ATHENS, Ohio -- Members from Ohio University's thirty-two fraternities and sororities have been invited to attend a banquet honoring their scholarly achievements. The top two individuals in terms of accumulative G.P.A. from every chapter, as well as every chapter's president have been invited to attend the Greek Scholarship Banquet, which take place on Thursday in Baker Center Ballroom at 6 p.m.
In addition, every chapter had the opportunity to nominate a faculty member of their choosing who will be invited to attend the banquet.
"The Greek Scholarship Banquet gives the Greek community a chance to recognize outstanding academic performance by individuals of its chapters," said Ben Wickert Vice President of Scholarship for IFC and coordinator of the event. "It also gives students a chance to interact with the faculty they nominated."
"The banquet is positive for the community's relationship with the University because it is an expression of the community's commitment to academic excellence. By honoring our favorite faculty members at the banquet, it also shows the community's reverence and respect for those who have dedicated their lives to sharing their knowledge with us and who continue to pursue greater knowledge every day, " stated Mark Ondrejech President of IFC.
"My favorite aspect of the banquet is getting to meet community members who work hard every day and do the things that they came to college and joined a fraternity to do; improve themselves and prepare for the real world," Ondrejech added.
There will be plaques given to the top chapter in the Interfraternity Council, Women's Panhellenic Association and the National Pan-Hellenic Council. They will receive these awards because the chapter has the highest average GPA on campus.
"It [The Greek Scholarship Banquet] highlights an important dimension of Greek life. Greek GPA's are consistently higher than non-Greek students. The banquet is positive PR," said Ryan Bertram, graduate assistant for fraternity affairs.
"The banquet is a way for the community to honor those who have excelled academically. It is also a way to honor outstanding faculty members who make a difference in student learning," Bertram added.
Gift certificates will be handed out to the individuals with the top accumulative GPA for each respective organization. Each individual must have completed at least three quarters in order to receive the award.
"I think the banquet recognizes those members in chapters who exceed academically. It also allows chapters to thank an individual faculty member for a job well done. In turn, this helps to build relationships between faculty, staff and chapters," explained Michael Sprinkle, Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
Ohio University marketing professor Chris Moberg was selected as the keynote speaker for the banquet. Moberg, along with a group of marketing students in his senior capstone class, are working with IFC in trying to identify strengths, weaknesses and needs that fraternities have.
"In general, I think it is important to recognize the achievements of students, whether it is performance in the classroom or serving the community outside of it. For Greeks, it may be a bit more important to recognize the scholarly achievement of its members because many still have the impression/stereotype that the primary function of sororities and fraternities is to party and skip class," suggested professor Moberg. "Any method of communicating to the university public and those in the community that Greek GPAs are comparable to and often better than the typical student; and that Greeks are actively involved in the community, is much needed."
The research that Moberg and his students are doing could possibly help IFC and its member fraternities, in learning how to better attract new members.
"Much of the publicity that fraternities and sororities receive nowadays is negative. This negative publicity tends to add to the stereotypes that members of Greek life are labeled under. When all anyone hears about fraternities and sororities is negative, it is hard to develop an image of Greek life that is anything but that," explained Tim Kelso Vice President of Public Relations for IFC.
Hopefully, what the Greek Scholarship Banquet does, in addition to honoring the outstanding achievements of the Greek community, is to dispel some of the negative press that fraternities and sororities have gotten in recent years and in turn, open people's eyes to the truly positive aspects of the Greek community and its members."
