After 11 years, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity officially returned to the University Park Campus on Jan. 13, extending bids to 12 re-founding fathers.

The National Sigma Phi Epsilon organization banned Sigma Phi Epsilon California Beta Chapter Feb. 28, 2013 after several reports that the chapter violated the University’s sexual misconduct regulations in its house on Frat Row. 

 USC’s Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards committee began a trial and internal investigation of SigEp in November 2012 after a crime was reported to have occurred in one of the house’s rooms. As a result of the investigation, the National Sigma Phi Epsilon organization expelled a member from the house and banned the chapter for a minimum of five years.

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“Usually [five years] is minimum for when we start the chapter back up,” said Rece Lehman, one of two expansion managers from the national organization. “[It] happened to be a sort of off time where USC was not having expansions come back within that realm, and then, lo and behold, COVID came soon after that.”

Lukas Parrish, the other Sigma Phi Epsilon expansion manager, said headquarters removed USC’s chapter because they wanted to start a new chapter that aligns more with SigEp’s values.

“When a fraternity is not willing to kind of cooperate with [policies], we have to take necessary steps, and it sometimes leads to a fraternity shutting down,” Parrish said.

Jon Cleveland, Associate Vice Provost for Student Life, wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan that after the SigEp chapter at USC met all of the new chapter requirements, USC Interfraternity Council student leaders voted to expand the council to include them.

“The student leaders have been optimistic about expansion and looking for a chapter with a strong local and national reputation, as well as a commitment to university partnership and alignment with university values,” Cleveland wrote. “Student Life supports their vision.”  

Lehman and Parrish were sent to USC by SigEp’s national headquarters to help revive and build up the chapter. Their job is to recruit and initiate members into the revived SigEp chapter and ensure it avoids violating policies.

“Rece and I are responsible for getting programming up and running and recruiting the founding class as the semester goes on,” Parrish said. “We’re also responsible for training the executive board and making sure that they’re prepared to navigate the life of being a SigEp chapter on USC campus when we’re gone.”

SigEp was re-established as a member of the USC Interfraternity Council, the coordinating and governing board for North American Interfraternity Conference fraternities affiliated with the University. The recognized chapters under the IFC also include Alpha Gamma Omega, Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma.

The re-established fraternity has a no-tolerance policy for hazing and pledging, removing the practices from the membership experience. 

“We have something that we call equal rights and responsibilities,” Parrish said. “The second you accept a bid, you are a full member from day one.”

Lehman said he hopes to see fraternities under the University Park Interfraternity Council, a group of fraternities that disaffiliated from the University in August 2022, return to the IFC. 

“The hope is that we can build that IFC back up and bring the fraternities back into that realm, and hopefully bring all the fraternities back together, instead of having two different IFCs, where one is unaffiliated and it’s like they just run their own system where we aren’t seen as the same fraternity,” Lehman said. 

Nick Quach, a freshman majoring in political science, was the first person to join SigEp. Quach said he came into USC thinking he was not going to join a fraternity until he learned about SigEp’s no-pledging and no-hazing process.

“It’s an opportunity to build something new here at USC and be part of that legacy,” Quach said. “We’re changing the narrative of what Frat Row is going to look like for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years down the line.”

SigEp is currently leasing their house on The Row to members of the disaffiliated fraternity Kappa Alpha Order. SigEp plans to move back into the house once it is financially feasible to take that step. 

Quach said once they get their house back, SigEp will have a dry facility where alcohol will not be permitted on the house premises.

“Obviously we’ll have a dry facility when we have our house back,” said Quach. “We’re trying to build a different narrative.”

Parrish said SigEp centers its experience on the Balanced Man Program, which includes weekly meetings that teach public speaking skills, personal finance, how to build a resume and networking.

“Our goal isn’t to be the best fraternity on campus, it is to provide the best student experience,” Parrish said.