Collegiate & Chapter Awards
Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity recognizes chapter and individual achievements across a number of categories – merit awards, Alpha Alumni Chapter Affiliate recognition, LEAD, Pursuit of Excellence, Rock Chapter (only at Grand Chapters), academics, manpower, and community service & philanthropy. Awards recognize an individual's or chapter's accomplishments for the previous academic year, or, in some cases an individual's collegiate career.
Application Materials
Collegiate Awards Descriptions – Merit and Alpha Affiliate
Individual collegiate awards include: Alpha Chapter Affiliates, Man of the Year, Scholar of the Year, Talent of the Year and Athlete of the Year. Criteria and application instructions for these awards are provided in this packet.
Collegiate Awards Application – Merit and Alpha Affiliate
All applicants for an individual collegiate awards – Alpha Chapter Affiliates, Man of the Year, Scholar of the Year, Talent of the Year or Athlete of the Year – should complete and submit this form by April 30.
Collegiate Awards Recommendation Form – Merit and Alpha Affiliate
All applicants for individual collegiate awards – Alpha Chapter Affiliates, Man of the Year, Scholar of the Year, Talent of the Year or Athlete of the Year – require three (3) letters of recommendation.
Collegiate Awards Chapter Endorsement Form - Merit and Alpha Affiliate
All applicants for individual collegiate awards – Alpha Chapter Affiliates, Man of the Year, Scholar of the Year, Talent of the Year or Athlete of the Year – require completion of the chapter endorsement form by the current Commander of Lt. Commander.
Collegiate Awards Transcript Request
Official transcripts are required for all Scholar of the Year award applicants.
2025 Merit Awards
2025 Merit Award Recipients
Alpha Chapter Affiliates
The Fraternity salutes those Knights, who demonstrate a genuine commitment to the ideals of the Legion of Honor and whose pattern of performance is a worthy example for others to follow.
- Alpha #710 – Brendan I. Ball (UC Davis)
- Alpha #711 – Tyler A. Bartman (Jefferson)
- Alpha #712 – Stegner E. Bell (Arizona State)
- Alpha #713 – Lawson T. Ewing (Texas Christian)
- Alpha #714 – Preston R. Ewing (Alabama)
- Alpha #715 – Jackson M. A. Gordon (Southern Methodist)
- Alpha #716 – James W. Moon, V. (Wofford)
- Alpha #717 – Aidan P. O'Brien (Northern Illinois)
- Alpha #718 – Jake P. Wagner (Illinois State)
- Alpha #719 – Jacob C. Zink (Montana State)
Athlete of the Year
The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated excellence in the area of Athletics.
- Marshall L. H. Koch (Rose-Hulman)
Talent of the Year
The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated excellence in the area of Athletics.
- George Louis Waddell (Arkansas)
Scholar of the Year
The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated excellence in the area of Scholarship.
- Jaxon P. Naviaux (Rose-Hulman)
Man of the Year
The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated all-around excellence in the areas of Leadership, Chapter and Campus Involvement, and Scholarship.
- Jacob C. Zink (Montana State)
2025 Chapter Awards
LEAD Awards
LEAD Awards recognize those chapters and individuals that have exhibited excellence in their use of an individual phase of the program; innovation in their adaptation and expansion of parts of the program as it is implemented into their own, unique circumstance; individual alumnus and collegiate facilitators who have demonstrated an extraordinary contribution to the brotherhood through their facilitation of the program; LEAD Chairmen and Committees that have implemented an outstanding program for their local membership; and the chapter(s) that best represents an ideal application of the program at the collegiate level.
Pursuit of Excellence Awards
Chapters receiving an overall level of excellence for one of the three standard areas – Principles-Based Leadership, Personal Development and Membership Value, Operational Excellence – will be recognized for the Pursuit of Excellence in that standard.
