Congratulations on your son’s membership in Sigma Phi Epsilon ("SigEp"). Learn more about the many opportunities the Fraternity can provide your son. 

When your son decided to become a member of SigEp, he made one of the most important decisions of his college career. He chose an organization that is committed to his success during all of his college years.

When he joined SigEp, you became a part of his experience as well. This resource is aimed at helping you understand his involvement in our Fraternity and our goals for his college experience. SigEp’s goal is to give him the opportunities to excel in academics, leadership, athletics and social skills.

SigEp was founded in 1901 on the Cardinal Principles of Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love. Since that time we have been leading the way in the Greek world. In 1959, SigEp was among the first to remove race restrictions to membership. In 1991, we led the way again by creating a non-pledging membership model, the Balanced Man Program (BMP), and in 2015 our undergraduates voted to adopt the program across all our chapters. In 1999, SigEp voted to extend the 1959 decision to open membership to all races, religions, and creeds to include sexual orientation. The Fraternity recommitted itself to building a more inclusive and diverse membership. In 2017, our undergraduates enacted a policy that made our chapter facilities alcohol and substance-free.

Leadership Programs

The college years are some of the most formative times in a young man’s life. The national Fraternity’s work focuses on educating, training and supporting our chapters to provide a safe and positive fraternity experience. The experience we provide is meant to complement a man’s education and prepare him for life after college. Through SigEp, men strengthen their character, build leadership and interpersonal skills, and learn to develop healthy, lifelong relationships that are essential to a successful and fulfilling life.

SigEp’s Balanced Man Program was created to replace pledging and hazing with mentoring and development opportunities that instill purpose and perspective our young men can rely on for the rest of their lives. It reinforces academic excellence, empowers them to lead with integrity, promotes physical health and mental wellness, and prepares them for successful lives and careers. A major study of the impact of fraternity/sorority membership by well-known pollster Gallup details the major gains in wellbeing. 

Your son will also have the opportunity to attend our regional and national leadership events, designed to enhance the local chapter programming that helps him grow throughout college. Whether he attends the Carlson Leadership Academy to learn leadership techniques he can take back to his chapter, Life After College to help him prepare for post-college life, the Ruck Leadership Institute to teach him to lead positive change, or the Tragos Quest to Greece for an overseas personal growth experience, he has many options to attend programs that will prepare him for the rest of his life.

The Fraternity’s Headquarters staff of over 60 brothers and other professionals based in Richmond, Va., works to facilitate these programs and educate our young brothers on how to have a positive, safe fraternity experience that helps them develop.

Member Safety

The SigEp experience proven to be life-changing for thousands of young men on campuses across the country. Your son is now a part of that experience and he should have high expectations for his growth and development during college. Likewise, SigEp has high expectations of its members — specifically, that they always strive to improve while keeping themselves and others safe.

Our undergraduate brothers have a history of making decisions that better facilitate safe environments for our members. In 2015, undergraduate delegates voted to end pledging, abandoning a tiered membership system that can create unnecessary risk. The Fraternity adopted the Balanced Man Program, built on equal rights and responsibilities for all members. In 2014, SigEp developed Live Your Oath with Alpha Delta Pi Sorority to educate our brothers about sexual assault prevention. And, in 2017, our undergraduates once again took a bold step when they voted to make all of our chapter homes alcohol- and substance-free.

SigEp brothers are only able to achieve our mission of Building Balanced Men when health and safety are priorities. We expect members to comply with a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that doesn’t align with our values — things like hazing, sexual assault, alcohol abuse and illegal drugs. We hope that you will reinforce this expectation with your son. Any instance of this behavior should be reported to our Fraternity's service team at SigEp Headquarters in Richmond, VA chapter.services@sigep.net or by calling our crisis hotline at 804.353.1901 (During business hours press 0. After hours, please select option 1.)

On our Member Safety page, you can find SigEp’s Risk Management Policies and Procedures as well as some useful resources that can help your son foster a safe and healthy environment for himself and his brothers.

SigEp thrives when our brothers are committed to safe and healthy living. Thanks to the support of committed parents and volunteers, thousands of young SigEp brothers are able to grow and develop safely. They hone lifelong skills and build friendships for life. We hope that you will discuss this with your son and ask him to be a leader in creating a positive environment on his campus.

We Need You

As your son grows throughout his college experience, we hope you can continue to be involved with his development in SigEp.

SigEp undergraduate chapters are primarily focused on providing the best possible experience for our members. But as one of our Past Grand Presidents, Phil Cox, Indiana ’84, often said, “Behind every great chapter is a dedicated group of volunteers.”

Locally, men and women who volunteer to support the chapter provide important support to undergraduate SigEps. Our more than 30 local volunteers for the chapter at Cal provide mentorship to the undergraduate chapter leaders, engage other chapter alumni to support this endeavor and manage the assets of the AVC. They come from many walks of life and different ties to the Fraternity. If you have any questions for our dedicated volunteer support team for Cal, please reach out to the president of the Alumni & Volunteer Corporation (AVC) that supports SigEp at Cal: Chuck Stegman at sigepfincomp@gmail.com. We welcome your son into our chapter, continuing a tradition at Cal that dates back to the early 1900s.