WDC Delta Gamma

DC Hannahs’ News Bytes

October 2008

Special points of
interest:
• The Fall Kickoff
Champagne Brunch
was a huge success! See
page 3 for a recap.
• Please join us in sup-
porting foundation
events this fall! See
page 2 for more
details.
Letter from the President
Hello lovely ladies! Can
you believe it’s October
and fall is officially here?!
And that it’s been so long
since I’ve written a letter
to the chapter?
First, I had the honor of
going to Convention this
past June with four other
ladies from our chapter. I
must say, it was quite an
experience to meet so
many Delta Gammas. I
have never been to Palm
Springs before, and I
can’t believe it was so
hot! Over the summer,
we also had a few chapter
events, such as Jazz in the
Sculpture Garden, the
Newseum tour and the
Kennedy Center perform-
ance.
This past weekend, we
started off the year with a
bang with our annual
Champagne Brunch Kick-
Off! With more than 30
DGs, including many
new faces, we enjoyed a
variety of delicious foods,
champagne and sister-
hood. I hope you are
able to join us for our
October event, which is
the Georgetown Ghost
Walking Tour on Friday,
October 17. And, there
are more fun chapter
events this fall, such as
Let’s Dish Holiday Cook-
ing Party and the annual
Holiday Tea. We have a
lot in store this year!
Happy fall, ladies, and I
look forward to seeing
you at an event soon.
ITB,
Tonya Richardson, EX
WDC President

Inside this issue:

What not to miss this month
Special Interest 2 Get in the Halloween
Group (SIG) spirit with your DG sis-
Calendar ters on the Georgetown
Ghost Walking Tour
Foundation Focus 2 hosted with the DGs in
DC special interest group
on Friday, October 17!
Champagne 3 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Brunch Recap Among the historic
streets, manicured gar-
Panhellenic 4 dens, and Victorian row
Update houses of DC's finest
neighborhood lies deep,
Well Aware 4 dark secrets about a for-
gotten past. Come along For more information or
to hear about the ghosts to RSVP, contact Dan-
and spirits that still haunt ielle at vpprogramming
our fine little city...if you @wdcdeltagamma.org.
dare.
When: Friday, October
Where: The tour begins
at the Old Stone House
(3051 M Street NW)
Cost: $10 for adults and
$5 for children.
 Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Book Club
Please save the date for the
next DG Book Club on
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30
at a member’s home in
Columbia Heights. Please
RSVP to Danielle Frottier
at bookclub@wdcdelta
gamma.org
DGs in DC
DGs in DC is co-hosting
the chapter-wide October
event, the Georgetown
Ghost Walking Tour on
Friday, October 17. See
“What not to miss this
month” on page 1 for more
information.
Dineout
Mark your calendars for
the next Dineout on Tues-
DG Trivia : day, October 14! Join us at
Matchbox (713 H St., NW
- Chinatown/Gallery
The minutes of
Place) for sliders, brick-
September 1879 from oven pizza, and more! For
the mother chapter more information, to
proposed an
Initiation fee of how
much? Foundation Focus
We have two great oppor-
tunities to get involved
Answer: 50 cents. with Service for Sight.
Volunteer at the American
Girls Fashion Show and Tea
to Benefit the Prevention of
Blindness Society
The Prevention of Blind-
ness Society of Metropoli-
tan Washington® (POB) is
hosting a series of four
American Girl Fashion
Shows to raise funds and
awareness for the Chil-
dren's Vision Screening
program and its Children's
Vision and Hearing Sum-
mer Clinic. The event will
Page 2
RSVP, or to be added to
the Dineout list, please
email dineout@wdcdelta
gamma.org.
Lunch Bunch
Please join WDC Delta
Gamma’s newest SIG, the
Lunch Bunch, for a lovely
lunchtime get together at
the Four Seasons Hotel in
Georgetown on Wednes-
day, October 8 at 12:00
pm. Contact Helen for
more information or to
RSVP at lunchbunch@
wdcdeltagamma.org.
Sweetpeas
Join DG moms and their
sweetpeas on Friday, Octo-
ber 3 at the Butterfly Pavil-
ion at the National Mu-
seum of Natural History
(located at Smithsonian
metro station). Observe
the evolution of butterflies
and their plant friends in
this permanent exhibit,
which features an enclosed
be held November 15 & 16
in Brookeville, MD (rides
can be provided from
Metro). If you are inter-
ested in volunteering,
please contact Jen before
October 12 at vpfounda-
tion@wdcdeltagamma.org.
Columbia Lighthouse for the
Blind - Readers & Friendly
Visitors Program
Participants in the Readers
& Friendly Visitors volun-
teer program are adult vol-
unteers who are matched
one-on-one with blind or
visually impaired
adults. Volunteers arrange
weekly meetings with cli-
pavilion of live butterflies!
The main exhibit is free,
but tickets must be pur-
chased for the butterfly
pavilion. For more info,
directions or to purchase
tickets for the 10:30 a.m.
entry time, please visit
ww.butterflies.si.edu/
tickets/index.htm. For
more information contact
Kerri at sweetpea@wdc
deltagamma.org.
Winetasting
Join the Winetasting group
for a "Favorite American
Wines" Tasting Event on
Wednesday, October 29 at
a member's home in the
city. With the presidential
election coming up, it's
only appropriate that we
toast to the good ole
U.S.A. Sample some great
American wines to share
and some classic American
grub. Please RSVP
by October 22 by email to
Meredith at wt@wdcdelta
gamma.org.
ents at their homes to assist
with activities, such as
reading mail, grocery shop-
ping or running errands. If
you are interested in learn-
ing more about this oppor-
tunity, sign up for the next
volunteer orientation! New
volunteers will learn about
CLB and about being a
guide to an individual with
a visual impairment. It is
greatly appreciated if you
complete the volunteer
application forms before
attending, but it is not nec-
essary. If interested, please
contact Jen at vpfounda-
tion@wdcdeltagamma.org
Fall Kickoff — Champagne Brunch!
Thank you to everyone
who attended and contrib-
uted to WDC DG’s annual
champagne brunch! Well
over 30 Delta Gamma
alumnae attended the
event and enjoyed deli-
cious food (contributed by
our members!), cham-
pagne, and great conversa-
tion. Elizabeth Haile, di-
rector of rituals, welcomed
new chapter members with
an informal ritual inviting
them to rededicate to the
principles and ideals of the
Fraternity. One important
component of alumnae life
is service work, both in the
local community and
through Service for Sight
related projects. Women
were to invited to volun-
teer for an exciting upcom-
ing service related activity,
the American Girl Fashion
show hosted by the Pre-
vention of Blindness Soci-
ety of Metro DC. Ashly
Mitchell, VP: membership,
highlighted the benefits of
alumnae chapter member-
ship and encouraged
women to purchase alum-
nae chapter t-shirts to add
to their collection. Ashly
and Karin Fenn, VP: com-
munications, received
awards for their dedication
to the chapter from new
awards chair Amanda
Haff. To close out the day
WDC President Tonya
Richardson led the group
in reciting Delta Gamma’s
Oath of Friendship

