FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20^th—Fifteen Tau Kappa Epsilon fraters helped move woodchips and restore egret habitat at the Berkeley shoreline with the Aquatic Park EGRET organization. EGRET is the stewardship group for the tidal wetlands of Berkeley’s largest city park, according to egretpark.org. Volunteers with the organization help tend to the shoreline habitats, improving the quality of life for a multitude of migratory birds that reside near the coastline.

Under Mark Liolios’s leadership, the EGRET group has helped restore and maintain healthy habitats for herons, egrets, and other wildlife for more than one decade. TKE Nu first began volunteering with Mark in the fall semester of 2010, when the Rho Pledge Class’s Secretary, freshman Nik Crain, organized for his pledge class to volunteer at the aquatic park, a grassy area surrounding the lagoon off the Eastshore Freeway between Berkeley and Emeryville. The city park, full of bike paths and a disc-golf course, is a prime location to combine an enthusiasm for the outdoors with an opportunity to restore and protect Berkeley’s pristine natural features. “Volunteering at Aquatic Park EGRET has been an invaluable experience. Not only has it been educational by teaching us how to protect and preserve the natural habitat of migratory birds, but it has also allowed us to strengthen our appreciation for the local beauty of Berkeley and the surrounding Bay Area,” said frater Nik Crain at the event on Sunday.

This Sunday marks the second time that TKE Nu has served with this group and dedicated its time to preserve Berkeley’s coastline. TKE Nu would like to thank Mark Liolios for his hospitality and enthusiasm, and looks forward to continuing its involvement with Aquatic Park EGRET in the future.

For more information, please visit egretpark.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Berkeley TKE Chapter Holds Battle of the Bands Philanthropy for St. Jude’s

Berkeley, CA – November 6, 2010 – On Saturday night, Nu Chapter held a philanthropy event for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The Chapter’s signature event, Battle of the Bands, was a huge success, selling over 100 tickets.

Ross Meyer, the Chairman in charge of organizing the event, organized five bands to play that night, and sold beverages and food as well to further raise funds.

“All the bands were incredible putting on a show greater than I could have imagined,” Meyer said of the event. “Everyone had a great time.”

Nu Chapter has had this event ever Fall Semester, and through this and other philanthropical endeavors, the TKE brothers will continue supporting St. Jude’s Children Hospital.

“It’s a great cause and a great event, and I’m glad that I could have had a part in planning it,” Meyer also said.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Berkeley Chapter of TKE Hosts Thanksgiving Alumni Dinner

Berkeley, CA – November 21, 2010 – On Sunday the 21^st, Nu Chapter hosted a thanksgiving dinner to honor old and young alumni alike, while creating a great opportunity for active brothers in the house to meet the main supporters of their house.

Andy Henning, Histor of the Berkeley chapter, organized and arranged the event, inviting all Alumni and brothers to attend a feast that consisted of ham, turkey, stuffing, and all other centerpieces of thanksgiving dinner, all of which prepared by the house chef, Ray Robinson.

“Thanksgiving is the perfect time to honor our alumni because we can bring together the TKE Nu family past and present for one dinner,” Henning said of the dinner. Overall, 50 people attended, 30 of them active brothers in the house.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Nu Chapter Initiates 16 New Brothers Into Tau Kappa Epsilon

Berkeley, CA – November 19, 2010 – On Friday, the 19^th of November, Nu Chapter at UC Berkeley initiated 16 new brothers into its bond.

Rho class, which starts with Erik Johnson, #1131, and ends with Harry Gitelman, #1146, have endured a lot during their candidate program, but in the end, they are incredibly happy to have made it and become brothers in the house.

“I’m so happy for the Rho Class, and glad to finally be able to call Tau Kappa Epsilon my home and brotherhood,” says Candidate Class President Erik Johnson.

With these 16 newly initiated brothers the number of actives in the house is now around 75 brothers, the highest in recent history.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Nu Chapter Hosts Record Breaking Parent’s Dinner on Homecoming Weekend

Berkeley, CA – October 8, 2010 – On Homecoming weekend, the Brothers at Nu Chapter arranged and executed a parent’s dinner for over 20 families of the brothers and member candidates.

When the dinner was announced, over 90 people contacted Christian Handley, Public Relations Chairman, to RSVP for the dinner only a month away.

“I wasn’t expecting that many responses! Last semester we had forty people total, which was nowhere near the number of people in attendance this semester,” Handley said.

Ray Robinson, the house cook, prepared a full three course meal, including a salad, lasagna, and homemade pie. Meat and vegetarian options were offered to accomodate everyone.

After the main course was served, our Philanthropy Chair Alex Hebels gave a status update on the chapter, after which a young alumnus, Anthony Wright, presented awards the house had received earlier that evening. Also, as an after dinner entertainment, the candidates serenaded their parents and siblings with an a capella song that they had learned earlier in the semester, to great applause.

