ALPHA SIGMA TAU

A Day in the Life of a Philanthropic Psi Sister

Written by Sarah Houk

As her iPhone clock strikes seven-thirty the ringtone begins to chime and the sun begins to creep through the blinds. Like most of us she isn’t a morning person, so the ongoing chimes also woke her roommate. No worries, they’re in the sorority house. Now, they begin to hear many alarms signaling that the girls are ready to start their day. Today the sisters are participating in one of their many philanthropy events throughout the semester!

This year, the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau and the brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi have collaborated to plan their third annual Bumper Ball tournament. This event was held on James Madison University’s UPARK fields this Fall.

After what seemed like endless hours of planning and corresponding with others the day has finally come. Many participants will only see the finished product of the event, they’ll pay, sign in, and play Bumper ball, not knowing all the effort and long hours put in by the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau.

Earlier, the director of philanthropy, Jenna Smith, recruited her committee of ten sisters. Together these sisters worked long hours to create social media posts and pages, raise awareness, make posters, design shirts, and collaborate with other sororities, fraternities, and organizations. Our Alpha Sigma Tau members always elicit help from other sisters. Whether help comes from a big, a little, roommates, or friends all help is appreciated and welcomed.

However, this event didn’t quite come together without a hitch. Jenna attests to the challenges she faced and the amazing sisters who helped her overcome these situations. “Keely and the executive board helped me a lot throughout the planning process. They were always there for anything even if it wasn’t in their job description.”

This year there was a communication issue booking the playing fields. After many emails, dates were changed, and meetings rescheduled the sorority’s executive board feared what would occur. Both Jenna and the executive members took charge, they met many times to discuss possible options. No one could bear to cancel an event that the JMU community was so excited to participate in.

The solution… It was decided to push Bumper Ball back by a week. With Alpha Sigma Tau initiation, a home football game, and JMU homecoming there was just no way to keep the original date.

The day of the event, another issue arose. About an hour or so before it started Jenna received calls that teams had to cancel and wouldn’t make it. The bracket had been made a week prior but this unforeseen issue needed to be solved.

However, with the help of eager committee sisters, Jenna and her team fixed the bracket before the event, so it could go off seamlessly. Jenna says, “Without the help and support of these amazing people I don’t know how I would’ve been able to do it.”

Alpha Sigma Tau sisters always pull together to raise money for philanthropy and have a blast doing it! Psi Chapter President Keely Bennett is excited that, "Our philanthropies are one of my favorite things about being in Alpha Sigma Tau. Not only are we raising funds and awareness for amazing causes but we're having fun, making memories, and strengthening our sisterhood.”

Like the Psi chapter, Alpha Sigma Tau chapters everywhere find these events rewarding knowing that they helped make a change in others’ lives. Keely explains, “Philanthropy is extremely important to us because it's an event that allows all of us to come together and make a difference. It's amazing to see our sisterhood unite and raise money for Dress for Success."