Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi
 

I didn't see any SAEPi sisters on GC so I wanted to see if there were any out there (we're not on the GLO section).

I'm Emily, from the Iota Chapter, and I'm the secretary, sisterhood chair, and social chair for my chapter right now. Last semester I was even pledgemaster. :)

Sigma Love,
Emily

Nice to see a member of a sorority my group in some way inspired.

SAEPi was formed at UC Davis with the support of AEPi, yeah. Our chapter at my school is close to AEPi as well, and I'm actually dating one of the brothers right now. Originally, the Sigma stood for "sisters of".

SAEPi isn't as large as other Jewish-based sororities (even though I'm not Jewish, and our sorority is only about half Jewish), but we're starting to get out there. We're mostly based at the west coast, but my chapter is east coast.

Welcome to GC. Pull up a seat, enjoy a nice cup of coffee and join in the fun.

As the official Jewish Mother Worry Wart of this group, I would advise you to edit your post ASAP. You have given a lot of information about yourself and have opened yourself up to stalking if not worse.


DaffyKD

Welcome to GreekChat; nice to have you here! :)

I'm a sister from the Nu Chapter! There are a few of us on here, but not too many :) welcome!

I find the growth of SAEPi fascinating. It started out as a local then quickly expanded. I figure no sorority follows the Jewish mission like we do, but that is understandable. I think is unheard of for us to be 50/50, and the same for AEPhi. I don't think DPhiE is that Jewish either. There was one other one but it's name escapes me.

Welcome PeaceLoveSAEPi!

You've got my curiousity up a bit. Would you mind expanding on what you mean, both as to "Jewish mission" (I think I know what you mean there, but I'm not sure) and why you would say it's understandable that no sorority would follow the course of AEPi?


Sigma Delta Tau? Zeta Beta Tau?

SIGMA DELTA TAU!

[Sorry. Had to make it clear that it was my group.]

ETA: By 50/50, you mean Jewish/Not Jewish?

I don't follow your post exactly, I'd appreciate some clarification on what you mean where I've bolded.

If you look to the NPC, every sorority "started out as a local" and then expanded, some quickly and some slowly. That is the nature of things--I think it would be very hard to simultaneously start five chapters of the same sorority from scratch. I imagine that AEPi was founded the same way.

Just for your reference (someone more in the know, feel free to comment), I don't think that DPhiE was ever founded as a Jewish sorority. I'm pretty sure that it was founded as a non-sectarian sorority welcoming all women, after discrimination the founders had faced? Maybe on some campuses, individual chapters have many Jewish members...?

Interestingly enough, while many chapters of SAEPi have a fair amount of non-Jewish members (some more than others--my own chapter is about 90% Jewish, some other chapters are much less) we all stick very close to our Jewish values. Non-Jewish members are welcomed with open arms and an understanding of what they are getting into: a sorority that holds Jewish values (which are not that different from any kind of moral values) and has Jewish events. My personal experience with my chapter is that our non-Jewish members embrace everything we do and are interested in Judaism, even when they actively practice a different religion. Not all of our members who are technically Jewish even actively practice Judaism, and all of that diversity is one of the things I love most about my chapter.

Welcome to GC!!!!:) And best of luck to you and your SAEPI sisters.

ZBT:"Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present & Impacting the Future."

By Jewish mission, I mean having philanthropies geared toward Jewish causes, as well as most chapters being a majority Jewish.

In common day, I think it is amazing for a sorority to expand so fast. Considering most schools only allow one group to colonize per a year, and how diverse the landscape is. Is SAePi part of Panhellenic?

And yes, Sigma Delta Tau is the one I was thinking of. ZBT I have heard is trying to get back to its Jewish values

Ah. Thanks.

Why do you think it's understandable that no sorority follows that mission like AEPi does? (Not trying to challenge you at all -- just interested in your perspective.)

It's more to how the recruitment works. But I suppose it could very well work, but they would have to have quite a bit of involvement with Hillel/Chabad. I mean, Hillel at my campus has our support at every event by at least 25% of the brotherhood.

^^^ Gotcha. Thanks.

Sigma definitely, although my chapter is more diverse than others, is based a lot on Jewish values. (My chapter is probably the most diverse chapter on my campus; we have Muslim, Hindi, Christian, and Jewish members).
We're in the process of changing our national philanthropy to AJWS I believe. Even though a lot of us aren't Jewish, we all embrace the culture, etc. I'm very involved in Hillel and the Jewish community even though I'm Christian, and for example, Purim is one of my favorite times of the year. It's a really great experience for me being exposed to a new culture.

Also...someone told me that for AEPi the requirement is that it must be 50% Jewish at least, so it's a little different. I think I heard of a campus that was closed temporarily because of it (at Towson University I think, but it could be just a rumor). A big difference is that AEPi is a Jewish fraternity, while SAEPi considers itself "Jewish-interest".

Also, I don't think DPhiE is a Jewish sorority, it definitely isn't at my campus. And I think it was asked earlier- SAEPi isn't in NPC, etc. We don't belong to a national council right now, and I don't think that will change soon (my chapter is just in the Multicultural Greek Council locally).

In all seriousness what would draw somebody to join a special interest organization if they are not in that group? Like a Christian in SAEPi or a white guy in ODPhi?

That's actually a really good question. Initially, I found my sorority and didn't realize they were Jewish (because I was an idiot) but once I did, I realized it didn't matter. The reason I love my sorority is because of the sisters, and how much they really care about me. I fit better in SAEPi than the other sororities I rushed.

