When Lt. Louis Allen was painting his parents’ home years before he died, he wrote the words “Lou rules” across the front of the house and left it there for a few days.
Allen painted over the words within a week, but nearly three years after the Binghamton University alumnus’ death, family members and friends are still remembering him with those very words.
Less than a week into his duty in Iraq, Allen was killed in action on June 8, 2005.
He left behind a wife, four young children, parents, siblings and countless friends.
To honor Allen, Tau Kappa Epsilon will hold its annual Keg Roll on Friday, May 2, in his honor for the third year in a row and donate proceeds to the Lt. Louis Allen Fallen Soldiers Fund. Allen was an alumni member of BU’s TKE chapter.
For the past 25 years the brothers of TKE have rolled a keg from Syracuse to the Brain at BU in an effort to raise money for charity.
But according to Michael Sokol, TKE’s financial vice president, this year’s Keg Roll marks a transition from past years’ events which were “low-key.” This year he’s set a fund-raising goal of $15,000 — the fraternity raised an average of $7,000 in the recent years — and organized a campus-wide barbeque that he encourages all BU students to attend.
”Doing this event made me want to reach out to everyone,” Sokol said. “I want to just bring everyone together and forget about all the stereotypes and just celebrate somebody’s life.”
The weekend will be packed with activities like the 12-hour rolling of the keg, a first annual formal benefit dinner and a finish-line barbeque featuring music, free food, raffle prizes and games. One of the bigger prizes that will be auctioned off are spring break tickets for next year from Student City.
“It brings out the best in everyone,” Sokol added.
This is the first year Allen’s family will visit BU for the Keg Roll, according to Allen’s sister, Vicky Jackson. Jackson said in prior years the family couldn’t attend because of timing conflicts, but they were happy they’d be able to make it this time.
“We definitely want to show them that we appreciate their support,” she said. “To me, it’s extremely touching for there still to be guys up there who actually care and do something like this. That’s just amazing.”
Jackson described her brother as a “lovable goofball,” a handyman around the house, a high school teacher who was highly respected by his students and a huge Rangers fan.
“Everyone really liked being around him,” she said. “He was a lot of fun, easygoing and liked to joke around.”
Jackson said her brother loved BU and his fraternity. She recalled one time when she lent him $100, only to visit him at school a few weeks later and see that he had used the money to buy a chainsaw to fix up the house.
“We grew up together, every step of the way,” Jackson said.