UA fraternity earns coveted trophy as best DKE chapter nationwide
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 11
After coming to the aid of the Tuscaloosa community in the wake of the April 27 tornado, the University of Alabama’s Psi chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Greek fraternity has been named the Best DKE Chapter in North America for the 2010-11 academic year…The trophy will be presented to the chapter during UA’s homecoming weekend on Oct. 7…The fraternity’s board looks for excellence in the areas of chapter improvement, alumni relations, scholarship and community service. They were excellent in each aspect of chapter operation, but their response to the Tuscaloosa tornado put them over the top because it was such a remarkable and terrible situation,” Hudson said. After the university decided to end the school year early in the wake of the April 27 tornado, UA members of DKE realized they had a kitchen full of food stocked for end-of-the-year events that would otherwise go to waste. The fraternity began cooking meals and delivering them to storm victims and volunteers and then asked fellow fraternities and sororities to aid in the effort that came to be called the UA Greek Relief Fund. In the week from April 29 to May 6, the UA Greek Relief Fund registered more than 600 volunteers who cooked more than 50,000 hot meals and distributed hundreds of thousands of pounds of canned goods, clothes and hygiene products. After May 6, the group switched its focus solely to fundraising and has collected more than $200,000 to distribute within the Tuscaloosa community…
FEMA evaluates assistance on case by case basis
Talladega Daily Home – Aug. 11
… One way FEMA is trying to minimize future damage is through education. The University of Alabama and FEMA teamed up to design and create replicas of two safe rooms and one wooden model house with storm resistant construction methods.