2009 Conclave New Orleans
The record 843 attendees at the 55th Biennial Conclave in New Orleans performed more than 2,000 hours of community service at New Orleans' City Park, attended educational sessions, elected a Grand Council, amended the Constitution and Bylaws of the Fraternity and much more.
On the first day of Conclave, attendees saw the initiation of the 250,000th member Frater Steve Forbes (read more about this and all of Conclave in the Fall 2009 edition of The TEKE Magazine). In addition, several Fraters were given awards for their various volunteer work for the organization. The first session of Conclave concluded late in the evening Thursday, but many Fraters continued the celebration in the hotel and on Bourbon Street. View pictures of Conclave on TKE’s Official Flickr Page.
The second day of Conclave provided attendees with dynamic educational programming for collegiates and alumni. The Teke Institute and Alumni Volunteer Academy kicked off Friday morning’s activities. The men scattered among several breakout rooms for sessions ranging from “Understanding the Black Book” to “Recruitment” to The Blueprint and beyond.
The day was capped by an amazing parade down historic Bourbon Street. The street was jammed from side to side with Tekes led by the TKE International Sweethearts from 2008 and 2009 and Frater Buckwheat. It was truly a sight to see as the tourists and natives came to windows to see what the commotion was all about. Teke flags hung in the rafters as chants of “T-K-E” could be heard for about a mile.
The parade route ended at the House of Blues for a top-notch celebration with two Teke-led bands Awake in Reno and Mudflap Junkies, and WWE Wrestler and Custom Muscle co-founder Charlie Haas (Iota-Rho, Seton Hall Univ.). They rocked well into the evening and a good time was had by all.
The City of New Orleans saw what Tau Kappa Epsilon was all about on the Saturday morning of Conclave. It took more than ten busloads to transport more than six hundred Fraters to the two service sites. Once on the ground, everyone set out quickly to work. With shovels and wheel barrels at one and clippers and gloves at the other, the men worked in scorching heat and humidity for nearly three hours.
A very special Thank You goes out to all Fraters who participated in one of the largest TKE Service Days on record. It is estimated TKE performed nearly 2,000 hours of community service, saving the City Park of New Orleans approximately $40,500 in labor costs.
Once the men returned from the great work at City Park, they cleaned up for the Second Session of the Grand Chapter and some more awards. During the Inaugural Banquet even more Fraters were recognized for the great service to the organization. The Inaugural Banquet also saw the confirmation of the newly elected Grand Council of the organization.
Read the minutes of the Grand Chapter.
2011 Conclave San Antonio
Join us for the 56th Biennial Conclave August 4th-7th in San Antonio, Texas. More information about this will be released soon.
