Members of Iowa State’s greek system are making the grade.

About 50 fraternity and sorority members gathered Wednesday evening in the Oak Room of the Memorial Union at a reception for those who made the dean’s list. Nearly 400 Interfraternity and Panhellenic members who have a 3.5 or better GPA, in addition to individual chapters, were recognized and honored for their scholastic achievement.

Brian Tenclinger, coordinator for Greek Affairs, said he’s been trying to emphasize education and scholastic achievement in the greek system.

“Since I’ve come here, I’ve been continually probing students to see how they were doing academically and scholastically,” he said.

Tenclinger also said he has been working hard with student greek leaders to support and emphasize academics. “Together we’ve pushed to make sure students are aware of the resources available to them.”

Individual chapters that received awards at the reception include Pi Beta Phi sorority, which was honored for having the highest GPA of a sorority at 3.19 and the highest new member GPA at 3.65.

FarmHouse also was recognized for having the highest GPA for a fraternity at 3.22.

Alpha Xi Delta and Alpha Delta Pi tied for having the most improved GPA for a sorority. Adelante was honored for having the most improved GPA for a fraternity, and it also was recognized for having the highest new member GPA for a fraternity at 3.25.

As a whole, the greek system’s average GPA is 2.83, three-hundreds of a point above ISU’s average of 2.80, said Rebecca Schmidt, director of scholarship for the Panhellenic Council.

The fraternities average a 2.74 while the sororities average a 2.94, said Schmidt, senior in psychology. The greek system is comprised of about 12 percent of the total population of students enrolled at ISU.

Brent Yezek, vice president for educational programming for IFC, said the greek system has seen a rise in both membership and GPA over the past few years.

Yezek, junior in community and regional planning, credited the greek system’s GPA increase to “higher standards issued by the chapters, better programming and people knowing how to access resources.”

Corey Walker, member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, made the dean’s list for the first time this semester. Walker, senior in community and regional planning, said this achievement was due to “good study habits, good opportunities through people in the house and a good study environment.”