B e y o n d t h e C a p a n d G o w n : D e l t a s D o w n t h e R o a d

Interesting Facts:

It was said that when Neil Arm-

strong went to the moon, he left

both his pledge pin and his

wife’s (who was a Tri Delta). So

we can say Tri Delta was the first

sorority on the moon.

Venus is the only planet that

rotates clockwise.

When hippos are upset their

sweat turns red.

The lion that roars in the MGM

logo is named Volney.

University of California, Irvine · Delta Delta Delta · Beta Upsilon

Inside this issue:

Convention 2

Study Abroad: Cambridge 3

Our New Financial Advisor 4-5

Reflections 6

Alumnae Updates 7

Summer Adventures 8-9

St. Jude 10

The Pansy Press

Δ Δ Δ

College is full of tough challenges that push us

to grow beyond our comfort zone and forage

into the world of the unknown. It is the first

time to explore the world outside of the pa-

rental limitations that once defined our experi-

ences, and discover a world where we must

be our own guide.

Moving to UCI at the age of 18, I felt fearless

and excited to be on my own and outside of

the boundaries of my parents rules. However,

I quickly learned that the guidance and sup-

port my parents provided was protecting me

from learning the hard way. In my initial weeks

at UCI, I decided to rush a sorority because I

knew it was a great way to meet people and I

was excited for the parties. I knew very little

about the Greek system or how it would

shape my life. When I decided to pledge Tri-

Delta, I did not expect to find a new family

where I could develop and mature.

During my days in Tri-Delta, I had to overcome

many obstacles that were completely new to

me. What I didn’t expect, was how my sisters

would be there to support me and understand

me. Through the encouragement of my sisters

I was able to rise above many difficulties and

find comfort in my new family. I also learned

invaluable leadership skills as VP Finance that

helped me secure my first post-collegiate job.

Ten years after graduating, I work in the world

of entertainment marketing where my Tri-

Delta sisters are still a vital part of my life.

Some of my closest friends are still the sisters I

grew up with in the Tri-Delta house. Addition-

ally, there is an unspoken bond between other

Tri-Deltas in the workplace and many times it

has bridged a gap with senior executives.

-Melinda Cox

Tri Delta, UCI ‘01

T r i D e l t a C o n v e n t i o n ,

From Ceyda & Kate

The Pansy Press Page 2

It was 6.30 am at John Wayne airport on

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010, and a very

sleepy Amanda and an even sleepier Ceyda

were on their way to Texas. Luckily the first

thing we saw when we got off the plane

was McDonalds! Ten chicken McNuggets

later, we finally found our gate, as well as a

Tri Delta sister from Wisconsin. Tri Delta

convention takes places every two years

and this year it was held at the JW Marriott

in Orlando, Florida. The hotel rooms were

really ice and every meal was a banquet.

The first night we came just in time for the

opening dinner; afterwards, Amanda at-

tended a recruitment meet and greet,

whereas I got to meet our executive board.

The convention’s main purpose is to take

care of chapter businesses, such as chang-

ing the national bylaws and appointing a

new Tri Delta Executive team. So I was sent

from our chapter to approve all the

changes. That night we met up with Alum-

nae at the hotel bar and enjoyed some fun

stories about how Tri Delta was “back in

the days.”

While we were voting for the new bylaws I

got to meet Tri Delta presidents from all

the different schools. The UC presidents

were sat next to each other and they are all

really awesome women. After we were

done voting we had a very interesting

lunch: The Women of achievement lunch-

eon. The big “stars” of the night were

Meryl Davis, the 2010 Olympic silver medal-

ist in ice dancing, as well as three other

women who have achieved great successes

in business and law. All four Tri Delta

women were awarded the 2010 Woman of

achievement award during the luncheon. It

was especially interesting to listen to Meryl

Davis’ stories, because she is still in college

and her Tri Delta sisters are her major support

during her career.

The third day of Convention was my favorite

day because after going to a president’s

roundtable where other president’s and I got

to exchange helpful tips on how to keep u

girls in check ;) we had the Philanthropy

luncheon. We all felt really proud to hear that

we achieved to raise $10 million dollars in 10

years. I felt even happier when we met Evans,

a ten year old boy, whose mother is a Tri

Delta. He had leukemia and was able to over-

come his disease at St. Jude after three years

of therapy. Amanda, Kate and I even bought

one of the boot table pieces which had a spe-

cial meaning to Evans. Every Wednesday he

had to have his feet inspected and disinfected

by the doctors because feet easily trap bacte-

ria, which is very dangerous for someone with

a weakened immune system. Hence he had to

wear cowboy boots as they are the sturdiest

shoes. Sooo get ready to tell this story during

recruitment when someone asks about the

boots ;)

After the luncheon we had some free time at

the pool, and then it was time to go to Sea

World! Several buses shuttled back and forth

until all Tri Delta’s were safely transported to

Sea World. We ate at the Conference room

and at our entry we received the coolest fan-

thingies that spelled “Tri Delta Convention

2010”, “Sea World, Orlando” and “ I love Tri

Delta” in shining blue letters. Once we sat

down to eat, one attraction after the other

walked into our dinner room. First, Shamu

came in and we all took pictures with him.

