Dear readers,
Cheers to another spotlight for our president series! Kappa Alpha Theta President Callie Hawkins is a rising senior in PC ‘23 majoring in Advertising and minoring in Business Foundations. She leads a chapter of 317 and works alongside 8 members on the executive board. Callie has also been part of the Texas Advertising Group since her freshman year and is working as a legal recruiter in New York City this summer. Keep reading to know more about Callie!
Blog Editors: What inspired you to serve as president in your chapter?
Callie: The presidents before me are girls that I've known very well and they inspired me individually because they did such a good job and I knew how much they loved their role, which really inspired me to get more involved. I also love our national organization and the philanthropy that we support, Casa (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and I really wanted to get more involved in Theta nationally, not just with my chapter at UT.
Blog Editors: What goals do you have for your presidency, and what legacy do you want to leave on your chapter?
Callie: Going into my presidency, I had two words that I wanted to focus on, delegation and communication. It's really important to work together on everything that we're doing as a chapter, and not have one thing be put so heavily on one person, so I've been working on that a lot as a president, but also as a chapter as a whole. Communication, I think, is the most important thing in any organization, whether it's a professional organization, or an organization on campus, and I am really glad that I have brought that stress on communication to our chapter. A lot of planning has been streamlined better this year with communication on all different levels, from me to my exec board to alumni to advisors, all the way down to PNMs and new members.
Blog Editors: What’s the most rewarding thing that’s come out of your term?
Callie: Getting to know each girl one-on-one, I have developed a relationship with genuinely everyone in my chapter to some extent, and I feel like I've also helped everyone make relationships with other people because of how I've stressed communication. There are seniors who wouldn't have known freshmen if we hadn't done some of the events we did, so I would say the closer sisterhood the four grades have had in all four years that I've been there. The sisterhood is closer than it's ever been.
Blog Editors: How would you describe a Theta in 3 words?
Callie: Leader, Genuine, Supportive.
Blog Editors: What is your favorite tradition?
Callie: All the actives and all the new members wear these colorful flower crowns, and they are super cute, kind of like a physical symbol of being added to the sisterhood. We bring them out a couple different times during the year, but Bid Day is the most special time.
Blog Editors: What’s your “must-see” when you have visitors in Austin?
Callie: Every single time a new person comes into town, especially if they're a high school friend or a family member from out of town that I don't see often, I like to take them on a long walk around Lady Bird Lake. It's just so beautiful, and Lady Bird Lake is not part of the college town part of UT; it's a totally different part of Austin and you get to see some of downtown. The main reason I like to do that is to be able to catch up with them one-on-one for a long time.
Blog Editors: What is the best thing Theta has given you?
Callie: Living in the house is the best experience I've ever had because I got to live with 60 of my closest friends and bond with them even tighter than I bonded with them before, spend 24/7 with them, and just be a part of everything Theta for the whole year.
Blog Editors: What is your favorite activity to do with your sorority sisters?
Callie: My favorite thing that we did, especially while we lived in the house, is we would just tan and play mahjong in the pool and hang out there all day before we would get ready to go out with each other at night. We have a pool in our backyard and we would take a speaker out there. It was the best.
Blog Editors: What’s one thing you wish you knew about UT?
Callie: I went to private school and my graduating class was 102 people. I knew that UT was a big school, but I didn't really know what big meant on that scale, and obviously I was so starstruck when I first stepped foot on campus but at the same time I was overwhelmed — it was just so different from what I experienced in high school. What I would say about UT is whatever you're thinking big is, think even bigger and be ready for that.
Blog Editors: What’s one thing you wish you knew about recruitment as a PNM?
Callie: One thing I wish I knew about recruitment is that girls in every sorority are just so genuine, open, and nice during recruitment. No matter who you are, you're joining Panhellenic for a reason. All of these Panhellenic women get along with each other for a reason and you're going through the recruitment process alongside these women for a reason and you're meant to find your place, no matter where you end up. Everyone on the other side of recruitment has been in your shoes and they know what you're going through. They're there to guide you and help you through it.
Blog Editors: Any general advice you have for girls on the fence about going Greek?
Callie: Going Greek was the best decision I could have made, because through recruitment I made friends with so many people. In genuinely every sorority, I have a person that I know and can contact in a time of need for any reason and it’s just such a great community that has so many opportunities and resources for you through UPC and the different chapters.
We loved getting to know Callie! See you back here soon for our next spotlight.
All my love,
Shreya