--- title: What Sigma Alpha Epsilon Looked Like 70 Years Ago: Photos From LIFE description: Photos from an SAE party in 1946, long before the fraternity came under fire for racism. canonical: https://time.com/3739037/sigma-alpha-epsilon/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-10T18:38:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:08.765Z og:title: What Sigma Alpha Epsilon Looked Like 70 Years Ago og:description: Photos from an SAE party in 1946, long before the fraternity came under fire for racism. og:url: https://time.com/3739037/sigma-alpha-epsilon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9c02e71c4b31eb7/698782f9e53aba1ed34d7fdf/150310-sigma-alpha-epsilon-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus Party, 1946 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Sigma Alpha Epsilon Looked Like 70 Years Ago twitter:description: Photos from an SAE party in 1946, long before the fraternity came under fire for racism. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9c02e71c4b31eb7/698782f9e53aba1ed34d7fdf/150310-sigma-alpha-epsilon-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Sigma Alpha Epsilon Looked Like 70 Years Ago  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 10, 2015 6:38 PM UTC  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 10, 2015 6:38 PM UTC It hasn’t been a good week for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. It hasn’t, for that matter, been a particularly good few years. On Sunday, national fraternity officials abruptly closed the University of Oklahoma chapter after a [racist video surfaced](http://time.com/3737345/ou-racist-video/). In 2013 [Bloomberg reported](http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-12-30/sigma-alpha-epsilon-deaths-most-among-frats.html) that SAE had the most fraternity-related deaths of all fraternities. And SAE is not the only fraternity being asked to answer for a culture in which allegations of sexual assault are disproportionately high and photos from racist parties leak. When LIFE went to an SAE circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946, shenanigans ruled the night. Fraternity members transported sorority girls to the party in a 30-foot mobile lion cage pulled by a sad-eyed elephant. Guests dressed as cowgirls, sailors and bearded ladies, with at least one dancing couple sporting blackface. The night concluded with the “capture” of three students from rival University of Southern California, who were “soundly paddled and had their heads shaved.” LIFE’s tone was lighthearted, reporting on revelers’ “carnival spirit” in the final pages of the [last issue of 1946](http://books.google.com/books?id=ZU0EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=twopage&q&f=false). Photos that might give readers pause today—women in cages, elephant as chauffeur and white faces painted black—would have been standard fare for readers then. Al Jolson had appeared in blackface just one year earlier in the Gershwin biopic _Rhapsody in Blue_. Times have changed, to be sure, but Greek life, as an institution, seems to lag behind. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A long-legged coed gets hoisted atop a circus wagon which will take her to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon circus masquerade party at U.C.L.A. The inside of the wagon, which normally is used for lions by a local circus, was already full of other guests. Halfway to the party the wagon broke down and the girls and their hosts continued on foot. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Bonnie, a mournful elephant, provided a lift to the party for two co-eds. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Delighted dates were carried off to the wagon by boys in bears' heads. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Sideshow "Barker" chivies coeds about their costumes as he hands out admission to "main tent." Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sigma Alpha Epsilon Circus party at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1946. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Make-believe rabbits, Bud Jones and Muriel Goodwin in ordinary campus life, made the most startling and effective appearance at the masquerade party. The costumes were sewn together by Miss. Goodwin from old bed sheeting of dark felt and cotton batting for less than a dollar. The entire party cost a little under $400. 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