Stella Maher

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Stella Maher
Stellamaher.jpg
Name Stella Maher
Chapter Delta Chi
Lehigh
Date Inducted December 3, 2001
Roll Number ΔΧ 2
Alumni Chapter/Assoc AAAA, NYMAAC
Honorary Member Tau
Major BA - Theatre, MEd - Secondary Education, MA - Higher and Postsecondary Education
Birthdate September 28, 1982
Spouse
Nicknames
Awards Chapter Service Key

Stella Maher (born 28 September 1982) is an Alumna and Alumni Advisor of Delta Chi Chapter (ΔΧ 2) at Lehigh University, an honorary brother of Tau Chapter (T 1817), a member of Atlanta Area Alumni Association (AAAA), a former active member of New York Metropolitan Area Alumni Chapter (NYMAAC), and serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Phi Sigma Pi Foundation.

Early Fraternity Life and Career

Stella Maher received a letter in the fall of her sophomore year inviting her to make history by helping found a new honor fraternity on Lehigh's campus. After missing the first info session, she skipped a night of play rehearsal to attend an info session, which she thought would last about 30min. 2 hours later she had been elected Recording Secretary of this new Chapter and was given a binder by Hoyt Craver as she and the rest of the new e-board were wished good luck!

A few months later she and her fellow Alpha classmates were inducted as the first Delta Chi brothers at Lehigh University.

Collegiate Years at Delta Chi Chapter

After serving as Recording Secretary for the first year (01-02), Stella won the election for Vice President (02-03) and represented Delta Chi at our first Grand Chapter (Knoxville, TN 2002). This was a tremendous turning point in her fraternity career. What had previous been a resume builder suddenly became a life of brotherhood as she met amazing alumni brothers such as Drew Volturo, Jonah Goodman, John Finnegan, Ryan Marquiss, Matt 'Freshboy' Nicoletta, and many others. She describes this as her favorite moment of her fraternity career: walking into the regional event Friday night and suddenly being in a room with hundreds of people who all were connected to you through common goals and experiences and all wanted nothing more than to get to know you that weekend and become your friend.

As business progressed the next day she was overwhelmed by this parliamentary procedure and shocked at how fast and efficient yet serious and well organized Grand Chapter was under Chair, Britt Marder (Josh was absent for the first day). She quickly became friends with the alumni at lunch when she agreed with them that Alumni Chapters should have the right to vote, and stood up in front of the Grand Chapter to make a 'motion to reconsider the alumni vote'.

Encouraged by the fellowship she experienced in Knoxville, Stella dedicated herself to making her Chapter like the great ones she met that weekend.

Modeled on many of Alpha Eta's documents, she proposed numerous changes to Delta Chi's bylaws when school reconvened that fall as well as proposing Operating Policies that she drafted over the summer. She found alumni brothers in the East Region to adopt all of the Alpha Class brothers that were still undergraduates. Though she met resistance, she pushed the brothers of Delta Chi to form a real fraternity and step up to the plate - work that would eventually earn her a Chapter Service Key.

Despite the setback of losing the 03-04 Presidential election to Jeff Samuels, she saw this as an opportunity to focus on the lifeblood of the Chapter and served as Initiate Advisor creating powerpoint presentations, study materials, new brother binders, family lines, and a real initiation program that continues to be used today. She also ramped up the Ritual making it more true to the nature of the ceremony and a memorable experience. She began a national involvement by serving on the Constitution and Chapter Standards Committee.

After graduating in 2004, Stella served as Alumni Advisor during her fifth year at Lehigh and served nationally on the Chapter Development Committee. She also travelled to Indiana with fellow Delta Chi brother Jeff Samuels to attend the SPARK Leadership Academy, a program created by National President Kara Domby which focused on leadership development.

Alumni Years to Present

After graduating with her masters from Lehigh, Stella ran for National Council in a special election for VP of Chapter Development. The loss coupled with a move back to North Carolina and starting a new career as a high school theatre teacher discouraged her from National involvement for a few years. However, she continued to serve Delta Chi as Alumni Advisor and also served as Alumni Advisor for Beta Nu Chapter at [Cornell University].

In the summer of 2007 Stella had enough of North Carolina and moved back north to NYC, where she enthusiastically became re-involved with Phi Sigma Pi through NYMAAC. Seeking out Andrew Berman (whose Tori Amos CD she still had in her possession since the road trip to Pittsburgh for Grand Chapter) she met the other NYMAAC brothers and began to also reform bonds with Delta Chi alumni and brothers in the area.

Ready to return to the National scene, Stella was elected Alternate to represent NYMAAC at the 2008 Grand Chapter/Convention and was touched by the same fellowship she had experienced years ago as a new brother. She become the Recruitment Coordinator for NYMAAC for 2008-2009, and was re-elected for the 2009-2010 term. However, Andrew Berman had to vacate his position as Chapter President when he took a role on National Staff, and Stella became NYMAAC Chapter President in a special election and represented them as the Delegate at the 2010 Grand Chapter/Convention. Additionally she became a Phi Sigma Pi Foundation Board member.

In 2010-2011 Stella stepped back from the Presidential role to focus on other activities and returned to being Recruitment Coordinator for NYMAAC. She attended her first Alumni Convention in Vegas June 2011 and represented the NAA as a delegate at the 2011 Grand Chapter/Convention. During the 2011 Grand Chapter/Convention Stella was elected to the Phi Sigma Pi Foundation Board of Directors and decided not to seek re-election to the NYMAAC board in order to focus on this new role. She continues to serve Delta Chi as their Alumni Advisor.

In 2012 Stella moved to Atlanta to take a new job at [Emory University]. She has organized a few social events for the Atlanta Area Alumni Association (AAAA) and is enjoying connecting with Brothers in the area.

National Involvement

Grand Chapters Attended:

Conventions Attended:

Alumni Conventions Attended:

Regional Involvement:

  • Attended Tripod 21 2003 - awarded "Most Spirited Brother"
  • Helped Organize SSIP 2003 and 2004 (Service & Scholarship in Philly)
  • NYMAAC Regional Representative for 2011 East Region Conference at East Stroudsberg University
  • Speaker at MidSouth Regional Conference 2013

Bigs and Littles

Stella Maher's Big Brother is Drew Volturo, from Alpha Eta Chapter, who adopted her after the 2002 Grand Chapter.

Stella Maher has 5 Little Brothers:

Notable Other Family Members include:

Further Resources

Other Interesting Facts

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