A recently established Sigma Alpha Epsilon policy known as the True Gentleman Experience eliminated the fraternity’s new-member process, removing the pledge status throughout all chapters and colonies of the fraternity Sunday, according to a press release from SAE’s national office.
New members of the fraternity, who were formerly considered pledges, will now immediately be regarded as equal to their more senior brothers, according to the release.
The policy change resulted partly from negative publicity that recently put the fraternity in the spotlight, according to the release. Many chapters across the country have been forced to close due to hazing, which the new program aims to eliminate.
The primary motivator behind the change, however, is a growing need to realign the fraternity with its founding fathers’ mission of equality and fairness among all members, according to the release.
The release added the change will eliminate the historically problematic class structure between new members and active members. SAE’s founding fathers did not anticipate the problem at the fraternity’s inception in 1856, according to its website.
Under the True Gentleman Experience program, all members will participate in a chapter-wide education period, according to the release. The program will also discourage senior member complacency by ensuring every active chapter member proves his worthiness long after initiation.
The recruitment and bidding process will not change, and the initiation process is expected to improve greatly by attracting a “higher quality of man,” according to the release.
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s SAE president Dan Frechter said the national office instructed him not to comment at this time.
