Welcome to the Massachusetts Iota Tau chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at MIT.
The Alumni of MIT SAE have undertaken the initiative to recreate a reborn chapter of the fraternity by first assisting a group of undergraduates who would like to become the founders of a new fraternity whose focus would be on public service and who in the process would like to set their own agenda, manage the social, service, financial, student body participation and academic affairs of their fraternity. The bonds and friendship of this process stay with you all your life. As soon as the colony reaches ten to fifteen members the alumni will assist in the transition to a full SAE chapter status with MIT and the SAE national fraternity.
- If you are a student and this sounds interesting to you, click here to learn more.
- If you are a parent and you would like to learn why MIT SAE might be a good place for your son, click here to learn more
- If you are an alumnus of MIT SAE and would like to learn what is new for alumni, click here to learn more.
The MIT SAE Colony Experience
There are a number of important differences between what could be your SAE colony experience and those other experiences which you will have at MIT.
- Community service – We focus on community service whether it is local to the Cambridge and Boston areas, meeting some of the international and scientific challenges which have been established for MIT students or serving more disadvantaged populations which can benefit from the scientific and economics knowledge which you will acquire at MIT.
- SAE national fraternity – You will belong to one of the strongest national fraternities in the country which has support resources for you both at the local level and at the national level. Brothers from SAE are in every profession, of almost all religious denominations, ethnic group and locale and they form a connection which can help throughout your life.
- Personal growth opportunity – In a fraternity there are many leadership positions which will enable your growth not just as a scientist, educator or economist but as a person who is learning to work with friends, brothers, co-workers on fraternity and community projects of all types. You will also learn to help your close friends and brothers in the fraternity to achieve their goals whether it is passing a test or playing a sport or creating a welcoming social environment for them.
- Personal input to colony ethos – You will be a founding member. As such you can impart the characteristics to the fraternity which are important and integral to your personal outlook and how you want to live your time at MIT.
Why We Are Creating a New SAE at MIT
As alumni of MIT SAE we are reestablishing this chapter of the fraternity because all of us had a great experience as SAE’s and we want to provide this opportunity to others who are coming after us. We think that you will find the experience to be as rewarding as we did both because we have had a strong and illustrious history but also because you will bring new ideas to the fraternity which can only add to your intellectual growth at MIT.
Our History
Massachusetts Iota Tau, the chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at MIT, was founded in November, 1892 by Harold C. Buckminster, Wallace C. Brackett, Ernest F. Badger, and Frank B. Masters, who were initiated by a member of the newly formed chapter at Boston University, Massachusetts Beta Upsilon. After completion of the first pledge training program, the brothers of Massachusetts Iota Tau held their first initiation at the Woodlawn Hotel in Auburndale, Massachusetts. John Thompson Dorrance, the founder of Campbell’s Soup, was a member of the first pledge class.
In 1916, the chapter bought a house at 484 Beacon Street, where it remained for more than eighty years, also purchasing 480 Beacon Street in 1959. Brothers and pledges were active in MIT extracurricular activities and in the national fraternity, working to establish chapters elsewhere, holding leadership positions on MIT’s athletic teams and in student government. When gentrification of the Back Bay in the 1960s fueled tension between fraternities and residents, SAE organized community relations and political outreach activities that mitigated hostility.
In the mid-1990s, the attitude of the MIT administration towards fraternities shifted, in part due to the death of a freshman at a Fiji House event, which resulted in a $6 million settlement between the Institute and the student’s parents. MIT, for the first time, required that freshman live in university housing rather than in fraternity houses, and banned alcohol from fraternity houses.
The leaders of Massachusetts Iota Tau were unable to conform their conduct to the new rules, and after several incidents, the chapter was shut down in 1998. Economic circumstances forced the sale of the houses. The proceeds from the sale were invested in a non-profit foundation, which has sponsored many projects and organizations performing public service in Cambridge and Boston.
During the following ten years, MIT’s attitudes turned friendlier toward fraternities, and Massachusetts Iota Tau alumni began an effort to restore the chapter.
Download a full history here: History of Massachusetts Iota Tau
Philanthropy
The alumni of SAE at MIT have created a substantial non profit foundation for the purpose of supporting educational endeavors at MIT and in the Cambridge community around MIT. Since the 484 Phi Alpha Foundation was created, the SAE Alumni through the Foundation have given over $1,000,000 to MIT and the surrounding community for such projects as:
All of these projects have served to raise the prestige of Sigma Alpha Epsilon within MIT and around Cambridge.
- The MIT Public Service Center
- The MIT Science of Baseball Project
- MIT iHouse for students interested in international service
- Tutoring Plus, to provide science enrichment to students grades 4 – 12
- Common Impact, to upgrade technology infrastructure in local non profits
- Margaret Fuller House, providing food to Cambridge residents in need
