Executive members of Iowa State’s Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils won 10 awards last week at the Mid-American Greek Council Association’s (MGCA) annual conference in Chicago.

The IFC, which represents fraternities, won three awards, while the Panhellenic Council won seven awards.

“I am very proud of what we have accomplished this year as a greek community,” said Carolyn Jones, member of Pi Beta Phi and president of the Panhellenic Executive. “It was very obvious that ISU is very cutting edge and well respected as a university and for its strong greek community.”

The most coveted awards are the Jellison Award for men and the Sutherland Award for women. Both awards are named after Midwestern greeks who have worked to establish organizations that contribute to the expansion of fraternities and sororities.

This year the University of Miami won the Jellison Award, and Purdue University won the Sutherland Award.

The Interfraternity Council won awards for excellence in self-governance, overall council management and community service.

“Last year’s executive had a number of internal problems with keeping positions filled. However, I am not at all disappointed with how Iowa State did,” said Stu Sorelle, president of IFC. “This year’s executive is on the right track to bring home even more awards next year.”

The Panhellenic Executive won seven out of the eight awards it was nominated for, including academic achievement, community service, risk reduction, self-governance, council management, membership recruitment and public relations.

ISU’s Panhellenic Council won the Sutherland Award last year. Sally Reiser, risk management chairwoman for Panhellenic, said, “It is highly unlikely to win the award two years in a row.”

More than 1,700 greek students from the Midwest attended the conference. Delegates from IFC and Panhellenic participated in education sessions throughout the weekend to improve their skills in positions they hold.

In addition to these sessions, there were Hot Topic discussions in which delegates discussed various issues affecting members of greek letter societies. Some of the topics included substance-free housing, bridging gender gaps, and “translating your greek experience into your future career.”

“Even though we didn’t win, we certainly made our mark on the Midwest,” Jones said. “Other delegates were asking many of the Iowa State students about our programs in Rush and recruitment and the events policy, because they are so successful.”

The schools are judged based on their answers to a MGCA questionnaire and the supporting documents that each executive sends.

“It is no small core,” Sorelle said. “We send in two, 3-inch binders filled with information on our programming and policies.”

Sorelle said most of the delegates who took part in the conference were excited to get back to Ames and start “moving on what they had learned, and give the chapters here at ISU the chance to make themselves better.”