Eight months between the fourth and fifth conclaves, five new charters were granted. Forty delegates representing 18 of those chapters met April 20–22 for the fifth conclave at Chicago’s Great Northern Hotel. It was the largest number of delegates to attend a conclave in SigEp’s history.

The most important change was the election of Billy Phillips to the newly created paid position of grand secretary. Phillips moved fraternity headquarters to Washington D.C. His salary was $900 a year, and he remained grand secretary until his retirement in 1942.

Delegates adopted a unified design for a chapter charter, approved a coat of arms and an official flag, and established November 1, 1901 as the fraternity’s founding date.