The average Fall term GPA for houses in the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority system was just narrowly below the entire undergraduate College average, according to Office of Residential Life data obtained by The Dartmouth. An ORL report detailing the GPA breakdown house-by-house also showed that sororities surpassed fraternities and coeducational houses in overall GPA.
The average GPA for all Greek affiliated undergraduates was 3.24 in the fall, a mere .04 points below the overall undergraduate average of 3.28. Interfraternity Council member organizations averaged a 3.20, significantly less than the Panhellenic Council organizations' average of 3.39. Coed houses had an average GPA of 3.36, slightly below the sorority average.
When asked whether he was surprised by the virtual equivalency in GPA between Greek students and the entire undergraduate population, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said "absolutely not."
"Dartmouth students are talented, whether they choose to join the Greek system or not," Redman said. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Greeks were the ones with a slight edge in the recent past."
Alpha Xi Delta sorority ranked first among CFS organization Fall term, with a 3.47 average GPA. Over half of Alpha Xi's members earned above a 3.5.
Alpha Xi member Chelsea Carroll '06 said that the overall academic spirit within the house is nurtured by weekly programming and contribute its members' success.
"Our house has historically been very academically successful," Carroll said. "We seem to draw people though the rush process who are attracted to our academic record. That definitely has an effect on our academic standing within the CFS."
The highest fraternity average was that of Sigma Phi Epsilon, at 3.43. The only other fraternity to rank among the top 10 CFS averages was Sigma Alpha Epsilon, with a 3.39 GPA. Neither fraternity sported members with GPAs below a 2.0.
Sig Ep President Morgan Brown cited weekly study sessions and an in-house tutoring list as important factors for the fraternity's academic success.
"Our scholarship chair, Sean Anthony '06, led a stronger than usual effort last term to encourage our brothers to focus on academics in several ways," Morgan said.
Two coed houses, Phi Tau and Alpha Theta, made the top ten ranking, tied with an average GPA of 3.46. The College's third coed house, The Tabard, averaged a 3.17 GPA last fall.
While all six Panhellenic sororities scored above the undergraduate College average of 3.28, only four fraternities matched the feat -- Sig Ep, SAE, Alpha Chi Alpha, and Sigma Nu.
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the College's only national black fraternity house, ranked last in the CFS report, with an average GPA of 2.51. Five members' GPAs comprised the fraternity's average.
Alpha Phi Alpha could not be reached for comment.
Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, at 2.89, had the lowest average of the IFC member houses. The only other fraternity to have a GPA in the two-point range was Theta Delta Chi, at 2.98.
Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity had the highest number of members with averages below 2.0. Four of its 58 members who took classes last fall scored below 2.0, contributing to the fraternities 3.25 average.
