article_snippet: the fraternity expanding North was also investigating reports of other SAE incidents that may have been tainted with racism, Sigma Alpha Epsilon spokesman Brandon Weghorst said.
article_snippet: SAE would not return to SAE birthplace until 1886, after the Reconstruction-era ban on 'secret societies' was relaxed and the school's trustees, in the words of William C. Levere, repealed 'SAE obnoxious anti-fraternity laws.'
article_snippet: The editors of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture call SAE 'the first Greek-letter society founded in Dixie to take permanent root ...' Even in those early years, the fraternity to the southern states sought to prove that it's more than just a provincial organization.
article_snippet: SAE was proud to claim President William McKinley as a member at Ohio's Mount Union College — even though it was an honorary initiation that came long after McKinley's college days.
article_snippet: But, like other fraternities North and South, SAE had not yet embraced racial diversity.
article_snippet: SAE has had SAE share of controversy in more recent years.
article_snippet: Most of the actions taken against SAE in the past have been for infractions of a non-racial nature.
article_snippet: Last year, SAE reached what SAE called 'a historic milestone' — becoming the first large national fraternity to eliminate the pledge process. '
article_snippet: Instead, we have implemented a holistic education known as the True Gentleman Experience,' SAE says on SAE website. '
article_snippet: SAE provides education throughout a member's collegiate tenure and fosters both personal and professional development.'
article_snippet: On its website, Sigma Alpha Epsilon says SAE mission, based on ideals set forth by the founders, is 'to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service ...'