Greek Week champions, Chapter of Excellence named after week of competition

Greek Week wrapped up Friday evening with an awards ceremony for Greek Week champions and Chapter of Excellence awards for the year.

Delta Zeta sorority was named Greek Week champions, and Alpha Xi Delta Sorority won overall Chapter of Excellence honors for the women. Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity won both awards for the men.

"Winning Chapter of Excellence and Greek Week is an absolutely phenomenal feeling," said Josh Sime, president of Alpha Sigma Phi. "It provides us with a great sense of pride in what we do as a fraternity."

The Greek Week championship is based on performance in 15 events during the week. Alpha Sigma Phi defeated Delta Chi Fraternity by only 30 points. Delta Zeta's margin of victory was the same over Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority.

Sime said all Greek organizations were competitive this year.

"It was a very tense competition the whole time," Sime said. "The sportsmanship was through the roof this year, and it was a great experience to compete with all the other fraternities and sororities on campus."

Fraternities and sororities also filled out 19-part packets for Chapter of Excellence awards, said Courtney McNeel, Greek adviser.

McNeel said those packets are judged by eight members of the Marshall University community, including professors and faculty.

"It isn't necessarily a part of Greek Week, but we incorporate it into the awards ceremony to make it a one-time event," McNeel said.

McNeel said the Chapter of Excellence packets measure activities for an entire year, so the finished products take a lot of time and effort.

Sime said completing the packet took him and his brothers about a month and a half.

McNeel said winning a Chapter of Excellence award is a huge honor for Greek organizations and Greek individuals.

"If you win Chapter of Excellence, that means you have performed outstanding among your peers on all levels," McNeel said.

Alpha Xi Delta won by 43 points, and Alpha Sigma Phi won by 28 points for overall Chapters of Excellence.

Individual recognition is incorporated into the ceremony as parts of the Chapter of Excellence awards, McNeel said.

Of those awards, Greek man of the year and Greek woman of the year honors went to Jake Hensel of Delta Chi Fraternity and Ashley Saunders of Delta Zeta Sorority.

Erin Shaver can be contacted at shaver29@marshall.edu.