Alumnae - Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority

AlumnaeFrom the Desk of theVP Alumnae Relationsby Chelsea Navo, VP Alumnae RelationsAlumnae Delegates at ConventionA few years ago, Omega Phi Alpha sisters changed the representation of alumnae at Convention. We now have a total of 10 alumnaedelegates voting during Convention business. These delegates consist of one delegate from each of the eight districts, and two at-largedelegates who represent all alumnae. In exchange for representing alumnae from their areas, alumnae delegates receive 50 percent oftheir travel costs reimbursed.For Convention 2008, we used a new application process for alumnae delegates because of the growing number of alumnae interestedserving in the alumnae delegate positions. I would like to thank all who applied. The 2008 Alumnae Delegates were: D1 - RachelFrauenhoffer; D2 - Elizabeth Anderson; D3 - Keshia Gibson; D4 - Anita Thibodeaux; D5 - Lisa Guest; D6 - Liz New; D7 - LynnDudash; D8 - Erin Gatlin-Martin, and at-large - Dawn Tupper and Shayna Morris. These women attended all of Convention and votedon behalf of alumnae during the business meetings.We will be using the same process to appoint alumnae delegates for Convention 2009, which will be held July 22-26 in Philadelphia, PA.Alumnae delegate applications will be posted on the Web site and the OPA forum in early January. All applications received beforeMarch 1 will be reviewed by a committee consisting of one NEB member, one ABoD member, and one alumnae-at-large. This committeewill review the applications and recommend the alumnae it feels are best qualified to be alumnae delegates. Applicants will be evaluatedbased on the district they live in. Additional qualified applicants will be considered for the two at-large alumnae delegate positions.The VP of Alumnae Relations will review the committee's feedback and the applications then will appoint alumnae delegates by April 1.If at the end of the review there is a district without an alumnae delegate, that position will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.Alumnae delegates for 2009 will be posted publicly along with legislation in the spring before Convention. Every alumna is encouragedto review the legislation and contact the alumnae delegate representing her to make sure her delegate takes her views in considerationwhen voting.I would like to send a special thank you to Rho Chapter. They started an alumnae recognition program of their own this year. Rho wantedto ensure they had at least one Rho alumnae present at Convention. Rho held fundraisers to raise a few hundred dollars to accomplishthis goal. Rho designed an application for interested Rho alumnae to complete, then reviewed and selected an alumna to send. This yearRachel Frauenhoffer was the Rho alumnae representative. Rachel received a 50 percent travel reimbursement from National for being avoting delegate; she elected to give her reimbursement to Rho to help them send an alumna to Philadelphia. What a creative way to getyour alumnae involved in National Convention.Natalie Crowe of Omicron Chapter was this year's OmegaPhi Alpha Scholarship Winner. She was awarded $500 togo toward her studies at Auburn University, where shemajors in English and Spanish. She has been an Omicronmember since Fall 2006.12 Chevron y Fall 2008