Academics
The sisters of Alpha Phi, Zeta Phi Chapter, are committed to our academic endeavors. Our girls represent nearly all of MIT's 21 Courses and are tomorrow's engineers, scientists, and world leaders. We are proud of our sisters' accomplishments inside the classroom and the opportunities they receive due to their commitment to excellence. Our summers lead us all over the world, from helping a community in Tanzania, to working in the defense industry on the West Coast, to interning in research labs in Paris. With our house open to sisters in the summer, girls who stay in Boston interning with great firms or working in labs at various hospitals can enjoy our great location year round. See some sister spotlights below.
Our house features many common areas available for group coursework including, the Parlor, Chapter Room, Dining Room, TV/ Living Room, and Pink Room Lounge. For quiet work, the sisters use the House Study, which features beautiful woodwork, long tables, our own library collection, and a technology center with five Macintosh and PC computers, three printers, and a scanner. We have access to the MIT wi-fi and network so psetting and working at the house is simple.
At Alpha Phi, sisters are always ready to offer a helping hand. Our sisters teach review sessions before tests, organize regular dinners with professors, honor academics in an annual Scholarship Banquet, and continue to contribute to our extensive collection of past year's school coursework. Being the oldest sorority on campus gives us great connections to the largest sorority network of alumnae on campus. For more information on alumnae, see the Alumnae page.
Allison Dobry
Class of 2012
Allison exemplifies our high scholarship ideals. As an undergraduate researcher at MIT's Synthetic Neurobiology Group, she published third author in the article, "High-performance genetically targetable optical neural silencing by light-driven proton pumps" (Nature 463, 98-102). Additionally, she has presented her research at the Boston Undergraduate Research Symposium at Harvard. Allison's stellar performance in her coursework has earned her a Brain and Cognitive Science Academic Award, given to students with a high GPA.
As president of MIT Braintrust, Allison leads MIT students in connecting with brain injury survivors in the community. MIT Braintrust also hosts lectures and fundraisers to build brain injury awareness. After college Allison plans to attend medical school.
Sonya Makhni
Class of 2011
Sonya exemplifies our ideals of excellence. She was named a Rhodes Finalist this year and the list of her achievements extends beyond what we have highlighted here. For the last two years, Sonya created, planned, and organized an MIT immersion program for 100 underprivileged 6th grade students. These students were able to explore MIT labs and later play sports alongside MIT students and athletes. Furthermore, she has worked as an undergraduate researcher in areas such as medical ethics and synthetic neurobiology.
Sonya has also been extensively involved in MIT athletics. She was formerly VP of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), and this year acts as President of SAAC. Sonya plays on the MIT Varsity Tennis team and was an All-Academic Scholar Athlete from 2008-2010 and a NEWMAC Scholar Athlete.
Sonya is majoring in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and will be attending medical school this coming fall.
Keri Dixon
Class of 2011
Keri exemplifies our ideals of achievement in both the classroom and on the playing field. She has played field hockey and softball during her years at MIT and has won numerous awards. For field hockey she was on the Division III National Academic Squad (08-10), 2009 NFHCA Division III All-Region First Team, 2009 First Team All-Conference, and 2009 ESPN Academic All-District 1 team. While on the softball team, she has been captain for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and earned a spot on the Division III National Academic Squad (09-10).
Keri is majoring in Mechanical Engineering and was on the winning team of MIT's 2.009 product engineering competition. She interned at Lutron as a Mechanical engineering intern and also at Rothschild as an investment banking summer analyst during summer 2010. She plans on returning to Rothschild in the fall as a full time investment banking analyst.
Lauren Vegter
Class of 2011
Lauren exemplifies our ideals of leadership, as the founder of the MIT International Development Consulting (IDC). IDC is a student organization that pairs passionate MIT students with exciting international development projects. "We operate on four continents and provide support to the Directors and Presidents of international non-profit organizations," Lauren said.
Lauren is majoring in Materials Science Engineering and Management Science. Additionally, she is minoring in economics and international studies. She is a member of MIT's Tau Beta Pi, our engineering honor society. She has interned at Goldman Sachs, Oliver Wyman, Booz Allen Hamilton, and will begin working full time at Bain & Company as an Associate Consultant.