Sigma Alpha Epsilon - University of Illinois

THE LION TATTLER T his football season, the University of Illinois will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of Memorial Stadium. While Red Grange was running wild, Rudolph Kagey 1926 was finding his voice as a member of ΣAE and serving as literary editor and a columnist for the Daily Illini. Rudolph, a.k.a. "Kurt Steel," was the author of at least nine novels featuring his hard- boiled detective, Hank Heyer. Two were turned into films in 1937: Murder Goes to College and Partners in Crime. Brother Kagey was born in Tuscola, Illinois, spent several years in Flint, Michigan, and returned to Champaign with his family in 1922. He received both a bachelor's (1926) and master's degree (1927) from UI. According to "The Passing Tramp," a blog dedicated to mystery novels, Kagey's Daily Illini editorial, titled "The Balance" and published in 1925, created a stir on campus when he "lamented the postwar decline in emphasis in college education on the fine arts relative to the mechanical sciences and athletics." After graduation, he relocated to New York to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1929 from Columbia University. He taught philosophy at NYU until his untimely death in 1946, aged 41. During his teaching career, he assumed the pseudonym Kurt Steel, where he churned out several books between 1935 and 1943. Kagey is buried in Tuscola, Illinois. The Works of Rudolph "Kurt Steel" Kagey 1926 BLAST FROM THE PAST Lifting the Next True Gentlemen Thank You, Generous Brothers Welcome, Spring New Members Class photo from Brother Kagey's era. A Kurt Steel (a.k.a. Rudolph Kagey 1926) mystery novel. Jason Sommerfeld '27 Naperville, Ill. Consumer Economics and Finance Tyler Carrier '27 Naperville, Ill. Undecided Jonah Sills '27 Westchester, N.Y. Electrical Engineering Anthony Stella '27 Orland Park, Ill. Computer Engineering Aiden Dively '26 Champaign, Ill. Financial Planning W e share our thanks to the 19 alumni who have supported Illinois Beta financially since fall 2023. These donations to the foundation help us fund valuable leadership opportunities to help brothers succeed in the chapter house and beyond. To make a gift online, visit sae.net/donate, and under "Select Fund," choose "Other Fund." Then type ILBE CAF or ILBE CEF in the second required field. Thank you for your support! Philip L. Mattison Jr. '57 Kenneth D. Love '62 Clifford A. Kleymeyer Jr. '65 Herbert A. Timm '65 R. Scott Morford III '72 Kenneth J. Rosinski '72 Gregory R. Martin '76 Robert C. McAdam Jr. '77 Thomas M. Donlan '79 Kim L. Larson '81 John Shimkus '82 Neil James Johnson '86 Marc J. Poskin '87 Michael A. Prah '87 Scott M. Perez '89 James S. Rund '91 Jon F. Kabance '97 Manish Miglani '97 Keith A. Gray '02

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