But then a real sea lion was brought in!

While we were taking a picture with him he

sneezed fishy water on me (eww!), but he

was really cool! Later that night, we en-

joyed watching “Shamu Rocks” with 600

fellow Tri Deltas. You can imagine how

many Deltas were on the big screen before

the show started…

The last day ended with the installment of

the new Executive board, a run-through of

initiation to make sure we presidents know

what to do, and learn what has changed. A

couple workshops and banquets later,

Amanda, Kate and I were ready to go

home, but we all left with a special and

proud feeling, because we were Tri Deltas.

- Ceyda

Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥

On my recent trip to Delta Delta Delta’s

Convention in Orlando, Florida I had the

unique opportunity to meet the collegiate

members from other sororities across the

nation. I was so excited to meet everyone

and impressed with the outstanding

achievements of all of the chapters. It

amazes me that our sorority makes such a

difference. I recall one of the speakers, a

fellow collegiate member, who suffered

from a debilitating brain injury and the

death of her father, saying how much Tri

Delta has done for her. Her story was so

inspirational;

(Continued on page 9)

Fall 2010, Issue 1 Page 3

Study Abroad: Dest inat ion Cambridge ,

After studying abroad at Cambridge Uni-versity for five weeks, I have come to real-ize that: 1) I will never learn to appreciate William Shakespeare no matter how many plays I read or see, 2) Burritos should not be taken for granted, & (perhaps my most important discovery) 3) I am completely capable of doing things on my own. Up until this last month, I was the kind of girl who couldn’t leave a restaurant table or movie theatre seat to go to the restroom by myself. Pathetic, I know, but being by myself , or even making decisions by myself, has always made me a little nerv-ous. My trip from LAX to London Heath-row started off just like my first day of kin-dergarten- my mom walked me all the way to my gate, and when she hugged me and said goodbye, it was all I could do to keep myself from running after her back to the car! Somehow, I managed to get myself

onto the plane and into the air without hav-ing a complete meltdown. After waking up from my ambien-induced sleep, I found my-self in an entirely different country with a “tube” map and two suitcases to lug around. It took five flights of stairs, three tube lines, forty dollars, and the help of three strangers to get me to Notting Hill, where my friend Sophie was waiting for me. The time that it took me to get me from the airport to her house was probably the most terrifying two hours of my life. I couldn’t get past the fact that I didn’t know anyone around me, and didn’t have a cell phone to get in touch with anyone that could help me. It may sound dramatic, but it was the first time in my life that I’ve felt completely alone. It was because of this that I arrived at Sophie’s front door feeling prouder of my-self than ever, a sense that stuck with me through my entire time in England.

I walked into town on my own when I needed some-thing. I went by myself to explore churches in the area when everyone else was in class. I booked train tickets, bus tickets, airplane tickets, and hotel rooms when nobody else could figure things out. I can’t explain how much of an impact that one-day journey had on my confidence, and on how much I en-joyed being in England. I could tell you all that studying abroad was amazing because of the history, the pubs, or the people, but what has really stuck with me since I’ve been back is everything that I accomplished on my own.

“Being an Angel fan and sharing that

experience with my sisters was memo-

rable in itself. We had our share of

laughs and we would shout and stand

up whenever we saw a good play!!! :)

Baseball games and sisterhood go to-

gether quite nicely.”

-Adri

“We got to the ball park super early and

took a bunch of pictures outside. One of

the photographers ended up being

from the O.C. Register and we had two

pictures posted online. We ended up

being able to sit right one the field and

got three balls signed by a player!”

-Barbara

“One of the men that worked at An-

gels Stadium came over to us and

asked what school we went to. We

told him UCI and he proceeded to

respond with the fact that his mom

was a tri delta!”

-Erica

B e t a U p s i l o n , M e e t C a t h e r i n e G r i f f i n

The Pansy Press Page 4

My name is Catherine Johnson Griffin (’82 Beta Upsilon). I was delighted to be asked to serve as Financial Advisor for my chapter and look forward to getting to know all of you! I thought it might be interesting for you to know what Beta Upsilon was like in those years before a Chapter House and along the way, introduce myself to you.

I rushed in the Fall of 1982. Big hair and perms were all the rage as well as preppy clothes and pink. Since the Greek system was less than 10 years old at UCI, we tramped hap-pily through campus attending Rush Parties at Gateway Commons and in various rooms around the school. The weather was hot that year and each sorority did their best to wel-come us with cooling refreshments. Tri Delta made an impression serv-ing root beer floats! In those days before Chapter houses, we would come out of the Student Union Center after opening up our bids and were welcomed by our new sisters wearing their Tri Delta sweatshirts cheering and rushing forward to give us hugs.

