Students who belong to sororities have a higher average grade point than other Iowa State students, according to a ranking report of spring 1999 grades.

Sorority women maintained an average grade point of a 2.94, compared to an all-university average of 2.80.

Twelve out of the 15 Panhellenic sororities held GPAs above the university average, and the other three were less than one-tenth below.

Rebecca Schmidt, Panhellenic scholarship director, said there are a number of reasons why sorority members are pulling off higher GPAs.

“First, every chapter has scholarship as one of their founding principles,” said Schmidt, senior in psychology. “Many of these organizations were established with scholarship in mind.”

Every chapter has a scholarship program the members must follow and different requirements for members to stay in good standing with the local, as well as national, aspects of their sororities, Schmidt said.

“More emphasis is placed on scholarship and being a well-rounded individual,” said Coeli Monnig, scholarship chairwoman for Alpha Delta Pi, 2125 Greeley St. “Sororities set goals for the chapter to achieve academically, and once a goal is met, the women strive for a new one.”

For example, Monnig, junior in management, said Alpha Delta Pi’s previous goal was for all members to attain a 3.0 grade-point average last semester.

This semester the members are working their way up to a 3.05 average.

“While the [change in] average may not seem huge, to go up that much as a chapter requires the work of every member,” Monnig said.

In order to be in good standing with a sorority on both local and national levels, each member has to maintain a pre-determined minimum GPA, Schmidt said.

Members failing to meet the academic requirements are placed in an assistance program.

A few chapters even have study hours on a sliding scale where mandatory study hours reflect the members’ grades.

However, Schmidt said this is not the reason for the difference in grade point averages.

“It’s not the mandatory study hours that keep the grades high; it’s the promotion through a chapter as a whole,” she said.

Some factors include study groups, mentoring, tutoring and study hours, Schmidt said.

Both Schmidt and Monnig said the biggest problem is motivating people.

“Members should not make grades for the house,” Monnig said. “They need to make grades for themselves.”

Schmidt meets with the scholarship chairs from all the sororities every month to ensure that the sorority system at ISU continues its scholastic success.