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126 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

ADVANTAGES O F A FRATERNITY HOUSE

Bv D E A N K A T H A R I N E SPRAGUE ALVORD

De Pauw University
Greencastle, Indiana

T Office of the Dean of Women
H I S after-the-war year has brought problems to the colleges of
the country as w e l l as to every other field of activity. T h e i n -
creased enrollments, the adjustment of credits, the changed cur-
ricula have a l l made necessary the active consideration of matters
which had been thought about but l e f t f o r immediate needs.

The increased enrollments have brought the housing problem to
the fore and a l l college authorities have been at their wits' end to
know what to do w i t h the students who were on the campus but could
not be housed i n the college halls of residence. I n co-educational
institutions this has to do with both men and women but I shall limit
what I have to say to the problem of the women. There are three
places f o r nonresident college women to l i v e : the halls of residence,
the lodging house, and fraternity house. Because the fraternity
house is i n very close relation w i t h the college administration i t is
not too much to say that i f students are not l i v i n g i n the halls of
residence, the f r a t e r n i t y house is the next best place. I n other
words the economic advantage of the f r a t e r n i t y house must be recog-
nized and accepted by the college authorities as an asset wherever
the number o f students exceeds the capacity o f the halls of residence.
I n my judgment, i t is very desirable f o r a l l freshmen to be housed
in the halls of residence in order to cultivate broad college interests
and widen friendships, but when the college cannot provide dormi-
tory accommodations for all its students, it may well look to the fra-
ternity house f o r very real help with a l l students above freshman
rank.

But this is not the only nor most important advantage that comes
to the group of young women who live together in a fraternity house.
Indeed to any group of people associated together with common inter-
ests and occupations there must come a development and growth
which is very far-reaching. H o w much more then must i t be f o r
young women who are bound by the dominant spirit and ideals of
the fraternal bond! There is the insistent need of making adjust-
ments, of considering the other person, o f realizing that the desires
of the individual must be subordinated to the welfare of the whole
group and these requirements force the member of the group to be-
come a better member of society a f t e r she leaves college.

O n the other hand, there is a difficulty which is common to the
halls of residence and the f r a t e r n i t y house which is the danger o f