Kappa Alpha Theta Journal, Vol. 12 no. 1
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA Published by the Fraternity, Edited by Iota Chapter VOL. XII NOVEMBER, 1897— MAY, 1898 CECIL, I A AGNES LAW, Editor-in-Chief Ithaca, New York 1898
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Andrus & Church, Prs. ITHACA, N. Y.
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CONTENTS OF VOLUME XII. PAGE A Few Words Upon the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Myra McPherson Post { Eta ) - 1 32 A Protest _ 87 A Question of Priority _ J39 A Rose _ A. B. C.' {Iota), 143 A Travelling President _ E. E. Foster {Alpha Beta), 9 Alumnae Department _ 16, 30, 143, 198 An Ideal College Life - S. IV. V. {Mu), 136 An Interlude _ C. G. L., 70 Beta Alumnae _ Mary Adams Van Cleve ( U. of M. '96), 80 Beta Alumnae _ Mary Adams Van Cleve, 143 Chapter History _ J47 Chapter House Question - 148 Chapter Letters _ 24, 90, 150, 207 Chapter Letters _ C. L., 20 Chapter Reports _ Ednah Harmon Wickson {Omega), 11 Congenialty _ Alpha Gamma, 149 District Conventions - 201 District Conventions _ Mabel Calder Dobbin, 7 Editorials _ 5L 176, 242 Epsilon Alumnae _ Mrs.J. R. Taylor, 16, 81 Establishment of Alumnae Chapters. Mary IV. Titus {Gamma Alumnae) _ I3° Eta Alumnae _ {Mrs.) Belle C. Gates, 199 Exchanges _ 54> 11 6, 178, 244 Formation of New Chapters _ Gamma Alumuae, 185 Fraternity Jewelry - 203 Fraternity Unity _ Nelle Randell, 14 Gamma Alumnae - 198 Hidden Sorrow _ Anna Botsford Comstock, 1 In Memoriam _ 5°> I75» 241 Interfraternity Action _ Gamma Alumnae, 70 Journal Extension - S. L., 37 Kite Wearers - 204 Let Us Sing _ G. M. L., 88
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IV Contents. Letter from the President of Alpha District _ May E. Brown, Letter from the President of Beta District _ Myra M. Post , Literary Fraternity Meetings _ A. E. P. ( Alpha Epsilon ), Literary Work in Fraternity Meeting.. D. E. G ., '98 (Epsilon), Literary Work in the Chapter _ M. E. S. (Alpha Delta), Miss Funck’s Wedding _ Edith D. Cochins (Alpha Gamma), Miss Sargent’s Wedding _ Notes and Clippings _ 62, 123, 183, Our Sisterhood _ Our Sojourn in Chicago _ Alumna, Personals - 43, no, 172, President’s Letter _ 77, 140, Purely Literary Articles _ Questions for Discussion _ Phi, Small Chapters _ One Side of College Life _ The Aim of Chapter Meeting _ L. A. C., The Date of Asking Day _ Margaret Fursman Boynton (Iota), The Dedication of Pi’s Lodge _ _ The Federation of Women’s Clubs. Lillian Marsh Tanner (Iota) _ The New Catalogue Records. .Grace Wilmarth Caldwell (Iota), The Song Book _ _ Jennie M. Bingham (Chi), The Social Side of the Twelfth Biennial Convention. Emma Kemp Timberlake _ The Twelfth Biennial Convention of Kappa Alpha Theta. Caro¬ line P. Sargent _ „ _ Those Chapter Letters Again _ Clara Gatrell Lynn (Kappa), Thoughts for Summer _ University of Vermont _ _ _ Undergraduate Department _ 19, 34, 145, When Mercy Seasons Justice _ Gladys Willard 196 141 145 19 84 32 76 248 190 17 239 193 146 149 203 204 86 64 205 125 12 137 4 74 200 187 200 21
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA, Published by the Fraternity. Edited by lota Chapter. JANUARY , MARCH , MAY, NOVEMBER. TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Formation of New Chapters* Gamma Alumna , The University of Vermont. Marion B. Rustedt. Lambda , . Our Sisterhood. Kappa , . . . President’s Letter. Caroline Sargent- Walter , Letter from the President of Alpha District. May Estelle Brown , . Alumnae Department : Gamma Alumnae, . Eta Alumnae. Belle C. Gates , . Undergraduate Department : A Thought for Summer. Alpha Gamma , .... District Conventions. E.J.,Beta, . One Side of College Life. B. S ., Tau} . Keep the Chapter Small, . Novelties in Fraternity Jewelry, . Uniform Pledge Pin, . * The Kite- Wearers. B. S., Tau} . The Dedication of Pi’s Lodge. Emma R. Osborne , ’00 . Chapter Letters, Personals, ... In Memoriam, Editorials, Exchanges, Notes and Clippings, ...... 185 187 190 i93 196 198 199 200 201 202 203 203 204 204 205 207 239 241 242 244 248 Address everything intended for publication to CECILIA AGNES LAW, 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. Send all business communications to NULLY DAVIDSON GUNN, Sage COLLEGE, Ithaca, N. Y. All material intended for publication should reach the editor before October 5, December 5, February 5, April 5. TERMS— $1.00 per Year; 25 cents Single Copy ; Sample Copy Free. The Kappa Alpha Theta will be sent to all subscribers until ordered dis¬ continued and arrearages paid, as required by law.
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FRATERNITY DIRECTORY. GRAND COUNCIL. President— Caroline Sargent- Walter, . Wallingford, Pa. Vice Presidents May E. Brown, . 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Myra M. Post, . 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Mary M. McLean, . . Stanford Uuiv., Palo Alto, Cal. Secretary— Alice E. Wadsworth, .... 6317 Lexington Ave., Chicago, Ill. Treasurer May E. Brown, . 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Editor — Cecilia Agnes Law, . 33 East Ave , Ithaca, N. Y. EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Editor- in- Ch ief—QeoW i a A. Law, . 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. Exchange Editor— Helen J. Huebener, ... 3 Central Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. Business Manager— Nully Davidson Gunn, . . Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Editor of the Catalogue — M. Edith Bell, . 436 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, Minn
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CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES. ALPHA DISTRICT. President — May E. Brown, 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Iota, Cornell University — Elizabeth Defendorf, 3 Central Ave., Ithaca, N.Y. Lambda, University of Vermont — Josephine Morris, 80 College St., Bur¬ lington, Vt. Mu, Allegheny College — Charlotte J. Illingworth, Meadville, Pa. Chi, Syracuse University— Lena L. Hoose, 720 Irving Ave., Syracuse, N. Y. Alpha Beta, Swarthmore College — Edith M. Wilson, Swarthmore, Pa. Alpha Delta, Woman’s College of Baltimore — Phoebe J. Appleyard, The Woman’s College, Baltimore, Md. Alpha Epsilon, Brown University — Edna Bigelow Arnold, Brown Univ., Providence, R. I. Gamma Alumna — Annie B. Leavens, 15 Grove Terrace, Passaic, N. J. Eta Alumna — Bessie D. Wright, 81 Adams St., Burlington, Vt. Theta Alumna— Mary S. Ash, 1717 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. BETA DISTRICT. President— Myra M. Post, 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Alpha, De Pauw University — Elizabeth McIntosh, Greencastle, Ind. Beta, Indiana State University — Flora Eleanor Purviance, Bloomington, Ind. Delta, University of Illinois — Ruth Raymond, Champaigne, Ill Epsilon, Wooster University — Bess Marie Davidson, 50 East Bowman St., Wooster, Ohio. Eta, University of Michigan — Clara Wilson, 1008 Hill St., Ann Arbor, Mich. Kappa, University of Kansas— Rose Watson, Lawrence, Kansas. Nu, Hanover College — Mary Torrance, Hanover, Ind. Pi, Albion College — Emma R. Osborne, Albion College, Albion, Mich. Rho, University of Nebraska — Jean Tuttle, 334 N. 17th St., Lincoln, Neb. Tau, Northwestern University — Irene Edna Parkes, Evanston, Ill. Upsilon, University of Minnesota — Foi Hotchkiss, State Univ., Minneapolis, Minn. Psi, University of Wisconsin — Alice Jones, K. A. S. Lodge, Madison, Wis. Alpha Gamma, Ohio State University — Anna E. Williams, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio. Alpha Alumn^E, (Mrs.) Mary Barwick Wright, Box 603, Greencastle, Ind. Beta Alumnae, Mary Adams Van Cleve, 520 Fourth St., S. E., Minne¬ apolis, Minn. Delta Alumnae, Alice E. Wadsworth, 6317 Lexington Ave., Chicago, Ill. Epsilon Alumnae, Mrs. J. R. Taylor, 41 Frambes Ave., Columbus, Ohio. Zeta Alumn^E, Mary E. Ritter, 208 Central Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. GAMMA DISTRICT. President— Mary M. McLean, Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. Phi, Stanford University— Letitia Patterson, Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. Omega, University of California — Marie M. Kent, 11 15 Jackson St., Oakland, Cal. Entered at the Post Office at Ithaca as second-class matter.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA, Published by the Fraternity. Edited by lota Chapter. NOVEMBER , JANUARY , MARCH , MAY. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Hidden Sorrow (verse). Anna Botsford Comstock . i The Social Side of the Twelfth Biennial Convention. Emma Kemp Timberlake . i The Twelfth Biennial Convention of Kappa Alpha Theta. Caroline P. Sargent 4 District Conventions. Mabel Calder Dobbin . 7 A Travelling President. E. E. Foster . 9 Chapter Reports. Ednah Harmofi Wickson , {Omega) . 11 The New Catalogue Records. Grace Wilmarth Caldwell .... 12 Fraternity Unity. Nelle Randell . 14 Alumnae Department : Epsilon Alumnae. Mrs. J. R. Taylor. . . # . . . 16 Our Sojourn in Chicago. Alumna . 17 Undergraduate Department : Literary Work in Fraternity Meeting. D. E. G ., '98, (Epsilon) . 19 Chapter Letters. C. L . 20 When Mercy Seasons Justice. Gladys Willard . 21 Chapter Letters . 24 Personals . 43 In Memoriam . 50 Editorials . 51 Exchanges . 54 Notes and Clippings . ' . 62 Address everything intended for publication to CECILIA AGNES LAW, 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. . Send all business communications to NULLY DAVIDSON GUNN, Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. All material intended for publication should reach the editor befori October 5, December 5, February 5, April 5. TERMS— $1.00 per Year ; 25 cents Single Copy ; Sample Copy Free.
