Last Thursday at Hillsdale College’s Spring Convocation, it was mistakenly announced that Sigma Chi won the coveted fraternity scholarship cup.
It was later determined that the actual winners were Delta Tau Delta who had a 3.375 average. The initial confusion stemmed from a calculation error where Sigma Chi’s GPA was taken strictly from members that were living in the house rather than all on-campus members.
“Mistakes happen, and there’s no reason for us to be upset about the mix-up with the cup,” Delta Tau Delta President Derek Fields said. “We were happy to win, because a lot of our guys really put some hard work in, but no one wanted to take that away from Sigma Chi while they were celebrating.
Fields added that Sigma Chi President Andrew Smith, as well as the rest of his house, have been gracious and gentlemanly throughout the whole ordeal.
According to Mark Maier, assistant to the provost, when it comes to working out the convocation GPAs, it is the job of the provost’s office to ask for information and report that information.
That information comes from the registrar’s office, which gathers all of the on-campus GPAs. The registrar, in turn, works with the deans’ offices in compiling the data for the Greek houses. This is what determines the winners of the sorority and fraternity scholarship cups.
“The scholarship cup is a recognition of academic excellence and is not the ultimate end of scholarly endeavors,” Smith said. “The Delts are deserving of the award, and we always strive to do our best academically, regardless of recognition.”
