The True Gentleman

The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.

- John Walter Wayland

Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded on the 9th of March, 1856 at the University of Alabamain Tuscaloosa, AL. The eight founders: Noble Leslie DeVotie, Nathan Elams, Cockrell, John Barratt Rudulph, John Webb Kerr, Samuel Marion Dennis, Wade Harris Foster, Abner Edwin Patton, and Thoman Chappell Cook came together under the guidance of DeVotie with the goal of creating a social fraternity composed of scholars of character and integrity. Today Sigma Alpha Epsilon stands as one of the most praised and influential social fraternities. Sigma Alpha Epsilon's members have gone on to be some of the top leaders in a great number of fields. These leaders include: President William McKinley (25th President of the United States), William T. Young (philanthropist, founder and former CEO of JIF), and William Faulkner.