Page 6 - 1917 September - To Dragma

296 TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA 0 MICRON PI
SEPTEMBER IDEAS AND IDEALS
PLANNING FOR T H E YEAR'S W O R K
College l i f e is the whole, fraternity life is but a part of i t . She who
looks l i g h t l y upon the former, slights the latter. She who does the
most i n the one, does the most i n the other. W h a t do you do?
Your college year is mapped out w i t h classes. Do your best to
attend faithfully. Incidentally you are working for a high frater-
nity scholarship. N e x t to classes are the activities. College l i f e
is impossible without them. Incidentally you are representing your
fraternity. N o w we come to the fraternity and your officers whom
you have chosen f o r their particular qualifications.
T h e chapter president is familiar, in some way, with every par-
ticular t h i n g that she is asking o f you, nor can she herself f a i l to
carry out similar duties that are imposed upon her. She is responsi-
ble for instilling into the chapter the high principles of the frater-
nity, and she lives them. She is a respecter of authority i n college
and i n the fraternity, therefore her, as an authority, you must also
respect. She is responsible f o r the officers under her, and i f they
are not efficient through her efforts, then she must find someone who
is.
T h e secretary is prompt and accurate, and knows that small de-
tails are as important as big ones. She is courteous. She must be.
for you are judged through her.
T h e treasurer is businesslike. Bills are promptly paid, books
are kept up to date.
Your officers were chosen because o f their deep sense o f responsi-
b i l i t y . Some day you, too, w i l l f i l l the same positions, and now
is the time to train. Already you have a personal responsibility in
your attitude toward college and toward your fraternity, and in
your cooperation in the smallest duty asked of you. This and this
only is going to make smooth sailing f o r your chapter, and make it
possible to devote patience and energy to the serious affairs that have
come recently upon our horizon.
1 do not need to tell you that some of our officers are doing their
share, and a prodigious share i n some instances, f o r our country.
They cannot freely give the unnecessary attention that some chapters
have thoughtlessly required in the past. T h i s is why we beg
of you to carry out your share of the work f a i t h f u l l y — b e prompt,
be accurate, be courteous, do not be indifferent to the smallest service
you can render. I SABEU.E HENDERSON STEWART,
Grand President.
TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 297
KEEPING ONE'S H E A D
W i t h the opening o f the new college year, we, as A l p h a O girls,
begin to think of strengthening our chapters which are yearly de-
pleted by the loss o f the senior girls. The loss is soon remedied by
the "bidding" of new girls. This "bidding" is one of the most
difficult tasks that a chapter undertakes. I t is a serious matter to
select f r o m a group o f one hundred or more equally fine girls, ten
or so who are to become our sisters. I t is a task which requires the
thought and best judgment of every member of every chapter.
Alpha Omicron Pi stands f o r high ideals. For twenty years A l p h a
O girls throughout these United States o f ours have striven to live
up to these cherished ideals, and f o r twenty times twenty years more
they are going to strive to live up to them. The only way to bring
about realized ideals is to " b i d " girls who are worthy of sharing
our secrets and capable o f l i v i n g up to our aims.
And how are we going to determine which girls are most worthy
of becoming our new sisters? This is a very difficult question to
answer. T o me, i t seems that the only way a f r a t e r n i t y can suc-
cessfully answer it is to decree that every member of the chapter
"keep her head'' d u r i n g the rushing season.
I know that it is very hard to sit by and see your dearest f r i e n d
black-balled, while a g i r l who i n your estimation isn't " h a l f as nice"
is voted in. I t is enough to make the average g i r l become sad and
angry at the same moment. Hut cannot the fraternity g i r l make it
an opportunity to show her sisters that she has enough "back-bone"
and enough "woman" in her to "keep her head." Nothing sounds
more petty and selfish, yes, and unwomanly, than to hear someone
say, " M y candidate was black-balled, so I ' l l black-ball some one
else's candidate." It's just a little more mature way of saying, "She
slapped me first, so I slapped back."
Let us measure a possible sister by this tape: " W i l l she be a
sister to be p r o u d o f ? W i l l our chapter be better and stronger be-
cause she Is i n i t ? " Perhaps the girls decide that the candidate does
not reach quite to the top notch o f the measure. Then does it help
things out for a girl to "lose her head," show resentment and
make things generally uncomfortable? Does it better her friend's
chances of becoming a member o f the chapter, and does it raise her
i n the estimation of her sisters? So why does she not use the same
amount of energy (and often it takes even more) and show her
sisters that her feelings are under absolute control, and that even
a more severe blow than that is necessary to make her crumble.