UF’s Interfraternity Council was recognized for their academic success Saturday.
The Southeastern Interfraternity Conference, made up of more than 65 fraternity-governing councils in the U.S., awarded the UF group the Excellence in Academic and Scholarship Programming Award at the SEIFC’s Annual Leadership Academy, said Simonne Horman, the assistant director of UF Sorority and Fraternity Affairs.
The council received the award for holding students to high academic standards and providing opportunities for students to improve their school performance, Horman said.
The UF IFC is comprised of 26 fraternity chapters, and it applied for the award in November, she said.
Shane Hanney, UF IFC’s president and the former president of the Theta Chi Fraternity’s UF chapter, said the IFC requires members to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0.
UF Dean of Students Jen Day Shaw announced that IFC students received the award on Twitter on Sunday, saying that “Greek male GPA is stronger than non-Greek.”
In Fall 2016, the semester GPA for male UF students was 3.11, while the GPA for IFC members was 3.20, according to data from UF Sorority and Fraternity Affairs. However, in Spring 2016, the semester GPA for male UF students was 3.26, and the GPA for IFC stu-
dents was 3.25, according to the data.
Since 2010, the GPA for IFC students has been slightly above the GPA of non-Greek male students, with the exception of three Fall or Spring semesters.
Of all fraternities in UF’s IFC, the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity had the highest semester GPAs in Spring 2016 and Fall 2016: 3.55 and 3.41, respectively.
Aaron Blau, the UF chapter’s president, said the fraternity’s success is due to its supportive environment.
“The culture of the organization is really key,” the 20-year-old UF fi- nance sophomore said. “My brothers are really important to holding me to higher standards.”
Hanney, a 20-year-old UF civil engineering junior, said he was grateful UF’s IFC was recognized for its members’ scholastic achievement, despite the stigma against fraternities.
“The first thing you think of when you think of a fraternity isn’t academics,” he said. “But it’s one of the main things we focus on from day one.”
