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CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Panhellenic Council at Oregon State University, which governs the 10 National Panhellenic Council sorority chapters at OSU, received two top awards at the annual Western Regional Greek Association leadership conference held in San Francisco.

OSU received the University Involvement Award and the Scholarship Achievement Award in a competition among 39 colleges and universities. They were the first such awards the university has received at the event since 2005.

“This was a major competition that was attended by schools from all over the country, even though it was a regional conference,” said Allie Sevall, a senior from Salem who serves as president of Panhellenic. “The awards reflect the hard work we’ve done to boost Greek involvement on campus.”

The University Involvement Award is given for educational programming, a strong relationship between the university and the sorority system, and community service. The OSU Panhellenic Council was cited for sponsoring a tour for the community, hosting university-wide events, participating in programs for new students, developing events for OSU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration and homecoming, and for the activities of its members in cultural centers, student government and program councils.

The Scholarship Achievement Award is given to Greek leadership organizations that have a grade point average significantly higher than that of the overall student body. OSU received an award in the category after its Panhellenic Council sororities logged an average grade point of 3.11 for both winter and spring term last year.

“We really emphasize academics within the council and offer chapters and students a lot of resources, including study sessions and tip sheets,” Sevall said. “Each sorority also has a program to motivate its house members to perform well academically and the competition each quarter for the best academic performance turns into a pretty big competition.”

Sevall, who is majoring in liberal studies at OSU, is a graduate of South Salem High School.

More than 800 students belong to the 10 Panhellenic Council sorority chapters at OSU. More information on the OSU Greek system is available at: http://oregonstate.edu/greeklife/