My Pledge Trainer was Carol Faille. We all looked up to her and she was quite a role model. The woman lived and breathed Tri Delta and she instilled in us a love for our sisters. It was a common theme of the 4 years I spent at UCI, that our bond of sisterhood was special. We had to work harder to make time to be together because we didn’t have a single place to call “home”. In those days we met in Humanities lecture halls or in the Chemistry building. And the room would change every single year so that there was never a continuous pres-ence of “place”. Home was where our sisters were and the memories we made together.

We had our Exchanges in different community center buildings around Irvine and Newport Beach. The Greek system was rather small, still being in its infancy at UCI so we were able to have an exchange with each of the six fraternities on cam-pus. Some sororities chose to limit

their exchanges to those groups that they felt were fun to be with, or they would plan an exchange and have very few girls show up if they didn’t like the fraternity with whom they had to have a party. I was proud of my sisters because we were all considered to be ladylike and would never be so rude as to make another group feel less that welcome at our parties. We were well regarded by the others on campus.

I will never forget SongFest that year. The Tri Delts were paired with the Phi Delta Theta and we were slated to do “The Best Lil’ Whore-house in Texas”. For some reason Beth Kovacs had to step in and become our coordinator; she pulled me outside the computer science building for my audition to be included in the cast. There among the bushes she asked me to sing “Happy Birthday”. She smiled at me when I was done and said “congratulations, you’re in”. We went on to win a prize for cos-tumes…of course we were all dressed like hookers!

I served Delta Delta Delta as an Assistant Pledge Trainer, Rush Chairman, and Chaplain. I am al-ways amazed when Tri Delts ask me what a Chaplain was and what I did. I guess the new office is called “Vice President of Character Develop-ment”. I often wonder what Sarah Ida Shaw would think! Since I was in charge of Initiation, it was my responsibility to make sure that all of the “proper gear” showed up. In those days we had a small storage unit were we kept everything…and I mean EVERYTHING. I will never forget digging through all of the old props for Rush, various costumes and robes looking for the items that I needed. Later that weekend when we finally assembled to have Initita-tion at Suzie Bishop Burkes house in Woodbridge, we didn’t have all of the pieces for the ceremony. It was too late to do anything about it but to put on our smiles, sing our songs to our newest sisters and wrap them in our arms. They probably never knew that half of the equip-ment was missing because, as al-

ways, our Chapter was founded on the principles of love….the love that we share for our sisters and our sorority.

We had to work hard in those days to spend time together. UCI was designed as a campus to spread students out and discourage stu-dent gatherings. So we worked all the harder at meeting frequently and to map out spaces that were ours. After my first year of living on campus in the dorms, I moved down to Balboa Island with a group of my pledge sisters. I eventually lived in three different houses on Balboa Island with other Tri Delta sisters and have carried with me the fondest memories of that time in my life. It was common to have several houses on Balboa Island that were rented by other Tri Delts so no matter where you were on the island you were always close to a friend and could pop in for a chat. One of my room mates that year, Mary Powers, used to generously drive me to the campus because I didn’t have a car of my own. She had a tiny bright orange Honda with a manual transmission. She would drive the 8 miles to campus while putting on her make up, changing her clothes, and even putting on panty hose all while shifting gears! I was always so amazed at her dex-terity!

My sophomore year I met the man who would eventually become my husband. We met in Spanish class. I asked him to sit in the empty seat next to me because I felt sorry for him. I assumed he was a freshman because he was wearing a Phikeia pin (pledge pin for Phi Delta Theta). So I took pity on this “poor fresh-man” who looked so lost! He was older than me and a transfer stu-dent so we were in the same grade.

Eventually, we became promised, pinned and finally engaged. I was one of the few lucky girls who got to have three candle passings. I will never forget the night I was pinned when Michael’s entire fraternity came in , got down on one knee and serenaded me! It was quite a thrill!

(Continued on page 5)

“I will never forget

the night I was

pinned when

Michael’s entire

fraternity came in,

got on one knee and

serenaded me.”

Catherine and her family

Fall 2010, Issue 1 Page 5

(Continued from page 4)

So few girls get a chance at even one candle passing these days; it is an extra special ceremony that you get to share with your 100 closest friends!

By senior year, I wore so many pins on my dresses that I clanked when I walked down the halls of the Social Science building. I was finishing up my degree in Economics and did my senior thesis under Professor Bell in his class “The Economics of Love and Marriage” Believe it or not, they even have formulas for that in the Econ Department! I eventually had to throw away almost my entire wardrobe because of all of the pin holes in my dresses.

Our Advisors too were mindful of our need to be together and gener-ously opened their homes to us for various functions. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Wendy Schiff (our AA) and Paige Baker (Rush Advisor) for hosting rush school, initiation, and whatever else we needed at their homes. I will never forget when I became engaged, Wendy pulled me aside and gave me a book on how to have a suc-cessful marriage…it must have worked, I have been married for 23 years!