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FRATERNITY DIRECTORY. GRAND COUNCIL. President — Caroline P. Sargent, . . . 223 Farrington Ave., St. Paul, Minn. Vice Presidents — May E. Brown, . 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Myra M. Post, . 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Mrs. A. W. Smith,. . . Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. Secretary — Alice E. Wadsworth, .... 6317 Lexington Ave., Chicago, Ill. Treasurer — May E. Brown, . 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Editor — Cecilia Agnes Law, . 33 East Ave. , Ithaca, N. Y. EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Editor-in-Chief— Cecilia A. Law, . 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. Exchange Editor— Helen J. Huebener, ... 3 Central Ave. , Ithaca, N. Y. Business Manager — Nully Davidson Gunn, . . Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Editor of the Catalogue — Grace W. Caldwell, . . Ithaca, N. Y.
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CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES. ALPHA DISTRICT. President— May E. Brown, 355 Broadway, Fulton, N. Y. Iota, Cornell University — Elizabeth Defendorf, 3 Central Ave., Ithaca, N.Y. Lambda, University of Vermont — May W. Russell, Burlington, Vt. Mu, Allegheny College — Charlotte J. Illingworth, Meadville, Pa. Chi, Syracuse University — Lena L. Hoose, Syracuse, N. Y. Alpha Beta, Swarthmore College — Edith M. Wilson, Swartlimore, Pa. Alpha Delta, Woman’s College of Baltimore — Phoebe J. Appleyard, The Woman’s College, Baltimore, Md. Alpha Epsilon, Brown University — Edna Bigelow Arnold, Brown Univ., Providence, R. I. Gamma Alumna — Mrs. R. J. Eidlitz, 51 E. 78th St., New York, N. Y. BETA DISTRICT. President— Myra M. Post, 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Alpha, De Pauw University — Elizabeth McIntosh, Greencastle, Ind. Beta, Indiana State University — Flora Eleanor Purviance, Bloomington, Ind. DELTA, University of Illinois — Ruth Raymond, Cliampaigne, Ill. Epsilon, Wooster University — Mary T. Slack, Wooster, Ohio. Eta, University of Michigan — Lyle Reid, 101 S. State St., Ann Arbor, Mich. Kappa, University of Kansas — Rose Watson, Lawrence, Kansas. Nu, Hanover College— Mary Torrance, Hanover, Ind. Pi, Albion College — Florence E. Caster, 519 E. Cass St., E. Albion, Mich. Rho, University of Nebraska — Jean Tuttle, 334 N. 17th St., Lincoln, Neb. Tau, Northwestern University — Irene Edna Parkes, Evanston, Ill. Upsilon, University of Minnesota — Foi Hotchkiss, State Univ., Minneapolis, Minn. Psi, University of Wisconsin — Alice Jones, K. A. 69. Lodge, Madison, Wis. Alpha Gamma, Ohio State University — Anna E. Williams, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio. Alpha Alumnae, (Mrs.) Mary Barwick Wright, Box 603, Greencastle, Ind. Beta Alumnae, Mrs. Byron H. Timberlake, 1015 Eighth St., S. E., Minne¬ apolis, Minn. Delta Alumnae, Alice E. Wadsworth, 6317 Lexington Ave., Chicago, Ill. Epsilon Alumnae, Mrs. J. R. Taylor, 41 Frambes Ave., Columbus, Ohio. ZETa Alumnae, Mary E. Ritter, 208 Central Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. GAMMA DISTRICT. President— Mrs. A. W. Smith, Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. Phi, Leland Stanford Jr. University— Winifred S. Fry, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Cal. Omega, University of California — Marie M. Kent, 11 15 Jackson St., Oakland, Cal.
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The Kappa Alpha Theta Vol. XII. NOVEMBER, 1897. No. 1. Hidden Sorrow. Some there be who sorrow hide In temples wrought with gold — And passers-by behold And say “ Within doth treasure great abide.” But many bury grief below The hard well-trodden street, Where dust from common feet May cover it, and no one know. The temple turns the curious eyes Of every passing face — But who, ’neath commonplace Would dream that sorrow lies ? Anna Botsford Comstock. The Social Side of the Twelfth Biennial Convention. The twelfth biennial convention, to which we have looked so long, has come and gone. As we look back upon it we can but say that it was a most delightful and successful one. From the moment we stepped from the cars, tired and dusty and hungry, till we bade Madison " farewell,” Psi Chapter was untiring in her efforts to make our stay most comfortable and pleasant, and it is needless to say that she succeeded most admirably in her endeavors.
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2 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . As we reached our destination we were received into the very arms of Psi Chapter, our baggage taken from us, and ourselves hurried into cabs and away to the Park Hotel, where, with but few exceptions, the whole delegation was entertained. Having removed the stains of travel and partaken of a bountiful dinner we repaired to the parlors for an informal reception, where old friends might meet and new acquaint¬ ances be made among those who were to sit in solemn con¬ clave over the affairs of K. A. ©. About forty -five delegates were present besides Psi Chapter, every chapter of the fra¬ ternity being represented by at least one, many three and one five delegates. A lively scene it was ! and such a chat¬ ter, chatter, chatter as these girls did make, till some one sat down at the piano, and then off they went up and down the corridors to the lively strains of a two-step. During the evening the Credential Committee was in ses¬ sion and the delegates awaited, in fear and trembling, their turn to call upon the formidable committee, for it was whis¬ pered that there were some very weighty questions to answer and some of us feared lest we prove unable to answer them. All passed through the ordeal, however, in some fashion, and after a short time, tired and hopeful for the convention to open in the morning, we were only too glad to go to rest, voting that Psi had, indeed, planned well for our entertain¬ ment. We received many courtesies from other fraternities during our stay, — flowers, drives, and receptions. Wednes¬ day evening we accepted an invitation from Delta Gamma to a reception to us and their gentlemen friends. The young ladies proved themselves royal hostesses. The rooms were prettily decorated with autumn leaves. Sweet strains from a mandolin club made accompaniment for the many greet¬ ings and introductions, while upstairs prettily gowned young girls served ices and cakes to the guests. Thursday evening was Psi’s reception to the delegates and the Fraternity world of Madison. This was the largest social function of the week, there being about six hundred guests.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 3 Library Hall is an ideal place for such a reception, and look¬ ing down from the gallery it was, indeed, a pretty scene. Here and there were couches and divans near which stood tall lamps casting their colored tints over the couples sitting beneath. Over in the corner, from a prettily decorated table, a fair young Theta served frappe to ever-moving throngs, the many colored evening gowns of the ladies contrasting with each other and the evening dress of the gentlemen reminded one of the ever-changing colors of the kaleido¬ scope. And all the time the music from the orchestra made it seem almost impossible to refrain from whirling away in a dreamy waltz. Fraternities, professors and friends were so cordial and made us so welcome, that we felt that not only had we made new friends for ourselves but for Theta as well. On Friday afternoon Pi Beta Phi entertained us at after¬ noon tea in their fraternity home. The crowning social event of the convention was our ban¬ quet, held Friday evening in Guild Hall, and here it was that all care was thrown to the winds and we came as ‘ 4 Thetas ’ ’ to enjoy ourselves at a royal “ spread.” As we marched in, two by two, to the music of a mandolin club hidden away behind a'bank of ferns and palms surrounding a huge ban¬ ner of K. A. ®., it was a most beautiful sight. The tables were arrangedjin the Greek letter Pi. The decorations were pink roses and carnations alternating with pink candles. Covers were laid for seventy-five. In front of the Grand President, Miss Funck, stood a large bouquet of roses sent as a greeting by the local chapter of Alpha Phi. At the left of the Grand President sat our new Grand President, Miss Sargent. On either side were the other members of the Grand Council. During the early courses of the banquet ever and anon the sweet tones of the mandolin club were heard to rise above the hum of voices. But later the club was sent away and then the hall rang with Theta songs, led by Psi. As the last traces of the spread were cleared away our toastmistress, Miss Funck, arose and, with her gentle dignity
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4 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. and grace, turned our attention away from such common things as olives and croquettes to “a feast of reason and flow of soul.” The following program was then carried out: PROGRAM. “ I would be loath to cast away my speech ; for besides that it is ex¬ cellently well penned, I have taken great pains to con it.” Toast Mistress, . Harriet Lucretia Funck Welcome, . .... Juliet Harris “ I reckon this always, that a man is never welcome to a place, till some certain shot is paid and the hostess say, welcome.” Twin 'Stars, . Frances Ashton Arnold Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds.” Kappa Alpha Theta as a Factor in Education, . . Mrs. Emma Kemp Timberlake “ To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life.” Secrecy, . . Lyle Reid “ To be or not to be, that is the question, Whether His nobler in the mind of Theta, To suffer the pangs and terrors of a hidden goat, Or to take arms against a sea of secrets And by opposing end them : to keep : to tell : no more.” The Twelfth Convention, . Caroline P. Sargent “ Indued with sanctity of reason.” IMPROMPTU. “ Day ! Faster and more fast, O’er nights brim, day boils at last.” Then, as the hour was getting late and many were to leave on the four o’clock morning train, we rose in our places and sang our “Song of Jubilee,” and with three rousing cheers for Psi Chapter and the twelfth convention we said 1 ‘ Good¬ night” and “Good-bye.” Emma Kemp Timberlake. The Twelfth Biennial Convention of Kappa Alpha Theta. All through the day and late into the night of Tuesday, October 5, Kappa Alpha Thetas from far and wide had been
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 5 arriving at the Park Hotel, Madison, Wis. While the Grand Council was holding busy sessions the delegates were settling in their new quarters, greeting each other and hur¬ rying off for trips to different parts of the beautiful city. That evening there was a delightful informal reception in the parlors of the hotel where the committee added no little zest and excitement to the evening’s entertainment. At half past eight on the morning of October sixth in the Senate chamber of the Capitol the Twelfth Biennial Con¬ vention was called to order by the Grand President, Harriet Lucretia Funck. The meetings were held from 8.30 to 12 and from 2 to 4 the succeeding days. All the twenty-two active chapters and the six alumnae chapters were represented by one or more delegates and the business was despatched with rapidity, unanimity, and wisdom, we hope. The re¬ port of the Grand President showed that the past two years had been one of marked progress; “ the usual number of applications has been laid at our door, constant and gratify¬ ing proof of the high position held by Kappa Alpha Theta. Of these applicants some have rejoiced in tb.eir success and others have knocked in vain.” Active chapters have been established in the University of Illinois, Champaign ; Woman’s College, Baltimore; Woman’s College of Brown University, Providence, R. I. Alumnae chapters have been established in Chicago, Ill., Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind. Applications for charters from eight colleges or universities have been refused. The main work of the convention was toward perfecting our organization which during Miss Funck’s administration had been greatly strengthened. Considerable time was spent in legislating for the various fraternity organs. The treasurer reported a balance of $1891.45 which after the railway expenses of delegates were paid was reduced to $662.48. This proved that it was possible to meet all ex¬ penses of the fraternity with the reduced annual tax. The editing of the Journal was left in the hands of Iota chapter, and both the chapter and editor were given a rising
