The fall semester grade calculations for the campus fraternities and sororities have both dropped from last semester, while the athletic grades are on the rise.

With IFC and Pan Hellenic recruitment right around the corner, academics are one area that potential members will probably consider before choosing their organization. Based on last semester's performance, the fraternity GPA is .10 less than the all male GPA. This is something that hasn't occurred in the recent past.

All IFC fraternities decreased in academic performance, compared to the spring semester of 2003. The top two performing IFC fraternities, Alpha Gamma Rho and Sigma Phi Epsilon even feel below a 3.0. The campuses' new fraternity, Sigma Chi ranked in with a GPA of 2.09. While the IFC grades fell several points, the all male average for the campus only fell .01.

Other fraternities not affiliated with IFC increased in their academic performance, but even with an increase close to a half of a point, none of the NPHC fraternities ranked above a 2.5 average.

Sorority grades fell some compared to last spring semester as well. Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega and Alpha Omicron Pi all were able to keep their GPA above a 3.0, even with the declines.

Gamma Kappa Pi and Delta Sigma Theta showed improvements: Gamma Kappa Pi averaged a 2.67, while Delta Sigma Theta averaged a 2.39.

This year's academic performance for the sports teams on campus is something to brag about. Over 40% of the athletes made the dean's list this year with a GPA of 3.2 or higher. Over 50% of the athletes made a 3.0 or higher.

Among the top achieving teams are volleyball with 73% of their players making dean's list. Bring up the rear for academic achievement are the cheerleaders, having a GPA of 2.31.

Director of intercollegiate athletics at UTM Phil Dane says he is pleased with the performance of the athletes. "I'm very pleased with the academic performance of our student-athletes this fall," Dane says. "This shows our coaches have made academics a priority."