The Alumnae of this area were so proud of the Chapter at UCI. It was

like their own child that they fought for and nurtured. They took every part of it personally and it meant so much to them that we succeeded. They mentored us; worked tirelessly to make sure that we had every opportunity to shine. We all owe them such a debt of gratitude. Every year when I go to the Beverly Hilton, for the Sleighbell Luncheon, I sit with these remarkable ladies. They welcome me with open arms, kiss my cheek, and tell funny stories to my daughter about those years.

Another great Tri Delta lady that needs mentioning is Ann Bishop. My sophomore year she hosted our chapter to a tea party at her home on Linda Isle in Newport Beach to establish a new Tri Psi Chapter. Just as she had helped to establish Beta Upsilon, she opened her heart and home to help found the Beta Psi chapter of Psi Psi Psi, the mothers sorority for the women of Tri Delta, open to any woman who has a daughter in Tri Delta. Ann and her husband had served as ambassa-dors to a South American country. She offered us our tea in china cups and had servants there to assists us. She herself “poured out” at the end of the long dining room table in her home overlooking the water. Years later, when remembering the event with Mickie Bratsche, a past Tri Psi president who attended the party, she commented on the beautiful bar that was entirely stocked with Waterford crystal. Our mothers sequestered themselves in the Library to learn their rituals, elect

officers, and be initiated. When the doors opened and our mothers walked out and my own mother was carrying the presidents’ gavel! It is my hope to reestablish the Beta Psi Chapter for the benefit of our girls at UCI. Contrary to popular belief, the Tri Psi’s don’t involve themselves in any sort of meddling with the collegians, instead, they have fundraisers for scholarships for them, and bake cookies for finals week, and generally support them in any way they can. Tri Psi National has even contacted me about hosting their annual conven-tion in 2012 at UCI. Unlike Tri Delta, the Tri Psi’s have convention every year. I think this is because they enjoy each other’s company so well! My own mother did not attend college. The gift of a mother’s sorority was one she has cherished for the past 30 years. She has so-rority sisters that she loves scat-tered all across the nation and has served in as national recording secretary for them.

After graduation from UCI and marriage to Michael the following spring, we got busy building a com-pany and buying our first house. We have bought and sold a few companies since then and I am currently the CFO of The Maturin Group, Inc., the company I own with my husband, which owns PRP (our pallet manufacturing com-pany) and Blue Lumber Co. We are currently involved in developing some vacant land in South Colton that has kept me busy. I have been

active in the Colton community, serving on the Police Activities League Board. We are also helping in Mayor Kelly Chastain’s re election this November…of course, any of you Political Science Majors who want some first hand experience on how it is done are welcome to help!

Honestly, the past nineteen years have been spent raising Christopher (19) and Victoria (15). Christopher is a sophomore at Carleton College, double majoring in International Relations and Philosophy. Victoria is a sophomore at Sage Hill School and focusing on singing and the Latin Club.

All in all, my experiences with Tri Delta have done much to shape the woman that I have become. It taught me the value of team work and coming together to help oth-ers. I owe so much to the lessons that I learned in my four years of college life at UCI. When I first ac-cepted the position as Financial Advisor, I met some of the girls at the Chapter house and was de-lighted to see for myself that Beta Upsilon is full of bright, impressive young women whom I am proud to call sister. It has been a blessing to see that Tri Delta is flourishing with women who are interested in the traditions of our past and the vision that Sarah Ida Shaw gave to us all those years ago in Boston of 1888. Our world has changed, but our values and the bonds of sisterhood have not. For that I am so grateful!

Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥ Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥ Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥ Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥ Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥

Dine at Chili's on

September 27

and all profits go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Re

flec

tion

s T

rain

ing

From

Sandra

The Pansy Press Page 6

Body dissatisfaction: expressed by not only sorority women, but women of all ages. In fact, accord-ing to the National Eating Disorders Association, 46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets. And who is it to blame for this negative way of thought of oneself? The obvious answer is the media, and all the grand expectations it puts on women today. Though you can’t forget to include the pressures that stem from everyday life: family, friends and loved ones.

This past August, Cameryn and I attended a body image program hosted by Delta Delta Delta, at its executive office in Arlington, Texas. Here, we were trained on how to deal with the problem of negative body image, and we were also given a chance to face the insecurities we have about our own bodies. I can speak for us both when I say that we didn’t believe that we would take as much as we did from this weekend at the Body Image Acad-emy. It is not often that I describe something as a life-changing experi-ence, but this truly was. It is likely that all of us have experienced a bit of body dissatisfaction, some of us more than others. Combating such a negative view about ourselves and to each other is not a simple task. It takes baby steps, gradual realization to see that, yes, our bodies are truly beautiful.

