We, the members of Tau Kappa Epsilon
Fraternity, hereby declaring our strict adherence and unswerving fidelity to what we
believe to be the basic principles of true friendship, do ordain and adopt this our
Declaration of Principles.
The object of this
Declaration is to codify the settled convictions of this fraternity into abiding form to
guide fraternal action and conduct for all time to come. And to the principles
hereinafter enunciated, we individually and collectively pledge our unreserved allegiance.
Man is a social being.
Our whole structure evidences the absolute interdependence of man. Reclusiveness is
dwarfing to a man's best qualities. Intimate and frequent contact with our fellows is
necessary to symmetrical development. As a consequence, organizations whose purpose
is to promote these ends are to be fostered and encouraged.
We believe that at no
other period in the life of a man is the time more opportune for the fostering of such
qualities than during the years of his college career. Then mind and heart are in
their most receptive condition, for it is the formative period of life.
We regard mental
development as of vital importance, but of equal consequence is the acquisition of
knowledge of men and proper conception of their relation to one another. This is not
obtained from texts and lectures, but from actual and intimate intercourse with men.
To promote these ends is the avowed and earnest purpose of this fraternity.
Fully realizing the burdens of this duty, we enter upon its performance with the
conscientious purpose of adequately meeting its demands.
We maintain that
exclusiveness is the direct antithesis of true fraternity. We condemn the
un-American policies of some of the leading college fraternities of the country in their
attitude of contempt to all who are without the bonds of fraternities, regardless of
character, ability or personal merits. Such policies we seek to avoid, as they are
destructive of the very ends of true fraternity.
We
believe that a
fraternity should be a brotherhood in conduct as well as in name. "Faith
without works is dead." Pledges of brotherhood not succeeded by observance in
conduct are as "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal." By the tenor of our
daily action we should evidence our devotion to the principles we have solemnly obligated
ourselves to observe. The duties and obligations that subsist between the sons of
the same mother should subsist between brothers in the sacred bond of this fraternity.
The instinct to the observance of mutual duties that common blood supplies, must be
furnished by the pledges of our ritual.
We believe that the
essential elements of true brotherhood are love, charity, and esteem; love, that binds our
hearts with the sturdy chords of fraternal affection; charity, that is impulsive to see
virtues in a brother and slow to reprove his faults; esteem, that is respectful to the
honest convictions of others and that refrains from treading upon that which is sacred to
spirit and conscience; these are the triple obligations of every brother in the bond.
We believe in secretism
in so far as it enables a fraternity to protect the confidence of the brotherhood.
Secrecy that is promoted for selfish purposes or utilized to cloak fraternal wrong-doings
we unsparingly condemn. We uphold this policy in so far as it is necessary to insure
the dignity of our ritualism and the privacy of our internal affairs. As secrecy is
employed to protect and perpetuate the sanctity of the family relation, so we enlist the
advantage of secrecy to preserve inviolate the confidences and sanctities of the
brotherhood.
Toward
other fraternities
we believe we should maintain an attitude of dignity and respect, recognizing their merit
and studiously avoiding their evils. We believe our relation to them is, in a
measure, competitive, and that we should endeavor to excel them in the fields of college
activity.
We maintain that a
competition may become detrimental to any school. When healthy rivalry is followed
by competition in which honorable methods are employed, it is a boon to the fraternity,
and a benefit to the school, but when groveling and unprincipled means are employed, when
school spirit and interest are subordinated to fraternal prejudice and selfishness, it
becomes "a snare to the feet," and a detriment to the fraternity and to the
school. Competition in such form we condemn, and pledge every effort to avoid.
Finally,
above all else, this fraternity stands for Men. We believe in their equality in
those things which the Creator has decreed they should equally enjoy. We consider no
man from the standpoint of those qualities and advantages he has not attained by personal
effort. We stand for men whose manhood has withstood the test of trying conditions.
We deem sterling character and staunch uprightness to be necessary qualifications
to membership in this fraternity. All else, though desirable, is secondary to these.
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