Page 64 - 1913 November - To Dragma

TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

the fraternity were the vow of secrecy removed than there is now.
One's instinct would forbid as effectively as a vow. I take issue with
Mr. Staunton to this extent that it is what is secret in our fraternity
(namely, ideals) and not Secrecy which is the foundation of the
fraternity system.

Secrecy is one of the great issues at present in the anti-fraternity
movement. Those who object to it do so because of suspicion as
to the nature of the secrets, and to the fact that we vow to keep them.
Is there one fraternity among us that would be lowered or vulgarized
if its secrets should become known? I f so then it is high time that
they should become known and that the fraternity's ideals should be
purified. I believe every fraternity to be founded on the highest
ideals of the founders. I t is true that frequent discussion (according
to Mr. Staunton) vulgarizes the theme. But there is no vow of se-
crecy concerned with Staunton's three subjects par excellence yet
there is the strictest instinctive secrecy. I would trust instinct to
keep our fraternity ideals from being vulgarized. And I am not
afraid to have removed our vow of secrecy.

RACE PREJUDICE, UNDEMOCRACY, SECRECY

FR O M the voluminous discussion of the situation at Barnard we
gather that there are three principal objections there—
Most bitter of the three is that the system shows a race prejudice
against Jewish women.

The second and to me the strongest is that the principle is undemo-

cratic.
The third is that bugbear to the Barnard faculty—Secrecy. I t

would take many words to attempt to answer any of these. But
there seems a "way out" for each. As to the first the prejudice
which does exist between Jew and Gentile and which we cannot
side step though we would has existed for some hundreds of years
and history has shown to be as bitter on the Jewish side as on the
Gentile. We deplore it, but it is there. Some of our sororities ac-
cept Jewish women. Certainly it is true that not all do so. But
there is nothing to prevent the founding of more than one very strong
and very beautiful sorority by Jewish women.

As to the second, the natural selection of sorores is no more undemo-
cratic than the selection of one's group of friends. Do I object to
Mrs. Brown as being undemocratic because she asks Mrs. Smith to
dine with her and leaves me out? Or that Mrs. Smith is a friend
and I am only an acquaintance? Heaven help us i f we could not
choose our friends and our sorores because we can love them.