I have not come out

of this program feel-

ing like I am a saint,

free from the impurities of the

world. In fact, I am still struggling

to stray away from this unhealthy

way of thought. I still catch myself

saying negative comments, or even

thinking about my body in a nega-

tive light. It is important that we try

our best to surround each other, as

sisters, with as much love and ap-

preciation as we possibly can.

Through this program, Cameryn and

I really hope you all will hear us out,

and give the Reflections program all

you’ve got. It is something that we

are going to pour our hearts into,

hoping that we can together de-

velop a stronger and more womanly

character in this chapter. Open your

eyes, you are all so beautiful.

A g l i m p s e i n t o t h e p a s t …

Songfest

1983

Fall 2010, Issue 1 Page 7

Alumnae Updates:

E v e r w o n d e r w h a t s o m e o f o u r n o w a l u m n a e m e m b e r s a r e u p t o ? W e c h e c k e d u p o n a f e w .

Hi Baby Deltas!

I hope recruitment goes well this year and

you are all enjoying the recently re-

decorated house! Let's see, after I gradu-

ated in June of '09 I moved up to West Hol-

lywood for a year with Kaitlin Dorn and AJ

(Trident Man) to work as a behavioral thera-

pist for children with autism and other de-

velopmental and learning disabilities. While

taking a year off from school, I applied to

graduated programs and got a glimpse of

the Hollywood/L.A. lifestyle. In August I

began my graduate program for School

Psychology at California State University,

Northridge and I am continuing to work as a

behavioral therapist part time. After spend-

ing a year in never-ending Los Angeles traf-

fic, AJ and I decided to make the move back

to the coast. We now live in Santa Monica

with Heather Diamond, just a few blocks

from the beach and third street promenade.

It's been a little scary entering the grown-up

world of financial independence, but I'm

very lucky to have had AJ and tri delta sis-

ters by my side along the way. I love my job

and my master's program, so if any of you

are interested in the field of child psychol-

ogy please don't hesitate to contact me! AJ

is also doing great and has plenty of work in

the film industry right now. For those of you

who remember my pets, Jeffrey the beta

fish is still alive and well and Hef the bunny

is doing fine down at my parents house :)

Wow I can't believe I've already been out of

college for over a year! Your time at UC Ir-

vine goes by in a flash and unfortunately,

after that life only gets harder. If there is

one piece of advice that I have for you, it's

to take advantage of every opportunity you

have to make the most out of your time in

tri delta. Get involved and try to remember

that every one of your sisters has the poten-

tial to make a huge impact on your life.

Delta Love,

Liz Tylor (Beta Beta!! )

Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥

What have I been up to? Well, I finished all

my classes at the end of summer (yay) and

moved back home to Northern California.

Right now, I am searching for a job and just

enjoying time with my family. The job search

is hard as there are not a lot of jobs available

and the ones that are appealing I am either

overqualified for or under qualified for

(frustrating, I know).

Life after college is actually pretty boring and

I miss college every day. I especially miss liv-

ing in the house and going to Monday night

meetings! I'm really excited for recruitment

to come around so I can see our new baby

deltas. I know you girls are going make us

alumnae proud and ROCK recruitment!!

Please post lots of pictures and let me know

how it's going....recruitment has always been

one of my favorite times of the year.

I miss you all! Please keep in touch and keep

me updated =)

Delta Love Always,

Diana

Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥

Since graduating from UCI I have moved to

Los Angeles and starting working at my

mother’s art gallery. It has always been my

dream to work at the gallery and being young

brings a fresh outlook to the company. Be-

fore finishing high school, I had no interest in

going to college and thought going straight

into the work force would be the best deci-

sion. I am glad that I decided to attend col-

lege and especially UCI. I have met life long

friends and have become a member of a so-

rority that contributes to an incredible cause.

Both have taught me many things about my-

self that I will never forget. Although I miss

college life, moving on and taking on more

responsibility has made me appreciate the

time I spent at UCI much more then I ever

thought.

I enjoy living in Los Angeles and integrating

myself into the artistic community. It is fasci-

nating to discover what this entire city has to

offer from culture, food, people, history, and

so much more. Through my job and friends, I

have had the pleasure in experiencing many

new activities I did not partake in during col-

lege. I have the benefit of attending art exhi-

bitions, furniture shows, and most impor-

tantly going to work in a beautiful environ-

ment each day. It is a bit surreal to think that I

am living the life that I have been dreaming

about since I was a young girl. It is finally here

and I love each minute.

-Chloe

Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥Δ♥

Hello my lovely Deltas!!!

