Awards named Greek chapters as scholastic, distinguished and improved at the Order of Omega Awards Banquet on Sunday, April 14 in the College Church basement. The annual banquet honors the sororities and fraternities of Saint Louis University for their accomplishments during the previous calendar year.

Sigma Phi Epsilon was named the Most Distinguished Fraternity. The panel of administrators noted the fraternity specifically for its impressive membership development programming and scholarship.

“This award has been a goal of ours for several years,” said senior Matt Stewart, former president of the chapter. “We worked hard to contribute to the SLU community, and we plan to continue this.”

Sigma Phi Epsilon, along with Kappa Delta sorority and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, were the winning team for the 2002 Greek Week.

Gamma Phi Beta was named the Most Distinguished Sorority for the chapter’s risk management education, sisterhood development programming and campus involvement.

Katie Hanson, former Gamma Phi Beta president, received the Most Outstanding Chapter President award. Her fellow chapter members said of her, “Katie has surely expanded the qualifications expected from the president by the members of the chapter.”

For the second consecutive year, Sigma Kappa received the award for the Most Improved Sorority. The sorority was recognized for achievements in the membership recruitment, scholarship and sisterhood development.

The chapter also received a certificate for excellence in the area of alumnae relations.

Senior Lauren Smith is the former president of the Sigma Kappa chapter, founded at SLU in 1999. “As a founding sister of Sigma Kappa, I am so proud of the progress we have made over the past three years,” Smith said. “The two `Most Improved’ awards reflect the hard work and dedication that have gone into developing our chapter from literally nothing into a well-run and close-knit organization of wonderful women.”

“This award comes as a reaffirmation of our chapter’s efforts to build and progress,” Smith continued. “Within Sigma Kappa, we know that we are all successfully working toward higher and higher standards, but it is especially rewarding to receive recognition for this from the rest of SLU’s Greek community.”

Although Smith is near graduation, she looks to the future success of her chapter. “I look forward to the day when we will be honored `most distinguished,’ and I can see in the faces of our current and future leaders that this is an attainable goal,” she said.

Rachael Lynn, another member of Sigma Kappa, was announced as the newly elected president of the Saint Louis University Order of Omega chapter. Beta Theta Pi was named the Most Improved Fraternity for its achievements in membership recruitment, alumni support and membership development programming.

“It was an incredible opportunity for our Greek community to come together and celebrate all that we’ve accomplished over the past year,” said Nikki Morton, a senior and member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Morton, as the vice president of programming for the Order of Omega, was the primary coordinator of the event and the awards process.

“I just wish that more of the faculty and students of SLU could have taken part in this event,” Morton said.

Morton said that the Greek community at SLU is unique to that of other universities. “I love how supportive all the chapters are to one another; it’s something that other campuses do not have with their Greek communities.”

While 12 of the 18 Greek chapters at SLU did apply for the awards, Morton encourages every chapter to apply in future years.

Morton wanted to thank Hanson for helping to plan the banquet. “We met every Tuesday of the semester, often working for hours,” Morton said. She also wanted to thank Linda Wardhammar, associate director of Student Life, for her assistance with the awards night and her continuous dedication to the Greek Community.

Morton said that overall the event was a success. “It was a great night,” she said. “It’s not necessarily about the awards, but just celebrating being Greek.”

Other chapter awards include:

 Alpha Delta Gamma fraternity: Community Service Award, Scholarship awards for both spring and fall of 2001

 Kappa Delta sorority: Community Service Award, Scholarship Award for spring 2001

 Alpha Delta Pi: Scholarship Award for fall 2001

Other individual awards include:

 Nicole Morton, Alpha Delta Pi: Outstanding Panhellenic Involvement Award

 Schad McGovern, Delta Sigma Phi: Outstanding Intrafraternity Involvement Award

 Chad Kreikemeier, Delta Sigma Phi: Helping Hands Award

 Chris Layloff, Sigma Chi: Most Inspirational Fraternity New Member

 Kristen Hubbard, Delta Gamma: Most Inspirational New Member