Sigma Theta Epsilon

Sigma Theta Epsilon
ΣΘΕ
Founded	April 7, 1925 (April 7, 1925)
Type	Christian
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Defunct
Defunct date	November 19, 2022
Scope	National
Motto	Συνεργοι Θεου Εσμεν ("Fellow Workers with God")
Colors	Purple,   Old Gold, and   White
Chapters	47
Verse	"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." --1 Corinthians 3:9
Headquarters	, Ohio United States

Sigma Theta Epsilon (ΣΘΕ) was an American interdenominational national Christian fraternal organization that operated from 1925 to 2022. It had 47 chapters across the United States.

History

Predecessor groups

A group of Methodist men in the Wesley Foundation at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, had been carrying on a program as a religious fraternity, which they called Phi Lambda Phi, for some time when it occurred to them that perhaps the men in other Wesley Foundations had similar groups which could be mutually helpful if they should form a union.

The idea was brought up at the student council retreat at Ames, Iowa, in 1924 and 1925. They sent an invitation to all Wesley Foundation units asking those interested to send representatives to an organizational meeting. This meeting was held at Lincoln, Nebraska on February 6–7, 1925. The delegates drew up articles of federation and elected National Officers, thus a National Religious Fraternity for Methodist Men became known as Phi Tau Theta (meaning "Friends of God").

On October 8, 1936, another group of Christian men met and started a fraternity. The meeting was held at Indiana University, where Sigma Epsilon Theta was formed.

Formation

On October 8, 1936, another group of Christian men met and started a fraternity. The meeting was held at Indiana University, and there, Sigma Epsilon Theta was formed. In 1939, a delegation from Phi Tau Theta approached the national officers of Sigma Epsilon Theta and proposed a merger of the two national fraternities. Stemming from this introduction, during Thanksgiving break, in 1941, Delta Sigma Theta was formed. The transition from two fraternities to one was smooth, largely due to careful preparation by the officers. However, when all seemed to be going well, Delta Sigma Theta, a national sorority with prior usage of that name, threatened suit against the new fraternity for the use of their name. A new name, Sigma Theta Epsilon, was selected during Easter break 1949.

After a period of expansion, the inactivity of the chapters (high in number – low in spirit) persuaded the national conclave of 1968 to appoint a committee to examine the philosophy of the fraternity. The committee suggested that the fraternity change from its original emphasis as a National Religious Fraternity for Methodist Men. This change saw a decrease in enrollment due to lessened support by the Wesley Foundation. The national cabinet meeting of 1972 realized that Sigma Theta Epsilon had evolved into a National Christian Service Fraternity, and thus adopted purposes centered on three main areas: religious, service, and social. These purposes were revised at the conclave of 1975 into the four Purposes of Sigma Theta Epsilon.

Still, chapters were lost to dormancy. A low point was reached in 1975 when only two active units remained: the Alpha Gamma chapter at West Virginia Wesleyan College and the newly formed Epsilon chapter at Ohio Northern University. The following years almost saw the dissolving of Sigma Theta Epsilon as a National Fraternity. The addition of a new Delta chapter, the second of that name, at Mount Union College in April 1980 stimulated new optimism and growth for the fraternity.

In 1988 Sigma Theta Epsilon struggled again through some growing pains. Delta chapter had all but disappeared while Alpha Gamma chapter's numbers began to fall. But 1988 also saw the start of the Beta Alpha chapter in Oklahoma City. This new chapter grew rapidly and soon vied with the Epsilon chapter as the fraternity's largest. Beta Alpha's designation marked what was hoped to be a rebirth for the fraternity, and all chapters from this point on would be named in succession following Beta Alpha. Whereas previously the fraternity had used a standard naming system of Greek alphabetical succession, at some point it began to use a state model, naming a new chapter "Alpha chapter of Texas" for example, that had been formed in 1999.

This excitement carried into Spring 1993 when the Beta Beta chapter at Miami University of Ohio was formed. An excited group of men gathered together and quickly grew to be as solid as any chapter. In the fall of 1993, Delta chapter at Mt. Union put together its first pledge class in almost five years. Led by an alumnus of the Epsilon chapter, who had been teaching at Mount Union College, these men revived the Delta chapter just weeks before the National Fraternity was to absorb their charter and assets.

The fraternity didn't see National Growth again until 1998, when on January 31, the Beta Gamma chapter was initiated at the University of Cincinnati. Thus began a substantial period of National Growth that continues today. Spring Conclave 1999 saw the formal initiation of a group of men from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas as Beta Delta chapter. This group of men would mark themselves as one of the most active chapters in the Nation.

At the 2000 Spring Conclave, a group of men from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois pledged as a temporary club. These same men were formally initiated as the Beta Epsilon chapter at The English Chapel at Ohio Northern University during the East Regional Fall Gathering on October 21, 2000.

At the West Regional Fall Gathering at Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a group of men from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma were formally initiated as the Beta Zeta chapter on October 26, 2002. Their road to establishing a chapter was a rocky one, to say the least, but their persistence prevailed.

