Tekes Receive Cutting Edge Programming
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - This year, TKE experienced a record number of attendees at our major programs - the Charles R. Walgreen, Jr. TKE Leadership Academy , as well as our Regional Leadership Conferences . Sixty men attended the TKE Leadership Academy a few weeks ago, and did so in improved facilities and on a schedule that has been demanded of TKE by our collegiate membership. In previous years, the typical Academy attendee base was 24-28 men (with 47 attending in 2007), and our high was 48 men attending when the Foundation was able to fund two Academies in a given summer. The May 30-June 3 Academy (TKE LA XXII) was conducted on a similar budget as past programs ($64,000) but served substantially more men.
The 2008 Regional Leadership Conferences saw a record number of attendees - 659 versus 500 in 2006, our previous high since the program was re-introduced in 2002. Tracts for the RLCs included leadership and organizational skills training, volunteer training, ritual skills, and integrated highly successful alumni into the program as meal-time presenters.
Conclave 2007, held in Las Vegas, included special speaker presentations on "taking responsibility for change", recruitment training, life skill development, and educating our membership on the status of their Fraternity. The Conclave also included a Fraternity-wide service project - "Kids Day", where Tekes donated 1,210 hours of service helping the youth of Las Vegas, and showing the community what it means to be part of the TKE Nation.
The Blueprint (formerly the Membership Development Program) was in year two of its pilot phase. This program, which integrates solid life skills training into a comprehensive development program for our collegiate members, will be the defining program for TKE on an individual level. The program goes into general launch in Fall 2008 after three years of staff work in development.
Communications & Outreach
THE TEKE magazine celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, and the quality of our communications program continues to improve. This year, instead of simply mailing bundles of magazines to our collegiate chapters, TKE began mailing the magazine to the permanent home address of our collegiate members. With many "helicopter parents" out there, we figured that this would increase our exposure to a core constituency - parents of our active members - as well as better ensure that our members read the quarterly publication. The Foundation annual report edition of the magazine continues to be mailed to an extended audience, reaching alumni who are not currently involved in TKE but who may wish to reconnect to the Fraternity for Life.
TKE received several accolades this year, including:
Stay tuned for more news on how the TKE Nation has been moving the fraternal world forward. And get ready for a major announcement 08/08/08!