Sororities earn top Greek GPAs

Sororities dominated overall grade point averages of IU greek organizations last semester.

For the spring 2013 semester, the top three positions were taken by sororities — Kappa Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi and Phi Mu, with average GPAs of 3.496, 3.470 and 3.439, respectively.

Every semester, each IU fraternity and sorority and its members are evaluated for an overall GPA. These GPAs are an average of members’ GPAs, which are compiled into a list, complete with rankings for each fraternity and sorority.

Alpha Omicron Pi has been within the top three for the last two and a half years. The sorority’s semester GPA was based on 188 women, said an officer of AOPi, and 18 of them had GPAs of 4.0.

Phi Mu has consistently scored in the top five for its GPA over the past few years, junior and Phi Mu president Olivia Koufos said.

Last semester, its average was based on 186 women. This semester, Phi Mu is aiming for the No. 1 ranking.

“I’m very happy and excited about our ranking,” Koufos said, “I think it says a lot about our chapter as a whole that we put a really strong focus on academics, which is something that Phi Mu values a lot.”

Koufos dedicates a lot of Phi Mu’s success to its scholarship chair, junior Jennifer Risting. Koufos said Risting helps the women make flashcards, revise their notes and make binders of their work, which the women turn in at the end of the semester.

“With the help of our scholarship chair, in addition to setting goals, I think that’s how we attained our GPA,” Koufos said.

If a member’s GPA drops below a 2.9, she is sent to Phi Mu’s Standards Board.

The board’s officers help the Phi Mu sister work with Risting and other older sisters to set specific, weekly goals.

In addition to setting specific goals, the women also have personal academic sheets in which they track their progress in their classes.

Some of the women have formed a library club, Koufos said, where they take a trip to the library and study together.

“We all kind of joke about it, saying, ‘You’re an official member of the library club,’” Koufos said.

Phi Mu also has a “Smarty Pants Award.” Each week at its chapter meeting, the girls submit the name of a fellow sister who they think demonstrated academic dedication that week, and the winning sister gets a roll of Smartees candy.

“We also set goals as a chapter every semester,” Koufos said, “We want the girls to have something to strive for.”

Follow reporter Tori Lawhorn on Twitter @ToriLawhorn.