Why should I join a fraternity?
What makes TKE different from other fraternities?
Do you guys party all the time?
I heard that ABC or XYZ hazes! Is that true?
What do you do for community service? Do I have to do it?
Will the fraternity take up a lot of my time?
My parents don't want me to join a fraternity. What if I just didn't tell them?
Do you mix with sororities?
What is your brotherhood like?
How active are you on campus?
My dad was a Teke at another school. Do you honor legacies?
I'm worried about my grades. What can your chapter do to help me in school?
Do you get a lot of support from alumni?
What are your membership standards?
Belonging to a fraternity offers many advantages. We realize that your
first purpose for coming to college is to obtain an education. We
also realize that a college education encompasses more than academics
and that the ability to deal and live with people is a demand that will
be made on you for the rest of your life. As a well rounded man you must
merge a solid academic background with intellectual and social maturity,
and with confidence in yourself to deal with the problems that will face
you in later years. TKE is a very unique fraternity because we provide
an environment that will encourage you to strive for academic
excellence, while at the same time discovering new social horizons in a
variety of campus settings. Our fraternity is involved in enhancing
scholastic achievement, hosting social events, developing men into
tomorrow's leaders, participating in sporting events, and much more. A
fraternity gets you involved, which helps you to develop different
skills. It also allows you to develop contacts with other students, and
a variety of alumni involved in all areas of the business world. People
join organizations for different reasons. Most of our members joined Tau
Kappa Epsilon because they enjoyed the events, liked the people they
met, and felt that our chapter had the best to offer them at this
important time in their life. You will also become part of a larger
network of over 300 chapters and 200,000 members across North America.
Since our founding in 1899, Tau Kappa Epsilon has always seen itself
as different from other social fraternities. This perception has led TKE
to become the world's largest international fraternity. Our founders
felt that fraternities had degenerated from institutions of scholarly
attainment to mere social clubs. Our founders started an organization
"whose avowed purpose was to aid college men in mental, moral, and
social development," and that is a mission we have not strayed from. Our
mission is no different than it was in 1899 and the challenge is no less
intimidating. Building better men is what TKE has always been about. For
nearly 100 years, Tau Kappa Epsilon has been building better men. Taking
young men and building them into young leaders. Leaders who are prepared
to face the world complete with a set of values and beliefs that add a
distinctive advantage to a man's efforts throughout his life. We have
always based our membership "not for wealth, rank, or honor, but for
personal worth and character."
Because Tau Kappa Epsilon is a "social" fraternity many people have
taken that to mean simply "partying." Part of becoming a socially mature
adult involves interaction with those around you, and TKE holds several
social events throughout the course of the school year to aid in that
development. You don't have to belong to a fraternity to party, but the
risk you take by mixing people in unfamiliar and uncontrolled
environments can be costly. The rumors that you have heard or clips from
Animal House simply do not exist within our chapter. We follow
specific Risk Management guidelines which are designed to allow everyone
to have fun, but without any unfortunate side effects. TKE has created a
social fraternity that defines "social" not simply as parties and
celebration, but rather one in which celebrations and parties are the
rewards for our successes. Each social event we hold optimizes enjoyment
and reduces risk.
Unfortunately hazing is something that still does occur within the
Greek system. Even though every national fraternity has banned hazing
some individual chapters have continued this barbaric and just plain
stupid practice. It may make you wonder how much you can believe the
promises some fraternities may make to you. In recent years several
fraternities all around the country have been disciplined for forcing new
members to endure hazing during their pledge process. Hazing ranges from
alcohol related, physical, emotional, and psychological torment as a
condition for membership. You've never needed to undergo hazing to join
any other organization in your life so don't believe that you have to
start now. The Greek system began as a way to improve the lives of those
who chose to join it, but sadly some fraternities have forgotten this
important fact. The best defense against joining an organization that
may haze its new members it to ask a lot of questions about what is
required of you to be initiated. Find out how long the new member
program will last, how much time will you be expected to commit, and has
the chapter ever been charged for hazing. The more vague or shady the
answers the more you should be concerned about how truthful they are
being.
Philanthropy is one activity that TKE has always been heavily
involved in. We expect each member to do a set number of hours of
philanthropic service each semester, but most members do much more than
that. Raising money and donating hours often involves sporting events,
working with children or senior citizens, and often with other
fraternities and sororities. Philanthropy events are a great way to meet
people, have fun, and provides needed support within the community.
Time management means something different when you get to college
than it did in high school. You now have so much available time on your
hands that you can either use it or waste it. TKE's new member program
not only teaches you how to manage that time, but also how to get the
most out of every day. As with any organization you will get out of it
what you put into it, and the rewards will vary depending on the drive
that you have. Our goal is to make you a better man. The time you spend
perfecting that goal will not be taking up time, but will instead be the
most important time you've ever spent.
