The women were immersed into the Japanese culture, surrounded by Japanese-like gardens filled with hundreds of butterflies, beetles and crickets. Some of the women even joined in on an arts and crafts session to make Japanese lanterns. Upon entering the butterfly showroom, each member grabbed a flower and dipped it in sugar in anticipation that a butterfly would land on the sweet-scented bud.
Junior Alex Welch thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to bond with her Pi Phi sisters. “One of the most exciting parts of the whole experience was ‘catching’ a butterfly,” Welch said. “The most amazing idea about the whole process is that the butterfly kind of represented my sorority sisters and me. No matter where I am, there always seems to be a Pi Phi around, and we are drawn to each other like the butterfly was to the flower.”
Founder’s Day is an opportunity for members to celebrate the original 12 women from Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, who initiated the first ever women’s fraternity.
"While founders day will forever be a special and momentous occasion, I think this first celebration will always be the most special,” President Sarah Gravely said. “Just as our 12 founders came together to form IC Sorosis 143 years ago, the 63 women in our chapter have done just the same in the past few quarters. Remembering the cultivation of our core values reminds us of their importance and motivates us to always work for their realization.”
Alex Welch
Ohio Kappa ladies at the Krohn Conservatory
Tori Mason
