Thetas start the season with a holiday-themed Semiformal!

As the semester came to a close, Thetas celebrated the holidays with semiformal! The women and their dates look forward to the annual celebration each fall. This year, the festive decorations and refreshments at the Cherry Hill Event Center added to the excitement. Thetas enjoyed scrumptious desserts, including gourmet cupcakes and a chocolate fountain, before they headed to the dance floor. A Columbia favorite, DJ Z, spun popular tunes, and brought back some favorites-- including "Shout!" which had Thetas and their dates running to the dance floor. Overall, the women had a fabulous time dancing and catching up with their sisters before heading home for the holidays. A special thanks to Michelle Flandreau, Theta's event coordinator, who planned the enchanting evening as well as all of this year's wonderful annual events.

Thetas sing Christmas carols with their dates as they wait for the bus.

Thetas Kelsie Blakley and Kelley Schwartz bust out their best dance moves.

The twinkling outdoor tent was perfect for taking a break between dances.

Thetas Megan Pieper and Katie Jones, enjoy the dance floor.

A special thanks to Michelle Flandreau, our event planner, here with her date, Evan.

Alumna Tricia Zimmer Ferguson Speaks to the College of Business

Six Thetas are members of the Trulaske College of Business Student Council, and this semester the organization hosted its first speaker series. It was held at Bush Auditorium in Cornell Hall, and the speaker attracted hundreds of students across campus. The topic: "Tigers Under 30: Transition to Success." The purpose was to highlight successful College of Business alumni, and the spotlighted alumna happened to be a former Alpha Mu Theta! Tricia Zimmer Ferguson graduated from the University of Missouri in 2003, and is an owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company in St. Louis, MO. She and her family purchased the company in 2005, and since then have opened seven new retail locations and have expanded the wholesale operation of the company through strategic partnerships such as Schnucks Markets/Kaldi's Coffee Bars. Mrs. Ferguson serves on the Board of Directors for the Urban Future Organization. She also serves on the Management Advisory Board for the Trulaske College of Business. The active Thetas that attended were excited to meet her at the conclusion of the presentation. It was wonderful to hear from someone who has accomplished so much at such a young age!

Alpha Mu Remembers Lynn Russell

Theta truly is "for a lifetime." Active members experienced this firsthand during our Centennial Celebration last spring, reflected on it during Recruitment this summer, and recently shared it through the education of our newest members. However, this past weekend, many Alpha Mus were able to whiteness a whole new meaning of this promise at the memorial service of Lynn (Waggoner) Russell. Lynn passed away Sunday, December 6, 2009. She attended Mizzou in the 60's, and was an active member of Theta and the community. Her tribute reception was on Saturday, December 12 here at the University of Missouri. Lynn lived a wonderful life, and it was evident at her memorial service. Countless individuals spoke of their favorite memories, and an overwhelming number of guests were in attendance. About a dozen active Thetas attended the ceremony and sang "Let's Fly a Theta Kite" and "Remember the Black and Gold" during the program. A few members of Lynn's pledge class shared stories of their college days. Also, the Membership District Director of District Nine spoke on behalf of Kappa Alpha Theta. Lynn had an incredible sense of humor and a genuine love for life. Everyone in that room had been touched by Lynn in some way. Not only was she involved as a collegian, but she did so much as an adult. It was a powerful experience for the active Thetas to see generations of sisters come together in honor of their friend. The stories and events in Lynn's life showed the bigger picture of our sorority. The service reinforced our promise "Theta for a lifetime." Our hearts to out to Lynn's family and friends.

The obituary can be found at: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/dec/09/lynn-russell-1943-2009/

Theta Rocks Fall Intramurals!

This semester was definitely an exciting one for Theta athletes! We placed 1st in football, basketball, and indoor volleyball, and received second place in soccer! In football, quarterback Kimmy Fleming led the team to an undefeated season. We were grateful for her senior leadership on and off the field. Senior Emily Moorkamp had a stellar season as well, and played in every sport! She has been a crucial asset to Theta intramurals these past four years, and will definitely be missed when she graduates. Not only did the upperclassmen excel, but we had multiple freshman step up and have fantastic seasons. We cannot wait to watch them in the future! Special thanks to Kelsie Blakely for her work as Intramurals Chair, and to all of the Thetas who came and supported us.

Congratulations Theta Athletes!

Don't Be a Pansy!

Here at Theta, we love getting to know women from other Mizzou chapters, which is why we were excited to co-host the second annual Don't Be a Pansy Self-Defense Workshop with the women of Delta Delta Delta! Tri-Delt and Theta share the pansy as their chapter flower, so the title for this event was fitting! Renata Mariano, the university's self-defense instructor, taught us some extremely helpful tips. We had a couple courts reserved at the RecCenter, and actually got to try out some new moves! The event was open to all women of the Greek community, and we had about 200 girls participate! Everyone was very pleased with the workshop; not only was it fun to meet other women, but Renata's advice was very beneficial. We are better educated because of it, and we hope to continue this event in the future!

Two Thetas Selected for Business Ambassadors!

Congratulations to Molly Mathews and Aly Reyes of MC '09 for being selected to the Trulaske College of Business Ambassador Program. Ambassadors work with the college's advising office throughout the year. They give tours of Cornell Hall to prospective students, work with the Mizzou Admissions Office on Meet Mizzou Days and Black and Gold Days, and they assist College of Business advisors in curriculum presentations to incoming freshmen and their families. It was a competitive process, and we are so excited for Molly and Aly!

"T" is for Theta!

This semester we have had some great social events! Recently, we had a social that had a "T" is for Theta theme. Everyone wore a costume that started with the letter T, and had a great time! This was a crush party, so girls were allowed to sign up two names on the guest list. Our social chair then delivered lists of invited guests to fraternity houses and residence halls, so it was a secret who signed them up for the event. Everyone had extremely creative costumes, covering everything from trees to Twitter! The venue fit the theme...Tonic!

A tween, Twister and Tootsie Roll!

Dr. Seuss was an inspiration for MC '09!

Toucans and twirlers!