National Call for Unity…

To honor the tradition of the National Day of Unity, the Domestic Violence Awareness Project Advisory Group decided to organize a National Call for Unity. The idea was to provide advocates with an opportunity for a collective, shared experience that would not distract from their ongoing support of survivors, their daily work to end violence, or their planned DVAM activities. Further, in observance of DVAM 2010, the NRCDV commissioned a unique and vibrant piece of artwork from Lauren Komarek, a young artist who works as an illustrator, graphic designer and sculptor. Highlighting the traditional themes of DVAM, the artwork features the words “Domestic Violence Awareness Month: mourn celebrate connect” with 3 young people looking forward to a different world, a world free from violence and coercive control.

Listen to the National Call for Unity
On this free 45-minute call, several national organizations, governmental agencies, local domestic violence programs, advocates, allies, survivors and their family and friends gathered together to connect and refocus our efforts as Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) 2010 began. Following welcoming remarks from Kenya Fairley, Program Manager with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), everyone on the call was welcomed by Tina Chen, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls. Next, Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, shared her comments about DVAM and introduced the recorded remarks of Vice President Joe Biden, who was unable to be present on the call himself. Maria Luisa O’Neill, with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence continued the call by explaining the history behind the National Day of Unity.
Then, after being introduced by Sue Else, President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), Victor Rivas Rivers, NNEDV National Spokesperson, actor, author, athlete and activist shared his moving story of abuse, survival, and activism. We also heard a dramatic recitation by Kimberly Collins of her nationally renowned poem, Remember My Name. After sharing in a collective moment of silence for all the women, children, and men who have lost their lives to domestic violence, Rev. Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih of the FaithTrust Institute prayed for all the victims, survivors, their family, friends, advocates, and allies as we continue our work to end violence in our homes, our families, and our communities. To conclude the call, Ambar Hansen of Casa de Esperanza encouraged everyone to join their Pledge of Hope Campaign and Diane Perez of the National Domestic Violence Hotline shared details about being an advocate for women, children, and men that experience domestic violence.

Writings: Poetry and Prayer
As human beings we are blessed with the ability to express ourselves through language and, by extension, the written word. From the beginning of time, words have been used to capture the mundane details of life, identify objects, show the way to hidden places, record history, and foretell the future. There is also power in words where they allow us to share our innermost thoughts, feelings and ideas. Writing allows us to harness our energy, both positive and negative, and our words bear witness to our lives. While we all have the ability to write ourselves into diaries, essays, blogs, journals, articles and poems, there comes a time when an individual will so accurately capture the essence of a movement with their words.
Over a decade ago in 1995, Kimberly A. Collins wrote Remember My Name, a poem that has been used by Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) observances to memorialize victims that have lost their lives to the horrific epidemic of domestic violence. During the 2010 National Call for Unity, as part of the kick-off to DVAM, Ms. Collins recited this poem in the hopes that through spoken words we will never forget the names or the lives of those lost to domestic violence, that we should continue to heal through our shared connections and experiences, and that we shall remain committed in our efforts to end violence in our homes, our families, and communities.

  • “Remember My Name” by Kimberly Collins [PDF] (prints on legal sized 11″x14″ paper)
  • “Prayer for Continued Courage” by Rev. Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih [PDF] (prints on standard sized 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper)

