Page 5 - 1913 November - To Dragma

8 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

undergraduates, and often enable the older women to advise and help
the younger ones. In many cases they tend to produce alumna? more
enthusiastic and interested in the college than is the average non-fra-
ternity graduate. Through their various chapters throughout the
country they give to their members some broadening knowledge of
other women's colleges, and aid them to form pleasant associations
in many large cities and universities.

Having come to these conclusions regarding the chief evils and
advantages attributed to fraternities, the Investigating Committee
made several recommendations. I t suggested that all student or-
ganizations in Barnard should be chartered by Student Council and
the Faculty Committee on Student Organizations for limited terms.
Considerable freedom should be allowed in the organization of new
clubs, and rigor should be used in suppressing any which seemed
harmful or useless. Under this system, the Investigating Committee
recommended that the fraternity chapters now in Barnard, provided
they should make public their purposes, their organizations, and the
obligations assumed on joining, should be chartered for limited terms,
under the rules applying to all other clubs, and should be permit-
ted to retain their affiliation with their national organizations, i f this
should be possible under their national constitutions.

A minority report was also drawn up by some members of the
Investigation Committee. This, like the majority report, advocated
the establishment of a "charter system" and rather free experimen-
tation with new forms of student organizations; but it differed from
the majority report in recommending that, instead of having the op-
portunity of continuing in existence under the new system, i f they
made public the essential facts concerning their organization, all
fraternity chapters should be forbidden, for a term of three years,
to elect new members. A t the end of this period practically all of
their present members will have been graduated.

The Faculty Committee on Student Organizations, sitting alone,
considered the majority report and the minority report of the I n -
vestigation Committee, and finally adopted the latter for recommen-
dation to the Faculty. A t its meeting on May 26, after prolonged
discussion, the Faculty, in accordance with this report, adopted the
following resolutions:

Resolved, That, for a term of three years, commencing October I , 1913, no
society of a social character at Barnard College of which the organization, the
emblems, and the rites are in any way secret and which has national affiliations
shall be allowed to elect new members.

Resolved, That, subject to the foregoing recommendation, students be en-
couraged to experiment with new forms of s6cial organization under the super-