In the early 20th century, about a half of the 200 students at Richmond College in Richmond, VA belonged to one of five fraternities (Kappa Alpha, Phi Kappa Sigma, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Kappa Sigma).

Carter Ashton Jenkins, the 18-year old son of a minister, had been a student at Rutgers University, where he became a member of Chi Phi fraternity. When he transferred to Richmond College in 1900, he wanted to form a chapter of Chi Phi there with five other friends.

The College agreed, but Chi Phi refused because Richmond College had less than 300 students, and therefore the chapter would be too small.

So the six men (Carter Ashton Jenkens, William Carter, Thomas Wright, William Phillips, Benjamin Gaw, and William Wallace) decided to form their own local fraternity. Jenkens decided to call it Sigma Phi Epsilon. The official date of the start of the first chapter (Virginia Alpha) is November 1, 1901. Virginia Alpha quickly expanded to over twenty men by March of 1902.

The first members of Virginia Alpha decided that they must make Sig Ep into a national fraternity to compete with the other five large nationals on the Richmond College campus. So, the original charger was forged and recorded by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia on October 22, 1902.

By the end of its fifth year, Sigma Phi Epsilon had 14 chapters in 9 states. And then 17 more were added in the next 5 years. Today, there are over 270 chapters nationwide.

The headquarters of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Zollinger House, named in honor of J. Edward Zollinger, Grand President 1967-1971, is still located in Richmond, VA.