Page 35 - To Dragma January 1934

66
I want you to answer the question for your-
self. A r e you proud of the fact that you are
a member of Alpha Omicron P i ? A r e you?
Somehow or other, without our quite know-
ing how it has come about, the big things in
life we've always thought of as stable have
gone awry. W e haven't enduring faiths any
more, we can't believe in chivalry and honor
and capitalism and the vision of our fathers.
Shibboleths and words and jingoism won't
carry us through. A n d yet we're all crying
out for something we can believe in. W e
want the feel and assurance of something that
is solid and unchanging and indubitably good.
A n d so w e turn our eyes back to the sim-
ple things, fundamentals, small beauties. I f
we cling to those we shall be able to hold on.
A s we share our hopes and failures we gain
courage and strength, for we need the help
of those who believe in us, whose goals are
the same as ours.
Thus we find ourselves meeting in groups,
some large and same small. The size doesn't
matter. It's the pooling and sharing of inter-
ests and plans and achievements that keep us
together. A n d just as we are homogeneous
in individual groups, so are the groups all
strengthened by their oneness of purpose in the
whole of Alpha Omicron Pi. We aren't held
together by duty or habit; we come together
and stay together because we have something
fine to w o r k for in which w e believe a n d be-
cause we know that friendship is still one of
the fundamentals we can't do without.
Well . . . what of the groups in Illinois?
There have been experiments and change,
there have been some steps retraced and much
growth. Such decided growth, in fact, that if
you haven't been out to a meeting within the
last few years, as so many of us haven't, you'll
be astonished at the changes in atmosphere and
purpose. I know how easy it is to slip out of
the habit of attending alumnae m e e t i n g s . I
slipped out, and then got pulled back almost
by the hair of my head. A n d I've stayed to
watch and wonder and applaud an organization
and a group that has undeniably answered the
question, is it worthwhile?
The three component parts of the Chicago
Alumna? Chapter are busy in their several
ways. I didn't have a report from Lola Burk-
hardt, chairman of the VVest Side Group, but I
know that they are very happy in the new
plans whereby they report direct to the Central
Office. Many of them came into Chicago the
night we met Pinckney Glantzberg and Anne
Nichols and Wilma Leland after Panhellenic
Congress had adjourned.
T h e North Side Group has shown the great-
est a d v a n c e in n u m b e r of m e m b e r s and composed of a group of 24 members, at pres-
planned meetings. Each month brings a dif-
ferent sort of program, from travel talks to
musicales and teas for the a c t i v e s . When
Mary Breckinridge was in Chicago in October
a reception—oh, a very g o r g e o u s reception,
with orchids and beautiful gowns and Deans
and their wives—was held at the chapter house
in Evanston. Gretchen Baarsch, chairman of
the group, sends a cordial invitation to every-
one roundabout to attend the meetings, assur-
To DRAGMA JANUARY, 1934 67
ing us that whether we can pay dues or not Gretchen Van Slyke, Pi Delta, is spon- Helen Leon, Omega, is house chairman
we'll still find our friends there. sor of Company A of R. O. T. C, of Oxford College, a freshmen dormi-
president of the Home Economics Club tory. She has a scholarship at Oxford
T h e Central Group, by the very nature 0 f and secretary of the S. G. A., Univer- College for Women at Miami
itself, serves a different purpose and an incen University.
live peculiar to itself. I t originated and it has sity of Maryland.
continued as a group composed almost entirely
of Alpha O's who are working in Chicago Betty Gadient, Theta, is vice president Joan Barnettc, Omicron Pi, is woman's
That means that it is partly a transient groun of Mortar Board, treasurer of 8Z4> and
as its members marry or move away or both* secretary-treasurer of Panhellenic editor of the Michigan Yearbook and
It means that the girl just out of college or the is active in H'yi'ein, junior women's
girl who has been out of college a long while Council. honorary.
but still finds her interests centered in com-
mercial life, will find in the meetings of the
Central Group a stimulus to thought, a forum
of discussion of those things in which she is
vitally concerned, a warmth of friendship i n
the sharing of problems and solutions achieved
together. During the coming year the Central
Group looks f o r w a r d to growth on a new
basis. Perhaps out of the evenings of discus-
sion and mental furrowing will come the pres-
age of what alumna? group membership can
mean in the future. E a c h member of the
group has her fingertips on a different phase
of the turbulent spots in American life. She
may be a designer for the Gossard Company
or an investment counsel on LaSalle Street, or
a personnel worker, or secretary or artist's
wife. But she has something to give as well as
something to find.
T h e South Shore Alumnae Chapter in Chi-
cago is busy about its well-established plans
for work and play. V e r y happy, they are, to
have Janet Weissmiller back again after her
accident and prolonged convalescence in the
east. T h i s chapter w o r k s diligently for the
Frontier Nursing Service. I f you live any-
where near the south side of Chicago, plan to
attend their meetings.
T w o active chapters in Illinois give us am-
ple outlet for enthusiasm, pride and help in
that direction. Both Rho and Iota are singu-
larly alike in achievements and goals, but suf-
ficiently dissimilar to make the contrast stim*.J
ulating. Catherine McCord, president of Iota,
sent me a prideful outline of their activities,
past and present. They do things at Illinois,
you know! Mortar Board members, Woman's
Editor of the Daily Illini, scores of members
in honorary societies, and new cups all the
time for the pledges to keep shiny. They
have been able to s p e n d a g o o d l y sum of
money on refurnishings for their lovely house,
twenty-three new pledges, and a wide hospital-
ity for everyone who knocks on their front
door. I know! Y o u should have seen the tea
they held for Mary Dee and me last week,
where we had an opportunity to meet a num-
ber of those very good friends of the Iota
girls, their local alumnae.
Champaign-Urbana Alumnae Association is
ent ; a few of these are not very active this
fall, due to new arrivals in the family, and!,
other good excuses!
Officers of the organization are elected in
June, annually, at the luncheon meeting at U r -
bana Golf and County Club. F o r this year,
the slate is as follows: President, Peggy Ebert