Fraternity and Sorority Affairs

ULM Greeks invade Cajun Country during retreat

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's Office of Greek Life held its annual Greek Retreat Jan. 20-22 in Ville Platte.

The purpose of the weekend was to challenge Greek leaders to rethink leadership, define their values, and discover what the fraternity and sorority experience at ULM is all about.

The weekend included many educational programs and team building activities that were highlighted by a day of service.

Over 30 ULM Greek students participated in the day of service sponsored by the City of Ville Platte.

Students were able to meet and interact with city officials, including the Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, while also giving back to the South Central Louisiana region by completing various tasks and beautification projects.

Their afternoon of service was followed by a visit to the famous "Swamp Museum" located in Ville Platte.

"Community service and philanthropy are an important part of Greek life," said ULM Greek advisor Keith Hembree.

The day of service began that morning at the Ville Platte City Hall and was followed by projects at a local park, downtown area and city office building.

Brooke Dugas, president of ULM's Student Government Association and member of Kappa Delta Sorority, had this to say about this weekend's Greek Retreat, "Community Service is an ideal part of our values and philosophies as Greeks here at ULM.

We felt that by giving back to an area of south Louisiana, we were not only making a difference but showing another part of the state what it truly means to be a Warhawk."

According to Hembree, The ULM Office of Greek Life is charged with advising the 16 nationally-recognized fraternities and sororities at ULM.

Traditionally, Greek organizations at ULM are strong contributors to the improvement of the university and the community.

Founded on principles of scholarship, leadership, community service, and development of lifelong friendships, they still practice these fundamental principles in their pursuit of excellence every day.

ULM Greek Life releases fall 2011 GPA results

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's Office of Greek Life has released the Fall 2011 grade point average standings for ULM's Greek organizations, and results show that a majority of ULM Greek chapters have maintained a 2.5 or better cumulative GPA.

  Kappa Delta Sorority holds the top Greek GPA once  

  again with a 3.219 overall average. The combined Greek

  GPA for the fall was 3.044 with the all-sorority average

  being 3.163 and the all-fraternity average as a 2.909.

  The Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic

  Council, and the Panhellenic Council are the three

  councils with Greek representation at ULM.

The top GPA earners from each council for Fall 2011 are: IFC: Kappa Alpha Order with a 3.035; NPHC: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. with a 3.050; and Panhellenic: Kappa Delta with a 3.219.

"The Greek organizations on campus have shown great improvement over the last several years in raising overall GPA scores," said Keith Hembree, coordinator of Greek Life at ULM, who added that peer accountability and a good-natured competitive spirit among the fraternities and sororities have contributed to the steady rise in GPAs.

"Earning the best grades possible has become a real point of pride for many of the Greek organizations here," Hembree said.

"Greek organizations at ULM make academics a priority each and every year as a foundation of their mission and principles they live and go by each and every day."

Greeks donate over 1,200 canned goods after successful Songfest

The University of Louisiana at Monroe Office of Greek Life recently donated over 1,200 canned food items to the Northeast Louisiana Food bank. The donation will be used to provide local underprivileged families with food this holiday season.

"We feel that families are feeling the ill effects of the economy and wanted to do what we could to help promote the 'spirit of giving' in Monroe."

The canned goods raised to make this donation possible were collected at the Greek Songfest held Nov. 11 on the ULM campus.

Over 500 ULM students and faculty were in attendance along with members of the community.

Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity won first place in the competition and performed their award-winning routine at The City of Monroe's Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony held at the Civic Center Dec. 3.

Second place was given to Phi Mu Fraternity and Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity secured a third place win.

"Greek Songfest is a great way for all 16 of ULM's fraternities and sororities to show Greek unity and support while participating in a little friendly competition," Hembree said

"We hope to continue this event as an annual one at ULM for years to come.

"Peppers Tree Farm in West Monroe was gracious enough to provide us with a nine-foot tree for the event.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers sponsored food and beverages at the event.

