Every year in February the Greek Life Office presents the Giortaste Awards, a ceremony that recognizes members of the Greek community for their outstanding contributions as well as chapters for their achievements throughout the year. The word ‘Giortaste’ comes from a Greek word meaning celebration, and this year’s ceremony was nothing short of that. 

Hosted on Feb. 21 in the Thwing Ballroom, the 2023 celebration featured dinner, dessert and a remarkable keynote speaker, Vice President of Student Affairs Lou Stark. Stark began his speech by congratulating everyone for their accomplishments throughout the year and began to speak about his college Greek Life experiences. He discussed how his participation in Greek Life influenced his future and career.  His son graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2018 and was also a part of the Greek community here. Stark went on to talk more about his career and the different schools he had an impact on throughout his life. He ended his speech by reminiscing on his past, while also expressing his excitement for his upcoming retirement and the chance to be closer to family. Stark is set to retire in June of this year.

Following the keynote speech, the next part of the evening was the awards ceremony. 

Below are the awards that were presented this year:

SMARRTie of the Year – Sasicha Gartenbush (Alpha Chi Omega)

Safety and Wellness Award – Delta Gamma

Outstanding Risk Manager Award – Nicholas Harms (Sigma Chi) and Caroline Kuntzman (Sigma Sigma Sigma)

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award – Elias Tew (Beta Theta Pi) and Kintan Silvany (Alpha Chi Omega)

Outstanding Service and Philanthropy Chair – Jay Smith (Sigma Chi) and Haley Aharoni (Delta Gamma)

Anvil Award – Noyonikaa Gupta (Phi Mu)

Connection to Cause Award – Phi Delta Theta

Robert Niebaum Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award – Holly Sirk (Sigma Sigma Sigma)

Outstanding Campus Partner Award – The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women

Outstanding Scholarship Chair Award – Evan Stuart (Sigma Chi) and Laine Hooper (Alpha Chi Omega)

Outstanding New Member Award – Cale Ours (Beta Theta Pi) and Kelly Mallon (Phi Mu)

Christina Camardo Award – Cameron Goodwin-Schoen (Beta Theta Pi) and Annabelle Nitz (Kappa Alpha Theta)

Agnar Pytte Cup Commitment to Citizenship Award – Sigma Chi

Agnar Pytte Cup Commitment to Leadership Award – Delta Gamma

Agnar Pytte Cup Commitment to Scholarship Award – Pi Beta Phi

Agnar Pytte Cup Commitment to Ritual Award – Sigma Sigma Sigma

Outstanding Chapter President Award – Ram Nallappan (Delta Tau Delta) and Emma Hampson (Alpha Gamma Delta)

Glenn Nicholls Character of Distinction Award – Carter Flayhart (Zeta Beta Tau), Vinayak Sharma (Phi Kappa Psi), Irene Yi (Kappa Alpha Theta) and Kate Caforio (Sigma Sigma Sigma)

Fraternal Legacy Award – Prashanth Ragunanthan (Sigma Chi) and Kaitlyn Reyes (Pi Beta Phi)

Howard Shelley Fraternal Leadership Award – Gianluca Baglioni (Sigma Chi) and Paola Giammattei (Alpha Phi)

In addition to these awards, four more awards were presented: the Order of Omega for Leadership, Citizenship, Scholarship and Ritual. The Order of Omega is the premier Greek leadership honorary on CWRU’s campus. They are in charge of many programs within Greek Life such as the upcoming Emergency Dues Fund, the upcoming rebranded Pytte Cup program, Lunch and Learns and chapter consulting. The Pytte Cup allows chapters to self-evaluate themselves and present to other chapters about how they foster core Greek values.

Prashanth Ragunanthan of Sigma Chi describes these awards: “The purpose of the Pytte Cup program was to assist chapters in their goals to grow and develop a lasting and positive impact on their members, the Greek community and even the greater community as a whole. The Pytte Cup process gave chapters the tools and resources they needed in order to create meaningful relationships and impactful change within their own fraternities and sororities at the individual, officer and chapter levels.”

The award winners in all categories demonstrated a dedication to Greek Life and found ways to positively impact the community. Nominations for awards open in December, so if you were not nominated this year, keep doing the good work and look out for next year’s awards ceremony.

Disclaimer: Alivia Cook is the VPC of Service and Philanthropy for the Panhellenic Council and was involved in the decision making process for granting the awards.