EWLINE Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi ΣΑΕΠ Open Motto: Spirit, Strength, Sisterhood Nicknames: Sigma, Sigma AEPi Founded: October 1, 1998 at University of California, Davis University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment... , (Davis, California Davis, California Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area... ) Founders: Alycia Seaman Erin Glick Leah Dansker Rachel Rothfarb Erin Barker Dana Miller Colors: Blue & Gold Flower: Blue Iris Mascot: Lioness Lion The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger... Jewel: Sapphire Sapphire Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give... Symbol: Paw Membership : 300+ Organization Type : Jewish, Social Website : Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi is a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sorority that was founded on October 1, 1998 at the University of California, Davis

University of California, Davis

The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...

.

Formation

In the early 1990s with the closing of a national Jewish sorority the University of California, Davis was left without a Jewish women's social organization. With the gap left open Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi , the Global Jewish college fraternity, has 155 active chapters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Israel with a membership of over 9,000 undergraduates...

, a national Jewish fraternity, urged the women of Davis to start a Jewish women's social organization of their own. With positive response from the campus Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi was formed.

The "Sigma" is meant to represent "sisters of" in honor of Alpha Epsilon Pi's contributions towards the formation of the sorority. Additionally Sigma is also the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet

Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...

 in Jewish tradition, the number 18 means chai

Chai (symbol)

Chai is a symbol and word that figures prominently in Jewish culture. It consists of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet Chet and Yod .The Hebrew word "living" is related to the term for "life", chaim; ḥayyim....

 (life).

The six women who founded the sorority; Alycia Seaman, Erin Glick, Leah Dansker, Rachel Rothfarb, Erin Barker, and Dana Miller are considered the eternal mothers of the sorority.

Despite being a Jewish sorority there is no discrimination based on race, creed, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.

Purpose

"The purpose of this organization shall be to promote unity, support, and a Jewish awareness, as well as to provide a Jewish experience for ourselves, our members, and the community as a whole. This organization is devoted to friendship, motivation, opportunity, leadership, and well-being."

“Sorority Life”

The first season of MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

’s “Sorority Life

Sorority Life

Sorority Life is a reality television show on MTV that aired from June 24, 2002 to 2004. The show consisted of girls pledging to become part of a sorority.-First season:The first season occurred at University of California, Davis...

” was filmed in the spring of 2002 on the
UC Davis campus featuring members and pledges of ΣΑΕΠ. Through the airing of the
show, ΣΑΕΠ has begun to expand across the country.

National Board

A national board was started in the summer of 2002 to oversee the expansion
and growth of ΣΑΕΠ as a nationwide sorority. Currently, there are 7 alumni members
from all different chapters voluntarily serving as the directors on the National Board.
2011-2012 National Board members are:




Director of Operations: Laura Silvester

Director of Membership: Elissa Hermann

Director of Expansion: Chayla Furlong

Director of Finance: Tatiana Chaplin

Director of Programming: Lauren Romano

Director of Public Relations: Jessi Derfler

Director of Protocol: Adi Hanein

National Philanthropy

At the 2008 national convention, Cancer Schmancer was selected as the sorority's national philanthropy. In addition to the national philanthropy, some chapters also support locally decided philanthropies.




Charter Chapter - Jewish Family Services of Sacramento

Zeta Chapter - MAZON

Chapter list

In 2001, a chapter was founded at San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

by members of the UC Davis chapter, however they did not remain members very long.