Alumnae - Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority

FeatureWe Are Women—Let Us Vote!by Elizabeth Anderson, Mu alumnaConvention is a time for coming togetherand sharing thoughts and ideas. It is abusy time, filled with a flurry of activitiesand business meetings. It is also a timewhen several NEB terms end and officesare up for election. Candidates may campaignand ballots are counted as the votingdelegates make tough decisions as towhich candidates will best fill thoseoffices for the next three years. Such isthe way with OPhiA.It is also the way of the world—or theUnited States at least.This November, we women will be calledupon to join the rest of the adult populationof America in choosing the next presidentof the United States. Regardless ofyour choice of candidate or political partyaffiliation, nothing is more valuable indecision-making than having a voice inthe matter and the right to vote. It’s a giftthat many women fought long and hardfor and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1849,women began in earnest the struggle toearn voting rights for the disenfranchisedwomen of the United States. Led by suchvisionaries as Susan B. Anthony, ElizabethCady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and LucyStone, many women began to find theirvoices and refuse to stand idly by whilemen made their decisions for themthrough the electoral process. Theywould have to wait.The 20th century brought about moreaggressive tactics as American suffragistsbrought international attention to theircause. Carrie Chapman Catt and the Rev.Dr. Anna Howard Shaw crusaded in favorof the ratification of the NineteenthAmendment granting women the right tovote through the states individually, whileAlice Paul, Lucy Burns and over 100other women endured prison in deplorableconditions, physical and mental abuse andhunger strikes in their endeavors to pushratification of the amendment on a nationallevel. The passing of the NineteenthAmendment in 1920 gave these women(and us) the gift they had longed for—thehard-fought right to vote.On Nov. 4, 2008, we have a great opportunityto say “Thank you” to those heroicwomen by exercising that right. Theresponsibility that they wanted now fallsupon your shoulders and it is up to you tobe the voice that many of those womennever had. Contact your local electioncommission today and register to vote! Ifyou are at school and are far away fromyour home voting precinct on ElectionDay, then apply for an absentee ballot.You can even find service opportunitiesduring election time. Perhaps you arereally pulling for a certain candidate towin. What better way to help your candidatethan to volunteer at a campaign headquartersin your town? They are alwayslooking for help with making calls, foldingmailers and hanging flyers. If you arenot really into the candidates who are runningfor office, you can still do your partby volunteering at a polling precinct.They are always looking for help and it isa great, nonpartisan way to get involved.It is also a good way for chapters to provideservice to the community-at-large.Regardless of how you feel about the currentcandidates, the parties they represent,or politics in general, exercise yourNineteenth Amendment rights that somany women struggled for and weredenied. Exercise your right to vote.WANTED: SCHOLARSHIP TRUSTEEPosition Available: Active Scholarship TrusteePosition Description: The active scholarship trustee coordinates the activity of the Omega PhiAlpha Scholarship Trust, along with the alumnae and the NEB trustee. The three trustees form ateam that evaluates the scholarship applications each year. In addition, the active trusteecoordinates active chapter participation and public relations.Term: The individual will be appointed to serve through June 2009.She may be reappointed subject to yearly evaluation if still an active.If you are interested in serving as the active scholarship trustee, please send your resumeand any additional information that you feel is pertinent to office@omegaphialpha.orgFall 2008 y Chevron 11