Rock Chapter Awards
The Rock Chapter Award is meant to honor collegiate chapters that have achieved excellence in all areas of chapter operations. To be granted the award, a chapter should be expected to attain a nearly perfect state across a broad range of areas of fraternity operations. The Rock Chapter Award is only presented at Grand Chapters, (i.e., every two years), providing there are chapters that qualify. Rock Chapter Award recipients will be those chapters that consistently achieve very good to excellent ratings in the Pursuit of Excellence Program over the course of the biennium.
Academic Awards
Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity recognizes those chapters that excel academically. These awards do not require an application and are based on the prior calendar year (e.g. Spring and Fall 2023 grades). Winners from the most recent year are below.
Gallaher Cup
This award is given to the chapter with the highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.
- Sigma (Vanderbilt) – GPA of 3.81 in Fall 2024
Silver Cup
This award is given to the chapter with the 2nd highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.
- Gamma Pi (UCLA) - GPA of 3.80 in Spring 2024
Bronze Cup
This award is given to the chapter with the 3rd highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.
- Gamma Omicron (Washington in St. Louis) – GPA of 3.79 in Fall 2024
Academic Commendation
This award is given to the chapter with the highest positive point differential over its respective local IFC GPA.
- Nu Epsilon (Tennessee at Chattanooga) – +0.55 over IFC in Spring 2024
Academic Merit
This is the award given to the chapter with the highest positive point differential over its respective local All-Male GPA.
- Nu Epsilon (Tennessee at Chattanooga) – +0.68 over All-Male in Spring 2024
Regent's Award for Academic Excellence
This award is given to the chapters that have achieved the highest GPA among fraternities on their campus during the 2024 calendar year.
- Epsilon Alpha (Arizona)
- Epsilon Beta (Drury)
- Epsilon Sigma (Rhodes)
- Epsilon Xi (Mississippi)
- Eta Chi (Old Dominion)
- Eta Omicron (Wofford)
- Gamma Eta (Colorado Mines)
- Gamma Omicron (Washington in St. Louis)
- Gamma Phi (Montana)
- Mu Kappa (Southeast Missouri State)
- Mu Phi (Longwood)
- Nu Epsilon (Tennessee at Chattanooga)
- Theta Lambda (Eastern Washington)
- Theta Pi (West Georgia)
- Zeta Omicron (North Texas)
- Zeta Upsilon (Arizona State)
- Zeta Xi (UC Davis)
Academic Improvement Award
This award is given to the chapter that has shown the greatest improvement in its GPA among other fraternities on its campus and among all Sigma Nu chapters.
- Eta Delta (West Texas A&M) – GPA increase of 0.67
Manpower Awards
Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity recognizes those chapters that excel in the areas of recruitment and manpower. These awards do not require an application.
This award is given to the chapters that have achieved a manpower of above 100 men.
- Beta Alpha (Yale) – 115 men
- Beta Eta (Indiana) – 145 men
- Beta Theta (Auburn) – 206 men
- Beta Zeta (Purdue) – 153 men
- Delta (South Carolina) – 183 men
- Delta Epsilon (Oklahoma) – 215 men
- Delta Phi (Maryland) – 102 men
- Delta Rho (Colorado State) – 130 men
- Epsilon Alpha (Arizona) – 112 men
- Epsilon Epsilon (Oklahoma State) – 147 men
- Epsilon Eta (Tennessee) – 203 men
- Epsilon Kappa (North Dakota) – 114 men
- Epsilon Mu (Butler) – 100 men
- Epsilon Pi (UCLA) – 141 men
- Epsilon Xi (Mississippi) – 287 men
- Eta Zeta (Louisiana Tech) – 128 men
- Gamma Iota (Kentucky) – 119 men
- Gamma Kappa (Colorado) – 176 men
- Gamma Mu (Illinois) – 111 men
- Gamma Nu (Michigan) – 104 men
- Gamma Upsilon (Arkansas) – 244 men
- Gamma Zeta (Oregon) – 178 men
- Iota Delta (James Madison) – 132 men
- Iota Theta (Southern Methodist) – 186 men
- Kappa Pi (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) – 136 men
- Kappa Zeta (Villanova) – 100 men
- Lambda Epsilon (Texas Christian) – 173 men
- Mu (Georgia) – 151 men
- Nu (Kansas) – 106 men
- Phi (Louisiana State) – 196 men
- Rho (Missouri) – 152 men
- Theta (Alabama) – 162 men
- Theta Kappa (Georgia Southern) – 107 men
- Theta Rho (Illinois State) – 108 men
- Zeta Pi (Texas Tech) – 101 men
- Zeta Upsilon (Arizona State) – 108 men
This award is given to the chapters that have achieved a manpower of above 80 men.
