Greek grades, service on the rise

The University’s Greek community continues to grow in scholarship, service and number, according to the fraternity and sorority report published Monday.

The report, compiled every semester by the Office of Greek Affairs, documents grade point averages, service hours and levels of campus involvement among members of Greek organizations.

“As far as overall progress with Greek organizations goes, I’d say we’re definitely moving in the right direction,” said Jay Anhorn, director of Greek affairs.

Traditionally, he added, members of the Greek community have earned higher GPAs than non- Greek students.

The report showed that Greek students continued the trend last fall — the average Greek GPA was 3.132, compared to the non-Greek figure of 3.059.

Anhorn credited this academic success to the “smaller, tight-knit support group” fraternities and sororities offer.

Leading all Greek organizations in GPA, Alpha Epsilon Omega Christian sorority boasted a 3.604 chapter GPA last fall after earning a 3.18 one year ago.

Kimberly Wilson, president of the sorority, credited its improvement to spirituality and hard work.

Besides excelling academically, Anhorn said, Greeks devote a large amount of time to serving the community.

Greeks reported a total of 32,518 hours of community service. Anhorn said the average of 16.4 service hours per member is impressive but always can be improved.

“They’re obviously keeping busy,” he said.

According to the report, Delta Sigma Theta Inc., a National Pan Hellenic Council sorority, contributed the most community service hours in the Greek community last semester with 178.4 hours per member.

Another service front-runner was Zeta Phi Beta Inc. Also an NPHC sorority, the group racked up 155.9 hours of service per member.

The group stepped up its service efforts significantly since last year, turning in about 150 more service hours per person.

Allison Sanders, a member of Zeta Phi Beta, said the improvement resulted from a groupwide commitment.

“It’s one of our main principles,” she said. “Since we’re a group based on service, we thought that doing the minimum just wasn’t enough.”

Sanders said Zeta Phi Beta emphasized individual volunteer projects on top of its weekly service and collaborative service work. She said the approach enables members to help provide various community needs and lead by example.

According to the report, Greeks also saw increased membership since last year.

With a membership base of 2,388 students, the Greek community is growing and now constitutes 14 percent of all undergraduates. It is an increase from last year’s 2,212 Greeks — 13.4 percent of the undergraduate population.

Anhorn said the Greek system is on its way to matching old enrollment numbers.

“There was a point 20, 30 years ago where 25 percent of the school was Greek,” he said. “Now we’re starting to hit that curve. The last two or three years, we’ve had a jolt in numbers.”

With the improvement in numbers seen in the report, Anhorn said, more people might realize what Greek life has to offer.

“The numbers are clearly increasing,” he said. “There are a lot of people wanting to be Greek on the UNC campus.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.