phi the
top teke edition
THE FIRST WORD
the phi To whom it may concern, The men of the Phi chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon have resided on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus since 1925. Throughout our time on this campus, there have been lasting relationships we have built with faculty, staff and alumni that still hold strong with us today. Not unlike the culture of our football program, Nebraskans and those who come to call Nebraska home find an uncanny attraction towards their community regardless of barriers, doubts, or mishaps. We’re not talking about picking up trash or volunteering for the local shelters, but a heart for the community they live in and the members whom they call neighbors. Phi Chapter embodies that energy, and in the 2015-2016 year, we were able to manifest the energy into actionable steps that achieved long awaited goals. Phi chapter started off the year with a new chapter house at 740 South 17th Street in Lincoln NE. Since re-chartering in 2008, it has been a goal to have a place to call home. It was only the constant support of fellow fraters, families, alumni, and international headquarters staff that we were able to fill the house with members in its first year of occupancy, send out press releases, and have multiple open houses to welcome the community. We also boasted the largest recruitment class since our re-chartering with 33 initiates while simultaneously developing high-quality relationship building practices to make sure that members understood the commitment to the fraternity that they were making, thus increasing retention rate. While handling both the house, and the large recruitment class, the chapter maintained an incredible resolve to increase brotherhood engagement as well as fostering new on-campus relationships. This past year forced Phi chapter to evaluate what brotherhood means to us and why “Not for wealth, rank or honor, but for personal worth and character,” is a living mission statement for each of our actions. This application is a representation of the work 70 men put in this year to make their chapter great. We are entering this proposal in hopes of not only becoming the Top TKE chapter, but also giving you a glimpse into the spirit of Phi Chapter, our mistakes, our successes and the bond that keeps us working to achieve goal after goal. Yours in the bond,
DeWayne Taylor Phi #984 Prytanis (2015-2016)
MISSION STATEMENT VISION Tau Kappa Epsilon creates lifelong relationships that enhance educational, interpersonal, community and professional success.
MISSION Our msision is to aid men in their mental, moral, and social devolopment for life.
PURPOSE TKE contributes to the advancement of society through the personal growth of our members, and service to others.
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THE PHI is the official publication of the Phi Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity. Phi Chapter was founded on May 28, 1925, at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, NE.
2016 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Connor J. Dahlke, Prytanis Lincoln, Nebraska Daniel P. Briggs, Epiprytanis Elkhorn, Nebraska Spencer J. Harding-McDermott, Grammateus Lincoln, Nebraska Patrick W. McGuire, Crysophylos Bennington, Nebraska Andrew J. Hoover, Co-Crysophylos San Antonio, Texas Kyle J. Neinaber, Histor Albany, Minnesota Cody Vitek, Hypophetes Blair, Nebraska Joe Lewis, Pylortes Bentonville, Arkansas Joseph G. Kucerik, Hegemon Omaha, Nebraska William B. O’Connell, Recruitment Chairman Bennington, Nebraska Matthew E. Fischer, Recruitment Chairman Omaha, Nebraska Trent E. Sears, Brotherhood Chairman Littleton, Colorado
2015 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
DeWayne Taylor, Prytanis Pagedale, Missouri Daniel P. Briggs, Epiprytanis Elkhorn, Nebraska Connor J. Dahlke, Grammateus Lincoln, Nebraska Patrick W. McGuire, Crysophylos Bennington, Nebraska John P. Von Dollen, Histor Omaha, Nebraska Matthew J. Carpenter, Hypophetes Omaha, Nebraska Sean E. Bunce, Pylortes Oak Lawn, Illinois Matthew C. Gauci, Hegemon Novato, California Hunter C. Cave, Recruitment Chairman Northbend, Nebraska Mason D. Reed, Recruitment Chairman Omaha, Nebraska
HOW TO CONTACT THE PHI
Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity 740 South 17th Street Lincoln, NE 68508 Tel: 402-440-4003 Email: nebraskatke@gmail.com Website: www.nebraskatke.org
© 2016 Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, Inc.
