Together Agai

Alumnae sorori

For college age through 30-
something. This calendar
is published the second
Friday and the last Friday
of each month.

sisters give Sigma

Delta Tau a new

March 29 Saturday, 8:30
p.m. Federation Young
Adult Division (YAD)
Couples at Bonaventure
Skating Center in
Farmington Hills. Cost:
$7.50 per person, including
roller skates. RSVP to
Jonathan Goldstein, (248)
203-1471.

lease on life.

Shown at the planning meeting, from left, are Sharon Kramer-Daitch o West Bloomfield,
Sherri Balderman of Bloomfield Hills, Lauren Columbus-Guthrie of Clawson, Lesli Funk
Matukaitis of Livonia and Jodi Sidder of Royal Oak.

LISA FEIN
Special to the Jewish News

Bless SDT for we are all together
Bless us all our sisters and our friends
Think of all the happiness we found here
SDT we'resisters till the end.
— lyrics by SDTs Karen Burg

T

he song is ringing true after
college for members of
Sigma Delta Tau. The
sorority sisters are forming
a new alumni group for southeast
Michigan that will include SDT grad-
uates of Michigan State University, the
University of Michigan and Eastern
Michigan University.
SDT began in 1917 as a Jewish
sorority at Cornell University in
Ithaca, N.Y. Seven Jewish women were
discriminated against and were refused
admission into a campus sorority. In
response, they started SDT.
The Chapter at MSU began in
1964. The chapter folded in 1970 and
was reborn 14 years later.
Alums from MSU are driving the
alumni group. An e-mail from one
sparked an Internet search and Shari
Greenberger of Bettendorf, Iowa
(MSU class of 1987), created an SDT
Web site. Women who hadn't coore-

sponded with fellow alums for as
much as 18 years were again in con-
tact.
Ida Warshay of Oak Park says, "I
was getting up at 6 a.m. to read all the
e-mails from sisters I hadn't heard
from in a long time. Alumni can dO so
much to support undergraduate chap-
ters, and not just with financial sup-
port," she adds.

Giving Back

The new group sent a letter and sur-
vey to 550 Michigan alumni to ask
about their interests. An alumni plan-
ning meeting was held in West
Bloomfield in February and .others are
scheduled.
Some attendees expressed support
for philanthropic projects. In 1984,
Prevent Child Abuse in America
became the national philanthropy for
SDT.
Says West Bloomfield's Sari Shapiro
Cicurel, "When we were in college,
we did the minimum requirement
towards our philanthropy. Now that
we are older and have children of our
own, it will be more meaningful and
we can assist the community."
To mark Prevent Child Abuse in
America Awareness month, the alumni

chapter will host a luncheon on
Sunday, April 27.
West Bloomfield's Sandi Canvasser
Millman became re-involved with the
sorority out of curiosity. "[Sorority]
was such a great time in my life," she
says. "I want to relieve my childhood.
When I was in the [sorority] house,
there was no philanthropy. Currently,
the alumni group is social with a pur-
pose, with the inclusion of the philan-
thropy."
West Bloomfield's Sharon Daitch, a
1969 alumna from Indiana University,
heard about the alumni chapter via
the Detroit Jewish News. Daitch has
kept in touch for 31 years with a
dozen of her sisters. "My college years
were among my happiest," she says.
A 20-year reunion of the MSU
chapter will be held in 2004, and the
alumni group wants to be active. "The
sisters from out-of-state are looking
for us to take the lead in planning a
reuniop," Warshay says. ❑

April 15 Tuesday, 7 p.m.
MSU Mille' alum and MTV
director Julie Hermelm
. w i ll
discuss breaking into show
business and screen: Moby,
Seinisonic, Luscious Jackson,
Ben Folds, Five and Sarah
McLauahlin.

April 15 Tuesday, 7 p.m.
YAD's"Stand lip Detroit
II" at Second City. YAD
comedians Nikki Payne, Jeff
Dwoskin, David Schlussel
and Peter Hyman, plus
Second City Comedy
Troupe. Cost: $25, plus
536 minimum 2003
Campaign pledge. RSVP to
Jonathan Goldstein, (248)
203 - 1471 or
goldstein@jfInd.or
*A-?•#
April 25-27 Friday
through Sunday. YAD's
"Kick Back at Tanlarack."
Entertainment each evening
and topics for breakout ses-
sions ranging from yoga to
spirituality. Cost: $95
before April 1; S315 there-
after. RSVP to Karen
Unman, (248) 203-1499 or
urman @Kind. org

SDT alumni wishing to join the
SDT Beta Beta alumni group can
log on to Yahoogroups.com and
register under Sigma Delta Tau
Beta Beta.

3/28
2003

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