Tis the season... for Formals, Finals, and Farewells

Hey y'all! I'm back at home now! And I already miss Tulane sooo much! The end of the semester was so jam packed with activities that the end of my sophomore year sneaked up on me! I cannot believe I'm half way done with school. It's wild! Anyway, let me catch y'all up on the end of the year.

1. FORMALS!
Formal season is definitely a highly anticipated time of year (at least in my book, it is!). A lot of different organizations on campus have formals (it's not just a Greek thing!). Many organizations, mostly fraternities, go away for a formal weekend to a nearby beach. This year I got invited to SAE formal in Destin, Florida. It was soooo much fun! And such a treat to have a whole day on the beach.


The night of formal, we went out to dinner to a nice Hibachi steak restaurant (delicious) and then went to a really cool place called McGuire's, where there was an awesome live band! It was really, really fun! Up top is a picture of me and my dashing date, Morgan. And to left is a picture of the devilishly handsome men of SAE. Yes, they're that handsome.

Then, that following week, I went to my formal for Pi Phi. We went to the Cricket Club on St. Charles. The venue was so cool (and, of course, very classy). We had a great DJ and dance floor... so needless to say I was cuttin' some rug the entire night! There I am with my friend, Michael, working it on the dance floor... naturally! Yeah, we're pretty cute! And below is a picture of (some of) my Pi Phi family... 3 generations. It's a beautiful thing! My Big, Lindsey, is in the middle, and my Little, Vicki, is on the right.

2. Student Affairs Town Hall
As the new VP for Student Life, I inherited a project from the old VP to better communication between the school administrators and the students. What we came up with was a Town Hall, where administrators from both academic and student life oriented realms participated in an open panel with students. The goal of this event was to reflect on the year, and allow students to voice their concerns and suggestions in order to make Tulane even better for next year. Also, it allowed administrators to give students an inside scoop as to what changes or improvements have been made in certain departments. Overall, the panel was very successful! And I, along with other enthusiastic administrators, plan to make this a semesterly event, where we can recap on the semester/year as well as look forward to the next semester/year, working as a team, administrators and students side by side. It's pretty unique that school administrators are so in touch with the students! I guess the saying holds true... "only at Tulane!"

3. Panhellenic Extension
As I said before, Tulane is open for extension... no, we're not acquiring more land; we're adding a new sorority! The Panehllenic Extension committee, after three days of presentation watching, hours of application reading, and reviewing Greek members' evaluations, the committee came to a unanimous conclusion: Phi Mu is the perfect sorority to (re)colonize at Tulane. They were a member of the Tulane community back when Sophie Newcomb College was an all woman's college, and they are so excited to have their charter back at Tulane. They will be having Recruitment for upperclassmen in the Fall, and will be joining the Spring Panhellenic Recruitment for freshmen, along with our six current sororities: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Delta Tau. We're all very excited to welcome Phi Mu back to the community! If you're an upperclassmen and interested in Fall Recruitment for Phi Mu, go to gophimufacebook.com for more information.

4. FINALS
Finals seemed to consume more of my life this year than in any other past semester. I was studying SOOO much for my exams! Luckily, Tulane has a lot of quiet places to study. Anyway, it was such a relief when finals were finally over! I went out to a nice dinner to celebrate (try Irene's in the French Quarter... yummy) and then slept for a long, long time! Finals wears everyone out!! All and all, the semester ended quite well, though. I'm just excited to start up new classes next semester! It's a nerdy feeling, but I feel lost without any work to do for school!

5. FAREWELLS
It's always hard to say goodbye to people at the end of the year because everyone finishes their finals and leaves at different times. This year was particularly hard to say goodbye to my friends, though, because a lot of them are going abroad in the Fall, meaning I won't see some of them til January... or even next year!! It was really sad to say goodbye. But my friends and I have a secret facebook wall where we all catch each other up on the events of our lives. It's a little corny, but it's a GREAT way to stay in touch! I already miss my friends sooo much, but I know that, for the group of people that are coming back to Tulane for the Fall semester, rather than going abroad, it's going to be an amazing semester! I have so much to look forward to, including NOLA, where I will again be an Orientation Coordinator. I'll get to come back to school around the 10th, move into my new house, and meet lots of new freshmen before school starts! I cannot wait. In the meantime, I'll be interning at Target and spending my free time visiting friends and family. I've got a full summer to keep me occupied 'til I can finally return back Tulane!

Stay tuned for updates over the summer, my loyal readers, and for those of you who are going to Tulane next year, or for those of you that have any questions in regards to Tulane, please don't hesitate to e-mail me! HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! And Roll Wave!

PS-- for incoming Freshmen interested in NOLA, go to: orientation.tulane.edu/NOLA.html

Crawfish Season!!!!!

Hello Tulane-prospectives/enthusiasts!! Sorry to leave y'all out in the cold! But I didn't forget about my loyal readers. In fact, I have a lot to share with all of you!

The Spring season has not only brought beautiful, sunny weather to New Orleans, the Spring season has also brought CRAWFISH SEASON! And boy does Tulane know how to celebrate that. Two weeks ago, Tulane had a campus-wide crawfish boil and music festival. The event is called Crawfest, and this year it drew a crowd of over 10,000 people (both Tulanians and locals). We had 16,000 pounds of crawfish (FREE for students) and 11 bands that included... (see right!). I think the numbers speak for themselves, but in case you couldn't tell, this event, though only in its 3rd year, is making history at Tulane.