TOP TEKE EDITION JUNE 2015 - MAY 2016
DEPARTMENTS 4
President's Message
5
KRA Totals
6
Meet the Chapter
10
Recruitment Results
14
Philanthropic Efforts
15
Community Service
16
Alumni Relations
17
Life Loyal Teke
20
Lifeblood
FEATURES 8
ON THE COVER:
Chapter House
Phi Chapter has aquired our first house in over 20 years, located at 740 South 17th Street.
12 Program Graduates
Three members of Phi Chapter were selected to attend the 29th Charles R. Walgreen Jr. Leadership Academy.
18 Cover Story
Two words: Husker Football. Everything you need to know about gameday and the madness behind the tradition.
Phi Chapter's Hayden Picker, Alex Galvez and Nicholas Fowler met up with the Fraters of Theta Chapter at the University of Minnesota for a Fall tailgate. Photo (top): Frater DeWayne Taylor performs a Beatbox routine at the 2015 Rez-Hall Rager.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Consistancy vs. Complacency
S
Connor J. Dahlke
uccess is defined as the attainment of eminence. The accomplishment of receiving a favorable or desired outcome. Success can either lead to more success or cease with a wave of complacency. The person or group is left at the peak of a mountain; a tipping point. Leaving the only two options: moving forward or falling backward. “Phi Chapter is on the move.” We were labeled with this fortune at the end of last spring and since then we’ve only moved forward. Our undying determination has allowed for our achievements to exceed anything we could ever imagine. Throughout the past year we’ve learned, and we’ve grown. Realistically we could not pursue success without change, for the changes we’ve faced blend our strengths and weaknesses in a way that sets us apart from any other chapter or organization. We are unique. Together we build up the ability to achieve an end goal. The end goal may be a structure or a way of life, an option or a necessity, a predetermined set objective or an obstacle faced along the way but no matter what, we’ve overcome struggles that have hindered our progression in the past.
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We regard ourselves as a Top Teke Chapter and we’ve continued to climb on the understanding that an Award saying so, is ours to lose. Which may come off as arrogant or conceited, but is actually quite the opposite. The message should not outshine the moral values that we take from this motivation. We are confident. We’ve stayed hungry and we’ve stayed thirsty. Phi Chapter has a direction and a vision for success that extends past the eight officers and four chairmen. Each member has passion and recognizes the purpose that we’re all here for. Additionally, we emphasize the importance and the value of what time truly is. Together we discover ways to invest our time, rather than spend it. Leaving our possibilities endless and our potential undisputed. I am extremely optimistic for the future of this chapter and for all of the positive endeavors we will make. Fraters and distinguished alumni, I love the Fraternity! Yours in the Bond,
Connor J. Dahlke President of Phi Chapter
KRA TOTALS
KRA
RESULTS
GOALS
POINTS
Initiates
33
25
20.00
Risk Management Education
74
74
15.00
St. Jude Dollars
$1,500.00
$1,500.00
10.00
Finances
($0.02)
$0.00
15.00
Summit Attendance
8
6
5.00
Forum Attendance
24
16
10.00
Alumni Attendees
38
15
10.00
Blueprint
True
True
5.00
Service
1448.00
954
3.00
Philanthropy
$2,479.00
$2,466.00
2.00
Annual Report
True
True
3.00
GPA >= 3.00 (BONUS)
N/A
3
0.00
Blueprint Usage (BONUS)
74
74
10.00
KRA TOTALS
108.00%
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MEET THE CHAPTER
Randy Jacobsen
Addison Morris
John Von Dollen
Nicholas Fowler
Jonathan Bucyana
Peter Cummings
Hayden Picker
Connor Eurek
Nathan Karn
Mason Reed
Roger Bien
Joseph Kucirek
Sean Bunce
Matt Carpenter
Kyle Nienaber
Matthew Fischer
Josiah Kettelhake
Anthony Lang
Cody Vitek
Robert Jelinek
Anwar Mahmoud
Weston Huerstel
Michael Gerhki
Tyler Deaver
Kenneth Tyler
Eric Fritch
Tyler Brunk
Dean Knuth
Christian Andres
Iziaih Graves
Will Sleddens
Owen Grayson
Michael Sandvold
Chris Brummett
Jared Mikuls
Peter Masinelli
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Joshua Lundell
Phillip Nguyen
DeWayne Taylor
Daniel Briggs
Matthew Gauci
Patrick McGuire
