Fraternity History
Local History
The history of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (ΣΑΕ) at Bowling Green State University dates back over 85 years. It all started in 1922 when the Ye Olde Five Brothers (Five Brothers Fraternity) came into existence at the Bowling Green State Normal College. These five founders were Meryl Hoskinson, Earl Lowry, D. Arthur Bricker, Ivan E. Lake, and Carl Bachman. It was the first continuous fraternity on campus.
23 years later on May 25, 1945, the late Dr. Fred Turner, Dean of Students at the University of Illinois, presented the Ohio Kappa charter to the chapter. The accepting President of Ohio Kappa was Jim Violand, class of 1946. Thus, Bowling Green had its third national fraternity and therefore began Ohio Kappa's long and prestigious presence on the Bowling Green State University campus.
Throughout much of the 60's, 70's and 80's the chapter was very strong on campus and was one of the most well recognized fraternities at BGSU and often had a chapter size nearing and even sometimes exceeding 100 members at a given time. However, towards the end of the 1990's the chapter began to experience problems and was ultimately closed in the year 2000 by the chapter's alumni. In 2004 Ohio Kappa was recolonized at BGSU and in 2007 was re-chartered.
National History
Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded March 9, 1856 at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Its eight founders included five seniors. Noble Leslie DeVotie, John Barratt Rudolph, Nathan Elams Cockrell, John Webb Kerr, and Wade Foster, and three juniors, Samuel Marion Dennis, Abner Edwin Patton and Thomas Chappell Cook. Their leader was DeVotie who had written the ritual, devised the grip and chosen the name. The badge was designed by Rudolph. Of all existing fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the ante-bellum South.
Founded in a time of growing and intense sectional feeling, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, although it determined at the outset to extend to other colleges, confined its growth to the southern states. Extension was vigorous, however, and by the end of 1857 the Fraternity counted seven chapters. Its first national convention met in the summer of 1858 at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with four of its eight chapters in attendance. By the time of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, fifteen chapters had been established.
The Fraternity had fewer than four hundred members when the Civil War began. Of those, 369 went to war for the Confederacy and seven fought with the Union forces. Every member of the chapters at Hampden-Sydney, Georgia Military Institute, Kentucky Military Institute an d Oglethorpe University fought for the gray. Members from the Columbian College, William and Mary and Bethel (KY) were in both armies. Seventy members of the Fraternity lost their lives in the War, including Noble Leslie DeVotie, who is officially recorded in the annals of the War as the first man on either side to give his life.
Levere Memorial Temple
The fraternity's international headquarters, known as the Fraternity Service Center, is maintained at the Levere Memorial Temple in Evanston, Illinois. Honoring all the members of the fraternity who have served their countries in the armed forces since 1856, it was dedicated on December 28, 1930. The Temple also contains what is considered the most complete library pertaining to Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. The museum on the first floor is devoted to a collection of interesting historical photographs, pictures, and collections from private sources. The walls of the building are hung with oil portraits of distinguished members. The basement contains the Panhellenic Room, on the ceiling of which are the coats-of-arms of 40 college fraternities and 17 sororities, while the niches on the north side contain large murals showing the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 and that of Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1856, together with other murals depicting episodes in the history of the fraternity. Perhaps the most outstanding mural in the Panhellenic Room is the reproduction of Raphael's The School of Athens, painted by Johannes Waller in the 1930s.
The building continues to be used for ceremonies and receptions by the various fraternities, sororities, and honor societies at Northwestern University. The impressive chapel of the Temple, with its soaring vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows by Tiffany is used regularly for religious services, and has been the scene of many weddings of Evanstonians and members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In fact, the entire building is open to the public for patriotic, religious, and educational purposes, while the library is also free to scholars seeking material pertaining to the history of any or all college fraternities and college organizations.
The Story of Paddy Murphy
The story and legacy of Paddy Murphy has easily become one of the greatest traditions of any national fraternity. The American 1920's saw an amendment to the Constitution which put the country's alcohol consumption to an end. However, it did not entirely cease due to the rise of bootlegging which allowed people to enjoy their delicious beverages once again. Paddy Murphy was said to be a bootlegger working for Al Capone out of Chicago. Paddy ran bootlegging deals for Capone for many years until a US prohibition agent, Elliott Ness, become hot on Murphy's case. After searching for Murphy for quite some time, Ness finally receives a tip one night that Murphy can be found unloading a bootlegged ship at a downtown Chicago dock. Ness and the boys get down there and sure enough, they find Paddy on the docks. Ness and Murphy get into a heated gun battle, and Ness eventually gets a hit on Murphy sending him to the ground. Ness approaches the neutralized Murphy and somewhere in the discussion, Murphy reveals that he is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Ness, being a member himself, realizes he had just killed his own brother. Ness and Murphy exchange the secret SAE handshake, and Murphy dies. Ness, feeling so guilty about his actions, orders for Murphy to have a large, city-wide funeral service in remembrance of his fallen brother.
Around the same time every year (typically between March and May), chapters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon launch a Paddy Murphy week, at the conclusion of which they elect a Paddy Murphy from among their graduating seniors and have a mock funeral procession through campus. This ceremony is used to congratulate our graduating seniors and remind them of one important thing as they enter the post-college world: SAE's are everywhere and could be anyone.
