Delta Zeta Leadership Conference

This July, twelve women from our chapter traveled to Oxford, Ohio to attend Delta Zeta's Norma Minch Andresik Leadership Conference.

Luggage for 12 women

After a long flight from San Francisco to the Cincinnati airport, which is surprisingly not in Ohio but Kentucky, and a one hour bus ride we arrived at Miami University. We had THE BEST flight crew ever on Delta Airlines.  All of the attendants were so sweet and thoughtful.  The asked us about our trip and gave us pointers for adjusting to the heat in the Ohio, they were worried about us staying hydrated and getting sunburned. 

9 DZ's asleep in the airport.  We can't figure out how to rotate the picture

Miami University is known as the "Mother of Fraternities." Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity were founded on Miami's campus.  The campus and neighboring community is so different than our home at San Jose State.  Instead of tall business buildings, lights, taquerias, cafes and mountains in the surrounding area, the campus was flat, grassy and spread out, next to a small downtown with one stop light, a Chipotle and a Starbucks. 

The campus was so incredibly beautiful.  We had never seen grass so green.  A majority of Delta Zeta's 160+ chapters are located in the Southern United States and in the Mid West.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by sisters with accents.  They all thought we were so lucky to be from California because the humidity there is awful.  The humidity was definitely hard to adjust too.

At the conference, we learned about Emotionally Intelligent Leadership.  The educational sessions also stressed the importance of communication and encouraged members to engage in conversations for change.  A significant factor affecting today's leaders is that we tend to rely on text message and email communication.  We learned conversation techniques and about how much impact direct communication can have on our development as young adults.

Our conference sessions were facilitated by Delta Zeta Educational Leadership Consultants, alumnae of Delta Zeta who work as campus Fraternity and Sorority professionals, and Friends of Delta Zeta, or FODZ.  In addition to hosting the conference sessions, the facilitators also led us on a historic tour on Miami University's campus where we were able to see several historical monuments on campus.

Delta Zeta 2011-2012 Educational Leadership Consultants

On our tour we had the amazing and special opportunity to visit Delta Zeta's National Headquarters and Historical Museum.  There we saw historical artifacts, viewed the Delta Zeta Women of Distinction Room, and toured the Museum.

While at the Museum we were able to meet Delta Zeta National President Michelle Smith and the conference namesake, Mrs. Norma Minch Andresik.  The opportunity to meet these incredible alumnae and speak with them about how they continue to support Delta Zeta was amazing.

This conference was so fun and educational.  We are so glad we had the chance to send more members than any other chapter.  We look forward to attending again in 2013.