Founded in 1925, Beta Sigma Psi is a national Lutheran Fraternity that offers a college experience that is rooted in the Christian faith. At Beta Sigma Psi we seek to maintain Lutheran traditions and provide college men an environment where they can develop spiritually, scholastically, and socially while away from home earning their degrees. Beta Sigs support each other, striving to help each other excel in everything they do while at college.
We offer Christian men a fun and unique college experience that cannot be found anywhere else on campus. Beta Sigma Psi is neither an “Animal House” nor a monastery. Instead it is a place for our members to succeed spiritually, scholastically, and socially. When you become a Beta Sig you not only experience a strong fraternal bond with all your brothers, you also experience the bond of Christian brotherhood. This bond unites us in a way few other fraternities can.
There are way too many benefits to living at Beta Sigma Psi to list them all, but we will try to cover the highlights. Our Lutheran heritage gives everyone a great environment where they share a common bond with Jesus Christ. Beta Sigma Psi has a great scholastic program. Our all-house GPA has consistently been higher than the all-men’s average and one of the highest in the Greek community. You can find more information about our scholarship program on our Three S’s page at "About Us".
Beta Sigma Psi is less expensive than the dorms! Additionally, Beta Sigma Psi is only a couple of blocks away from campus. Being a member of Beta Sigma Psi gives you great opportunities to gain leadership skills that employers are looking for when you enter the work force after or during college. There are many chances to get involved outside of Beta Sigma Psi also, many of which involve the Greek Community. Some examples are: Homecoming Central, Greek Week Central, Blood Drive Coordinators, Inter-fraternity Council and All Greek Judicial Board. Being involved during college makes your resume stand out compared to all the rest, and at Beta Sigma Psi you are encouraged to get involved inside and outside of the fraternity.
Once you move into Beta Sigma Psi, we try to make you feel as comfortable as possible during the first few weeks when you are in the “getting to know everybody’s name” stage. We schedule events for the first few days before school starts as ice-breaker events and also have time to hang out with the guys to start to build friendships. One good thing is that when you move in, you will have more than 50 instant friends living in the same house as you.
The First Vice President is the main source where information will be coming from during your first semester in the fraternity as an associate member. (An Associate Member is somebody who is not yet initiated into the fraternity). The First Vice President is in charge of teaching you about the house, the history and traditions of Beta Sigma Psi as a National Fraternity, and as Epsilon Chapter, specifically. They also set up educational programs where you will learn to enhance your leadership skills, among many other things.
The outline of the education program is to start by meeting with our Chaplain during the first week of school so the class can bond with each other on a spiritual level. The following weeks have meetings as a group of associate members with the First Vice President so you can cover the material in our Membership Manual. This is also a time to ask questions of the First Vice President about different things in the fraternity. Roommates are also there to answer questions for you when they arise.
Each new member receives a Pledge Dad that they get to help select. The Pledge Dads will take them on Father/Son study sessions to help give study pointers and show them some good places to study on or off of campus. Pledge Dads often take great joy in hanging out with their sons and taking them out to eat or to social events. They will also be around to answer questions about the fraternity, college, or life in general.
In order to become an Active Member, an Associate Member must show they are strong in our Three S’s. Spiritually, you must show that God has an influence on your life. Scholastically, you must achieve a minimum 2.5 GPA before you can be activated. Socially, as long as you socialize with the other members of the house and are involved in some way, Associate Members should have no trouble meeting this requirement. Of course, an Associate Member will also be expected to keep these three areas of his life well balanced throughout his time at college.
Here at Beta Sigma Psi, we encourage incoming and current students to look at all of their options before making a decision. For varying reasons, one option that many students overlook is the premier living opportunities that are provided in the Sorority and Fraternity Community at Iowa State University. The Iowa State Greek System is consistently ranked as one of the top Sorority and Fraternity Communities in the country, winning awards regularly for its success in Academic Achievement, Council Management, Leadership & Educational Development, Membership Recruitment, Philanthropy & Community Service, Public Relations, Risk Reduction & Management, Self-Governance & Judicial Affairs. These awards are designed to guide campus Greek organizations in the direction of success and WE ARE PROUD to be a member of the ISU Greek System!
If you are coming to Iowa State for orientation this summer, contact our recruitment chairs to find out more about how we can help you through these first days of your college life.