by Emily Erkel, International President of Alpha Delta Pi
I am still smiling from the Pride of Presidents gathering! This month I joined all eight living former ADPi presidents gathered at Memorial Headquarters for a weekend of filming, reminiscing, and celebrating sisterhood. These women collectively represent 416 years of membership, experience and wisdom. Ginny Stafford’s 72nd anniversary of her ADPi initiation was the Friday we gathered, and we presented her with a proclamation celebrating her service, leadership and impact.
On Saturday we spent the day with collegiate sisters talking on film about the impact and stories of our sisterhood. Fun videos are forthcoming! On Sunday we began the day with a Palm Sunday devotion and then returned to the camera to finish filming. Throughout the weekend we talked about the past, present and future of our sisterhood. These sisters are all in for the future!
During our time together, I learned no matter what your age or leadership experience, it can be stressful to select the right outfit for filming, it is hard to get this group to stick to a schedule, and the ideas never stop flowing! I particularly cherished our individual and group conversations and the robust laughter as stories were shared. It was also very memorable to celebrate my birthday with this group!
I loved being physically connected as we joined hands to sing “I Love the Pin” at the end of the weekend. Looking at each sister in the circle, I felt a great appreciation for the investment each made of themselves as president and the impact they continue to make. Jane Madio reminded me heading into the weekend “we are all shaped by that which came before.” I am honored to have been and continue to be shaped by the sisters in our Pride of Presidents.e shaped by the sisters in our Pride of Presidents.