Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the largest and one of the oldest national social fraternities today, founded on March 9, 1856, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the University of Alabama. Another unique aspect of ΣAE is that it is the only national social fraternity founded in the Antebellum South.

ΣAE boasts a substantial list of notable alumni such as the 25th U.S. president William McKinley, NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Faulkner, as well as the most Forbes 500 CEOs out of any social fraternity.

And from our national website:

“As brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, we strive to reach the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, leadership, and service throughout our lives. The values put forth by our Founding Fathers are as relevant today as they were in 1856. And we believe it’s our duty to follow them in order to better ourselves, our brothers, and everyone around us.

Our goal is to give young men the community, culture, guidance, and tools they need to be a True Gentleman. This means having focused principles, strong convictions and the strength to always do the right thing—as a True Gentleman rises above his peers to be a guiding light today and tomorrow.”

Chapter Update

Since the Fall semester of 2020, we have grown to a chapter size of 57 active brothers. Restarting during the COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging. In the first semester, we could not meet in person for chapter meetings or hold in-person recruitment events. We were only allowed to hold meetings over Zoom, which was less than ideal. In Spring 2021, we were allowed to have recruitment events, and we hosted four events, bringing in 12 new members to the previous 15. The school also began allowing us to hold in-person chapter meetings, which we held (and still hold) on campus. Not having a chapter house seemed like a setback to recruiting initially, but we soon realized that it was an excellent way to shape our whole recruiting strategy and ensure we recruited True Gentlemen. Our main message was, “join a fraternity for the brotherhood, not the house.” Since 2022 has started, we have now been re-chartered, made more philanthropic partners, and gotten even closer with the Greek community. We are excited and looking forward to what 2023 has in store for us and hope to make an even more significant impact.

Over the past calendar year of 2022, our fraternity has continued with our fundraising and philanthropic events. We held our Paddy Murphy philanthropy week early in the spring semester, a momentous occasion specific to ΣAE, and are looking forward to our next one in 2023. We also held a bingo card philanthropy event this semester, among other minor activities. Over the past fall semester, our fraternity has helped shovel snow at the stadium, a pumpkin carving event, and did a joint basic needs drive with Pi Beta Phi. To ensure that our fraternity is giving back to the community, we require that all active brothers have 10 hours of community service per semester. To help our brothers achieve this, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Bozeman Warming Center, the Food Bank, Big Sky Bravery, and, most recently, Be the Match.

Socially, we have re-established our presence on the MSU campus and among the Greek life community. This year, we participated in the homecoming parade with Chi Omega and placed in the top 3 for best float. In addition, we maintain good relationships between us and the Greek houses at MSU. We have achieved this over this past year by having mixers with the sororities, attending and inviting other fraternities to Greek events on campus, and doing joint philanthropic events with other Greek houses. This upcoming semester has more social, fundraising, and brotherhood events planned as well as a spring formal.

Brotherhood has been our crucial principle since our reinstatement. We participate in intramural sports such as volleyball, flag football, dodgeball, and basketball. Furthermore, we often have brotherhood events such as ski days at Bridger Bowl, backpacking trips, fishing trips, and tournaments (darts, poker, pool, basketball). We also hold an annual camping trip that everyone is always excited about. We are most proud of how everyone gets along with each other, and many lifelong friendships have already been made. Looking into the future, we are excited to continue growing our chapter, strengthen bonds within the Greek community, and make great memories.

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