LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Welcome to Lambda Delta Phi’s website! I am Megan Ratka, a junior majoring in Animal Science.
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I grew up in central Minnesota in a small town called Cold Spring. Although I did not live on a farm, I quickly became involved in agriculture at a young age by showing dairy cows from a family friend at our county fair each summer. This passion quickly grew and I became very involved in the 4-H dairy project and other agricultural organizations. I had many leadership opportunities within these activities as well as through participation in my high school’s National
Honors Society and being senior co-captain of my lacrosse team during my senior season. My love for dairy cattle and interest in science led me to become very interested in dairy cattle reproduction. I plan to attend graduate school for Reproductive Physiology after I complete my undergraduate degree to work with dairy cattle reproductive technologies in the future.
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Both of my parents attended the University of Minnesota and have degrees from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. With that being said, I was raised as a Gopher fan and heard many of their stories about college. I was also exposed to the St. Paul campus through my involvement in 4-H and FFA. This kept the U of M on the forefront of my mind during my college search. However, it was the presence of Lambda Delta Phi that sealed the deal for me. My mom spoke fondly of the memories and friends she made during her time in the sorority. I also knew many of the active members in the grades above me from my youth involvements. This made it easy to envision my future at college and feel comfortable knowing I would have a support system already in place. Not to mention the numerous house tours I received before I was even a student at the university that allowed me to envision what my college years could truly look like.
Lambda Delta Phi was founded on the ideals of creating a home for women of all backgrounds, achieving scholastic excellence, and finding unity while maintaining our own personal identities. This is lived out today in our sisterhood as we push each other to be our best selves and accomplish our goals. As Lambda Delta Phi President, I strive to lead with accountability and transparency to strengthen relationships among sisters. Our motto “living democracy through friendship” is represented in the way that the bonds between our members drive us all forward and allow us to work effectively together. The qualities our sisters possess make them prevalent in activities across campus and the university.
If you are interested in connecting, feel free to reach out by emailing me at ratka014@umn.edu.
Lambda Love,
Megan Ratka