When a lot of people think of University fraternities and sororities, they tend to picture houses of young students socializing, partying and going to sporting events. These same people would probably think this is all that a frat or sorority can be. The UBC chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, however, disagrees whole-heartedly. But wait! Who or what is Alpha Omega Epsilon? Well, according to Sarah Brown, AΩE is a “professional engineering sorority made up entirely of woman in engineering”. But who is Sarah Brown? Sarah Brown is the 2009/2010 AΩE President. She, along with Ariel Winkelmeyer, the 2009/2010 AΩE Vice-President, agreed to sit down for an interview.

Sarah: Alpha Omega Epsilon a great way to meet other woman in engineering of all other years and departments. Especially considering that in engineering there are not that many girls. We like to focus on professionalism, leadership, and friendship which are our three core values. We are a professional engineering sorority, so we have professional events and we like to develop the professional skills that are necessary to go out into the world as engineers, or anything else. It’s a place for you to develop leadership skills also, so taking on different roles, planning events, that kind of thing. And then friendship; AΩE provides support and network for all of the girls.

Ariel: Our Mission Statement is basically to empower female engineers in the sorority community and profession.

What sort of events does AΩE put on throughout the year?

Ariel: We do a lot of charity work. We try to give back to the student society in the EUS by holding different events. For example, we got together in a partnership with Women in Engineering last year and hosted a couple of ladies nights, that were specifically for women in engineering to network.

Sarah: We also have typical sorority events, like our socials, and our formals, and in addition, we also do professional events. Actually, one of our recruitment events is a professional speaker luncheon, which Ariel is organizing. She has arranged for one of our alumna who has experience in industry, Julia Martens, to come in and speak.

Ariel: She’s actually taking her masters at UBC. She’s an Eng fizzer, and a former EUS president.

Sarah: We also do quite a bit of professional development internally. Our professional development officer is planning tons for this year. We are planning for a lot of workshops, and getting more alumnae to come in and speak, it’s going to be awesome.

And you do a bunch of everyday stuff, right?

Sarah: Yeah, for example, we do bake sales. We also have done things like grilled cheese sandwich sales in the past. We didn’t do any last year, but that might come back this year.

Ariel: And we get involved with a lot of EUS events as well; like regular Friday night events too. Our meetings are always once a week, on Wednesdays. We do a lot of things within that. It’s where all of our organization and our main communications core happens, as well. We also do professional talks to the entire sorority; about our co-op term, about convention, about risk-management. It’s very much a holistic kind of view on guiding women through university.

You also help out engineering students as a whole by cleaning EUS structures such as the Cheeze once a week.

Ariel: Yeah, that’s one of our traditional fundraisers.

Sarah: It’s another way to help out, and give back.

Ariel: Its really a win-win, because its one of our main fundraisers, and we really love helping out the student society like that. I mean it’s nice for us when we can go into our own clubroom and it smells good.

What would you define as one of the best moments you had within A.O.E?

Sarah: The best moments would be the sisterhood moments. I don’t even know how to define them….

Ariel: It’s like that quote; what is a sorority (the definition), “Someone looking in can never understand it, someone talking about it can never explain it”.

Sarah: It’s those moments when you are just hanging out. Our Founder’s Day is November 13, and every time we go out for cake. Whether its an event or not, you’re with your sisters. For me, that would be it.

Ariel: I agree. I have to say my big sister (because everyone has a big sister and little sister if they are continuing on their ‘family’ tree). My big sister, Ainaz; she was a huge inspiration for me in all different parts of my life, and still continues to be. One of the things was actually during E-week, in my first year. I had a four-legged race with her and another active; we were all crazy, laughing, I’m a first year, and these are fourth years, you know. I’d be hanging out with them, and feeling accepted. I know that Ainaz always has my back. She’s just there for me and I have her to turn to. I have all these great memories.

What do you believe AΩE does best?

Ariel: I think we really understand engineering and the flexibility that a person needs when taking their schooling. I think that that’s something we as a chapter are good at. . You do have to commit, after all, it’s a sorority. There is a certain level of commitment you need to impart, because after all, we do take oaths, but our chapter is really flexible and understanding of people with their personal issues and academic issues. You know we really want to help out each other and I think we are strong in having a good sisterhood bond.

How large is AΩE within Canada, and within UBC? How many members do you have?

Sarah: We are an international sorority but we are the only chapter in Canada. Right now we have an interest group, UBC Okanagan is currently interested in starting a colony, which is what you are before you become a chapter.

I’m guessing that’s because of the Sigma Phi Delta (UBC’s Engineering Fraternity) colony that established there recently.

Ariel: Yeah definitely. This chapter here at UBC started out from the girlfriends of Sigma Phi Delta, so all our founder members were connected to that frat.

Sarah: We are the one chapter in Canada, but we have chapters all over the U.S. too.

Ariel: We have about a hundred alumnae; a few on co-op, and about 12 actives right now too.

What do you do for initiation?

Ariel: Every sorority and fraternity has an initial candidate initiation that is the preliminary stage of the process to becoming an active, and we do have active initiation after that entire process. So, during the process of candidateship what we expect, obviously, is a commitment from the candidate.

How long is the process?

Sarah: Our candidate initiation is usually sometime in October, and our active initiation is sometime in late March or early April. The candidate period is a chance for them to see what we are about and it’s a chance for us to get to know them too.

So what is special about being in candidacy?

Sarah: It’s great because you get to see what exactly we do and you get to really know the girls. When I became an active, I already knew all the girls on a personal basis.

We also give candidates a project; someway they can give back to the sorority. It’s also a chance for the candidate class to bond, so that you really get to know the girls you are going in with.

Ariel: When we did our candidate period, we went through all of the alumnae and the present actives, and made a birthday book of everyone. We also made two table clothes, one was a formal, ceremonial table clothes, and the other was a fun, colorful bake sale tablecloth that could be washed.

Sarah: The candidates also do interviews. We ask that they have a one-on-one meeting with all of the actives, all of their other candidate members, and at least one alumna. That’s how I got to know a lot of the girls before becoming an active.

Ariel: Because one of our objectives is to be a well-rounded woman in engineering, we also have a point system each member needs to complete. There are different points categories, for example, sports, getting involved within the EUS, academics, sisterhood, fundraising, and all of these different activities. We do this so that the candidates can get a flavor of every point, so when they become an active they have more of a well-rounded idea of where they want to get involved.

Sarah: It tends to come naturally to candidates.

Ariel: I remember I got something like three hundred points over my actual minimum (laughs).

Any last comments you would like to leave off with?

Ariel: I entered AΩE thinking that I wanted to network. I came in with not so sentimental feelings towards becoming a sister with a sorority. I thought I was just going to network with alumna, get job opportunities, and figure out professional things. But going through the whole process, and a lot of people don’t believe in it at first, you do gain that intimacy with everyone. You have those people for life, and even if you lose contact for ten, twenty, or thirty years, you know there are still ways to get in touch with those people. For me, it’s become more of a family than anything else.

The speaker luncheon mentioned by Sarah will be taking place on Tuesday, September 22^nd in Kaiser 2020. Alpha Omega Epsilon is also putting on a 50’s Themed Dance Party on Friday, September 25^th at the Civil and Mechanical Engineering Building room 2202. For more information on AΩE events check out their website: (http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php) or their section of the e-nEUS.