Academic success, according to data compiled by the Inter-Sorority Council, isn't Greek to members of the University's chapters.
For the fall 2007 semester, the average GPA of each ISC-affiliated chapter was well above the University's female average of 3.226, according to ISC president Stuart Berkeley.
Berkeley said the average GPA of all sorority members was 3.311, while for individual chapters, 3.567 was the highest average and the lowest was 3.319?.
Although the average GPA of the University's sorority members has traditionally been higher than the University's female average, Berkeley also noted that "we're excited that every single chapter is above this year."
Council members also had a slightly higher GPA than other sorority members, Berkeley noted, with an average GPA of 3.409.
"The ISC is not allowed to have a minimum GPA, but each house has their individual GPA minimum for girls in recruitment," Berkeley said. "The lowest is 2.0 but quite a few decide to go above that."
According to Sally Kline, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority life, all sorority chapters seek achieve a higher GPA than the University's female average.
"I haven't been at a school yet where all of the sororities have been above the average GPA, so this is a huge accomplishment for this particular council," Kline said.
This success, Kline added, is the result of a concerted effort on behalf of sororities to focus on education. Sororities at the University, Kline said, make use of a variety of strategies to boost performance and support study, including having older chapter members check on younger members to make sure classes are going well and to see if any help is needed.
Additionally, Kline said, many sororities reward members for academic excellence.
For example, Kline said, "I know one [chapter] gave cookie cakes out to members who did well, and other groups do similar things. They do encourage study hours."
Similarly, Berkeley said her sorority has a program called "Smart Cookies," which rewards chapter members with prizes for such things as not missing class or getting a good grade on an exam or paper.
According to Berkeley, many chapters also arrange for older members give advice to younger members on what classes to take for a variety of different majors, she said.
"Every chapter has their own education chair in charge of maintaining high academic standards," Berkeley said.
Kline echoed Berkeley's sentiment, adding that many people forget sororities are more than social outlets.
"When a lot of people look at sororities, academic performance is not one of the first things they think of," Kline said. "These women have really done a great job"
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