Some of the brothers do their studying in the library, some in the living room of the fraternity house and some prefer the peace and quiet of their rooms. Regardless of where they study, it's paying off.
Legacy Brotherhood has the highest GPA of all fraternities so far in the spring 2013 semester. Boasting a 3.4 GPA, the 44-member fraternity is living up to the first sentence of its mission statement: "Our Legacy will be high moral character, academic excellence, a willingness to meet and make friends and a pursuit of health and well being."
"I think that a major positive of our fraternity having the highest GPA is that it bodes well for our future as an organization," said Taylor Bradford, junior double majoring in finance and business administration and Legacy's treasurer. "It shows that we, like the other fraternities, care about more than just hanging out and having fun."
Legacy accomplished this without having to enforce concrete study hours.
"When they go through pledgeship, you have to have so many study hours in the library," said Stephen Caton, freshman in biomedical science and Legacy's scholarship chair. "But after you finish with that, we don't have any requirement for study hours, as long as you stay off probation."
Legacy's minimum GPA for brothers is 2.3, but it is rare that a brother comes close to it. The fraternity had its first pledge class in fall 2010, and it has seen a steady increase in overall GPA since fall 2011.
"Since we've started recording it, we have had a steady increase (in GPA)," said Matt Walk, senior in chemical engineering and Legacy's president.
Legacy avoids having to deal with students uncommitted to academics by going after potential new members that will seek to maintain their grades during their time in college.
"We look for guys that will represent us well," Walk said. "Academics are a byproduct of the character we look for. We feel like people we want for Legacy will want to strive for good grades."
Legacy brothers hope that having the highest GPA on campus will have a positive effect in recruiting and help the brothers when searching for jobs in the future.
"I think it helps build our reputation," Caton said. "It's good for recruiting. We can tell guys, 'Hey, we have the best GPA on campus.'"
"This accomplishment will help us attract potential new members that are interested in pursuing academic excellence," Bradford said. "It will also help make our current members more attractive to employers. With employers seeing the best and brightest for their organizations, saying that you played a role in obtaining the highest GPA amongst the fraternities at Auburn University gives you a great selling point as a job candidate."
Moving forward, Legacy will work to maintain a high GPA to put brothers in a position to succeed.
"It's important if brothers are going to succeed in the long run," Walk said. "As a fraternity that's what we want to strive for, is successful people."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