It was an awesome day full of food and fun in the sun. It was such a great opportunity for all of my friends to be together at once. Actually, the whole campus united; even graduate students attended the event. Here are some more pictures of me and my friends enjoying the festivities...


My friend and suitemate, Becky, is on the Crawfest Committee as the Concert Chair. She had a VIP pass at Crawfest and was even able to get some of my friends on stage!









But Crawfest is just one of MANY crawfish boils on and around campus. The TU Administration has a crawfish boil last night for its newly elected leaders on campus! All of the Associated Student Body Executive Board members (with Graduate and Undergraduate Student Governments) were invited to join Dr. Cowen and Dr. Cherry (and other Student Affairs Administrators) for dinner! It was such a nice opportunity to connect with administrators in a relaxed setting. Plus, we got free crawfish... again! A lot of organizations also host crawfish boils in order to raise money for different philanthropic efforts. Needless to say, students here at Tulane, regardless of where they are from, have adopted the great New Orleans tradition of crawfish!

Just a little Greek update... Pi Phi had its first date party of the semester two weeks ago, the night after Crawfest. The theme: Phistock. It's Pi Phi's spin on Woodstock and it's so much fun! Everyone got really into it! And the venue was really fun. We even had a live band!!! All and all, I'd say it was a pretty successful date party. And right around the corner we have Pi Phi formal... so stay tuned!

Another exciting event happening in the Greek community here at Tulane: Panhellenic is open for extension and we are looking to add a new sorority. This week we have had three separate presentations from three different sororities and on Friday the Panehellenic Extension Committee (I'm Pi Phi's Rep. on the committee) will be making its final decision on who to invite to campus for colonization next year. It is a really exciting time for everyone on campus!

Also, as the new Vice President for Student life, I have been working very closely with the Student Affairs Administrators and Dining Services Administrators to set up a lot of open forums for students to talk openly about their thoughts on the year and how to make even more improvements for next year. I'm really excited to facilitate these opportunities for students!

That's all for now! But keep checking in, as there is a lot more to come before the semester comes to a close!

Recruitment and Mardi Gras Mayhem!

Hello readers! Sorry it's been awhile. The beginning the Spring semester has been so incredibly hectic! But I have so much to share....

1. Recruitment: Tulane has delayed Rush, which means students have all of Fall semester to decide if they want to participate in Greek Life. Then when everyone comes back after winter break, Recruitment begins. On average, the school is about 30% Greek. It was such a great couple of days... and Pi Phi got an amazing pledge class!! Not to brag, of course, but I love my babies! A week after Bid Day, Greeks participated in a big tradition: all the new Fraternity pledges rotated between the different sorority houses to serenade the new Pledgies!! It was soooo much fun! The boys sang some great songs too, including Britney Spears songs and Backstreet Boys songs!! Here are some of the New Pi Phi members outside the our house. After that... we all went to the "Fly" (the levee). It was like the biggest mixer... with all the Fraternities and Sororities hanging out together! Here are a bunch of my friends (in different sororities) at the Fly... enjoying the 75 degree weather in January!!

2. Home Sweet Home: I went home to visit my sister this last weekend. It was sooo much fun. I surprised her on Valentine's Day at her basketball game... and she was sooo shocked when she saw me that she almost cried right on the court! I'm REALLY bad at surprises and keeping secret, so I am really psyched that I pulled that off!! But I was glad to come back to Tulane, seeing as I always hate missing out on stuff here!

3. Elections: We had Undergraduate Student Government elections for the Executive Board last week. I decided to run for something other than Senator this year, and ran for Vice President for Student Life... it was an overwhelming week of campaigning, but I ended up WINNING!! I'm so excited. We have such awesome Executive Board-elects. I cannot wait to get started in my new position!!

4. MARDI GRAS: Mardi Gras was a non-stop party this year! For those of y'all that don't know, we get a Carnival Break at Tulane... most schools/business have the same break and the city pretty much shuts down and opens up Mardi Gras-specific business... food and drinks and nightlife galore. It was SOOO fun this year... because I had two midterms right before Mardi Gras, which means I was totally able to have a care-free weekend with my friends! I went to parades Thursday-Monday and loved every second of beed-catching, parade route-walking that there was! I barely slept... but as the saying goes here... "You can sleep when Mardi Gras is over." Here are some pictures of me and my friends during the festivities.




Basically, it was the best five days ever!!! You can wear what you want, hang out with whoever you want, sleep, eat, and be merry whenever you want! It is a great tradition of which Tulane loves to be a part! Tulanians stick together on the parade routes... and stay uptown on St. Charles on the neutral ground (the middle ground where the street car normally runs). We sit on couches and eat jambalaya and chat with the native New Orleanians around us. It truly is the best time! I hate that it's over, but am already thinking ahead for next year :)

In the meantime... Tulane has great stuff coming up! The third annual Green Week is less than a week away!! Basically, it's like a big Spirit Week in the Spring... kind of like Homecoming in the Fall. Everyday there's free food and lots of free give-aways (trucker hats/blankets/t-shirts)! We also have great tailgates for all of the baseball games! I cannot wait. I'll keep y'all posted! Take care until next time!

Roll Wave!