Our History
The Birth of Colorado Chi
The University of Colorado was to be the scene of the development of the first far western advance. Harry Bunting has always called Colorado Chi his mail-order chapter. It was organized entirely by letter, and although Bunting was the founder of the chapter, he never saw a member of the chapter until long after it had been installed. Bunting's attention was attracted to the University of Colorado by a letter in an old copy of the Delta Tau Delta magazine. He found this periodical in a wagon load of fraternity literature which he had inherited from A.J. Smith. The correspondent stated in the letter that the chapter of Delta Tau Delta at the University of Colorado was a brilliant one, with plenty of men to select from, and expressed regret that there was not a rival fraternity in the institution, which he declared was able to support several other chapters. Bunting immediately wrote him, asking to recommend a nucleus of men to form a chapter of SAE. Bunting stipulated that he did not wish any men to be recommended whom the writer would not be willing to have in Delta Tau Dealta. Bunting later received a letter that advised him of a promising young 
man named Paul M. North. North began his work by securing a number of men, the first whom was his chum, Harry McGinnis. These two secured Harry P. Layton and finally, Conrad Bluhm and Alwyn C. Smith. Bunting wrote to them daily, filling his letters with instructions on how to get together an organization, the way to select their members and how to close them. Bunting was able to teach these gentlemen how to become zealous in fraternity work. When Bunting had the chapter ready to initiate he found that he could not take the long journey to Boulder. There were two SAEs living in Denver, and Bunting wrote to them and commissioned to go to Boulder and install the chapter. The 11th of April 1891 was set as initiation day. The group of four was initiated, Layton first, followed by North, McGinnis and Smith. The six then convened to initiate Bluhm. The initiation was held in the Fortnightly Club room above the First National Bank. (The Fortnightly Club was a woman's literary society, the precursor tot he college sorority.) Following the initiation the band held a banquet at the Bowen Hotel. For a name the chapter was given the Greek letter Chi. They Pronounced it as if it were spelled KEY. The new chapter was considered the key to the western expansion and the Rocky mountain region. King, one of the actives that came to Boulder for the initiation, told the chapter that he had just acquired a gold mine, and that when he became a millionaire, he would build the men the finest chapter-house in the United States.
All of the charter members become strong fraternity workers, and two of them gained national recognition, Layton serving on the national board of trustees, and North becoming EA of the Province Eta.
Layton and North took the initiative to further the cause of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Traveling to the University of Denver they installed a chapter, and named it Colorado Zeta. Zeta the designation to honor Tennessee Zeta, Bunting's Initiation Chapter.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon