This article was originally published at www.theparadigmpress.com
On April 8th, the Xi Epsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was awarded Chapter of the Year for the fifth year in a row.
Chapter of the Year is the highest honor that a chapter can receive and is awarded to one chapter in each council.
“It feels great. We always try to make sure we go above and beyond and we’re very grateful to receive this award for the fifth year in a row,” said Kerete Paul, a senior double majoring in history and political science. Paul is President of the Xi Epsilon Chapter and was also inducted into the 2020 Greek Hall of Fame.
“It’s not something that we take lightly for the simple fact that we’ve won it for so many years we know that if we are not going above and beyond there’s always a chance that another chapter who works harder than us could win,” said Paul.
To be eligible for this award, a chapter must submit an application for all eight Chapter Excellence Award categories and receive the highest cumulative score in their council.
“I know for us we have a set of things to go by nationally when we put on events called our Five-Point Programmatic Thrust. We make sure to follow our national guidelines but we also try to think of ourselves and see what we, as students, would like to see on campus. We try to stay away from events that are redundant and try to be innovative with what we put on both on and off campus,” said Paul.
The Xi Epsilon Chapter put on a multitude of events for the 2019-2020 school year with a wide range of topics.
“My favorite event is Soul Food Speaks and that’s just me being biased because that’s my event. I’m very big on social action so that is the time where we have a discussion on current events. It’s like sitting at the family dinner table and discussing what’s going on in the world,” said Paul.
Paul continued, “Not being biased, I would say my favorite event is Deck the Halls because it's a time for us to come together as a community and we give an unfortunate child a great christmas.”
Kerete Paul was also inducted into the Greek Hall of Fame. Members of the Florida Atlantic University Fraternity & Sorority community have the opportunity to be inducted into the FAU Greek Hall of Fame by receiving a nomination. Multiple recipients are chosen from each council by the Fraternity & Sorority Life staff members.
“That meant a lot to me because I was taken by surprise for the simple fact that I don't know who nominated me for the award, I didn’t even know I was nominated. So that speaks volumes in my perspective. I’m thankful and it’s something I never thought of. I’m very honored to have this opportunity and to have a legacy at FAU,” said Paul.
With the semester cut short many events have been cancelled however, the Xi Epsilon Chapter is still hosting events virtually through Instagram.
“We have our fall semester planned out and we are working on events for the summer. Stay tuned to see what’s coming up next on our instagram page @xiepdeltas,” said Paul.
