The men of Alpha Phi Alpha beat out more than 700 other chapters of the fraternity to be crowned the Outstanding College Chapter of the Year.
The judging criteria included many standards, such as how well the chapter implemented the fraternity's national initiatives and the students' overall GPA, which was 3.14 for UF. The chapter won the award at the fraternity's national convention in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 25.
The award is a point of pride for the Greek community, said Abby Myette, an adviser to the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the organization that oversees nine fraternities, including Alpha Phi Alpha.
"I think that they are a group of men who are very committed to their organization," Myette said. "They work together as a great team."
Alpha Phi Alpha's UF President Hamardo Sinclair said he enjoyed the recognition of the award, but doesn't want to lose sight of the true goal of positively influencing more people and touching more lives.
"Our plans for the future are not only to continue what we started with this recognition as Outstanding College Chapter of the Year," Sinclair said. "We want to continue to think of new ways to have bigger and better results."
The chapter completed all three of the fraternity's national programs this year. The chapter did Project Alpha, a program where members taught boys about STDs and pregnancy prevention; "Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College," a mentoring program that encouraged young men to prepare for their academic future; and "A Voteless People is a Hopeless People," where the chapter helped 17-year-olds and low-income people register to vote.
The UF chapter also had the highest GPA in the state.
