Tau Kappa Epsilon-Epsilon Kappa Spring Newsletter 5/12/2017 |
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State of the Fraternity Esteemed Alumni Fraters, Parents, Faculty and Friends of the Fraternity, It remains a privilege to write to you all on the state of this fraternity. With the conclusion of final exams last week, the spring semester is now officially in the books. Upon reviewing the semester in its entirety, I am pleased to report this organization and its members produced an overall successful semester. This success began back in January during recruitment. Our recruitment team headed by Max Van de Werken and Mitchell Heacock worked tirelessly to recruit the absolute best our campus had to offer. As a result of this two-week long endeavor, we were able to welcome 22 incredible young men into our new member process. Of those 22 new members, 18 ended up making it successfully through that process and were initiated into our bond in April. Recruitment has long been considered the lifeblood of this fraternity. By welcoming 18 fraters into our bond this semester, we ensured that this chapter remains in capable hands moving forward. Building off a strong recruitment, February marked a month of further positive developments for this organization. On February 3rd, Epsilon Kappa’s Alumni Association became officially recognized. This group of alumni fraters immediately made their mark by hosting an Alumni Pregame event for the Loyola v. Wichita State basketball game a few weeks later. Headed by Karl Costello, the official formation of this association marks an incredible development for our fraternity. Frater Costello and the other alumni association officers have made it their mission to reconnect as many Epsilon Kappa alumni as possible to this fraternity. In doing so, we are all ensuring that membership in TKE lasts not simply for four years, but for life. In addition to this development, Fr. Patrick Dorsey agreed in February 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 his guidance has proved to be a tremendous asset. The latter half of this semester featured our annual philanthropy event along with the Red Carnation Ball. This year, our philanthropy committee chaired by Lance Boehm dedicated themselves to transforming Jokes for St. Jude into Teke Week. By converting our philanthropy into an entire week, this chapter was able to promote more awareness for the incredible cause that is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as well as generate more participation from the greater Loyola community. Teke Week featured bake sales, a series of athletic competitions, tabling and a performance by Second City on the final day. More than 30 businesses, on-campus organizations and clubs sponsored this event! These sponsorships as well as donations amounted to a stunning total of slightly over $20,500 raised, all of which was donated directly to St. Jude. Attaining that amount of money could not have been possible without the amazing effort put forth by Lance and his committee. We are also deeply thankful for all the wonderful staff at St. Jude that we worked with throughout the past semester. Needless to say, our fourth annual Jokes for St. Jude was a resounding success. Our chapter celebrated all that was accomplished this semester at our annual Red Carnation Ball. Hosted at the Metropolitan Club, the night featured the unique opportunity to celebrate our 61 years on Loyola’s campus. April concluded with the Sorority and Fraternity Life Awards Banquet. Hosted annually, this night serves as an opportunity to recognize all the hard work and accomplishments from Loyola’s Greek life community. During the event, our organization was the recipient of every single Greek Standards and Awards Program award, including being recognized as the top fraternity on this campus for the third straight year. Receiving this recognition is an absolute honor. We let recognition such as this serve as motivation for continuing to strive for excellence in all that we do. All of these accomplishments serve to guarantee our organization’s future success. However, if our brothers have learned anything at all the past semester, it is that this success does not just occur. It does not happen naturally; if it did, it would not be called success. Rather, success is something that you must constantly strive for. Whether that means constantly striving to recruit the premier young men on this campus or striving to raise a record amount of money for St. Jude, the grind never stops. It would have been easy for this chapter to become complacent with its past success. Yet, it has not, and nor will it. This brotherhood will continue to work collectively to ensure its commitment to excellence is sustained in all areas, both big and small. Fraters, I Love This Fraternity! Yours In The Bond, Harry Conkey, #877
Prytanis |
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Red Carnation Ball On April 8th, the Episilon Kappa chapter celebrated it's 61st anniversary with our annual Red Carnation Ball. This year's event was held at the Metropolitan Club, on the 66th floor of the iconic Willis Tower. The brothers, alumni, and their dates all had a fantastic night while enjoying a spectacular view of Chicago at night. |
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Seniors gathered for a group photo Top Left: Dennis Kelman, Alex Finch, Kenny Sweezey, Tommy Johnson Middle Left: Conor Wedel, Brian Wheatley, Jake Kroll, Donner Kahl, Jackson Hodonicky, Max Albekier, Nick Kimble Bottom Left: Andy Pawlowski, Dylan Reel, John Tyler, Conor Moran, Jay Singh |
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Teke WEEK The Epsilon Kappa chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon hosted its 4th annual Jokes for St. Jude this past spring benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In addition, 2017 marked the inaugural Teke Week, an expansion on Jokes for St. Jude to help increase philanthropy efforts. Thanks to the amazing community at Loyola and the generous sponsors and donations, EK was able to raise over $20,000 for St. Jude, the most in the chapter's history. We'd like to thank Second City, the Loyola community, and the amazing people of St. Jude for helping us make this year the best yet! Yours In The Bond, Frater Lance Boehm #904 Philanthropy Chairman Read more about Teke week and EK's Philanthropy: www.TKEloyola.org/J4J |
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The new members participating in Teke Week's Compete against Cancer event Top Left: Ryan Mason, Joe Murphy, Billy Dunderdale, Luisangel Miranda, Stephen Spaulding, Alex Briestensky, Ethan Elridge, Elmar Alvarez, Peter Cabaj, Luke Helt Bottom Left: Camren Bunn, Alec Vanderloo, John Caranci, Joe Wilkinson, Brady Briska, Jonah Golberg, David Doss |
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Brothers gathered for a group photo after their hard work at "Jokes For Jude" |