On April 5, 2003, the Beta Eta chapter at West Virginia University was formally initiated at Spring Conclave in St. Louis, Missouri. The addition of the Beta Kappa chapter brought the number of chapters nationally to eleven. This was the highest number seen since the 1960s. However, growth ceased, and in August 2022 there was only one active chapter, Our Lady of the Lake University.

On November 19, 2022, Sigma Theta Epsilon officially closed. There are no remaining active chapters and all fraternal operations have ceased.

Symbols

The name "Sigma Theta Epsilon" finds its roots in the Greek words, "Sunergoi Theou Esman", meaning "Fellow Workers with God". This is taken from I Corinthians 3:9 and was also the group's motto. Its colors were purple, old gold, and white.

Chapters

Chapters of Sigma Theta Epsilon included the following. Several chapter names were re-assigned, and some campuses hosted chapters with new names, after recolonization. A state naming system was adopted briefly when there were few chapters still active. Inactive chapters and institutions are noted in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	City	Status	References
Alpha	April 27, 1925 – 1967	Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa	Inactive
Beta	1925–1965	University of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska	Inactive
Gamma	1925–1960	University of South Dakota	Vermillion, South Dakota	Inactive
Delta	1925–1951	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota	Inactive
Epsilon (see Iota 2)	1927–1941	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	Inactive
Zeta	1928–1931	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Inactive
Eta	1929–1962; 1966–1971	University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Inactive
Theta (see Beta Theta)	1931–1943; 1945–1972	Ohio University	Athens, Ohio	Inactive
Iota	1931–1934	University of Wyoming	Laramie, Wyoming	Inactive
Kappa	1934–1968	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive
Lambda	1936–1943; 1952–1965	Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	Inactive
Mu (see Beta Eta)	1938–1970	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
Nu	1939–1971	Oklahoma State University	Stillwater, Oklahoma	Inactive
Xi	1936–1957	Indiana University	Bloomington, Indiana	Inactive
Omicron (see Beta Beta)	1937–1962	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	Inactive
Pi	1937–1942; 1952–1958; 1960–1962	Bowling Green State University	Bowling Green, Ohio	Inactive
Rho	1948–1959	Fort Hays State University	Hays, Kansas	Inactive
Sigma	1948–1971	Kent State University	Kent, Ohio	Inactive
Tau	1949–1968	University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	Inactive
Upsilon	1950–1953	University of Nebraska at Kearney	Kearney, Nebraska	Inactive
Phi	1950–1953	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Inactive
Epsilon (2) (see Beta Alpha)	1950–1954	Oklahoma City University	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Inactive
Zeta (2)	1952–1954	University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point	Stevens Point, Wisconsin	Inactive
Chi	1952–1953; 1960–1968	Pittsburg State University	Pittsburg, Kansas	Inactive
Iota (2) (see Epsilon)	1954–1960	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	Inactive
Psi	1955–1957	Southwestern Oklahoma State University	Weatherford, Oklahoma	Inactive
Omega				Memorial
Alpha Alpha	1956–1962	Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	Inactive
Alpha Beta	1956–1974	Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Inactive
Alpha Gamma	1957–2012	West Virginia Wesleyan College	Buckhannon, West Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Delta	1958–1965; 1967–1970	Pennsylvania State University	State College, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Alpha Epsilon	1960–1969	American University	Washington, D.C.	Inactive
Alpha Zeta	1961–1963; 1966–1971	Central Michigan University	Mount Pleasant, Michigan	Inactive
Gamma (2)	1967–1971	Mansfield University of Pennsylvania	Mansfield, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Beta (2)	1974–1975	Lane College	Jackson, Tennessee	Inactive
Alpha chapter of Ohio	1975–2021	Ohio Northern University	Ada, Ohio	Inactive
Eta (2)	1976–1977	Northern Illinois University	DeKalb, Illinois	Inactive
Delta (2)	1969–1975; 1980–1987; 1994-2011	University of Mount Union	Alliance, Ohio	Inactive
Beta Alpha (see Epsilon 2)	1988–2003	Oklahoma City University	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Inactive
Beta Beta (see Omicron)	1993–2008	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	Inactive
Beta Gamma	1998–2011	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	Inactive
Alpha chapter of Texas	1999–2022	Our Lady of the Lake University	San Antonio, Texas	Inactive
Beta Epsilon	2000–2012	Bradley University	Peoria, Illinois	Inactive
Beta Zeta	2002–2015	Northeastern State University	Tahlequah, Oklahoma	Inactive
Beta Eta (see Mu)	2002–2011	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
Beta Theta (see Theta)	2003–2006; 2009-2010	Ohio University	Athens, Ohio	Inactive
Beta Iota	2004–2006	Illinois Wesleyan University	Bloomington, Illinois	Inactive
Beta Kappa	2006–2007	Missouri Valley College	Marshall, Missouri	Inactive

External links

• Archived Sigma Theta Epsilon Official Site