Sarah Chavis
Staff Reporter
As announced at the homecoming game, this year’s Brant Memorial Cup was awarded to the Alpha Nu Omega sorority. The President of Alpha Nu Omega, Kaiti Reynolds, said, “By winning the Brant Cup it essentially shows that your chapter has the best leadership, community service, and all around involvement. We were honored to win the Brant Memorial Cup this year. We have not won since 1991 so we are very proud of this award.”
During the 1976 Homecoming halftime show, Phi Delta Theta was awarded the first ever James Brant Memorial Cup in remembrance of Jim Brant, a member of the Class of ’76 who died tragically. Since then, the Cup has been awarded annually to the best “all-around” Greek organization based on their academia, athletics, leadership, honor society membership, and community service from the previous school year.
The winner is determined by a point system assigned by the College Activities Office. With a total of 9 wins over the past 33 years, Phi Sigma Sigma has set a precursor for themselves and for the rest of the Greek societies to live up to.
What the Greeks have to say:
Alpha Sigma Phi:
“We try to have people involved in campus activities, from clubs to honor societies to sports teams. Also, we do numerous community service events over the course of the year. We help with blood drives, several events through the Baltimore Zoo (Zoo Boo and one around Easter) and help around campus, just to name a few. Also, we try to maintain a relatively high GPA, which can be difficult with a group of, on average, 26 to 30 members.”
–Atlee Baker, President
Phi Delta Theta:
“Winning the cup would be a great accomplishment for our fraternity. We have participated in events such as St. Judes, Nothing but Nets to raise money for Malaria, and will be walking in the Alzheimer’s Walk sponsored by the gerontology club.”
–Nick Bender, President
Phi Kappa Sigma:
“Winning the Brant Cup would mean that our fraternity has come a long way. It wasn’t very long ago that we didn’t even bother applying to win the Brant Cup. It would mean, to Phi Kappa Sigma, that our fraternity has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple years, and it would be motivation for us to keep striving to get stronger so we can continue to win the Brant Cup.
In our effort to win this, we have members in various Honors Societies, including but not limited to, the Greek Honors Society (Gamma Sigma Alpha), Gamma Sigma Epsilon, and Tri-Beta. We also hold many leadership positions on campus, including the president of the Multi-Cultural Association, president of the Inter-Greek Council, and both the president and vice president of the Inter-Fraternity council. We have done several community service projects, including a “dorm storm” for our national philanthropy, Leukemia/Lymphoma, the Smash-A-Car event for Leukemia/Lymphoma, Relay for Life, and St. Jude’s Up ‘Til Dawn.”
–Mike McNulty, President
Phi Mu:
“Winning the Brant Cup would be a huge honor for our sorority. We are always striving to be as active as we can be in the school community as well as the broader community through participation and leadership in clubs, honor societies and service projects. It would be a great honor to be recognized as a whole sorority for being the best Greek organization on campus, as well as great recognition for all the hard work and dedication the individual women of the sorority have put into academics, school involvement, and their community. Phi Mu is always striving for the best from each of its members and finding ways to support our women. We encourage all members to participate in school activities and to strive for leadership positions as well as to get good grades. We have a committee dedicated to community service, who sets up such projects as volunteering at SERV international, Petsmart, Fall Fest, and the upcoming Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.”
–Anna Beers, Class of 2010
Phi Sigma Sigma:
“The Brant Cup represents a recognition that we would be both delighted to receive and humbled by. With that said, our sorority would be elated to accept the Brant Cup honor and know that we have helped portray Greek life in a light of excellence, as well as leaving our ladies with the feeling of pride: pride for themselves, pride for their sisters, and pride for Greek life. We would be grateful to win this award, as our sorority is always striving to be better, never wanting to settle for just good enough.
We have developed scholarship improvement programs for those sisters who have requested help or drop below the standards we hold for them as a national organization. We continue to reward sisters for being leaders and receiving honors through ritual ceremonies. Many sisters wear multiple hats on campus. Some sisters play varsity sports, which we encourage, as it is conducive to fostering teamwork and goal setting. I believe Philanthropy has always been a strength for our sorority. We work very hard to support different charities as well as our National foundation, which gives scholarship opportunities to sisters.”
–Lindsay Anderson, President
