Last Friday night, the fifth annual Greek Awards ceremony was held in Memorial Chapel as part of the ReUnion weekend activities. Former Director of Greek Life Timothy Dunn created the awards five years ago and since then they have become an annual tradition. “Without him,” Kim Perry ‘12 noted, “I’m not sure an event like this would even exist.”
Throughout the year, both the outgoing and incoming Co-Chairwomen of the Greek Awards and Accreditation Committee (GAAC) review each Greek organizations accreditation documents. These women (Jordana Kozupsky ‘12, Kim Perry ‘12, Ali Seiler ‘12, Amy Golinker ‘13 and Jennifer Silvershein ‘13) make changes to said documents in order to make them more applicable to the current state of Greek life. Furthermore, they remain completely unbiased and unaffiliated with their sororities throughout the selection process.
While the co-chairwomen organize the event itself, their other job is to organize a committee of pro-Greek and non-biased professors. This year’s committee consisted of Professors Bill Zwicker, Ashraf Ghaly and Karen Lou, along with Dean Molly MacElroy and former Student Forum President Mital Patel. Perry elaborated on the criteria: it involves “philanthropic involvement, involvement with their own Greek council, and even individual members of the Greek community.”
A recurring theme throughout the night was that of Greek involvement in the larger campus community. President Stephen Ainlay spoke of Greek leadership on campus and how it is necessary for the Greek community to take part in and take advantage of everything happening on Union’s campus. Both VP of Admissions Matt Malatesta ‘91 and Dean Steve Leavitt mention Union’s history as the “Mother of Fraternities” and the significance of moving Greek life forward as the campus changes.
On behalf of the whole Greek Awards and Accreditation Committee, Kozupsky said, “The Greek Awards are the one time of year that we can officially recognize different fraternities and sororities’ efforts. Throughout the year they go unnoticed but the awards commemorate and appreciate what they do besides having parties.”
Seiler ‘12 agreed, saying, “It is a big deal to win one of these awards because…it is an honor for the Union community to recognize your accomplishments.”
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