Sigma Phi Epsilon
| Sigma Phi Epsilon | |
|---|---|
| ΣΦΕ | |
 |
|
| Founded | November 1, 1901 Richmond College, Virginia |
| Type | Social, Secret |
| Scope | National |
| Mission statement | Building Balanced Men |
| Colors | Purple and Red |
| Symbol | Skull and Crossbones within a Black Heart |
| Flower | Violet and Dark Red Rose |
| Philanthropy | Big Brothers Big Sisters |
| Chapters | 221 |
| Members | 14,105 collegiate 325,252 lifetime |
| Founding principles | Virtue, diligence, and brotherly love |
| Headquarters |
Zollinger House 310 S. Boulevard Richmond, Virginia United States |
| Homepage | www |
Sigma Phi Epsilon (ΣΦΕ), commonly abbreviated SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love (often abbreviated as "VDBL"). Sigma Phi Epsilon is one of the largest social fraternities in the United States in terms of current undergraduate membership.
In the fall of 1900 18-year-old divinity student Carter Ashton Jenkens, the son of a Baptist minister, transferred from Rutgers College of New Jersey to Richmond College, a Baptist institution in the Virginia capital. At Rutgers Jenkens had been initiated into the Chi Phi Fraternity. At Richmond, which did not have a chapter of Chi Phi, Jenkens was part of group of friends who were meeting regularly under the unofficial name the "Saturday Night Club". By early October, 1901, Jenkens had persuaded the group, which had grown to twelve men, to try and establish a chapter of Chi Phi at Richmond. These men were reportedly spurned by the existing fraternities on campus for their sense of morality (seven of the twelve were studying for the ordained ministry) and for their rural, middle-class backgrounds. Jenkens had convinced the others that their chapter could be different from the other fraternities on campus and assured them that Chi Phi's principles were in line with their own. The group's request for a charter, however, was met with refusal as the national fraternity felt that Richmond College was too small to host a Chi Phi chapter. Jenkens and his friends therefore founded their own fraternity.
After several secret meetings throughout October 1901, the new fraternity took shape and on November 1, 1901, the fraternity's first membership roster was publicly posted at the school. It listed the twelve founding members in this order: Carter Ashton Jenkens, Benjamin Donald Gaw, William Hugh Carter, William Andrew Wallace, Thomas Temple Wright, William Lazelle Phillips, Lucian Baum Cox, Richard Spurgeon Owens, Edgar Lee Allen, Robert Alfred McFarland, Franklin Webb Kerfoot and Thomas Vaden McCaul. After much discussion, the group settled on a secret motto and called their fraternity Sigma Phi.
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