While the campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon can no longer hold pledging events following a nationwide ban on the practice from the fraternity’s headquarters, members are taking the change in stride.

The pledging process, typically a period of activities when men learn about the fraternity after receiving a bid, will be eliminated, and members will now be initiated within four days of receiving a bid.

While chapters at other universities have resisted the measure, members of Washington University’s Interfraternity Council and SAE chapter say they are optimistic about the changes.

SAE is known as one of the most dangerous fraternities on the national level, with at least 10 members dying due to alcohol consumption and drug use in fraternity-related events since 2006—more than any single fraternity.

“We have experienced a number of incidents and deaths, events with consequences that have never been consistent with our membership experience,” SAE’s national headquarters announced in a statement on its website. “Furthermore, we have endured a painful number of chapter closings as a result of hazing.”

Junior Michael Tarazi, external vice president of the Interfraternity Council, did not see hazing as a big issue on Washington University’s campus.

“I think it’s great for them, but I don’t think it’ll negatively or positively impact the [Washington University] community,” Tarazi said. “The things that happen nationally do not even compare to the things that are done on this campus in the slightest.”

Jeremy Sherman, junior and president of the University’s SAE chapter, agreed with Tarazi, stressing that the change would not have the impact it might have had in the past.

“[Hazing was an issue] a few years ago. Hazing has been eliminated from our organization, and I assume it’s been a part of every fraternity’s history, but we worked hard to eliminate it and we take pride in that,” Sherman said. “I think across the country that’s been the reason why there was emphasis placed on making this happen, this ‘True Gentleman Experience.’”

Brandon Weghorst, SAE’s associate executive director of communications on the national level, noted that the change, which the fraternity is touting as part of its new “True Gentleman Experience,” is not because of a single incident but was seen as the best option for the fraternity to improve.

“Our board of directors believes if we eliminate that classification in the undergraduate membership, it hopefully will alleviate many, if not all, of the issues that surround things that happen during the pledgeship, like hazing,” he said. “Studies show that’s where you typically see things. It also changes the educational focus so that it’s not just pledges who have to learn.”

Weghorst noted that the pledge process of weeding people out of the organization was a flawed process and that the True Gentleman Experience should help to counteract that issue.

“The leadership realizes that this is not going to solve all of the problems, but it’s the step in the right direction,” he said. “There should be no reason for anyone to prove their worth when they accept the bid to join.”

In place of a pledge period, the True Gentleman Experience extends the process of learning a fraternity’s history and traditions over the course of a member’s college years.

Sherman was notified early in the semester about the potential for the changes.

“Typically, there has been education that only happens when they’re a pledge…and after they get initiated, it sort of falls off; there’s no education anymore,” Sherman said. “It makes sense from the national perspective to say if we initiate them sooner, we can spend all four years building our systematic education.”

“I think it’s a really positive thing,” he added. “There are mixed reactions all over the country, but we’re taking it pretty positive here because it allows us to expand education to all four years of a brother’s membership.”

Though all current chapter members have already been initiated, Sherman plans to work with the fraternity to develop the new educational component over the summer.

“We think we can still focus on year-one education, which is the equivalent of pledge education, but now we have the ability to build in special sophomore events, special junior events, things for seniors, maybe alumni development and job-search help for seniors,” he said. “There are specific things that we haven’t really thought about yet, but we’re just starting the conversation now.”

Weghorst hoped that the changes for SAE might soon spark change in other fraternities as well.

“It’s a little soon to say whether other organizations will follow suit,” he said. “We are the first large national fraternity to make this bold change. We hope this will spur the conversation with other Greek letter organizations.”

Sherman agreed that watching the wider impacts of the change should be interesting.

“I think maybe down the line, if it works well, this is kind of an experiment for the national organization, so I think if it works well, other fraternities may adopt it,” he said.

Tarazi noted, however, that change would have to come on the national level, as this decision did.

“Fraternities are not just going to [change] on their own; they have to follow national guidelines,” he said. “I’m in Sigma Nu. We can’t just cut the pledging program because our nationals do it, so we have to adhere by that. It might inspire other fraternities to look at their take on education and incorporate that into being a brother and their ideals, but I don’t know if it will affect other fraternities nationally.”

Overall, the changes to the SAE fraternity’s policy were not seen as a problem at Washington University.

“I think it’s much more of a surface-level change. At a core, we remain the same. It’s a hard transition to make because it makes us go into a different mindset of how we operate in our education, but we’re taking it as if we’re not removing anything but that we’re expanding or adding something. Some SAE chapters around the country are not taking it like that, but I think that since we are, it doesn’t change the foundation of SAE—it just changes the system of how we educate our members,” Sherman said.