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By SYLVIA RODRIGUEZ
HORNET STAFF WRITER
Almost two years ago, Sigma Phi Epsilon was close to falling below a 2.0 GPA. But now, with a 2.705 GPA for the fall 1997 semester, the CSUS fraternity is ranked No. 1 among 12 fraternities, according to a recent Greek grade report.
The report is produced each semester by Scott Siegel, Greek Affairs program adviser, with the assistance of the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council and the office of Admissions and Records. It lists and compares the average GPAs for 20 CSUS sororities and fraternities.
With the goal of stressing academic excellence above all else, Sigma Phi Epsilon conducted a major cleansing during the spring 1997 semester and started anew with only 10 members.
"The alumni board got permission to expel 20 brothers who were not making positive contributions, were not meeting the grade requirements and were participating in negative activity, like hazing," said John Jaquish, president of SigEp.
The mass expulsion occurred after the fraternity was reviewed by SigEp's national headquarters in spring 1996. Jaquish said that semester was the organization's breaking point.
The national headquarters, which monitors the 300 chapters of SigEp, put the CSUS chapter on notice to close after finding that members were not maintaining the minimum 2.5 GPA.
According to Mark Hodge, a SigEp member and former member of ASI, the chapter had only a 2.1 GPA during the spring 1996 semester.
"It was OK with the university, but headquarters is very strict," said Hodge. "We still had one of the top GPAs at CSUS. But that didn't matter because our headquarters is so strict."
Between the spring 1996 and spring 1997 semesters, a sense of apathy and discontent settled over the fraternity and membership fell from about 50 brothers to about 20, according to Jaquish.
Although the reformation was slow and difficult, the fraternity eventually pulled a 2.3 GPA during spring 1997 and from there it continued to climb the ladder of academic improvement.
To keep up the GPA, the fraternity requires that individual members, whether established or new, have a minimum 2.7 cumulative GPA in college. If applying right out of high school, members are required to have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. The organization also looks for future brothers who have been involved in athletics or in leadership positions.
Members can study at the fraternity house in a special study room with chairs, a table and a computer.
According to Jaquish, SigEp members follow strict rules to maintain the organization's GPA and must suffer penalties for falling below the minimum. The first time a member's GPA falls below a 2.7, he is put on probation. If it happens again, he is expelled and may not reapply until his GPA meets the minimum standards.
"If members are not getting the grades they're supposed to get, they need to worry about their grades and not the chapter," said Jaquish.
In exchange for meeting the requirements, members are offered a chance to blend in with a group with which they feel comfortable.
"This was the only fraternity I came to because, at the time, I knew that anywhere I went, it would be a bunch of guys I didn't know," said Brad Robinson, a criminal justice major. "This fraternity has made me a better person, scholastically as well as individually."
Sororities top frats in grade average, but both lower than undergrad student averages
By SYLVIA RODRIGUEZ
HORNET STAFF WRITER
This may turn into a war of the sexes.
Sorority members are making better grades than their fraternity counterparts, according to a recent grade report compiled by Greek affairs.
In the Greek grade report, which is produced every semester, eight sororities and 12 fraternities were evaluated for their average GPAs. Sororities came out with an overall GPA of 2.58, while fraternities came out with an overall GPA of 2.11.
Both of these were below the CSUS overall undergraduate GPA of 2.663, but there were three Greek organizations that beat the CSUS average: Delta Gamma, a sorority, with a 2.7; Sigma Phi Epsilon, a fraternity, with a 2.705; and Alpha Chi Omega, a sorority, had a 2.67.
"As far as the higher GPAs for sororities, I think there are more rewards for girls and academic scholarships are given more often in sororities," said Michelle Smith, president of the Panhellenic Council and a member of Alpha Chi Omega.
She pointed out that the Panhellenic Council requires a minimum 2.0 GPA and weekly study groups for members in all sororities.
Chi Delta, a sorority that raised its GPA from a 2.528 in the spring 1997 semester to a 2.608 in the fall 1997 semester, has five members who are part of Order of Omega, according to Brandi Brown, president of the sorority.
Order of Omega consists of the top 5 percent of Greeks and is based on academic standing and extracurricular activity.
"Chi Delta has the highest percentage of people in Order of Omega at Sac State," said Brown. "We have a special committee (which consists of two elected members from the sorority) who checks our GPAs. The highest GPA gets a free bid to a formal at the end of the semester. It usually costs around $100," said Brown.
Punishment for the first offense of falling below the 2.0 mark is suspension from a social function. If a member remains below the mark for longer than a semester, her membership is revoked until the required GPA is met, according to Brown.
Of the 12 CSUS fraternities, only three raised their average GPAs from the spring to the fall semester in 1997. Lambda Chi Alpha went from a 2.3 to a 2.486.
Jeff Stelling, president of Chi Alpha, said that his fraternity requires a minimum 2.25 GPA. Anyone who falls below this mark is required to participate in two-hour study groups once a week, and have grade reports completed by their teachers for one semester.
"Personally, I feel that we've done better because people in the fraternity have been more concerned with their grades," said Stelling. "They know that school comes first and they are in college to graduate and get a degree."
At the other end of the scale, there were four fraternities -- Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Chi and Phi Delta Theta -- that had GPAs below a 2.0, grounds for academic probation for individual students.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Chi were below a 2.0 GPA in spring 1997 and fall 1997. The other two fraternities fell below the mark during the fall 1997 semester.
Despite these low averages, the fraternities are not required by CSUS to keep their grades up.
The only standard set by the university is for Greek members to be enrolled in at least 6.5 units. Greek officers must not fall below a 2.0 GPA or be on academic or social probation.
"There is not a minimum standard for overall Greek organizations' GPAs. They are just like any other student organization, none of which have grade standards," said Scott Siegel, program adviser for Greek affairs.
Siegel prints the grade reports using information from the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council and CSUS Admissions and Records. The reports are used as an academic tool to help chapters respond to and meet the academic expectations of their national departments.
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This Page Last Updated February 25, 1998