Related Domestic Violence Awareness Month Blogs and Campaigns

  • Read the Council on Women and Girls White House Blog to learn more about the efforts of the White House to end violence against women and girls. “Ending Violence Against Women,” posted by Lynn Rosenthal on October 5, 2010 to the White House Council on Women and Girls Blog. To join the Council for Women and Girls Listserv, please send your email contact information to public@who.eop.gov.
  • Activate your social media network to support the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) DVAM Campaigns and help raise funds for domestic violence programs across the country. NNEDV encourages people to text the word HOPE to 41010 to make a $10 donation; listen to and share a public service announcement from Dr. Phil McGraw about his season-long campaign to “End the Silence on Domestic Violence” through YouTube; and promote the “Tell a Gal Pal” pledge through Facebook.
  • In October 1994 the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), in conjunction with Ms. Magazine, created the “Remember My Name” Project, a national registry to increase public awareness of domestic violence related deaths. Since then, NCADV has been collecting information on women who have been killed by an intimate partner and produces a poster each October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, listing the names of those documented in that year.
  • Show Your Support: Sign on to the FaithTrust Institute National Declaration by Religious and Spiritual Leaders to Address Violence Against Women.
  • Believing that domestic violence will end only when it is no longer acceptable to each of us, Casa de Esperanza has launched the national Hope Campaign to raise awareness and encourage people from across the country to take action to end domestic violence.
    • Pledge of Hope Campaign Flyer (English) [PDF]
    • Esperanza Campaign Flyer (Spanish) [PDF]
  • In support of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Shop for a Cause during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. More than 22,000 callers reach out to the Hotline for help each month, and it is vital that each call be answered. Your donations ensure that Hotline Advocates are available around the clock and around the country.

information from here

Summer Internships….

This summer our very own Julianna Corso, will be interning in Birstol, CT for ESPN. I’d like to think she is the next Erin Andrews or Jenn Brown. Only she will support the Seminoles (both Erin and Jenn graduated from the “other” Florida Institution, UF). Follow Julianna on her Blog here.

It’s time to channel your hunger for success.

You’ve been dreaming of this day for years. Finally it’s time to put all that education, knowledge and ambition into the start of a career – and there’s no better place than at ESPN. We should warn you though, – it’s not for the faint of heart.At ESPN, we move at the speed of fiber optics and satellite signals, and televise 24/7 among multiple platforms. You’ll be mentored by the best in the business and relied upon by millions of viewers. You’ll also be put right in the thick of a global icon in multimedia sports entertainment. It’s your opportunity to start a career where you can finally shine.BusinessWeek ranked the Walt Disney Company (parent company of ESPN/ABC) as one of the top companies to start your career, it also ranked Disney #11 on internship opportunities for undergraduates. Disney was ranked No. 7 in Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 Most Desirable MBA Employers. Boston College’s Carroll School of Management has Disney topping the list of 50 companies recognized as leaders in corporate social responsibility. DiversityInc named Disney as one of the top 50 companies for diversity.

 And if you are wondering.. Yes, Julianna is related to the loved, Lee Corso. She is a 5th Generation Nole!

 
she writes “I wish I could have seen the Sunshine Scooter break the record for most interceptions in one season…”
 Above is Julianna’s dad, Julianna, Lee, fellow BH & Younger sister Annalise, and soon to be Alumna Initiate of BH, mom Kim

Alumna Stoplight- Kat

Kat is a 2006 initiate of the Beta Eta chapter, and 2010 graduate from Florida State University. She is currently attending University of Miami Law School, and will graduate 2013.

Join Kat as she blogs about fashion, fun & the life of a law student at Law Abiding Fashionista.

In her own words:

“I’m just a 23 year old trying to enjoy life while looking fabulous. I’m originally from the beautiful city of Fort Lauderdale. I attended Florida State University to major in Partying, but my degree said Political Science and Psychology. Since I was in Tallahassee, I decided to keep it classy and join the lovely sorority of Alpha Chi Omega. I got to serve them as Recruitment Chair because of my fine abilities: to coordinate napkins, pose in front of doors, walk down stairs in my heels but still smiling, and make you NEED to be an Alpha Chi Omega. I then came to Miami to pursue my delusional dreams of a legal career at the University of Miami Law School. Miami is an amazing city; it reminds me to exercise, tan, and shop… oh yeah and that thing called school as well. I can’t tell you why I wanted to be a lawyer except that I have a fetish for the lavish fashion of women’s business clothes, and what a way to start then becoming a lawyer. I want to open my own boutique one day, not sure when. You could say my current activities are “technically” a law student, student loan budget fashionista, weekend pre-party DJ Gato, a carb fearing twenty something, and a full time DREAMER.”

National Women’s Health Week

Sunday is Mother’s Day and the start of National Women’s Health Week. Check out the resources available for the week, on the NPC website (and through the links below) and be sure to remind all the women in your life to make health a priority.

