How to become an active
member of the UNT Cygnets
Table of Contents
iii
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ........................................................................................iii
Introduction ............................................................................................... 5
Chapter 1................................................................................................... 3
Who are the Cygnets? ............................................................................... 3
............................................................................................................. 3
What is Gamma Phi Omega about? .............................................................. 4
The four Sorority Pillars ............................................................................. 5
Basic Facts: ............................................................................................. 6
Requirements: .............................................................................................. 7
Informational ......................................................................................... 11
Cultural Events....................................................................................... 12
Academic Events .................................................................................... 13
How to collaborate with other MGC Greeks ................................................. 14
Chapter 3................................................................................................. 16
Fundraising: .......................................................................................... 16
Introduction
Greek life is more than just a place where people gather and
socialize. There is a lot of work that goes into meeting requirements
as a Chapter, Colony, or Interest group in order to continue being a
part of UNT Greek life and your respective council. Because the
Cygnets are an interest group to a national sorority, our
requirements are different. You will learn basic information about
the sorority, our four pillars, as well as fulfilling requirements set
up by the Greek life office. You will learn what an interest group is,
what our chapter is, and what our expectations are. This manual
will teach you the ins and outs of what it takes to be an active
member of the Cygnets.
You will learn how to:
 set up events (academic, informational, and cultural)
 how to collaborate with other Greeks
 how to raise funds for the interest group and our national
philanthropy
Greek life is one of the most fulfilling experiences you will have in
college, and this manual will guide you through the process of
becoming an active member of our sassy, yet oh so classy, Cygnet
interest group.
6
Who are the Cygnets?
The first chapter will educate you on who the Cygnets are, what Gamma Omega is about, the four
pillars that we abide by, and most importantly, outline the basic facts about the sorority.
3
Chapter 1
Who are the Cygnets?
The Cygnets of the University of North Texas are the official interest
group of Gamma Phi Omega international sorority Inc., a Latina
oriented sorority predominately based in the Illinois and Indiana
areas. The purpose of a sorority interest group is to establish a
chapter in our respective University; therefore, our mission is to be
the first established Gamma Phi Omega chapter in the entire
Southern region of the United States.
4
What is Gamma Phi Omega about?
As leaders of the community, Gamma Phi Omega strives to uphold
each one of the four goals (pillars) and continue to advance women
in breaking the barriers that exists in today’s society.
5
The four Sorority Pillars
1. Academic excellence
2. Cultural awareness
3. Community service
4. Sisterhood
We strive to create strong bonds of Sisterhood through community service. It is our
goal to educate and empower Latinos, to be culturally aware, and to not just scrape
by in college but to be academically successful.
6
Basic Facts:
Birthplace: Indiana University
Founding Date: April 17th, 1991
Colors: Maroon and Navy
Mascot: Swan
Flower: Fire and Ice rose
Nicknames: G-Phi-O or Gamma Phi’s
Motto: Unity and Sisterhood, Now and Forever, One and
Inseparable
7
Requirements:
For membership into the Cygnets, an interested lady must have a
minimum cumulative grade point average of a 2.6 off of a 4.0 scale.
An interested lady must also be enrolled as a fulltime student at an
accredited four year university or college.
An interest lady must have dedication to fulfilling the set
requirements of this organization.
Cygnet requirements differ from the sorority requirements in that to
be an active member, you’ll have to get involved and your level of
involvement with reflect our level of success.
Setting up events:
Academic, Cultural and
Informational
This chapter will walk you on how to set up all the
necessary events that the interest group, and Greek
Life, requires as well as how to collaborate with other
Greeks.
Chapter 2
11
Informational
One of the requirements for Greek life is to hold an informational
for any interested ladies; an informational serves to address any
questions one might have over the interest group, expectations, and
what exactly we do.
- To set up an informational, you must go to the Student
Scheduling office on the 2nd floor of the Union and ask to book
a room. You will fill out a paper that asks why you’re booking
the room and for what organization. After you’ve booked the
room (Time and date), it’s time to start promoting the
informational. Promoting is done by Tabling, which means
you have information available at your table station in the
union about the sorority with a sign up list for those interested
in getting to know more about us.
- How to set up a Tabling: in order to promote, you must “table.”
To schedule a table inside the union by the one o clock lounge,
you must go to the 2nd floor of the union and into the UPC
office a week ahead of time. Just like the Student scheduling,
you’ll have to fill out a paper citing what exactly you’ll be
tabling. When setting up for your tabling, make sure you bring
“the board”- this has all the pictures and events we’ve
participated in and serves as a visual for those who pass by.
You will need to bring the Cygnet and Gamma Phi Omega
brochures which will be given to you by a member of our
executive board.
