It was a busy February for Fraternity and Sorority Life at Virginia Tech as three of the four councils and one outstanding community member in particular received international and regional awards at events in three states in the span of a few weeks.
Abbi Hanson Allen, acting director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, touted the recent wins as a sign of positive trends in their community. “Our member organizations excel in their academics, recruitment, member development, programming, philanthropic efforts, and many other areas,” she said.
“These awards serve as validation of our councils’ contributions to the campus and community as well as the quality of their work,” said Chandler Crean, assistant director for Fraternity and Sorority Life. He added that they also provide a morale boost to individual members, reinforcing their commitment to the work they do for the community.
At the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values Central gathering in Indianapolis, both the National Pan-Hellenic Council and Panhellenic Council received Council Compass awards from the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values. These awards recognize councils’ growth and achievement in four areas — accountability, collaboration, education, and innovation — at up to a three-star level.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council received Council Compass awards for accountability, education and innovation, all at the two-star level, while the Panhellenic Council received a Compass Award for education at the three-star level.
And at the most recent IMPACT retreat, hosted by the North American Interfraternity Council at Smith Mountain Lake, the Interfraternity Council of Virginia Tech received the 2023 Outstanding Interfraternity Council award. This award is given to councils that demonstrate a committed effort to having a positive impact on their member chapters as well as the larger fraternity and sorority and campus communities. A vice president from the North American Interfraternity Council was on-site to present the award.
Senior Zack Feldman, the Interfraternity Council’s vice president for health and safety at the time of the award, and senior Kyle Harris, then the group’s president, both emphasized that this was from the efforts of the entire Interfraternity Council community. They cited the fraternal community’s combined efforts in health and safety initiatives as well as the relationships have developed with the Blacksburg Police Department as reasons for its success.
Winning this award “showcases our ability to come together as a community to reach goals beyond what was thought possible and allowed us to continue moving forward for a better, safer community,” said Harris. “This is a group award because it took the efforts of all members, chapters, and advisors to achieve this level of success.”
“The win shows that the council is growing and succeeding here at Virginia Tech. It shows that the community is an area for personal and professional growth as young adults,” Feldman said. “We are pushing the boundaries of student advocacy and ensuring that fraternity men are having a successful college experience.”
