Delta-Epsilon Chapter of TKE is Going Strong While CSU Works to Lift Fraternities

[The1calledTKE]

The brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon are on top of their game, outlasting competing Greek organizations by holding their six-man pyramid for one hour and 12 minutes and shattering the old record.



So what if Jason Hanna, the fraternity's vice president and part of the pyramid's base, still has a tingling in his arm days later? He's happy to weather a little discomfort for TKE honor.

The fraternity, celebrating its 50th year at Cleveland State University, is a stubborn survivor of the days when Greek life flourished at the school, and it is a key part of CSU's efforts to revive that interest.

The TKE house, near East 30th Street and Prospect Avenue, used to have company. One fraternity was across the street, another just a couple of blocks away.

Today, TKE's sprawling house - built in the late 1800s - is the only one left. CSU's Sigma Tau Gamma has a smaller house elsewhere, and a third fraternity is expected to establish a house fairly soon.

But in the 1960s, fraternities and sororities were thriving, remembers CSU alumnus Bill Russell, now the university's Greek coordinator in the Department of Student Life. He recalls floats built for parades down Euclid Avenue, hotly contested intramural sports and "just a great time in general. You really create lasting bonds."

"Somehow or other, over the years, things faded," Russell said, estimating that 150 students are part of Greek organizations at CSU. "We're trying to re-establish the traditions."

This spring's Greek Fest, at which the TKE pyramid prevailed, was part of CSU's attempt to rekindle interest in fraternities and sororities. That goal dovetails with the university's aspirations to mold a more residential campus.

David Holmes, a freshman from Cleveland Heights, is one of about 20 brothers who live among the warren of rooms in the main TKE house and in a nearby coach house. Fresh from four years in the Marine Corps, Holmes said he was drawn by the brotherhood that the fraternity offers.

"It helps you to be the best you can be," he said, enduring the good-natured taunts of fraternity brothers who observe that he's still got a lot of Marine in him.

Holmes is one of a handful of brothers who live in the coach house behind the main house. Below their rooms is a big room used for high-volume socializing and adorned with years of pledge-class paddles on the walls.

Cleveland sophomore Justin Crusan, another coach house resident, got hooked on TKE after his older brother pledged.

"I had seen the changes it made in the kind of person he became," said Crusan, the new chapter president. "I knew I wanted the same experience."

That experience begins downstairs, where TKE trophies and other hardware won over the years are showcased, sharing wall space with the fraternity's framed charter, "Top TKE" plaques and pictures of famous TKEs such as Ronald Reagan. The mismatched furniture is mostly donated.

Some collections of alumni pictures arrayed in frames feature the furry faces of fraternity mascots. This year's was a ferret named Dog.

A broad staircase leads from the main entrance to the upper floors, where the individual rooms are concentrated and where "Graffiti Hall" bears witness to TKE wit and wisdom.

In the basement is the pool table, Foosball game, weight room and kitchen that Hanna acknowledges doesn't get much of a workout from the brothers. With no staff, it's up to the TKEs to cook (or, as most do, eat elsewhere), clean and maintain the aged mansion.

This summer, the brothers living in the house plan to spruce up the courtyard between the main building and the coach house.

While Sunday night chapter meetings are considered mandatory, it's not easy to corral the brothers with their varied schedules. Many work while going to school, and some are members of university athletic teams. Five brothers served in the military, and next year five TKEs will be part of student government at CSU.

Hanna, of Spencer, sees the fraternity as a way to develop good leadership skills, and he insists that the popular image of nonstop partying is not a true picture of fraternity life.

"That's not a stereotype we want to encourage," he said firmly, shifting the conversation to TKE involvement in blood drives, fund-raising for Alzheimer's research in honor of Reagan, an adopt-a highway program and work with elementary school students. "That's really what we're about."