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ΣΦΕ (Sigma Phi Epsilon), commonly nicknamed SigEp, is a social fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901 at Richmond College, now the University of Richmond, and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love. It is the largest social fraternity in the United States in terms of current undergraduate membership, and the fourth largest in terms of total members initiated.
Founding History Carter Ashton Jenkens, an 18-year-old divinity student at the Baptist institution, had transferred to Richmond College from New Jersey's Rutgers College in the fall of 1900. Jenkens had spent a year at Rutgers, where he had been initiated into the Chi Phi Fraternity. At Richmond, Jenkens was quickly drawn in to a close-knit group of friends which included Benjamin "Ben" Gaw, William "Billy" Wallace and Thomas "Thos" Wright. By the fall of 1901, the four friends were meeting regularly in the third-floor room in Ryland Hall shared by Gaw and Wallace. They called their unofficial group the Saturday Night Club. Soon, two others were asked to join the group: William Carter and Billy Phillips. By early October of 1901, Jenkens had persuaded his friends to join him in trying to establish a chapter of Chi Phi at Richmond. The group of friends, which by mid-October had grown to twelve men, was composed largely of students who were spurned by the existing fraternities on campus for their high sense of morality (seven of the twelve were studying for the ordained ministry) and for their rural, middle-class backgrounds. Jenkens had convinced the others that their chapter could be different from the other fraternities on campus and assured them that Chi Phi's principles were in line with their own. The group's request for a charter, however, was met with refusal as the national fraternity felt that Richmond College was too small to host a Chi Phi chapter. Insulted though undaunted by the rejection, Jenkens and his friends knew that their bonds of friendship constituted something worth preserving, so they sought to perpetuate their values and their loyalties by founding their own fraternity. After several secret meetings throughout October of 1901, the new fraternity took shape and on November 1, 1901, the fraternity's first membership roster was posted at the school, listing the twelve founders in this order: Carter Ashton Jenkens, Benjamin Donald Gaw, William Hugh Carter, William Andrew Wallace, Thomas Temple Wright, William Lazelle Phillips, Lucian Baum Cox, Richard Spurgeon Owens, Edgar Lee Allen, Robert Alfred McFarland, Frank Webb Kerfoot and Thomas Vaden McCaul. After much discussion, the group settled on a secret motto and called their fraternity Sigma Phi. Soon thereafter, Jenkens, Gaw and Phillips met with a faculty committee to seek official recognition for their new fraternity. The faculty members were reluctant to recognize Sigma Phi for the following reasons: 1) there were already five fraternity chapters on the Richmond campus, drawing members from a base of less than 300 students, 2) more than half the new fraternity's members were seniors whose graduation would leave the group with only five members and, 3) Another national fraternity already existed called Sigma Phi. The three founders responded to the faculty's points one by one: 1) although there were already fraternities at Richmond, this new fraternity would be different; it would be founded not upon false notions of social hierarchy and snobbery but, rather, upon biblical notions of God's love and the principle of peace through brotherhood, 2) new members would be taken in from the undergraduate classes and, 3) the name of the fraternity was still under debate within the group, so since the name Sigma Phi was already taken by a national fraternity, the name would be changed. With these assurances from the founders, the faculty committee approved the new fraternity's request for official recognition. Shortly afterwards, the founders met and decided to rename the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. Under Jenkens' inspiration and leadership, the new fraternity was formed around a spiritual philosophy of love, a philosophy that Jenkens referred to as the "rock" of the fraternity. Specifically, the founder described these words of Jesus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39) as "the greatest truth the world has ever known." Fittingly, Jenkens rooted the symbolism of the fraternity in the biblical notion of agape, or selfless love. The colors purple and red were chosen to represent the fraternity while the golden heart was chosen as the fraternity's symbol. Finally, the principles of Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love (cf. 2 Peter 1:5-7) were woven by Jenkens into the very fabric of the new fraternity. Jenkens also designed the fraternity's distinctive badge. Cast into a fraternity world cluttered with over-used