TKE Members and Parents:

We are continuing to develop and enhance our Covid19 Plan for TKE operations this Fall semester. We want to to thank all of you who have provided feedback and ideas. Here are the highlights of the updates:

1. We experienced our first case of a member infection. The member is fine and experienced almost no symptoms. After diagnosis he was admitted into the USC Hotel for a period of isolation under USC Health Center direction. His room was cleaned and disinfected after a 72 hour vacant period and he has since moved back into his room. All-in-all both the USC and TKE Covid protocols worked well.

2. We have now purchased and received our entire stockpile of supplies. They are secured in board storage.

3. We are exploring expanding our cleaning service from 5 days a week to 7 days a week.

4. The chapter will be appointing Covid Risk Managers who will oversee many aspects of our Covd19 Policy, including being responsible for daily wellness checks of members through either the Trojan Check app or a temperature reading.

5. We have clarified that a Meeting or Gathering is a member only event related to fraternity operations or brotherhood. It is not a social event.

6. We have started developing a Guest Policy and a Social Gathering Policy, although these policies are pending, subject to change and not yet approved. We will most likely wait until move-in day before finalizing these policies.

7. We have enhanced our resident infection plan based on our recent experience. This includes designating one Unit in TKE East (with a connected private bathroom as our quarantine room for the entire Fall semester.

8. We have added guidance as to how members should sleep in their rooms to ensure maximum distance from one another. There are no rooms with more than three members this Fall semester and all loft bed configurations allow for at least six feet of distance.

9. We had a surprise visit from the LA County Health Department. During the visit they met with our House Director and were impressed with our preparation, policies, and the condition of the properties.

We will continue to update everyone as things develop.  Read the entire updated plan here.

Undergraduate Executive Board and the Alumni Board of Advisors
Beta-Sigma Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California

Chapter Leadership, the Alumni Advisory Board, and the House Director have been working together to develop our Covid19 Plan for TKE Operations this Fall Semester 2020.  This plan was developed based on guidance provided by the California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles Department of Health and University of Southern
California. These policies will likely evolve as guidance is revised.

Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California

Important Info About Moving Your Personal Stuff Out of TKE

If you are out of state or the country and/or will be unable to personally move your stuff out of the TKE houses you need to hire a company to do this as soon as possible.  USC has recommended Blue Chip Moving.  This company will identify and pack your items over video chat.  Contact Kyle at Kyle@bluechipmoving.com or call him at 909-838-7632.

House Director Lee Snider will coordinate allowing movers onto the property and into your rooms.  Here is the process for requesting that Lee coordinate your movers:

1. Email Lee at tkeuscdirector@gmail.com to schedule an appointment. All appointments must be between 9AM and 3PM Monday through Friday.
2. You must give Lee two days advance notice of your requested moving appointment.
3. Due to Covid19 concerns, Lee will schedule no more than two moving appointments at any given time.

Lee is not responsible for supervising the moving process.  You are solely responsible for any lost or damaged personal items.

On August 9^th all personal stuff left in rooms or common areas will be thrown away (except the TKE East garage).   There will be no second chance area. 

Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California

June 4, 2020

Dear TKE Members and Parents,

USC has announced that the fall semester will begin on August 17, 2020.  This is one week earlier than originally scheduled.  To accommodate our members and ensure the best live-in experience, the move-in date for all rooms in TKE will be changed to Friday, August 14, 2020 at 10AM.  This is five days earlier than the original scheduled move-in date. There will be no additional lease costs to our members for this early opening.  Here is a summary schedule:

Parking Lease End Date:                                   8/5/20 at 6PM
Move-Out Date (End of Room Leases):            8/8/20
Move-In Date:                                                    8/14/20 at 10AM
Classes Begin:                                                  8/17/20

We are shortening our move-out to move-in period, the time when we clean and sanitize the property, from 10 days to 5 days.  To successfully execute this process we need our members to cooperate and understand the following:

1. Move all of your stuff out of your rooms as early as possible. If you are not going to live in TKE next year please start removing your stuff now.  On August 9^th all personal stuff left in rooms or common areas will be thrown away.  There will be no second chance area.  The only exception is the TKE East garage where members may store stuff.
2. If you are out of state or the country and/or will be unable to personally move your stuff, you need to hire a company to do this as soon possible. USC has recommended Blue Chip Moving.  This company will identify and pack your items over video chat.  Contact Kyle at Kyle@bluechipmoving.com or call him at 909-838-7632.  House Director Lee Snider will coordinate allowing movers onto the property and into your rooms.  We are working on the details of how you may schedule a mover visit.
3. Be prepared to move into TKE on August 14, 2020 and make sure that all your personal items are in your room by August 18, 2020. That is five days to completely move into your rooms.  Any personal items left in the garage or common areas will be thrown away on August 19, 2020.

We must clean and sanitize the rooms and houses in just half the time we usually take in order to have TKE available for move-in before the new start of school.  Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.  We will continue to develop our plans and share them as they progress.

YITB and Fight On!

Undergraduate Executive Board and the Alumni Board of Advisors
Beta-Sigma Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California

Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California

May 19, 2020

Dear TKE Members and Parents,

TKE Fraternity at USC will be open and operational for the 2020-2021 academic school year regardless of how USC conducts classes and learning.  If USC decides not to open the campus and holds all classes online, TKE will still offer housing, food service, cleaning service, live-in management and most importantly a place where college aged men can be together, in person, sharing life and having fun as brothers in a fraternal bond.

Our Chapter Leadership and Alumni Board of Advisors are planning on how TKE will stay open safely.  Our plan includes the following:

1. Oversight of all operations and protocols by our live-in House Director. Lee Snider is the only fraternity House Director at USC and has been instrumental in establishing and refining our cleaning and safety procedures for eight years.
2. A deep cleaning and sanitization of all rooms, kitchen and common areas during our 14 day shutdown period between summer move out on August 5, 2020 and the Fall move-in date of August 19, 2020. During this period all members and personal items are removed from the houses.
3. Continuation of our five day a week cleaning and sanitization service for the entire 2020-2021 school year. We are the only fraternity that uses professional cleaning services every day and have already developed detailed protocols for sanitizing door handles, bathrooms and other highly trafficked areas.
4. Working closely with our catering company to develop a detailed food service safety plan.
5. Providing important supplies such as soap, hand-sanitizer, paper towels, and toilet paper to our members in common areas.
6. Working closely with USC to understand and identify important services available to our members. USC will continue student health care services and provide isolated housing for students that might be infected this next school year.  That means that if one of our members does get infected, they will be removed from the property and moved into USC isolated housing which as of today is the USC Hotel.

TKE believes that we are uniquely positioned to operate safely during this period due to our policies, procedures, systems and support that we have developed over the last decade.  We also believe that fraternity is an equally important and equally valuable part of the college experience for our members.  And our decision to remain open is substantially based on our desire to not deprive our members of this once in a lifetime experience that has a profound effect on the rest of their lives.

We will continue to develop our plans and share them as they progress.

YITB and Fight On!

Undergraduate Executive Board and the Alumni Board of Advisors
Beta-Sigma Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
University of Southern California