Alpha Omicron Pi sorority held its annual Northeast convention on Lehigh’s campus on Oct. 27-Oct 28.
This convention brought Lehigh’s chapter together with other chapters from schools in the Northeast.
On Oct. 27, convention events were held at the Iacocca Event Center, and events took place in the Alpha Omicron Pi chapter house on campus on Oct. 28. A total of 25 members of Lehigh’s chapter attended the convention on Saturday, and the entire chapter attended events at the house on Sunday.
The Alpha Omicron Pi international president attended the convention, as did highly-ranking executive officers from other campuses in the Northeast.
The annual convention, the “Northeast Weekend,” includes many interactive breakout sessions, such as recruitment discussions, ritual workshops and philanthropic discussions. Chapter members choose which meetings they would like to attend. Additionally, members of Lehigh’s chapter gave tours of their chapter house to attendees on Sunday.
Julia Morandi, ’20, the president of Lehigh’s chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, said she had an amazing weekend leading the convention. She worked with various Alpha Omicron Pi advisers, Alpha Omicron Pi alumnae, Lehigh staff and the Alpha Omicron Pi executive board to help organize the event.
With the assistance of her adviser Catherine Keenan, Morandi said she did a lot of work in scheduling the convention in the Iacocca Event Center. She worked to make sure chapter members knew about the event and registered for it. She also helped prepare events, food and the chapter house.
“It was overall a successful weekend, and my biggest takeaway was getting the opportunity to meet people from different chapters and hear about their individual chapters,” Morandi said.
As president, Morandi is able to attend an annual conference with all of the Alpha Omicron Pi chapters in the country. However, only the president and one other member of the chapter are able to attend this conference.
Morandi said the Northeast Weekend was a great experience because so many more members of the chapter were able to see what goes on during these conferences and how they are organized.
Maddie Phillips, ’21, said she received advice useful not only for her chapter, but also Lehigh Greek life, at the convention breakout sessions.
She said she enjoyed chatting with several advisers and getting to know so many new people.
“(The weekend was) full of surprises and many different learning opportunities,” Phillips said.
Lilly Herschman, ’21, said the weekend was a learning experience that opened her eyes to the culture of different chapters when they all come together to create one big community.
The members of Alpha Omicron Pi at Lehigh will host another “Northeast Weekend” next year.
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