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6 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . vote of thanks for the work already done for the magazine. The Journal was made a quarterly, to be issued in March, May, November and January, and the appropriation was increased. With reference to the new catalogue which should ap¬ pear before the next convention, it was decided that uniform blanks for the keeping of records be sent by the editor of the catalogue, Miss Caldwell, to the chapters, one copy of the records to be returned to the editor and one to be kept by the chapter. It is important that the chapter secretaries fill out these reports promptly and fully. The work upon them will be heavy the first year, but hereafter, with slight effort, they can be kept up to date and the labor of the present editor and all future editors will be lightened. The publication of a song book was left to Chi Chapter, the fraternity assuming the financial responsibility. The Grand Council is to pass judgment upon the material and the financial report before the book goes to print. With the cooperation of the chapters and all alumnae the very patent need of a song book will be satisfied within a year. The convention declared that the policy of the fraternity should be against transferring of chapters, also that the policy be against initiation of the members of the faculty of the college where the chapter is located, but that the matter in the latter case be left to the individual chapters. A paper by Miss Arnold, of Alpha, on Fraternity Educa¬ tion was considered so excellent that it was referred to the standing committee on that subject. The committee con¬ sists of M. Edith Bell, Alpha Gamma ; Helen Kellogg, Psi ; and Frances Arnold, Alpha. There is a large field of work for the committee at present, and any assistance that can be given it by chapters or individual Thetas will be gladly received. A committee was appointed to gather suggestions for a new form of chap¬ ter reports, but the work was left to the Grand Council of ’97-’ 99. It is hoped that the new forms will be in the hands of the chapters in May.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 7 Invitations for the convention of 1899 were received from Alpha Gamma, Kappa, Zeta Alumnae, Alpha and Beta chapters. The convention of ’97 wishes to acknowledge the kind attention of the Greeks of the University of Wisconsin. The hotel officials, the bankers, and the public generally were kindly interested in us. A vote of thanks was given the Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin who assisted us with legal advice, and to the committee in charge of pub¬ lic buildings who gave us the use of the Senate chamber. Psi chapter bore all the expense of entertaining the con¬ vention, and we must again express what was in the heart of every partaker of their hospitality, sincere thanks for the kimLr^ss and courtesy shown us. Above all appreciation is due our former president, Harriet L. Funck, who presided with admirable tact and dignity and who stamped her per¬ sonality indelibly upon the convention of ’97. Caroline P. Sargent. District Conventions. By this time those of us who were fortunate enough to attend the convention have become convinced that we can¬ not give enough of the benefits of that convention to our less fortunate sisters. When we remember that, of the total number of members of any chapter during a given period of four years, only four or five, on an average, obtain the direct benefits of the biennial convention, we realize more than ever that it is a matter of regret that the adverse factors of time, distance, and expense prevent more fre¬ quent holding of these reunions. It may be, however, that we are not making use of our available means of obtaining these benefits. The fraternity as a whole is divided into three districts, determined by the geographical location of the different chapters. Within any given district, the chapters are not separated by such vast
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8 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . distances that an occasional gathering would be utterly im¬ practicable. Would not a biennial reunion of this sort, al¬ ternating with the National Convention be rich in possibili¬ ties of pleasure and benefits ? We who attended the con¬ vention know best what inspiration can be gotten from face to face meetings with those who are bound to us by the ties of common interest and common purpose ; deeper interest, broader outlook, and higher aims are the inevitable results of such meetings. A district re-union would bring these within the reach of a much larger proportion of the mem¬ bers of the fraternity than now receive them. As a means of fraternity education, the district convention would be of great value. Under the present system, the younger members of the chapters have no practical working knowledge of the fraternity and its methods ; when suddenly they find themselves left with the responsibility of the chap¬ ter-work upon their hands, they are obliged to learn by actual, and often by trying experiences, that which should have formed a part of their equipment upon entering the work. In the district convention, the younger members would become familiar with the methods and the policy of the fraternity as they could in no other way. This means a more intelligent knowledge in the chapter as a whole ; the effect of this upon the national convention and hence upon the general fraternity, can be readily imagined. Granting then, that the district convention is a desirable thing, is its realization impossible ? The plan was discussed at Madison by the delegates from the chapters in Alpha District, each of whom thought the plan a feasible one. Doubtless the proximity of many of the chapters to New York City and the cordiality of Gamma Alumnae chapter are conditions very favorable to the holding of a successful convention in Alpha District. But the conditions in the other districts are no less favorable. Gamma District has not found the difficulties insurmountable. May not her example be followed by the other districts, at least until the objections prove themselves well-grounded ? Mabel Calder Dobbin.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 9 A Travelling President. The one great aim of our fraternity since its very first initiation has been to progress toward making it the highest ideal of sisterhood. We are expected to do all the good we can, not only to the fraternity as a whole, but to each indi¬ vidual member, by helping her to live up to the highest standard — Theta’s standard of true and beautiful woman¬ hood. There has been one need, however, that has been felt for a long time, and that is to possess some tie which will bind the chapters more securely, thus bringing them into the unity we all seek. This need can be remedied largely by what we propose calling our “ Travelling President.” When our Grand President takes the oath of office she surely realizes what a great responsibility is placed on her shoulders ; that to her belongs the task of helping and doing everything in her power to promote the welfare of Theta. But how can she do justice to her work in the circumstances in which she is placed ? It is true she hears from the cor¬ responding secretaries of the chapters occasionally, but in this way she receives only a vague idea of the life of each chapter, and sometimes a wrong one. Then you may say that it is the object of the Journal to correct all wrong im¬ pressions ; but what we want is to have our president brought into closer touch with the fraternity life of each chapter. In the first place let us consider the effect of a Travel¬ ling President ” upon each individual chapter. Each chap¬ ter has its own ideals, but are the individual ideals all equally high ? This is where our much needed “ Travelling President” could be of so much aid, by showing us our faults and our virtues. Also, she can help to unify the dif¬ ferent forms, and especially can she thoroughly investigate .the condition of doubtful chapters. As for the effect upon the fraternity as a whole, can we
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IO THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. help realizing the good that would be accomplished ? Would it not arouse enthusiasm ? By raising the ideals of each chapter would not the fraternity as a whole be bene¬ fited ? Thus the chapters being brought into nearer touch with one another, and in that way giving to each new ideas and new suggestions, the true and deeper meaning of a fra¬ ternity would be realized to a greater extent. By so doing could each individual help but feel that she has not simply the responsibility of her chapter, but of the whole fraternity? She has not only her own reputation to uphold, nor even the reputation of her chapter, but the reputation of her fra¬ ternity, of hundreds of girls, sisters, rests upon her shoul¬ ders alone. Take for example a chapter which has been severely criticized. Our “Travelling President,” in her annual tour among us, visits that chapter and spends two or three days (never longer than four), and in that time she has found out its exact standing. If the criticisms were just, and it were necessary, the President would make them realize the good their sister chapters were accomplishing, and if she discovers that no longer true Theta girls are enlisting as students of this College or University, this is the time for our President to reason with these sisters and prove what a disadvantage it is, not only to them, but to us all, to try to retain this chap¬ ter, and show them that it is far better for them to resign the charter. I am sure you will all agree with me that in this particular way can she be of especial help ; and in conse¬ quence, when her report goes to the Grand Council their decision will necessarily be just. As for the “Travelling President” herself, we must acknowledge that it is not the average woman who is capable of filling this position. First of all, she must realize what it is she is going to undertake before she accepts the office. She must be well posted on all fraternity matters, and especially the history of the fraternity. She should become acquainted with the business of the different chapters through correspondence with the corresponding secretaries of each. !
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 1 1 She must be a woman of tact, and one wThose nature easily adapts itself to circumstances. When such a woman comes among us, and especially among the younger chapters, would it not stimulate us, and make us do all in our power to attain the true Theta ideal ? After hearing the reports of our other sisters, could a chapter help but become all that Kappa Alpha Theta means to us ? E. E. Foster. Chapter Reports. I speak from the standpoint of those who are necessarily out of touch with the fraternity life as it exists in other col¬ leges, on account of the great distance which separates us from the majority of the chapters. We, in California, are obliged to form our opinions of other chapters largely from the letters in the Journal and the chapter reports. Now, if we were to judge of the rest of the chapters merely from our chapter reports, I fear that we would oftentimes become discouraged. We find difficulties to overcome, trials to sur¬ mount, in our chapter, but from what we can discover from the reports of others, our condition must be deplorable in¬ deed. The following may be quoted as a specimen of the average chapter report : “ The girls are enthusiastic and our prospects are very bright;” another, ‘‘We have initiated four girls this term;” yet another, ‘‘No invitations have been lost thus far , and each of the new members combines the three graces of the ideal fraternity girl ;” again, ‘‘Though five of our girls leave this June, the remaining chapter is strong and looks forward to a successful campaign next fall.” Must we, then, hide our troubles and doubts from the fra¬ ternity, and tell only the pleasures and encouragements? We trust that every girl we take in would be a loyal Theta, and have the requisite qualities of nobility ; we are well aware that every chapter loses girls at graduation, and is rushing at the beginning of the fall term. These are points which we all have in common and to use them is superfluous.
Page 22
12 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . We would suggest most forcibly that the words ‘ ‘ bright prospects” be eradicated from our stock phrases, and words conveying some more definite meaning be substituted. Can we not get down a little deeper, be honest with each other, and tell our discouragements as well as our hopes? Our troubles will not be known outside of the circle of our sympathizing sisters and often, if honestly told to one another, we might find solutions for them. We might send a report telling of some particular worry to a chapter which has just solved the difficulty for itself, and could offer us valuable help and suggestions in a letter especially written to us for that purpose. We must some of us have like troubles. Not only do I believe that we should tell our reasons for discouragement, but also our causes for rejoicing over defeat overcome and victory won. This would give a character and depth, a real usefulness to our letters. They take time, and if they are worth our time, they are worth our careful thought and consideration, otherwise let us abandon them. Each chapter must be developing along some particular line. Can we not make this known to each other? Ednah Harmon Wickson, Omega. The New Catalogue Records. A new edition of the Kappa Alpha Theta Catalogue is to be published during the coming year, and the editor of the journal has suggested that an explanation of the blanks whicli are to be sent out, and of the work which is to be done on them, would be of assistance to both the chapters and the catalogue editor. By the direction of the Convention there are to be sent to each chapter two of these blanks for each member, which the recording secretary is to take charge of and fill out for all members, past and present, returning one copy to the catalogue editor for her use, and keeping one for the chapter records.
