About

Chi Epsilon is the National Honor Society for the Civil Engineering profession. It was founded at the University of Illinois in the Spring of 1922 to recognize and honor Civil Engineering students and professionals, and now has 137 active chapters at universities across the United States. It is widely recognized in the profession and has initiated over 114,000 members.

Students and professionals are selected to become members based on recognition of their Scholarship, Character, Practicality, and Sociability, considered by Chi Epsilon to be the four primary traits of a successful engineer. For student members, scholarship is determined by being in the top third of their junior or senior class. Members of Chi Epsilon are considered top graduates and are highly sought by Civil Engineering Employers

Being involved in the Illinois chapter will provide opportunities to interact with fellow classmates, attend both academic and social events, and view presentations on major Civil Engineering projects from active professionals

In the Spring of 1922, two groups of Civil Engineering students at the University of Illinois, one calling itself Chi Epsilon, and the other calling itself Chi Delta Chi, independently of each other, took steps to petition the faculty for permission to establish an honorary Civil Engineering fraternity. As soon as the existence of the two groups became known to each other, plans were immediately propogated to merge the two groups. On May 20, 1922, the Council of the University granted permission to the petitioning group of 25 charter members to found the Chi Epsilon Fraternity.

As soon as the plans for the local organization had been perfected, steps were taken to expand into a national fraternity by banding together with groups at various other universities. An active expansion policy was decided upon and letters were written to the presidents of all the large engineering schools inviting petitions to Chi Epsilon. Meanwhile, the petition to the State of Illinois to incorporate as a national honorary Civil Engineering Fraternity was granted and the certificate of incorporation issued on February 13, 1923.

Many encouraging replies were received from various universities, but it was not until March 29, 1923 upon the installation of the Armour Chapter at the Armour Institute of Technology, that Chi Epsilon became truly a national fraternity. The numbers of Chi Epsilon chapters have continued to grow, now standing at 137 as of April 2013. Inactive chapters have become active again and the number of active chapters will soon be 131. Chi Epsilon has initiated over 114,000 members, has recognized 2,373 Chapter Honor Members and elevated 62 National Honor Members.

We are dedicated to the purpose of maintaining and promoting the status of Civil Engineering as an ideal profession. Chi Epsilon was organized to recognize the characteristics of the individual Civil Engineer deemed to be fundamental to the successful pursuit of an engineering career, and to aid in the development of those characteristics in Civil Engineering students.

Engineering, the application of scientific principles to the practical needs of society, is assuming a constantly increasing responsibility for the well-being of all people, and thus calling for competence of the highest order. This responsibility can be discharged only by a professional group whose members who possess a good basic technical ability, intelligence, moral integrity, and effective social poise in their relationship with the larger community of which they are part.

To contribute to the improvement of the profession, Chi Epsilon fosters the development and exercise of sound traits of character and technical ability among civil engineers, and its members by precept and example, toward an ever higher standard of professional service.