Greeks gather to honor their own

About a hundred members of Penn's Greek system packed the Sheraton University City yesterday for this year's Greek Awards Ceremony, which honored outstanding individuals and chapters within the University's three umbrella Greek organizations. "I think it was a really successful year," said Debra Bonaminio, associate director for programming at the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. "We saw almost all of our chapters involved in a lot of community service and philanthropy work." About a dozen organizations from the InterFraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and BiCultural Greek Council were recognized. This year's big winners for most outstanding chapter were the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity within the IFC, the Delta Delta Delta sorority for Panhel and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity within the BIG-C. "I just feel like it's an amazing culmination to a lot of hard work by so many people in our chapter," said College senior Katie Claypoole, Tri-Delt's outgoing vice president of public relations. College senior Catherine Eikel, Tri-Delt's outgoing vice president of administration, echoed those sentiments. "What makes it so special is knowing how much our chapter has grown," she said. "It's not about putting something on the mantlepiece, it's about our chapter becoming stronger." Tri-Delt last won the award in 1998. And for Alpha Phi Alpha, last night was the third year in a row the BIG-C -- which encompasses students from Penn and other schools in the Philadelphia region -- recognized it as the most outstanding chapter. "It's definitely a privilege receiving an award," current Alpha Phi Alpha president and Villanova senior Thomas Fitzpatrick said. "It's definitely an honor," Wharton sophomore and Alpha Phi Alpha community service chairman Weldon McMillan added. "We put forth a lot of work throughout the year. We don't do it for the awards, or anything of the sort, but it's always nice when events like this come around. It makes us feel like our work is appreciated." Lambda Chi Alpha, which received no new members this spring, helped rebuke the popular notion that the largest and most popular chapter is guaranteed to win the award. Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski highlighted the chapter's community service and partnership with the West Philadelphia community. The fraternity "faced major challenges as of late [and] worked hard not to maintain the status quo, but exceed in everything they do," Reikofski said. The award winners were determined by the alumni councils and student representatives of the three umbrella organizations. Other fraternities and sororities were recognized for excellence in alumnae relations, community service and partnership, campus leadership and service, risk management and social enrichment, scholarship and faculty involvement, new member education and sensitivity training. Nine individuals were honored for outstanding Greek leadership. Outgoing IFC Executive Vice President John Buchanan was one such honoree. "I've enjoyed being a part of the Greek system at Penn," the College senior and Phi Kappa Psi brother said. "And this is a great way to end my Penn Greek career."

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