Both greek and sports grades showed improvements over the Spring 2006 semester grade reports, recently released by the UTM Athletics Department and Office of Greek Life.

Sigma Phi Epsilon took the top spot among fraternities, catching a 3.15 GPA and taking the best grades title from Sigma Chi, who took top grades with a 3.16 the previous semester. Sigma Chi came in at third place with a 2.90 average last semester.

Chi Omega once again scored highest among sororities, earning a 3.28 cumulative average, up 0.01 points from Fall 2005.

Among sports teams, men’s cross country once again scored highest in academics last semester, with a 3.61 cumulative GPA, up from 3.58 last year.

Overall, seven of the 11 fraternities’ averages ranked higher than the UTM all-male average. However the overall fraternity’s GPA dropped .07 points compared to last semester’s results. The most significant improvement in grades was Sigma Alpha Epsilon, with a 0.2-point increase.

The Phi Beta Sigma Sorority, which came in with a 2.83 average in Fall 2005, still below the all-female average, experienced the most drastic drop last semester, falling 0.66 points to 2.17.

The Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity scored lowest of any athletic team or greek organization, just hitting the 2.0 mark.

Louis Ragsdale, director of Greek Life, said, “I am happy to see that grades in the last couple of years have risen and that many fraternities and sororities have risen above the overall student body average.” Last fall the IFC passed a bill that required all members of the IFC to maintain a 2.5 GPA, which was reached by all IFC members last semester. While all IFC fraternities met that requirement, all three NPHC fraternities scored under 2.5.

Compared to Fall 2005 results, UTM athletes had a .16 decrease for Spring semester, but several teams showed marked improvements. Compared with the student body average of 2.82, UTM athletes finished with a 2.92 overall GPA.

Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance Bill Kaler said, “The UTM athletes are getting better all the time. I have seen a better caliber in not only students here at UTM, but also in our athletes.”