Chapter History
Today we are known as the Colorado Gamma Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon or CSU/SigEp for short.
But we were originally founded in the summer of 1894 at was then known as Colorado Agricultural College, when a group students saw a need to form a club for the sole purpose of reducing the cost of food. They named it the San Juan Cub.
In the beginning membership was just 15, but, by 1898 the membership became so great the club became a necessary appendage of the college.
Men took 3 meals a day at the club. The men would converse during their meals sharing their ideas and aspirations. Men of like mind naturally started gathering together, bonds began to form.
In 1896 a small group of San Juan club members were congregating after meals to plan hijinks not thought appropriate by the faculty of the College, so they organized a secret society called the "Mystic Circle.” The club remained secret until, 1904, when J. Ernest Leiper convinced his fellow members to drop their sub rosa activities before the college caught them and sent them all home for good. They recognized as a fraternity called themselves the “Tree Apes” as it is best describes their mischievous behavior much like a shrewdness of wild apes.
By 1911 the Tree Apes desired to expand beyond a strictly social club, they decided to become a Greek Letter society, changed their charter, secured a house, and reemerged as “Tau Alpha” a local C.A.C. Greek Letter fraternity.
Finally in 1915 when the College Board of Governors of Colorado Agricultural College voted to allow national fraternities to organize and recruite on campus, Tau Alpha’s were still struggling in their efforts to expand beyond C.A.C. when Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters learned of Tau Alpha’s aspirations, they eagerly to encouraged them to petition to become “Colorado Gamma,” Sigma Phi Epsilon’s third Colorado chapter, with chapters already at the Colorado Alpha at University of Colorado (1904) and the Colorado Delta at University of Denver (1913).
The chapter voted to close the doors of Tau Alpha and petitioned Sigma Phi Epsilon. They were installed on Nov. 27th, 1915, and received charter number 50 and today we are known as CSU/SigEp.
Colorado Agricultural College Secret Societies
Yes C.A.C. had secret societies and they existed on a spectrum. Some flaunted their membership status, wearing society paraphernalia and hosting events, while others maintain strict standards of secrecy.
In the early days of college, literary societies were organized around debate and extemporaneous speech. As the popularity of these societies grew, smaller private groups formed giving birth to fraternities and secret societies.
Secret societies like Yales’ Skull and Bones would debate controversial subjects not permitted in public, at the time, like politics and religion among them. They believed that these debates honed their oratory skills and taught members how to think on their feet. Typically they would select a topic and debate various ideas at length during their meeting.
These clubs selected their members on the grounds of wealth and willingness to partake, their personal accomplishments such as academic excellence, student leadership, or affiliation in other prestigious groups.
These private groups provided opportunity for members to connect with their like-minded, well-heeled peers.
C.A.C. facility was wary of secret societies who attempted to remain invisible and did not support their presence on campus; they felt these society's values did not align with the key values of democratic higher education, lacked transparency and should not have freedom from inquiry.
1894 - C. S. S. members may be known by their badges
1895 - Theates were associated with their “Red Jackets”
1896 - Mystic Circle member of the San Juan Club
1902 - C. A. C. V. S. Club
1906 - Eta Pi - Sophomore members of the Grubb Club
Colorado State University Greek Life History
Greek Life was officially recognized/installed at Colorado Agricultural College (Colorado State University) in the Fall of 1915. There were a handful of local fraternities that developed prior to 1915 before Greek Life was officially recognized at the college.
The Alpha Kappa Epsilon local fraternity was founded in 1902 and chartered as the Sigma Nu National Fraternity Delta Rho Chapter (1915-2000, 2008-present) in the Fall of 1915. The Tau Alpha local fraternity (previously Royal and Infernal Order of Tree Apes) was founded in 1905 and chartered as Sigma Phi Epsilon's Colorado Gamma Chapter (1915-2013, 2017-present) in the Fall of 1915 as well. The Gamma Phi Beta National Sorority was the third Greek chapter chartered (previously the Tau Kappa Sigma local sorority) in 1915.
The "Fort Collins Triad" of Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Gamma Phi Beta comprised the original Colorado Agricultural College (C.A.C.) recognized Greek Life organizations by the end of the Fall 1915 semester.
Sigma Phi Epsilon National History
Please visit the History of Sigma Phi Epsilon at SigEp.org to learn more about our great national fraternity.