Illinois Wesleyan’s chapter of Acacia, one of five fraternities on campus, recently received three awards from Acacia International’s biennial Conclave. The awards were for Human Service, Communications Technology and Social Development Programming.
The chapter also won the Excellence in Human Service Planning award in 2016 and 2018.
“Winning these awards means a lot to our chapter and will hopefully attract potential recruitments. The awards help reinforce our values of being educated, responsible and improving our community,” senior Jonathan Panton said.
The chapter has also been awarded for Ritual Exemplification, Officer Organization and New Member Education in the past.
Acacia has been on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus since 1957. The chapter’s Greek motto is “Human Service.” They focus primarily on human service by hosting events as well as working with alumni throughout each semester. All Acacia members are required to do 30 hours of human service per semester.
The fraternity holds frequent service events, such as their “Seven Days of Service” and “Acacia Claus” events. They also volunteer weekly at places like Habitat Restore, the IWU Peace Garden and the Boys and Girls Club. According to the chapter, these events are what they believe has won them the service award in the past.
As for their newest awards, the Communications Technology Award and the Social Programming award, Panton believes they won because of an active presence on social media as well as a recently created website. For the Social Programming award, chapters win the distinction for being a socially responsible chapter.
“I’m proud of our chapter for coming together to win these awards, but I’m even more inspired to keep working hard,” sophomore Tristan Hyde said.
The awards, however, are not only important for Acacia. According to Panton, these awards are important in terms of Greek Life on campus because they show the parts of the organizations that do not often get recognized due to negative light.
“These awards show that a Greek organization has the opportunity to be recognized for doing special things,” Panton said.
In the future, Acacia plans to carry on with its mission and values as best as possible during COVID. For example, Acacia still updates its social media and continues to have weekly volunteering events.
“The only difference is that people now have to wear a mask and be socially distant while helping out in the community,” Panton said. “Hopefully, winning these awards will be a stepping stone to continuing to better ourselves as human beings and as a chapter.”