As the mother of a son who was a member of Platteville’s Sigma Phi Epsilon WI-Theta chapter (better known as SigEp) for 5 years, I will be the first to admit that I was initially 120% against MY son joining a fraternity…I too thought of a fraternity the same way the rest of the world thinks of them.

On my son’s freshman move-in day, four SigEp brothers met us at our vehicle to help us move my son’s belongings to his dorm. These young men were genuinely nice guys that wanted to help us out and we were grateful for that. We were also invited to come over to the chapter house for a cookout, have a tour of the house and meet more members of the chapter. This gave us another look into the world of SigEp. Although all the brothers we met were very nice and respective, there still was NO way I was allowing my son to join a fraternity. As the days and weeks went by and my son attended some of the SigEp events, I could tell he was starting to make a connection. Then came the bid and fees to ask my son to join the fraternity. I remember saying to my son, “They want you to pay them to be your friends. You don’t need friends like that”. My son convinced me that these were a great group of guys with great morals and standards….and he thought this was good for him to surround himself with people like this. Against my better judgment (cuz we know mom is always right), I caved and agreed to let him give it a try.

Leaving my son at college without his family was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I soon came to realize that SigEp does NOT fit the characteristics of people’s portrayal of a fraternity. My son found a home away from home…a family away from his family. These young men that became his brothers are now family to him and they gave me a sense of security that someone would always have my son’s back when I couldn’t be there with him. I will forever be grateful that I gave my son the opportunity to prove me wrong, as forevermore, We will have a second family in his SigEp brothers.

My son went on to have many roles of leadership within SigEp, with the last being President. These leadership roles have helped to mold him into the young man he is today and have given him an abundance of opportunities that he would not have otherwise had.

As for me, I believe in this chapter so much, I took on the role as Parent Group Leader and have since been elected to the SigEp Alumni and Volunteer Corporation (AVC) Board of Trustees.

Tonya Nigh

Mother of Matthew “Tim” Nigh #311