Page 23
THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. IS When the record is once completed there will be but little work involved in keeping it up to date, by making the necessary additions as any new information reaches the chap¬ ter, but, with some of the older chapters particularly, it will take much time and labor now to get the blanks into shape so that they can be returned to the editor. It is to be urged, therefore, that the chapters push the work through as quickly as possible, as the catalogue editor can do practically nothing until these records are placed in her hands. As editor of the last catalogue I know what a tremendous amount of work is involved in publishing the book, and I cannot impress too strongly upon the chapters the necessity of getting, with the least possible delay, all the data which is asked of them. It is to the credit of each chapter to have her record in the catalogue as full as may be, and giving all possible honor to her members. A part of the information which is to be given on the record blanks will, of course, never be published, but our fraternity has reached that size and age where if we are to know anything about its past, — and its present will soon be its past — we must keep careful records. It is hard for the active chapter to keep in touch with many of the alumnae, for in most cases each is busy with her own work, and there are no interests in common, but with some effort the active chapter could at least keep track of nearly all the alumnae to the extent of knowing their whereabouts and exact addresses. This much must be done if we are to have a catalogue which is worthy of Kappa Alpha Theta, and worth all the labor which some one must spend on it. This, and the careful keeping of the records from now on, would greatly lighten that labor. The last catalogue, — a copy of which is to be sent to each chapter to be kept among the chapter records, — should be of some assistance in starting this new work, for the names are given there in the order of the initiations, and much of the needed information is there recorded. Grace Wiemarth Caedweee.
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14 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. c\ b Fraternity Unity. Kappa Alpha Theta’s twelfth biennial Convention is now merely a memory, a sweet memory of an experience which is passed, but whose influence will long be felt over Theta life. Not soon will we forget the Thetas whom we met “ in grand convention assembled,” nor will we ever forget our convention associations. For wTho can look back upon those days without being stirred by many thoughts and recollec¬ tions. It was then that we realized to the fullest extent, the meaning of fraternity and felt most deeply the power, the life, the spirit of Kappa Alpha Theta. That mysterious all-powerful charm of Theta spread its influence about us, sank deep into our hearts and bound us more closely with that bond that knows no breaking. Since then our fra¬ ternity has meant more to each one of us than it ever did before. We feel the power and strength of the bond that binds us all in one great sisterhood, in Kappa Alpha Theta and it is not till we realize this that our fraternity can mean to us all that it should mean and can mean. Kappa Alpha Theta with its beautiful thoughts, its pure and lofty ideals, its striving toward a nobler, more exalted womanhood is dearer, more sacred to us than it ever was before. Before the convention, the local chapter was to many of us our only experience of fraternity life and therefore seemed to be the most prominent part of the fraternity organization. In our isolated condition, cut off from other chapters in every way except by correspondence and oc¬ casional meeting with Thetas from other colleges, it was difficult for us to grasp the idea of the unity of Kappa Al¬ pha Theta. And surely this is not to be wondered at for what an imperfect idea of things we get from letters. They cannot fill us with life, inspiration, enthusiasm. Personal contact alone could bring us what we lacked and this is what the convention did for us. As Thetas, we met face to face, heart to heart, and then came the powerful revelation
Page 25
THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. i5 of what Kappa Alpha Theta really is. We feel now the deep meaning of our fraternity. We have come to compre¬ hend its unity and are conscious of a feeling that binds us all together, chapter to chapter, Theta to Theta. “ There is a tie that binds our hearts in Theta love.” Our fraternity means to us life, energy, growth, and all that is good and pure in womanhood. With such a conception of our fra¬ ternity, Kappa Alpha Theta can not but lead us on to a higher, nobler life. Indeed we can judge of the good work of our fraternity by the influence which she exerts over those who join the mystic circle. The Theta spirit seems to enter into our lives and bring out all that is best and noblest in our natures. It seems to make us strong in character and womanhood, pure in mind and heart. We may well feel proud and happy to be numbered among such girls as we met at our conven¬ tion, and if the association and companionship of noble natures bears fruit in our lives truly every Kappa Alpha Theta should be a type of noblest womanhood. Such are her sisters in Theta, such are the ideals and strivings of her fraternity. Neele Randell.
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ALUMNAE DEPARTMENT. Epsilon Alumnae. Epsilon Alumnae Chapter is inclined to add ipse ipsisstmus to all of her speeches this year, because her life is so delight¬ fully rose-colored. We have made no intense, headaching wishes to be good girls by “improving our minds.” We are not oppressed and suffocated with weariness at the very beginning of our young life by weighty, ponderous pro¬ grams for our monthly meetings, but like nice young things,” have been modest in our hopes and have none of that ambition that “ o’erleaps itself and falls on tother side.” We have chosen eight American story writers who repre¬ sent the various types and sections of the people and country , and by reading nearly all the stories and poems of these writers, we hope to develop a scheme of classification and criticism. Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Thomas Nelson Page, Bret Hart, George William Curtis, Mary E. Wilkins, George W. Cable, James Lane Allen and Charles Egbert Craddock will furnish us our works, which is but a means for pleasure in this case. Miss Cockins, as enthusiastic as of yore, returned with good reports of the convention. Of Psi’ s charming girls and their kind and thoughtful attentions as hostesses, and of all the Thetas at the convention, Miss Cockins spoke in such wise that we were delighted with the fraternity’s welfare. Miss Katherine Kiser, one of our members, is teaching this year in the High School at Chicago Junction, and we are the losers thereby. To all chapters and all Thetas, Epsilon Alumnae sends sincerest wishes for a pleasant year, and with you all we strive for K. A. ®’s prosperity. Selah ! Mrs. J. R. Taylor.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. i7 Our Sojourn in Chicago. Oh, Theta now to thee, With hearts both light and free, Thy praise we sing. We’ll spread thy name o’er sea O’er hill and vale and lea, Until the world as we Thy praise shall sing. It was with a feeling akin to sadness, rather than with light hearts, that we sang these words after the banquet in Madison, for we knew that the goodbyes must soon follow. These partings were, however, delayed for about twenty of us who accepted the invitation of Delta Alumnae and Tau chapters for luncheon on the next day and went together as far as Chicago. After leaving the station there we laughed at our guide when she took us across the city in horse cars} for at our homes we use nothing slower than electricity. A trip out from the city to the old Midway on an express train reminded us all of the times four years ago when we took the .same route for the White City. With difficulty we tried to realize that we were in a familiar spot, for the Fair Grounds are very much changed. Finally we did recognize the Art Gallery, the German building and La Rhabida on the lake shore, but the State buildings, the Irish Village and the Streets of Cairo, where were they ? We had to satisfy ourselves with Jackson Park’s Wooded Island, lakes and drives all lying between us and Lake Michigan, and with the boulevards of the Midway, lined with their hundreds of wheelmen and the University Quad¬ rangle in the distance. As we walked westward Dr. Harper’s home, near the campus, first attracted our attention, next the thirteen build¬ ings themselves. Gothic architecture prevails and truly the millions have been well expended. We went into one of the three women’s dormitories, the two museums and Cobb
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i8 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. hall, in which are most of the recitation rooms — for classes in the languages and literature — and the departmental libra¬ ries. By this time we realized that we were going about in the City of Distances and we were too weary to give more than a glance, longingly, at the beautiful science buildings, on our way to the car. The luncheon itself seemed like a little convention, with the retiring Grand President and the Grand Secretary at the head of the table. We missed many faces, but our twenty hostesses, representing half as many chapters, proved eager listeners, and we told of the week’s pleasures when our Grand Secretary called upon one and another. Miss Funck, so long tried and proved, when she was asked to speak plead an “ engagement,” and slipped away after just a word of greeting. Our Kodak fiend from the Pacific told of Madison’s natural beauty, while our gentle little Friend spoke of the charming entertainment we had had, as guests of the Psi girls. As usual, we were proud of the ‘ ‘ children ’ ’ from Brown and Baltimore and of our sister from Alpha Alumnae. Last of all Tau’s delegate, in a few words, summed up the convention and answered questions that the ladies asked. The parting time could not longer be delayed, and we left for our homes, some in California, others on the Atlan¬ tic coast, truly glad that the fates had given such a pleasant ending to a happy week. Alumna.
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. Of all the privileges enjoyed by a college girl there is none, perhaps, for which she ought to be so thankful as the easy access to books. She may commune with the kings and queens of literature. Lllerary Work in She may travel around the world with Dar- Fratern,ty Mect" mg. win and Ruskin, who will show her more than she would see for herself. She may question Xeno¬ phon, Caesar and Alexander the Great on their campaigns ; be one in the vast audiences of Plato and Socrates. Some will relate the events of past ages, while others will reveal the deep secrets of nature. Some will open to her all the avenues to art and science. From some she will learn fortitude and that important lesson how to restrain her own desires and to rely on herself. In short, she will be taught how to live, how to become a true, noble woman. Sisters, we must be dead to selfishness, so it is our duty to give the golden thoughts we find in literature to others. Then let us have literary work in our fraternity. Let her that 4 Means her ear, in many a secret place, where rivulets dance their wayward round,* * bring the great facts revealed to her by nature and science. And she who finds 4 4 the silence and calm of mute insensate things,” teach her sisters how to find the higher and nobler gifts that lurk in 44 the mute and insensate.* * Let the poetic soul bring her favorite poems with the noble thoughts that they have brought to her. Let there be a review of the best novels, such as a favorite from the works of Dickens, Scott, George Elliott, or any other which may have appealed to a sister’s heart. Then seek a gift from music, that strange bridge between matter and spirit. Music has ever been a soul-shaping power, so strong and so subtle, it will add something of good to character.
