Alpha Tau Omega - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Scholarship Initiative—Supporting Member Success It is time to develop a robust ATO Gamma Gamma Scholar- ship Program: Student debt at Rose-Hulman is at record levels despite school financial aid, on-campus employment, and in- ternships. Although the benefits of a well-run fraternity can outweigh the costs of membership, when costs are an issue many students who could be outstanding members of ATO Gamma Gamma may not pledge. We learned this year that some of the fraternities at Rose already have well established financial aid programs to help their members. These programs can also be a significant attraction to top candidates during the Potential New Member attraction process (Rush). Properly structured, an effective Scholarship program provides us an opportunity not only to help our members address this mount- ing financial challenge, but also to recognize and reward desir- able behaviors and outcomes. We have had discussions with many of our alumni who also recognize that this is a need we must address, and address now. For some, establishing a fully funded scholarship that pays out in perpetuity is a desired option. For others unable to meet the funding hurdle alone, working with classmates to create a scholarship may be an option. Where we have heard strong interest recently is in giving annually and having those funds awarded immediately. This enables donors to make an imme- diate impact and without the larger outlay required to establish a scholarship in perpetuity. We are preparing to manage all forms of gifts, and to have donors work with us in establishing the criteria for these awards. We can also manage these in a way that will not impact the aid that our members receive from the school or from other sources. Our strong and rapidly grow- ing Chapter needs this help. If you want to learn more about this initiative, or you can help us reach out to others please contact either Bob Pease or Rob Banerjee. Thank-you for your continued support and loyalty as True Taus. \\\\\\\\\\\\ CHAPTER SCHOLARSHIP \\\\\\\\\\\\ . Scholarship Update Overseeing the grades for a fraternity can be a daunting task. At the end of the previous term, the fall quarter of the 2023- 2024 school year, the combined chapter cumulative grade point average was 3.187 out of 4.0, which places Alpha Tau Omega 3rd best out of the 8 fraternities at Rose-Hulman and puts us above the All-Greek Men by 0.022 GPA points. The average GPA of the ATO chapter in the fall term was 3.122. My last Tau Talk article was in the spring quarter of last year. Since then, our chapter has had significant improvement, and raised the average unweighted cumulative GPA from 3.08 to a 3.187. This quarter's recruitment took scholarship into account more so than in previous years. So, credit for this change is giv- en to our pledge class. The combined pledge class grade point average was 3.444, which is higher than any pledge class GPA in recent history, and not by just a little. While celebration is due for the hard work shown by this pledge class, it is still important to recognize that there is still poor academic performance in parts of the chapter, especially the sophomore class. In continuation of the efforts started last year, I am still working with struggling brothers on an individu- al level to give catered academic assistance to meet brothers where they are in their academic journey. It is important to recognize good scholarship performance, giv- ing the same amount of attention to performing brothers as struggling ones. With this new look at scholarship, and with work put in from the Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees are now hosting scholarship excellence dinners to recognize true merit wherever found. These are catered dinners that will emphasize each individual's success. Fraternally, Tim Swicord '26 Scholarship Chair This chart shows aca- demic performance by class for the fall quar- ter, along with their qualifications for Dean's List and 4.0's. Bob Pease 812-236-2500 Robertpease4178@gmail.com Rob Banerjee 740-816-2784 ineedatrain@yahoo.com

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