Tyler Rump
Otto Gaiser
Hunter Cave
Connor Dahlke
Isaac Kurtenbach
Loyur Root
Spencer HardingMcDermott
Connor Johnson
Caleb Koch
Luke Zuroske
William O'Connell
Mitchell Seldal
Trent Sears
Joe Lewis
Andrew Hoover
Dillon Feldhacker
Tanner Degner
Alexander Galvez
Coby Wallingford
Layne Laaker
Brook Boehmer
Jacob Woodfill
Zach Picker
Tyler Egenes
Josue Ozuna
Chase Anderson
Jacob Martin
Ryan Hinkle
Dylan Bludorn
Dave Raddatz (Chapter Advisor)
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CHAPTER HOUSE
PHI'S FIRST HOUSE IN OVER 20 YEARS Phi Chapter recently rechartered at UNL in 2008 after a brief time off campus in the ‘90s. After over 20 years, we took the leap and moved into our new Chapter House, located at 740 South 17th Street.
W
e had been looking for a house for the past few years, and one week this house just fell into our laps. The acquisition process went quickly, from finalizing ownership paperwork to solidifying which members were moving in. Everything happened in just a few days. The house provides a specific location for which alumni, friends and family can come to visit, past Prytanis, Frater DeWayne Taylor said. Apart from providing a roof for members, a fraternity house provides a specific central location for the members to study, meet and socialize. It serves as an important location that can host chapter-wide meetings as well as smaller committee discussions on chapter business. “The centralization of just a place to meet... it also brings a little more legitimization to the organization,” Taylor said. Before moving into the house on 17th Street, we used multiple residences located from north of campus all the way to south of downtown and multiple places in between, as meeting locations and social areas for members. Since acquiring the house, the important functions now occur at the new house. “Now we have one spot that everyone can just come to,” Taylor said. “There is now an establishment that we can say ‘Yeah, this represents us.’”
Apart from the space the fraternity house provides, it is also a profound way for the members to bond with one another. As the new members mostly come from traditional UNL dorm situations, living together in a large open house has taken some getting used to. But our former Recruitment Chairman, Hunter Cave, explained that the bonds formed with our fraters have only deepened by living in the house. “I’m starting to learn all these little things about my brothers that I never knew before and it’s making our relationships more dynamic,” Cave said. In addition to being beneficial to us as an organization, fraternity houses are advantageous to members as well. Being able to quickly receive organizational information from senior members at any time of day is a great asset to new and experienced members alike. “It provides everything that living in a residence hall provides, but it’s in a smaller, more centralized location,” Taylor said.
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RECRUITMENT RESULTS
PHI CHAPTER'S 2015-16 INITIATES Phi Chapter recently rechartered at UNL in 2008 after a brief time off campus in the ‘90s. After over 20 years, we took the leap and moved into our new Chapter House, located at 740 South 17th Street.
P
hi Chapter in a matter of one year, has jumped into the top 10 largest of all fraternites at UNL's campus. It is important to recognize our rush efforts for the past year because it has changed our chapter. Since last June, Phi chapter has had the biggest year, and even semester, of recruiting. We signed 30 guys in the Fall Semester alone and out of the 38 men signed overall, we initiated 33, which is over 50% of our active chapter. Although we are not always pleased with big numbers, as we prefer quality
over quantity. This year it is fairly easy to say that every man we have initiated would make any frater proud to have in their home chapter. Moving forward, we've already setup a full schedule of recruitment events for the Summer, leading into the Fall semester. This calendar is available to the public, and is linked with the university's greek website. We are extremely happy with the results we've had over the past year, and we plan to reach bigger and better goals for recruitment this next time around.