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Hegemon Update I am proud to report that Epsilon Kappa had yet another outstanding pledge class initiated this past April. 18 new fraters were initiated into our unbreakable bond. Throughout their 7-week pledge process, every one of these men has shown to the chapter and myself that they are ever eager and willing to become better men for a better world. Since their initiation, they have proven their potential to be one of the best pledge classes initiated in decades. Many of them have continued to excel academically over this past semester boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.34. They also have gotten outside the "Greek life bubble" on campus and joined other organizations to show their commitment to the betterment of the Loyola community. Several of them have joined the Food Recovery Network which collects unused food from around campus and donates them to a local homeless shelter. This is just one of the few examples that show the motivation and determination of these men to continue to grow EK and its influence on campus. The chapter and I are excited to see what these 18 men do with their potential over the next 3 years. I am confident that these men will take the Epsilon Kappa chapter to new heights, heights that we have never seen. Yours in the bond, Frater Joseph Jon Randazzo #889 Hegemon |
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New Members and the Hegemon after their initiation ceremony Back Left: Peter Cabaj, David Doss, Joey Delaney, Jonah Golberg, Joseph Randazzo, Joe Murphy, John Caranci Middle Left: Alec Vanderloo, Brady Briska, Joe Wilkinson, Alex Briestensky, Ethan Elridge, Stephen Spaulding, Billy Dunderdale, Ryan Mason, Luke Helt, Camren Bunn, Luisangel Miranda Front: Elmar Alvarez |
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Sorority & Fraternity Life Awards On April 21st Loyola had it's annual Sorority & Fraternity Life Awards Banquet. The banquet was an acknowledgment of the incredible work and effort put forth by the Greek life community throughout the 2016 calendar year. The event also recognized organizations & individuals who are excelling in the community.
This year's award ceremony marked another year of great success for our chapter. This year we were awarded Excellence in Community Service Hours, Commitment to Academic Achievement, Commitment to Risk Prevention & Membership Accountability, Commitment to Philanthropy & Service, Commitment to Leadership and Membership Development, Commitment to Chapter Management. On top of these chapter awards, individuals Don Stolz and Richard Kurtyka were recognized as New Member of the Year and Alumni Advisor of the Year respectively. Also, for the third year in a row, Epsilon Kappa was selected as the Interfraternity Council Chapter of the Year.
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Frater's holding the many awards Epsilon Kappa earned Top Left: Don Stolz, Brian Ahern, Dylan Reel, Karl Lang, Joseph Randazzo, Patrick Siegmund, Jackson Hodonicky, Max Albekier, Richard Kurtyka Bottom Left: John Tyler, Nick Kimble, Kenny Sweezey, Harry Conkey, Gabriel Guevara, Mitchell Heacock |
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Individual Award Winners Left: Don Stolz - New Member of the Year Right: Richard Kurtyka - Alumni Advisor of the Year |
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Meet The Sweethearts Elections for our chapter’s Sweethearts were held at the beginning of this Spring semester. Based off these elections, our chapter was able to select two amazing women who will do an incredible job representing our values. Congratulations to Jamie and Alyssa, our new TKE sweethearts |
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Name: Jamie Edgerton Hometown: Tomah, Wisconsin Year: Junior Sorority: Alpha Sigma Alpha Major: Biology Fun Fact: "I have two pet hedgehog, Quill.i.Am and Hocus Poke-Us, and I can eat a 32 oz steak." Why I Wanted to be TKE's Sweetheart: I wanted to be TKE Sweetheart because throughout my time at Loyola, the men of Tau Kappa Epsilon have showed what true friendship is. I am so thankful for every experience I have had with these men, and I am so lucky to have them in my life. The men of Tau Kappa Epsilon are compassionate, intelligent, goofy, honest, and everything I could ask for in friends. I wanted to be TKE Sweetheart not so I could gain anything but instead so I could give back to the organization that has given me so much. |
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Name: Alyssa Schilling Hometown: Year: Sophomore Sorority: Alpha Chi Omega Major: Psychology Fun fact: "I can speak Spanish fluently!" Why I Wanted to be TKE's Sweetheart: I have known the Epsilon Kappa TKE brotherhood for about a year now. I see how they all have grown and changed and become successful within those months. The brothers have such a great charisma and care for everyone they are involved with, and these are such strong characteristics I wish to build within myself. Within the last year, I have learned so many new things from each of the brothers, from leadership and scholarship, to just simply enjoying life. I could go on and on about the many things I have learned from the men of TKE, and I would love to continue growing and learning from them. |
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Active brothers Donner Kahl, Andy Pawlowski, Don Stolz, Brian Ahern, and Danny Hansen (Pictured Left to Right) represented Loyola at The SABR Analytics Conference in the Diamon Dollars Case Competition in Phoenix, Arizona the weekend of March 10th. |
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Congarts to TKE's who won a thorough victory against Sigma Chi this year. This is the second year in a row that Epsilon Kappa took home the championship. |
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Histor Update Esteemed Alumni, Parents, Faculty, and Friends of the Fraternity, As most of you already know I accidentally released a rough draft of our newsletter on Monday. I apologize for my mistake and any confusion it may have caused, the issue has since been fixed. All that behind us, I would like to formally introduce myself as our chapter's new Histor. My name is Don Stolz, I am a junior majoring in Software Engineering. After transferring last Spring, I rushed TKE after meeting my big Nick Kimble. Previously I served as our Webmaster, where I made substantial progress in improving our chapter's online presence and our use of online tools. Among other things, I plan to focus on improving communication and event participation through the use of similar tools. I am excited to have been elected our chapter's next Histor and will do my best at the position. Yours in the bond, Don Stolz #922 Histor |
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