Exiting Prytanis Statement

-Fellow Fraters, Parents, and Friends of the Fraternity,

I first of all want to thank the undergraduate brothers of Epsilon Kappa for allowing me to serve as your Prytanis for two years. It was truly the honor of a lifetime and I cannot imagine my college experience without the impact and experience I had serving as president. The two executive boards I had the pleasure of serving with helped me lead this fraternity to new heights and we could not have accomplished all that we did without each and everyone of those brothers by my side. I want to thank the chapter and countless alumni, school administrators, and TKE professional staff for always being there for help and guidance. If it was not for a collective group effort on everyone’s part, the Epsilon Kappa chapter would not be where it is today.

When I first took over as President in the Spring of 2015, we were a chapter with unlimited potential and promise. We were a small but mighty force who had the fire in our hearts to live up to our core values of Love, Charity, and Esteem and create positive change within our chapter and throughout the Loyola community. The framework for our success was laid from my predecessors Vincenzo Sposito and T.J. Galullo. The chapter had come of a high note after being recognized by TKE’s Grand Council as one of the Most Improved chapters in the nation. However, there was still quite a bit of work to be done if the chapter were to reach it’s goal as Top TKE Chapter. With the work of many, we were able to achieve that goal in two years with strides along the way such as being recognized in Excellence Award categories from TKE International Headquarters and back to back titles as Loyola’s Interfraternity Top House.

During my time in the chapter beginning in the fall of 2013 as a new member, this chapter has grown from thirty five members to seventy men strong. The chapter has successfully sold out and held major philanthropy events like Crafts for Kids and Jokes for St. Jude where three year totals in monetary donations come to slightly over $30,000. The chapter’s involvement on campus has grown tremendously as EK consistently brings more brothers out to every Sorority and Fraternity philanthropy event on campus as well as increasing our leadership positions in and around campus. These are just a few of the many instances of growth this chapter has seen not because of our leadership, but because of our collective ability to embody our motto of ‘Better Men for a Better World’. Every brother in the past sixty years of our storied history at Loyola has had a hand in this and made an impact on our chapter at Loyola. It was an honor and privilege to be a part of something so much bigger than myself.

As a second semester senior looking towards graduation in May, I know that under the Fraternity’s new leadership in Frater Harry Conkey and his executive board, Epsilon Kappa is stronger than ever and will continue to flourish as a shining star in TKE Nation and as a force of positive change on Loyola’s campus. Thank you for the memories and opportunity to grow as a man and as a leader. Fraters, I love the Fraternity!

Yours In The Bond,

Nick Kimble #847

State of the Fraternity 

Esteemed Alumni Fraters, Parents, Faculty and Friends of the Fraternity,

It is both an honor and a privilege to write my first state of the fraternity to you all as the President of the Epsilon Kappa Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon at Loyola University Chicago.  

Tonight, I am proud to report that this chapter is as strong as it has ever been.  Over the past three months this fraternity has elected new leaders and has seen a successful transfer of power from the old executive board to the new executive board.  I would be remiss if I did not express my utmost appreciation for all the hard work and effort put forth by our former officers.  Their service is much appreciated, and it has allowed our new officers to hit the ground running this Spring semester.  Much preparation was put in by this chapter over Winter break, and we are all very excited to be back on campus so that preparation can manifest itself into a successful Spring semester.  

Since arriving back on campus, the primary initiative this chapter has pursued has been recruitment.  Headed by our Recruitment Chair Max Van De Werken and our Secretary of Recruitment Mitchell Heacock, our recruitment team was able to recruit the absolute best this campus has to offer; this is no small feat considering this year’s freshman class is the largest in Loyola’s 147-year history.  The interest generated from everyone who rushed us was enormous, which in turn allowed us to be highly selective.  Ultimately, we were able to recruit 22 young men into our bond, and I have no doubt that each of them will contribute greatly to this chapter’s continued growth.  

While recruitment took up a large portion of this chapter’s efforts the past month, our organization has also sought to make subtle improvement in other areas.  Just last week we announced the official founding of the Epsilon Kappa Alumni Association!  This development has been a few years in the making, and will allow for plenty of Epsilon Kappa alumni to be reconnected with this great chapter.  I would like to personally thank Alumni Association President Karl Costello as well as Interim Alumni Association President Vincenzo Sposito for all their efforts on this initiative.  Furthermore, Fr. Patrick Dorsey has agreed to serve as our faculty advisor going forward.  A resident chaplain at Loyola since 2007, Fr. Dorsey works in the Office of Alumni Relations where he serves as chaplain to alumni.  We are deeply appreciative of the commitment Fr. Dorsey has made to this chapter and have no doubt that his guidance will prove a tremendous asset moving forward.  