Supporters of Songfest included The City of Monroe, the ULM School of Visual and Performing Arts, local comedian Robert Powell, the ULM Panhellenic Council, the ULM National Pan-Hellenic Council, and the ULM Interfraternity Council.

They helped make the event a huge success by donating their time and resources.

"All of ULM's Greek chapters are very involved with service learning and community service," Hembree continued. "We live by the ideals of 'Unity,' 'Leadership,' and 'Motivation,' which are the three major principles of the adopted ULM Creed."

ULM's Greek chapters have accumulated over 8,000 hours of service during the Fall 2011 semester alone, according to Hembree.

For more information on the ULM Panhellenic Council, contact Keith Hembree, the ULM Greek advisor, at 318-342-5289 or at greeks@ulm.edu.

ULM Panhellenic Council gives back this holiday season

The ULM Panhellenic Council held their annual Progressive Dinner Dec. 1 at the ULM Alumni Center and collected over 500 toys for area children this holiday season.

During the dinner, each sorority member was asked to bring a new unwrapped toy along with a course of the meal assigned to them — an appetizer, entrée or dessert.

Over 500 toys were collected, and over 200 sorority women participated in the event.

All the toys collected were taken to Pecanland Mall to support the local radio station Star 101.9's annual "Stuff the Bus" philanthropy, which collects toys for the Center for Children and Families.

"We felt that this holiday season, we as sorority women not only needed to promote the spirit of giving but to give back to the local Monroe community which has supported us over the past year," said Gabrielle Herry, Kappa Delta's vice-president of community service

"We felt that by partnering with Star 101.9 we would be able to not only make a difference but also allow others in the community to see what our values truly represent."

Progressive Dinner is an event put on each year by the Panhellenic Council, Kappa Delta Sorority, Phi Mu Fraternity, and Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity that allows sorority women to come together to promote the true spirit of the holiday season and to share one last meal together as a family before the fall semester concludes.

The ULM Panhellenic Council is the governing body responsible for unifying and governing the three National Panhellenic Conference sororities on ULM's campus.

The council is composed of women from each sorority who are responsible for the promotion of scholarship, service and safety for each sorority, as well as the entire Greek community.

"As sorority women, we stand for service through the development of character inspired by the close contact and deep friendship of individual fraternity and Panhellenic life," said Callie Anyan, ULM Panhellenic president.

"The opportunity for wide and wise human service, through mutual respect and helpfulness, is the tenet by which we strive to live."

For more information on the ULM Panhellenic Council, contact Keith Hembree, the ULM Greek advisor, at 318-342-5289 or at greeks@ulm.edu.

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's Office of Greek Life has released the spring 2011 grade point average standings for ULM's Greek organizations, and results show that a majority of ULM Greek chapters have sustained a 2.5 or better cumulative GPA.

Kappa Delta sorority holds the top Greek GPA with a 3.274 overall average. The combined Greek GPA for the spring was 3.036. The Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and the Panhellenic Council are the three councils with Greek representation at ULM.

The top GPA earners from each council for spring 2011 are: IFC: Kappa Alpha Order; NPHC: Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. and Panhellenic: Kappa Delta.

"The Greek organizations on campus have shown great improvement over the last several years in raising overall GPA scores," said Keith Hembree, coordinator of Greek Life at ULM, who added that peer accountability and a good-natured competitive spirit among the fraternities and sororities have contributed to the steady rise in GPAs.

"Earning the best grades possible has become a real point of pride for many of the Greek organizations here," Hembree said.

"Greek Organizations at ULM make academics a priority each and every year as a foundation of their mission and principles they live and go by each and every day."

Greek Life from the University of Louisiana at Monroe shined again at the Southeastern's Panhellenic Association's annual conference in Atlanta.

"Keith uses the simple logic of everyone working together for the same goal to provide a more effective and happier Panhellenic than any of us trying to go about it alone," wrote a Panhellenic Council Member in her nomination essay.

"Without Keith I am not sure how much longer sororities would have existed at ULM, but thanks to his new, positive prospective along with obtainable goals for all of us to achieve, we are on the right path. We are very thankful to have him on our campus and look forward to having him for years to come."

