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Leading the ladies

photo via Bradley University

Before submitting her application to be on the Panhellenic Council, Alyssa Schmidts never even thought about running for president, let alone actually receiving the position. But, after some encouragement from her friends, she thought, “Why not try?”

“I definitely felt like I was taking a jump, but I’m excited,” Schmidts said.

After spending last calendar year as vice president of Chi Omega, Schmidts loved to see the difference she was making in her chapter and realized how much she enjoyed being involved as a part of leadership.

The Panhellenic Council has various responsibilities, including helping all the chapters on campus with any events, working with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and planning events. The council has nine members that meet weekly along with a delegate from each chapter on campus to discuss these tasks.

She works very closely with Kathleen Prout, the assistant director of student activities office and adviser for the Panhellenic Council, IFC and NPHC. Schmidts communicates with Prout and the presidents of the other chapters regularly to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“Each representative from each chapter gives a brief report about what’s going on in their chapter for the week. There might be recruitment one week or mom’s weekend another. Then they’ll take notes for what’s going on and distribute them to their chapter later,” Schmidts said.Schmidts says the best way to describe her role as president of the council is as a

mediator.
“It’s kind of like being president

of any other club,” she said. Schmidts said that one of the most important things the council does is the planning of different events like campus speakers. The most important thing they keep in mind while planning is finding something unique and interesting

that people would find relatable. “We’ve brought mental health speakers to campus, or last semester there was a woman who talked about confidence and how you can increase your confidence,” Schmidts said. “Different types of things that would interest the students to come. But more, like, informational-based than

entertainment-based.”
Although she hasn’t been in the

position for long, Schmidts is very excited for what the future holds as president of the Panhellenic Council. Her main goals include working on communication within each chapter and between other chapters and increasing awareness of events going on within everyone on campu s.

“We’re still in the early phases, but I’m excited,” she said.

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