Erin Christensen
assistant director of Greek Affairs, 308.865.8057 or christenseef@unk.edu
The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, also known as FIJI, at the University of Nebraska at Kearney received national awards for the 2011-12 school year at the fraternity’s national convention in New Orleans.
The UNK chapter has 48 members and competes for these awards with 124 chapters internationally.
For the third consecutive year, the chapter received a Certificate of Academic Achievement for earning a chapter grade point average above the all-men’s average, along with a John Templeton McCarty Chapter Proficiency Award recognizing excellence in overall chapter operations for the fourth year.
Fraternity-wide, the UNK chapter was recognized with honorable mentions for the Zerman Trophy and the Jordan Bowl. The Zerman Trophy is awarded for involvement in student government, the campus newspaper and other extracurricular activities.
The UNK Phi Gamma Delta President Brandon Drozd of Genoa said, “We have been competitive in this area, and we are looking to continue to improve our campus relations, so that we can start placing higher in this competition.”
The Jordan Bowl is presented to the chapter having the highest comparative scholarship among the undergraduate chapters. Fifty-five percent of the members in the UNK chapter earned a 3.5 or above, which was a 6.6 percent increase over from the previous semester.
“This past spring semester our chapter cumulative GPA was a 3.37,” Drozd said.
In addition, Blaine Drozd of Genoa was the first UNK student to receive an individual honorable mention for the Wilkinson Award, an award presented to the most outstanding senior nationwide.
Founded in 1848 at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is represented on 144 campuses of leading colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada, and has a total living membership over 122,00. The UNK chapter was colonized in Spring 2008 and chartered in Spring 2009.
