Alpha Tau Omega and Alpha Delta Pi earn national awards

Two Greek organizations on Mercer’s campus were pleased to receive national recognition this past summer. The Alpha Zeta chapter of Alpha Tau Omega and the Beta Sigma chapter of Alpha Delta Pi were awarded for their excellence in and out of the classroom. Alpha Zeta of Alpha Tau Omega was recognized as a True Merit Chapter and Beta Sigma of Alpha Delta Pi received the Maxine Blake Golden Lion Award.
According to a recent Mercer press release, Cindy Drury, assistant director of campus life, said “Two of our Greek chapters exemplified the greatness of Mercer’s student body when they were awarded recognition from their national organizations for their outstanding performance.”
The True Merit Chapter award is a prestigious award given to Alpha Tau Omega chapters who demonstrate overall excellence in four major categories: focus, fundamentals, finances and friendship. Alpha Zeta has been recognized as a True Merit Chapter 7 times in the last ten years. They were also recognized as one of the top ten Alpha Tau Omega chapters in the nation. Alpha Tau Omega has over 120 chapters nationwide.
“There are no set number of chapters that receive True Merit each year, but ten exemplary chapters are recognized as candidates for the Top Chapter Award. Alpha Zeta at Mercer was recognized as one of those Top Ten Chapters,” said Christopher Drive, Alpha Zeta president.
In addition, Alpha Zeta was recognized for excellence in the following categories: pledge education, ritual, finance management, campus involvement and leadership development, recruitment and scholarship.
The Beta Sigma chapter of Alpha Delta Pi received the Maxine Blake Golden Lion award this summer while attending their national convention. The Maxine Blake Golden Lion award is the highest honor an Alpha Delta Pi chapter can receive. Chapters must meet requirements consecutively for a minimum of six years in order to be eligible to win the award. Criteria cover all aspects of chapter performance such as: operations and administration, philanthropy, programming, recruitment and campus involvement. There are 138 Alpha Delta Pi chapters in the United States and Canada and of those, only 14 chapters were awarded the Maxine Blake Golden Lion Award.
Both Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Tau Omega have their awards displayed inside their on-campus Greek houses.
“Nationally, these are two very large organizations and they were competing with chapters from universities across the country,” said Drury. “These awards are significant because it brings recognition to Mercer from around the country. Their efforts have shown what truly separates Mercer students from others; what it really means to ‘Be the Bear’”