In case you weren’t lucky enough to know me

when I was still at UCI, I’m Kate Kiely. I was

one of the fantastic Beta Delta babies, an

officer in the chapter (risk manager, and

VPCD!), and a triple threat in Tri Delta flag

football, soccer and softball. After graduating

from UCI in 2009 (I can’t believe it’s been so

long since then!), I moved back to the Bay

Area to look for a job and take some post-

bacc classes. I started working at Notre Dame

de Namur University, a very, very small school

in Belmont, CA, where I work in Student Life

and Leadership. Most of my work is in Stu-

dent Conduct and holding hearings for stu-

dents who have conduct violations- my job is

basically an extension of my time on Stan-

dards as VPCD! I’m also working on a Masters

in Public Administration and studying like

crazy to bring up my GPA for my upcoming

medical school applications, which I start

again next June. Hopefully one day you’ll see

me on the news as one of the best heart sur-

geons in the nation!

I miss all of you guys terribly, and if you’re

ever in the Bay Area, let’s hang out!!!

Delta Love ♥

Kate Kiely

S u m m e r A d v e n t u r e s ,

From Tanya

The Pansy Press Page 8

I didn’t think studying abroad was

possible as a transfer student. Two quarters

into my education at UCI I met Marylin, a trans-

fer student who studied abroad twice. The

experiences that she shared with me encour-

aged me to look into my options. I decided that

I wanted to study abroad in Europe because of

its history with literature, art, and culture. After

thorough investigation, I decided that I would

take my last two psychology courses to fulfill

major requirements at the University of Sussex

in England during a summer term. I initially fell

in love with the thought of studying in London,

England when I thought about how amazing it

would be to be in a country where there is a

queen, castles, regular tea times, and cute boys

with British accents.

The University of Sussex wasn’t ex-

actly in London, it was in Brighton. Brighton is

like our Newport. A fun beach city always filled

with people. This beach city was different from

what we used to seeing. The Brighton pier had

an arcade, rides, crêpe stands, milkshake

shops, souvenir stores, and random food tents

that sold chow mein, falafel, fries, donuts, and

the traditional fish and chips. The city had three

H&M stores within a couple blocks, a Primark

which is like our Forever 21 but with even more

affordable clothing, and many yummy pastry

shops. The only negative aspect of Brighton

was that just about everything closed by 6pm

and all the pubs closed by midnight, even on

the weekends. The nightlife was very busy.

There were many clubs to choose from to

dance the night away. Although, I thought it

was pretty weird that they loved to play Jour-

ney’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Katy Perry’s

“California Girls” way too many times. I ob-

served that the men that attended the clubs

didn’t devote their time to getting a girls

attention. Most of them were really into the

music as they were dancing that they were

fine dancing by themselves or with other

male friends the entire time. I thought it was

awesome that they really cared about the

vibe in the music and having a good time

with their friends. England in general loves

to give student discounts, which I LOVED.

The weather was perfect every single day. It

wasn’t too hot and it was never too cold. It

sprinkled occasionally for a couple of min-

utes then the beautiful sun would come out

and shine the rest of the day. The funniest

memory that I have of Brighton/Sussex is

when a seagull attacked me. I had previously

heard of these stories but never thought it

would happen to me. Therefore, here is the

story: I was running late to my first day of

class with my lunch in my hand. I was just

about to take another bite into my sandwich

when a seagull dove into my sandwich,

which made it hit me in the face. It ate my

sandwich and smacked me. I was more in

shock than I was embarrassed but that was-

n’t the case for the girl walking next to me

that witnessed the event. I definitely

laughed about it later when I shared it with

my classmates and discovered that some of

them have too been attacked.

My reaction to my first couple of

times in London was, “this place is so

gloomy.” It was gloomy in the sense that the

scenery (all the architectural buildings) was

all a shade of grey. Although my first impres-

sion wasn’t very colorful, I was still very im-

pressed with the monumental buildings such

as

parliament, big ben, Kensington Palace, and

St. Peter’s cathedral to name a few. Overall,

my favorite things about London were its

fast method of underground transportation,

its posh use of tea with a pastry, and its vari-

ety of beautiful musicals.

I really enjoyed my stay in England.

There is too much to do there that I actually

didn’t get a chance to do everything that I

wanted. Every day during my study abroad

trip was an awesome mini adventure to seek

new experiences. I fell in love and was

quickly addicted to traveling. It sounds crazy

but I want to travel the world and see other

places that this beautiful Earth has. In the

future I want to travel to south of France,

south of Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey,

Poland, and Russia. I am already planning my

next trip as a graduation present for myself. I

want to travel through Mexico, Central

America and finally ending with South Amer-

ica. I plan to buy a one-way ticket to a desti-

nation and retuning back home when I am

finished going to most countries in these

three areas. In the future, I would love to do

something noble and unselfish like what Tori

Koch is now doing with Peace Corps. This

would be a perfect opportunity to travel

somewhere new and also help those who

are in need. Overall, I wouldn’t change my

study abroad trip for anything in the world.

It was really worth every penny. The friends

that I made and the experiences I had in

these new places were priceless. If I had the

opportunity to study abroad again I would. I

would study in a random country and maybe

for a longer term so I can experience the

culture at a deeper level.