Sometimes parents believe that fraternity life revolves only around
beer, women, and hazing, and unfortunately some fraternities cannot
offer much more than that to you. TKE takes a lot of time to keep
parents informed about what things will be like in the chapter and how
they can make the Teke Experience more rewarding. Some students find
this a strange idea at first, but you should talk with your parents
about which fraternities you are interested, what kinds of opportunities
they have to offer, and what kinds of questions you need to ask of each
fraternity. This will definitely show how seriously and responsibly you
are making this decision process.
Of course! What else is the point of a social fraternity if not to
meet people? Our social calendar is constantly filled with fun filled
events involving sororities. Part of being a member of a "social"
fraternity means that you have the ability to build those social
interaction and "people" skills you will need the rest of your life.
TKE is unique among fraternities in many respects and one such
difference is the importance we place on building brotherhood within the
chapter. We have been able to avoid rifts and clicks that
often develop between pledge classes because our new member program
treats every member on an equal basis right from the start. This
strengthens our brotherhood because resentment and the sense of
inferiority is never present. TKE believes that there is no point in a
man's life more important than his college years. Growth and involvement
will allow him to overcome his challenges he face with the support from
those around him. TKE believes that brotherhood is a journey, not a
destination. Brotherhood involves more than just social events and TKE
holds monthly brotherhood events like indoor and outdoor sports,
retreats, social events, brotherhood nights, and much, much more. Each
member has their own definition of brotherhood, but each revolves around
the three guiding principles of our fraternity.
"We believe that the essential elements of true brotherhood are
love, charity, and esteem; love that binds our hearts with the sturdy
cords of fraternal affection; charity, that is impulsive to see the
virtues in a brother and slow to reprove his faults; esteem, that is
respectful to the honest convictions of others and that refrains from
treading upon that which is sacred to spirit and conscience; these are
the triple obligations of every brother in the bond."
Our challenge as brothers is to live up to these guiding principles
and our strong belief in them has created a strong sense of brotherhood
that over 200,000 men just like you have shared since 1899. College is
only temporary, but Brotherhood is forever.
Tau Kappa Epsilon is very active on campus throughout the year. We have
had members in top leadership positions on campus, as well as within the
Greek system itself. TKE builds leaders by giving them the opportunity
to get involved and the skills to make them successful. If you've got
the desire for success why not join an organization that wrote the book
on it.
TKE is the Fraternity for Life and we take great care when legacies
come to our attention. The values and ideals that are passed to every
member of TKE insures us that they understand that their sons should be
considered "not for wealth, rank, or honor, but for personal worth and
character" just the same as every other potential new member. To this
measure we consider anyone who wants "the choice to belong" to Tau Kappa
Epsilon to be an unbiased process. Legacies will still go through the
same process before a bid to join Tau Kappa Epsilon will be extended.
Alumni members will understand this policy based on our belief that "We
maintain that exclusiveness is the direct antithesis of a true
fraternity" and we must include any man who wishes to accept "the
challenge to become."
The academic success you make in your first few semesters at college
will largely limit or expand your future options. It's always easier to
maintain a GPA than to raise one. TKE provides academic support from the
very start. Brothers have all different kinds of degrees. Your Big Brother
would always be willing to help out, we even have a Chapter Educator,
And there is tutoring services all around campus. During your first few months
at college the last thing you want to worry about is poor academic performance.
Academic success is simply opportunity meeting hard work, and TKE will give
you that opportunity.
Part of belonging to the Fraternity for Life means continued support
even after your undergraduate years are over. We publish an alumni
newsletter, hold alumni events, and use alumni contacts to help
graduating fraters obtain job interviews. Our Board of Advisers is made
up of chapter alumni as well as other fraters who have chosen our
chapter as their focal point for alumni support. To be honest, we don't
get millions of dollars willed to us for renovations, we don't spend
contributions just on parties, and we're not looking for alumni to spend
our obstacles away. We have always valued the time and effort that
alumni provide more than the money they give. TKE teaches its members
that the only price Brotherhood has is dedication. Alumni offer everyone
from our newest members to our graduating seniors support in every area
from finding a job to recounting how they made the most out of their
undergraduate years in TKE. The support that our alumni give every year
is immeasurable.
If you are selected to receive an invitation to join our great
Fraternity, you can do so knowing that our chapter members have applied
an extensive set of criteria to your selection, and you'll know that
they believe that you have what it takes to live up to our standard. We
base certain membership criteria on your past experiences and how you
have already turned opportunities into success. If you accept the
challenge to become a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon you will be expected
to maintain a certain minimum GPA, be involved on campus and within the
chapter, perform a few hours per semester of community service, to meet
your financial obligations, and to live up to the ideals of Tau Kappa
Epsilon. Our biggest standard is the standard of success that over
200,000 since 1899, have lived up to. It is our goal to provide you with
the opportunity, assistance, and support that will see you through the
most important years of your life, and on to your most successful ones.