Sigma Omega Sigma and Delta Omega won Male and Female Clubs of the Year at a reworked Greek Life Awards ceremony in Allen Arena Tuesday night.
Styled in the form of an awards show, the event featured food, entertainment and eight new award categories in addition to Male Club of the Year and Female Club of the Year.
Previous awards ceremonies were titled the Greek Life Appreciation Awards and were held in Collins Alumni Auditorium.
Senior and former Pi Delta president Lauren Cassetty helped plan the ceremony along with Sam Parnell and Laurie Sain.
“Last year we had an event in Collins Auditorium, which was great, but because Greek Life is in Collins a lot with Singarama and Stompfest and the Cowboy Show, we thought it would be a great idea to go bigger and better and Allen is just a venue that is different from what Greek Life is used to,” Cassetty said.
Cassetty, Parnell and Sain also created the list of eight new awards to highlight the accomplishments of the social clubs that go beyond Club of the Year.
“We wanted a more awards-style presentation,” Cassetty said. “Part of being in Greek life, there’s several qualifications that you have to reach. There’s a jersey or having a philanthropy and raising money and being involved at intermurals and so I thought it would be a great way to not just award the Club of the Year but also give individual awards to several clubs based on their accomplishments throughout the year.”
Delta Omega president Natalie Perry enjoyed the changes made to the event but also enjoyed the way the awards ceremony brought the different social clubs together.
“I loved all of it,” she said. “It was so nice. I love that we all can come together as a Greek life family because we all joined this community. We didn’t just join our club, we joined a community. It was so awesome to see everybody dressed up and celebrating all of our accomplishments.”
Perry was also thrilled about her club’s big win.
“I’m absolutely so excited. I’m so proud of those girls, and I’m proud of everything we’ve become this year. We’ve worked really hard, and we’ve gotten so close this year,” Perry said.
Sigma Omega Sigma president Etherton Jonga said he was excited but initially confused to hear of his club’s win.
“I was kind of surprised when they said our name,” he said. “I was like, ‘Is that us?’ and then I kind of like felt the excitement of all the work our club has done throughout the year and the passion we’ve just had to serve each other and serve God while growing closer to God.”
The complete list of the 2016 Greek Life Award Winners are as follows:
Male Club of the Year: Sigma Omega Sigma
Female Club of the Year: Delta Omega
Most Athletic Male Club: Sigma Iota Delta
Most Athletic Female Club: Pi Delta
Greatest Philanthropic Contribution: Kappa Chi
Best Campus Relations: Delta Omega
Greek Scholar: Gamma Lambda
Most School Spirit: Sigma Iota Delta
Who Wore It Better? Jersey Style: Alpha Zeta
Best T-shirt Design: Delta Omega