The organization unites collegiate women to explore philanthropic initiatives, leadership programs, and social excellence through education and is held in Atlanta each year.

SEPA recognizes excellence in community service and philanthropic events sponsored by local College Panhellenics. Programs may include such things as hands-on community service events, fundraising events, or philanthropiv programming.

The ULM Panhellenic Council was recognized with an award for their efforts with Greek Songfest, Progressive Dinner, Habitat For Humanity, and helping local area alumnae move.

"Our passion and aim is to continuously live by the three major ideals recently adopted by the ULM campus community as a part of our Creed: Unity, Leadership and Motivation," said ULM's Panhellenic Council President Callie Anyan.

ULM Greek Life was also recognized once again by Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Academic Honor Society during the closing banquet as one of several schools recognized for its fraternity/sorority communities with GPAs higher than that of the campus undergraduates.

ULM Interfraternity Council earns prestigious award at regional conference

The Southeastern Interfraternity Conference Awards Banquet recognized the University of Louisiana at Monroe Interfraternity Council on Feb. 19 with one of the most prestigious awards an IFC Council could achieve.

The organization received an Overall Fraternal Excellence Award for its excellence in all 11 categories of council management, an award with which ULM has been recognized for the past three years.

This recognition makes ULM the only university in Louisiana for the third straight year to receive recognition at the awards banquet. ULM Greek Life was also one of several schools recognized by Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Academic Honor Society.

ULM was recognized for spring and fall 2010 semester honor rolls and its outstanding scholarship within the ULM Greek Community.

"It's encouraging to see how, after a year of hard work and dedication to both ULM and the community, the Interfraternity Council is gaining the recognition it deserves," said ULM's Coordinator of Greek Life Keith Hembree.

"I am proud of this group of guys and how well they not only represent ULM, but the state of Louisiana."

SGA President and UL System Student Board Member Brook Sebren added, "I've been active with the Interfraternity Council and ULM Greek Life since fall 2007. In comparison to what we were as a council then, to now … it is truly amazing. The awards symbolize all the effort of the IFC and its respective fraternities, and the large strides made to better itself, the ULM campus, and the state."

Sebren said those strides are about meeting the mission of ULM's Greek organizations to teach young men and women to reach for excellence, provide them with the tools and resources to succeed in their undergraduate career, and build a support system that will last a lifetime.

The ULM IFC was also recognized for its fraternal excellence with awards in the following categories: Risk Management, Outstanding Educational Program, Publications, Interfraternal Relations and Recruitment.

The Risk Management award was presented to IFC for its handling of risk management through workshops, meetings, and attending regional conferences, as well for the annual training of chapter risk management chairs, social chairs and presidents during IFC meetings held each week.

IFC won the Outstanding Educational Program award for efforts in developing and hosting an event titled, "Greek Challenge Night," an event developed to better educate ULM's Greek community on the understanding of how peer intervention and group dynamics can prevent chapter members from engaging in unethical and dangerous behaviors.

The Interfraternal Relations award was presented to IFC for efforts to promote and encourage collaboration between fraternities and all Greek chapters on ULM's campus.

These activities include a Greek unity step-show, Greek Challenge Blood Drive, IFC Camping trips and retreats and for their participation in CenturyLink's family day held annually each fall.

The Recruitment award was presented to IFC for the second time in three years in recognition of their efforts during the yearlong Recruitment Activities.

The Recruitment Activities consists of a preview week held each fall, summer student orientation, recruitment visits to local high schools, summer mail-outs and publications and attendance and participation a various university events throughout the year. This is the most sought after award by all schools in attendance at the conference.

The final award, Publications, was given to IFC for promoting fraternity awareness and communication with both external and internal constituents. Some of the publications produced and distributed by IFC this year have included a semi-annual newsletter, recruitment brochures, Preview Week Mail-Outs and Letters, a Greek Life Website, and Facebook and twitter accounts.

SEIFC is the regional leadership conference for IFC council officers held in Atlanta each year.