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20 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . But do I hear someone say, “I am so busy I have not a moment to spare.1 * Did not Longfellow translate the Divine Comedy in odd moments, while waiting for his coffee to boil ? Did not Miss Havergal learn the Italian language while her nieces donned their wraps for their daily walk ? So surely we can write down a few precious thoughts gleaned from our reading and study of the best authors and present them at fraternity meeting, and so share with others “ it is twice blessed, it blesses him that gives and him that receives. * 9 Select wisely, read thoughtfully and prepare carefully. So will our minds become a well of pure and sparkling thoughts from which we can draw and our friends can drink deeply and go hence refreshed. D. E. G., ’98, Epsilon. I am not a corresponding secretary and never have filled that office, but I always read every letter through with the greatest interest, and perhaps I may be allowed to make a suggestion from the standpoint of the audi- Chapter Let- ence rather than one who is behind the ters. scenes and knows what the work really means. Have you who are in the same place as myself never felt, when you turned to the chapter letters, eager to hear from your sisters in sister colleges as if some times the secretary must have thought only of the alumnae who would read her message, and forgotten that they were only part of her audience and that we who have never known the chapter and college life of her university want something more than personals. That we want something that will bring us closer into touch with her chapter and make us feel its individuality. I know that in asking this we ask a very great deal of our Journal correspondent, and something that not every one can give us. But the ideal correspondent should be able to give in the course of the
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 21 year some idea of the distinctive life of her chapter and university. So that we may not feel that the personals, which mean so much to the alumna, are the only features of real interest in the letter, and that, except in so far as uni¬ versity life has everywhere the same salient features, the tone of the individual chapter life is to us something wholly foreign. C. L. In behalf of the long-suffering and much-criticised chapter correspondents, presumably snowed under by the cold, hard storm of ridicule and When Mercy rebuke their luckless efforts have evoked Seasons Justice, since time immemorial, I would speak a word of defense, a plea for human charity, a virtue of such rarity as to be most conspicuous for its absence. We are told, with grim resignation, that “ the ideal chap¬ ter secretary is born not made ’ ’ ; that ‘ ‘ she has not yet ap¬ peared”, and that “you, individually, are not worse than your neighbors ’ 9 , but we cannot feel devoutly grateful for these words of exceeding cold comfort. Diogenes, prowling about with a lantern in search of a man, may have been particular, even scrupulous in his taste, but in the verdict of “ hoi polloi ” was he particularly practical or scrupulously fair-minded ? Can it be — we reason from analogy — that Diogenes was a fraternity editor (we know he was a Greek), that the object of his quest was a journal correspondent, his lantern the light of higher criticism so liberally employed in articles, editorials, exchanges ? The worst of it is that we realize our shortcomings to the full ; that we drink the cup of ignominy to its dregs, and would be inclined to order a cup of hemlock as next and last course, were it not for a few palpable facts. Of course we know, at least we have heard it said, “ Qui s’excuse, s’accuse.” But, listen. Do you know, have you found, can you imagine a community as critical as a group of college girls ? Do you know, have you found, can you
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22 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . imagine, anything more eminently fitted to bring out any latent talent in that line than a college fraternity ? Consider the conditions of the case, amounting almost to phenomena ; not with this desirable data is the list of readers of a chapter letter complete. One must write for the chapter, for the fra¬ ternity at large, for faculty members, all over this broad land of ours who may chance upon its ill-fated phrases, for the college students in no fraternity who may see occasionally behind the but half-closed doors of a fraternity magazine, and last, but far from least, for those other fraternities near and far, whose business it is to read, mark, learn, inwardly note, outwardly notice. Ask the seven sages if it is possible to so cultivate the art of adaptability, and then send John Ken¬ drick Bangs to ask that wiliest of wily Greeks, Alcibiades, if it paid in the end to be all things to all men. Then again consider the subjects from which a corre¬ spondent may draw, and reconcile them if you can with the tastes and interests of this varied list of readers whose points of view are as opposite as one’s antipodes. Can even the barest mention of fall term functions, be they spreads, drives, theatricals or dances, excite the keen interest of faculty, in¬ dependents, other Greeks, — reading weeks afterward, in far distant cities? Will their estimate of chapter life and interests be quite what we would wish? Yet, we write, as well, for ourselves and our fraternity, and to them these little things that make up the sum of chapter life are of lasting interest. To them, too, we must talk of “prospects” and the “recent campaign to them we must introduce our fresh- men-elect and vouch for them in a few words of commenda¬ tion and confidence. But in what execrable taste is all this from an outsider’s standpoint. Or at best what “ Quips and cranks and wanton wiles, Nods and becks and wreathed smiles,” they evoke. “ Be original” ? We can’t. There isn’t anything to be original about in a chapter letter, strictly so speaking. “ During the fall term all over this great country your sister
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 23 chapters, too, have been busy initiating with all that precedes and follows” — and if this repetition of history be omitted, then the news must needs have a ludicrous savor of, ‘‘We take our pen in hand to let you know we are all well and hope you are enjoying the same blessing.” “It isn’t so much what you say as the way you say it.” Ah ! here we have a confession, Mademoiselle Editor. You do realize, it would seem, the limits of our possibilities. We must make something out of nothing, cosmos out of chaos, and make it perfect? The creative genius-you-would call for, demand, command ? You would “ Force us, tho’ it were in spite Of nature and our stars, to write ? ’ ’ Well, we understand each other. Diogene’s lantern is to be Aladdin’s lamp, which, under the skillful manipulation of the editor, summons geniuses — not genii as of old — to do her august bidding. Hail, Mademoiselle Aladdin and her new regime ! “ What reinforcement we may gain from hope, If not what resolution from despair.” Gladys Willard.
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CHAPTER LETTERS. The date upon which the next chapter letter should be sent out is December 5. Please write on one side only of the paper, and put the personals on separate sheet headed only by the name of the chapter. Any per¬ sonal communication to the editor should also be written 011 a sepa¬ rate sheet. Please note the way the chapter letters are headed and always arrange them in the same way, putting nothing at the head but the names of the chapter and the university. Alpha District. IOTA — CORNELL UNIVERSITY. If Iota but had her last year’s seniors and her several absent underclass girls with her again, she would indeed be the happiest of happy chapters. As it is, we seventeen who are back are enjoying college and fraternity life in a truly Theta manner. We feel that we have many causes for rejoicing. Chief among them our new Thetas. O11 October first we initiated Elva Hulburd Young. Miss Young who is from Wellesly is in the Law School here. Our second new member is Blanche Macleod who joined us on November fifth. Both Miss Young, and Miss Macleod have for a year been good friends of our girls and we are more than glad to make them some¬ thing nearer. At this season of the year, the topic of interest is of course rushing. We at Cornell have entered into that nerve- destroying occupation very mildly. Asking day is rather late and, this year, we are glad to say, all four fraternities have entered into the compact. We have entertained some of course, though neither elaborately nor often. Our tea, which we are vain enough to consider a very pretty and successful affair was given in the drawing rooms of Sage
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 25 Cottage. Since, we have given a little play and a theatre party besides one or two informal parties A drive is one of our plans for the near future. Eight of us are living in Sage Cottage, the new annex to Sage and find it a decided improvement over last year. We are sorry that the remaining nine could not have rooms here too, but we all unite in enjoying our pleasant chapter room on the first floor. Our delegate to the recent convention, Mabel Dobbin, has told us so much of the delights and benefits of that gather¬ ing, that we only regret that it is impossible for a whole chapter to act as delegate. We are glad to have with us again Ordelia A. Lester, who after teaching for several years in Adelphi College, Brook¬ lyn, has returned for her degree. Cornell women were much interested in the recent basket ball game with Cortland Normal School, which resulted in a score of 4 to 3 in favor of Cornell. Iota was doubly interested in that three of the Cornell team are Kappa Alpha Thetas. LAMBDA — UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT. We, Lambda girls, are delighted to be together again, but miss our ’97 sisters, many of whom have positions, of which we are justly proud. We have all had most delightful vacations, keeping in touch with one another by a fraternity letter, which has cir¬ culated during the months since last we met at our June spread. And such a success as was that same spread ! Many of the “Old Girls” were present to renew their friendships, and you may be assured that conversation did not lag. The banquet was held at “ The Cafe Richardson,” and, after the more substantial feast, we had plenty of witty toasts. The saying — “ that honor comes to whom honor is due ” — was proven true last spring, as Theodora Plumley received a Phi Beta Kappa key and Grace Noyes a Commencement
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26 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. appointment, while Katherine Page did us credit on Class Day. At the Ladies’ Reading, in May, we were all glad to have Margaret Healey, ’oo, get the first prize. During the vacation many of the girls have exchanged visits, but the thing which has affected us most is the fact that we have sold our Chapter House for a satisfactory little sum, and rented rooms on the principal business street, where we expect to make even a more comfortable and happy “Kat’s Kradle” than our last one. Here we hope to receive some new Kats, as there are a hundred in the entering class and doubtless good material among the twenty girls. We wash some of you might visit us here, for in our Kradle we Need ne’er ask the hour; what is it to us how Time deals out his treasures? The golden moments lent us here are not his coins, but pleasures. * ’ MU — ALLEGHENY COLLEGE. Again we are here at “ Old Allegheny,” and how happy we are to be together ! Although we spent a very pleasant vacation, indeed, and every one says, ‘‘why, the time just flew,” yet no one regrets that the summer is over and all are ready for work. We are at work, too, with the new girls, several of whom we think are too sweet to become anything but Thetas. We hope to introduce some of them to you by our next letter, as our asking day comes the Monday before Thanksgiving, according to a contract recently made with our sister frater¬ nities. I wonder if all Thetas have looked forward to the conven¬ tion as eagerly as we have. One of our sweetest girls, Miss Anna Campbell, has planned to go, and through her we send greetings to you all.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 27 CHI — SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. Chi opened the year with twenty active members. The first ten days were given up to rushing parties, the result of which is that Kappa Alpha Theta has eight new members, and fine girls they are : Grace Adams, Elizabeth Burrows, Irene Burrows, Helena Evans, Janet Harris, Persis Near¬ ing, Olivia Pratt, Florence Thomas. It was generally agreed that the entertainments showed unusual thought and skill, and that the rushing was of a really scientific sort. Chi is very jubilant over her new daughters. Initiation and banquet were held October 9, the initiation taking place in the Lodge in the afternoon and the banquet at the St. Cloud Hotel in the evening. Following is the toast list : Mabel E. Northrup, Toast Mistress. Greeting . Annis Whitney, ’99 A Loyal Theta . Marguerite Scoville, ’98 Our Legacy . Jennie Bingham Rushing Paraphernalia . Iva Lowther, ’99 The Pansy . Annie Bingham, 1900 Our Fraternity . Myra Norris, 1900 First Impressions . Persis Nearing, 1901 Our Outlook . Edith Knight, ’98 Chi has been most proud and happy to have two Kappa Alpha Theta guests this past week, Miss Mary Titus, from Gamma Alumnae, and Miss Caroline Briggs, from Alpha Epsilon. Chi is preparing to edit the new Song Book and hopes the chapters will be prompt about sending in songs. ALPHA BETA — SWARTHMORE. New hopes, new ambitions and new desires filled the hearts of the ten Alpha Beta girls, who gathered this fall within our college walls; and with reason. This year our doors were opened to a Freshman class, numbering fifty- four ; a class we feel to be an earnest and enthusiastic one.
