Sigma Alpha Epsilon

From OSU Wiki

1 History
2 Why Go Greek?
3 Community Involvement
4 Prominent Alumni
5 Links

History

Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded March 9th, 1856 at the University of Alabama by eight young men, Noble Leslie DeVotie, John Barratt Rudulph, Nathan Elams Cockrell, John Webb Kerr, Wade Foster, Samuel Marion Dennis, Abner Edwin Patton and Thomas Chappell Cook. These young men had one simple motive, the motive to perpetuate friendship among campus through his close friends. These eight young men were very devoted to the new fraternity that they founded. No time was wasted; these men began setting up the basic framework for the fraternity and began recruiting other students they felt would be devoted to the same cause. When the basic framework was set in stone and new brothers were found SAE began expanding across the southern United States. SAE went through some rough time when the fraternity was trying to expand across the nation. When the Civil War begin SAE only had about 400 member of these members 369 of them went to go fight in the war. After the war was over SAE lost the majority of their members, it is quite impressive how these young men were able to get the fraternity back up on its feet. When the war was over it took no time at all, SAE began spreading out of the south and across the nation. With the hard work and dedication from these men after the war SAE became one of the best fraternities in the nation. Through out the year SAE has gone through difficult times but has always been able to survive and flourish because of the great young members across the nation. Today SAE is currently the largest social fraternity in North America with over 280,000 initiated members. SAE now has 288 chapters across nation and Canada.

[edit]

Why Go Greek?

Fraternities above all foster group involvement which will also help emphasize group loyalty. You will be able to discover that a fraternity provides structure, and an environment in which friendships can flourish. Meeting and living close to other members with different background brings a very valuable experience that will last for life time. These experiences will help one grow, teaching very important social skills will last forever. Fraternities make possible a valuable experience in corporate living, being a part of a fraternity will help individuals realize that some things just couldn’t be done without an organization of people. When all is said and done, friendships through fraternity will foster remarkable relationships that will last for an eternity.

[edit]

Community Involvement

This year marked our sixth annual “Miss Minerva Pageant,” which benefits Children’s Miracle Network at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon. In the first two years alone we have raised over $10,000 for Sacred Heart CMN. Previously, Oregon Alpha has held annual philanthropies, Miss SAE and Miss OSU, in which the winning contestant went on to the Miss Oregon Pageant. Unfortunately, these philanthropies did not continue for about six years, until 2001 when we decided to bring back a similar project. “Miss Minerva” is a scholarship pageant with a $500 grand prize, a $300 second place prize, and a $200 third place prize. We invite one contestant from each sorority and co-op on campus. Each contestant is asked to fill out an information sheet asking about her background, scholarly aptitude, and community involvement/ service. Two preliminary judges then interview each lady. This year our housemother, Ruth Davis, scored the contestants based on GPA and community involvement and service. The preliminary interview process counts for 50% of the contestants score. The other half of the score comes in the form of a talent, formal wear presentation, and an impromptu question. We invite judges from the Oregon State community as well as the Corvallis community. Planning and organizing this event requires many hours devoted from the Philanthropy Chairman and his committee as well as the whole chapter. The night of the performance, the whole chapter comes out and volunteers their time to make the evening run as smoothly as possible. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is very proud of the hard work we as a chapter have put into this philanthropy project, and the results of our effort and time have proven to be immense. The first year, we nearly sold out an 800-seat auditorium. We have almost every sorority and co-op participating in the event. Many people from the OSU and Greek community come to watch and support our efforts. After six years, this philanthropy project has become one of the most popular events talked about on campus and it is all for the good cause of making people aware of CMN and their efforts in hospitals around the country and world.

[edit]