Alumni in Action: Chi Sigma Rho/Tau Kappa Epsilon

In the fall of 1957 a group of 16 men were meeting regularly at the on-campus snack-bar. They were either friends from high school or played sports together. After 8 weeks they voted to become a club and to apply for recognition as a campus fraternity.

They held a meeting, wrote a constitution and by-laws, kept minutes and finally, in the Fall of 1957, sent a formal application to the IFC (Inter-Fraternity Council) and Sacramento State’s Dean of Students, Donald Bailey. The dean agreed to a two-year trial to prove “your worth to yourselves, the college and your fellow students.” The students decided to call their new organization Chi Sigma Rho.

The Chi Sigs go Active
Chi Sigma Rho was granted a charter January, 1958, and the first pledge class convened that spring. The brothers became very active and were involved in practically everything: homecoming chairs, rally committees, student body presidents, intramural sports (winning every trophy), and were renowned for their fabulous, winning float designs in the Homecoming Parade. (The designer, Neal Perry, ’64, had one ambition: to be a float designer for the Rose Bowl Parade.) Their work attracted the attention of several national fraternities. When Tau Kappa Epsilon invited them to join in 1961, Chi Sigs agreed and was chartered as Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) that December.

…and Stay Active
Today the CSR/TKE fraternity continues their spirited leadership on campus and in the community. They participate in the Christmas challenge to benefit needy families with other campus Greek organizations. TKE members collect Christmas trees, and the sororities decorate them and make gingerbread houses. Presents and food are gathered and a complete Christmas package is delivered to eight families selected from the local Volunteers of America list and Christmas literally arrives on their doorsteps. TKE members serve as mentors and tutors to underprivileged kids in Sacramento’s “No Youth Left Behind” project working at two sites, one in West Sacramento the other on Stockton Blvd. In the spring they lead the “Rent a Greek” fundraiser in which fraternity brothers are auctioned to sorority sisters to cook, clean, run errands, wash clothes, wash cars and mow lawns. The proceeds go to the TKE’s national charity project, the Alzheimer’s Association.

President Reagan: Brothers in the Bond
The TKE fraternal acknowledgement is that they are brothers “in the bond.” In correspondence with one another TKE’s must sign off with “Yours in the bond.” When Ronald Reagan was Governor, TKE member Larry Augusta ’62 worked in the office of Senator Don Grunsky, the Senate Republican Leader. Larry asked the senator if he would get an autographed photo from Reagan, who was a TKE, to hang in the fraternity house. Senator Grunsky got the photo, but when he handed it to Augusta he said the governor had made an odd mistake. The governor had signed it, “Yours in the Bond.”

During Homecoming 2008, the Chi Sigs celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party at the Dante Club. Another reunion is planned for Homecoming, Oct. 9-10, 2009.

For more information visit www.SacStateAlumni.com or contact Chris Chatto, President of campus TKE at cchatto12@sbcglobal.net ; Chi Sigma Rho inquiries: Art Jensen (’69, MS ’70, PhD ’80) at a.jensen@comcast.net or (916) 273-8252; for general information Linda Scott, Alumni Relations, at scottl@csus.edu or (916) 278-6295.