The university chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity will be held to higher standards after receiving national recognition as the fraternity’s top undergraduate chapter for 2010, the chapter’s president said.

TCU Pi Kappa Phi President and senior entrepreneurial management major McCall Grimes said it felt good to be recognized after all the hard work the chapter put in during the year.

According to the press release, Pi Kappa Phi started fundraising for its national philanthropy, Push America, this week. The TCU chapter’s active participation was a prime reason for standing out among other Pi Kappa Phi chapters in the Nation.

According to a Pi Kappa Phi press release, the Eta Chi chapter received the Fogarty Award, which annually recognizes a Pi Kappa Phi chapter for standing out in recruitment, new member education, academics, chapter operations, ritual, philanthropy and alumni relations on its campus.

According to the press release, the chapter accumulated more than 500 volunteer hours with weekly visits to KinderFrogs, an early education program at TCU for children with Down syndrome. The chapter also received the Push America Cup for outstanding fundraising efforts of over $30,000 for their national philanthropy, Push America.

The average GPA for the chapter was 3.39 last year.

Push America is an organization that provides active services for disability awareness and enhance the lives of people with disabilities.

According to the TCU Pi Kappa Phi website, Push Week is the chapter’s annual philanthropy event that raises money and educates the TCU community on Push America. The events taking place this week include wheelchair basketball, an empathy relay race and a penny jar competition.

Grimes said the chapter worked hard each year to come up with new plans and different ideas for events to continue excelling as a chapter.

Pi Kappa Phi member and junior business major Scott Gathright said he was very proud of being in a nationally recognized fraternity. He said he looked for a well-rounded chapter that made a difference for people when he went through the rush process.

Gathright said since he joined the Pi Kappa Phi in 2008, the fraternity took men who brought a lot to the table in all aspects of the fraternity, including the national philanthropy, networking and social aspects.

“If it wasn’t for each one of us holding each other accountable for everything, I don’t know where we would be,” he said. “We make sure to push each other to be better men every day.”