Out with the old, and in with the new!

Meet Executive Council 2013!

The girls answered why they chose to be a member of Exec, their plans for their new position, and a little bit about how it is going so far. Take the time to get to know our chapter’s amazing leaders and read on!

Lauren Kraut, President

Hometown: Plano, Texas

Major: Nutritional Sciences/Pre-Med

            After being on recruitment team I realized my desire to lead our chapter and be highly involved in Zeta. Most of my friends were on Exec last year and they all said how it has helped shape their leadership, time management and organization skills. A combination of these few aspects, and my passion to lead our chapter into a new year of success and excellence, made me REALLY want to be on Exec!


            As President this year, few of my goals for the year include better organization during chapter meetings on Monday, stricter re-enforcement of the standards policies, increased visibility of Exec's decision making progress, and improving the senior retention rate and involvement. 

            As a team, our Exec board has successfully accomplished these goals, and we still have one more semester to make meaningful changes and progress! Being on Exec and serving as the president has been an incredible experience so far. I have learned that it is impossible to make everyone happy, so you have to follow the most diplomatic path when making big decisions. I think our entire Exec board is extremely cohesive and has made       

an excellence team thus far!

Jan Winkelman, Vice President

Hometown: Brenham, Texas

Major: Business (Marketing)

             I have always enjoyed being in a leadership position and wanted to do my part in helping Zeta continue to be the best that we can be! I am always looking for options to help out and with being an executive officer and I am able to do so in many ways! I also believe that being on Exec will further grow my leadership, responsibility and communication skills much more which will help me out in my future career after I graduate.

            I serve on Executive Council as the chapter’s vice president. My job is to oversee Program Council (PC). Our PC members actively plan all of Zetas programs and events including socials, sisterhood events and much more, along with assisting Executive Council as well. My goals as Vice President are to make sure all events that PC plans are the best that they can be and to make sure every PC members gets recognized for all the hard work they put into making all these fun events for our chapter to enjoy throughout the year! 

            PC was great this spring semester! We had great events planned, like our Mom's Weekend and our Dad's Weekend, a Spring break bootcamp at the Zeta house, an Easter egg hunt for our alumnae and some really fun socials as well! I am looking forward to this Fall because PC has some great and fun ideas for each of their positions and I am excited to be there to help lead and make them happen.

Sloane Schaumburger, VP Recruitment

Hometown: League City, Texas

Major: Public Relations with Business Foundations

            I ran for Exec because I wanted to have a leadership position in ZTA and give back to the organization that's given so much to me!

            My goal for the year is to work closely with recruitment team and the chapter to get the best possible women for our 2013 pledge class.

            Working with EC has been a great experience thus far. With the help of Exec and Recruitment Team, we've accomplished so much in a short amount of time -- I'm looking forward to what next semester brings! 

Sophia Vickers, Treasurer

Hometown: Mclean, Virginia

Major: Business (Marketing)

            I chose to run for Exec because over these past two years, the girls in Zeta have truly changed my life for the better. I applied to be on Exec in order to give back to the chapter. I knew that both my organizational skills, as well as my ongoing determination would enable me to become a good representative of the chapter as a whole.

             My main goal for my position is to ensure that the chapter's budget is properly managed, so that we, as Exec and PC, can provide the chapter with their wants. Whether it be socials, sisterhoods, or parents weekends, I want to make sure there is always enough money in the given budgets to make sure all these events are as great as possible!

            So far, I absolutely love being on Exec! I cannot stress enough how awesome of an experience it is to serve and represent the chapter. The other girls on Exec are amazing and we have all formed a great team thus far!

Michelle Hecht, Philanthropy

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Major: Nutrition Honors

            One of my goals in college was to get involved in an organization that I enjoy, and Zeta was the perfect place for this! Being on Exec would allow me to make a difference and let me get more out of being in this sorority.

            I recently planned our annual Crown Cook-off, and although we had to cancel the event because of the rain, we still managed to have a make shift Crown Cook-off. The salsa teams brought their salsa to the house, and throughout the day, girls could taste all the salsas and vote on their favorite! Although I was disappointed that the event was cancelled, we still raised almost $12,000!

            In October, I will be planning "Think Pink" week, organizing the Zeta team for Race for the Cure, and planning the Think Pink brunch following the race!

Ashley Allison, New Member

Hometown: Spring, Texas

Major: Nursing

            I decided to apply for Exec after serving on Program Council as Assistant Database for Rush Team. I enjoyed having a role in our chapter and placing those responsibilities on myself. As a member of Exec, we are able to give back to the Chapter and address what our members would like keep and/or change. 

            As New Member Coordinator for the upcoming year, our goal is to really get the new members to mesh well with their pledge class as well as the rest of the chapter. We are planning most of the same events that have occurred in the past for the new members, with the addition of one, surprise new event complete with plenty of treats and fun activities! We are looking forward to everything in this upcoming year and are excited to welcome our new members!

            So far, everything is going excellent! We have planned Bid Day, New Member Retreat, Surprise Pledge Class Party, and more! Other events are being revised and tweaked to ensure everything runs smoothly when our new members arrive on August 27th.

