Volleyball had the highest GPA of all sports teams.
Brad Monastiere | Courtesy
Undergraduate grade reports from the spring semester are in, and the results were announced at 11 a.m. Thursday to an audience filling the College Baptist Church. Assistant Professor of History Matthew Gaetano won the Emily Daugherty Award and delivered a speech titled “For There are Gods Here Too: Humanism and the Study of Nature.”
The undergraduate grade point average was 3.32 — a few points up from last fall’s mean GPA of 3.27. Last spring’s GPA is the highest since the spring of 2013.
The women’s GPA averaged 3.407, slightly above the men’s at 3.226. For the last four years, undergraduate women consistently have brought in higher GPAs. Both the women and the men, however, managed to improve their GPAs from the previous fall semester: the women by .038 and the men by .06.
Pi Beta Phi sorority earned the sorority scholarship cup for the second semester in a row with a 3.434 GPA. Pi Phi has won the scholarship cup five times in the last three years. Kappa Kappa Gamma was a close second, recording a 3.423 GPA. Chi Omega had a 3.311 GPA.
Pi Phi president Elise Rempel said her sisters work together to create a positive atmosphere.
“We try to cultivate a place where we encourage one another in our academic lives. We have study tables, but it’s more than that,” Rempel said. “It’s encouraging sisters to come to study tables with you, or even just go to the library to study for awhile. Also, recognizing members who have done well in a class is something important to us, the recognition always feels good, and it drives you to continue to work hard.”
Sigma Chi fraternity was awarded the fraternity scholarship cup after improving their house’s GPA from 3.14 to 3.302. Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, last semester’s scholarship cup recipient, recorded the second highest fraternity GPA this semester: 3.174.
Sigma Chi scholarship chairman Eric LaRose credited the house’s impressive GPA to Adam Kern, the previous scholarship chairman. LaRose said he has continued to promote academic excellence within the house.
“This semester I worked on creating an incentive system to reward people who got high GPAs last semester and will get high GPAs this semester,” LaRose said. “By letting brothers know I’m always here as an academic resource and able to help with classes, without being too pushy about it, I think I’ve helped the house better appreciate the importance of academics.”
The Hillsdale College volleyball team took back the athletic scholarship cup after a one-year loss to the women’s softball team. The team received an impressive 3.535 GPA, the highest of any organization on campus. The volleyball program is familiar with this honor; they won the scholarship cup in the fall of both 2013 and 2014.
Head coach Chris Gravel said the coaches places extreme importance on academic excellence.
“As a coaching staff we understand that our student-athletes’ number one priority is to their academics and their education,” Gravel said. “We are certain to demand excellence out of our athletes by requiring they set academic goals for themselves, checking their grades during the semester, and providing time during travel for students to complete their assignments. Our athletes understand they must be succeeding in the classroom to experience the playing time on the court.
Gravel said he expects his team to maintain these marks year-round.
“I am proud of my team’s accomplishment from last spring. They demonstrated an incredible amount of discipline and motivation in their studies,” Gravel said. “But myself and my players included are not satisfied with simply one good semester or season. The standards will remain high, and I will continue to expect them to excel in their studies as well as on the court.”
The Hillsdale College volleyball team took back the athletic scholarship cup after a one-year loss to the women’s softball team. The team received an impressive 3.535 GPA, the highest of any organization on campus. The volleyball program is familiar with this honor; they won the scholarship cup in the fall of both 2013 and 2014.
Head coach Chris Gravel said the coaches places extreme importance on academic excellence.
“As a coaching staff we understand that our student-athletes’ number one priority is to their academics and their education,” Gravel said. “We are certain to demand excellence out of our athletes by requiring they set academic goals for themselves, checking their grades during the semester, and providing time during travel for students to complete their assignments. Our athletes understand they must be succeeding in the classroom to experience the playing time on the court.
Gravel said he expects his team to maintain these marks year-round.
“I am proud of my team’s accomplishment from last spring. They demonstrated an incredible amount of discipline and motivation in their studies,” Gravel said. “But myself and my players included are not satisfied with simply one good semester or season. The standards will remain high, and I will continue to expect them to excel in their studies as well as on the court.”
