The Interfraternity Council (IFC) won awards for its risk management and judicial procedures, recruitment efforts and recently launched website at the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC) Saturday evening.

The conference is an association of fraternity governing councils in the southeastern United States and aims to bring together fraternity members who have “a commitment to fraternity life on college and university campuses,” according to the SEIFC website. Each year, each SEIFC institution can apply for awards recognizing outstanding overall achievement, outstanding achievement in specific programming areas and individual accomplishments.

Goizueta Business School junior and IFC President Victor Rudo said that while IFC does not seek accolades for working towards its mission of “growing and enhancing the Greek community,” he is excited that SEIFC recognized Emory’s chapter in three different categories.

“What we do seek is feedback from outside groups as we continue to evaluate our programs and policies,” Rudo said. “In that respect, we are extremely pleased that a panel of professionals with significant experience in fraternity affairs found it necessary to recognize the Emory Interfraternity Council.”

The Excellence in Risk Management and Judicial Procedures award recognizes the IFC that “best sets and enforces minimum standards and promotes ethical conduct” through the education of its chapter leaders and members, according to the awards packet given to SEIFC attendees.

The SEIFC committee that selects the award recipients cited the Greek Summit — when all chapter and council leaders meet to discuss upcoming plans and policies for the semester — as well as IFC’s risk management presentations as reasons for recognizing the Emory chapter in this category, Rudo said.

Rudo added that IFC aims to educate fraternity members on fraternity policies and their importance “rather than reacting and punishing after the fact.”

IFC also received the Outstanding Recruitment award, which recognizes the IFC with well-designed and effective recruitment programs. According to Rudo, IFC established several new recruitment initiatives this year to collaborate with campus departments such as Residence Life and Housing to a greater extent.

New IFC programs and events included Makarios Day — an annual all-Greek fair — as well as Sunday Night Dinners, where prospective fraternity members had the opportunity to eat a meal and spend time with brothers at the end of the weekend, according to Rudo.

Rudo said that during spring recruitment, IFC doubled its number of recruitment managers, who serve as neutral guides for prospective fraternity members, from last year. These managers also gained more responsibilities such as helping plan and oversee Greek events throughout the fall semester and spring recruitment, Rudo said.

“The overall goal of our recruitment programming was to emphasize the beyond obvious benefits of joining the fraternity community in an effort to appeal to more prospective members and those that may not have envisioned joining before coming to campus,” Rudo said.

IFC additionally launched a new website last August, earning the organization the Outstanding Website award.

The award recognizes the IFC with an informative, visually attractive website that positively portrays fraternity life, said Rudo. He mentioned that the new website serves as a beneficial tool for Emory’s fraternity chapters, parents and students, among others.

B-School junior Isaac Chambers, a member of the Kappa Alpha Order who designed and built the website last summer, said working on the website in collaboration with other IFC executive board officers was “particularly rewarding because I knew my efforts could help grow the Greek community and get students excited about Greek life.”

“It’s exciting to hear that Emory’s Greek program is getting recognition from outside Emory because I think we’ve got a great Greek community at Emory and it adds a lot to the Emory experience,” Chambers said.

Rudo said that IFC’s own input to the SEIFC committee that determines the award recipients is due in December.

The application for the awards asks for information about various IFC programs and policies related to each award’s criteria. The committee then evaluates the applications to make its final decisions.

The SEIFC also recognized Greek systems of institutions throughout Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

— Contact Jordan Friedman.