Page 38 - 1912 May - To Dragma

TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 157

explained, where one knows that although Cornell is a large school
there are not over five hundred women attending and the social l i f e
of the men plays no part w i t h that of the women. Tennessee U n i -
versity, being one of the smaller co-educational schools with very
few women i n attendance, would be expected to succeed w i t h either
a late pledge-day, or even sophomore pledge-day. The University
of California and Stanford have tried the late pledge-day, but
neither found it satisfactory. California, being a large co-educa-
tional school, w o u l d not be expected to succeed. Stanford, w i t h
only five hundred women enrolled, ought to have succeeded, i f
judged by the result at Cornell, but the social activities of the men
and women students are too closely allied to permit o f success.
Nebraska is to t r y a second semester pledge-day next year, w i t h the
circumstances very much against success.

Just what part the men in the larger co-educational schools play
in the rushing season, i t seems difficult to find, but it seems quite
certain that many a girl's choice o f sorority has been influenced i n
advance o f the agreed time, by the statements o f some " f r a t " man,
who has been "set o n " by the sorority he "spiels" f o r . I n the lar-
ger Universities, where the l i f e is more complex, and where deceit in
the breaking of pledging rules is less likely to be detected, i t seems
that sophomore pledging or even late pledge-day does not meet
w i t h success.

C i t i n g the failures o f sophomore pledge-day does not seem to
daunt its advocates, because they optimistically declare, " I n our
University our conditions are different f r o m those where the failures
have occurred, and anyway" the conclusion runs, "we have faith in
our students and their ability to make i t a success". For this sys-
tem to be a success, i t means that no rules must be broken, that
after waiting f o r a year to pledge members, no u n f a i r advantage
must be taken, and that every one must be treated justly. T o be
more exact and e x p l a i n the petty l i t t l e things that may be done, i t
means that no sorority and not even one g i r l of any sorority must
ask or even hint to a gentleman f r i e n d that he can help the cause by
talking for her group o f g i r l s ; further, not one girl must "spike"
for her sorority a rushee. A little variation of this grievance has
been known to take place. A freshman, a sister of an upper class
sorority girl, once formed a little club of freshman girls. The ex-
cuse given was that the freshmen f e l t lonely and wanted compan-
ionship ; the real reason was to f o r m friendships which would hold
when pledging time arrived. Such a group of girls has been k n o w
to pledge themselves, at the suggestion o f the freshman with the
sorority sister, to j o i n the same sorority and thus continue together