With the culmination of recruitment last week, our collective efforts now turn to planning our annual Jokes for St. Jude philanthropy event which is taking place on Saturday, April 1st.  We are working hard to transform this year’s Jokes for Jude into a week-long event consisting of athletic competitions, fundraisers and of course the annual performance by Second City.  Our primary purpose for this transformation will be the increased participation of the entire Loyola community.  Our goal is to raise over $25,000 for this event, and that will only be accomplished with a much greater level of participation.  Following Jokes for St. Jude will be our annual Red Carnation Ball on April 8th, where we will be celebrating Epsilon Kappa’s 61st anniversary at Loyola University Chicago.  A location is currently being finalized.  I strongly advocate for all alumni to attend this event as an opportunity to celebrate 61 years of being the top fraternity on Loyola’s campus.

In closing, it should be evident from everything stated above that this chapter is functioning as strongly as it ever has before.  This has been a special thing to witness, and it deserves proper appreciation.  However, I can assure you that this chapter will not become complacent with its success.  As a collective brotherhood, we will not falter in our mission to always seek to improve.  We will continue to push forward.  We will continue putting in the work necessary to sustain and grow this chapter’s reputation as both a Top TKE Chapter and a Top IFC House.  We will continue to honor the work and toil put in by every Frater who came before us by maintaining and furthering this chapter’s excellence.  This is our mission, and we will see that it gets accomplished.  

Fraters, I Love This Fraternity!

Yours In The Bond,

Harry Conkey, #877

Prytanis

Jokes for St. Jude's

Join the men of Epsilon Kappa for a night of laughs at the 4th annual Jokes for St. Jude’s! The Second City Comedy Club has partnered with Epsilon Kappa again and will perform at Loyola’s Mundelein Auditorium to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event will be held on Saturday, April 1st. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. with a reception held afterwards with food and drinks.

After the sell-out success of the previous three years with Jokes for St. Jude’s, Epsilon Kappa is looking forward to this year being the best yet! To make this goal possible we have expanded our efforts to host an entire week of events that fellow organizations at Loyola can participate in to aid us in our support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Sponsorship donations will once again be going towards St. Jude research funds and a Jokes for St. Jude’s t-shirt which will recognize the event and benefactors. The Silver Sponsorship, which is $250, will offer the sponsor name or logo on all signs, flyers, and t-shirts. The Cherry Sponsorship, which is $500, offers all the incentives of the Silver Sponsorship plus the sponsor will be recognized by our President, Harry Conkey, before the event. Lastly the Apollo Sponsorship, which is $1,000+, offers the benefits of the Silver and Cherry Sponsorship but also includes the sponsor as an official sponsor of the event with up to 2 seats reserved in your honor. For any questions or further information, please contact our philanthropy chairman Lance Boehm at lboehm@luc.edu. We sincerely like to thank all considerations and future donors.

Hegemon Report

Epsilon Kappa is off to a hot start for 2017 with another one of our best recruitments we have had in decades. Close to 60 men rushed our fraternity here on campus; many of these men solely rushed us knowing how strong and incredible our brotherhood is. Of the nearly 60 men who rushed us we inducted 22 of the best of them into our new member program. So far every single one of these men have been more than eager to learn and grow so they can be initiated into the bond of Tau Kappa Epsilon in weeks time. They have proven to myself and to the chapter what it means to be a new member in the top fraternity on campus and one of the top TKE chapters in the United States. They have started to understand what love, charity, and esteem means to them. They have taken to heart our six pillars of scholarship, character, leadership, teamwork, service, and brotherhood. They are using them to understand themselves better and to grow and develop new ideas and opinions that will help them lead our campus and community. I am more than confident that these men will continue to grow and prosper to become better men for a better world in a matter of a few weeks. A bright path awaits these future brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon, and I am ecstatic that I am able to walk down this path with them. 

YITB,

Frater Joseph Randazzo

Message from the Alumni Association

TKE's On Campus

(Left) Pictured: Brothers and potential new members enjoying a fun Sunday morning of dodeball during a recruitment event. (Right) Frater's Brian Ahern, Yeong Heo, and Danny Hansen attending a Bulls game at the United Center.