Better men, chartered on the shore of Lake Superior.
Since 2001, TKE Duluth has built brothers on scholarship, leadership, and service — and for nine straight years, raised money that keeps St. Jude families from ever seeing a bill.
About Tau Kappa Epsilon, Upsilon-Gamma Chapter
The Upsilon-Gamma Chapter.
Tau Kappa Epsilon was founded January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University, on the belief that fraternity could build better men for life, not just for four years on campus. Today TKE is one of the largest men's fraternities in North America, with more than 250 active chapters and colonies across the U.S. and Canada.
The Upsilon-Gamma Chapter was chartered at the University of Minnesota Duluth on March 24, 2001. Since then, we've grown into one of TKE's most decorated chapters nationally — a five-time consecutive Top TKE Chapter, and UMD's 2023 Fraternity of the Year.
We're a brotherhood of 43 active members and 429 lifetime initiates, built around the same standard: show up for your grades, show up for your community, and show up for each other, through winters that mean business on Lake Superior.
“Better Men for a Better World.”— Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity, est. 1899
Every chapter, including ours, stands on three founding principles: Love, Charity, and Esteem. TKE has never had an exclusionary clause for membership — men are judged on personal worth and character, not wealth or rank.
Chapter history, 2001 to today
Two decades on the Point.
From chartering to record-breaking philanthropy — the milestones that built this chapter.
Chapter chartered
The Upsilon-Gamma Chapter is installed at the University of Minnesota Duluth on March 24, 2001.
TKE adopts St. Jude nationally
TKE International joined the fight against childhood cancer when Frater Danny Thomas (Gamma-Nu, Toledo) — St. Jude's founder — asked his fraternity to adopt the hospital as its national philanthropy. By 1978, Thomas was personally praising TKE's fundraising in THE TEKE magazine.
First St. Jude Dinner
Upsilon-Gamma hosts its first annual St. Jude Fundraising Dinner, raising $4,500 — the start of a nine-year streak.
TKE's $10M commitment
TKE International commits to raising $10 million over 10 years to name the Bone Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Research Floor at St. Jude.
Five-year Top TKE Chapter streak
Upsilon-Gamma is named a Top TKE Chapter nationally for five consecutive years — and UMD's Fraternity of the Year in 2023.
Highest total ever by a Division II school
The 8th Annual St. Jude Dinner raises $226,000, the largest amount ever raised for St. Jude by a Division II school, hosting 300+ guests.
9th Annual St. Jude Gala
Held November 14, 2026 at Clyde Iron Works, Duluth — and the chapter's second national St. Jude Excellence in Achievement Award.
Awards and recognition
Award-winning, nationally and on campus.
Confirmed by Tau Kappa Epsilon International's own Chapter Excellence Award archive — more than 60 national awards, including Top TKE Chapter five years in a row.
| Year | National TKE Awards |
|---|---|
| 2025–26 |
|
| 2024–25 |
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| 2023–24 |
|
| 2022–23 |
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| 2021–22 |
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| 2020–21 |
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| 2019–20 |
|
| 2018–19 |
|
| 2017–18 |
|
| 2013 |
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| 2010–11 |
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| 2000–01 |
|
| Year | St. Jude & Individual Awards |
|---|---|
| 2023–24 | Individual Member Top TEKE Award |
| 2024–25 | St. Jude Next Gen 50K Club Award |
| 2024–25 | “Be Like Danny” St. Jude Next Gen Award |
| 2025–26 | St. Jude Next Gen 50K Club Award |
| 2025–26 | TKE St. Jude Next Gen National Member Award – Outstanding Member of the Year for TKE nationally |
St. Jude NextGen Experience honors · drag to spin
Top TKE Chapter national plaques · 2013 & 2021–2026 · drag to spin
St. Jude philanthropy
Nine years, $713,500, and counting.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was founded by TKE Frater Danny Thomas — TKE has stood beside it ever since, so families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food.
Every November, Upsilon-Gamma hosts the St. Jude Fundraising Dinner — now the 9th Annual St. Jude Gala, November 14, 2026 at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth. What started as a $4,500 dinner in 2017 has grown every single year since, including 2025's $226,000 night — the highest total ever raised for St. Jude by a Division II school.
All proceeds go directly to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Checks are written payable to St. Jude, never to the chapter, and forwarded straight through.
- 2017 · 1st Dinner$4,500
- 2018 · 2nd$10,000
- 2019 · 3rd$25,000
- 2021 · 4th$42,000
- 2022 · 5th$68,000
- 2023 · 6th$113,000
- 2024 · 7th$225,000
- 2025 · 8th$226,000
- 2026 · 9th (upcoming)Nov 14
What St. Jude does for children
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital treats children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases — and no family ever receives a bill for treatment, travel, lodging, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live instead of how to pay for it. St. Jude also freely shares the research and treatment protocols it develops with doctors and hospitals worldwide, so a breakthrough made in Memphis can save a child's life anywhere.
Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, stjude.org
St. Jude awards & recognition
Honors earned by our chapter and its members through the TKE–St. Jude Next Gen program and national TKE.
Events
Two nights a year, all in.
These are our chapter's two signature annual events — open to the UMD and Duluth community.
9th Annual St. Jude Gala
Our chapter's signature night — a formal dinner and program at Clyde Iron Works benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, growing every year since 2017.
Duluth Polar Plunge
Every February, TKE Duluth brothers take the plunge into Lake Superior for Special Olympics Minnesota — one of the region's largest Polar Plunge turnouts, raising six figures region-wide each year.
Partner with us: sponsorship levels
Duluth businesses make this night possible.
Every year, Upsilon-Gamma reaches out to more than 300 businesses across the Duluth–Superior area to help make the St. Jude Gala a success. Here's how your business can be part of it.
Become a Gala Sponsor
Sponsor the 9th Annual St. Jude Gala and get your business in front of hundreds of UMD students, alumni, families, and community members.
- Website recognition — your business listed on our sponsors page at tkeduluth.com, seen by our community year-round
- Gala recognition — sponsors giving $1,000 and up may provide logo signage, and sponsors giving $2,500 and up are also thanked in front of hundreds of guests the night of the event
- Brochure placement — your business featured in our printed gala programs and brochures
It's a win for everyone involved: your business gets visibility and goodwill in the Duluth community, our chapter gets a partner that helps us raise more, and St. Jude gets the resources to treat more kids without ever sending a family a bill.
Donate a Basket or Gift
Every fall, our brothers go door to door to over 300 local businesses asking for a gift, gift card, or basket item to include in our gala raffle and silent auction — a huge part of what we raise for St. Jude each year. If you'd like to donate an item, we'd love to hear from you — every business that donates is named on our website and in the gala brochure, and each basket displays the donor’s name on its basket name card.
Choose how you'd like to shine.
Every level appears in our printed gala brochure and on this website. Each tier includes everything in the tiers below it.
- Placed in our Top Donor List
- Logo signage at the gala and on tkeduluth.com
- Printed thank-you plaque — Ultimate only
- Thanked at the gala
- Placed in our Top Donor List
- Logo signage at the gala and on tkeduluth.com
- Name in the gala brochure
- Thanked at the gala
- Placed in our Top Donor List, above Silver
- Logo signage at the gala and on tkeduluth.com
- Name in the gala brochure
- Placed in our Top Donor List
- Name on tkeduluth.com
- Name in the gala brochure
- Name on tkeduluth.com's sponsors list
- Name in the gala brochure
Gifts of $1,000 or more may provide their logo for signage at the gala and on our website, and gifts of $2,500 or more are also thanked at the gala. Donating a gift, gift card, or basket? Every business that donates an item is named on tkeduluth.com and in the gala brochure, and baskets display the donor’s name on the basket name card — no minimum, and every gift helps.
Our donors and sponsors
Our Donors & Sponsors.
Every business and family honored here helps St. Jude families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food. Thank you — on behalf of the children of St. Jude and every brother of Upsilon-Gamma.
Ultimate
$5,000+Our highest honor, for gifts of $5,000 or more in cash or in kind — Top Donor List, logo signage at the gala and on this website, thanked at the gala, and a printed plaque.
Signed jerseys & ballsPlatinum
$2,500+Top Donor List and logo signage at the gala and on this website.
Gold
$1,000+Placed in our Top Donor List above Silver, with logo signage at the gala and on this website, and their name in the gala brochure.
Visit website ↗Gold SponsorVisit website ↗Gold SponsorVisit website ↗Visit website ↗Gold SponsorVisit website ↗Silver
$500+Placed in our Top Donor List, with their name on this website and in the gala brochure.
Visit website ↗Silver SponsorVisit website ↗Silver SponsorVisit website ↗Bronze
$250+Named on this website and in the gala brochure.
Visit website ↗Gift & Basket Donors
Every gift countsEvery business that donates a gift, gift card, or basket to our gala raffle and silent auction. Baskets display the donor’s name on the basket name card.
Ridgeview Country Club
Enger Park Golf Course
Glensheen Mansion
Want to see your name here?
Join our donors and sponsors for the 9th Annual St. Jude Gala — November 14, 2026.
Photo and video gallery
The full gallery.
Real photos and video from our St. Jude events. Tap any photo to browse.
