Meet an Advisor: Violet De Stefano
When COVID-19 broke out, Violet De Stefano (Epsilon Phi 2016/Winona State) was a senior studying public health and in the middle of an internship with Winona County’s Emergency Management Department.
Her life changed in an instant. “I was hired full-time on the spot since the department was only my boss and I,” Violet said. “I told my professors I would get work done when I could. This was exactly what my degree had been training me for.”
She spent the next few months traveling between Winona County and her parents’ home in Wisconsin as she helped the county set up mass COVID-19 testing sites and other pandemic measures. While she describes it as a whirlwind, Violet says it couldn’t have been a better training ground for her career—and for being an advisor.
When she moved to Pennsylvania in 2021 for a job as a Public Health Emergency Manager, she wanted to get involved with Alpha Sigma Tau locally. Shortly after that, she began advising for the Beta Iota Chapter at Millersville University as their Operations and Finance Advisor.
She still serves as their Operations and Finance Advisor but took on an additional role as the chapter’s Growth Advisor in 2022 and is a member of the Governing Documents Committee. “I’m not the kind of person who likes to sit still,” Violet said.
While it may seem drastic to claim that emergency management and advising skills overlap, Violet finds her training and degree to be beneficial in the day-to-day role. She said, “I’m used to being on call 24/7, and while I’m working on my boundaries, I know that my Beta Iota women feel like they can always talk to me about whatever they need. It allows for a special connection with them.”
Additionally, her emergency management experience allows Violet to see the bigger picture and guide collegians toward it, give feedback and criticism about chapter processes more effectively, and provide comfort and advice to collegians who are facing distressing circumstances, whether they’re chapter-based, academic, or personal. These are all critical aspects of being an Alpha Sigma Tau advisor!
While advising commitments can look different for everyone, Violet considers herself a very hands-on advisor. “I want to provide support and advocate for my Beta Iota women but also empower them to learn and feel confident going forth in the world,” she said. She considers her ability to prepare collegiate members for the real world and the job market one of her favorite parts of her advising role.
Her other favorite part is ensuring Beta Iota Chapter members have a positive experience, especially during recruitment. “When it comes to our recruitment rounds, I try to make sure that our Growth Team is really living in the moment and feeling good about their work. I don’t want them to have done all that work to prepare for recruitment and then have a bad experience during it,” she explained.
For Violet, advising has opened up a whole new door of Sisterhood, with the opportunity to find more connections and build alumnae relationships outside her chapter Sisters. “Even though I was a founding member of my chapter, my Alpha Sigma Tau world was relatively small and disconnected. Getting involved as an advisor allowed me to really step back and think, ‘Wow, I have Sisters here too,’ and make connections with all these new women in my life,” she said.
If anyone wonders whether they have the right background to advise collegiate women, Violet is an excellent example of how any degree, career, and life experience can make you the right fit for an advising role.
Thank you to Violet and all the advisors who help our collegiate women grow, learn, and improve daily!
Photo, top: Kayla Ketchum (Beta Iota 2021/Millersville), Violet De Stefano (Epsilon Phi 2016/Winona State), and Allie Mathias (Beta Iota 2020/Millersville) celebrating their new member class on Bid Day 2023!