Page 97 - 1913 November - To Dragma

102 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA 0 MIC RON PI

signed by eight of the nine members of the committee available, to definitely
postpone the bill, was adopted by the House, practically unanimously, i n
spite of the protests of the author.

I t is difficult to say just why this trouble has come about. O f course the
anti-fraternity leaders do not always give the real reasons f o r their preju-
dices; that would i n j u r e their cause. They make the claims that the f r a -
ternity is exclusive, selfish, plutocratic, snobbish, luxurious and vain. But
after looking the situation over carefully I believe that an impartial observer
would say that at Ohio State, at least, a very large part of the cause f o r this
discontent has arisen f r o m political causes on the campus.

There is a Pan-Hellenic association comprising twenty-four chapters in houses
practically a l l ; and in addition there is the usual galaxy of honorary and
quasi-honorary organizations. The Pan-Hellenic Council has assumed a good
deal o f importance in the last two years. I t has a comprehensive set of
regulations. A m o n g other things i t prohibits initiation until after the second
semester and then only i f the scholarship of the pledge is satisfactory; pre-
vents l i f t i n g o f pledges; prohibits pledging of high school students; super-
vises interfraternity sports; presents a definite outline of religious activity
for the chapters; and one of the latest regulations forbids the initiation o f
high school fraternity men except under certain extraordinary circumstances
and provided that these men have severed their relations with their high
school organizations.

One trouble is that our attempts at reform in Ohio d i d not come soon
enough and now we are forced to fight our enemies within and without at
the same time and with conflicting weapons. However I am confident in the
belief that a better day is dawning for the system in Ohio. As I write this
the morning paper before me carries the story of the action of the university
faculty in prohibiting freshman initiation and permitting pledging not earlier
than May of the first year. This w i l l , to a large extent, prevent the snobbishness
of the youngster during his ealier days in college and it will make him
acquainted with a larger circle of friends. The same measure makes no pro-
visions about rushing however and it remains to be seen what the effect o f this
will be. I n all regulations for sophomore initiation the rushing problem is
the greatest as i t is the most pernicious. T o the rushing system we can lay
many of the charges laid against us.

I t is impossible to say just what w i l l be the ins and outs of fraternity
reform here during the next two years. I t is possible certainly that the chap-
ters may be called upon to prove themselves before another legislative
committee and with this i n mind i t seems to me that men and organizations
on the campus with singular fatuity oppose reform with the unreasoning at-
titude of the Bourbons. T o just such forces as this can the present outcry
against fraternities rightly be traced. There is no inherent evil in the fraternity
l i f e ; there should be no objectionable principle that irritates the outsider.
But that some o f our opponents advance their claims with evident sincerity
is to my mind an evidence that corrective measures are necessary at places.
These defects can scarcely be called more than faults, certanly not evils
demanding remedy at the hands of the law.

But some of the chapters take the attitude "We are satisfied with ourselves,
every one else must be." Evidently they never stop to realize that there may
be a bit of self-sufficiency in their attitude or, i f i t does occur to them, they