Alpha Epsilon Explained

Alpha Epsilon (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΑΕ) is a scholastic honor society recognizing academic achievement among students in the fields of agricultural, food, and biological engineering. It has thirty active chapters across the United States and a total membership of around 8,000.

History

Alpha Epsilon Honor Society was founded at the University of Missouri on May 14, 1959, to recognize academic achievement among students in the field of Agricultural Engineering. The purpose of the society, as outlined in 1959 is:

To promote the high ideals of the engineering profession, to give recognition to those agricultural engineers who manifest worthy qualities of character, scholarship, and professional attainment, and to encourage and support such improvements in the agricultural engineering profession to make it an instrument of greater service to mankind.

It began steady expansion immediately, adding chapters at the University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Arkansas, Purdue University and Virginia Tech.^[1] The first six chapters met to formally adopt a national constitution and bylaws four years after its founding, on December 11, 1963. While the Society's initial focus was Agricultural Engineering, this was later expanded to include Food Engineering, and Biological Engineering.

Alpha Epsilon was admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies in 1968, with full membership achieved in 1970. The society meets annually in conjunction with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The two organizations cooperate but are managed by two separate executive boards. They share a website and physical mailing address.

Symbols

Alpha Epsilon's crest is in the form of a shield with a banner displaying the name of the society, "Alpha Epsilon," The shield is further decorated with three symbols, the Horn of Plenty, a plow, and a T-square and a compass. These symbols represent the place of agricultural engineering in the production of food and fiber. At the top of the shield is the center portion of the key with the letters Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Α and Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ε.

The colors of the society are black and gold. Its badge is a key, etched in the back with the name of the owner, the name of the chapter, and the year of the member's initiation. The motto of the Society is not made public.

Governance

Chapters are fairly autonomous and allowed to manage their activity broadly. One commonality that is shared by many groups is the provision of tutoring services to students in the Agricultural sciences.^[2]

Membership

Membership is offered to those juniors who are in the upper quarter of their class, and seniors in the upper third. Prospective members must already be members of the ASABE. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for collegiate membership. The society allows for three types of members: Honorary, Active, and Alumni.

Chapters

This is a list of Alpha Epsilon chapters.^[3] Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are in italic.

Number	Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
1.	Missouri Alpha	1959	University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	Active
	Beta				Unassigned
2.	Minnesota Gamma	1960	University of Minnesota	St. Paul, Minnesota	Active
3.	Illinois Delta	1960	University of Illinois	Urbana, Illinois	Active
4.	Arkansas Epsilon	1961	University of Arkansas	Fayetteville, Arkansas	Active
5.	Indiana Zeta	1962	Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	Active
6.	Virginia Eta	1963	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	Active
7.	North Dakota Theta	1964	North Dakota State University	Fargo, North Dakota	Active
8.	Ohio Iota	1965	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Active
9.	South Dakota Kappa	1966	South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	Active
10.	Nebraska Lambda	1966	University of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska	Active
11.	North Carolina Mu	1966	North Carolina State University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Active
12.	Colorado Nu	1969	Colorado State University	Fort Collins, Colorado	Active
13.	Texas Xi	1969–xxxx ?	University of Texas	Austin, Texas	Inactive
14.	Pennsylvania Omicron	1970	Penn State University	State College, Pennsylvania	Active
15.	Iowa Pi	1971	Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa	Active
16.	West Virginia Rho	1971–xxxx ?	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
17.	Michigan Sigma	1973	Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	Active
18.	Wisconsin Tau	1974	University of Wisconsin	Madison, Wisconsin	Active
19.	Oregon Upsilon	1976	Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Active
20.	Texas (A&M) Phi	1976	Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Active
21.	California (Davis) Chi	1976	University of California, Davis	Davis, California	Active
22.	Maryland Psi	1977	University of Maryland	College Park, Maryland	Active
23.	Kentucky Omega	1977	University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	Active
X.	Alpha Beta				Unassigned
X.	Beta Beta				Unassigned
24.	Florida Gamma Beta	1979	University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Active
25.	Alabama Delta Beta	1980	Auburn University	Auburn, Alabama	Active
26.	Oklahoma Epsilon Beta	1981	Oklahoma State University	Stillwater, Oklahoma	Active
27.	Kansas Zeta Beta	1983	Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	Active
28.	Arizona Eta Beta	1986	University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Active
29.	North Carolina Theta Beta	1996	North Carolina A&T State University	Greensboro, North Carolina	Active
30.	New York Iota Beta	1998	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Active
31.	Florida (A&M) Kappa Beta	19xx ?	Florida A&M University	Tallahassee, Florida	Active

See also

• Association of College Honor Societies

External links

• • ACHS Alpha Epsilon entry
• Alpha Epsilon chapter list at ACHS

Notes and References

1. Book: Jack L. . Anson . Robert F. . Marchenasi . Baird's Manual of American Fraternities . 20th . 1991 . 1879 . Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. . Indianapolis, IN . 978-0963715906 . VI-4. Baird's Manual is also available online here: The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.
2. Chapter autonomy and member requirements are noted in its Constitution, p.4, accessed 27 Sept 2020.
3. Web site: Alpha Epsilon Chapters . 2023-06-22 . ASABE - American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.