Troy University’s Alpha Tau Omega chapter now has the nation’s longest consecutive streak winning the fraternity’s prestigious True Merit Award.
TROY’s Kappa Beta Chapter of ATO joined 31 other chapters nationwide as recipients of the organization’s 2023 True Merit Award, marking 16 years in a row that the TROY chapter has won the award.
“This is a wonderful award for a job well done,” said TROY Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. “The True Merit Award stands in sharp contrast to what is most often said about fraternities in America. The ATO chapter at Troy is an example of fraternities at their very best.”
The True Merit Award was first established in 1969 as the Chapter Efficiency Award, becoming the Fraternity’s first official award. In 1975, the name of the award changed to the Chapter Excellence Award and finally in 1979, the name changed to the True Merit Award. It is awarded to chapters who achieve a level of operation that is worthy of recognition.
“Our guys want to grow and be good guys, so the award just follows,” said Chapter President Nathan Dover. “It’s the most prestigious award in ATO. Only a handful of chapters get one each year.”
Only 17 of the fraternity’s 130-plus chapters have won the award more times than Kappa Beta.
“The True Merit Award looks at a lot of different things in the chapter. Scholastic accomplishments, campus involvement, community service, philanthropic efforts, and how we’re run internally — at our chapter size, our retention, how we handle things, and some other things regarding brotherhood,” Dover said. “We have opportunities in the chapter that allow guys to grow and serve, and that leads to the involvement and participation from brothers.”
Among the nation’s largest fraternal philanthropic activities is ATO’s Walk Hard campaign, which began at TROY and has raised more than $650,000 for Jeep Sullivans Wounded Warriors Outdoor Adventures, based in Bonifay, FL. Kappa Beta’s Walk Hard is now a model for other chapters around the country.
