As many of my friends say, you don’t come to college to meet your husband; you come to meet your bridesmaids. Every girl begins her freshman year of college looking for her lifelong friends or “bridesmaids.” These are the women who are willing to blow off everything to go out on a Tuesday night just because you need to talk. They are the women who are there when life gets hard, offering you a shoulder to cry on and a pint of ice cream. They are the women who keep you up until 4 a.m. on weekends laughing so hard your stomach hurts. To those of us who were lucky enough to call Jenny Dierdorff a friend, she was all of these things and more. Although the groom is still to be determined, Jenny would definitely have been one of my bridesmaids. After all of the crushes, dates, break-ups and eventually marriages, it is the bridesmaids who are there through thick and thin. There is a reason they stand beside the bride – they stand beside her forever. I’ve wondered for the past few days about who would have been Jenny’s bridesmaids. There are too many to count, and she was truly loved by all who knew her.

Some of us were privileged enough to call her more than a friend, but a sister as well. As an Alpha Phi, she was everything one could ask for in a sister. She was intelligent and driven, with a resume that impressed all of us. She was caring and kind, always invested in the well-being of others. She was graceful and demure, a wonderful example of womanhood. Jenny was a natural-born leader and an integral part of Alpha Phi’s successes. As a founding sister and a member of our executive board, she gave back far more than she ever took. There was not a sister she did not know or a life she did not touch in the chapter. Some say that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. The Iota Iota chapter of Alpha Phi is thankful for every moment we have had with such an exceptional woman.
-Dana Rasmussen

Jenny was always downstairs 10 minutes early to greet people as they arrived for chapter meeting. She would be dressed in adorably cute outfits (especially the skirts that only Jenny could look good in), carrying her packed-full notebook in hand and pin on her shirt. Jenny was proud to be in Alpha Phi, and I am truly honored to have had a sister as beautiful, talented, inspiring and charismatic as Jenny.
-Erin Clark

Jenny had the uncanny ability to take an idea or event and make you excited about being involved. She was an inspiration to me.
-Kimberly Hunter

Jenny and I always joked about politics since we were on opposite ends of the spectrum. We decided one night that we were going to run for office together in the McCain/Lieberman party. “Our party’s symbol would be an elephant’s ass,” Jenny proclaimed. I love and miss her wonderful sense of humor.
-Mandy Slutsker