Dear Fraters,

As we celebrate the 115th Birthday of Tau Kappa Epsilon, I am reminded of the words once spoken to the world by one of our Fraternity's most beloved Brothers. In his 2nd Inaugural Address in 1985, President Ronald Reagan spoke of what he called the American Sound. To Frater Reagan, The American Sound is strong, compassionate, big-hearted and fair; and it echoes not only around the globe and across cultures, but throughout the ages. It defines not only America but TKE.

Just as Frater Reagan told us that the American Sound echoes still; so does the Teke Sound echo still. The Teke Sound, too, is big-hearted, compassionate, bold and strong. It remains as relevant to a young man entering college in 2014 as it did when this Fraternity first began to build Better Men for a Better World in 1899.

Have we done so? Has TKE built better men for a better world? You bet. From Ronald Reagan, to Steve Forbes (our 250,000th Frater), to the men who serve the Grand Chapter through their service on the Grand Council, Teke men constantly are building better men and a better world. Consider your headquarters staff, your alumni advisors, the Frater next to you…and you know immediately and definitely that YES, TKE continues to build Better Men for a Better World. And we do it every day.

Frater Shaun Taylor, our Fraternity's Collegiate Advisory Committee Representative on the Grand Council, is a typical Teke -- energetic, smart, hard-working, and honest. Any member of any active chapter, and any alumnus of any alumni chapter is, in their heart, a better man for having been initiated into Tau Kappa Epsilon. And our world -- just as the world before us that faced our Founders, and as the Brave New Worlds that will follow us --- will be better because we as Fraters in the Bond have joined and served Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Fraters, as we celebrate our beloved Fraternity's 115th Birthday, we have much of which to be proud. But we also know that our task to build Better Men for a Better World is never-ending. We must re-dedicate ourselves to fulfilling that goal every day; every birthday of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Fraters, I love the Fraternity.

Yours in the Bond,

Bob Barr
Grand Prytanis
Beta-Sigma Chapter, University of Southern California
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