Founding

On November 18, 1917, eleven young men met in a synagogue on Larchwood Avenue in Philadelphia for a meeting of the Soathical Club. The Soathical Club was an organization that was established the previous spring by Jewish students from the West Philadelphia High School to get together socially. The name was derived from a combination of the words social and athletic, and among the activities was included a baseball team.^[2]

At the meeting, Bill Braude proposed that the club be converted into a fraternity, primarily to advance Jewish student interests at West Philadelphia High School. The result was Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity. Jules Feinstein was elected president of the fraternity, Louis Marios was elected vice president, Nathan Goldman became secretary, Benjamin Landau assumed the role of treasurer, and Harry Katz took the position of financial secretary. The new fraternity entrusted member Alexander Meisel with the design of its pin. The members also selected the fraternity's colors.^[2]

In the spring of 1918, Sigma Alpha Rho held its first affair and recruited members, including Jerry Abramson and John Bthes who influenced the development of the fraternity. In the fall of 1918, Abramson was elected president. Under his leadership, the fraternity integrated into the activities of the West Philadelphia High School.^[2]

The fraternity decided to expand to other high schools and established its National Organizers Department, the precursor to the present-day Supreme Board of Chancellors.^[2] In anticipation of a second chapter, the group revamped and rewrote its rituals and rites.^[2]

1921 to 1929

On June 10, 1921. the Sigma chapter was inducted in the Roof Garden of the Lorraine Hotel in Philadelphia.^[3] It consisted of ten students from Central High School of Philadelphia. Sigma was considered the "Social Chapter" and adopted the motto, "Every active man active".^[2]

With the arrival of Sigma chapter, the West Philadelphia High School adopted the name Phi chapter. The older members of Phi were used to controlling the fraternity and were rebellious at being subordinated. Gradually, Phi adjusted to its new role as a fraternity chapter.^[2]

In September 1921, the fraternity formed an Executive Council with four members from Phi and four from Sigma. The council set up the plans to become a national organization with a constitution and by-laws. They selected Leon S. Rosenthal as the first Supreme Exalted Ruler (President).^[2]

Eventually, every high school in Philadelphia added a chapter of the fraternity. On October 17, 1921, the Theta chapter in South Philadelphia High School was inducted at the Lorraine Hotel as the third chapter of Sigma Alpha Rho. Concurrently with the negotiations for the induction of the Sigma chapter, a group in the South Philadelphia had been making plans to join the SAR.^[2]

On November 26, 1922, the first chapter outside of Philadelphia was inducted, the Iota chapter of Chester High School (Pennsylvania). For a time, Iota only admtted twelve new members each year to honor the twelve charter members. SAR became a national fraternity on October 12, 1923 with the addition of the Epsilon chapter of Camden High School in Camden, New Jersey.^[2] Chapters followed in Wilmington, Delaware, New York, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, with this expansion came the need for a central governing body to link the chapters.^[2]

In the beginning, the Executive Council possessed limited powers and few duties. However, with the addition of chapters outside of Philadelphia, it became necessary to form a governing council that would include their representation.^[2] On January 20, 1924, the Supreme Exalted Ruler dissolved the Executive Council and, then, called into session a new National Executive Council representing every chapter in the fraternity.^[2] Elections were held and Leon S. Rosenthal was again elected as Supreme Exalted Ruler. A new constitution was adopted as the new constitution of Sigma Alpha Rho.^[2] The fraternity also started publishing its newspaper, The Gleaming Eye.^[3]

In the conventions that subsequently followed as yearly events, meetings of the National Executive Council became increasingly complex. At the 1926 convention, the constitution was amended to create a new governing body, the Supreme Board of Chancellors, with greater power and resources. The group was to be elected annually by the National Executive Council (delegates from each chapter). On December 26, 1926, the first meetings of the Supreme Board of Chancellors were held at the Astor Hotel in New York City.^[2]

In the course of these meetings, several types of important legislation were effected. First, the Board created a new status of activity, that of life membership to be granted to all members of the newly formed Alumni Club. Second, it was during this period that Sigma Alpha Rho spread further with chapters in Jersey City (Zeta Omega), Overbrook (Zeta Iota), and Roxborough (Zeta Xi)..^[2]

The following year, the fraternity suffered severe financial reversals, and every available source of income was used to liquidate the outstanding obligations. The hext year was hopeful with financial recovery, chapter consolidation, and conservative expansion. In 1928, an auditing committee was appointed to inspect the accounts of the fraternity. Furthermore, it became mandatory that the records of Sigma Alpha Rho be held open to all brothers at all times. Another rule passed this year provided that all chapters that failed to pay their per capita tax would be excluded from representation in the National Executive Council.^[2]

