Angels' Retreat

To begin our Spirit Week we all went to a beach house in Redondo. We spent the evening playing games, swimming, and catching up after a long summer apart. It was everything we could have wanted. The retreat made each of us grow so much closer, which I didn't think was possible after having known these girls for at least a year and some close to three years.

We had relay races in the sand, made up skits that had us roaring with laughter, and ate great food while enjoying each other's company. Sunday morning we had a photo shoot to update the pictures in our house on the beach. Unfortunately, I do not have the photos from the professional photographer, but we took some cute ones of our own! Enjoy!

Arrowdash: A Race for Literacy

As many of you know, Pi Beta Phi's philanthropy is FirstBook. An organization that is dedicated to promoting literacy for children. This year our fundraiser was a 5K race! This was a brand new event for us and turned out to be so much fun! We chose to do a race because we really wanted everyone to be involved. From alums, to students, to Greeks, to faculty, this race was perfect for everyone! Although the route was mostly uphill, people crossed the finish line smiling!

ADPi pulled out the Big Guns for this race!

Sigma Nu went for a Hawaiian theme

Pike's firemen costumes were a spark of genius!

The race was split into individual runners and groups. Individual runners were competing for the top 3 times. Groups (mostly fraternities and sororities) were scored cross country style and could also dress up in themed costumes to gain extra points. We had a great turnout and a beautiful morning.

After the race, we all headed to Sunset Recreation to celebrate our fight for literacy. There were prizes given out for games such as Pie a Pi Phi and Speed Reading. And finally, the winner of the groups was announced...Congratulations Pike! Your commitment to the costumes and your grueling training paid off!

The Finish Line!

"Pie a Pi Phi" got a bit out of hand

The winners!

Thank you to everyone who participated in Arrowdash and we cannot wait to see you again next year! Go Literacy!

Six Flags Sisterhood

As the end of the year wrapped up, we all needed a little stress relief. What better way to relieve stress than to boost our adrenaline on high-speed, dangerous rollercoasters?!

After the initiation of our Spring Pledge Class we celebrated by taking a trip to Magic Mountain! It was a gorgeous day spent with our amazing sisters. With finals coming up and the end of the year approaching fast, this sisterhood was a wonderful way for us to have one last incredible day together and spend quality time before many of us depart for our summer plans.
The rides were a blast, but the best part was holding hands and screaming my head off with the sister next to me.

Alumnae Tea

On May 20th, we were privileged to have over thirty alumnae visit us at our home for our annual Alumnae Tea!

Marian!

Our youngest alumna just graduated a year ago at UC Irvine! Our oldest alumna, Marian pledged in 1942 at UCLA! She remembered the house when smoking was popular and we had the highest GPA on the row because "all the men were away at war so the only thing to do was study!" She told us all about the old layout of the house (many of the rooms used to be balconies!) and had many fun stories to share.

Enjoying the food!

Dorian, Kelsey, and
our wonderful AAC Jennifer!

 And of course, we had people from every age in between! We were also excited to have out-of-state alumnae there too! A few of the ladies that now live in L.A. graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison!

Jackie Shepard and her mom! Pi Beta Phi runs in the family!

 We had the house all sparkly clean because each alumna got a tour of the house. Many of the alumnae present had been a part of the CA Delta chapter and could point out exactly which room they lived in! Others from across the country were excited to see the house and tell us the similarities and differences with their house! We showed them a slideshow of our year and all that we have accomplished and then had a very moving CS.

Reminiscing!

Whether they graduated from UCLA or not, the message was the same: Pi Beta Phi was where they made their lifelong friends that stuck with them through thick and thin. It changed their lives for the better and they couldn't imagine their lives without it. We are all sisters together and it was heartwarming to know that whatever stage of life we are in, Pi Beta Phi will always be there for us.

Mom's Day

You can bet that we had a great day at the races last Sunday! The day started out with all of the moms and daughters dressed in their best derby outfits.

 Yes, there were a lot of big hats and adorable sundresses! We had a delicious brunch at the house and really enjoyed getting to meet all of our sisters' moms! 

 Then we jumped on the buses and headed to Hollywood Park. We were seated in the beautiful turf club and were even featured on the signs all around the race!

 It was a gorgeous day complete with fast horses! Everyone placed bets, most of us based solely on the names of the horses! 

 Winner, winner chicken dinner was a common theme of the day!

Afterwards, all 140 of us were led down to the winner's circle where we got to meet the winning horse and jockey of the race that was named in our honor!



We love you moms! Thank you for all you do!

Panhellenic Awards Night

What an exciting evening! Pi Beta Phi was given an Academic Success Award from our Panhellenic Council for the most improved Grade Point Average!

 Two of our lovely ladies, Laura Mead and Michelle Razavi were awarded scholarships! So proud!

 All of the beautiful scholarship recipients and Troy Bartels, our Panhellenic Advisor!

Happy Birthday Pi Phi!

It is Pi Beta Phi's 147th anniversary this year and we celebrated it in a very special way! We invited the California Nu chapter over to our house for a big birthday celebration!

Everyone dressed to pin and bonded over the delicious Mrs. Field's cookie cake!

It was a blast meeting the Pi Phi's from Loyola Marymount University and hearing all of the wonderful ways that we differ and the ways that we are alike.

Afterwards we completed a ceremony in which we lit a candle and honored each of our founders. The ceremony was a great way to reflect on the hardships that our founders faced and to celebrate the continued success of Pi Beta Phi!