INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., June 23, 2023 – The North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) is pleased to award both Eugene “Buddy” Coté, III and Michael A. Greenberg with an NIC Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is the highest interfraternal honor the NIC can bestow.
The presentation of the NIC Gold Medal is one of the oldest traditions of the NIC and dates back to 1940. The Gold Medal is presented for lifelong service to the interfraternal community.
Upon graduation from Maine in 1981, Eugene “Buddy” Coté, III started his lengthy career and service to Phi Gamma Delta. He immediately began cultivating interfraternity friendships, many of which he maintains today. During four years on the fraternity staff – as a consultant and then director of chapter Services – he frequently spoke to interfraternity audiences, both for campus events and staff training. In 1985, the L. G. Balfour Company, recognizing Buddy’s growing presence and respect in the interfraternity community, hired him as manager of its Greek division.
Buddy built a career in the fraternal jewelry market, turning customers into friends and friends into customers. Over the years, the business has operated under a variety of names and ownership, but the common denominator has been Buddy and his commitment to a community in which he is fully invested. He appreciates that, to a Greek man or woman, his products are much more than jewelry, they are symbols of timeless ideals and lifelong relationships. He has gone above and beyond to help his friends leading Greek organizations deliver quality products to their members.
Buddy has been a visionary and consequential leader for Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, including as a board member from 2000 to 2004 and as president from 2006 to 2008. He continually promotes the importance of interfraternity cooperation, through the NIC and Interfraternity Councils, the importance of strengthening the Greek movement and each fraternity. Within the NIC, Buddy served on the board of directors from 2010 to 2015, and as chairman from 2014 to 2015 when the NIC moved from a volunteer-driven board to the current Governing Council. In other words, he managed the process that eliminated the board that he chaired. After the move to the new governance system, Buddy served until 2022 as Phi Gamma Delta’s representative on the Governing Council.
Michael A. Greenberg has volunteered with Sigma Chi for more than 40 years helping to elevate chapters, organization-wide recruitment efforts, leadership development programs, and more. After giving his time in various leadership roles mentoring undergraduates, leading workshops, and developing an alumni ambassador program, his drive to create enduring leaders positioned him as Sigma Chi’s 68th Grand Consul from 2013-2015. During his tenure in this role Mike made it known that hazing would no longer be tolerated in any form whatsoever. His leadership inspired the Preparation for Brotherhood program which has since won a Gold Medal from the Brandon Hall Association.
Not satisfied with the elimination of hazing as his sole deliverable, Mike also recognized the need for enhanced wellness programming and helped to generate a positive behavioral approach to leadership development with attention to mental health education, suicide prevention, drug and alcohol use, and sexual misconduct prevention.
In 2015 when the NIC’s Governing Council was created, Mike served as Sigma Chi’s inaugural delegate and as the Chairman of the Membership Committee. Additionally, he served as the Governing Council’s Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2018 through 2022 when he opted to retire from service to the NIC to pursue other interfraternal leadership initiatives. Mike currently serves as the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute Chairman.
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Founded in 1909, the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) is a trade association that represents national and international men’s fraternities, including a diverse range of culturally and religious-based organizations, on campuses in the United States and Canada. The NIC is committed to supporting opportunities for young men to seek and form positive, enriching fraternal bonds. The health and safety of students guides our advocacy, standards and education.
Media Contact: Cody Cramer
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