Sara Stevenson

Sara Stevenson
Name	Sara Stevenson
Chapter	Beta Alpha University of Michigan
Date Inducted
Roll Number
Alumni Chapter/Assoc
Honorary Member
Major
Birthdate
Spouse
Nicknames
Awards

Sara Stevenson (born DD MMM YYYY) is an Active Member of Beta Alpha Chapter (Chapter Roll #) at University of Michigan.

Early Fraternal Life and Career

In the Fall of 2006, Sara Stevenson entered her sophomore year at the University of Michigan (UM). Finally acclimated to collegiate life, Sara sought to become involved on campus in an organization that would carve out for her a smaller community within the large university setting. Furthermore, she wanted an organization that provided opportunities for service and one that attracted a diverse group of students united under the ideal of betterment of community and betterment of self. Phi Sigma Pi Beta Alpha Chapter, she felt, was the only organization that achieved all of these goals.

Sara Stevenson was inducted with the Alpha Gamma class in December of 2006 and immediately joined, what was called at that time, the Membership Development Committee (currently known as the Scholarship Committee).

Collegiate Years at Beta Alpha

Since her induction in December 2006, Sara Stevenson has been actively involved within the Beta Alpha Chapter, serving on both committees as well as on the Executive Board. In following are the positions she has held:

• Internal Secretary, Executive Board Position (April 2007-Present)
  • Created online filing system that allowed ease of sharing, accessibility of information, and detailed record keeping for the Beta Alpha Chapter.
  • With the intent of making Form 110 writing easier, Sara Stevenson and Jennifer Hartsell (External Secretary) implemented goal setting, compilation, and review. Specific templates were created for this purpose and all goals were maintained on the online filing system for ease of access.
  • Utilized the university's departments to contact the larger student body for both the Campus Wide Supply Drive event which benefits Teach for America and the Easy as Pi 5K Run/Walk which benefits UM Stars, the organization supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation on the University of Michigan's campus. Sara created files with department contact information and form letters to elicit the departments' assistance in publicizing these major events. Delegated the contacting of different departments to the Brotherhood. Information regarding such events was successfully distributed to a range of departments and a diverse group of university students which resulted in attracting more people to the events and creating awareness of the fraternity and its causes.
  • In the same vein, Sara also created Powerpoint presentations regarding these events to be distributed to professors on campus. The Powerpoints were sent to university professors by the Brothers of Beta Alpha with a form letter created for that purpose. The presentation was successfully shown at the beginning of several undergraduate classes, some of which invited the Brothers to speak on behalf of the fraternity.
• 5K Committee (September 2008-Present)
• Scholarship Committee (January 2007-April 2008)

Alumni Years to Present

Sara Stevenson will be graduating in April 2009 and hopes to be an active part of the Beta Alpha Alumni.

Bigs and Littles

• Big Brother: Kimberly Hack
• Little Brothers: N/A

Further Resources

Phi Sigma Pi Beta Alpha Chapter Website-UM Account

Beta Alpha Wiki

Other Information

Sara Stevenson is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Medical Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Sara is interested in the ways in which culture influences how individuals experience and talk about illness and medical treatment--particularly in regards to mental health. As such, Sara has been involved in Clinical Psychology research that examines particular cultural groups within the U.S. (i.e. Native American populations and Latina American populations). Currently she holds a position as Student Lab Coordinator for Carmela Alcantara's dissertation lab.

Particularly important to Sara Stevenson is mental health advocacy and reducing the stigmatization of mental illness. In line with this, Sara participated in the Mental Health Theatre Troupe project for UM's Counseling and Psychological Services. For this project, Sara was responsible for interviewing individuals who have had experiences with mental illness either themselves or through a loved one. She transcribed the interviews and submitted them to the project founder to be used in a mental health advocacy play.

Sara will be graduating in April 2009. She is in the process of applying to Teach for America and hopes to dedicate the two years following her undergraduate studies doing her part to close the achievement gap. In the future, Sara plans to attend graduate school in Clinical Psychology and pursue a career either in academia or counseling.