Let me start off by the fact that I was rushed by several houses on our campus... All with very different personalities...
I knew many people from one because of my involvement in student government - in result, they were rushing me for several semesters...
I had friends in other ones as well as TKE... All were different...
I'm gonna start off with the shallow info...
Tekes on my campus had been known in the past as the cool guys with large lifted trucks with flames on the back window, the alternative musicians (one of our recently graduated alums in our chapter was one of the original members of the band Linkin Park, which was called "zero" back then, and played regularly at the TKE house), and an assortment of athletes, skaters, punkers, surfers, motocross, snowboard, and party boys... At this point, there are many who are like this, and some who aren't - making a very strong mix...
There was another fraternity on campus that I considered and was my other final choice (which I won't name) who potrayed themselves to be "cool," and don't get me wrong, I have friends currently in that house... But when those friends invited me over for rush, I felt a negative vibe come out of them as a whole... I also felt that they were trying to hard to be cool - everything from clothing to hair, they tried TOO HARD, and it showed... A good word for this would be "posers"... A little too hung up about their image as cool...
I found in TKE a bunch of cool guys, that didn't have to try hard - who were already a bunch of REAL people, who REALLY KNEW how to have fun (we're known to be a little crazy), and really carried with them a loud, enthusiastic pride...
The difference between that "other fraternity" and TKE was that TKE had the TEKE SPIRIT - passionate, enthusiastic, PROUD, LOUD, even ROWDY SPRIT that was apparent from the moment you met them... They don't bow down to anyone, and everyone else in the greek system, even if they did talk behind their backs, ultimately respected them for their staunch uprightness...
On a deeper level, not only spirit, but brotherhood in spite of not always getting along... People bantering back and forth very often, but when it came down to it, they were there for each other...
We've had people bail each other out of overnight jail, beat the crap out of people that caused trouble with the gals and/or bros, and just countless other examples of brotherhood...
Basically, cool guys, with a rowdy never die spirit and understanding of brotherhood despite differences...
What's not to like about that mix?
Plus the fact that they are a strong chapter in the largest fraternity in the world...
Our list of prominent alumni are astounding... And most of whom were't just "paper" alums, but actually devoted time, energy, finance, and enthusiasm toward the bond... A great example of whom was our recently passed away frater, Ronald Wilson Reagan...