Monmouth College takes Greek awards virtual to honor members' service, leadership

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (04/13/2020) — Monmouth College's Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony was broadcast Friday night on social media to chapters' members who are scattered around the country.

Women's fraternities Alpha Xi Delta and Pi Beta Phi were among the winners at the annual event, which was viewed online over the weekend on the College's Facebook and YouTube platforms. Several sorority and fraternity members held watch parties to celebrate the awards because the College shifted to remote learning in late March.

The ceremony was the first of several this spring at the College that have been moved to a "virtual" format in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally held as a banquet at the close of Greek Week - which was canceled this year - the half-hour ceremony featured several College personnel speaking from a podium at Dahl Chapel and Auditorium, as well as students who made pre-recorded introductions from home.

"Just because we aren't here in person doesn't mean we shouldn't be acknowledging the accomplishments you have all made throughout 2019," said Assistant Director of Student Engagement Kris Clayton. "Through the previous year, both men's and women's organizations were above the grade-point average of their non-affiliated counterparts."

Clayton also reported that Monmouth's Greek organizations raised $17,984 from philanthropic events and contributed more than 1,500 hours of community service during the year.

Alpha Xi Delta claimed the Outstanding Chapter Operations recognition, the College's highest award for Greek organizations.

The women of AXD also received the Academic Achievement Award, as they had the highest Greek organization GPAs for both semesters in 2019, coming in at 3.33 last spring and 3.52 for the fall semester.

Pi Beta Phi claimed a trio of honors: Excellence in Community Service, Excellence in Involvement and Leadership Development, and Excellence in Philanthropic Programming. The women's efforts in the latter category helped them raise $1,131 over the past year, in addition to collaboration with other organizations.

The women's fraternity Kappa Kappa Gamma earned the Outstanding Chapter Program honor for its leadTODAY program.

Individual honors included the Greek Man and Woman of the Year awards, which went to Alpha Tau Omega member Arturo Monroy '20 of Chicago and Kappa Kappa Gamma member Emily Krueger '21 of Chicago.

The Emerging Male and Female Leaders were Bryan Peters '22 of Addison, Ill., and Teagan McKenna '21 of Sterling, Ill.

Kappa's Hannah Callahan '21 of Aledo, Ill., was named Outstanding Chapter President, while Kensey Arlt '21 of Wichita, Kansas, received the Richard "Doc" Kieft Award for Involvement, Greek Life and Athletics.

Kappa's adviser, Jennifer Rice '12, received the Outstanding Adviser honor.