It’s fairly typically to hear members of the Greek system claim that they are in the best fraternity or sorority in the country but now, the university’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi can back up their boasts with a prestigious award.
The fraternity, which is traditionally comprised of Jewish members, last week received the North-American Interfraternity Conference Award with Distinction for an outstanding individual fraternity. It is the first time the chapter has won the award and the first time any Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter in the country has won.
“It’s a great honor for us and we’re very proud,” said Marty Bock, head of AEPi and newly-elected university Interfraternity Council president. “It reflects our commitment to scholarship, service and brotherhood. It’s really a big deal.”
The award shines a positive light on Greek life only a few weeks after the expulsion of Delta Tau Delta for hazing. Michael Hayes, director of fraternity and sorority life at the university, takes it as an example that there is more to fraternities than the recent negative connotations suggest.
“It definitely is good timing after what happened,” Hayes said. “Here, you see what happens when things go well, when a fraternity does everything right. It brings glory and credit not only to them, but to the university.”
The award, dubbed “The Golden Chapter Award,” is given to the top four fraternity chapters among the 5,500 individual chapters registered with the NIC. The NIC website lists community service, leadership and accountability as some of the criteria for the accolade.
“It’s clearly a pretty big honor,” said Hayes. “It’s something that the entire Greek community can be proud of.”
AEPi, a presence on campus since 1941, cites their nearly 500 hours of community service this year as one of their most impressive credentials.
“Community Service is really important to us, and we actually doubled our hours this semester,” said Andrew Steinberg, community service chair for the fraternity.
The fraternity also frequently hosts fundraisers for organizations including the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the fraternity’s national philanthropy fund. A few times a semester, they also do work for Washington-based charity organization Martha’s Kitchen, asking students to use extra dining points to buy food for the needy.
Their annual “Dump for Dollars” event is listed as a top example of stellar fundraising on the national fraternity website.
“One of our most important principles is tikkun olam, or ‘repairing the world,'” said Evan Hoffman, the fraternity’s vice president of programming. “We’re just fortunate to have a lot of guys together who want to help out. We can do a lot when we can get everyone to work on something.”
The last university chapter to win this award was Alpha Tau Omega in 2005.
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