Founder’s Day – Celebrating 156 Years of ΣAE

Mission Statement

The mission of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service for our members based upon the ideals set forth by our Founders and as specifically enunciated in our creed.

Fast Facts

223 total chapters + 19 colonies = 242 total groups
Approximately 11,000 undergraduates
Average chapter size, including pledges and actives, is 52 men.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon has initiated more than 301,000 men in total.

The Fraternity’s largest chapters are located at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, with 184 members, and the University of Texas at Austin, with 176 members.

There are approximately 190,000 living alumni in the Fraternity. The average colony size is 30 men, and the average colony GPA is 3.1.

Events

Sigma Alpha Epsilon will turn 156 years old on Friday, March 9, which was our Founders Day.

The Supreme Council has selected 25 top undergraduate leaders to participate in an exclusive leadership-training program called the Inner Circle, which will take place April 13-15 in Prince Frederick, Maryland.

The inaugural DeVotie Ritual Institute took place April 15-16, 2011, at the Levere Memorial Temple. This unique event provided initiated, undergraduate brothers with the experience to learn about the Ritual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and its application in both chapter and individual life. The next Institute is being planned for this fall.

The True Gentleman Day of Service, partnered with National Youth Service Day, will be held April 20-22, 2012. Last year, more than 100 groups participated. Their time resulted in approximately 15,000 man hours of service.

The SAE Amateur Golf Tournament will take place May 18-21, 2011, in Pensacola, Florida, and the SAE World Series will take place March 23-24, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both events are sponsored and organized by the local alumni associations in those cities. In addition, these events have been part of our calendar for several decades.

The 155th Anniversary Convention met in Memphis, Tennessee, from July 7-9, 2011. The historic Peabody Hotel served as the official convention property. More than 400 collegiate and alumni members attended the conclave.

The 77th John O. Moseley Leadership School will take place August 6-10, 2012, on a Royal Caribbean cruise, which sails the Caribbean and makes a port of call for our delegates in Nassau, the Bahamas. Last year, more members attended the event than any other Leadership School in recent history.

Tidbits

We reached a milestone this year with the initiation of Christopher Collins from Nebraska Iota. A student at Creighton University, he was pinned with badge number 300,000.

The 2010-2011 John O. Moseley Zeal Award winner was the chapter at the University of Evansville, which is designated as Indiana Epsilon.

The 2011 True Gentleman of the Year is Nicholas Kreifels from Illinois Alpha-Omega at Loyola University.

The Fraternity maintains its web presence at www.sae.net, which includes a members-only section for chapter officers and for our online community known as Gentlemen’s Circle.

As part of the Strategic Plan, Sigma Alpha Epsilon has introduced several online certification programs to assist our members and volunteer leaders with training and educational programming. The online tools provide overviews of the organization as well as information tailored specifically to pledges, chapter officers or other leadership positions.

We introduced a new section of our website for parents and families. Here, they can find information about Sigma Alpha Epsilon and our history as well as details about specific chapters, Q&As and ways to get involved in the organization.

The Gentlemen’s Circle is an exclusive online community for members, where they can create profiles, share personal information and create networking opportunities. To date, there are more than 16,000 active profiles, dozens of events and 15,000 messages on the site from our members who are using it. In addition, Gentlemen’s Circle contains hundreds of job postings and the ability for members to post their resumes. New for 2009, Gentlemen’s Circle and Facebook profiles can be linked together via a tool that helps the programs talk to one another.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon maintains a zero-tolerance policy for hazing and risk-management violations. The educational program We Stand Together was introduced in 2009 to reaffirm our anti-hazing stance. Our website www.thetgi.net contains an area dedicated exclusively to We Stand Together, which includes many resources. In addition, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is one of the sponsors of the national, anonymous anti-hazing hotline at 1-888-NOT-HAZE.

The Regional Director program serves our more than 240 chapters, 10,000 collegiate members and 190,000 living alumni as well as university administrators and campus-based professionals. Once known as field consultants and Education & Leadership Consultants, the current structure is much more robust. The program has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs and demands of our groups while maintaining the mission of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Over the course of a week, a Regional Director can serve hundreds of constituents in the field face to face, over the phone or via e-mail. They often serve as a first-line responder for our members. The field staff carries the responsibility of being the brand reps of the Fraternity Service Center, and we strive for that interaction to be a positive and beneficial one. The Fraternity utilizes eight Regional Directors, each living and working in one of the eight regions of the Realm. In addition, the field-staff team includes two extension coordinators, who work solely on expanding Sigma Alpha Epsilon through new colonies. The Associate Executive Director of Chapter and Alumni Services oversees the program and its staff.

The website designed exclusively for undergraduate and volunteer resources is called The TGI, which is located at www.thetgi.net. In 2008, it was completely redesigned. It houses vital resources and documents, which have been downloaded more than one million times since the site first launched.

To assist our collegiate members in their academic pursuits, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation awarded more than $209,000 through its National and Chapter Education Fund academic and Leadership School scholarship programs. National scholarships may be awarded to any qualified brother from any chapter who applies for any of a dozen named scholarships. Chapter Education Fund scholarships, on the other hand, may only be awarded to qualified brothers from the fund’s designated chapter(s). For example, of the more than 650 undergraduate brothers who attended the 75th John O. Moseley Leadership School, 247, or 37 percent, received a Leadership School Tuition Scholarship from the Foundation. Without those funds, the delegates could not have attended. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation thanks the brothers and friends who make our scholarship program, perhaps one of the greatest Foundation programs, possible.

The organization’s magazine, The Record, was voted Greek Magazine of the Year in 2011 and has earned more than 35 awards for excellence in the past six years.

Recognition of achievement and dedication to the Fraternity is important. Members who have distinguished themselves on various levels of the Fraternity or within their professions bring honor not only to themselves but also to Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The Fraternity realizes the value in acknowledging exceptional service and that the presentation of an award of recognition is also a primary way to show its appreciation. The Fraternity Service Center offers a number of awards that individuals, chapters, alumni, provinces and others can request. Examples include the Order of the Lion, Minerva, Phoenix and Violet; 25-, 50- and 75-year membership certificates; and Certificates of Appreciation among many others. All awards are processed by the Fraternity Service Center through the Manager of Alumni Services and Special Projects. A comprehensive list of the awards can be found online at www.sae.net under the members-only area or at www.thetgi.net under the “Alumni Relations” area.

There are many things to discuss at this event. There will be the usual agenda items such as MEAA/MEHC officer elections and chapter updates. See the MEHC Update from current MEHC President, Sam Hoff for more details.

The MEAA is in need of some new blood to help run the alumni association. If you are interested in getting involved, we are willing to listen to any offers!

In order for us to plan accordingly, you must register and pre-pay for this fine event. The easiest way to do this is via PayPal. Simply send payment of $30 to [email protected] and you are in! You can also send a check made payable to MEAA to our Treasurer, Michael Krul, at 2333 Old Salem Ct, Auburn Hills, MI, 48326. As always, this event will be BYOB.

We hope to see you all on March 10th!

Phi Alpha,