GA Tech TX wins "Top Chapter on Campus" Award

[hoosier]

Theta Xi ends Beta Dean Dull streak


By Javier Fernandez
Contributing Writer
ATLANTA
May 31, 2002




Robert Hill

Theta Xi captured the Dean Dull award for Best Overall Fraternity, beating out Beta Theta Pi for the first time in 28 years, based on categories such as scholarship and philanthropy.

This past spring, Theta Xi Fraternity was presented with the James E. Dull Best Overall Fraternity Award. This was a particularly notable feat, as it was the first time since the award's inception, over 25 years ago, that a fraternity other than Beta Theta Pi earned it.

The award is granted to the fraternity that scores best overall in seven categories. They include: Scholarship (35 percent), Leadership and Philanthropy (17 percent each), Intramurals (15 percent), and Greek Week, Homecoming and Educational Programming (5 percent each). It was named after a popular former dean, recognized as a supporter of Georgia Tech's Greek system.

Theta Xi placed first in Leadership, Philanthropy and Educational Programming, and placed within the top ten in all the other categories.

According to Theta Xi President, Shaun Dishman, this is something they have been working toward for several years.

"At first there was some discouragement after finishing in second place for two years in a row, but we took the focus off of how we placed and concentrated on self-improvement; we found our weaknesses and turned them to strengths," said Dishman.

"After the first year, we really pressed it on our new guys and let them know that this was something we were serious about," said Dishman.

"The first year, we concentrated on Philanthropy and the following on Leadership. This year, it really came together with our dedication to improving Scholarship," Dishman added. They placed in third in that category. "We identified our weak areas and improved on them one by one"

"We also felt a lot of support from the other chapters on campus. It is nice to have people notice when you are trying to make a difference."

Dishman hopes their success will motivate other chapters. Buck Cooke, the Greek Advisor said, "Theta Xi has opened the competition up for other houses. This is a great award for recognition of the outstanding things fraternities at Tech do and I would like to see more houses actively participate."

"This award shows that the Greek system values these qualities," said Cooke.

"It helps with motivation and goal setting. The more fraternities and sororities line their goals up with these values, the more they will benefit. It also serves to showcase the great program that we have here at Tech."

"Working toward this objective helped us with our purpose to make a better man," said Dishman.

"In the end there was a great sense of accomplishment of what we thought was a lofty goal. We will stay just as determined next year, but our focus will remain on improving by our own standards."