About two months after Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi disbanded, former members established a new student organization to support and connect Jewish students on campus.
In late May, the national SAEPi Board of Directors told former members of the sorority that they voted to dissolve the organization — which at the time included a dozen active branches nationwide — amid declining membership after the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of volunteers for the national board, according to an email obtained by The Hatchet. When GW’s SAEPi chapter announced they would no longer operate after the national organization closed its doors, its members said they would continue to advocate for a space to support Jewish women and nonbinary students.
Last month, former members of SAEPi created an Instagram account for a new organization called “Club 18,” which is not a registered student organization, according to OrgHelp’s list of active student organizations. The organization is listed on Engage, with the same description, profile picture and contact information as SAEPi.
SAEPi was founded as a Jewish sorority in 1998 at University of California, Davis, according to the sorority’s website and was recognized as a chapter at GW in spring 2018. As the chapter grew on campus, sorority leaders said they hoped the chapter provided a platform to connect with other Jewish women to ensure members didn’t have to sacrifice their Jewish identity for a traditional Greek experience.
“We know that Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi Sorority has meant a great deal to hundreds of women over the years, including each and every one of you,” the SAEPi Board of Directors’ May announcement reads. “The sisterhood is no less special to each of us as individuals and as a collective group of leaders, but our beloved Sorority is no longer functional.”
Rachel Zemil, a 2022 alum and current graduate student, said she joined SAEPi’s GW chapter because it wasn’t “pretentious” and she admired the chapter’s commitment to volunteer work. Zemil said the chapter struggled to increase membership during her time as an undergraduate student, but the chapter equally valued recruitment and community building.
“In order to have the sisterhood, you had to get enough people into the chapter,” Zemil said.
Zemil said she likes the “Club 18” organization name because 18 means chai or life in Hebrew and represents good luck in Judaism.
“First of all, that’s a good name to have, but also I’m hoping at some point, SAEPi can go back to being a sorority that gives to people, to animals, to whatever it was that we did,” Zemil said.
Junior Tamar Guggenheim, the president of Sigma Delta Tau, said the chapter utilizes its heritage as a historically Jewish sorority to improve how chapter members support one another. She said chapter members empathize with SAEPi members and hope that they continue to find a community at GW outside of their national organization.
“I hope that Jewish people across campus can find a space that they feel seen in, and find a community that reflects their values, too,” Guggenheim said in a message.
Members of SAEPi and Club 18 declined multiple requests for comment, some members stating that they wanted to focus on the new organization’s development.
