The Delta Tau Delta fraternity chapter at Iowa State was recently chosen for the Hugh Shields Award for the second consecutive year, beating more than 100 chapters nationwide.

The Hugh Shields Award is the most esteemed award the Delta Tau Delta fraternity international headquarters gives to the top ten chapters in the nation.

“It’s a very rare and prestigious honor to win this award, and I feel honored to be a part of this house,” said Craig Demmel, president of the ISU chapter of Delta Tau Delta, 2121 Sunset Dr.

Demmel said the award was first given in 1966; since then the ISU chapter has received it 15 times.

The award is given to houses based on a series of criteria including annual academic achievements, recruitment, philanthropy and financial operations.

“I’m proud of the pride our members take in our fraternity and the community,” said Demmel, junior in mechanical engineering. “It impresses me how eager and willing our members are to give back.”

The fraternity members have volunteered in a variety of programs in Ames.

“We went Christmas caroling at four different nursing homes and participated in three elementary schools’ carnivals and [Parent Teacher Association] functions,” said Cody Funk, Delta Tau Delta vice president and sophomore in landscape architecture. “We are currently working on adopting an elementary school for next year.”

The chapter added a new philanthropy this year benefiting the Youth and Shelter Services of Ames. In December it had a tree of angels, with each angel representing a child who was not going to receive any Christmas presents, said Doug Lamansky, who organized the event.

More than $2,500 was raised to purchase gift donations.

“The response was great and many of the kids wrote back and thanked us,” said Lamansky, sophomore in marketing. “There was a positive turnout throughout the campus.”

Delta Tau Delta has made many changes in their programs besides the new philanthropy, Demmel said.

“We’ve improved a lot of ideas, especially new member education,” Demmel said.

As evidence of this they have improved in fraternity grade rankings from 26th to 11th at Iowa State.

“Our house has taken many steps to better itself and it has greatly paid off [with] us receiving the Hugh Shields Award,” Funk said. “The quality of our new members has improved immensely and we hope to continue our success with recruitment this summer.”