A group of young men from the Epsilon Phi chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity recently received several awards and recognitions at the Southern Division Conference.
The conference, which gathered over thirty chapters of Delta Tau Delta from various southern colleges, was held from Feb. 21 through Feb. 24 in Orlando, Fla.
“This conference is chock full of sessions to expand members’ leadership abilities, to strengthen brotherhood and to recognize the successes of Delt chapters in the past year,” said senior Jeremy Troulliet, President of the Epsilon Phi chapter. “Our members took full advantage of the interactive sessions.”
Delta Tau Delta Fraternity was founded in 1858 at Bethany College in West Virginia, and there are now 130 chapters throughout the country. The Epsilon Phi chapter at Southeastern was founded on April 12, 1969, making it the third chapter established in Louisiana.
At the Southern Division Conference, which is held every spring, the Epsilon Phi chapter was recognized with several awards due to their overall GPA, philanthropic donations and community service. They were given “Excellence in Community Service” for the hours the members spent volunteering in 2012, reaching over 2,800.
“I personally had a connection with this flag because I am the Community Service Chair and we won ‘Excellence in Community Service’,” said Chris Simoneaux, a junior majoring in marketing and member of the Epsilon Phi chapter. “Getting awards, yes, it’s important, but it’s not really about that. It’s about the good times that we’ve had, the experiences we’ve had that led to these awards at division.”
The Epsilon Phi chapter also received two of the top awards given at the conference. They won “Court of Honor” and “Hugh Shields,” which are only awarded to the top 20 and top 10 chapters in the nation each year, respectively.
“We have over the years received the top awards shown on several occasions,” said Troulliet. “We have won the Court of Honor 16 times and have won the Hugh Shields award 15 times in our history. On that note, we have retired three flags in our history as well. The way it works is that once a chapter has received the Hugh Shields 5 times, they receive a flag that can hang in their shelter [fraternity house] with the respective years they have received the award. We have won the Hugh Shields award for a consecutive five years dating back to 2008.”
The Epsilon Phi chapter also received special recognition for service to the diabetes research organization JDRF, the official philanthropy of Delta Tau Delta.
They were recognized as “First on Campus” for their overall GPA of 3.074, as well as “All male average/all fraternity average on campus” for GPA.
Active member Justin Williamson was recognized for serving as Interfraternity Council (IFC) President as well.
“The IFC president award is given in special recognition to any IFC president in our fraternity,” said Williamson. “By being elected to the position last fall, the national fraternity was recognizing the accomplishment. I believe interfraternalism, building a positive community with our fellow fraternity and sorority chapters, is a key aspect of being a Delt, and the award serves as a reminder of that and the importance of being leaders in our community at large, not just our Delt chapter.”
The Delts consider these accomplishments to be a direct representation of the quality of men that are in their organization, men who are “Committed to Lives of Excellence” in all aspects within the fraternity and in the Greek community.  
“We have had a strong influence in the Southeastern Greek community over these 44 years,” said Troulliet of the Epsilon Phi chapter of Delta Tau Delta. “Throughout the years, the men of Epsilon Phi have excelled in the areas of academics, community service and campus involvement. With the success that has come to Epsilon Phi over this past year, we would like to thank the Hammond community and Southeastern Greek community for all the support, guidance and events for us to take part in. It’s great to be an E-Phi Delt.”