To expedite approval, the submittal of a candidate for special non-student initiation should comply with the following guidelines:
In nearly every instance, a special non-student initiate approved by the Supreme Council will be older than the age of the collegiate members, and he will have been actively involved with the chapter collegiate or an SAE alumni association or house corporation as a volunteer, and his volunteer service will have been sustained for a number of years and will have been meaningful. Furthermore, the candidate must be reasonably expected to continue such meaningful involvement and volunteer service after his initiation. Note that it is inappropriate to nominate someone for special non-student initiation when they have yet to provide meaningful volunteer service to the Fraternity, provided that the Supreme Council will consider “meaningful service” in the context of long-term chapter employees, such as a cook or house director, where the individual’s service and commitment to the Fraternity went above and beyond the position that they were hired to perform and was performed over a sustained and substantial period of time.
With respect to the chartering of colonies and recently charted chapters only, the candidate must be nominated by the colony/new chapter and endorsed by an appropriate Fraternity Service Center Staff member. The Supreme Council will consider the length of volunteer service commensurate with the age of the chapter or colony.
In all cases, and assuming the candidate otherwise qualifies, the non-studentinitiate must not then be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program of any university whatsoever, even if that university lacks an SAE chapter.
Furthermore, Section 15(C) of the Fraternity Laws addresses the special initiation of students who resigned their membership with another collegiate fraternity; accordingly, the approval of such student candidates will not be considered pursuant to this Section 15(B), which concerns only non-studentinitiates.
The Supreme Council will not approve a special non-student initiate simply because he was a past pledge, neophyte or received a bid of a chapter but failed to initiate. Instead, he must be qualified under paragraphs (1) or (2) above. In such instances, his past affiliation with the chapter collegiate should be disclosed in the nomination, and a detailed explanation should be provided regarding the reasons why he failed to initiate. In cases where the chapter collegiate was suspended prior to his initiation, the Fraternity Service Center should make reasonable efforts to verify that the candidate was not a contributing factor for the chapter’s suspension.
The Supreme Council will not approve a special non-student initiate simply because he was a member or otherwise affiliated with a closed SAE colony or interest group. Instead, he must be qualified under paragraphs (1) or (2) above. The candidate’s involvement and leadership role (or lack thereof) in the colony or interest group will not be considered as a relevant factor. Such past colony or interest group involvement should be disclosed in the nomination of the candidate who is otherwise qualified, and the Fraternity Service Center should make reasonable efforts to verify that the candidate was not a contributing factor for the colony or interest group to be closed.
Pursuant to Section 51(F) of the Fraternity Laws, “each colony member eligible for Fraternity membership, including alumni members and alumni of a local society being charted as a Chapter Collegiate, are eligible for prompt initiationupon the colony’s installation as a Chapter Collegiate.” It is the policy of the Supreme Council that every colony alumnus member desiring membership in SAE and who otherwise qualifies under the Fraternity Laws for membership should make arrangements to attend and be initiated at the colony’s chartering event or otherwise he should make arrangements to be initiated by his chapter collegiate within 365 days of the chapter’s chartering event -- such time period being deemed “prompt initiation” and not requiring special initiation approval under the Fraternity Laws. A colony alumnus member who fails to promptly initiate as prescribed in the preceding sentence must seek approval for initiation through the chapter collegiate and as a special non-student initiate pursuant to Section 15(B) of the Fraternity Laws. In every case, the candidate’s colony alumnus status and reason for delayed initiation should be disclosed in his nomination, and the Fraternity Service Center should make reasonable efforts to verify the basis and reasonableness of his delay, unless the candidate may otherwise qualify for initiation pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2) above.
In rare instances which are fact specific, the Supreme Council will consider a request for a special non-student initiation posthumously for a male of any age at the time of his death or for a male of any age where medical professionals have estimated his life expectancy at less than six (6) months with no reasonable expectation of a cure to such medical condition. In such circumstances, the deceased or dying male should have inspired the chapter members during his life or through the nature of his death or illness in a meaningful and inspirational way andwhere his initiation will be accepted positively by the candidate’s surviving family. One such example would be a child who passed away from a medical condition and who was mentored or otherwise cared for by one or more chapter members, and the relationship developed was such that the child’s parents would perceive the posthumous initiation positively. In submitting a nomination like this, the chapter should provide a detailed narrative on how the nominee has inspired its members in a meaningful and inspirational way and shall confirm in writing that the nominee (if alive) and his surviving family (if deceased) fully support the initiation if approved. Moreover, the Fraternity Service Center should make reasonable efforts to verify the information provided by the chapter.
In each and every instance, a special non-student initiation nomination should not be submitted to the Fraternity Service Center and will not be considered by the Supreme Council unless and until (a) the candidate has been approved by no less than 75% of the eligible voting members of the collegiate chapter as evidenced in a written resolution signed by chapter’s Eminent Recorder, which resolution is attached to the nomination form, and (b) written approval of the chapter collegiate’s Province Archon, which approval is attached to the nomination form.
The Supreme Council’s approval of a special initiate pursuant to Section 15(B) of the Fraternity Laws shall be effective for 180 days after the date of final approval, and the Fraternity Service Center will track all such approvals to ensure that the men so approved have been timely initiated or, if not, the chapter collegiate will be notified that the approval has been revoked for lack of action. In all instances and unless otherwise waived by the Supreme Council, the non-student initiate (or the chapter collegiate for his benefit) will be responsible for the timely payment of all initiation fees to the Fraternity Service Center.