12
Cultural Events
Another requirement we need to meet is to hold a cultural event
that serves to educate Latinos and non-Latinos alike on issues
within our culture, society, and roots.
To set up an event, you must book a room or the Lyceum through
student scheduling as discussed in [informational]. You want to
make sure you know what you’re presenting very well because it’s
up to you to educate the masses. For example, fall 2011 we held an
event that consisted of a Film Screening that highlighted many
issues with immigration and how it separates families. Even if it’s a
simple tabling where you have a board of information over a Latin
country’s independence, knowing what you’re presenting will make
or break the event. You will also need to make a Facebook page of
the event and invite all Greeks, faculty, and student body. We focus
mainly on having a large Greek turnout as well as Latino turnout
but everyone is welcome.
Chapter 2
13
Academic Events
An academic event will function just the same as a cultural and
informational: you’ll have to go to student scheduling to set book a
room if you decide to have it there, or set up a tabling through the
UPC office on the 2nd floor of the union. An academic event doesn’t
have to include any of those though, for example, spring 2012, the
Cygnets hosted a Study-a-thon for all MGC to promote academic
excellence. The only requirements were that each member of a
fraternity or sorority had to get a signature from one of the library
workers as proof. Setting up a tabling will also give you the
opportunity to introduce campus resources for people and promote
the University as well as the interest group through brochures. We
held a suicide and depression tabling where we provided
information on the top 5 reasons why people commit suicide and
had brochures for the UNT counseling center.
For any event, you’ll want to have incentives- reasons why people
approach your table, whether it be candy, music, or eye catching
pictures, you want to engage your potential interests and passerby.
14
How to collaborate with other MGC Greeks
MGC unity is of utmost importance when thinking about Greek life.
UNT Greek life is an umbrella to 4 councils: IFC (inter fraternity
council), MGC (multi-cultural Greek council), Pan Hellenic, and
NPHC (national pan Hellenic council). In order to keep strong bonds
between councils and organizations under these councils, it’s
important to collaborate, co-host together, and support one
another’s events.
One way to show your support and represent your organization is to
attend Probates. A probate is a special event where a Greek
organization presents its newest members. By attending this event,
you’re supporting their organization as well as welcoming in the
Neos. A neo is just a nick name given to a new MGC Greek
member.
Collaborating and co-sponsoring and academic event or community
service event will also help to unite the organization under common
goals. Participate in The Big Event and Make a Difference Day with
the Phiotas or KDchi and get to know one another.
ed
How to raise funds for the
interest group and
Philanthropy
16
Chapter 3
Fundraising:
Fund raising is important to our interest group because it brings in money
for the interest group and philanthropy (American Diabetes Association).
You should already know how to table and book a room for a fundraising
event but it’s important to know that you can also hold benefit nights at a
local restaurant. Popular choices for Greeks are: Yogurt story, Buffalo Wild
Wings, and Chili’s. To hold a benefit, you must go to the restaurant and ask
what requirements you may need to hold a benefit there. Most places will
give you 10% of the proceeds. After you’ve set it up with the restaurant, it’s
time to start promoting your benefit night by inviting all Greeks and NonGreeks to help raise money for your philanthropy. You can also do a club
social benefit which functions the same as the benefit night at a restaurant:
ask what the requirement are, if money needs to be paid, how much of the
proceeds will go to each party, and set up from there. A date auction can
also be a pretty good fundraiser for if you want to be creative.
Index
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Style Sheet for How to become an active member of the
Cygnets (Interest group for Gamma Phi Omega) at UNT
Formatting
Logo placement
.25” from right edge
1.11” absolute height
1.13” absolute width
Headline
Britannic bold, 26 point, maroon (153,0,51)
aligned center
Indent 0’’ from margin
Heading
Britannic bold, 20 pt bold, navy blue (51, 51,153)
Indent 1” from margin
11 pt space/line between heading and beginning of text
Text
Bookman old style 14 pt black (0, 0, 0)
Hard return between paragraphs
Keep entire text of paragraph together (on a page)
Bulleted Lists
Britannic bold, 16 pt black (0,0,0)
Indent 1” from margin wrap text at 1”
Graphics
Align center, with paragraph below (wrap tight)
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Picture border “simple frame”, ¾ point, solid line,
black (0,0,0)
Caption below image, center with picture border, Times new roman
10 point, italic, black (0,0,0)
Page Numbering
Page # of # format in the footer, bottom of page, right corner
Times New Roman 20 point, black (0,0,0)
Page number on all pages
Writing
Titles
Fundraiser, Socials, Academic awareness and cultural awareness
events are to be aligned left
Indent 1” from margin, maroon (153, 0, 51)