Rachel Robillard, Historian

Hometown: Flower Mound, Texas

Major: Broadcast Journalism with Business Foundations

            Once I attended my first ZTA Chapter Meeting my freshman year, I knew I wanted to be on the ZTA Executive Council. Since my freshman year, my favorite part about chapter meetings is watching the thirteen Exec members make their announcements and encouraging everyone to "Have a wonderful week". Chapter meetings are a great way to start off my week! 

            I knew right away that the Exec ladies are the leaders of our chapter. I decided to apply for Exec because I wanted to be an ambassador for our chapter and create a positive ambiance within the chapter. I am grateful to have been selected as a member of the Executive Council. 

            I plan to promote Zeta Tau Alpha and Texas Greek Life though Social Media. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, Zeta should be acknowledged over another form of social media: Instagram. Since social media is thriving, Texas Zeta needs to be up to date on all types of social media. A vast majority of Texas Zetas have an Instagram, which is an online photo-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take a picture, apply a digital filter to it, and share it on a variety of social networking services, including its own. Creating a @TexasZTA Instagram is a great way to show involvement and sisterhood in Zeta. I am glad Zeta is not up to date on our social media!

            Everyone on Exec is doing wonderful so far! I am blessed and fortunate to be a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha Kappa Chapter’s Executive Council. The 2013-2014 Executive Council has and will continue to do great things for our chapter.

Emily Hansen, Scholastics

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Major: Nursing

            I wanted to be a part of this year’s Exec because I enjoyed getting to be a part of it last year. I love getting to implement what the chapter wants and come up with new and fun things for us to do!

            As Scholastics, my main goal is to offer help and resources to the chapter to help them improve academically. I want everyone to excel academically and I want to help in any way I can, from hosting study hours (with snacks!), Professor Dinner and Meet Your Major, to improving resources such as test files and our new professor database!

            So far this semester is going great! We have a new professor database with over 100 professors, we've added over 50 new tests and quizzes to our test files, and we have the best study snacks! Last fall Zeta ranked 4th in highest Panhellenic GPA, with a 3.39 overall GPA!

Juliet Mullins, Panhellenic

Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland

Major: Corporate Communications

             I knew I wanted to be on EC ever since my first chapter meeting as a Zeta! I looked up at the girls leading the meetings and knew that I really wanted to become involved in my chapter and eventually become a leader in it!

            As the Panhellenic Voting Delegate for ZTA, I aim to make Zeta's presence in Panhellenic as large as possible. I encourage our chapter to get out to other chapter's philanthropies and always support the University Panhellenic Council.

            Exec is going great so far and is such a rewarding experience. It has been amazing to become closer with the other members on EC and help with the important decisions we have to make about our chapter!

Liz Flury, House Manager

Hometown: Southlake, Texas

Major: Business (Accounting)

            I always saw those Exec girls sitting in front of meeting as a freshman and I always had so much respect for them and wanted to be like them. I knew that they were involved and even as a first semester freshman I knew their names, and I wanted to be involved in the chapter and have people look up to me. 

            I am House Manager, so I am in charge of communication in the house, working with Mom Marge and Chef Holly to keep things running smoothly, and other fun things like Mexican Dinner and Chicken Finger Friday. My goal is to keep everyone happy as best I can!

            It has been a really good experience being on exec so far, I love knowing what is going on in the chapter and being able to help make decisions. It has taught me a lot about working in a team and communication. I would recommend my position and being Exec to everyone who is considering applying next year! 

Sofia Silver, Risk Reduction and Education

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Major: Neurobiology, Pre-Medical

            The reason I wanted to be a part of Exec is because I wanted to learn more about leadership and become more involved in chapter decisions. I want to become a doctor in the future, so being a good leader is very important. I knew that becoming a member of Exec would give me great experience as a leader, and would teach me a lot about good communication.

            My position is Risk Reduction and Education, and my goals are to make sure that all of the girls are abiding by the National policies, and to make sure that Zetas represent themselves in a positive manner to others. 

            So far, it has been a great experience to work with the other girls of Zeta. I really enjoy having a position of leadership and working with the rest of Exec important decisions regarding the rest of the chapter. 

Maddy McGlamery, Rituals Chair

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Major: Business (Accounting)

            Zeta has done so much for me in my past two years here at UT, so I wanted to do something to give back to the organization. I also believe that if I’m going to be part of an organization, I should make sure that I am a relevant part that contributes to the well-being and does my part to make it better.

            My goal for my position is to instill a greater respect for and understanding of our zeta rituals and to make initiation night run more efficiently.

            It’s going well so far! Post-Initiation Education (PIE) went successfully. I am currently coordinating with the alumni, who will be performing our senior initiation into the alumni world ceremony! As soon as that dinner is finished, I will begin planning for initiation in October. I will be putting together a team of extra reliable girls to help me run things on the day of initiation when I am busy with the ceremonies. I plan to spend the summer planning out all of the details for initiation and look forward to meeting the new pledge class that we will initiate in the fall!

Tori Pell, Recording Secretary

Hometown: Spring, Texas

Major: Advertising

            Exec is a great way to give back to Zeta. I love being able to have the opportunity to help our chapter grow. It has also been a great way to get to know girls in Zeta outside of my pledge class.

            My goal is to improve chapter communication, between members and between Executive council and chapter members. I also would like to make checking into chapter meeting a more efficient process.

            So far we have an awesome new Strawberry Patch where members can post any information they want to relay to the chapter. I am also looking into technology that will make managing attendance more manageable and accessible for members.