Before Sigma Nu: 1911–1918
A Local Fraternity's Winding Road to Epsilon Alpha
Chapter records suggest Epsilon Alpha's story doesn't start in 1918 — it starts as a local fraternity at the University of Arizona around 1911, which by 1914 was known as Sigma Phi Beta. For a brief stretch around 1912–1913, that local was swept into a small, short-lived attempt at a regional fraternity: a group called Sigma Beta Phi, founded at the University of Wyoming in 1903, extended to Arizona and renamed itself Beta Phi Omicron. A 1915 edition of Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities — a national reference directory of the era — lists the University of Arizona's fraternity under that Beta Phi Omicron name.
That arrangement didn't last. By 1914, Arizona's own yearbook again refers to the group simply as Sigma Phi Beta, and exactly how or why the Beta Phi Omicron experiment ended isn't spelled out in any single document we have — that transition is a gap in the record, not a confirmed fact. What is well documented is what came next: the Arizona local formally petitioned Sigma Nu Fraternity for a charter, and in 1918 was installed as the Epsilon Alpha chapter — an installation confirmed by both Sigma Nu's own national records and that year's University of Arizona yearbook.
Over a Century of Epsilon Alpha
From a small charter in the Arizona desert to a chapter that has weathered closures, rebuilt itself twice, and still stands on principle today.
Epsilon Alpha is Chartered
Sigma Nu Fraternity formally installs the Epsilon Alpha chapter at the University of Arizona, confirmed by both national installation records and that year's UA yearbook — one of the earliest fraternities on the Tucson campus.
“Bear Down” is Born
Student body president and Sigma Nu brother John “Button” Salmon (Epsilon Alpha #79) is fatally injured in a car accident. His last words to head football coach James “Pop” McKale — “Tell them... tell the team to bear down” — become the enduring rallying cry of the entire University of Arizona. The very next year's UA yearbook was dedicated to his memory.
Life at the Old Chapter House
Epsilon Alpha grows into a full chapter house of actives and alumni, gathering for formal portraits and everyday life in a Spanish/Pueblo Revival mansion near campus.
A New Chapter House
Epsilon Alpha moves into a new chapter house at 1402 N. Cherry Ave., giving generations of brothers a home base for decades to come.
Chapter Closure
Epsilon Alpha closes, per Sigma Nu national records from that year. Alumni and national leadership keep working to bring the chapter back.
Recolonized
Sigma Nu recolonizes Epsilon Alpha at the University of Arizona. That same year, the newly rebuilt chapter gathers at the John “Button” Salmon memorial — brothers old and new reconnecting with the chapter's own history at the moment of its rebirth.
Chapter Closes Again
Epsilon Alpha voluntarily relinquishes its charter, unable to attract and retain enough members to sustain the chapter. Alumni and Sigma Nu Fraternity headquarters spend the next decade laying the groundwork for a comeback.
Recolonized a Third Time, Stronger
After years of alumni-led groundwork, Sigma Nu Fraternity and the University of Arizona bring Epsilon Alpha back to campus. Formal recruitment that September lands 25 new members with a 3.6 GPA; the chapter's first Candidate Induction Ceremony that October inducts 36 more, averaging a 3.5 GPA.
Rock Chapter Status
Sigma Nu Fraternity headquarters names Epsilon Alpha a Rock Chapter for the 2023–2025 biennium — the chapter's first-ever Rock Chapter Award and one of Sigma Nu's highest marks of excellence, given to just twenty chapters nationwide. The 142-member chapter held a collective 3.44 GPA, with 90% of brothers involved in other campus organizations, contributed $21,375 to charity, and averaged 18 hours of community service per member over the year — earning campus recognition for the highest fraternity GPA in both fall and spring terms, plus national honors for Operational Excellence and Excellence in Personal Development & Membership Value.
More than a century after its founding, Epsilon Alpha alumni still come home every fall — tailgating, telling old stories, and welcoming a new generation of brothers into the same tradition.
The Letter That Won Epsilon Alpha Its Charter
On March 23, 1918, the Tucson Arizona Alumni Chapter of Sigma Nu — fourteen brothers strong — wrote to the Fraternity's national Commander to make the case for chartering the University of Arizona's local, Sigma Phi Beta, as Epsilon Alpha. The petitioners, the letter explains, had been working toward Sigma Nu for “more than a year and a half,” under the Alumni's direction, and had made good on every condition asked of them: a chapter roll of 15 to 25 members over six-plus years, no brother expelled or suspended in years, and a scholarship average “11 points above the required passing standard of the University.”
Fourteen visiting Sigma Nus from eight different chapters had inspected the petitioners in person. As the letter puts it: “We do not know of a single brother who has been unfavorable or even neutral. This fact we consider the strongest of arguments.” It's signed simply, “Fraternally yours, The Tucson Arizona Alumni Chapter” — by its secretary, J. F. McKale, the same coach whose words to Button Salmon would become “Bear Down” eight years later.
