I have spent more of my life in Carbondale, Illinois, than any other place. It doesn’t make me a southern Illinois native, but I believe in celebrating southern Illinoisans. Kudos to Kenny Troutt, Tau Kappa Epsilon at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His horse, Justify, won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday making him a Triple Crown winner.
Kenny Troutt, third from left in the front row, was Treasurer of his Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter (note the crests on some of the sports jackets.)
The Troutt-Whitmann Academic and Training Center on the SIUC campus has Kenny Troutt’s name attached to it, but it was funded by a gift from Thomas P. “Pete” Wittmann and his wife Elaine. Whitmann is also a TKE. (File this under college building named for GLO members.)
June 12, 2016 Post about the Trou
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Another fraternity man, Kenny H. Dichter, Zeta Beta Tau, was also involved. On June 6, 2018, Wheels Up, Dichter’s company, became the exclusive sponsor of Justify.
And a reader of this blog alerted me that Alpha Omicron Pi alumna Mary Nixon is also part of the ownership group of Justify.
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And while I am on the topic of Salukis, there are two women who should be congratulated; they are Deanna Price and Gwen Berry, Saluki Olympians who throw the hammer. On June 3, Price set a new American record, 77.65m. Five days later, Berry broke that record, Price was one of the first to offer her congratulations. Price has volunteered at the Rotary Club of Carbondale-Breakfast’s Great Pumpkin Race and she is a delightful young woman. I suspect she will one day break the record again.
