Changes in the Making
PRESIDENT'S RETIRING ADDRESS:
Ceres Women’s Fraternity had a fantastic 2017 on campus. Our members have truly pushed themselves and have worked hard to make our chapter be the best it can possibly be. I am so proud of all the accomplishments our ladies made both within Ceres and outside of the chapter with their academics and other organizations. Our chapter has achieved great things throughout the year from VW Awards, to recruitment, and even our float in the Hobo Day parade! So many ladies have taken on leadership positions within Ceres the past year and have really excelled in their roles. Not only were our members committed to helping each other within Ceres, but also in each other’s personal lives. That kind of commitment comes from true sisterhood that I know will last well beyond our four years of college.
I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to see many of these hardworking ladies grow over the last year through their scholarship, professionalism, and involvement in school. These passionate, intelligent, humorous and ambitious women I call my sisters make South Dakota State University a better place every day. It was truly an honor to have the opportunity to lead this wonderful group of women, alongside my amazing executive team. I am so grateful to have had this past year to serve as president, and to improve my own leadership skills as well as grow overall as an individual. I want to thank all the alumnae and chapter members who have helped me throughout the year with this crazy, wonderful journey!
~Tammy Putz
FOUNDER'S DAY:
We celebrated our 26th Founder's Day on November 18th, 2017. We had nearly 130 people in attendance and initiated 12 new members into Ceres. The event was held at Club 71 where those in attendance gathered for a meal, awards, dance, and the announcement of the new officer team. We also enjoyed a speech from one of our alumni, Jennifer Ringkob, who spoke to us about being phenomenal leaders. Our Founder's day chair, Breanna Vogel said it best, "Founders day is a time of year that everyone can come together to celebrate not only the accomplishments we've had over a year, but that we've had since we started. It is always my favorite time of the year because it reminds us all why we joined and the possibilities we have for us in the future."
OUR 2017-2018 EXECUTIVE TEAM:
President
Our current President is Megan Knutson from the Beta Delta pledge class. She is an agriculture science major. Her favorite thing about Ceres is the friendship and academic support from her fellow sisters.
Vice President
Our current Vice President is Kaelyn Platz from the Beta Epsilon pledge class. She is an ag communications major with minors in marketing and ag business. Her favorite thing about Ceres is being herself and being accepted by every single girl. She also said, "I enjoy the tight knit group Ceres has offered me. I know I always have someone to talk to about my problems."
Treasurer - Breanna Vogel
Our current Treasurer is Breanna Vogel from the Beta Delta pledge class. She is an agricultural education major. Her favorite thing about Ceres is having 50 sisters that help me be the best version of myself.
Secretary - Mckinsy Rew
Our current Secretary is Mckinsy Rew from the Beta Gamma pledge class. She is an Animal Science major with a specialization in business and production. She says her favorite thing about Ceres is, "being able to be a part of an amazing sisterhood and given the chance to take leadership roles to help develop us into strong independent women leaders for our future careers."
GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT:
Jaden Poeckes has served on the standards committee twice and was most recently our recruitment chair. Her favorite memories from Ceres include the day she got her little, Breanna Vogel, bid days, photoshoots for recruitment, and formals. Jaden has accepted a position as Leadership Development with DNA Genetics which is part of Pillen Family Farms based out of Columbus, NE. She will be living and training in Platte, SD, for the first years and then hopes to move to Columbus after her training.
FALL RECRUITMENT:
During the last week of September, the Chapter enjoyed meeting many wonderful ladies. We gained 12 beautiful sisters. We look forward to helping them learn and grow as well as seeing what they will do for Ceres. In addition, we look forward to informal recruitment and gaining more wonderful sisters.
INTRODUCING OUR NEW MEMBERS:
Heather Kirkpatrick:
Hometown: Brandon, South Dakota
Major: Exploratory Studies with an emphasis on education and human studies, possibly Ag Education/ Ag Communication
Her favorite quote is, “For I do not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds it,” which was said by her Grandpa.
“I joined Ceres because I wanted a group of people that I can call mine and a place to call home.” - Heather
Josie Nelson
Hometown: Eagan, Minnesota
Major: Advertising
Other Organizations she’s involved in on campus are the collegian and hall government. Her favorite quote is, “You got it, dude!” stated by Michelle Tanner on the show Full House.
"I joined Ceres because someone invited me to the open recruitment and I ended up joining.” - Josie
Adrianna Klein
Hometown: Hutchinson, MN
Major: Psychology
Another organization she’s involved in is the psych club. Her favorite quote is, “Know this, you can start over every morning.” –Tyler Joseph
“I joined Ceres to build strong friendships and get involved with the community” - Adriana
Kelly Schmitz
Hometown: Freeport, MN
Major: Animal Science
Other organizations she is involved in on campus include dairy club and block and bridle. Her favorite quote is "Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cows, which is pretty much the same thing."