Fall 2010, Issue 1 Page 9

C i a o D e l t a s ,

From Maggie in Italy

I have been living in Rome for almost two weeks

now and I love it! I am currently taking three

weeks of intensive Italian so I have plenty of

time to explore the city and other parts of Italy. I

have already been to the Colosseum, Forum, the

Vatican, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and more!

Everything is beautiful and I live in a great loca-

tion with many cute restaurants and shops. Ital-

ian boys are obsessed with California girls and

they are crazy! Our

school is in a 400 year old building which is obvi-

ously way cooler than UCI! As much as I wish

that I could be moving in to the house with you

all in a few weeks I am having a blast and we will

be re-

united in

only a few

short

months!

T r i D e l t a C o n v e n t i o n , c o n t i n u e d

the Tri Delta foundation

helped her pay for her col-

lege tuition and her chapter

dues. I was so grateful she

had her sorority and all the

members across the nation

to turn to in such a crisis and

such a painful time. People

underestimate the power of

a sisterhood. We are a force

for good for our members

and for others.

I also was lucky enough to

participate in the festivities

regarding our completion of

the “10 by 10” fundraiser for

St. Jude. There wasn’t a dry

eye in the audience as an

alumni member told her

story of St. Jude and the

impact they had on her life.

Her son, Evans, was diag-

nosed with cancer and she

moved to St. Jude as he

bravely fought for his life. A

team of doctors provided

him with excellent care at no

charge and now a little boy

has the opportunity to live

and bring hope to all who

meet him. We met this

young survivor in the pool,

he was splashing around and

as happy as could be. He

later signed boots for us to

bring back to the chapter, a

symbol of how he kicked

cancer.

Convention was an opportu-

nity to learn, and I bring back

with me tons of new knowl-

edge. However, what con-

vention did most for me was

inspire me. I’m absolutely

motivated to be a better

member and a better per-

son. We have such an amaz-

ing opportunity to be a part

of something that is so good

and so real. As a person I

want to do better, and be

better every day. And as a

member I am motivated to

do more and be more within

our chapter. Thank you so

much for this opportunity

Beta Upsilon, I

really appreci-

ate the experi-

ence you have

given me.

- Kate

St . Jude,

From Amy

The Pansy Press Page 10

The trip I took to St. Jude Children’s Research

Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee this summer

was absolutely and undeniably one of the most

live-changing experiences I have ever had. I

hate to start this article off super cliché, but

believe me on this one Deltas—I wish everyone

had the chance to take this trip.

My trip started off amazing once I got to LAX

and immediately met Danielle Millhouse, the

philanthropy chairman for Long Beach Tri

Delta, and of course we clicked (as sisters often

do!). Got to fly on legit DELTA AIRLINES just

saying—Needless to say by the time I landed in

Memphis I was so stoked on life.

We were taken to the hotel and given a nice

little dinner where I was able to meet so many

great girls and guys: Tri Deltas, Tau Kappa

Epsilons, and representatives from the Up Till

Dawn program. Knowing everyone was joined

together in this hotel, that everyone had traveled

far and wide, and that everyone had put in the

effort of diligently raising money for St. Jude

was a very humbling experience, and I had

never been more proud to be there representing

Beta Upsilon!

The next day followed with the tour of the hos-

pital. I would first off like to let you girls know

how breath-takingly beautiful the hospital is

both inside and out. . This is in no way shape or

form a place where children go when they find

out they have a life-threatening disease. This is

a place where children go to become better

medically, physically, emotionally, and spiritu-

ally.

We were able to tour the Tri Delta Teen room,

which we sponsored through fundraising events

just like DHOP and Sincerely, Yours! Another

moving aspect of the hospital was the patient

artwork, which I admired so much because it

truly reflected the internal and external strug-

gles that these children were facing while

receiving care at St. Jude. One of my favor-

ites by far was a drawing by a girl named

Summer who had ovarian cancer, and at the

top of the picture was the saying “Fight Like

a Girl: Beat Ovarian Cancer”. Those of you

that know I want to be an OB/GYN Nurse

Practitioner, this definitely made me smile!

Next, we took a trip on over to the Chili’s

Care Center!! And can I please start off by

saying that this is a place anyone would envy

getting to stay in for a long period of time…

regardless of any illness attached. This state

of the art facility is covered in beautiful art-

work, crazy gadgets and toys, and complete

with some of the only in-patient rooms in the

entire hospital. Additionally, this is where

our Tri Delta floor is located! I’m sure

you’ve seen the pictures with the dolphins,

and the stars and crescents on the floor! To-

tally crazy to step into such an amazing hos-

pital and care center, and to see our sorority

covering an entire FLOOR! My heart leaps

out of my chest just thinking about it!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was when

we got to meet and hear the patient speakers.

