What Does Headquarters Actually Do - Revitalization

The men of Tau-Alpha chapter at New York University during their revitalization visit

In the first of our series of articles on "What Does Headquarters Actually Do?", we sat down with Cory Martin and Gabe Espinosa who are two of nine members of the TKE Professional Staff who recently completed an in-depth revitalization effort for smaller chapters.

During this revitalization campaign during April and early May, Fraters took TKE Nation by storm and spent on average 3 days with each of the 30 groups who were hand selected.

"My first night with the group was really just to get to know them and get accustomed to what life is like on their campus. We weren't there for a quick check-in visit – we were there to really help the group blossom," said Frater Cory Martin. "After setting the tone for the visit, I made sure that they were my only focus. We worked non-traditional work hours that worked around their class schedule to make sure all that could be in attendance were there."

On the second and third days, the Professional Staff then worked on going back to the basics based on unique needs of the group. Everything from the Key Result Areas scorecard, developing a chapter budget, creating alumni newsletters, and implementing tangible action items for the remainder of the year. In some cases, we helped the group with recruitment and new member education.

The Tau-Alpha chapter at New York University was one group who this revitalization effort helped significantly. Frater Gabe Espinosa explained, "It was a grass roots effort at NYU. We helped them establish a group of brand new members through campus-based organizations. The chapter was able to compete in Greek Week and were inspired by what they could make their TKE experience. We even were able to meet with campus officials and share the values and ideals of Tau Kappa Epsilon. The chapter and I connected with one individual who has now become an honorary member of TKE and serves as their chapter advisor."

Frater Espinosa continued, "The groups we selected haven't received the attention that they need in the past. This campaign allowed us to spend quality time with them. Many of these groups don't know all of the benefits that Tau Kappa Epsilon offers them, but my visit helped them. We, at the Offices of the Grand Chapter, have many resources that members don't know about."

Here are just a few resources to be aware of:

• Chapter Operations
• Budgeting FAQs
• Academics
• Risk Management
• The Blueprint

Check out TKE.org next Wednesday for our next article on "What Does Headquarters Actually Do?"