The Panhellenic Association’s 2016 executive board members hope to promote growth, service and leadership during their terms. Their previous experiences as leaders within PHA gave them a passion for the community. After being elected in November, their terms began Tuesday.
**President – Amanda Farrer**
Amanda Farrer was vice president of Chapter Relations and Standards for her sorority before she was elected PHA president. Because Greek Life has given her networking opportunities, strong friendships and various on-campus resources, Farrer wanted to give back to the community.
“It’s a great opportunity to grow in leadership ability,” she said.
A large part of Farrer’s job is connecting with the chapter presidents, the Missouri Students Association President-elect Haden Gomez and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs.
Farrer said she is an advocate for the rest of the executive board and their goals. The most important part of her role, she said, is leading by example.
“One of the biggest things that being PHA president entails is being the face of the community,” Farrer said.
Because people who do not even know her are now looking up to her, Farrer said it is important to behave in a way she would want the rest of the PHA community to behave. She hopes to provide all Greek women with the resources they need and to educate them about issues relevant to themselves and the campus as a whole.
“At the end of the day, the whole board is there for the PHA community,” she said. “We’re there to serve them.”
Farrer is a journalism major with an emphasis in strategic communications. She is also the Director of External Recruitment for MizzouThon.
**Vice President of Finance and Records – Emily Kay**
Emily Kay’s role on the PHA executive board is to keep meeting minutes, keep the board organized and manage how it allocates its money. To increase her financial experience, she works as a teller at a local credit union in Columbia.
“The most important part of my position is making sure we put our funds and resources towards creating the most effective programs and sponsorships,” Kay said in an email.
She said that as a business major, she saw the need for the PHA community to create programming toward career building.
“I am hoping to be able to host some kind of workshop or give tips to the women in our community on resume writing, interviewing skills, and other basic career tips that most majors do not cover,” Kay said.
Kay has served as a Panhellenic Counselor, or Pi Chi, during formal recruitment. She was also as a Panhellenic delegate for her chapter. The experiences led her to discover her love for working with the PHA community.
“Both of those positions really gave me a ‘Panhellenic mindset’ that would help me put the PHA community before my own chapter,” she said.
She also hopes to foster relationships between Greek women outside of their own chapters, citing her own close friendships with women in other sororities.
“It really makes the community seem so much bigger,” she said.
**Vice President of Member Education – Paulina Owens**
Paulina Owens’ passion for leadership and empowering women led her to apply for the PHA executive board.
“My role is to educate members of our community on relevant campus issues, things that will benefit them during their college careers and (afterward),” she said in an email.
Additionally, Owens is in charge of issuing the Greek Geek scholarship to two outstanding Panhellenic women once a month, emphasizing the importance of academic achievement.
Owens is a health science major with a minor in business, aiming for a career in health administration. She has participated in Mizzou Alternative Breaks and is a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Columbia. She is also a student ambassador and a peer mentor for transfer students in the School of Health Professions.
The most important part of her role, she said, is to be responsive to the needs of the PHA community and set a positive example for its members. Her position has mainly been geared toward younger members of the PHA community in the past, so Owens aims to find a creative way to reach out to the upperclassmen as well.
“I hope to implement a program for older members that will keep them engaged and benefit them long after they leave Mizzou,” she said.
**Vice President of Programming – Zoe Crowe-Barnes**
After working as a Pi Chi in 2015, Zoe Crowe-Barnes was inspired to continue her involvement in PHA.
“I wanted to have the ability to create platforms for the amazing women in our community to have a voice,” she said in an email.
As VP of Programming, Crowe-Barnes plans events and educational opportunities for Greek women. She said while programming is relevant and meaningful to the PHA community, she will try her best to avoid over-programming or creating events for the sake of creating them.
“I encourage any member of the PHA community to challenge me as to why each program is important, and I will in turn always be transparent about my motivations and goals for each program,” Crowe-Barnes said. “Hopefully this will encourage women to be active participants in the PHA community.”
She also hopes to promote an engaged atmosphere by having important conversations. She plans to continue the tradition begun by her predecessor, senior Abby Flores, of holding [Town Hall Meetings](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/11/15/town-hall-teaches-greek-women-how-discuss-identity/).
