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This month the frat brothers also learned how to cook pad Thai and enjoyed an evening at the ballet.</p>
<p>"It was a real interesting experience. I'd never been to the ballet," said sophomore Scott Twaddle, 20. "I didn't know they didn't talk."</p>
<p>Meet the new brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon SigEps a frat that, until 18 months ago, threw boozy parties every Tuesday and Thursday and had a thick file of indiscretions on record with university officials. Now each of the brothers is part of a program they call "Balanced Man."</p>
<p>With 39 members and growing, the house is regaining stability after a wrenching transition. When frat leaders insisted on a fundamental culture change in the summer of 2004, 90 percent of members either left or were kicked out one only after legal action was threatened. The house came close to folding, and the chef of 18 years worked without pay for three months.
<p>emeraldkity4--My older S joined the Sig Ep chapter at University of Delaware in his senior year (2004), because of the Balanced Man program. He had never been interested in the typical social frat, but was recruited when Sig Ep was trying to rehabilitate itself from what I believe was a reputation similar to that of the chapter at UW. They sought him and others from his class out because of high grades and student leadership activities. Those trying to re-activate the chapter felt that by getting some upper classmen involved as role models of sorts, they could attract other students who would otherwise not be interested. S was convinced that the attempt to pursue a different, positive model for the fraternity was genuine. From what I have heard, the fraternity is still doing well and has the highest GPA of the frats on campus. S went back as an alum on one occasion to talk about why he thought balance was the key to success in college (academics, community service, social activities, etc.). I am still a bit of a skeptic toward fraternities generally, but I find this approach encouraging.</p>
<p>Like 2mch2sn, my son joined SigEp because of the Balance Man program. He had been invited and visited other frats but was not impressed as his idea of fun does not include throwing up in the bushes. Since joining SigEp I have "caught him doing something right" with SigEp a number of times during random phone calls. One day he was at a Youth Aids fund raiser, another time he was shopping for Christmas gifts for troops in Iraq. Last month he called to say he had learned a lot in a "Dress for Success" program put on through SigEp and he would like to buy a charcoal grey suit. They even had a "business manners" dinner in which they practised the skills they were taught by a guest speaker. My son is a pretty strait arrow kind of student and so far he seems to feel pretty comfortable in this fraternity.</p>
<p>Checked the Villanova website and they said that Sig Eps were an underground frat there. Meaning that they had lost there charter and were not under the Panhellenic Council. does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>I checked out the national Sig Ep website quicklly and could not find a listing of active or inactive chapters, although it might be there. I am not sure if the national fraternity recognizes "underground" chapters. But I did find a page on the website announcing that there are "Balanced Man" scholarships available through some chapters for incoming freshman. I did not know about these but I will definitely be looking into them for S2 (high school junior). Here is the link for information about the scholarship: <a href="http://www.sigep.org/scholarship/default.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.sigep.org/scholarship/default.asp</a></p>
<p>I don't really know anything about "charters" and "councils" etc. Not growing up in that world (I never even knew anyone who was in a frat), I don't know much about such things. I do know that although Georgetown University does not officially "recognize" any fraternities or sororities, they do exist there. They certainly are not as big a part of campus life as they are at Vanderbilt where the houses are on campus and their late night parties are attended by the Chancellor. Hummm, an "underground" frat....sounds a little like "skull and bones" at..Yale is it?</p>
<p>Jesuits ARE a fraternity (I love and admire the Jesuits!). Also, they have a Knights of Columbus chapter on campus. That's a fraternal organization if ever there was one. (I grew up in Catholic schools and am still a practicing Catholic so the above is said with respect and with a light heart!)</p>
<p>I think fraternities are pretty much like people, businesses, churches, or any organization...there are different personalities and different cultures. There are good ones and bad ones. They're can also be a lot like college; you get out of it as much or as little as you put into it. Although I certainly am aware of the reputations that frats have (some well deserved), I was not concerned when my son called to say he was joining SigEp because I know what kind of a person he is and that he wouldn't join an organization which was not worthy of his time. It turned out to be a good fit for him.</p>
<p>I believe the Lehigh student just arrested was a Sig Ep. Publicity no organization welcomes. (It's not a reflection on the organization--nearly any organization might attract some members wth dubious morals)</p>
<p>I was told it's called Sig Ep most places, but on Southern campuses they call them SPE (like "spee"). That was the case at Washington & Lee, anyway.</p>
<p>A finalist for the "Balanced Man Award" at Columbia was one of two guys just arrested and charged with a hate crime for drunkenly scrawling racist and homophobic graffiti all over the walls of someone else's dorm suite. He, apparently, was contrite after he sobered up, unlike his companion who is a member of a different fraternity.</p>
<p>My kid's in a frat (not Sig Ep) and also said not all frats are alike, he's the person he's always been, they're a great group of nice guys, etc. That is all true, but I also think that frat scene in general revolves around drinking in an unhealthy way. Students who are not in that scene tend to taper off on the binge drinking after the first or second year. I think that's less true for those in frats.</p>