Sigma Beta Rho

Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Inc. (ΣΒΡ, also SigRho) is an American collegiate and national multicultural fraternity.^[2][3] Founded in 1996, it was the first national multicultural fraternity in the United States.^[2]

Sigma Beta Rho
ΣΒΡ
Founded	August 16, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-08-16) University of Pennsylvania
Type	Social
Affiliation	NAPA NIC
Status	Active
Emphasis	Multicultural
Scope	National (US)
Motto	"Brotherhood Beyond All Barriers"
Pillars	Society, Brotherhood, Remembrance
Colors	Red,   Black, and   Green
Symbol	King Cobra
Chapters	61 installed, 23 active[1]
Members	3,000 active
Nickname	SigRho, King Cobras, Cobras, SBRho
Headquarters	PO Box 4668 #20910 New York City, New York 10163-4668 United States
Website	sigrho.com

History

Sigma Beta Rho was founded on August 16, 1996, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as a South Asian interest fraternity.^[4][5][6] Its founders originally attended three different college campuses and came together to form the fraternity.^[6] The first eight members of the fraternity's are its National Founding Fathers.^[6] The National Founding Fathers are Russell Abdullah, Anuj Datta, Neil Datta, Rajan Dogra, Suman Ghosh, Shoor Kalam, Saiful Khandker, and Bonit Sharma.^[7][8]

Beta chapter was chartered at Binghamton University on August 22, 1998. That same year the fraternity was incorporated in the State Department of New York. In its first few years of existence, Sigma Beta Rho changed its focus from a South-Asian interest fraternity to one with a multicultural mission.^[6] It promotes cultural awareness and spreads a positive image of diversity.^[2]

Sigma Beta Rho is a charter member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association (NAPA).^[9][10] Sigma Beta Rho member Akash Kuruvilla co-authored the original constitution of NAPA. The fraternity was also accepted into the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) on April 15, 2007, as its 69th member organization.^[1]

Since 1998, Sigma Beta Rho has expanded to over sixty chapters and colonies in the United States; it has a total membership of over 3,000 brothers.^[11][12] It is currently working on establishing an internet-based newsletter, the Seven Star Journal.^[13]

Symbols

The colors of Sigma Beta Rho are red, black, and green.^[14][15] Its symbol is the King Cobra.^[14][15] Its motto is "Brotherhood Beyond All Barriers".^[14][15] Its pillars are "Society, Brotherhood, Remembrance".^[2] Its nicknames are SBRho and SigRho.^[15]

Philanthropy

The fraternity’s national philanthropic focus is on its partnership with SOS Children's Villages.^[2][3] In addition, the Florida International University chapter has raised funds for countries impacted by hurricanes.^[16] Other chapter efforts have supported Habitat for Humanity, Read Across America, and Relay for Life.^[17]

Organization

The National Executive Board (NEB) is the governing body that presides over the nationwide fraternity, which is divided into eight interim regions. Each region is appointed a regional governor (RG) by the NEB, who acts as the envoy to his respective region on behalf of the NEB. Under each RG, there is also a Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

Chapters

Sigma Beta Rho used the term "entities" for its colonies, associate chapters, and chapters.^[18] In the following list, active chapters indicated in bold and inactive chapters are in italics.^{[11][19][20][21]}

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	August 16, 1996 – 20xx ?	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Beta	August 22, 1998 – 20xx ?	Binghamton University	Binghamton, New York	Inactive	[22]
Gamma	August 22, 1998 – 20xx ?	St. John's University	Queens, New York	Inactive
Delta	1998–20xx ?	Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Inactive
Epsilon	September 1, 1999 – 20xx ?	Pace University	New York City, New York	Inactive
Zeta	February 2, 2000 – July 2020	Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, New York	Inactive	[a]
Eta	June 1, 2002 – 20xx ?	Boston College	Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	Inactive
Theta	June 17, 2001	Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Active
Iota	January 18, 2003 – 20xx ?	University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	Active
Kappa	December 10, 2002 – 20xx ?	University of Rochester	Rochester, New York	Inactive
Lambda	November 24, 2002 – 20xx ?	Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	Inactive
Mu	August 25, 2001	University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	Active
Nu	May 9, 2004	University of Georgia	Athens, Georgia	Active
Xi	April 27, 2003 – 20xx ?	University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, Maryland	Inactive
Omicron	December 13, 2003 – 20xx ?	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Catonsville, Maryland	Inactive	[b]
Pi	May 31, 2002 – 20xx ?	University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Inactive
Rho	November 20, 2004	Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Sigma	April 2, 2005	Georgia Tech	Atlanta, Georgia	Active	[14]
Tau	March 4, 2004 – 20xx ?	University of Houston	Houston, Texas	Inactive
Upsilon	March 30, 2002	Drexel University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
Phi	April 26, 2003 – c. 2022	University of the Sciences	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive	[c]
Chi				Unassigned
Psi	November 19, 2004 – 20xx ?	Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University	Daytona Beach, Florida	Inactive
Omega				Unassigned
Alpha Alpha	December 10, 2005	Florida State University	Tallahassee, Florida	Active
Alpha Beta	July 9, 2011	Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	Active	[22][d]
Alpha Gamma	May 21, 2005	Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Active	[17]
Alpha Delta	April 28, 2006	University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	Active
Alpha Epsilon	April 26, 2008	University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign	Champaign, Illinois	Active	[15]
Alpha Zeta	May 31, 2009 – 20xx ?	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Alpha Eta	May 1, 2010	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	Lowell, Massachusetts	Active	[23]
Alpha Theta	April 10, 2014	University of North Florida	Jacksonville, Florida	Active	[2]
Alpha Iota	2006	New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	Active
Alpha Kappa	2006	Rutgers University–Newark	Newark, New Jersey	Active
Alpha Lambda	November 7, 2014	Emory University	Atlanta, Georgia	Active	[24]
Alpha Mu	November 14, 2015	Stockton University	Galloway, New Jersey	Inactive
Alpha Nu	May 6, 2006	Syracuse University	Syracuse, New York	Active
		Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	Colony	[e]
		Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	Colony	[f]
		University at Albany	Albany, New York	Associate	[g]
		University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Colony	[h]
		Rowan University	Glassboro, New Jersey	Associate	[i]

Notes

1. Chapter eligible for reinstatement in January 2025.
2. Chapter was eligible for reinstatment in 2019.
3. Chapter was formed at the University of the Sciences, which merged into Saint Joseph's University on June 1, 2022.
4. Started as an associate chapter on April 14, 2007.
5. Colony formed in April 23, 2005.
6. Colony formed in December 10, 2006.
7. Was established as a colony on April 20, 2012.
8. Colony formed in December 6, 2013.
9. Was established as a colony on April 8, 2017.

See also

• List of social fraternities and sororities
• National APIDA Panhellenic Association
• List of Asian American fraternities and sororities
• Cultural interest fraternities and sororities