Collegiate & Chapter Awards

Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. recognizes chapter and individual achievements across a number of categories – merit awards, Alpha Chapter Affiliate recognition, LEAD, Pursuit of Excellence, Rock Chapter (only at Grand Chapters), scholarship, and manpower. Awards are presented at convention – Grand Chapter or College of Chapters – to recognize an individual's or chapter's accomplishments for the previous academic year, or, in some cases an individual's collegiate career.

Individual Awards 

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.

2017 Award Winners

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 #630 – Bradley P. Bocketti (Butler)
• Alpha #631 – Adam F. Clay (Georgia Southern)
• Alpha #632 – Austin T. Finley (Alabama in Huntsville)
• Alpha #633 – Alexander R. Foy (Cal State Fullerton)
• Alpha #634 – Casey J. Kolbeck (Oklahoma State)
• Alpha #635 – James R. Markos (Mississippi)
• Alpha #636 – William D. Oldham (Case Western Reserve)
• Alpha #637 – Juan S. Patino (Georgia State)
• Alpha #638 – Nathaniel J. Smith (DePauw)
• Alpha #639 – J. Taylor Walker (Illinois)

Scholar of the Year

The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated excellence in the area of Scholarship.

• James R. Markos (Mississippi)

Man of the Year

The Fraternity recognizes the individual who has demonstrated excellence in the area of Leadership

• James R. Markos (Mississippi) 

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 – Values-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 the ideals or 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 which consistently achieve very good to excellent ratings in the Pursuit of Excellence Program over the course of the biennium.

Scholarship Awards

Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. recognizes those chapters that excel academically. These awards do not require an application. Past year's winners are below.

Gallaher Cup

This award is given to the chapter with the 1st place GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.

• Gamma (Duke) – GPA of 3.64

Bronze Cup

This award is given to the chapter with the 2nd highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.

• Lambda (Washington and Lee) – GPA of 3.52

Certificate of Commendation

This award is given to the chapter with the 3rd highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.

• Gamma Delta (Stevens) – GPA of 3.50

Certificate of Merit

This is the award given to the chapter with the 4th highest GPA of all Sigma Nu chapters nationwide.

• Beta Rho (Pennsylvania) – GPA of 3.49

Regent's Award for Academic Excellence

This award is given to the chapters who have achieved the highest GPA among fraternities on their campus. 

• Epsilon Mu (Butler)
• Epsilon Sigma (Rhodes)
• Eta Beta (East Carolina)
• Eta Epsilon (Kentucky Wesleyan)
• Eta Omicron (Wofford)
• Gamma Kappa (Colorado)
• Iota Delta (James Madison)
• Kappa Delta (Duquesne)
• Kappa Epsilon (Appalachian State)
• Kappa Pi (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
• Kappa Zeta (Villanova)
• Lambda Chi (Cal State San Bernardino)
• Mu Chi (Lynchburg)
• Mu Iota (Hartford)
• Mu Pi (Thomas Jefferson)
• Mu Xi (Columbus State)
• Nu Alpha (Arkansas - Fort Smith)
• Nu Beta (Huntingdon)
• Nu Delta (High Point)
• Theta Alpha (South Florida)
• Zeta Psi (Lamar)
• Zeta Theta (Presbyterian)
• Zeta Xi (UC Davis)

Scholarship 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 Epsilon (Kentucky Wesleyan) – GPA increase from 2.15 to 2.59 (+0.44)

Manpower Awards

Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. 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 who have achieved a manpower of above 100 men.

• Beta Eta (Indiana) – 147 men
• Beta Tau (North Carolina State) – 122 men
• Beta Theta (Auburn) – 155 men
• Epsilon Epsilon (Oklahoma State) – 124 men
• Epsilon Omicron (Southern California) – 148 men
• Epsilon Pi (UCLA) – 121 men
• Epsilon Rho (Michigan State) – 147 men
• Epsilon Xi (Mississippi) – 291 men
• Gamma Kappa (Colorado) – 122 men
• Gamma Tau (Minnesota) – 103 men
• Gamma Upsilon (Arkansas) – 214 men
• Gamma Zeta (Oregon) – 116 men
• Iota Delta (James Madison) – 118 men
• Kappa Pi (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) – 139 men
• Lambda Epsilon (Texas Christian) – 131 men
• Mu (Georgia) – 128 men
• Rho (Missouri) – 103 men
• Theta (Alabama) – 141 men
• Theta Kappa (Georgia Southern) – 112 men
• Zeta Pi (Texas Tech) – 145 men

This award is given to the chapters who have achieved a manpower of above 80 men.

• Beta Mu (Iowa) – 90 men
• Delta Epsilon (Oklahoma) – 81 men
• Delta Kappa (Delaware)  – 90 men
• Delta Rho (Colorado State) – 82 men
• Epsilon Mu (Butler) – 80 men
• Eta Zeta (Louisiana Tech) – 89 men
• Gamma (Duke) – 91 men
• Gamma Beta (Northwestern) – 82 men
• Gamma Mu (Illinois) – 92 men
• Iota Sigma (New Hampshire) – 90 men
• Lambda Chi (Cal State San Bernardino) – 93 men
• Nu (Kansas) – 84 men
• Phi (Louisiana State) – 82 men
• Psi (North Carolina) – 81 men
• Sigma (Vanderbilt) – 84 men
• Theta Alpha (South Florida) – 86 men
• Theta Sigma (Missouri State) – 85 men
• Theta Zeta (Clemson) – 86 men
• Zeta Iota (San Jose State) – 91 men
• Zeta Xi (UC Davis) – 95 men

25% Increase In Manpower Award

This award is given to the chapters who have achieved at least a 25% increase in manpower from the previous year.

• Epsilon Kappa (North Dakota)
• Eta Beta (East Carolina)
• Eta Epsilon (Kentucky Wesleyan)
• Eta Phi (Cal State Los Angeles)
• Mu Chi (Lynchburg)
• Mu Xi (Columbus State)
• Psi (North Carolina)
• Theta Gamma (Southern Mississippi)
• Theta Lambda (Eastern Washington)
• Theta Pi (West Georgia)
• Theta Rho (Illinois State)
• Theta Sigma (Missouri State)
• Zeta Kappa (Fresno State)
• UT – Chattanooga 

Service and Philanthropy Awards

Each year, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. 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 is recognizes the chapter with the highest per man average of verifiable community service hours throughout the course of the previous academic year.

• Zeta Xi (UC Davis) – 85.1 hours per man 

Philanthropy Contribution Award

This award is recognizes the chapter with the highest per man average of verifiable philanthropic dollars donated throughout the course of the previous academic year.

• Iota Pi (Kennesaw State) – $1,117 per man