Check out the links below for materials that will help you plan events, reach out to the media and more.

Women’s Health Week Fact Sheet
Women’s Health Week Celebration Ideas
Checklist for Women’s Health Week Event
Tips for Building an Event Partnership
Registering Your Women’s Health Week Event
How-To-Guide for Media Outreach
Issuing and Using a Proclamation

For additional information on National Women’s Health Week, visit www.womenshealth.gov/whw. 

Tornado Warning Review

VP Fraternity Relations Advisor recently posted an excellent book review on her blog. She began reading  Tornado Warning: A Memoir of Teen Dating Violence and its Effect on a Woman’s Life as soon as it came out earlier this year. The book is the true story of the author, Elin Waldal, how she came to be in a violent relationship as a teen (it’s so true that it can happen to anyone), her experience in the relationship, ending it, and the long-term impact it has had on her life.

This is one of the bravest authors you will ever read. Not only does she share her story, she exposes everything she was going through by using excerpts from journals she kept at the time. Here’s an example:

“What people don’t seem to get is the guy doesn’t haul off and hit you on the first date. First there is the falling in love, followed by the extreme need, and then there’s this slow erosion of self until without noticing it, the woman becomes unrecognizable even to herself”

The other thing that sets this book apart from other similar memoirs (like Leslie Morgan Steiner’s Crazy Love which I recommend here) is the way the author shares the aftermath. What happens to you in a relationship like this stays with you for a long time. Recovery is not easy; it takes time, patience, and determination.

Reading this book could save someone’s life.

Alumna Spotlight- Liz Edmunds

Liz is a 2007 initiate of Beta Eta, and served as the chapter president in 2010! She is a 2011 graduate of Florida State University. She currently lives in West Palm Beach, Florida with her boyfriend Scott.

Be sure to follow her blog Le Favorite Things as she chronicles the some of her favorite things: design, DIY, shelter blogs, and finding inspiration in lovely images. Her blog also chronicles her adventures (and misadventures) in finding her first home and filling it with her favorite things.

above is an amazing headboard that Liz and her boyfriend created!!!

Fraternal Thoughts has done it again..Is Vision the Most Overrated Leadership Skill?

another great article brought to you from Fraternal Thoughts blog.. Seriously, if you have not checked out this blog, take a moment to do so, and add it to your google reader!

Is Vision the Most Overrated Leadership Skill?

I could use your help here.  I think I’ve got this one figured out, but I could be totally wrong.

Like many of you reading this, I’ve long held the belief that being visionary is one of the defining characteristics of a good leader. It’s become such conventional wisdom that it’s the rare person who doesn’t begin his/her definition of a leader with vision.


I don’t know if age brings wisdom, but it does bring many opportunities to change one’s mind. At this point in my life, I believe that vision is overrated.

I’m not saying that vision is not important. It certainly can be. I just don’t see it (as some do) as the most important thing a leader does, or really a pre-requisite for leadership at all. In fact, there may be close to a dozen things I would encourage emerging leaders to develop before vision.

Vision is the sexy side of leadership. It’s usually represented as the big, dramatic moment. That’s probably why it gets so much play and too much hype. We can’t often recall history’s doers or implementers, but we certainly remember the visionaries. The problem here is that we begin to treat leaders as the singular heroes who can move mountains with words.

But, you may be wondering, what about Martin Luther King, Jr.? Isn’t he considered one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, and isn’t that based upon his vision as described in the “I have a dream” speech? There is a reason that the MLK example is used over and over again. It was special. It was rare and one of a kind. Yes, MLK had a vision. But, it wasn’t his vision alone.

By the time he spoke, his vision had been talked about for decades: all people should be treated equal. He just found a different way to say it. So was it his ability to vision or his ability to communicate that really mattered?

Based on this example, I would encourage leaders to develop the ability to write poetically and speak emphatically before focusing on vision.

And – by invoking MLK only when we talk about visionary leadership, we are selling him short. That speech didn’t create the change he wanted. It was each moment when he, and thousands of his supporters, rolled up their sleeves and worked toward the vision that really mattered.