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LAST SCHOOL YEAR THIS SCHOOL YEAR (JUNE - MAY) (JUNE - MAY) Number of bids accepted
26
38
Number of candidates initiated
24
33
Candidate Initiation Rate (Bids divided by Candidates Initiated x 100)
92.31%
86.84%
Number of Members
26
41
Number of New Initiates
24
33
Total Chapter Size
50
72
Chapter Size Percentage Increase
44.00%
(Current Year-Last Year divided Last Year x 100)
Rank Among Other Fraternities
17 of 23
10 of 23
Average Fraternity Size on Campus
83.00
81.00
(In terms of total chapter size)
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PROGRAM GRADUATES
Charles R. Walgreen Jr.
TKE Leadership Academy
S
XXIX
ince re-chartering in 2008, the Phi chapter had only sent 2 people to Leadership Academy. That is of course until last year. In June of 2015, Phi chapter sent three of its top members and Executive Officers to Colorado Springs, to spend a week with some of the best and brightest individuals of TKE Nation. DeWayne Taylor, Daniel Briggs and Connor Dahlke were honored to be accepted, and while there they made a huge impression on all other chapters in attendance. At the end of the week all three fraters had actually become “better men for a better world.� They came back with a better understanding for themselves, but more-so they came back comfortable as leaders and extremely excited to better Phi chapter. After almost a year, the men of Tau Kappa Epsilon at the University of Nebraska have seen difference that Leadership Academy can make. Phi chapter has since made it an open goal to motivate and send at least one member every year from this point forward. Closing down on the end of the summer, another frater from Phi Chapter, Joey Kucerik, will be going to Colorado Springs, and we are all excited to see what great ideas and goals he will come back with. Sending members to learn from the mistakes and greatness of other men has definitely been a blessing to us, as it has helped us become the best we can be and optimistically the Top TKE Chapter.
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PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS
A
t Phi Chapter, we have continued to break our goals set as a chapter. Although we donated less to Charitable Causes than the previous year; we already have more events planned in the next semester, than we had all together this current school year. Our Total ManHours has surpassed our goal by 500 hours, and we had almost 200 more hours than we did last year. Phi Chapter has volunteered through many outlets, showing our commitment to making the community great. One of our biggest fundraisers this past year was during the Fall semester. Night at the Fair with Alpha Delta Pi was a joint philanthropy event hosted at the ADÎ house on our campus. To raise money, we sold tickets for admission. During the event we offered funnel cakes and pulled pork sandwiches, as well as a wide selection of fair-themed games and activities. This event alone allowed us to reach our KRA goal for dollars donated to St. Jude Children's Hospital. Our other popular philanthropy for the year is normally Teke 'n Pink in the Spring. Which is a pow-
derpuff flag football tournament, where sororities are encouraged to sign up teams, coached by our active members. This event is on it's sixth year, but this time around we decided to move the tournament to the fall semester. The main reasons being more predictable weather and a lot more interest for football on our campus. We believe this will raise our potential for signing up additional teams, which overall leads to a more successful event. Aside from the events we host as a chapter, all of our members are required to attend a minimum of two philanthropic events, hosted by other organizations, per semester. However, we regularly exceed those numbers through the sheer motivation within our members. Along with the multiple philanthropy events, we also participate in numerous community service outlets. We require attendance to specific events, but we also add incentives for attending any of the alternate events that take place throughout the year.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE
LAST SCHOOL YEAR THIS SCHOOL YEAR (JUNE - MAY) (JUNE - MAY) Total Man-Hours Contributed to Service Project by Members of your Chapter
1282
1448
Total Dollars Donated to Charitable Causes
$4696.57
$2479.00
Campus Sponsored a Campus-Based Service Project
Yes
Yes
Chapter Sponsored a Campus-Based Service Project
Yes
Yes
Total Dollars Donated to St. Jude Children's Hospital
$1500.00
$1500.00
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ALUMNI RELATIONS
T
he Alumni Association for Phi Chapter is quite an active one. It plans, hosts, and entertains the alumni and actives at the Annual Alumni Reunion. Which allows active members to meet and build relationships with acting members of the community. This not only lets us actives branch out into the world, but it gives us the connections we might need when looking for jobs or philanthropy ideas. Last year, over 60 alumni attended the event, along with nearly 50 active members; the largest attendance recorded on record, according the alumni board. Not only are the alumni hosting such great reunions, they also are taking an active role in the new house. Since we got the house, the alumni have been involved every step of the way. They purchased washer and
dryer units for the house, as well as managed the terms and agreements of the lease with the landlord. Some individuals of the Alumni Association have even donated to the house, including multiple couches, and generous donations to a housing fund set up and managed by the alumni. The housing fund that was set up by the alumni is a way for the individuals of the Alumni Association to donate to the chapter without donating specific items. They can simply donate money to the fund, which later gets spent on items needed for the house. The items are presented by the chapter to the Alumni Board, approved, and purchased for the Active members to enjoy. We appreciate everything they have done and hopefully will continue to do.
