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Sig Ep joins Phi Delt in push to clean up houses

 

Moderator Hank Nuwer: Of course I support this but what took Sig Ep so long to mandate this action?

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity Announces Ban on Alcohol

Ban on all illegal substances approved by national fraternity.

Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) national fraternity announced that it has adopted a substance-free policy for all Fraternity facilities throughout its network of 215 chapters at colleges and universities in the United States.

“As recent tragic events have demonstrated, fraternities today have real problems,” said SigEp CEO Brian Warren. “Sigma Phi Epsilon and our peers have unfortunately earned a reputation for being organizations that promote alcohol consumption, misogyny and violence. For SigEp, there can be no more discussion about maintaining that status quo. Fraternities must change.” 

Sigma Phi Epsilon has demonstrated a commitment to creating a new normal for fraternities. In the last two years, SigEp has removed pledging from its membership experience and established substance-free chapter houses as the nationwide standard.

“We believe these steps are necessary to accomplish our mission of promoting academic excellence and empowering our 14,000 young men to lead with integrity, not just now but for the rest of their lives,” said Warren. “When we deliver on this mission, our entire society benefits from a generation of values-based leaders. But first we must address the basic health and safety of our students by doing away with archaic and dangerous activities.

We are reaching out to our host universities and our fraternal peers to engage them in these much needed reforms. We hope our overtures for collaboration will be met with immediate and positive response. Together, we must eradicate drug and alcohol abuse as an element of our organizations. And we must do it now.”

Sigma Phi Epsilon is an American college fraternity with more than 14,000 undergraduates on 215 campuses across the United States. Established in 1901, its mission is “Building Balanced Men,” which is achieved through a continuous member development program focused on academic achievement, healthy lifestyle choices and leadership development. The Fraternity currently maintains a 3.20 national GPA.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024 and April 2025 , the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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