Page 17 - 1923 Mayr - To Dragma

202 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

one help but be charmed with all of this, especially when you
have girls to guide you who know the place f r o m A to Z? A n d
the weather, eighty-five and the sun shining! A n d that in January!
The green grass, the palms and magnolias, and the birds—it was
like a whiff of summer that seems like a dream now to me as I
look out on my world which is still barren and muddy. A n d the
girls seemed to go with the place—don't you love the sound of
the names ? I don't suppose you can get it when they are merely
written out—but doesn't Jacinto Lobrano, Andrea Martinez, Nora
O'Neill, Genevra Washburn for instance, tell you a lot about the
mixed races from which we draw? Newcomb, as you know, is
the women's college of Tulane University. They have their own
separate buildings, all new, and very modern and complete. A l l
the walks leading up to the buildings are bordered with red roses
—wasn't that a lovely greeting? Of course you know too under
what hard conditions the girls of Pi rush—they have had sopho-
more pledging f o r so long that they are sick to death of rushing
and the rather natural result is a system of "promising" which
is hardly ethical but which is nature's rather natural reaction to a
most difficult situation. How long the girls will have to struggle
along under such hardships—no one knows—but we're certain
that they feel how much we all hope that easier times are ahead
for them and that some day the chapter will have the chance to
know something more of fraternity life than that part connected
with rushing. Pi is to have charge of the singing at Convention,
many of their girls will be there, and I know they'll help make you
happy as only southern girls know how to do. Another Alpha
Omicron Pi Dean, Anna Many, is at Newcomb. She is adored
by all the girls—and we hope she, too, will be at Convention.

And what do you suppose I ran into next? A snowstorm
in Texas! A n d O, how cold it seemed, especially as it was so
warm when I left New Orleans that I put my coat in my trunk
and wore my suit. A n d the houses in Dallas are heated mainly
with natural gas and in the larger homes you freeze when you
are three feet f r o m the fireplace—of course this also was unusual
weather! but indeed I could see it was, f o r all the girls were
raving about the beautiful snow—and we would call it but a begin-
ning at home. A l l the students were out that Sunday after the
storm, with sleds dug up f rom-goodness-knows-where and when