1930 to 1949

SAR brothers struggled through the Great Depression, but the fraternity survived. Between 1929 and 1938, the fraternity began the practice of a winter or midyear meeting of chapter presidents, published the first edition of its handbook, and introduced three district councils. As World War II began in 1939, many brothers left for war, stretching the fraternity's leadership. In 1943, the fraternity donated $3,100 ($52,426 in today's money) to purchase two ambulances to the U.S. Medical Corps. In 1945, SAR dedicated a war memorial in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. In 1945, over thirty chapters were represented at the national convention that began three days after the armistice with Japan.^[3]

In 1946, SAR made many advances following over 800 brothers attending the convention that year. The first Royal Purple and White yearbook was published, a national scholarship fund was established and named after Irving Rathblott, the Eastern District Council emerged, and SAR joined the Inter-Fraternity Congress of America.^[2]

1950 to 1999

From 1950 to 1953, SAR emphasized community service, making large donations to The Polio Foundation and the National Society for Crippled Children. The Zeta Theta chapter assisted with construction of a new Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

In the late 1950s, SAR adopted a fraternity flag, published its first pledge training manual, printed a Parents Guide, and produced a film about the fraternity's history.^[2] Also in this period, former Supreme Exalted Ruler (President) of SAR, Howard L. Feldman, was elected president of theInter-Fraternity Congress of America.^[2] In 1958, Sigma Alpha Rho had fifty active chapters.^[3] The fraternity became international with the chartering of chapters in Montreal and Toronto.^[2]

1999 to 2015

Communications changed from the monthly mailed SER letter to the SAR website, mass email, and social media.^[2]

Present

By its 100th anniversary in 2017, all chapters of Sigma Alpha Rho had gone dormant, and only alumni remained.^[1] The alumni association formed a reactivation committee and hired a marketing company to help rebrand the fraternity.^[1] In December 2022, a new chapter was formed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with twelve high school members.^[1]

Local

A chapter is a group of brothers organized by geographical area. Chapters form the basis for all SAR activity. Chapters have names of one or two Greek letters based on their charter date. The brothers in each chapter elect officers, organize events, and hold regular meetings. Chapter officers include Sigma Rho (President), Mu Rho (Vice-President), Kappa Mu (Treasurer), and Kappa Beta (Secretary). Chapters may elect or have their Sigma Rho appointed. A brother known as the Rho chairman is appointed to run pledge classes.

National

The Supreme Board of Chancellors or SBC is the overarching governing body of SAR at all times other than midyear or summer convention. During the fraternity-wide conventions, the International Executive Council (IEC) serves as the highest body while in session. The SBC is elected by the brothers at the IEC meeting at each summer convention.

The Supreme Exalted Ruler or SER is the president of Sigma Alpha Rho fraternity.^[2] The current alumni association president is Jason Eric Saylor of the Zeta Xi chapter.^[5]

Districts

When the Supreme Exalted Ruler dissolved the Executive Council and replaced it with a new National Executive Council in 1924, it became necessary to organize a local body that would combine the numerous chapters in and around Philadelphia. For this reason, the Executive Council of Philadelphia District or Philadelphia District Council was established, with much the same makeup as the Executive Council, which had recently been dissolved.^[2]

Similarly, the Metropolitan District Council was formed for the chapters in New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Newark, New Jersey. In 1925, the Western Pennsylvania District Council was organized by the Tau chapter and the newly created Zeta Phi chapterr. Other district councils include the Mid-Southern District Council (Inaugurated in 1935 to represent Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area), the Southern District Council (Inaugurated 1938), the Central Pennsylvania District Council (Inaugurated in 1939), the Eastern District Council (Inaugurated in 1946 representing chapters in the southern parts of New Jersey), the Long Island District Council (Inaugurated 1958–1959), the Los Angeles District Council (Inaugurated 1960–1961), the Queens District Council (Inaugurated 1961), the Quebec Canadian District Council (Inaugurated 1966), the Boston District Council (Inaugurated 1966), and the Toronto District Council.^[2]

Naming conventions

Chapters from first to eleventh had a specific name pattern based on charter order and the Greek alphabet.^[2] Using the "f" sound from the word "first", the first chapter was named Phi. The "s" sound in 'second' was used to select the name Sigma for the second chapter. The 'th' sound in 'third' was used to name the Theta chapters. When it came time to name the fourth chapter, since the "f" sound for Phi had already been used, the second letter from "fourth" or '"o" was used to select the Omega chapter. For the fifth chapter, the second letter of the word "fifth" or "i" was the basis for naming the Iota chapter. Since "s" and 'i' had previously been used, the sixth chapter was named for the third letter "x", resulting in the Xi chapter. For the seventh chapter, "s" was already used, so the second letter "e" of "seventh" was used to name Epsilon. The eighth chapter was named Eta chapter because "eighth" sounded similar to the Greek letter Eta. The ninth chapter became Nu, and the tenth became Tau. The eleventh chapter was named Lambda because "e" had previously been used, so the second letter of "eleventh" or "l" was used instead.^[2]

Chapter list

Following is a list of Sigma Alpha Rho chapters.^[6] Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics. Active chapters are indicated in bold.

Notes