Earth:Epsilon Eta

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Short description: American environmental fraternity
Epsilon Eta
ΕΗ
The crest of Epsilon Eta.jpg
Founded2006
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
TypeProfessional
EmphasisEnvironment and sustainability
ScopeNational
PillarsAcademics, Community, Service
Colors     Kelly green,      Navy blue and      Sky blue
TreeOak
Chapters18
NicknameEp Eta
Headquarters
United States

Epsilon Eta (ΕΗ), also known as Ep Eta, is an American professional gender-inclusive fraternity for students interested in careers in environmental science and sustainability.[1][2][3] Founded in 2006 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it is the first nationwide environmental fraternity in the United States.[2] The fraternity has grown to include chapters across the United States.[4][5] There is no national organization as of October 2023.

History

Liza Schillo, an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, founded Epsilon Eta Environmental Honors Fraternity in 2006.[2][6] It was established as a professional, gender-inclusive fraternity for individuals seeking post-graduate positions in the environmental field.[7][8] The fraternity's mission is "to promote a healthy and sustainable environment and connect students to industries, community service, and academia in pursuit of these goals."[8] Epsilon Eta has three pillars: academics, community, and service.[9]

Beta chapter at the University of Michigan was conceived by Julia Austin, Zach Fogel, Daly Kleaveland, and Julia Wang in the summer of 2014. They recruited Caitlin Climes, Sam McMullen, Josh Musicant, Dylan Nelson, and Matt Sehrsweeney to complete the group of nine founders. Beta chapter was chartered and initiated its first class in 2015.[10]

Originally meeting in a freshman environmental earth sciences seminar, nine sophomores formed an Epsilon Eta colony at the University of Pennsylvania in the October 2015; the colony later became Gamma chapter.[11][12] Other chapters followed in 2016 and 2017, with North Carolina State University becoming the seventh official chapter in 2017.[13] The twelfth chapter was established at the University of Delaware in 2018.[13] This was followed by chapters at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and San Diego State University in 2018, and Boston University and University of Maryland, College Park in 2019.[9][14]

By 2000, the Alpha chapter had initiated ninety members, and an executive committee was established to oversee the national fraternity.[8] However, in the fall of 2020 three of Alpha chapter's former members publicly criticized the group "for fostering white supremacy."[15] The fraternity's executive board and Alpha's members decided to close the chapter in September 2020. The Daily Tar Heel shared the chapter's statement: "As a historically exclusive and majority-white institution with semblances of Greek life, we have contributed to the preservation of white supremacy on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus. Our actions have marginalized and silenced BIPOC voices. To address these injustices, we view abolition as the most direct course of action to dismantle white supremacy."[15]

Despite this setback, new chapters formed at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020, the University of Arizona in 2022, and the University of Virginia in 2023.[16][5] The Alpha chapter was re-established at the University of North Carolina in September 2022 by Tayton Alvis, Sarah Masters, Zachary Miller, Gregory Mink, and Sanjana Venkatraman.[2]

Symbols

The Greek letters Epsilon Eta stand for Science and Morality.[17] Epsilon Eta's colors are Kelly green, Navy blue, and Sky blue.[18][19] Its original emblem is a sky-blue shield edged in navy blue and decorated with a white three-pronged geometric knot entwined around an oak tree.[18] A later variation of the emblem features a light green shield with a dark green emblem of leaf veins on the right half and an overlaying tree in dark green across the center.[19]

Membership

Membership to Epsilon Eta is not limited by major but initiates must be interested in the environmental field.[7] The fraternity's members are divided into regular, associate, and alumni.[8][18] Associate members are undergraduates who fail to meet the GPA or service hour requirements.[8] Regular members and alumni may wear the fraternity's insignia.[8]

Instead of "Bigs" and "Littles" like traditional Greek Life, some Epsilon Eta chapters use the terms "Oaks" and "Saplings".

Chapters

Following are the collegiate chapters of Epsilon Eta. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are indicated in italic.

