Sigma Epsilon Omega

Websites

UCB Chapter: www.sigmaepsilonomega.com

Year Founded

UCB Chapter: 2007

Statistics

# of Active Members: 34

# of Rooms: 9

Required to live in the chapter house?: No

Parking Available?: Yes

Meal Service?: Yes

Cleaning Service?: No

Cable/Satellite?: Yes

High Speed Internet?: Yes

Additional Information

Chapter Summary/Information: Sigma Epsilon Omega (SEO), UC Berkeley's only Gay Fraternity and one of the few recognized Gay Fraternities in the nation, provides male students a unique opportunity to be included in a safe space focused around respect and acceptance. Founded by 3 students at Cal, SEO has continued to break barriers and stereotypes of both the Gay and Greek Communities. SEO has quickly become one of the most recognized names in the Greek System at Cal for its work with important issues in the community, fun and diverse Brothers, and incomparable social events. SEO is primarily a Social Fraternity, and our events have become legendary across campus: our Lady Gaga party last year is a perfect example! We truly are a group of guys that loves spending time together, having a blast, and making amazing memories! Even though SEO is one of the newest Fraternities on campus, we already have incredible accomplishments. We have seen rapid growth of our Fraternity starting with a class of 23 Brothers, and we are now maintaining an Active Brotherhood twice that size! We also already have a House to call our own! Being a Housed Chapter is a significant accomplishment for a new Fraternity, and provides all of our Brothers with a unique and amazing Housing opportunity! Feel free to check out our House at 2545 Dana St! As Brothers, we aim to improve the school community by getting involved in various philanthropy and activism events by raising money, creating awareness, and participating in volunteer work. We seek to foster and maintain a Brotherhood that is based on individual and collective strength, equality, and opportunity. We strive to provide an exciting and vibrant social space specifically, but not exclusively, for gay males. Although Sigma Epsilon Omega is a Gay Fraternity, our Brotherhood is open to any individual that identifies as male and supports our mission statement. Every individual that rushes (straight, bi-sexual, gay, etc.) will be treated equally and will be put through the same process.

Chapter Philanthropy: SEO is actively involved in both the Queer and Greek communities. One organization we work closely with is Project OpenHand, which was founded in the Bay Area and has rapidly increased nation-wide. Their mission is to provide meals and company to those affected by serve cases of HIV/AIDS. SEO is helping to promote awareness of this issue and also participate in fundraising and volunteering with Project OpenHand. Beyond this organization, SEO continues to strongly increase our out-reach to Queer youth in the Bay Area. Coming from a place of empathy, we are uniquely qualified to offer advice and help.

Chapter History: Founder and first President Travis Garcia, with the help of then Social Chair Daniel Sanson officially founded Sigma Epsilon Omega (SEO) on 22 February, 2007. The three met as Garcia was trying to recover from a bad break-up with his first boyfriend. After a few difficult months in the fall of 2006, Garcia decided to get his life back on track and put his energy into creating an organization unlike any other group on campus; one that would show the vibrancy and vigour of the gay community through the forging of brotherly bonds. The name Sigma Epsilon Omega was chosen for its strength and its sound. The name was first used around October 2006 when the founders and their friends headed to the Castro Halloween party. The name immediately stuck and soon enough, flyers announcing SEO’s first informational meeting were made and distributed the night of 22 of February. The day following the posting of the flyers, Garcia was contacted by UC Berkeley’s student paper, the Daily Californian, for an article featuring SEO. “After I received the call from the Daily Cal, I knew SEO was going to be a success. I remember receiving a call from Daniel the day after I was interviewed and finally picking up a copy of the paper. We had made the front page. We were really excited,” Garcia recalls. After countless nights of hard work, Garcia finally began preparing for SEO’s first Rush. From there the rest is history and SEO has successfully introduced four (on its way to five) pledge classes into the brotherhood. With each class a new dynamic is created and the fraternity grows stronger with the induction of every new member. Of course, one of the largest achievements was finding a house for our members in Berkeley, where about one-third of the brotherhood currently resides. SEO remains strong in both numbers and purpose and is has come a long way in its short but significant history.

Contact Information: President Nick Kadrlik nick@sigmaespilonomega.com 612.298.0616 Pledge Marshall Kurtis Roddewig kurtis@sigmaepsilonomega.com 530.554.0659

Address: 2545 Dana St. Berkeley, CA 94704