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Fraternities, sororities recognized at NGLA

Representatives of Clarion University’s fraternity and sorority community left the 2008 Northeast Greek Leadership Association Annual Conference in Hartford, Conn., with more than just programming ideas, new organizational management models and possible change initiatives. This year, they left with four awards recognizing the community’s accomplishments in various aspects of operation and one individual was recognized as a Greek Leader of Distinction.

The fraternity and sorority community received Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Academic Honor Society’s Academic Excellence Award for Spring 2007. This award is presented to the Greek Community whose GPA is the highest above their campus undergraduate GPA.

The Panhellenic Council (PHC) received three Division II Programming Excellence Awards for Academic Achievement, Continuous Open Bidding and Philanthropy and Community Service.

“I was very excited that we received these awards, they are result of a lot of people doing a lot of hard work” said Maria D’Ascenzo, PHC President. “It’s been close to ten years since Clarion’s Greek community has received this kind of recognition, I’m very proud of all we have done.”

Ariel Weaver, immediate past PHC Vice-President of Recruitment & Public Relations and a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, was one of 10 students in the Northeast recognized as a Greek Leader of Distinction. The Greek Leader of Distinction Award seeks to recognize outstanding students whom exemplify the ideals of sorority and/or fraternity membership in their daily lives. Additional recipients were from Bryant University, Gannon University, Lehigh University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, the University of Rhode Island and William Paterson University.

Reacting to her selection, Weaver said “I was so proud that the Council’s won awards, I was totally surprised when my name was called,” said Weaver. “I had no idea. I originally joined Phi Sigma Sigma for the more social aspects and to make friends, but it has become so much more and provided me with so many opportunities I never thought I would have. I’m just very thankful for my experiences.”

Two members of the Office of Campus Life’s staff were involved with this year’s conference.

Michelle Marchand, Office of Campus Life Graduate Assistant, was selected to serve as a member of the conference’s graduate staff and Shawn Hoke, assistant director of Campus Life, served as a Values Institute facilitator.

Marchand was also selected to present two programs, one on the Millennial Generation and one on recruitment with Weaver.

“I am just so proud of our fraternities and sororities right now,” said Hoke. “During my tenure as Greek advisor, the fraternity and sorority community has faced more than its fair share of challenges. But the students never gave up and they’ve never stopped trying to make things better. It’s nice to see their hard work recognized among the best in the Northeast.”

NGLA was created in August of 2000 as a result of a merger between the Northeast Interfraternity Conference and the Northeast Panhellenic Conference. NGLA exists to promote the founding principles and positive traditions of all Greek letter organizations through opportunities that encourage learning and leadership for the Northeast region.

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