“It is a great honor to share with you our next step in helping to achieve Frater Danny Thomas’s dream that ‘no child should die in the dawn of life.’ Today, we make history. Today, we dedicate ourselves to building a better world by making the largest commitment by any men’s fraternity to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Today, we officially begin our campaign to raise $10 million over the next ten years for the children of St. Jude,” stated Hanson.

On April 9, 2019, Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® announced the achievement of a $2.6 million fundraising commitment to support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children.®

In February 2016, Tau Kappa Epsilon announced a second commitment to raise $2.6 million in six years to fund the Proton Therapy Synchrotron/Particle Accelerator.

Proton therapy allows doctors to precisely target tumors with high doses of radiation while sparing nearby healthy tissue and organs. This new therapy offers a huge benefit for children with brain tumors and other cancers in sensitive areas like the eye, because it reduces harm to the developing body and lessens the risk of secondary tumors later in life. St. Jude estimates that within five years 80 percent of the pediatric patients needing radiation will receive proton therapy.

The proton therapy center is the first in the nation dedicated solely to children and designed specifically to meet the needs of young patients. The center includes three treatment rooms, treatment preparation and recovery rooms for patients, plus a musical staircase that leads to a rain forest-inspired waiting room. The multidisciplinary staff comprises specialists from oncology, radiation therapy, diagnostic imaging, nursing, child life and others.

The powerhouse of proton therapy is the synchrotron, a massive particle acceleration system that generates the proton beam. Highly-skilled technicians program the synchrotron to deliver a beam at the exact energy levels needed for each specific patient. The proton beam then travels through the vacuum of the synchrotron at seven-tenths the speed of light, directly to the treatment room where it will be administered with exactitude to the patient, via a nozzle.

The depth and intensity of the proton beam is guided by advanced control systems to conform to the shape of the tumor. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the features unique to the St. Jude proton therapy system in November 2015 and the center began seeing its first patients in December.

In 2011, TKE committed to raising $1 million in five years. At Conclave 2015 in New Orleans, Chief Executive Officer Donald E. Aldrich and Past Grand Prytanis Bob Barr announced that Tau Kappa Epsilon fulfilled its 5-year, $1 million pledge to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital--a year early, nonetheless. Fraters across TKE Nation continue to support the children of St. Jude, but we still have work to do. Now is the time to make your work count! 

Pictured Above: Frater's Aldrich and Barr with representatives from St. Jude commemorating the accomplishment of TKE's $1 million pledge at Conclave 2015.

At Conclave 2011 in San Antonio, TKE Chief Executive Officer, Steven A. Ramos (Zeta-Theta, Western Illinois) announced at the Grand Inaugural Tau Kappa Epsilon's commitment to raise $1 million to name an MRI Suite at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Tekes began a Keg Roll for St. Jude that same year, and chapters from across the country participated. One of the first chapters that participated was the Theta-Mu chapter at the University of New Orleans where their event was a marathon distance (26.2 miles). Many other chapters followed suit and these fundraisers continued until the early 1990s. The negative connotation the keg brought to the fraternal world ended the TKE Keg Roll, but its philanthropic impact on St. Jude is still being felt.

Danny Thomas formed ALSAC to raise funds solely for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And while the hospital struggled to sustain growth during the early years, support from individuals and organizations like TKE helped keep it afloat. Danny noted in the Fall '78 edition of THE TEKE, "Every time we'd think we had enough for next year, the researchers would come up with a bigger need. Fortunately, with people like my Fraters in TKE, we have been able to accomplish what we initially thought was a hopeless task."

Though this was the era when fraternities were viewed as wild and reckless, Danny noted how Tau Kappa Epsilon seemed to be driven by a different beat - one of goodwill.

"There's a unifying bond that grows from young men working together for community service to others that will keep them together for the rest of their lives," Danny noted during a 1978 interview for THE TEKE. "And when they work for something as important as saving the lives of children, that experience can't be equaled."

Danny further stated in THE TEKE:

"I am proud to be a Teke, and I know St. Jude is going to approve of this marriage between the greatest Fraternity in the world and the greatest hospital with the most miraculous research center."

In a letter written on January 15, 1972 to Grand Hegemon Wes Pierce, Danny Thomas wrote, in part,

"It is with exceptional pride that I am able to point to these great youngsters and to the thousands of college students who do so much good, and yet never get credit for their accomplishments. It would be a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to point especially to the 300 chapters of TKE should they adopt St. Jude as their national project, showing the entire nation of the desire and awareness of TKE members toward unfortunate children afflicted with catastrophic disease.

Our tenth year anniversary in February, 1972, could become a glorious occasion should TKE determine to adopt our project. I hope and pray you will."

In a letter written after the Grand Council meeting on February 5th in Newark, NJ, Grand Prytanis Lenwood Cochran wrote, in part,

"The Grand Council has endorsed this charitable organization and encourages TKE chapters to participate and support St. Jude. We enlist fraters to carry on the work started by Danny Thomas--the efforts maintained by the young people in this country--the efforts by St. Jude physicians, researchers, and administrators who have accomplished so much for kids who previously had very little hope for survival or the opportunities you've already enjoyed."

In the January 1963 issue of THE TEKE, Frater Timothy Mattimoe (Gamma-Nu, Toledo) tells the story of Danny Thomas' attendance at the chapter's fundraiser that began with his initiation. In a separate letter from Ken Shawn (Gamma-Nu, Toledo), Frater Shaw shared,

"Shortly after the carnival, it was decide that Gamma-Nu chapter wished to initiate Danny Thomas into Tau Kappa Epsilon. Mr. Thomas said he would be honored to be a Teke and preparations were made. A presentation banquet was scheduled for Wednesday, October 24... The initiation was held immediately before the banquet. Present for the initiation were Past Grand Prytanis Harold 'Tex' Flint, Grand Crysophylos Bill Quallich, Province Supervisor Chuck Evans, and Director of Student Activities T.U., Paul J Hannah (Gamma, Illinois).