Cultivating Sisterhood
Here are a few new and creative ways to connect with Sisters and keep the spirit of sisterhood alive from a distance.
18 Ways to Stoke Your Sisterhood During Physical Distancing
These are great ideas for any group of Sisters, but consider trying them out to keep connected with your new members or PNMs!
- Assign Sisters a new partner each week and ask them to do a virtual Sister date via Facetime, Skype, Google Hangout, or other video chat feature.
- If you’re hosting virtual chapter meetings, try implementing a fun sisterhood activity such as taking a Buzzfeed quiz and sharing your results, sharing your highs and lows for the week, or shouting out a sister of the week for something great they did.
- Find fun mobile apps that let you play with friends and get gaming! Try Words with Friends, Fast Thumbs, Psych, or Ticket to Ride.
- Pair up with Sisters who are taking the same courses as you or in the same major as you to have a virtual study session.
- Create a group in MyChapterRoom where members can share positive quotes and words of encouragement.
- Send your Sisters and Alpha Sigma Tau virtual hug!
- Grab your popcorn and host a virtual movie night with Netflix Party.
- Find a fun, online course through LinkedIn Learning, Khan Academy, Open Culture, edX, Coursera, or Skillshare and take it together, or ask a Sister who has a special skill or talent to teach the group through a video call.
- Get crafty! Host a virtual craft night using a tutorial from Creativebug, Creative Live, or Skillshare.
- Send each other recommendations—books, shows, podcasts, movies, articles, music, whatever! Then, schedule follow-ups to talk about what each of you liked and didn’t like, what you learned, or what you felt inspired by.
- Give back! Hop on a virtual get-together to brainstorm ideas for things you can do to help others make it through this difficult time.
- Create and share an online journal. Let Sisters add entries about their day, what they’re up to, and how they’re feeling. Entries can help spark conversation, know when a Sister might need a little extra love or encouragement, and provide some opportunity for reflection when social distancing is over.
- Schedule a virtual walk. There aren’t restrictions on getting outdoors for some exercise (as long as you stay away from others). Get a group of Sisters on the phone while you walk and talk.
- Sing your heart out! Host a virtual karaoke party using Smule or KaraFun.
- Virtual coffee hour or virtual lunch-have a scheduled time for Sisters to hop on and join together for company during meals or to help wake up in the morning before classes start. I also suggested having topics to talk about during this time (favorite song, tv shows, trivia, etc.)
- Mail a card to your Sisters! Write a note to a Sister to let her know that you’re thinking of her so she gets a fun surprise in the mail! You can collect home addresses through MyChapterRoom.
- Need an accountability partner? Host a group workout on Zoom or Facetime either led by a Sister or with an online class or program! There are lots of free classes available online—check out our list under the Physical wellness tab.
- Have a virtual scrapbooking party to document the past year! You can each create pages for a chapter scrapbook, or make one of your own, while you reminisce on your favorite memories.
10 Ways to Celebrate Your Seniors During Physical Distancing
This situation is challenging for many of us, but it’s especially challenging for our seniors whose final semester was cut short. Here are a few ways to celebrate and recognize them.
- Use your Zoom account to schedule a virtual “Senior Send-Off” where each senior is recognized with a few kind and caring words of support.
- Create a Google Drive folder for each of your graduating seniors. Have members write letters to seniors and drop them in the respective Google folder. Share the folder with the graduating senior on graduation day or during a virtual “Senior Send-Off.”
- Begin planning an extra special Founder’s Day event for the fall and invite all your graduating seniors back for an Alumnae Induction Ceremony (don’t worry…graduating seniors will still be considered alumnae even if they can’t go through the Ceremony).
- Connect with your local Alpha Sigma Tau Alumnae Chapter or Association (virtually, of course) and ask them to help you host a virtual “Welcome to Alumnae Life” celebration. Programming could include a welcome message from the chapter or association leadership, tips for staying involved as an alumna, and some networking.
- Send each Sister a virtual graduation card or share some fun senior superlatives using our fun templates.
- Ask seniors to reflect on their Alpha Sigma Tau experience using our branded templates and post on their Instagram story. Don’t forget to tag us (@alphasigamtau) so we can share!
- Host a virtual Graduation Party. Send out an Evite, just like you would for any event, and encourage Sisters to come to the party with their favorite snack or treat. Hop on Zoom together and celebrate!
- Send some good ol’ fashioned mail – yep, the kind that goes in the mailbox! Order some graduation cards online (support a local small business if possible!) and purchase some stamps from USPS, and get writing some heartfelt messages. Drop those cards in your own mailbox, raise the red flag, and wait for your local mail person to pick up and deliver.
- Highlight your seniors on social media, thanking them for their contributions to the chapter. You could also showcase some of their future plans.
- Host a virtual craft night for seniors to decorate their caps together, and then host a follow-up show-and-tell and have each senior show off how they decorated their graduation cap and explain why.
