79-07-A1
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T.K.E.[edit]
Transcript[edit]The largest Greek letter college fraternity in the U.S. is Tau Kappa Epsilon, known on the campuses as T.K.E. Its members are referred to as "Tekes". On March 31st in Boston, Massachusetts, six Tekes from five different colleges-- Missouri Valley College, University of Wisconsin, Newberry College of South Carolina, James Madison University of Virginia, Ashland College of Ohio and Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa--started rolling an empty beer keg. Their destination: Los Angeles, California, 3,300 miles away. Now if nostalgia grips you and you think it's a return of old-fashioned springtime jinks like panty raids or swallowing goldfish, hear me out. These young men and their fraternity brothers in more than 300 chapters are engaged in one of the largest public service projects ever undertaken by a fraternity. By the time they reach Los Angeles they will have gone through 16 states. Their arrival in Los Angeles is scheduled for June 12th. All across the country local college chapters are notified when the barrel rolling team is in their vicinity and various celebrations are held. What would make these young men set out on such a journey? Well, I said it was a public service project. They are crossing the country raising money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. They have the blessing of the Grand Council, the board of directors of TKE and the undying gratitude of one of their own fraternity brothers. St. Jude Hospital was founded in 1962 by a Teke named Danny Thomas. Yes, that is the Danny Thomas who has brought so much laughter to audiences in theatres, nightclubs. on TV and the screen. Through his efforts over the years, he has also helped bring life and health to uncounted thousands of children. St. Jude's Hospital has been Danny's cause, his hobby and his avocation. It's his way of saying thanks to the Lord for the blessings that he himself has known. St. Jude's Hospital is the only institution solely dedicated to conducting clinical research in the catastrophic diseases of children. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, one of its most frequent and welcome visitors is Danny Thomas. If the barrel rollers are on schedule they should be somewhere in New Mexico by now. Their goal is one million dollars. They should be in Arizona the last few days of May, cross into California at Earp on June 7th, and as I said, reach Los Angeles June 12th -- 3,324 miles from Boston. The other night I saw a TV movie about fraternity life. It was the old stereotype film about snobbish young men and women living selfish lives, looking down on non-members and being pretty useless and obnoxious in general. Maybe that was true in a long dead past. but not anymore. Today, they're too busy doing other things--like helping children, Would you forgive me if I told you I'm a Teke? This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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