Chapter Chartered/Range Institution Location Status Reference
Alpha 2006–2020; 2022 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina Active [8][4][2][20]
Beta 2015 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Active [7]
Gamma 2015 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Active [21][11][lower-alpha 1]
Delta 2017 Longwood University Farmville, Virginia Active [22][23][lower-alpha 2]
Epsilon 2016 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Inactive? [24]
Delta 2017 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Active [25][26][lower-alpha 2]
Iota 2017, Fall North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina Active [17][27]
Kappa 2017 Cornell University Ithaca, New York Active [3][28][29]
Lambda 2017 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California Active [30][31]
Mu 201x ? Drake University Des Moines, Iowa Active [32][lower-alpha 3]
Mu 2018, Spring University of Delaware Newark, Delaware Active [33][34][13][lower-alpha 3]
2018, Fall University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Urbana and Champaign, Illinois Active [9][35]
Omicron 2018 San Diego State University San Diego, California Active [4][36]
Pi 2018 Boston University Boston Massachusetts Active [37][8][38]
Upsilon 2019, Fall University of Maryland, College Park College Park, Maryland Active [14][39]
2020 Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia Active [40][41]
Tau 2022 University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona Active [5]
Upsilon 2023, Spring University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia Active [16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Chapter colonized in October 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Both the Longwood University and the University of Pittsburgh chapters call themselves the Delta chapter in their constitution/bylaws.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Both the Drake University and University of Delaware chapters refer to themselves as Mu chapter on their Instagram profile.

