Charles Hagins

Rho Sigma and Sigma Alpha Sigma have enjoyed a mostly friendly rivalry since 1935. The root of that rivalry lies in the defection of one of Sigma Alpha Sigma's earliest members. Charles Hagins depledged the SAS to join Rho Sigma when the Red Shirts were chartered in March, 1935. Charlie Hagins was a popular sophomore from Fordyce, Ark. who was voted Most Collegiate by his fellow students in the 1936 campus Who's Who. He was active in Rho Sigma from 1935 to 1937. Hagins was active in the Sons & Daughters Club, an officer in the ROTC Battalion, circulation manager of The Signal, and a cheerleader. Although Rho Sigma was the first fraternity recognized by Ouachita College, Sigma Alpha Sigma did exist before the Red Shirts. Originally a drinking club, the SAS was formed in October 1932 by Joe Bill Gillespie, Charles Bird and John Ed Martin -- three friends who frequented the Belvedere Club in Hot Springs. The group claimed ancestry to a Four Roses Society, a reference to an advertising campaign for a popular blended whiskey of the era, Four Roses Blended Whiskey. Loosely organized, with only drinking and an oath of secrecy to unite it, Sigma Alpha Sigma grew from three to thirteen members in its first year. The group made its first appearance in the 1934 Ouachitonian. The following year, the Red Shirts were organized. When Rho Sigma was chartered as a fraternity, Sigma Alpha Sigma immediately lost Hagins. The S.A.S., under its founder Joe Bill Gillespie, was reorganized as a serious organization and chartered some six months later, in November, 1935. SAS lore indicates that the group was reorganized on the second floor of Arkadelphia's old Caddo Hotel. Its purpose and trappings closely mimicked that of Rho Sigma. Where the Red Shirts aimed to "better Ouachita," the SAS goal was the promotion of student progress. Sigma Alpha Sigma stands for "Student Advancement Society" and claims to stand for high standards and opposition to undemocratic principles. In reality, SAS has always been simply a social club for the amusement of its members. This may be why it has rarely sponsored events for the entire campus.