sister and we’ll send her a note letting her know you donated in her honor. Visit our website at www.aoiifoundation.org to let a special sister know you are thinking of her this holiday season!

Honor a sister this holiday season.

Don’t forget - AOII Foundation scholarship applications are due March 1! Diamond Jubilee Scholarships are available for un-dergraduate, graduate and returning alumnae; several named scholarships are also available. Visit the Foundation website at www.aoiifoundation.org and click on Programs/Scholarships to apply using our online application.

Get a head start on your AOII Foundation scholarship application.

The Alpha Omicron Pi Foundation is excited to announce a new AOII Foundation Executive Director! Beverly Revo has accepted the position and officially joined the Foundation staff on December 3 in Brentwood, TN. Beverly is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and is an initiated member of Phi Mu Fraternity. Her previous work experi-ence includes cultivation and development positions with the YMCA of Middle Tennessee and the Nashville Zoo.

Beverly can be contacted at brevo@alphaomicronpi.org. We invite you to contact her to extend your congratulations and officially welcome her to AOII! The members of our Foundation Board and staff look forward to all that she has to offer the future of our Foundation.

AOII Foundation Announces New Executive Director

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The Ruby Fund Message can be found on our website to share at your Founders’ Day celebrations! In addition, donations to the Ruby Fund can be sent to us at: Alpha Omicron Pi Foundation, 5390 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Ruby Fund Message

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Start, join, or donate to an AOII team. Visit www.arthritis.org/jbr and you will find an inter-active map of events! There is also a “See all Events” link that provides a snapshot of remaining events for 2014. By joining or making a donation to the AOII team near-est you, you are helping us meet our fundraising goals! Looking to participate from afar, or missed the event near you? You can register to “Jingle in Your Jammies” with our AOII team at www.jinglejammies.org!

As of December 11 at 12:34 p.m., this is how much AOIIs have raised for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis!Just two days before on December 9, AOII had raised $90,952. We hope that each chapter, sister, friend, fam-ily member, or other AOII loved one realizes the differ-ence you are making each and every day. Can you help us reach $100,000? Imagine the total impact of funds raised from Strike Out Arthritis!, the Walk to Cure Arthritis, and the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis combined - MILLIONS have already been raised, and we are on track to make our impact even larger than ever before. Thank you!

With almost 50 JBRW events left before the end of December, there are still ways to contribute to our fundraising total. The highest fundraising teams for both collegiate and alumnae chapters will be recognized at AOII’s International Convention in Los Angeles.

$93,766

Send us your photos and tell us your stories! Are you a top fundraiser for your local JBRW event, or was your team a top fundraising team? We want to hear from you and learn how you did it so that we can share successes with other members and with our online community! Please share your team photos with us as well at aoiionline@alphaomicronpi.org.

Portland Alumnae Chapter at the 2014 JBRW in Portland, OR

Nashville Area Alumnae Chapter at the 2014 JBRW in Franklin, TN

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Holiday order deadline is December 15!The AOII Emporium is your one-stop shop for exclusive, one-of-a-kind AOII designs and merchandise. Need to stock up for the holidays and winter months? These favorites can be found at www.aoiiemporium.com! Place your order by December 15 to receive in time for Christmas.

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Red long-sleeve with holiday sewn-on letters.A holiday twist on a classic letter shirt. On sale now for $25.50!

Red monogram soft-shell jacket.This item is discontinued, meaning that inventory will not be re-stocked once it’s sold out! Limited quantities are still available. $50.00

Maroon holiday sweatshirt.Panda patterned mittens - need we say more?! On sale now, $35.50

AOII polka dot and chevron ornament.One of our most popular holiday items - buy for yourself or your favorite AOII for $25.50!