Monday, January 23, 2017

Meet the #Academy17 Speakers

Registration is officially full for #Academy17, and we are excited to meet everyone in Indianapolis at the end of the month. In the meantime, meet the four speakers who will be sharing their stories during “The Talks.”

Ellen Katherine Rothschild is a senior at Harvard College, majoring in psychology with a minor in economics. Last semester, she concluded her term as chapter president of Alpha Phi, Iota Tau. Prior to that role, she served as the vice president of chapter operations. She recognizes that sorority leadership positions are often thankless jobs, but her experience as chapter president has had a profound impact on her. Her friends consider her caring, ambitious and unstoppable. She was born in Hong Kong, and lived there for the first two years of her life. She loves to travel and hopes to one day move to Singapore.



Will Frakenberger serves as the director of risk prevention and education for Delta Zeta Sorority. His friends describe him as funny, caring and dedicated. His life motto is, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” He understands that life is just utterly crazy sometimes, and it’s nice to be flexible. He reminds us not to panic, take a deep breath and often the alternative solution will come to you. When Will is not working he can be found singing to the Patti LuPone Pandora station, attempting to lift weights at the gym -- while still loving McDonalds -- or grabbing a Pike Place® Roast from Starbucks.

Emily Carney is a psychology student at Arizona State University (ASU). Quickly after arriving at ASU, she went through sorority recruitment and joined Pi Beta Phi. She served as the community service chair for her chapter, vice president of internal affairs and interim judicial affairs for the College Panhellenic Council, and now the president. She believes in the importance of listening to advice from others, especially when dealing with difficult situations. She is very grateful for the all the opportunities she has had throughout her collegiate career, including forming relationships with women leaders from all around the country. 


Amber Shaverdi Huston will be performing two roles this year as a facilitator as well as a speaker. She believes wholeheartedly that sorority members can be the people to help all women find their self-confidence. She knows that when we as NPC sisters are truly vulnerable with each other, we can share, learn and find the best versions of ourselves. Her life motto is, “Have courage and be kind.” She is inspired by other people that give freely of themselves. She is motivated by the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Message From the Chairman: Live Well

Wellness, well-being, balance, healthy choices ... all top the to-do list for many of us as we head into the new year! A long winter's walk in the snow recently reminded me that healthy choices and daily exercise can benefit your physical and mental well-being. In addition, I could not help but think about the multitude of young women returning to their campuses in the weeks ahead, and how their well-being in the long term is influenced by a blending of the academic and sorority membership experience. 

When researching wellness tips, I discovered a website for Houston city employees entitled Wellness Connection.The site provides some good tips for starting off the New Year right. I hope you find value in these simple tips:

1. Start by thinking about what motivates you to get healthy.
2. Set SMART goals to help you measure your progress. 
3. Track what you eat to help you avoid overeating. 
4. Eat breakfast every day to start your day with energy. 
5. Fill up on vegetables since they are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber and water. 
6. Get active to improve your blood pressure and energy level. 
7. Take it slowly – focus on one or two goals at a time. 

Read the full article online.


Well-being and wellness are often synonymous with physical health. A common misconception is to confine well-being to just one aspect of our daily lives. It is the combination of all the things that are important to an individual - how people think about and experience life. Partnering with Gallup and the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) participated in the Gallup-Purdue Index study to research the relationship between membership in sororities and fraternities and to examine the long-term success of graduates as they pursue a career and a better life. Five elements of well-being were measured: purpose, social, financial, community and physical. It was found that fraternity and sorority members are more likely to thrive in each of the five elements when compared to all other college graduates. These research results provide validation for what we have known to be true for decades: sorority membership adds value to the college experience and beyond.  

As we launch into 2017 what better new year’s wish than to consider your wellness and well-being, make healthy choices, live well together, find balance in life, eat your vegetables and don’t forget breakfast!

Interfraternally,

Donna C. King
Chairman 2015-17