Nicholas Benetti
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History of New Jersey - Tau Gamma
In February 2004, a College of New Jersey freshman and legacy of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Nicholas Benetti, looked at the existing fraternities on campus. However, he was unable to find one that reflected the ideals of SAE which are embodied in the Creed by Sir John Walter Wayland's "True Gentleman." Finding there were other young men who shared this feeling, the student came up with the idea of starting a chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at TCNJ. After writing letters to Sigma Alpha Epsilon National stating their interest, they approached The College with their intentions. They spent months completing applications and paperwork, and then approached potential members. During the summer, they were approved by the SAE National for Expansion. In the fall of 2004, these men finally came to their first real test. With 25 members promising their support and involvement, the two men who would later become the first President and Vice President went to the TCNJ Expansion Board and received approval to continue the process of becoming a fraternity. The next step which would decide their fate rested in the vote of the Inter Greek Council. Here, a 2/3 vote was needed. On November 11th, 2004, all 25 members attended and stood behind their future. On December 11th 2004, these men were officially entered into the brotherhood of Sigma Alpha Epsilon through a Colonization Ceremony attended by 125 friends, family, and members of the Greek community. Continued hard work and perseverance allowed the Colony to excel in the twelve core areas of fraternity. Major strengths of the Colony were seen in recruitment, service, and philanthropy, financial management, university relations, and scholarship. The continued hard work culminatedin the Investigation held in December 17th, 2005. This investigation deemed New Jersey Tau Gamma worthy of becoming true and loyal brothers of Simga Alpha Epsilon.
About Us
National History
The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856 by eight students who wished to form an organization built on brotherhood. As the size of the brotherhood grew, so did its boundaries. Soon chapters were formed at other southern universities.
With the start of the Civil War in 1861, most brothers answered the call to arms. At the end of that tragic war, only one Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter survived. But the strength and power of SAE could not be denied and soon, more chapters were formed.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon soon expanded from the South into the North and the West, becoming the first southern fraternity to do so. With this expansion, the values of the True Gentleman, that the fraternity was molded after, found a home on other campuses.
As early as 1927, Sigma Alpha Epsilon established its 125th chapter, but the Depression held its grip on the country. Even with the economic woes of the time, Sigma Alpha Epsilon managed to construct the college fraternity's national headquarters. It was built in Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago, and was named the Levere Memorial Temple. The Temple remains the headquarters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
In 1935, Sigma Alpha Epsilon once again held true to its reputation as the leading innovator of the fraternity system by developing an annual leadership school. The school brings together SAE brothers from across the nation for a week long school that teaches leadership skills. It also allows brothers to find out what other chapters are doing in such areas as pledge programming, rush, social programming, scholarship and more. It now has over 280,000 graduates and nearly every other fraternity has copied the concept.
Our Creed
"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankess but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."
John Walter Wayland, Virginia, 1899