KDChi Chapter:
Delta Alpha, Graduate Chapter
New Member Class:
Zeta, Spring 2014
About Gabriela:
She teaches high school Spanish at Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, OK. The student population is 100% Native American and the teaching staff is composed of mostly Native Americans. Gabriela is one of a handful of staff that are not Native American. She enjoys sharing and exchanging culture, heritage and language with her students every day.
She is also very involved in several women's Masonic organizations.
Somebody from one of these
organizations once asked her if she had ever considered joining a sorority and that was what planted the seed! After reaching out to several Latina sororities, she heard back from KDChi's Rachel Glick. Her response was warm and welcoming.
"Rachel answered all my questions (and I had a million) and she was so friendly!" Gabriela says.
She researched KDChi and read through the newsletters, the website, the Facebook pages and she says she knew she had to be part of such a dynamic and wonderful group of women.
She remembers her journey to become a new member...
"My Graduate New Member Educator was awesome!" Gabriela says. "She helped me out tremendously with everything and has kept up with me, even after the process."
Gabriela's husband recently retired from the US Army. Together, they enjoy traveling and exploring new and out-of-the-way places during their down time. This summer, they're traveling to Costa Rica! They also enjoy riding motorcycles, cooking, gardening, and just spending time together.
Tell your friends to apply
to be a KDChi!
Email: Rachel Glick
Every four years presents an opportunity to our communities. It’s a time to engage or choose to disengage in the election cycle, voting, paying attention to the messages and negative ads that fill our TV viewing. This year happens to be filled with lots more questions, distrust, and vitriol than ever before in election campaign history. I cringed watching rallies filled with hate and judgement, laughing and harsh language that has no business in our society, much less on a platform. I encourage you to vote as it’s a powerful tool to share our voice and your opinion. I respect that there will be some that choose not to, and that too is a way of sharing
their sentiment. Personally, I was grateful that for the first time I’ve been able to immerse myself in an election cycle where I could sit back as a viewer instead of as someone who’s on edge of the latest breaking news, booking guests 24/7 or rushing to produce and edit a package at 2am for the next morning news show.
Something cringe-worthy did happen to me and my husband Ricardo though during this election cycle that shook me. On a leisurely visit to Costco, a big box store we frequent, less than a mile from our home, shoppers suffered gridlock as families paused for samples and contemplated filling their mega baskets with discount items. Five baskets blocked any movement ahead of us as we tried to make our way to the check-out aisle. We were stuck, but waited patiently for customers to find their path. A middle-aged Caucasian woman positioned immediately behind our basket, decided she’d had enough of the waiting game. She grumbled loudly at us to “go back to where you came from” as her cart screeched hard to the right to escape down the cereal aisle. The sound of her cart hitting the saran wrapped pallets of cheerios made a loud thump as she disappeared grumbling loudly into almond milk land. We stood shocked, as did the other customers around us who all heard what we did, and my Virginia-born hubby almost exploded in anger towards her. I placed my hand on his back to calm him and said don’t let her get to you, and to my own surprise, I was so boiling mad, in a raised voice I called out towards her, “WE’RE FROM VIRGINIA!”
My point of this story? No matter where we go in life, be it on a campus, in our communities or in our professional lives, there will always be “a Costco lady” in your path. What you do with your time, your energy, your actions can always be seen as an opportunity to educate others about who we are and the amazing things we can accomplish.
Kappa Delta Chi Sorority is such a beautiful, diverse, pool of powerful and intelligent women. I love reading and hearing about your unique backgrounds, your passion for things like our National Parks, what service projects and impact you’re making in your communities, what you’re accomplishing in your professional lives and where your adventures take you. Stay strong amongst the “Costco ladies” of the world. There is no stopping a KDChi sister, we are warriors.
In sisterhood,
Gina Garcia Alger
VP of Public Affairs, Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc.
About Gina:
Gina was initiated in fall 1998, part of the Alpha Class at the University of Texas at Austin’s Pi Chapter (Hook’em Horns!) where she earned a dual degree in Broadcast News and Psychology. After a 15-year adventure in the national news industry, news producing, she took a leap and now is the Program Director of the Master’s in Journalism at Georgetown University. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Integrated Marketing and Communications. She resides in Arlington, VA with her husband Ricardo and their shihpoo puppy, Chico.
Letter from:
VP of Public Affairs
(C) Tiffany Hopwood Photography
3
Political Activity as a Sister
VP of Public Affairs
Gina Garcia Alger