As the new president of her sorority Alpha Phi, Hannah Wolf has reached celebrity status for her dedication and work ethic in her leadership roles. While she wears many hats on campus, Hannah has been committed to the philanthropy, camaraderie, and leadership that Greek life promotes. Her enthusiasm and talents inspired her sisters to elect her their president even while she was studying abroad, and her work has just begun. Now that Formal Recruitment has ended, she is ready to lead her sorority into a new year and new achievements! Way to go, Hannah!
1. You were elected as Alpha Phi President while you were abroad. How was the process different for you than someone on campus, and what was it like when you found out about your achievement?
Being elected from abroad was an amazing experience that I will never forget! All of our election procedures were the exact same. However, I was not able to read my election speech to the chapter on the night of elections. Instead, I had a trusted sister read it out for me. It’s pretty funny because during the time that I was getting elected, my host family did not have any Internet in their house. On the day of Alpha Phi elections, I spent about several hours in the closest Starbucks basically mentally preparing and also working on my independent research project. Because Chile was 2 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, at 10 pm my time it was only 8 pm in Lancaster. I can remember like it was yesterday leaving Starbucks and getting on the bus to go home, thinking that at any minute the elections would be starting. Because the Internet was not working at my house, thankfully a girl in my program who lived on the corner of my street was kind enough to let me hang out at her house for a little while so that I could use the Internet. I sat with my friend, her host mother, and her seven and nine year old host brother and sister trying to explain to them what a sorority was in Spanish. There is no word for sorority in Spanish so it was quite a challenge to explain to them exactly what was happening. Understanding that there was some type of election and that I was involved in it, they kindly tried to calm my nerves by offering me mixed nuts and red Chilean wine (I was legal to drink in Chile.) as we waited for my phone to buzz and tell me the news. The moment that I found out, I was in shock and disbelief! My eyes immediately welled up. If I were at F&M, I’d be hugging my best friends, my sisters. However, the people who I hugged that night were my friend’s host family and their host cat. I even took a victory picture with her host siblings! It was incredible to be elected from abroad and I am so fortunate that I was. It was bittersweet because I was so far away during the beginning of my presidency but being abroad gave me a fresh perspective for the semester. It allowed me to enter into this term with clear thoughts and it also made seeing everyone again that much sweeter.
2. What do you think are the traditions/events that make Alpha Phi really special and stand out on campus?
The number one thing that makes Alpha Phi stand out is our sisters. The sisters of Alpha Phi are incredible people who are all individually unique with different interests and personalities. What makes Alpha Phi special is that we all come together and make up a united sisterhood that is extremely close and cohesive. Each sister adds something special and unique to our chapter. Another aspect of our sisters that makes Alpha Phi unique is that our sisters are doers. Our sisters are the reason why we have had unbelievable amounts of success in developing into a very strong chapter. The sisters of Alpha Phi are multi-taskers. We have had incredible results in our philanthropic events donating over $10,000 in the past year to the Alpha Phi Foundation to support Women’s Heart Health. After formal recruitment, we had the opportunity to welcome 33 wonderful new members into our sorority. Additionally we hold the highest average GPA in the Greek community at F&M.
3. What was the most stressful part of Recruitment, and what was your role in the process?
I actually love Formal Recruitment! My role was the same as other sisters in that I talked to the girls going through recruitment to tell them about Alpha Phi and just to get to know them. The most stressful part of Recruitment was waking up on Saturday morning having lost my voice from singing so much the previous nights. It was stressful because I had to give a speech on the last night of Recruitment. Thankfully, by the end of the night my voice came back and I could give the speech! Other than that small blip, all went well! Alpha Phi is so excited to have recruited our fabulous new members but we are also so excited for the other three sororities for their equally successful outcomes! This year was one of the most successful years for F&M’s Formal Recruitment. F&M gave out the most amount of bids during Formal Recruitment than ever before. It feels incredible to be a part of this Panhellenic community!
4. What are some of your goals as the new president?
One of my goals as the new president is to be accessible to my sisters, to ensure that they can trust me. Additionally, I want to be accessible to the Franklin and Marshall community to not just other Greek organizations but to the College Houses, sports teams, as well as, the dozens of clubs and organizations. I hope by establishing new ties and continuing to meet new people, I will be able to continue to use Alpha Phi’s strengths to better the Franklin and Marshall community. This semester we are so excited to introduce a new philanthropy called Alpha Fifa, a soccer tournament that we hope to get all organizations on campus involved in! This event will be so exciting and a whole lot of fun for a great cause, Women’s Heart Health. Look for more information to come soon!