Sigma Phi Epsilon has been a fraternity at Henderson for many years now. So why have they suddenly resigned their chapter?

“It was really, honestly, just a gradual decline over time,” Chad Fielding, dean of students, said. “They used to be a really strong fraternity and they have always been a really good and solid group of guys. But at the end they were down to just a handful of members.”

With the fraternity having a house and very few members, it was hard for several members to keep up with the dues.

“It has to do with finances not with Henderson or their Nationals,” Veronikha Salazar, associate dean of students, said. “Nationally there were only two Sig Eps wanting to be active involved.”

It all mainly breaks down to not having enough members to pay the dues that needed to be paid in order to keep a chapter going. 

There have been rumors that Henderson’s “new” rules and regulations was a cause to Sig Ep’s resignation. This is however false. Both Fielding and Salazar said that Henderson did not force them out. They only reinforced the rules and regulations that were already here at the university, such as having to have a 2.6 GPA in order to be considered an active member. However, this rule is not only for Greek Life but also for every organization at the University.

Just to clarify a 2.6 GPA is equivalent to a student taking five classes all of which are three hour credits and making at least three B’s and two C’s.

Salazar said that if a student cannot make a 2.6 GPA then maybe they should be concentrating more on their academics than their organization. 

“We have been very strict on GPA,” Salazar said. “We do not round up. So if you have a 2.57 then you do not have a 2.6 and that is a policy that many organizations are upset about.”

Henderson did not kick Sig Ep out of their house nor force them to resign. The University is very sad that the chapter has left because they were some great guys.

“It is better just to let something go,” Fielding said. “Because Henderson has a long standing history with Sig Ep and with a lot of amazing Alumni that have really fond memories of their experience. So three to fours years down the road we hope that they will want to start recolonizing.”

 “They were great,” Salazar said. “We want them back.”