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28 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. The twenty-second of September found us very busy talk¬ ing over our hopes and prospects for the coming year. In our work, the thought of bygone pleasures found a nook, and we recalled the happy days we spent together in the summer, in our third “Racket Lodge” (for we are loath to drop this name), this time in a charming home on the Delaware. Our delegate came back from the convention brimming over with enthusiasm for the fraternity and love for her sisters. How we wish we all might have been there, but patience, we have learned to be grateful listeners. Alpha Beta sends her greeting. Good wishes for a most happy and prosperous year, she sends you all. ALPHA DELTA — THE WOMAN’S COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE. Alpha Delta sends greetings to her sister chapters, and wishes them all a happy college year and a good rushing season. We begin our work with only nine girls, but tho.se nine are very energetic and hopeful. We have a large Freshman class this year, and some fine girls, but the ones we want are being rushed by all the other fraternities, so we expect rather a hard fight, and are planning innumerable rushing parties. We have decided for the present to remove from our room in the city to the College buildings. There have been several changes in the faculty this year. Professor Hodell, Pli.D., from Cornell occupies the chair of English. Miss Lord from Smith College is instructor in history. Just now we are anxiously awaiting the return of our delegate, for we expect her to come brimming with bright ideas and new inspirations, from a meeting with so many Theta sisters. ALPHA EPSILON — BROWN UNIVERSITY. Our Alma Mater, which for three months has been the scene of a great controversy, is now throbbing with joy at
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 29 its felicitous close in the withdrawal of the President’s resignation. Dr. Andrews is still with us and we are in¬ deed most glad. Now that we have come together again from mountain and country and sea shore, we find that the sunny days did more than put color into our cheeks and laughter into our eyes, it gave us an appetite for work. The delicious luxury of summer idleness has not been wholly indulged in, for our hearts and minds have been busy for college and for Kappa Alpha Theta, and we have come back bubbling over with plans for the new year that will make up for our quiet life last term. Looking back over the short time since our birthday, we see a very happy but very uneventful bit of our history. Because our chapter was already large, we took in no new members in the spring ; but now two girls that we are proud to have wear the black and gold and will soon be our very own. This, however, nor the fact that we can boast of three alumnae, does not compensate for the loss of our seniors, for that was the first break in our mystic circle. Our meetings are a compound of helpfulness, inspiration, and frolic, It is there that we discuss all questions which touch us most nearly in our college life, and it is there that we resolve not to be outdone by any other fraternity. As a result we have the senior and junior presidents, several minor class and club officers, the manager of the glee club, and the president of the Y. W. C. A. At the Northfield convention of the Y. W. C. A., this summer, some of our girls enjoyed a new and exquisite pleasure in meeting Theta girls from other colleges. They saw then what we had already known, that every Theta girl has the same great interests at heart, those interests which our fraternity strengthens within us and which make us strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
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30 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Beta District. alpha — DEPAUW UNIVERSITY. Only two weeks since our girls came back to their Fra¬ ternity home, filled w’ith enthusiasm for the year’s work. We were unable, as we were at the beginning of last year, to make a contract with one or all of the other fraternities, to withhold propositions for a few weeks, and again asserted our independence and drew up our own contract. We have always favored a quiet spike and, though it makes the work of the spike much more difficult, our six new girls are proof of the wisdom of deliberation. During the spike, there were several very pleasant social events. One, a brake drive, and another, a progressive bicycle party were especially delightful. In this second ride, the homes of several of our resident Thetas were visited, and at each place, dainty refreshments were served. The last course was reserved for the Chapter House, which was unusually resplendent on that night. Our Fraternity home has been enlarged during the sum¬ mer, and we now have, in addition to our parlors, a beautiful reception hall. During the summer, our girls bought new curtains, lamps, chairs and pictnres, and these, with the cushions and other gifts from kind friends, give us almost a new home. We have with us this year, Hattie Mary Tutewiler, ’97, of Indianapolis, who is teaching in the University, during the illness of Miss Ida Weaver, ’93, head of the French department. With everything indicating a prosperous year, it is a happy Alpha that sends best wishes to all her sisters. DELTA— UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. Delta sends a hearty greeting to all her sister chapters. Our new school year begins with great prospects for the future. Our school has been increased by the addition of a
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 3i Law Department, which opened with thirty-five students, and the Library Department, having thirty enrolled in its classes. The latter brings many fine girls within our reach. We have as yet pledged no new girls, as we have an agree¬ ment with the Pi Beta Phis not to ask any new girls to join our fraternity until the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving. This gives us a chance to know the girls thoroughly before taking them in. We are expecting much inspiration and good advice from our delegate, who went to Madison to the convention. We hope all the other chapters will succeed in their plans for the year, and in our next letter expect to tell you of some fine new girls whom we will have pledged. EPSILON — WOOSTER UNIVERSITY. Epsilon has many times in her history concluded that she is under the benign influence of some lucky star but perhaps she has never had more reasons for realizing it than this year. The opening of the term was distinctly marked by con¬ servatism. Having two pledged girls, Irene Flattery, ’00, and Mary Anderson, ’01, to initiate, and having our hearts made glad in midsummer when we learned that the Misses Ruth and Grace Thompson had heard from their parents in Japan that they might be of our mystic circle, we felt that we could well afford to wait. And as this was also a favorite idea of the matron of Hoover Cottage, who is always annoyed by the rushing at the beginning of the year, we decided to rest on our laurels and let sweet peace hold her sway. We met the new girls, and of course we were very soon convinced that six of these were meant for Thetas, and to our great delight they soon came to think of it just as we did— but our rival fraternity sisters were not quite so thoroughly convinced as we were on this important subject.
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32 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Without having lost a bid we are now proud to number among our sisters, Miss Belle Lean, Miss Josephine Taylor, Misses Mary and Grace Anderson, Miss Elizabeth Cathcart, Miss Esther Hemphill. Then too there was the party at the home of Miss Kate Johnson (U. of Mich.) who in her most hospitable manner has so often helped us to entertain the new girls. Bright new rooms with many pretty bits of furniture, with even a long talked-of piano are now our boast. Epsilon was never as confident of a more profitable or ideal year than this with the enthusiasm that our delegate will bring from the Convention with that which comes from our local success, but above these, from the enthusiasm that must come from a realization of true worth in every sister. The best wishes of Epsilon for the chapters all, is that they may have as fair skies as we, that your pleasures may be no less than ours. KAPPA — UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. After a summer in sunny Kansas, its days long and hot, filled with camping, horseback and tennis ; its nights all too short, taken up with drives and long talks, one does not rush to one’s Alma Mater where the curriculum, with its Latin and Greek, its science and mathematics is regularly enforced. Delayed by a wreck, a few of us reached Lawrence late one afternoon. Our trunks had not arrived, yet dear old Theta was holding a reception that we must attend. So, forgetting wilted collars and dusty boots, we went — and, bless you !— were hugged by the dear girls in their dainty gowns as though we had worn our organdies and our Ameri¬ can beauty hats. “ Had we had a good time?” ‘ ‘ Simply splendid. ’ ’ “ Were we glad to get back?” “Yes; really and truly.” The University has more new girls than usual this year,, and a number were at the reception.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 33 This was the first reunion of dear old Theta, but since then we have met quite often and enjoyed an afternoon or two, an evening, and an informal little dancing party. Best of all, as a result of our new acquaintances have pledged five new girls. Two of our chapter have just left for Madison. We all wanted to go, — but, you understand - . Perhaps it was our self-denial that turned our thoughts and made us ask God to bless every dear Theta and strengthen the bond that binds to a better, a purer, and a nobler womanhood. NU — HANOVER COLLEGE. The new year opened with bright prospects for K. A. ©. There is a large increase in the number of students, especially girls. We have our eyes on several of the new girls, and if they prove to be of the proper material for Thetas we hope to soon introduce them to you. Already we have pledged four. Our girls have spent a very pleasant vacation and have re¬ turned with renewed vigor for fraternity work. We have many plans for the year’s work, and feel that this will, in¬ deed, be a very successful year for us. Last Commencement was a very pleasant time for Nu, as so many of our girls were back. Black and gold were con¬ spicuous and every one remarked upon our happy looks. We hear excellent reports of the work our alumnae are doing, and feel that we have more cause than ever before for being justly proud of K. A. ©., and especially Nu chapter. Miss Theodora McCoy, ’96, is taking special work in col¬ lege this year. We are perfectly delighted to have her with us, as she is such a help in fraternity work. With best wishes for success to all the chapters. PI — ALBION COLLEGE. Pi rejoices to send heartiest greetings to all Thetas at this the beginning of another college year. And well she may,
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34 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. for is not our lodge, which has been built in imagination so many times, daily drawing closer to the vivid reality? Just four weeks longer, and our home will be completed, and it is useless to say how anxiously the days will be counted until the first of November. The new year opens with a large number of new students, and the usual rushing1 * is taking all our spare time just at present. To assist in the good work, we gave an informal spread at the home of sister Emma Osborne last Monday evening, September twenty-ninth. Our active chapter numbers nine this year, but we hope to find a few more whom we deem worthy to wear the “kite.” Since last you heard from us, we have added one more to our number. Nellie Ray was changed from a pledgling to a Theta baby last Commencement week, at which time we also held our reunion banquet, and were made happy by the presence of fifteen of our old girls. The following Wednesday afternoon, we held the annual business meeting of our Building Association, and our lodge is the product of the efficient work done there. We are looking forward to the Convention with great an¬ ticipation, and expect to receive great inspiration from the reports our delegate shall bring back. With best wishes to all Thetas. RHO — NEBRASKA STATE UNIVERSITY. It has seemed hard to wait a month longer for our Journal, but we all feel that it will be the more interesting when it does appear, for it is inevitable that convention reports should rouse our fraternity spirit to an unusual extent. Our delegate came back with the greatest enthusiasm, and we enjoyed her detailed account very much, but could not help feeling that we had missed a great deal in not being there to see and hear for ourselves. The girls, even now, never tire of hearing what happened at convention, and the two who
