The office of Greek life is working to bring a new fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, onto the Nicholls campus.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon, also called SAE, was founded in 1856 at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. According to the fraternity’s web site, it is North America’s largest social fraternity with more than 260,000 initiated members. With its close connection to Kappa Alpha Order as conducting themselves as “True Gentlemen,” the fraternity follows its motto closely which states that, “Sigma Alpha Epsilon is formed to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship and service for (its) members based upon the ideals set forth by (its) founders and as specifically enunciated in (its) creed.”
Prominent alumni include singer Nick Lachey and actors Fred Savage and David Spade.
Rina Clarke, Greek advisor, has been working with interested students and SAE alumni to bring this new fraternity to the Nicholls’ Greek community. Clarke said that some students have already shown interest in the proposed new fraternity.
“I’m very excited,” Clarke said. “I think this is a great opportunity.”
The process of bringing a new fraternity onto campus takes approximately one year. The University must invite the fraternity onto the campus, which Nicholls has already done. Students must then form an interest group, which is designed to recruit interested individuals and build the organization.
The Sigma Alpha Epsilon national office must then come down and decide if the organization will be a colony of at least 20 members. Once the organization is considered a colony, the colony must go before the Inter-Fraternity Council where voting will take place for their admittance as a chartered fraternity.
The colony must have a combined 2.5 GPA and at least 20 or more members to be approved by IFC. According to Clarke, if this process begins within the next three to four months, a Sigma Alpha Epsilon colony could participate in next fall’s formal recruitment.
Michael J. Corelli, director of expansion for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, visited the Nicholls campus at the end of September to decide if the University Greek community would benefit from the new fraternity.
“He liked the school a lot,” Clarke said. “He thinks the school has a lot of potential with its Greek community and thinks that a colony here would benefit us.”
Sigma Alpha Epsilon has many southern qualities and ideals and is reported to be the only fraternity to survive the Civil War. According to Clarke, a woman pledged the fraternity after all of the SAE men had died in battle to keep the fraternity alive and functioning.
“We (greek community) needed something different,” Clarke said. “SAE, nationally, has a very different look than everyone else on campus and that’s why we chose to try and bring them in.”