LAST SCHOOL YEAR THIS SCHOOL YEAR (JUNE - MAY) (JUNE - MAY) Chapter has a Chapter Advisor
Yes
Yes
Chapter has a Board of Advisors
Yes
Yes
Chapter has a Chartered Alumni Association
Yes
Yes
Number of Newsletters sent to Alumni
1
4
Number of Alumni Events the Chapter Sponsored
1
3
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LIFE LOYAL TEKE
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COVER STORY
TAILGATE SEASON
O
ver 90,000 red-clad fanatics jampacked in one of the country’s most storied venues. Around 50 or so watering holes within walking distance of said venue. This is Lincoln, Nebraska and Cornhusker football isn’t just a sport, it’s a way of life. Weddings are planned around home games, families come together every weekend for a tailgating BBQ, and it’s the only time of year you’ll see college students up before 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Lincoln, Nebraska is a football town through and through. On gameday, Memorial Stadium becomes the third largest city in the state! From some of the best eats this side of the Mississippi to some of the most renown college bars in the country – Lincoln, Nebraska is any college football fan’s paradise. The best thing about football weekends is the atmosphere. The home crowd is usually raucous, and enjoying a Runza (our signature delicious beef pocket sandwich). Don’t let the “Nebraska Nice” perception fool you, Husker Nation can celebrate with the best of them. A big reason for that is our University’s
proximity to downtown Lincoln and the recently revamped Haymarket district, but more so because the entire state looks forward to those seven glorious Saturday’s each fall like a kid does Christmas.
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LIFEBLOOD
BROTHERHOOD
T
his year Phi chapter experienced a bit of a change to the aspect of Brotherhood. Everyone had been used to 30-40 familiar faces, with an addition of 10 or so each semester and a subtraction of those who left or graduated. Everybody knew everybody, and we all enjoyed that. However this year was different, we had a massive membership spike, the whole fraternity had to go through an instant change. We almost doubled in size not even through a whole semester. Brotherhood became more than just what we called our relationship. It took a little more effort, but it came with a much larger reward. We were fortunate enough to welcome in 26 new members in
a single semester. By the end of it we felt as close as the 40-man chapter we once were, but there was one slight difference; We had 65 guys now. Seeing the leap we took was inspiring. It created a catalyst for positive direction. As a chapter, we were able to do almost a complete 360° turn to reinforce that common connection that all of us share. As a result, Phi chapter elected our first ever Brotherhood Chairman. An executive position responsible for facilitating and organizing Brotherhood activities, events and all around morale. This position has allowed us to continue our growth, but in a more efficient way.
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LAST SCHOOL YEAR THIS SCHOOL YEAR (JUNE - MAY) (JUNE - MAY) Number of Intramural Sports Played
7
8
Number of Intramural Championships
1
2
Percentage of men involved in other campus and community organizations
64%
77%
Number of Members in Leadership Positions on Campus
X
X
Number of Members attending TKE Leadership Conferences
9
38
Number of Members attending non-TKE Leadership Conferences
X
X
Number of Sorority "Mixers" or Date Functions
X
12
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