Most of the girls that are recruited that join that aren't Jewish join because we show them that so many of us are happy with our sorority. We like the diversity we have. We're a really great set of girls, and we have a lot of fun. Plus, the non-Jewish members we recruit enjoy being immersed in the Jewish culture, like I do.

I will not confirm nor deny 50% requirement, that is more of what the chapter wants to do.

I can't speak for every SigDelt chapter, but I think mine in particular makes good use of its relationship with the campus Chabad and Hillel-they played a large role in both my chapter and the local that became Sigma Delta Tau.

I think several SigDelt chapters don't participate in formal rush with the other NPC groups. I think I remember that melindawarren's chapter doesn't from her recruitment story, and I know they don't at UGA. I'm kind of thinking this is not unusual at other schools, either. Am I making this up or making an assumption on a sliver of knowledge?

We're all clear about why the sorority expanded the way it did, right?

No shade; I respect this sorority and one of my acquaintances is in it.

Yes, indeed.

That show certainly kickstarted expansion, but we in no way use it now, and I don't think it promotes the interest in starting new chapters. I am a founding member of my chapter and none of us had any clue that the show even existed, much less that our sorority had been on it. After we colonized I watched the first couple of episodes and got a good laugh, and our new members seem to always discover it and respond similarly. For us it's a bit embarrassing, but we just don't associate ourselves with the show. I'm going to guess that the expansion requests we get these days have nothing to do with the show and everything to do with girls wanting a different kind of a sorority experience, a Jewish sorority experience, or both.

Regarding Hillel/Chabad, my chapter is on a "very Jewish" campus (about 18% of the students) and our members are very involved with both organizations. While we don't account for a huge percentage of the attendance, simply because the Jewish population of our campus is so large, many of our members have found out about Sigma initially through one of the Jewish orgs on campus, and we collaborate with both orgs for many events.

Which is all I was saying.

It is my experience that SDT is much more open minded about this than other NPC sororities. I believe Alabama and Texas are two more competitive Greek schools where SDT has allowed their chapters to not participate in formal recruitment.

Well, I believe it really comes down to having a Jewish Programing chair or not. We have had one for a few years now and it really helps.

Agreed. I never saw Sorority Life, and still never have. I don't think our founding mothers had, either.

We have a Religious Chair, which is the same thing. We have Jewish events very often. We are known on campus for having a Hanukkah party every year cosponsored by our Hillel, and we have an open event every month for Rosh Chodesh.

Oh.

jazing, get back in your own lane and do not speak for my sorority.

When I was an active, my chapter had plenty of non-Jewish sisters. Many of my sisters were Christians and one sister was a Hindu. I'm one of the founders of my chapter, and you know what - at the time, I was Catholic.

A woman who joins AEPhi has to understand that she's joining a sorority whose founders were Jewish and whose ideals are based on Jewish ideals. She has to be ok with that, but she does not have to be Jewish herself. I imagine the same is true for Sigma AEPi, but I'll let the Sigma AEPi members speak to that point.

DPhiE has been nonsectarian since it was founded.

Very sorry in that respect. I was just thinking of historically Jewish groups, like ZBT, AEPhi, Sammy, etc.

DPhiE where I am at takes most of the Jewish girls who go through rush, which I figured is from its historical founding.

Back on topic, SAEPi

Yeah, this. Pretty much sums up everything I was thinking.

jazing;2115873:ZBT I have heard is trying to get back to its Jewish values.

ZBT never lost its Jewish Values. They (ZBT) has always honored and cherished the vlaues the fraternity was built on. However, since the mergers of Phi Epsilon Pi and Phi Sigma Delta (both were Nonsectarian) in 1969-70, ZBT has become more a of balance brotherhood of Jewish and Non-Jewish Brothers. There are several active chapters and colonies that are and have always been involved with Jewish programing and many of them partner with Hillel, Chabad, UJA/JSA on different events. Today, in keeping with both the history and the mergers, ZBT welcomes all Men (Jewish & Non-Jewish) into the brotherhood. Even though my own chapter is Non-Jewish, in honoring our history they are still involved with helping the local Jewish Temple in town on events and service projects.

ZBT:"Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present & Impacting the Future."

There are also some strong networking effects in certain areas. Someone already mentioned SDT recruiting through Hillel, but also, Jewish women are in BBYO/NFTY/USY with other Jewish women in high school. Many attend Jewish summer camp, as well. So, on some campuses, many of the active AEPhi women will know more Jewish PNM's than non-Jewish PNM's, and vice-versa. If that's the case, you are likely to end up with a primarily Jewish pledge class no matter what the official membership policy is. It's no different than XYZ getting most of the women from a certain high school.

aephialum, good job putting that AEPi in his place ;) You are right on--we are pretty much exactly the same in that regard. What my chapter says (which reflects national policy, just in our own words) is "While ΣΑΕΠ is a sorority based on Jewish interests and values, it is open to all women, Jewish and non-Jewish, who express a sincere interest in the organization and a respect for the values upon which it is based." We have found that our non-Jewish members are often some of our most dedicated and interested members...funny how that goes :)

Rethink how what you said is problematic.

What's not funny is how in recent years, most of our non-Jewish members have either dropped the fraternity or are highly inactive. I guess our campus does not have those people willing to espouse themselves in Jewish values.