Welcome to the home of the North Carolina Beta Chapter of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity

READ THE FIRST CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE NEWLY FORMED CHAPTER TO NATIONAL

Notable facts about NC Beta:

• Founded March 4th, 1905 by William F. Brock, Lacy Moore, Jokton L. Hemphill, Robert P. Uzzell, and Joseph P. Lovill
• 15th Chartered Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon
• 4th oldest chapter based on continuous years of operation
• Numerous awards and achievements - click HERE for a sampling of some of the recognitions we've received
• Famous Alumni:
  • W.H. Clark, Chairman and CEO, Nalco Chemical

    • Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation Chairman 1995-Present
    • Sigma Phi Epsilon Citation Recipient

Notable facts about Sigma Phi Epsilon:

• Founded on November 1, 1901, at the University of Richmond.
• Composed of 240 chartered chapters and 17 chapters in the process of meeting chartering criteria (Sigma Epsilon Chapters) across the United States.
• Boasts the largest undergraduate membership, presently over 14,000, of any men’s collegiate fraternity for the last two decades.
• For 21 consecutive years, SigEp has been selected as the fraternity of choice by college males through their decision to join.
• 5,300-5,600 men choose to join annually (based upon the last 10 years).
• Maintains the highest first-year member retention rate, over 90%, of any national fraternity.
• 246,000 lifetime members rank SigEp in the top four among national fraternities despite founding 38th in chronological order of 64 national fraternities; presently boasts the largest living alumni population.
• Governed by the Grand Chapter, which is composed of undergraduate delegates (by an 85% margin), District Governors, and National Board of Directors.
• Guided between Grand Chapter meetings by volunteers known as the National Board of Directors.
• Maintains a full-time professional staff of over 35 people.
• Publishes quarterly magazine, The Journal of Sigma Phi Epsilon, which is distributed to all members for life upon joining.

A Fraternity of Firsts

• First major national fraternity to abolish membership restrictions based upon race, religion, or creed, five years before America’s civil rights movement.
• First national fraternity to establish a housing trust for all chapters and separate National Housing Corporation aimed at supporting housing excellence.
• First national fraternity to establish a traveling staff to assist chapters in effective operations.
• First fraternity to charter a chapter in all fifty states.
• First national fraternity Educational Foundation to build an endowment greater than $11 million.
• First national fraternity to receive a grant from the federal Department of Education to enhance member development programs.
• First national fraternity to provide financial assistance to brothers for graduate school through the Resident Scholar program.
• First national fraternity to partner with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy in order to create substance abuse education programs for members.

A Personal Touch

• Devotes 12 Regional Directors, full-time field representatives, to assist chapters in effective operations.
• Conducts nearly 700 three- to four-day consulting visits per year to chapters.
• Conducts over 200 retreats with chapters and volunteers.
• Offers professional, strategic, recruitment, membership development, financial, and leadership consultation to all chapters.
• Maintains on-line resource centers for members on a variety of topics, including Sound Mind/Sound Body programming, recruitment, membership development, substance abuse education, housing, financial management, and leadership.

Building World Leaders

• Implements award-winning* leadership development programs to live the Balanced Man Ideal impacting 4,000+ members annually.  
• Offers 16 life skills development programs for new members in 2003-2004 focusing on orientation to SigEp, personal development, and lifetime achievement for 2,000+ members
• Organizes nine regional leadership academies to develop key management and life skills for chapter officers reaching 2,000+ members.
• Provides elite skills training program for 120 undergraduates annually at the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership focused on building lifetime members, pursuing the Balanced Man Ideal, and mentors for future SigEps.
• Recognizes 19 elite brothers who participate in the Balanced Man Quest to Greece.  All undergraduate participants received full scholarships and earn up to three college credits.
• Hosts largest biennial, fraternal convention of all North-American Interfraternity Conference member fraternities (2005 Grand Chapter Conclave at the Nashville Renaissance Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee, August 10-14).

*SigEp’s Leadership Continuum received the prestigious 2003 Hobbs Fellow Award for outstanding educational program development.  The Hobbs Fellow Award is presented at the annual meeting of the Fraternity Executives Association.  

Volunteer Support

• Professionally designs and facilitates Property Management Programs for Alumni and Volunteer Corporations holding title to property.
• Conducts over 30 volunteer strategic planning retreats nationwide annually.
• Annually hosts 27 District Volunteer Conferences where volunteer training is conducted, and geographic-specific issues are discussed and relative programming implemented.
• Volunteer College programming consists of several educational tracks that offer specialized training for Balanced Man Stewards, recruitment skills development, new volunteer orientation, fiscal responsibility, and long-term planning.
• All chapter plans, evaluations, and visitation reports are posted on-line and backed by resource guides, which aid volunteers in assuring implementation.

Housing

• SigEp’s National Housing Corporation was established in 1959 and is a national leader in fraternity home ownership, loan portfolios, and real estate value.
• The National Housing Corporation presently has loans out to over 50 Alumni and Volunteer Corporations.
• Sigma Phi Epsilon is #1 in fraternity housing with 200 chapter homes.  Of those, over 115 are owned by local SigEp Alumni and Volunteer Corporations.
• The appraised value of all SigEp owned real estate is over $60,000,000.
• In 2003, the National Housing Corporation partnered with a local lending institution to provide below market interest rates to our alumni corporations, which will help fund several future renovation and building projects.

Educational Foundation

• The Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. Its program funding is planned to help develop the scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and personal potential of college undergraduates.
• Guided by a 17-member Board of Trustees comprised of industry leaders from many fields.
• Maintains an annual donor base of over 5,500 and has benefited from over 35,000 supporters since founding.
• Provides nearly $1,000,000 annually in grants to support fraternity educational and leadership development programming, including the Balanced Man initiative, New Member Camps, Carlson Leadership Academies, Ruck Leadership Institute, and the Balanced Man Quest to Greece.
• Holds over 400 chapter scholarship funds and endowments used by chapters annually to provide over $200,000 in chapter scholarships to members.
• Provides over $100,000 in general scholarships and loans to brothers annually.
• Coordinates and provides scholarships for the Balanced Man Quest to Greece.  Unique to the fraternity world, each summer this program sends brothers to study, with carefully selected professors, the mysteries of Ancient Greece and the origins of fraternal organizations.
• Accepts funds and planned gifts from alumni and friends which may be designated for a particular chapter scholarship fund, a special program supported by the Foundation, or to the general fund of the Foundation.
• The Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation prides itself on donor-directed giving and its respect and appreciation of our numerous financial supporters.

Expansion

• Utilizes four professional staff members and a variety of volunteers to establish and build new chapters.
• Deploys two staff members to each expansion site for three to four continuous weeks.
• Installed 20 new chapters in the last three years.