Local History
The history of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (ΣΑΕ) at Bowling Green State University dates back over 85 years. It all started in 1922 when the Ye Olde Five Brothers (Five Brothers Fraternity) came into existence at the Bowling Green State Normal College. These five founders were Meryl Hoskinson, Earl Lowry, D. Arthur Bricker, Ivan E. Lake, and Carl Bachman. It was the first continuous fraternity on campus.
23 years later on May 25, 1945, the late Dr. Fred Turner, Dean of Students at the University of Illinois, presented the Ohio Kappa charter to the chapter. The accepting President of Ohio Kappa was Jim Violand, class of 1946. Thus, Bowling Green had its third national fraternity and therefore began Ohio Kappa's long and prestigious presence on the Bowling Green State University campus.
Throughout much of the 60's, 70's and 80's the chapter was very strong on campus and was one of the most well recognized fraternities at BGSU and often had a chapter size nearing and even sometimes exceeding 100 members at a given time. However, towards the end of the 1990's the chapter began to experience problems and was ultimately closed in the year 2000 by the chapter's alumni. In 2004 Ohio Kappa was recolonized at BGSU and in 2007 was re-chartered.
National History
Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded March 9, 1856 at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Its eight founders included five seniors. Noble Leslie DeVotie, John Barratt Rudolph, Nathan Elams Cockrell, John Webb Kerr, and Wade Foster, and three juniors, Samuel Marion Dennis, Abner Edwin Patton and Thomas Chappell Cook. Their leader was DeVotie who had written the ritual, devised the grip and chosen the name. The badge was designed by Rudolph. Of all existing fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the ante-bellum South.
Founded in a time of growing and intense sectional feeling, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, although it determined at the outset to extend to other colleges, confined its growth to the southern states. Extension was vigorous, however, and by the end of 1857 the Fraternity counted seven chapters. Its first national convention met in the summer of 1858 at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with four of its eight chapters in attendance. By the time of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, fifteen chapters had been established.
The Fraternity had fewer than four hundred members when the Civil War began. Of those, 369 went to war for the Confederacy and seven fought with the Union forces. Every member of the chapters at Hampden-Sydney, Georgia Military Institute, Kentucky Military Institute an d Oglethorpe University fought for the gray. Members from the Columbian College, William and Mary and Bethel (KY) were in both armies. Seventy members of the Fraternity lost their lives in the War, including Noble Leslie DeVotie, who is officially recorded in the annals of the War as the first man on either side to give his life.
Levere Memorial Temple
The fraternity's international headquarters, known as the Fraternity Service Center, is maintained at the Levere Memorial Temple in Evanston, Illinois. Honoring all the members of the fraternity who have served their countries in the armed forces since 1856, it was dedicated on December 28, 1930. The Temple also contains what is considered the most complete library pertaining to Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. The museum on the first floor is devoted to a collection of interesting historical photographs, pictures, and collections from private sources. The walls of the building are hung with oil portraits of distinguished members. The basement contains the Panhellenic Room, on the ceiling of which are the coats-of-arms of 40 college fraternities and 17 sororities, while the niches on the north side contain large murals showing the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 and that of Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1856, together with other murals depicting episodes in the history of the fraternity. Perhaps the most outstanding mural in the Panhellenic Room is the reproduction of Raphael's The School of Athens, painted by Johannes Waller in the 1930s.
The building continues to be used for ceremonies and receptions by the various fraternities, sororities, and honor societies at Northwestern University. The impressive chapel of the Temple, with its soaring vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows by Tiffany is used regularly for religious services, and has been the scene of many weddings of Evanstonians and members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In fact, the entire building is open to the public for patriotic, religious, and educational purposes, while the library is also free to scholars seeking material pertaining to the history of any or all college fraternities and college organizations.
The Story of Paddy Murphy
The story and legacy of Paddy Murphy has easily become one of the greatest traditions of any national fraternity. The American 1920's saw an amendment to the Constitution which put the country's alcohol consumption to an end. However, it did not entirely cease due to the rise of bootlegging which allowed people to enjoy their delicious beverages once again. Paddy Murphy was said to be a bootlegger working for Al Capone out of Chicago. Paddy ran bootlegging deals for Capone for many years until a US prohibition agent, Elliott Ness, become hot on Murphy's case. After searching for Murphy for quite some time, Ness finally receives a tip one night that Murphy can be found unloading a bootlegged ship at a downtown Chicago dock. Ness and the boys get down there and sure enough, they find Paddy on the docks. Ness and Murphy get into a heated gun battle, and Ness eventually gets a hit on Murphy sending him to the ground. Ness approaches the neutralized Murphy and somewhere in the discussion, Murphy reveals that he is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Ness, being a member himself, realizes he had just killed his own brother. Ness and Murphy exchange the secret SAE handshake, and Murphy dies. Ness, feeling so guilty about his actions, orders for Murphy to have a large, city-wide funeral service in remembrance of his fallen brother.
Around the same time every year (typically between March and May), chapters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon launch a Paddy Murphy week, at the conclusion of which they elect a Paddy Murphy from among their graduating seniors and have a mock funeral procession through campus. This ceremony is used to congratulate our graduating seniors and remind them of one important thing as they enter the post-college world: SAE's are everywhere and could be anyone.