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 35 went had so many new ideas that we all felt the influence of this national meeting. We were especially glad that the revised ritual came in time for our initiation, for it gives us a stronger feeling of unity to know that our Thetas every¬ where are using exactly the same ceremony to welcome in new sisters. We held our initiation Friday evening, on the twenty-second of October, at the home of Lida Millar, and received into our mystic circle four girls, Ella Harper, Frances Cunningham, Mary Towne and Ruth Wilson, and we feel that they are girls who will be well fitted to assume the responsibility and guidance of the fraternity when the older girls are gone ; girls whom we can trust to keep Rho chapter true to Theta’s ideal. But the beautiful initiation ceremony did more than give us four sisters ; it drew us all closer together and made us realize how great a responsibility is laid upon us, and that we are not faithfully assuming this responsibility unless we are every day striving to be truer and nobler women, worthy of our Theta sisterhood. From the time of the last number of the Journal until Commencement week we were all too busy to do much of anything but attend to our studies, but one Saturday, toward the latter part of May, every one in the University turned out to see our soldier boys contest for the cup, for the Com¬ petitive Drill is a great event in our University life. Kappa Kappa Gamma, in accordance with her custom, viewed the grounds from a gaily decorated tally-ho, but we wanted to do something out of the ordinary, so we finally decided to erect a booth by the side of the grand stand. We draped it with the University scarlet and cream and our own black and gold, and adorned it with flags in abundance. The floor was spread with rugs, and in the back were a few chairs, but the rest was one mass of sofa cushions. The booth was crowded all afternoon, and the strawberry punch which we served seemed to be very refreshing to the boys as they came up after their company drills. We had made flags of the colors of each company, so, before the special drills, the companies lined up and the captains advanced to receive the
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36 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. flags. We further honored the winning company with a black and gold flag with K. A. .©. embroidered upon it. Commencement week came soon after and was filled up with gaieties, for every one wanted to relax after the year’s strain, and then, with the greatest reluctance, we scattered for the summer. One of the girls went to California, and made the acquaintance of the Theta’s at Berkeley, whom she seemed to find as congenial and as much like sisters as those of Rho, and by whom she was welcomed with true Theta hospitality. On the seventeenth of September, we all came together again, and were so glad to see each other, that we held Fraternity meeting that very evening, rejoicing in the fact that all our girls are back this year, except Charlotte Clark, who is with us a great deal, but does not take work in the University. The next day, Anne Barr entertained all the Alumnae and active members at a Kensington and from that time to this there has been a constant round of parties, but now we are about ready to settle down to work as the ex¬ citement of considering new girls is almost over. On Friday evening, October ninth, we gave a tally-ho party for our pledged members and as the night was perfect, we had a splendid time. We assembled at Leola Vancil’s at about seven and from there rode for several hours about town, ending with a supper and dancing. We celebrated All Hal¬ lowe’en with a ghost party at Delia Loomis’ Saturday night. Afterward we pulled taffy, danced and did various other things until midnight. On the following Tuesday, Olive Latta, one of our alumnae, gave a delightful Kensington for the other alumnae, the active members and their friends from the men’s fraternities. But now we are all heartily sick of parties and are going to be quiet for awhile, except for foot¬ ball games, which are the most important events of the season. Our team has been grandly victorious in every game so far, and we hope to support this record until the end. We send loving greeting to all, and are glad that so long a time will not elapse now before we hear from each other again. Rho’s prospects are very bright, and she sincerely hopes that all her sister chapters are as prosperous.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 37 TAU — NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. Rushing season at Northwestern, — what power the words have to call up a host of tender recollections ! Dwelling on them there comes back the whole picture of the past ; the old university hall, with its beautiful grounds, and the lake, ever dear to the hearts of its lovers, the girls, standing round in clusters, the old girls critically eyeing the new, and the new, wondering who will be the next person to address them without introduction. And this year history again re¬ peats itself. We look round our circle, once more, on the old familiar faces and each heart feels the truth of the old English adage, “ Old broth made hot again, That loved I never ; Old love made new again, That loved I ever.” Yet they are not all with us — two are missing. One, who was a host in herself, causes an especially vacant place in our hearts. Lida Scott has left us to go “ a-hunting for the pebbles ’ ’ in the far west and is now a dignified teacher of elocution and physical culture in Los Angeles ; the other, Jessie Sawyer, does not seem so utterly gone, for she is for¬ tunately a town girl and we hope to see her often on frat. night during the coming winter. Such is the history of the chapter as it was before rushing season began. We have added to our number five sisters, who take the place of our two seniors of last year. We have been very fortunate this season, in that we have had no “bid” re¬ fused where we have extended that honor. The names of our new Thetas, in the order of their pledging, are as fol¬ lows : Leila Morris, Mary Milbank (a senior), Agnes Hay¬ den, Adelaide Lewis, Mary Orth. We feel that not a finer array of strong, earnest, true girls could be shown by any fraternity this year and we are very proud of them and of our own good fortune in being able to call them ours.
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3» THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . Perhaps a little college news would be interesting. No doubt you all have read of President Rogers’ new rules. They have excited a great deal of attention and comment in the college communities all over the country. But, to tell the truth, our own personal experience proves that their “ bark is worse than their bite.” We have not found them so very dreadful,, nor have we suffered any under their rigid enforcement. In fact, we have gone on just as before, noticing very little change. This may be due to the meek bowing of the head under the yoke of bondage, or it may be due to something else. Whatever is the cause we are per¬ fectly willing to submit to anything that our President thinks is for our own good and advancement, feeling al¬ ways that, from his intimate knowledge of our natures and characters, he must know best our weaknesses and our fail¬ ings, and we humbly bow to the cure he prescribes. Perhaps he believes with Mark Twain, who, when suffer¬ ing from an attack of lumbago, called in a doctor to advise him. The doctor inquired into his daily habits. “ Do you drink coffee to excess?” “ Yes.” ‘ ‘ And tea?” “ Yes.” “ You fill your stomach with all things that disagree with each other?” “Yes.” “You drink two strong whiskey ‘toddies’ every night before you go to bed?” “Yes.” “ Well, my dear man, I can do nothing for you until you use some moderation in your habits.” “But,” said Mark Twain, “ I cannot moderate my habits, the only thing I can do is to stop them altogether.” “ Very well,” said the doc¬ tor, ‘ ‘ stop them and I will call round tomorrow to see how you are progressing. ” The doctor was taken sick that night and was unable to “ call round,” but Mark Twain fol¬ lowed his advice for two days. At the end of that time the lumbago disappeared and Mark Twain returned again to his former habits with much satisfaction. He has never felt a touch of the trouble since. So, Dr. Rogers may feel that, by making us discontinue our habits of enjoyment for a year or two, we may be able to return again to our pleasures, at the end of that time, without any injury to ourselves.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 39 After the example of the apostle, Tau sends grace, mercy and peace unto all her sister chapters who are scattered abroad in all the land. And with the greeting permit the exhortation that you labor together with us that by our mutual efforts we may be comforted and our work prospered. There is a motto, engraved on princely crests — “ Ich dien ” — may this be ours for the coming year ! UPSILON — UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. The Upsilon girls are very glad indeed to be together again after the long summer vacation. Our prospects are only the brightest, and consequently we are very happy indeed. We commenced the year with four pledged girls, and have since added two to the list. Each one is an excep¬ tionally fine girl and of whom Theta may always be proud. Let me introduce them to you — Lillian Dodson, Clara Fan¬ ning, Franta Soule, all of Central High Minneapolis ; Alice Jackson and Margaret Moore of East Side High, Min¬ neapolis, and Alice Jones of Duluth. Mrs. Justina Levitt Wilson, one of our alumnae will entertain the six at dinner, Saturday evening, after which we will seize upon them and initiate them. Rowena Pattee gave us a very pretty dancing party Sep¬ tember 1 8th, which we enjoyed to the fullest extent. Next Tuesday, five of our girls leave for Madison. They are Ada Daniels, Georgia Everest, Katherine Morse, Isabelle Armstrong and Carrie Elton. We almost envy them their good times, but then, we can’t all go. Upsilon has suffered a great loss. Last week Viola Kipp of St. Paul died, after an illness of but ten days. We initiated her just a year ago, and now we cannot realize that the dear girl has gone from our midst. Although only with us a year, yet she was one of the most active and loyal Thetas in the chapter. Our sorrow is very great. This is the first death in our chapter and we hope and pray that it may be the last for many years to come. Love to all Thetas.
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40 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. PSI— UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. Psi sends greeting to all her Theta sisters. We are all very happy to be together again, and the lodge is filled with a crowd of enthusiastic girls. To some of us the vacation has been very enjoyable ; seven of us had a reunion at the home of one of our girls, and where Theta is there is always jollity. One of our girls, Grace Cloes, has been winning laurels in tennis and we are very proud of her. Since you heard from us last another dear girl wears the kite. On June 4th we initiated Edna Langley. U. W. has been open a week and we are still getting set¬ tled in our work. Rushing is still going on. Our lovely fall days give many opportunities for out-of-door-pleasures. Madison is very beautiful when she dons the crimson and gold. We are all enthusiasm over the convention and are look¬ ing forward to it expectantly. It is a great pleasure to think that the Theta bond is to be drawn closer, that we are to meet so many of our sisters, and also show to them the beauties of our alma mater. We wish all Thetas a successful year both in work and play. ALPHA GAMMA — OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Though Alpha Gamma numbers but eight active girls at present we are by no means despondent, for in a very short time we will initiate into our deep mysteries, Anna Hunter, who has been a Theta in spirit if not in truth ever since the opening of college this fall, and with her, Florence Durstine, who came to us as a pledge from Epsilon. Both are sweet, true Thetas, and we feel that we will be perfectly happy this year, even if there should be no others upon whom to confer the honor of wearing the black and gold. Anna Prael, our delegate to the convention, and Edith Cockins, the delegate from Epsilon Alumni chapter, left this
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7 HE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 4i e/ening for Madison. And how we all wish we were dele¬ gates ! But Alpha Gamma will be well represented, for Annis McLaughlin and Grace Eagleson, both of the class of ’97, went also as visitors. There seems to be no end to Theta weddings. When Martha Fisher of the class of ’99 and Mr. Mark Griffin, ’97, were married last June on commencement day, and when Esther Stafford and Mr. Joseph Russell Taylor shortly fol¬ lowed their example, we thought we would be left unmo¬ lested for a while, but here at the beginning of the year we are startled by an invitation to the wedding of Clara Esther Luse, ’97, and Rev. Herbert Scott, Yale, ’97. Alpha Gamma sends best wishes to every member of Kappa Alpha Theta. PHI — ICELAND STANFORD, JR., UNIVERSITY. This is, indeed, a busy season : we are rushed — for we are rushing ! Nevertheless, we must take time to send our words of greeting to the fraternity at large. Our Theta flock of last year has scattered, as flocks are wont to do, and those of us that remain feel dismembered, and as yet hardly adjusted to our losses. This, I presume, must be the condition of every chapter every year, for a time. But, we are busy, getting ready for new gains ! The four national women’s fraternities here have a contract not to pledge new students for six weeks after matriculation day. This time of “ probation ” does not expire until about the middle of October, so we are still hard at work cultivat¬ ing the acquaintance of the Freshman class. When college closed last semester, our prospects for the chapter-house for this year were very poor — so poor that we were almost afraid we should have to give it up. Few of the girls could promise definitely to live in the house, for various individual reasons. But, it seems, our fears were needless ; the house is in a fairly flourishing condition after all. In future we shall all be optimistic ! Phi sends sincere best wishes to all.