Isn’t visioning fairly easy as well? For something to be considered the most vital of leadership abilities, I think it needs to be more of a challenge than vision appears to be. At its core, it’s imagining an ideal future. We all do that every day. I can do it right now: “I want a world where every child has two parents devoted to his/her well-being.” It took me 5 seconds to come up with that. Does imagining that make me a leader? Of course not.

Any person can stand in a place and see a far distant destination. Isn’t the person that devises a way to get there more important?

Another problem with our love-affair with vision is that it gives our leaders far too easy a pathway to create radical change. As I grow older, I’m starting to observe that there are very few organizations that actually need radical change. What they need is discipline to their mission and their core values. Discipline is a much greater and much more challenging leadership skill than vision. All types of internal and external forces act against an organization, and it’s the disciplined leader that keeps the group focused on what counts.

Vision also tends to be very personal, and leadership is not. Vision is great for that individual who has the luxury to make an organization into whatever he or she wants it to be. What if that’s not your call? What if you lead a fraternity that has been around for over a century and has core values and purpose? Are you serving that organization best by being a visionary leader or by being a disciplined steward?

In addition, you have others working alongside you. You will likely need to build a collective vision with them. And so again, visioning is not the skill needed here – facilitation skills are.

So – for the educators – perhaps we need to stop asking our fraternity or sorority leaders questions like “what is your vision for your chapter” or “how would your chapter be if you could have it any way you wanted it?” Instead, maybe we should ask “how will you help your chapter fulfill its intended purpose?”

If leaders don’t need vision necessarily, what do they need? As opposed to vision, here are the types of things I would encourage the youngest of leaders to try and develop:

Strategic Thinking. This is the ability to take a big idea and consider all the factors acting in favor or in opposition to the idea. Then, it’s devising implementation strategies – steps to take – that will make the idea happen.

Communication Skills. As I mentioned above in reference to MLK, learn how to write both creatively and concisely. Learn also how to speak and listen in engaging ways.  While you do not need to be an extrovert to be a good leader, you do need to communicate well.

Relationship- Building. Have you ever experienced a leader who was big on ideas but couldn’t remember your name? Or someone who was better speaking from a podium than in one-on-one conversations? Did you want to follow those people? Learn how to develop authentic relationships with people long before you learn how to vision.

Critical Thinking. As you grow further as a leader and begin to get involved with complex organizations, you’ll find that instead of being called upon to create a vision, you’ll be more likely called upon to sort through an onslaught of visions and prioritize the most important ones. 

The list could go on and on. Listening skills, emotional intelligence, planning skills, negotiation, etc. I’m not sure how far it would take me to get to vision, but it would take a while.

What are your thoughts? Do we put too great an emphasis on vision for leaders?

Purple Ribbon

Over the years, a number of sources have been credited with originating the use of purple ribbon as a unifying symbol of courage, survival, honor and dedication to ending domestic violence.

Although the exact history of the purple ribbon is difficult to pinpoint, aross the country, families and friends of victims have adopted the purple ribbon to remember and honor their loved ones who have lost their lives at the hands of a person they once loved and trusted. Shelters and local battered women’s programs use the purple ribbon to raise awareness about the crime of domestic violence in their communities.

Purple ribbons are…
  • made into pins and passed out at local events
  • embroidered on t-shirts, hats and bags
  • tied to the antennae of police cars
  • hung on doors
  • wrapped around trees
  • draped over fences at murder scenes

In addition to the demonstration of support for victims and advocates, the display of purple ribbons throughout a community conveys a powerful message that there’s no place for domestic violence in the homes, neighborhoods, workplaces or schools of its citizens.

Recent events..

 The chapter members are “deep” into finals week. The chapter house for the most part is very quite and women can be seen in nearly every room hitting the books studying for their exams.
 photo above is taken in the informal living room of women spread out over all of the couches studying
(pardon the quality as it is from a cell phone)
 Ali was awarded Pi Kappa Phi Sweetheart..
Brooke was 1st Place in Phi Kappa Tau’s Dancing with the Greeks Philanthropy
Look forward to post again next week from our summer vacation!