A committee of Jenkens, Gaw, and Phillips was appointed to discuss plans for recognition with the faculty at the college. These men met with a faculty committee, where they were requested to present their case. The faculty committee requested that the new group explain:

• The need for a new fraternity since chapters of five national fraternities were on the campus and the enrollment at Richmond College was less than 300.
• The wisdom of this attempt to organize a new fraternity, with 12 members, seven of whom were seniors.
• The right to name the new fraternity Sigma Phi, the name of an already established national fraternity.

Jenkens, Gaw, and Phillips answered:

"This fraternity will be different, it will be based on the love of God and the principle of peace through brotherhood. The number of members will be increased from the undergraduate classes. We will change the name to Sigma Phi Epsilon."

Though the discussion lasted some time, permission was granted for the organization of the new fraternity to proceed.

Immediately at the close of the meeting with the faculty committee, the fraternity committee rushed to Jenkens' room to borrow Hugh Carter's Greek-English Lexicon. They convinced themselves that Epsilon had a desirable meaning, and then telegraphed jeweler Eaton in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to add an E at the point of each of the 12 badges. Eight other students were invited to join SigEp. The purchase order was then increased to 20 badges at $8 each, with the initials of each man engraved on the back of his badge.

These 20 heart-shaped badges were of yellow gold, with alternating rubies and garnets around the edge of the heart, with the Greek characters S f and the skull and crossbones in gold and black enamel in the center and a black E in gold at the point. (William Hugh Carter’s and Thomas V. "Uncle Tom" McCaul's original badges are on display at Zollinger House.)

Founder Lucian Cox reflected on the "brotherhood that had inspired him and his brothers" when he wrote in the Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, March, 1904:

"As a member of an ideal fraternity, the resources of every member of that body are my resources, the product of their lives is my daily life. The fraternity is a common storehouse for experience, moral rectitude, and spirituality; the larger and purer the contribution of the individual, the greater the resources of each member."

Five men were invited to join before Christmas and became members in January, 1902. Three more of the first group of 21 joined February 1, 1902.