BY Neil B. McGahee
Billie Walker, a homeless single mother, cried as she and her 4-year-old son, Rashiid, in December accepted the keys to a new house built by Georgia Tech Greeks in conjunction with Atlanta Habitat for Humanity.
For that and other community and campus projects, the Tech Interfraternity Council was awarded the Fraternal Excellence Award at the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference in February.
"We were recognized for having the best community service project plus outstanding academic achievement, campus and community relations and best educational programming," IFC president Jonathan Sangster said. "We won twice as many awards as any of the other 70 schools represented.
"The Habitat project was a first for us," Sangster, a Sigma Nu brother, said. "In the past, individual chapters have done small community service projects here and there, but this time we pooled our resources and raised more than $100,000 to build this house."
The Tech IFC was also cited for working with the Georgia Tech Foundation to establish a scholarship endowment fund that rewards academic achievement by individual Greeks and the establishment of a tutoring program to strengthen academic excellence.
"The scholarship endowment awarded three $3,000 scholarships last year to Greeks that met the academic performance level set by the review board," Sangster said. "We also provided 18 tutors in the first year who worked mainly with other Greeks, but we hope to expand that in the future to provide academic aid to all Tech students."
Sangster said the IFC also brought home the top prize for best Web site and publications.
"It was gratifying to see nearly 2,000 Greek men working together through the IFC to make a difference in our campus and community," Sangster said. "We want to continue doing this kind of work and establish a legacy of community service for future Tech Greeks."
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