Justin Toumberlin
Zeta Chi received twelve awards for the 2017 academic year. Senior Spencer Brown received "Fraternity Man of the Year" award and "Chapter President of the Year" award.
The 2017 Greek Awards were held on Feb. 11 in Rice Auditorium. The Greek Awards recognize fraternity and sorority chapters on campus for their accomplishments in various categories.
The awards are usually held at the end of Baker’s Greek Week, but Assistant Director of Student Life Josh Doak decided to have them earlier.
“Having the awards before Greek Week and earlier in the semester allows chapters to take the results and gauge where they are, as well as how they can improve,” Doak said.
There are 10 categories of awards for fraternities and sororities, as well as awards for individuals. The judges who determine the winners of the awards are volunteers from 25 different institutions across the country.
These volunteers are Fraternity and Sorority Life or Student Affairs professionals who are able to make an unbiased selection of the winner.
This year, the Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Sigma fraternities did not participate in the Greek Awards because they did not complete applications.
Junior Conner Petty, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said that the chapter did not enter in this year’s awards because “time just got away from us.”
“While I acknowledge winning awards is important, our main goal is striving to build balanced [men] and a strong brotherhood,” Petty said.
To complete the award application, each chapter must answer 3-5 questions detailing how they think earned the specific award. Additional documentation may also be required along with the application.
Senior Miranda Lindmark, who is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, said that the Greek Awards gives chapters a chance to recognize and be proud of what they have achieved.
“They give everybody a chance to reflect on what they’ve accomplished and see what can be improved,” Lindmark said.
Baker’s Greek Week 2018 is set to be held in late March.
2017 Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Chapter Recipients:
5-Star Chapter Award: Alpha Chi Omega, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Alumni/ae Relations: Delta Delta Delta, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Campus Involvement: Delta Delta Delta, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Community Service: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta
Outstanding New Member/New Member Education: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta
Outstanding Philanthropy: Delta Delta Delta, Delta Tau Delta
Outstanding Programming: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta
Outstanding Public Relations: Alpha Chi Omega, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Recruitment & Retention: Zeta Tau Alpha, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Risk Management: Zeta Tau Alpha, Zeta Chi
Outstanding Scholarship: Alpha Chi Omega, Zeta Chi
2017 Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Individual Recipients:
Chapter Advisor of the Year:
Angel Sanford – Delta Delta Delta
Luke Miltz – Zeta Chi
Chapter President of the Year:
Holly Chestnut – Delta Delta Delta
Spencer Brown – Zeta Chi
Faculty Advisor of the Year:
Dr. Darcy Russell – Zeta Tau Alpha
Rev. Kevin Hopkins – Zeta Chi
House Director of the Year:
Laurel Jackson – Alpha Chi Omega
New Member of Year:
Michaela Krebs – Delta Delta Delta
Dylan Kort – Zeta Chi
Member of the Year:
Bailey Gibson – Delta Delta Delta
Spencer Brown – Zeta Chi
Spirit of Service Award:
Dr. Tim Hodges