Crowe-Barnes is a psychology and Spanish double major with a minor in Leadership and Public Service. She also is a TigerX Yoga instructor at the MU Student Recreation Center, a research assistant in the Psychology Department and the Director of Mini for MizzouThon. She is also involved with Mizzou Alternative Breaks and the Mizzou Autism Mentorship Program.
**Vice President of Risk Management – Avery Day**
Avery Day’s experience as a Pi Chi last summer inspired her to get more involved in the PHA community.
“As I worked closely with members of every chapter, I gained a great appreciation for the similarities and differences between Greek organizations,” Day said in an email.
Day applied for the risk manager position in pursuit of the opportunity to combat issues that negatively affect the Greek community and to have a lasting, positive impact on current and future Panhellenic women.
“As the risk manager, I work directly with Zoe and Paulina to provide the Panhellenic community with meaningful education on topics like sexual violence, mental health, alcohol abuse and more,” Day said.
She is also in charge of approving chapters’ social outings and making sure that the chapters prioritize and protect their members’ health and safety.
“The most important part of my role is ensuring that members have easy access to education and resources that will help keep them safe, healthy, and successful,” she said.
She hopes to increase mental health education within each chapter.
“My goal is for all members of the Panhellenic community to feel like they have a healthy place to cultivate the optimum version of themselves,” Day said.
Day is a biomedical engineering major. She is involved in STRIPES and Mizzou Alternative Breaks.
**Vice President of Public Relations – Camille Patton**
Patton’s position makes her the liaison between PHA and media outlets. She runs PHA’s social media accounts, ensuring that all chapters and their events are featured.
Patton is also the link between the PHA executive board and the chapter members. Some of the older members, she said, might only know about events going on in the community via social media accounts.
“New members are really involved when they first start off with Greek Life, but as the years go on and your course load gets heavier, it gets harder to get involved with stuff that doesn’t directly relate to your major,” Patton said. “I’m supposed to be the person who keeps all of our members informed.”
Because Greek Life sometimes gets a bad reputation due to situations at other schools or rumors that spread, Patton said she hopes to emphasize the positive aspects of the PHA community.
“I just want to keep promoting that feel-good mentality about Greek Life and highlight all the wonderful things that all of our chapters and members do all throughout the year,” she said. “(I also want) to keep people interested in pursuing Greek Life in the future.”
Patton is a communications and Spanish double major. She works in the Office of Greek Life and is a marketing and operations assistant for Uber in Columbia. She also is the editor-in-chief of “The Odyssey Magazine” at MU.
**Vice President of Recruitment, External – Victoria Bezzole**
Victoria Bezzole fell in love with PHA last summer when she was a Pi Chi during formal recruitment.
“I knew I wanted to be (a member) of the executive board because I knew of the great opportunities and events that they put on for the Panhellenic woman in our community and I wanted to be a part of that,” Bezzole said in an email.
In charge of all external aspects of recruitment, Bezzole represents PHA at university recruitment events and works closely with the Pi Chis and the vice president of Recruitment, Internal. She also oversees the recruitment chairs for all the chapters and helps them adjust to changing recruitment rules.
“The most important part of my role is to make sure that recruitment runs smoothly and that the chapters know exactly what they’re doing during formal recruitment,” Bezzole said.
It is also important for her to represent the Panhellenic woman in a positive way, both in general and for recruitment purposes, she said.
Bezzole is a health science major with a business minor.
**Vice President of Recruitment, Internal – Lucia Brancato**
Lucia Brancato is in charge of choosing, training and supervising the Pi Chis this spring and summer in preparation for formal recruitment. When she was a Pi Chi last summer, she became familiar with the previous executive board.
“They were incredible leaders to look up to and to represent our community,” Brancato said in an email. “I desired to be a leader like them.”
She said it is vital for the Pi Chis to understand that Greek women are part of a larger community than just their chapters.
“It is my job to remind the Pi Chis of that, and (their job) to teach the potential new members that,” Brancato said.
She plans to hold meetings in the fall with new members and the Pi Chis to discuss responsible drinking, mental health, and other important issues.
“Being a Pi Chi is not just for the two weeks of work week and recruitment,” she said. “It goes beyond that. They are role models and leaders for the new members to look up to.”
Brancato is an English major and is involved with Rockin’ Against Multiple Sclerosis, which raises awareness and money for people suffering from multiple sclerosis in mid-Missouri.
_Edited by Waverly Colville | wcolville@themaneater.com_