See also

  • Professional fraternities and sororities

References

  1. ↑ "Home" (in en-US). https://sites.google.com/udel.edu/udepsiloneta/home. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Venkatraman, Sanjana (November 4, 2022). "Epsilon Eta: Building a Community for Students with a Passion for Environmental Interests". https://environmentblog.web.unc.edu/2022/11/epsilon-eta-building-a-community-for-students-with-a-passion-for-environmental-interests/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Cornell Students Launch 1st Sustainability Fraternity on Campus" (in en). February 5, 2018. https://sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/news/cornell-students-launch-1st-sustainability-fraternity-campus. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "About" (in en). https://epsilonetasdsu.weebly.com/about.html. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lecky, Annabel (December 5, 2022). "UA welcomes Epsilon Eta, the first environmental co-ed fraternity to campus". https://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2022/12/n-epsilon-eta. 
  6. ↑ "Ex-Reynold Student Founds Environmental Honor Fraternity". Asheville Citizen-Times: pp. 9. 2006-12-14. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117756598/epsilon-eta/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Home". https://epsilonetaumich.org/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 "Epsilon Etta Pi Chapter Constitution | Boston University Engage". December 5, 2021. https://bu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epsilon-eta. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Apostolakos, Pari; Bradley, Megan (2018-10-08). "Illinois welcomes professional fraternity". https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture/2018/10/08/new-professional-fraternity-joins-campus/. 
  10. ↑ "Founders" (in en). 2021-01-07. https://epsilonetaumich.org/founders/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Wang, Jenna (November 19, 2015). "Environmental fraternity joins Penn greek life" (in en-us). https://www.thedp.com/article/2015/11/environmental-service-fraternity-joins-penn-greek-life. 
  12. ↑ "Epsilon Eta at Penn". http://epsilonetapenn.org/#two. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lowndes, Julia (April 3, 2018). "Environmental fraternity comes to campus | The Review" (in en-US). https://udreview.com/environmental-fraternity-comes-campus/. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Neugeboren, Eric (2019-09-18). "Epsilon Eta fraternity focuses on educating campus about environment, sustainability" (in en-US). https://dbknews.com/2019/09/18/fraternity-focuses-environment-sustainability/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Haskett, Hunter (September 16, 2020). "'Not reformable': Members of UNC Epsilon Eta abolish the honors fraternity". https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2020/09/university-ep-eta-abolition-0916. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Epsilon Eta at UVA on Instagram: "We are so excited to announce that Epsilon Eta at UVA is starting up in the Spring! If you are interested, screenshot this post and scan the QR code to fill out an initial interest form. We will reach out to you at the start of next semester for interest meeting details and the (brief) application process and deadline. We CAN NOT wait to meet you all! 🌿"" (in en). December 23, 2022. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmf4nIDuc33/. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Welcome" (in en-US). November 7, 2017. https://epsiloneta.wordpress.ncsu.edu/. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Epsilon Eta Constitution and Bylaws". 2006. https://heellife.unc.edu/organization/epsilon-eta-environmental-honors-fraternity. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Epsilon Eta Delta Chapter Constitution and Bylaws". https://pitt2.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epsiloneta. 
  20. ↑ "Epsilon Eta Environmental Honors Fraternity". https://heellife.unc.edu/organization/epsilon-eta-environmental-honors-fraternity. 
  21. ↑ "Epsilon Eta Gamma Chapter at the University of Pennsylvania". http://epsilonetapenn.org/. 
  22. ↑ "Epsilon Eta - Lancer Link". https://lancerlink.longwood.edu/organization/epsiloneta. 
  23. ↑ Farley, Miranda (January 28, 2017). "Humans of Longwood: Alex Lee" (in en). http://www.therotundaonline.com/features/humans-of-longwood-alex-lee/article_66eda2ac-e5a7-11e6-9e15-bbdac0e06d26.html. 
  24. ↑ "Epsilon Eta" (in en-US). https://blogs.uoregon.edu/epsiloneta/. 
  25. ↑ "Epsilon Eta" (in en-US). https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/student-organizations/epsilon-eta/. 
  26. ↑ "Epsilon Eta, Environmental Honors Fraternity, Delta Chapter". https://pitt2.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epsiloneta. 
  27. ↑ Griffonetti, Gabby (August 31, 2022). "Epsilon Eta provides development, community for students interested in conservation" (in en). https://www.technicianonline.com/news/epsilon-eta-provides-development-community-for-students-interested-in-conservation/article_1bc8385c-28cf-11ed-95b3-4f980725aad9.html. 
  28. ↑ "Brotherhood" (in en-US). https://epsilonetacornell.org/brotherhood. 
  29. ↑ "Epsilon Eta" (in en). 2020-04-21. https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/diy-dit/feature/epsilon-eta. 
  30. ↑ "Epsilon Eta - CalLink at UC Berkeley". https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/epsilon_eta/. 
  31. ↑ "Lambda Chapter Epsilon Eta UC Berkeley" (in en). https://epsilonetaberkeley.wixsite.com/my-site. 
  32. ↑ Songer, Maia (2021-02-21). "Epsilon Eta offers Environmental Science opportunities at Drake" (in en-US). https://timesdelphic.com/2021/02/epsilon-eta-offers-environmental-science-opportunities-at-drake/. 
  33. ↑ "Epsilon Eta | Student Central". https://studentcentral.udel.edu/organization/epsiloneta/. 
  34. ↑ "Founding Members" (in en-US). https://sites.google.com/udel.edu/udepsiloneta/who-are-we/founding-members. 
  35. ↑ "Epsilon Eta - Involved@Illinois". https://illinois.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epsiloneta. 
  36. ↑ "Student Groups" (in en). https://sustainable.sdsu.edu/get-involved/student-groups.aspx. 
  37. ↑ "Epsilon Eta | Boston University Engage". https://bu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epsilon-eta. 
  38. ↑ Nguyen, Melina (March 4, 2022). "BU's only environmental fraternity returns to in-person events – The Daily Free Press" (in en-US). https://dailyfreepress.com/2022/03/04/bus-only-environmental-fraternity-returns-to-in-person-events/. 
  39. ↑ "Epsilon Eta - TerpLink". https://terplink.umd.edu/organization/epsilon-eta. 
  40. ↑ "Epsilon Eta at VCU 🌱 on Instagram: "We're on the hunt for some additional executive board members 🌱 Please apply if you're interested! All majors are welcome 🌎"" (in en). May 12, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGFVv7j2_V/. 
  41. ↑ Chudoba, Liz (2020-09-24). "Welcoming Our New CMC Intern, Christell Azuaje" (in en). https://www.allianceforthebay.org/2020/09/welcoming-our-new-cmc-intern-christell-azuaje/. ""She loves being involved on her campus serving as the president of the Nature Appreciation & Community Healing Organization and of her university’s environmental fraternity, Epsilon Eta."" 



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