diamonds, shields, and crosses, the Sigma Phi Epsilon badge was (and is) distinct. It was designed as a golden heart surmounted by a black enameled heart-shaped shield. Upon the shield are inscribed, in gold, the Greek-letters of the fraternity, ΣΦΕ, and below these letters, a skull and crossbones. The founders' badges were surrounded by alternating garnets and rubies. Balanced Man In 1991 Sigma Phi Epsilon developed the 'Balanced Man' program, which abolished pledgeship, instituted year-round recruitment, and lifestyles based on the three cardinal principles for its membership. The program has been adopted by over 75% of Sigma Phi Epsilon chapters. Though the choice to become a Balanced Man chapter is voluntary, the adoption is not necessarily without resentment; all chapters that have lost their charters, as well as all newly colonized chapters, must accept the charter or dissociate with the national fraternity. Because there is little choice involved, members of some chapters have made public their resentment for the policy. Still, SigEp headquarters credits the Balanced Man Program as the driving force behind the continued growth and success of the fraternity. Some of these accomplishments include SigEp's 90% undergraduate retention rate, a major improvement in the national average SigEp GPA (3.0), and SigEp's status as the nation's largest fraternity by undergraduate membership. Still, many traditional-model chapters remain among the fraternity's top chapters in academics, retention, philanthropy, and size. The Balanced Man consists of four challenges labeled Sigma, Phi, Epsilon, and Brother Mentor. A new SigEp brother is initiated at the Sigma Challenge and must complete a program based on self-discovery, brotherly activities and community service. After completing the Sigma Challenge he is initiated into the Phi Challenge where more advanced tasks await him that include becoming a member of other on-campus organazations and taking a leadership role in the chapter. The final challenge in the original ritual is the Epsilon; at this level the brother learns all the secrets of the Fraternity, the brother is also expected to hold an executive or chairman position in both the Chapter, and at least one outside organazation. In a traditional-model chapter, after completing the pledging process, a Brother would go through the Epsilon Ritual. The Brother Mentor level is an additional level introduced with the Balanced Man program. Brother Mentor signifies a brother's commitment to his chapter by completing all three levels of the Balanced Man and by going beyond and completing the challenges set forth by the Brother Mentor program. These include a very large community service requriment and tasks that better the chapter as a whole. All challenges in the Balanced Man program are self-paced. They can also be tailored to suit the chapter's and the individual brother's needs. Additional Modern Programs Sigma Phi Epsilon also promotes the Residential Learning Community (RLC) Program. Under this program, each fraternity adopts a resident scholar and a faculty fellow. The resident scholar is a graduate student (not necessarily a member of SigEp) who lives in the facility and advises the undergraduate chapter on operations, academics, and community involvement/philanthropy activities. The faculty fellow is a member of the college or university faculty who advises the undergraduate chapter, holds office hours in the house, and gives occasional lectures. The Sigma Phi Epsilon Leadership Continuum is an award-winning series of distinct and progressive leadership opportunities aimed at teaching and reinforcing SigEp values to a Brother from the day he joins to the day he graduates. Through self-discovery, analysis, and interaction, Brothers develop skills necessary to lead balanced lives and to continue leading the fraternity world. Consisting of EDGE, Carlson Leadership Academies, Ruck Leadership Institute, Grand Chapter Conclaves, and the Tragos Quest to Greece, the Leadership Continuum is a tailorable, structured continuous development plan for the college man. Philanthropy Sigma Phi Epsilon is currently partnered with YouthAids * as their officially sanctioned philanthropy. All SigEp chapters are required to raise funds to donate to YouthAids through events and awareness programs. Also, following Hurricane Katrina, SigEp national headquarters encouraged individual chapters nationwide to donate to a relief fund. For every dollar donated by a chapter, Nationals, partnered with several businesses, donated three dollars to relief efforts. SigEp Firsts Sigma Phi Epsilon can claim many innovations and achievements in the world of national fraternities. SigEp was first Notable SigEps Academia Arts, entertainment, and media Business Government and politics Military Science and medicine Sports | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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