I was able to hear from a total of 4 individu-

als, all of which had heavily moving stories

of their journey leading up to St. Jude, and

what their lives have been like since leaving

the hospital. But one boy in particular was

HILARIOUS! He was diagnosed with a very

rare brain tumor, pardon me for not remem-

bering the medical name, but rallied through

chemotherapy to rid himself of the tumor and

was able to get out of the hospital in just a

little under a year. But here is the kicker…the

boy is asked to share a special talent and he

gets up and raps Boom Boom Pow by the

Black Eyed Peas. 7-year-old little Pilipino

boy RAPPING Boom Boom Pow and con-

veniently leaving out and slurring out the

profanity. I died of laughter! It was just so

amazing to see a little boy who was once

labeled with a death sentence, who was then

sent to St. Jude is alive and singing the Black

Eyed Peas in a room filled with Tri Delts. I

love it—and we play a part in saving lives

just like his!

The next day

was filled with

workshops at

which I was

able to learn

some great

methods and

ideas for this coming fall quarter and for

future philanthropy chairmen. But that was

boring compared to the night that followed…

the Tri Delta Appreciation Dinner!

As you should know, in 2005 Tri Delta

pledged to raised 10 Million Dollars in 10

years, and in doing so pledged the largest

donation by any Greek organization in his-

tory. While we worked hard to reach this

goal, St. Jude and Tri Delta both realized that

we were going to knock this deadline out of

the park—and changed the name to “10 by

10”. If that wasn’t enough, it was announced

at our national convention that we DEMOL-

ISHED our goal by raising a whopping

$10,643,582 dollars in just FOUR YEARS!

Amazing. Every single individual of this

chapter should be so incredibly proud of the

time and effort they put into any philanthropy

event that contributed to raising this amazing

sum of money.

Continuing on with the appreciation dinner,

the most amazing experience I had on this

trip by far was the announcement of our next

goal, and ladies, we are in it to win it! Our

new goal is to raise 15 MILLION IN 5

YEARS! I know it seems like a lot, but I

KNOW we can do this! Everyone is rallying

together to do this, and there is no doubt in

my mind that we will beat the timeline once

again! Take pride in knowing that you are

continuing to have a hand in raising money,

which helps raise money for children’s can-

cer research and other catastrophic diseases,

all by being a part of the amazing organiza-

tion that is Tri Delta.

I feel like I have shared with you enough of

my trip for you to hope-

fully sense my excite-

ment for the upcoming

year. We are an amaz-

ing group of girls—not

just in Irvine, but also

all over the United

States. This is a cause

very few can take credit

to so contributing to the

extent of ten, and soon

to be fifteen million

dollars. Wear

your letters

proud, girlies.

Because these letters are saving the

lives of children on a day-to-day

basis. I have no other word to de-

scribe that feeling other than amaz-

ing.

Fall 2010, Issue 1 Page 11

Some Quick St. Jude Facts

Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas in 1962,

St. Jude maintains 60 inpatient beds and treats about 230

patients each day. Since its opening, St. Jude has treated

children from all 50 states and more than 70 foreign

countries.

St. Jude treats children without regard to race, religion,

creed or ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric

cancer research center where families never pay for

treatments that are not covered by insurance, and fami-

lies without insurance are never asked to pay.

It is the first institution established for the sole purpose

of conducting basic and clinical research into catastro-

phic childhood diseases, mainly cancer. St. Jude is the

largest childhood cancer research center in the world in

terms of the number of patients enrolled in research

protocols and successfully treated.

Research findings and information discovered at St. Jude

are freely shared with doctors and scientists all over the

world. St. Jude also enjoys a worldwide reputation as a

teaching facility. The medical and scientific staff pub-

lishes about 450 articles in academic journals each year.

The hospital's daily operating costs are approximately

$1,216,247, which are primarily covered by

public contributions.

St. Jude pioneered a combination of chemother-

apy, radiation and, when necessary, surgery to

treat childhood cancers. The hospital continues

to expand the use of bone marrow transplanta-

tion as a treatment for pediatric cancers and

genetic diseases.

The American Lebanese Syrian Associated

Charities (ALSAC) is the fund-raising arm of

St. Jude.

Since its inception, St. Jude has developed pro-

tocols that have

brought survival rates

for childhood cancers

from less than 20 per-

cent to more than 70

percent overall.

R e c r u i t m e n t 2 0 0 9

Δ Δ Δ

THE PURPOSE OF DELTA DELTA DELTA shall be to establish a perpetual bond of friendship among its members, to develop a stronger and more womanly character, to broaden the moral and intellectual life, and to assist its mem-bers in every possible way. IT SHALL ALSO BE THE PURPOSE OF DELTA DELTA DELTA to promote and develop mutually beneficial relationships between the Fraternity and the col-leges and universities where the Fraternity has established chapters, to de-velop qualities of unselfish leadership among its members, and to encourage them to assume, with integrity and devotion to moral and democratic princi-ples, the highest responsibilities of college women.