The 1960's was a decade symbolized by flower children, protests, and many other social movements not usually assumed to be compatible with stereotypical fraternity life. Therefore many are surprised to hear Sigma Alpha Mu "Sammy" first came to Boston University in 1968 to establish the fraternity's Beta Upsilon Chapter. The fraternity quickly grew and became a central figure of Boston University's community during a time when Greek Life on campus was waning.
Yet after years of fraternal excellence, the Sammy chapter fell from existence in the early 1990s. In 2003, an expansion committee from Sigma Alpha Mu national headquarters came back to Boston University to re-establish the once great chapter. Their hopes quickly vanished as efforts proved fruitless, and it seemed as the Beta Upsilon chapter would never be re-chartered.
In the spring of 2007, a second attempt by Nationals surfaced to re-colonize at Boston University. Eleven men answered- Alex Abzug, David Charns, Max Condren, Kyle Dardashti, Natan Kahane, Andrew Lipton, Josh Morrow, Natan Magid, Aviel Tanzer, Larry Tobin, and Paul Worgaftik- came together to form what would be the eleven founding fathers of Beta Upsilon's re-charter. The eleven recruited a pledge class of five in the fall of 2007.
On November 26, 2007, Nationals came to Boston University to recharter the Beta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu. Together the sixteen were initiated as brothers as the Beta Upsilon Chapter became officially reinstated. Before long, the chapter gained the admiration of the Inter-Fraternal Councill. In the spring of 2009 Sigma Alpha Mu gained membership and became officially recognized by the University.
In both the years since gaining campus affiliation, Sammy has been recognized by Boston University as the Fraternity of Year (2009-2010 & 2010-2011). Today the chapter stands at XX brothers, each whom understand the importance of brotherhood, academics, and the community around himself. Sammy has raised over $11,000 for the Judy Fund and performed over 1,500 hours of community service in the past two years.
Brothers contribute to the BU community through many student organizations. Currently, brothers hold leadership positions in the Hillel House, Student Government, Allocations Board, academic fraternities and music ensembles to name a few. The fraternity was named Boston University's Fraternity of the Year in 2010 & 2011, and hopes to remain a leading fraternity for decades to come.