(Back row, left to right): Hunter Hawkins (Pi Kappa Phi), Matthew McMullan (Sigma Phi Epsilon), Will Allen (Sigma Chi), Adam Miller (Sigma Alpha Epsilon), Jacob Fitzgerald (Delta Tau Delta) (Front row, left to right): Charles Childress (Adviser), Chris Huffman (Pi Kappa Phi), Nicholas Souhlas (Sigma Phi Epsilon), Daniel Paul (Pi Kappa Phi), Andrew Burleson (Sigma Alpha Epsilon), Zachary Turner (graduate assistant)

The Interfraternity Council (IFC) of Greek Life at The University of Southern Mississippi received 11 awards at the 2015 Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC) in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Also, Southern Miss Director of Greek Life Charles Childress received additional recognition and was awarded the Dr. Tom Shoemaker Adviser of the Year Award, named in the honor of Southern Miss’ former dean of students.

According to Childress, the awards included Excellence in Recruitment; Excellence in Publications, Excellence in Philanthropy, Excellence in Outstanding Publication, Excellence in Educational Programming, Excellence in Academic Achievement and Scholarship Programming, Excellence in Alumni Development, Excellence in Campus and Community Relations and Excellence in Community Service.

“The 2014 Southern Miss IFC Executive Board worked diligently to innovate in an effort to provide programs and opportunities to the chapters, their members and Greek Life as a whole,” Childress said.

“Throughout the year, the leaders of the group engaged in meaningful conversation in an effort to promote sustained improvement and creativity. Those leaders built a great base that is leading to even more success stories this current semester and calendar year.”

Among these awards, USM’s IFC was also awarded the Fraternal Excellence Award. For the second year in a row, Southern Miss was the only university in Mississippi to receive this recognition.

The Fraternal Excellence Award recognizes Interfraternity Councils that meet the SEIFC Fraternal Excellence Standards in philanthropy and community service, leadership development, scholarship and academics, social engagement, chapter service, public relations, management, recruitment, legal concerns and judicial processes.

“To receive these awards and the Fraternal Excellence designation for the second year in a row shows that the Southern Miss IFC system is a leader in the southeast,” Childress said. “I’m proud of the fraternity leaders and their commitment to promoting the true values of fraternal life.”

The IFC’s recent achievements not only hold USM’s Greek Life system in high regard compared to other Mississippi universities, they also indicate an overall positive trend in the quality of Greek Life over the past few years at USM.

“I could not be more pleased with the steady progress and growth of our fraternity system at Southern Miss,” Southern Miss Vice President for Student Affairs Joe Paul said in a USM press release. “The Interfraternity Council has provided great leadership, and I am happy that their work has been duly recognized by the SEIFC.”

The positive growth in USM’s fraternity system has been evident to Greek students as well. Kappa Sigma president Tanner Shaw said that, given the positive growth that Greek Life at Southern Miss is experiencing, the IFC’s recent achievements are certainly well deserved.

“The Greek Life system at Southern Miss is without a doubt on the rise,” Shaw said. “Even over the course of the past two years, I have seen dramatic improvement in the amount of inter-fraternity and inter-sorority activity.”

Shaw added that the relationships between organizations have developed and become more positive.

“The amount of drive and ambition among members in order to reach targets and set new, higher goals is evident throughout the system,” he said. “The 11 awards recently bestowed on our IFC are indication of this trend.”