Phi Sigma Rho

2.23.11

United by a love of penguins and engineering, Phi Sigma Rho is a social organization for women in technical majors. Members have dinners and weekend trips together, and help each other with classwork and job-searching. U of A Phi Sigma Rho is the only Arkansas chapter and one of the few chapters in the South. The original group began in Purdue, Ill., so most of the chapters reside in the North.

“Being a female majoring in a science, math, engineering field can be difficult sometimes because there aren't many other females to connect with,” said Rush Coordinator, Rachel Schluterman.

“I love that I have a built in support group with my Phi Rho sisters, and it's great to be part of their support group in return.”

“We’re not a professional sorority,” said Treasurer Kelsie Costantini. “When we mention that it’s less time-consuming, some get confused…and think that there are hardly any time requirements at all,”

But really, Phi Sigma Rho is a way for women to connect on any level, without a required time commitment.

Membership requirements

Phi Sigma Rho has nearly 30 members and has chapter meetings every Monday.

“We’re growing, which is great because earlier we had a threat of losing the chapter because we got down to three members,” Costantini said.

Prospective members must be in a physics-based major, which is any major that requires the Physics I course, typically physics or engineering. Students must place bids, but Phi Sigma Rho has rarely, if ever, turned a student away. The group initiation event is typically a lock-in, a simple way for the girls to become acquainted.

Even though Phi Sigma Rho requires placing bids, “our Rush is different from Greek sororities because it takes place over a week or two and is really informal,” she said.

Members are required to work a few service hours, a requirement that changed recently.

“We changed it from three hours per semester to nine hours per year, so we normally organize one big service event for the entire group,” Costantini said.

This year’s main service event is the Fayetteville Relay for Life in March.

“We’re also hoping to work with the Girl Scouts-to help them get their badges-once a semester or more,” she said.

Resources

Although no members are obligated to donate money, many Phi Rho alumni return to make chapter gifts.

“One of them gave us a storage unit to use for a couple of years. They also give us resume input,” Costantini said.

Women of Phi Rho enjoy the camaraderie so much that the opportunity to start new chapters rests on the approval of other chapters. Basic networking usually leads to quick formation of other chapters.

Other valuable Phi Rho resources include Resumania, job opportunity notices and a study materials bank.

“During Resumania, (Phi Sigma Rho members) send our resumes out for review,” Costantini said. “Through the year, we get emails that bring attention to companies that are willing to hire.”

Why girls join

“I joined because of my FEP peer mentor. One day she was coloring this picture of a penguin (the Phi Sigma Rho mascot), and I thought ‘awesome. I love penguins,’” Costantini said. “She explained to me that the group was for girls in the same major, where we all have the same demands, we’re busy…(so we can relate).”

Phi Rho Rush Coordinator, Rachel Schluterman met some of the members at RazorBash and became interested because they were laid back, sweet, and really informative.

Events

Phi Sigma Rho kicked off the semester with a couple of informal dinners- pizza in Pomfret’s game room and an evening at Buffalo Wild Wings, followed soon after by the annual Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream social.

Coming up on Saturday, February 26, drop by 3 Spoons Yogurt on campus between noon - 2pm and mention Phi Rho while making your purchase. For each order, 3 Spoons will donate 25% of the profit to Phi Sigma Rho for fundraising our main event of the semester: Relay for Life.

Traditionally, the group hosts a formal event, but this semester they are having a Retreat Weekend at Devil’s Den, instead.

The 2011 Phi Sigma Rho National Conference will take place in Columbus, Ohio, an event that provides a strong sense of unity, sisterhood and various discussions about Phi Rho mission and rituals.

Each year, “at least one girl has to go, but this year we want more girls to go,” Costantini said. “We’re attending with our brother group, Triangle.”

The conference events with Triangle will be higher-energy than usual, since 2011 is the Triangle centennial year.

“It’s a big deal this year,” she said.

Occasionally, the group brings in a motivational speaker.

“Last year we had (the event) Leap. A speaker came in that talked about ways to bring people together, gave us a pep talk,” she said.

Officers:

Several girls work very hard to keep Phi Sigma Rho a dynamic, active group.

This year’s officers are AJ Salois, President; Courtney Cagle, Vice President and Scholarship chair; Kelsie Costantini, Treasurer; Sarah Withem, Social Chair; Rachael Pellegrino, Rush Coordinator; Rachel Schluterman, Rush Coordinator; Kristin Kovach, Secretary; Rosie Reese, Service Chair and BreAnn Hutson, Membership Educator.

As rush coordinator, Schluterman said, “It was my goal to be accessible to any girl at the U of A who was interested in a math/science/engineering sorority. The snow storms messed with our schedule a bit, but we were still able to reach a few ladies.

“It was a great feeling to introduce Phi Sigma Rho to these new girls and see them accepted just as I was.”

Members help each other with classwork, especially when taking classes in majors other than their own. For example, Costantini said you might get “help from a fellow physics major while in physics 2.”

Contact

You can find this group at the “Phi Sigma Rho- Kappa Chapter” group on Facebook, as a Yahoo group or get more information at the national website, http://www.phisigmarho.org/.