Mizzou Sig Eps Eliminate Pledging

Fraternity Eliminates Pledging

By Patrick W. Connelly
Co-Editor, The Frat Boy News

Brothers of the University of Missouri's chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon have abolished pledging in favor of a program initiated by its national headquarters.

"We had a definite consensus that we needed to go in a new direction," the chapter's president Keith Ziercher told a Missouri newspaper. "Recruitment hadn’t been going well for a few years. We just needed to change."

Rather than pledging, the chapter chose to adopt the "Balanced Man" program for its new members, which will focus on their growth and development. The program was developed by the fraternity's national organization in the 1990s, based on ancient Greek philosophy of a sound mind and body.

About 78 percent of Sigma Phi Epsilon chapters use the program, which has propelled the fraternity to become the nation's largest in its total number of undergraduate brothers.

As part of the plan, the Missouri chapter will also take a look at standardized test scores, grades, character and campus involvement when rushing new members, they said.

"We're trying to change the image of the fraternity system," said John Hartman, the chapter's alumni advisor. "We don’t want that frat boy, ‘Animal House’ image. We want our fraternity to produce leaders."