Omega Chapters: Linda Pillo

Award Winning Omega

In late September, Linda Pillo, MC75 and Sigma Psi Sigma member, received Washington State University's Alumni Association's highest honor with the WSUAA Alumni Achievement Award.

The WSUAA Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni who have given outstanding service to WSU and made contributions to their professions and communities.

Fun Fact: Linda is the third Omega to win this prestigious award. Previous winners include Kathi Goertzen and Rhoda Altom.

At the ceremony held at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle, WA; Linda was celebrated by her wife, her nephew, and many of her closest friends including Omega sisters. Mariah Maki, Executive Director WSUAA, was on hand to present the exclusive award, along with Amy Cox Director of Development with the College of Arts & Sciences. Check out the current version of The Lyre magazine on page 79 to see a shout-out to Linda!

Linda's Legacy

Linda is frequently credited with breaking the glass ceiling in Seattle area law enforcement.

Shortly after completing a Probation Officer internship (which she loved!) and graduation, she applied to both "Policeman" job openings at the Mercer Island and Issaquah police Departments.

Both agencies gave her a conditional offer, but Mercer Island called first. After serving as a patrol officer, she became Mercer Island's first female detective.  Throughout most of her tenure there she also served as Secretary for the Washington State Crime Prevention Association.  

Seven years later, Linda moved to Bellevue police where she continued to break barriers.  She became Bellevue’s first female police captain, major, deputy chief and chief.

At Bellevue, Linda is proud of her work to help create the following programs: DARE, Bicycle Patrol, Court Liaison, Crowd Control Unit, and Special Enforcement Team. Her list of volunteer work is long and includes Youth Eastside Services Board of Trustees, 2004-2008 as well as Bellevue Police Foundation Board Member, 2007-2014.

Omega

At school, Linda naturally migrated to leadership positions and had an innate desire for good processes. As a Rush Chair (now called VP, Recruitment) Linda wanted to make sure every candidate was evaluated fairly. She developed a new way of voting that prevented chatter taking on a life that would unduly influence voting.

She made sure that friends sat apart from their social groups and that voting was somewhat private. When it was time to vote, the members would hold up a red or green card to indicate their decision. The cards were held so that a neighbor's choice wouldn't be visible to the person next to her. This minimized the influence of others on the individual vote.

Off to the Palouse

Before she was Chief Pillo or Omega Rush Chair, she was a shy girl from Hazen high school in Renton, Washington. With a desire to live away from home and her favorite teacher encouraging her to go to her alma mater, Linda headed to the wheatfields of Pullman.

Linda was immediately pulled towards Alpha Chi Omega with its friendly women and a house that was unlike the other houses on campus. Instead of foreboding pillars, AXO beamed with giant windows and mid-century modern fabulousness.

At Alpha Chi, Linda valued the opportunity to meet different people with different points of view. She has fond memories of getting her big Sister and the relationship they built that spanned decades. She learned structure and discipline through the built-in frameworks for study sessions and other events. Her world became bigger and better.

More sorority life in the 1970s

Linda joined Alpha Chi Omega and enjoyed her; shall we say, extroverted(?) sisters. She may be the only Rush Chair that was sent to Standards for singing with a microphone at 2:00 AM after a Sigma Nu party. Word has it that a Delta Gamma was the buzz kill.

Beyond the campus, Moscow, ID provided 19-year-olds with popular social spots like Rathskellers and The Spruce, serving as a hub for those looking to connect with others.

In the house, sisterhood flourished. From playful telephone pranks, dancing “the bump” to KC & The Sunshine Band in the AXO living room, manners dinners where having to wear the pig nose made everyone laugh, circling around the television to watch SNL, and midnight snacks; Linda made memories that would nourish lifelong relationships.

Linda Pillo: We are proud to call you Sister!

Omega Chapters is a Blog series from your Alum sisters at Sigma Psi Sigma. There are countless chapters we experience throughout our lives and sharing our experiences is a great way to relate to each other. To be clear: No toxic positivity allowed and no humble brags. Shameless brags are perfectly fine! The goal is to connect and inspire.

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