The Tennessee Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon was granted its charter on May 27, 1913. Twelve students had organized the local Phi Alpha Phi fraternity in 1910, and following steady growth, the group petitioned Sigma Phi Epsilon for a charter. Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded in 1901 at the University of Richmond. In 1928 the fraternity leased the property at 1515 Cumberland from the university. Noted at UT for being the “house with the red door,” members spent considerable time repainting the front door of the chapter house, since other fraternities apparently enjoyed changing the color of the door. In October 1936 the fraternity’s mascot Toy Terrier, “Snuney,” won third prize in the AKC Sanction Show sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Kennel Club.
The colors of the fraternity are red, purple, and gold, and the fraternity’s flowers are the violet and the American Beauty Rose. The fraternity’s 1966 new house in Fraternity Park cost $302,000 and provided living quarters for 40. It was fully air-conditioned and had the greatest amount of floor space of any of the new houses built. Traditions of the institution include the party room in the house, known as the “shebeen,” and the Spring Fever Party, Cinderella Ball, Frontier Party, and the fraternity house’s red door. Among notable alumni of the national organization are Dave Thomas, Jim Clayton, John Goodman, Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, and Orel Hershiser.