The purple and gold,
unfurled since 1899
The house on the corner of Third and Daniel is the strongest bond between the classes of 1899 and today. The chapter keeps a light on for you.
The Legacy of Illinois Beta
The chapter was chartered in the last year of the nineteenth century, when the University was thirty-one years old and enrolled 2,007 students.
January 28, 1899
SAE’s 83rd chapter and the ninth fraternity at Illinois. Eighteen men were initiated on a cold, snowy day, under Eminent Archon William C. Levere.
The Red Ribbon Society
The initiates came out of a social club organised in 1897 by George B. Worthen of Keokuk, Iowa, who had learned of SAE at the University of the South.
211 East Daniel
The venerable structure on the corner of Third and Daniel — exchanges, Homecoming decorations, Founders Day, and friendships for a lifetime.
The house through the years
Photographed across the century by the chapter and the University archives.
PAGO 2026
The Phi Alpha Golf Outing returns this fall — a Friday night BBQ dinner at the house, the tailgate, and Illini football. Details are coming from the chapter.
The next century at 211
The house fund carries the whole chapter forward — the house, the chapter room, and scholarships for actives. Every dollar stays with Illinois Beta.