Iowa State’s greek community brings home national awards
Jessica Kalahar/Iowa State Daily
Large groups of people covered the lawns of greek land as they waited to cheer on their favorite team during the bed race of Greek Week.
March 3, 2016
The ISU greek community received high honors earlier this year, including four major national awards.
The ISU greek community sent a 53-member delegation to the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values and National Black Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., on the weekend of March 4, according to a press release from the Office of Greek Affairs.
“It’s great to win awards, but that’s not the biggest thing we took away,” said Ally Tack, Panhellenic president. “We learned a lot that we can bring back to the Iowa State community.”
The group won the Jellison Award for overall excellence, given to the Interfraternity Council (IFC), and the Sutherland Award for Panhellenic Excellence, given to the Panhellenic Council. Another major award it won was the Pinnacle Award for strategic growth.
“We won it for the Greek Calling Project,” said Nic Stumbo, Interfraternity Council president.
The Greek Calling Project involves calling every student coming to Iowa State and talking to them about the ISU and greek communities. The project double checks that prospective students still plan to attend school at Iowa State, answer any questions they have and tell them about Greek Visit Weekend.
The greek community has seen a 75 percent growth in the past five years. In 2010, the community had 2,648 members, and in 2015, the count was up to 4,650, according to the Office of Greek Affairs.
Not only has there been growth in the IFC and Panhellenic councils, but there has also been a growth in the National Panhellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council and Collegiate Panhellenic Council.
ISU administrators have also played a role in helping support the greek community. President Steven Leath gave his support on page three of the Iowa State Greek Magazine, saying Iowa State takes “great pride” in its fraternities and sororities.
“I think, in general, we have a strong support system with administration,” Stumbo said. “They have continued to be supportive of our community and we’re fortunate because not all universities have that.”
Greek Visit Day will take place April 8. The day will be an opportunity for high school students and ISU students to learn about the greek community and how to get involved.
“[The greek community] provides so many opportunities to get involved and to give back that can be hard to find otherwise,” Tack said.
