Rachel Hamilton '14 Delta Delta Delta reflects on her Collegiate Leadership Conference 2013 Experience

LAF Delta Delta Delta attended their Collegiate Leadership Conference (Dallas, TX)  hosted on Feb 22nd-24th 2013. The purpose was to bring together various officers from each of Tri-Delta’s collegiate chapters by region. It was an opportunity to network and to see the bigger picture of Tri Delta.  Rachel Hamilton ’14 a Neuroscience/English shares her positive experience…..

The Delta Delta Delta Collegiate Leadership Conference (CLC) was catered to the needs of four officers in Tri Delta: Collegiate Chapter President, Vice President of Chapter Development, Vice President of Public Relations, and New Member Educator. The first night there, I went to the VP/CD track and learned about extraordinary membership statuses that sisters can go on in different situations. I was also able to get some pertinent questions my chapter had answered by the women there who work at Executive Office. I also learned about the different governing documents the Fraternity has and how they should be maintained.

The second day at CLC, I again went to my VP/CD track in the morning to learn about how a Standards meeting should be run, including which officers should be called in to give reports and the purpose of each meeting. We then learned about the different levels of discipline that individual sisters can be put on, including Warnings of Discipline, Chapter Probation, Not in Good Standing, Fraternity Probation, and Fraternity Termination. The most important thing I got out of that morning was to foster a culture in the chapter that promotes holding everyone accountable for their actions. That afternoon, I went to four workshops focusing on different areas of chapter life. The first one, Navigating Conflict and Confrontation, explained the different ways to deal with conflict and the best way to confront someone (in a way that the sister understands what she did, what she should have done, and why). I then went to a module on Chapter Retreats, where members shared ideas on what they did during chapter retreats and the purpose of chapter retreats (Business or Sisterhood purposes). Then, I went to a session about Planning Chapter Calendars, where we learned the best way to prepare a year-long calendar, update it monthly (our chapter’s VPA has already implemented this method), and assigning points for events to encourage members to attend without making an event mandatory. We also discussed principles for effective planning (empowering officers, setting realistic goals, and learning from the past). Finally, I attended an idea share, where we discussed academic plans, social events, and use of technology. I learned that each chapter may now design and implement their own academic plan, got ideas for dry mixers with other organizations (dinner swaps, study hours), and learned about how to use the online forms more effectively.

The final day of CLC, we met once again in the VP/CD track and reviewed everything that happened that weekend and provided feedback to Executive Office.

This was an amazing experience – I learned so much to bring back to my chapter! Discussing ideas with sisters from around the country made me realize how unique the Gamma Mu experience is and helped me to learn that our chapter can always improve and, with the support of our National Fraternity, help our members grow and develop into the best college women they can be. Check out the Video Recap…..

Rachel Hamilton ~ VP/Chapter Development, Delta Delta Delta