- Beta (Virginia) – 82 men
- Beta Tau (North Carolina State) – 88 men
- Epsilon Omicron (Southern California) – 80 men
- Eta Omicron (Wofford) – 84 men
- Eta Tau (Texas State) – 89 men
- Gamma Alpha (Georgia Tech) – 90 men
- Kappa Epsilon (Appalachian State) – 90 men
- Kappa Rho (UC San Diego) – 86 men
- Psi (North Carolina) – 88 men
- Zeta Xi (UC Davis) – 83 men
25% Increase in Manpower Award
This award is given to the chapters that have achieved at least a 25% increase in manpower from the previous year.
- Delta Alpha (Case Western Reserve) – 42% increase
- Epsilon Kappa (North Dakota) – 54% increase
- Epsilon Omicron (USC) – 86% increase
- Epsilon Sigma (Rhodes) – 51% increase
- Eta Chi (Old Dominion) – 108% increase
- Eta Mu (A) (Kettering) – 29% increase
- Gamma Alpha (Georgia Tech) – 29% increase
- Gamma Delta (Stevens) – 35% increase
- Gamma Pi (West Virginia) – 44% increase
- Iota (Samford) – 33% increase
- Iota Theta (Southern Methodist) – 49% increase
- Kappa Chi (Furman) – 36% increase
- Kappa Rho (UC San Diego) – 32% increase
- Mu Eta (UNC Asheville) – 33% increase
- Mu Xi (Columbus State) – 27% increase
- Theta Gamma (Southern Mississippi) – 50% increase
- Theta Lambda (Eastern Washington) – 52% increase
- Theta Nu (Ball State) – 55% increase
- Theta Pi (West Georgia) – 25% increase
- Theta Theta (Eastern Kentucky) – 26% increase
- Zeta Chi (Houston) – 26% increase
- Zeta Sigma (Gettysburg) – 50% increase
Regent's Award for Manpower Excellence
This award is given to the chapters that rank either 1st or in the top 15% in IFC manpower on their respective campus during the 2024 calendar year.
- Beta Omicron (Sewanee)
- Beta Zeta (Purdue)
- Delta Mu (Stetson)
- Delta Phi (Maryland)
- Delta Rho (Colorado State)
- Espilon Pi (UCLA)
- Epsilon Xi (Mississippi)
- Eta Beta (East Carolina)
- Eta Tau (Texas State)
- Gamma Beta (Northwestern)
- Gamma Omicron (Washington in St. Louis)
- Gamma Zeta (Oregon)
- Kappa Pi (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
- Lambda Epsilon (Texas Christian)
- Lambda Gamma (Eastern Illinois)
- Mu (Georgia)
- Mu Kappa (Southeast Missouri State)
- Phi (Louisiana State)
- Psi (North Carolina)
- Theta Rho (Illinois State)
- Theta Sigma (Missouri State)
- Zeta Upsilon (Arizona State)
Service and Philanthropy Awards
Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity recognizes those chapters that excel in the areas of service and philanthropy. These awards do not require an application. Selections are made based on Pursuit of Excellence submissions, including chapter reports of verifiable service and philanthropic contributions.
Community Service Contribution Award
This award recognizes the chapter with the highest per man average of verifiable community service hours throughout the course of the previous academic year.
- Beta Iota (Mount Union) – 43 hours per man
Philanthropy Contribution Award
This award recognizes the chapter with the highest per man average of verifiable philanthropic dollars donated throughout the course of the previous academic year.
- Mu (Georgia) – $1,869 per man