Handley hopes to keep Parent’s Dinner going every semester, becoming bigger and better every time.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Tau Kappa Epsilon Receives Fraternity of the Year Award from UC Berkeley

Berkeley, CA – October 12, 2010 – On Friday, October 8^th, multiple members of Nu Chapter attended the UC Berkeley Fraternity and Sorority Life Greek Awards event to recognize excellence amongst the Greek Community on campus. This was the 4^th annual event hosted by CalGreeks, Order of Omega, and Gamma Sigma Alpha, in association with the department of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

At the event, the Nu Chapter received two very prestigious awards. First, TKE was amongst three to receive the Chapter of Excellence award. However, it is the final award that was given that carried the most prestige: The Fraternity of the Year award.

Frater Alex Hebels, Philanthropy Chair at Nu Chapter, and Frater Curtis Hendrickson, the Pledge
Educator, were on hand to receive the award. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and it’s great to be recognized for our hard work,” Hendrickson said after the event. “There were so many eligible houses on campus, and I’m glad that we were even considered amongst them.”

Pictures from the event can be found at the following address: http://goo.gl/photos/Fn37

Frater Alex Hebels (left) and Curtis Hendrickson (right)

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Nu Chapter Raises Over $1800 for St. Jude’s through Letter Writing Event

Berkeley, CA – September 8, 2010 – On March 14^th, 2010, Nu Chapter held a letter writing event for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, sending out a total of 424 letters to friends and family members, asking them to donate some amount to the Hospital.

Recently, the Philanthropy Chairman at Nu Chapter, Alex Hebels, received an email from St. Jude’s with the total amount raised as a direct result of those letters: 1878 dollars total. This money will be used to fund the non-profit children’s hospital which accepts and treats children for free.

“It’s great to know that so many family members and other people we have contacted were so eager to send money to our main philanthropy organization,” said Alex Hebels.

St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital has been Nu Chapter’s designated philanthropy organization for the past year and a half. The chapter has also raised money through its Battle of the Bands event last year.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Nu Chapter Participates in Emergency Preparedness Drill

Berkeley, CA – June 17, 2010 – UC Berkeley’s annual emergency preparedness drill took place on the morning of Thursday, June 17th, with more than 700 people participating in activities both indoors and outdoors across the campus and in nearby areas.

Tau Kappa Epsilon was one of the campus affiliates that participated in the “Vigilance 2010″ drill, organized by the campus’s Office of Emergency Preparedness. The exercise was designed to ensure that the campus is ready to respond to a major emergency. This year’s scenario involves a magnitude 5.5 earthquake on the Hayward fault that leads to a hazardous material spill on campus.

This drill provided Tau Kappa Epsilon the perfect opportunity to test the new CalGreeks Emergency Plan, part of a wider CalGreeks preparedness imitative, pioneered and written by recently graduated Frater Anthony James Wright. The new plan goes into effect in August with the 2010-2011 school year.

Tau Kappa Epsilon would like to encourage all members of the UC Berkeley campus community to sign up for WarnMe and to view emergency preparedness tips.

For more information contact:

Anthony James Wright
Nu Chapter #1043
awright@tkenu.com
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Calling All Alumni! Nu Chapter to Host UC Santa Cruz Initiation

Berkeley, CA – May 27, 2010 – TKE is starting a new colony at the UC Santa Cruz Campus, and Nu Chapter will be hosting their first initiation this Saturday, May 29th at 2:30 PM. The initiation will be administered by a Nu Chapter Ritual Team and will be the first initiation for the colony.

We would like to invite any Alumnus in the area to be part of this occasion and to show the Santa Cruz Colony that TKE truly is a Fraternity for Life. Since, as a new colony, they have no active members, and most of Nu Chapter is away on summer break, it would be great if they could have a large number of Fraters to witness their first initiation and to set their colony in the right direction.

If you can make it please RSVP to Anthony Wright at awright@tkenu.com, or by phone at 510-397-9744.

For those of you who would like a ritual refresher, one will be held immediately before at 2 PM, so don’t let that detract from your participation!

Yours in the Bond,

Anthony James Wright
Nu Chapter #1043
awright@tkenu.com
510-397-9744

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TKENu.com Undergoes Major Redesign

Berkeley, CA – May 24, 2010 – This past weekend the Tau Kappa Epsilon Nu Chapter website went through a complete overhaul, resulting in a strikingly new homepage.

The newest changes to TKEnu.com, spearheaded by Christian Handley, the Public Relations chair at Nu Chapter, take full advantage of open web standards, removing the old Flash header from the previous version of the site.

“The website is now far friendlier to mobile devices which may not have Flash installed,” said Christian. “Also, the site looks much better in general, having installed WordPress as the main backbone of the site.”

With the latest design, news updates from Nu Chapter will be much more visible to the public. Also, the site will serve as an invaluable tool in recruitment, serving as a one stop destination for anyone interested in Nu Chapter or Tau Kappa Epsilon in general.

Contact:
Christian Handley
Chandley (at) TKENu (dot) com
TKE Nu Chapter
2725 Channing Way,
Berkeley, California 94704

###