Within a few months of graduating in spring 2012, New York Alpha Emily Fasel realized she missed Pi Phi, so she reached out to the Collegiate Regional Team to find a way to become involved again. Not long after that, she joined the New York Delta Alumnae Advisory Committee (AAC) at Cornell University. To say this experience helped Emily find a refreshed love of Pi Phi, would be an understatement

Emily was part of the New York Alpha Chapter when its members made the tough decision to relinquish the chapter’s charter. Although it was a difficult experience, as Chapter President she learned a lot. She developed strong relationships with the Fraternity and Sorority Life Advisor, University Administrators and the chapter’s AAC. These experiences, as well as the joy she feels serving on AAC, helped Emily decide on the next step in her life: pursue a masters degree in Student Affairs at the University of Rochester.

Emily keeps herself busy learning as much as she can while working in multiple roles at multiple institutions. In her graduate assistantship at Rochester Institute of Technology, Emily supervises 200 student staff as they welcome 4,000+ students through new student orientation. In her roles at University of Rochester, Emily works within graduate admissions for the school of education learning to run recruitment events as well as processing data through an enrollment management system. Additionally, her role on AAC not only allows her to work firsthand with the chapter but also work closely with other students in the fraternity and sorority community. In all of these roles, she is growing her passion to work with student leaders.

During a recent recruitment, Emily was able to stay in the Chapter President’s suite instead of making the two-hour drive back to Rochester from Ithaca, where the chapter is located. Emily happened to come across a box of items New York Alpha had gifted to New York Delta when the decision was made to close the chapter. Emily recalls that it was “really nostalgic” and “comforting, but also odd” to see a bit of Syracuse there at Cornell. “The biggest lesson through all of this, even if your chapter isn’t here, you can still give back to the Fraternity and have a positive experience,” Emily said.