“I joined Ceres because my Ag instructor/FFA advisor was in Alpha Gamma Rho in college and he really enjoyed it. He suggested that I should maybe look into joining a sorority and I’m glad I did. In addition, I like that Ceres has ties to agriculture which I think is an important aspect of everyone’s life.” - Kelly
Karley Litterick
Hometown: Howard, SD
Major: Agricultural Education
Another organization Karley is involved in on campus includes the SDSU FFA/ Ag Ed Club. Her favorite quote is, "Some people come in your life as blessings. Some come in your life as lessons."
"I joined Ceres for a sense of belonging, to grow friendships that will last a lifetime, and to push me in my agricultural education experience." - Karley
Victoria Pagel
Hometown: Benson, MN
Major: Agronomy
Other organizations she is involved in include the agronomy club and she also works in the call center. Her favorite quote is, "Even the stuff that needs to get done, doesn't have to be done today."
"I joined Ceres because I wanted to become more involved with campus and the community." -Victoria
Athena Moe
Hometown: Brainerd, MN
Major: Animal Science with an industry specialization
Her favorite quote is, "As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen."
"I joined Ceres to meet more people and to try something new." - Athena
Ilena Gilbertson
Hometown: Poynette, Wisconsin
Major: Studio Art: Art Education Specialization
Her favorite quote is, “Chase your dreams, but always know the roads that’ll lead you home again”
"I joined Ceres to become more involved on campus and have a family away from home." -Ilena
Katherine Meyer
Hometown: Willmar, MN
Major: Biology
Another organization she is involved in on campus is Alpha Zeta, an agriculture honor society. Her favorite quote is, "If you have not tried, you have already failed."
"I joined Ceres to meet people that had similar interests as me and to grow as an individual both personally and professionally." -Katherine
Maggie Socha
Hometown: Corcoran, Minnesota
Major: Dairy Production
Other organizations she's involved in on campus include dairy club and a bible study.
Her favorite quote is "Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."
"I joined Ceres to meet more people and to gain more leadership skills." - Maggie
Miah Schallenkamp
Hometown-Bridgewater, SD Major- Nursing She is involved in intramural sports and Catholic bible studies/Newman Night. Miah favorite quote is, "Life isn't about your final moments. It's about the moments and the people that lead up to them"
"I joined Ceres because I've always been interested in sorority life and after meeting some of the girls through recruitment, I knew Ceres could/would be my home away from home." - Miah
Nicole Schimek
Hometown: Le Mars IA
Major: Nursing
"I joined Ceres because I wanted to belong to something that was bigger than myself. " - Nicole
Nicole is involved in many things on campus including HEROH, CA, State-A-Thon, Orientation Leader, and Nurses Christian Fellowship. In the past, she has been involved with Lead State, Pride of the Dakotas, and Hall government. Her favorite quote is, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi
"I joined Ceres because I wanted to belong to something that was bigger than myself. " - Nicole
COMMUNITY SERVICE: This last semester Ceres has gone above and beyond in helping out in the community.
As a chapter we decided it is vital to get ourselves out in the community to help others in some shape or form. Thus, we decided to make five hours of community service mandatory for each and every lady. As a whole, over ninety percent of the women reached our five hours of community service. This was a result of them going out on their own to do service or working with other girls in the chapter. As a group, we helped serve tacos at the Harvest Table, pulled carts at Feeding Brookings, cleaned ditches, and went to the Boys and Girls club during their adult vs. kids Olympic night. We also helped the Boys and Girls club with their Halloween fun night. One of lady's favorite community service projects that we did was partnering up with the BCYMP (Brooking County Youth Mentor Program) to host their annual Christmas party at the Ceres house. We helped decorate cookies and make crafts while enjoying the presence of the mentors and mentees. We encourage our Ceres alumni to come forth and always email us community service opportunities. One of our attributes is commitment, and we believe commitment to our community will help better ourselves and others.
-Kaelyn Platz
HOBO WEEK:
Celebrating Hobo Day is a time-honored tradition for students at South Dakota State University. Ceres Women’s Fraternity is excited to participate each year in hobo week festivities. We started off the week by receiving the best overall window for paint the town. During the week we were also able to bum-a-meal off of Farmhouse Fraternity, while celebrating hobo week with our fellow Greeks. After a group of our members gather at the bum-fire. Later in the week our girls put their building skills to use and built a shanty in the student union for bum-over. After weeks of hard work we all boarded the hobo express at the Hobo Day parade. Ceres was excited for our float to receive Greek runner up. We ended the week cheering on our favorite team, the Jackrabbits, at the Hobo Day game where our team took the win. Overall Hobo week was a very successful week for our chapter and we cannot wait to celebrate again next year.
-Angel Kasper
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Informal Recruitment ................................................. January 29th & 30th, February 5th & 6th
#recruitment #newmembers #graduate #communityservice #executiveteam #FoundersDay