Lynn Neagley chats with Eleanor Cartwright, Danielle Yates, Lauren Marsh, and Amrita Dutta
who won a prize for being the longest standing -Gupta take a break from chatting for a photo op.
member at the brunch!

WDC DG President, Tonya Richardson, presents April Black and Ashly Mitchell proudly dis-
our hostess, Jen Middleton, with a thank you gift. play our new WDC DG alumnae t-shirts.
Page 3
 Panhellenic Update
The Panhellenic Association of
Washington, DC had its first
meeting for the year in Septem-
ber. This year, the group is
continuing the successful pro-
grams of previous years and
has prioritized increasing the
involvement by reaching out to
more members and chapters.
WDC DG Gossip
Susanne Fitch had a baby girl
named Josephine! Congratula-
tions, Susanne!
Tiffany Waddell has started her
own business called Capital
Well Aware: Bystander Behavior
You are driving along the high-
way and notice a car pulled
alongside the guardrail. A man
is peering into the hood of the
car looking hopeless. You qui-
etly say to yourself “I am glad
that is not me.” You then mo-
tor on and continue about your
day. You assume someone else
called for help or that the
stranded man must have a cell
phone and called for assis-
tance.
In this type of situation, no one
intervened to assist the individ-
ual in need. This inaction is
known as bystander behavior.
A bystander is “someone who
witnesses a problem and does
not do something about it.”
Take a moment and reflect on a
few recent experiences – when
have you responded as a by-
stander?
Barriers to Intervention
Why don’t we intervene when
another individual needs assis-
tance? Five reasons for lack of
intervention are:
Page 4 1. Social influence.
The first chance to get involved
with Panhellenic will be collect-
ing hats, scarves and mittens
for area residents so everyone
will be warm this winter. We’ll
be letting you know how you
can participate. If you are in-
terested, please contact Stepha-
nie at panhellenic@wdcdelta
gamma.org.
Effects. We wish you the best,
Tiffany!
After 9 plus years with the Air
Force General Counsel's Of-
fice, Kerri Cox has accepted a
2. Fear of embarrassment.
3. Diffusion of responsibility.
4. Fear of retaliation.
5. Pluralistic ignorance.
Stages of Bystander Behavior
A second way to consider our
inaction is to see our lack of
response through the stages of
the bystander model. As you
read these five stages, consider
your bystander situation and
which stage best explains your
reason for not acting. In order
to illuminate the issue of haz-
ing, the model is explained
through this lens.
1. Notice the event.
2. Interpret the behavior as a
problem.
3.Belief that one has a responsi-
bility to help solve the prob-
lem.
4. Know what to do.
5. Possess the capacity for ac-
tion.
What does this mean for us as
Delta Gammas?
We have a lot to be proud of
with our involvement in the
Panhellenic Association, which
won three awards at the Na-
tional Panhellenic Association
biennial convention. If you are
interested in attending one of
the meetings, please email
Stephanie at panhellenic@wdc
deltagamma.org.
new job with the Office of Gov-
ernment Ethics (OGE). Good
luck in your new position,
Kerri!
Article II of the Delta Gamma
Constitution states:
“The objects of this Fraternity
shall be to foster high ideals of
friendship among college
women, to promote their edu-
cational and cultural interests,
to create in them a true sense of
social responsibility and to de-
velop in them the best qualities
of character.”
As members, we commit to
uphold these Objects which
encourage us to courageously
move from inaction to action to
ensure we act in a socially re-
sponsible manner. By eliminat-
ing bystander behavior, we help
to develop friendship based on
mutual helpfulness and act cou-
rageously exhibiting character.
References:
Berkowitz, A. (2007). Under-
standing bystander behavior: A
“white paper” on bystander
behavior to accompany
“bystander intervention train-
ing.” National Hazing Sympo-
sium Resource Guide.