[Erik P Conard]

TKE hit their zenith with 311 active chapters in1975. Despite the
heroic leadership we lost over 200 while adding 165, roughly.
Colonizations resulted in about half failures. And of those half
which got chartered, half died within five years...principally due
to bogus boards and absentee advisers. Of course there are a few who don't want TKE back 'in perpetuity'...but we'll likely be
back and should be. I pray/prey nightly for those administrators
who wish that upon MY fraternity. Dick Hall, R.I.P., and some of us used to joke...have skull sessions and wish all kinds of things
on those who treated us unfairly. In some cases, it worked! We
MUST maintain a sense of humor, and be careful not to say we're
real selective (as does Zeta Psi), as these things have a way of
kicking us in the butt....TKE has made some poor charterings, I
admit, and some places we likely should not have gone. BUT, I
believe, unlike many others, that once we have PROMISED to
embrace the chapter...we ought to, and not talk out of both sides
of our mouth. There are fraters who would like to shuck about
a hundred more...I find it hard to call them 'fraters.' Hope that this evokes a spirited discussion...and TKE will rise....again!
I have the highest regard for some of the other fraternities, but
TKE stands alone...unique...and will endure...and prevail.