The University’s Panhellenic Council received the highest honor presented at the Mid-American Greek Council Association’s annual conference Feb. 14 in St. Louis, Mo. ‘ The Panhellenic Executive Board spent most of the year documenting information required to apply for the Sutherland Division IV Award.’ The students’ efforts allowed them to beat out some of the largest contending Greek communities in the United States.’ ‘ ‘ The Sutherland Award recognizes councils that show strength in the eight areas of philanthropy and service, risk reduction and management, academic achievement, membership recruitment, public relations, self-governance and judicial affairs, council management, and leadership and education development.’ ‘ In order to apply for the award, members of the executive board worked on binders of information for each of the eight areas.’ ‘ ‘ Caitlin Bainter, a senior and 2008 Panhellenic Council president, said the council applied for the award based on what it achieved over the year. She said all of the council’s activities were recorded in the binders, and then they were shipped to Missouri to be judged.’ Bainter was in charge of preparing the winning binders for submission.’ ‘ ‘We didn’t even have the criteria until October, and we started in November and worked on them in bits and pieces,’ she said.’ ‘I spent pretty much from Dec. 26 ’til Jan. 4 doing them non-stop.’ ‘ Bainter said members of the executive board and staff members in the Office of Greek Affairs also put a lot of time into the application process. ‘ Events documented in the binders ranged from a risk management workshop and Greek Week activities, to clothing and food drives and a ‘Breakfast of Champions’ held during finals week, Bainter said. ‘ Karri Moore, coordinator of Greek Affairs, has advised the Panhellenic Council for four years. ‘ ‘This is the biggest award Panhel has won since I’ve been here,’ she said. ‘Every year we’ve applied, we’ve at least been finalists in the past four years. This year [2008] we took home the prize.’ ‘ Jaqueline Mattmuller, a junior and 2009 Panhellenic Council president, could hardly believe it when the University’s council was announced as the winner of the Sutherland Award. ‘ ‘It was such a shock,’ she said. ‘We’re in a really competitive division for our campus ‘hellip; I kind of had some expectations that the other school was going to win.’ ‘ Despite her surprise, Mattmuller was thrilled to accept the award. ‘ ‘It was such a great honor to represent our Panhellenic community from Bowling Green and stand up there and receive the award,’ she said. ‘It was really phenomenal.’ ‘ Bainter received word of the award through a text message from Moore. ‘ ‘I was so excited,’ Bainter said. ‘I think that it really stands for the work that women put into our council here. ‘hellip; I really feel like it stood for what our community stands for ‘hellip;’ giving women something to take with them after college.’