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42 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. OMEGA. — UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Since college reopened we have had the pleasure of wel¬ coming into the Greek world the young women heretofore united under the name of University of California Sorosis, who have obtained a charter from Kappa Kappa Gamma, so that we have now three Greek letter sororities in our Uni¬ versity. The brilliant financial prospects for California mentioned in the last letter are an assured fact. As a foretaste of the good things that are to come we are watching with interest the construction of four new temporary buildings on our Campus. A large one for class room purposes, one for the Philosophical department another for Botany, and the last for the Agricultural department whose building was burned last April. We have also to record with gratitude the gift of Levi Strauss, Esq., of San Francisco, consisting of twenty-eight scholarships which the State has supplemented by an equal number. These fifty-six are in addition to the women’s scholarships maintained by Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, our ever generous benefactress. Our rushing season has been a comparatively quiet one. As a result so far we have pledged three girls whose names and initiation will be the subject of the next chapter letter. As is usual there are a great many girls whom we do not know yet, but with whom we hope to become better acquainted. The Freshman class is smaller than usual this year for various reasons, one of which may be the fact of the in¬ creasing severity of the entrance examinations. Besides this the proportion of girls this year is smaller than in the preceding two or three classes. We are looking forward with much interest to the report of our delegate to the convention. We hope that at some time it may be our duty and pleasure to hold the convention here in California, when we can show to some more Eastern friends, as we did this summer, the delights of our State and our Alma Mater.
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PERSONALS. ALPHA. Miss Marne Town, originally of ’97, is again in the University. Miss Edith Morris, ’97, of Greencastle, was called home from Covington, where she has been teaching, by the death of her father. Miss Mary Goodwin, ’97, is attending Mrs. Summer’s school, Washington, D. C. Miss Edith Coffin, ’97, is now living in Los Angeles, Cal. Miss Hallie Harrell, ’97, is teaching in Oxford, Indiana. Miss Mary Ritter, ’97, of Indianapolis, has been sent to Madison as delegate by Epsilon Alumnae Chapter. EPSILON. Born, September 6, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Angell ( n£e Helen Jeffries), of Chicago, a daughter. Miss Ella Shields, U. of W., ’91, has resigned her posi¬ tion in the schools of Canfield, O., and will remain at her home in Wooster. One of our seniors of last year, Nina Given, was elected as teacher of English and Physiology in the Wooster High school. So, although Miss Funck has resigned her posi¬ tion in the High school, we shall still have a representative in its corps of teachers. O11 account of delicate health, Bess Dunlap finds it neces¬ sary to spend the winter in Southern California. Her sister Grace accompanies her. We hope they may meet some of our California sisters. Miss Mary Mather, who was in the junior class last year, has gone to Delaware to complete her college course. Miss Birdena Frances Wallace of Chicago, was married on Sept. 21, to Mr. Thornton Moore Orr, Phi Psi, Univer-
Page 54
44 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. sity of Pennsylvania. They will be at home after Nov. i, in Pittsburg. Our number has been strengthened by the return of Elizabeth Beer, ’97, who returns to her Alma Mater to take post-graduate work. Epsilon regrets very much to lose one of her bright seniors, Florence Dunlap, who has accepted a good position in the Cleveland schools. We hope that this is only a tem¬ porary arrangement and that in another year she may return and finish her college course. We know that all Thetas will be interested in reading Helen Watterson Moody’s articles running through Scrib¬ ner's Magazine. Epsilon feels a special interest in the writer, as she was a member of our chapter from ’79 to ’83. Miss Harriet Lucretia Funck ’96, was married on Nov. 19, to Mr. Fred G. Miller, Cornell ’91, anda member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. They will be at home after Dec. 15th at Doyleston, Ohio. ETA. Minerva Rhines and Myra Post came out from Detroit and spent several days with us during the rushing season. Mrs. Laura Hills-Norton has just returned to Chicago from three months in France. Carolyn Parrish is now living in South Evanston and teaching Latin in the Lake View high school, Chicago. On September 2, Katharine Landfair was married to Mr. Marvin B. Rosenberry and went to Wausaw, Wis. , to live. Eta is enjoying the pleasantest home she has ever had, and she sends greetings from ten active girls and five pledg- lings. Editha Dann has been unable to return to us this fall. She was to have represented us at Madison, but illness has kept her at home. The collegiate alumnae held its annual meeting in Detroit this fall and one day was spent in Ann Arbor. During a drive about the city the ladies stopped a few minutes at our
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 45 house and had a cup of tea with us. Our pledglings and all the Theta mothers who live in town helped us in entertain¬ ing the ladies. One of the ladies was our own Myra Post. Louise Harris is teaching science in the La Crosse, Wis. , high school. We are glad to have Bertha Hull so near us. She has the drawing at the State Normal School in Ypsilanti, Mich. Gertrude Hull is in Milwaukee, Wis., for the winter. IOTA. Lillian C. Swift, ’97, is teaching English in the Bingham¬ ton High school. Vena Fenno, of Mu, who has for the past two years been taking graduate work at Cornell, is at present studying in Paris. Nannine La Villa, *00, is in Florence, Italy, where she will hereafter make her home. Jessica M. Hitchcock, '97, is teaching Latin in the Ithaca High school. Marguerite Hempstead, ’oo, is this year studying in Alle¬ gheny College. Elizabeth Russell, '99, is, for this term, at her home in Watkins, N. Y. Dorothy Vedder, ’93, was married on September 1st to Charles Locke Etheridge, A. K. E., Cornell, *91. Edith Todd, special '95, was married on August 4, to Bert Sedgwick, Yale '94. Agnes Louise White, ’96, was married on July 7th to Mr. Philetus Havens Holt, of New York City. KAPPA. Miss Mabel Sayre, formerly of K. U., will graduate from Wells College this year. Miss Clara Lynn, of Kansas City, attended the convention. Miss Annie Wilder, ’95, was in Lawrence during the rush¬ ing season. She is now instructor in French at the high school in West Port, Mo.
Page 56
46 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Miss Grace Caldwell, of Lawrence, will be married Octo¬ ber 27, to Mr Clyde Miller, Beta, of Osage City. Miss Edith Davis, ’97, has accepted a position in Topeka high school. Miss Violetta Gilman, pledged in ’96, is studying music in Cincinnati. Katherine Dunn, Kappa, is at Wells this year. LAMBDA. Katherine Page, ’97, is teaching at Hinesburgh. Blanche Brigham and Grace Noyes at Hyde Park. Theodora Plumley has the position of preceptress at the Kane high school in Penn. May Edwards is taking the place of Miss Addie Edwards at Morrisville, during the latter’s temporary disability. Elizabeth Norton, ’96, after a year at the Albany Library School, spent the summer in cataloguing books in our own Billings library. Ruth Norton, ’96, is teaching in Brandon. Marion McIntyre, ex-99, is studying Osteopathy in the college at Kirksville, Miss. Clara Gillette, ex- ’99, has a successful business in dress¬ making at Metheun, Mass. Florence Burdick, ’95, is teaching mathematics at the Burlington high school. The engagement of Annie Leavens, ’96, to Mr. Wilfred Manchee, of Passaic, N. J., is announced, as is also that of Lucy Sawyer, ’99, to Frederick Willard, U. V. M., ’97. Ivy Hopkins, ex-’oo, is teaching at Richford. Helen Thompson, ex-’oo, was married August 28th, to Harry House, of Newport. MU. At our annual banquet, given June 23d, we had with us Misses Vena Fenno and Marguerite Hempstead, of Iota. Miss Hempstead is studying with us in “ Old Allegheny 99
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 47 this year, while Miss Fenno has gone abroad to study at Oxford. Both of our pledglings are ill, Marian Stark at her home in Mansfield, Ohio, and Clara Hinckley here in Meadville. On the 18th of August we had a Theta wedding at Cat¬ taraugus, N. Y., when Miss Lena Lattin, *97, was married to Mr. Lucius Bugbee, B. ©. II., of Boston University. They are now at home to their friends at Dennis, Mass. NU. Clara Palmer, ’96, is spending the year in New York. Pauline Ernst, ’96, is again teaching in the Madison, Ind. High School. Ellouise Daugherty, ’93, is in Denver this year. Louise Burcham, ’95, will spend the winter at her home in Kossuth, Ind. Margaret McCoy, *96, is head teacher of Latin in the Peru, Ind., High School. Virginia Overton is teaching this year at her home in Kentucky. Eva Fitzgerald, ’88, made us a flying visit last Commence¬ ment. She is in the State Library at Indianapolis. Mary Moffatt, ex-*99, is attending Ferry Hall Seminary this year. pi. Lillian Dickerson ’95 was married to Frank Walker ’96 at her home in Howell, Mich., June 25, ’97. Pearl Field, *96, and Ames Maywood, *96 were united in marriage Aug. 10, ’97. Mr. Maywood is pastor at Hough¬ ton, Mich., this year. Josephine Woods, ’97, occupies the position of teacher of English and German in the St. Joseph high school. RHO. On the first of last May, Elizabeth Tuttle became Mrs. Henry Holsmann and is now living in Chicago.
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48 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Mrs. Atmesley has returned after a year’s absence in the East and is with us on all special occasions. Eleanor Williams, whose home is nowin Minnesota is visit¬ ing Thetas in Lincoln. Clara Walsh has accepted the position of instructor in art at Weslyau University and takes active interest in all that concerns Theta. Emily Weeks who was obliged to leave school last year on account of ill-health is with us again. v TAU. Anna Adams, has gone from Washburn College, Topeka, to New Haven Connecticut. She is teaching in the High School and doing graduate work in Yale. UPSILON. Helen Woodman, ’97, is teaching Latin in the high school at Shakopee, Minn. The engagement is announced of Caroline Fowler Tom¬ linson to Claude Forsell. Mr. Forsell is a graduate of the law school of our University, and both young people are well known in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The wedding is to take place next Spring. Caroline M. Durkee is teaching in the Scientific Depart¬ ment of the Windom High School. Married, September 1st. — Miss Sophie Huntington Wil¬ liams to John Sandford Small. Mr. and Mrs. Small will reside in Minneapolis. Anne Goodsill, ’00, has been compelled to leave college and go South on account of her mother’s health. We sincerely hope that Anne will be back next year. PHI. Miss Carrie Evans has returned to Stanford, after an ab¬ sence of four years. Miss Ruby Green, ’99, was married, Sept, nth, to Mr. Howard Bell, ’99. Mr. and Mrs. Bell will travel for a year.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 49 Miss Mary McLean, Berkeley ’95, is assistant in English this year. Miss Dorothea Roth, of Eta, who affiliated with Phi last year, is in Santa Cruz. Miss E. S. Plested, of Alpha, has entered as a special student in the department of Hygiene. Miss Edith M. Jordan, ’97, is teaching at Irvington, Cal. Miss Alice Carey, ’oo, will spend the winter with friends at West Newton, Pa. Miss Grace Barnhisel, *99, is unable to return to college this semester, on account of ill-health. Miss Ortha Belle Fielder, *97, is teaching in the Denver High school. CHI. Dr. Carro Cummings, ’94, Buffalo Medical College, ’97, is now practicing medicine in Buffalo. Miss Pauline Jennings, ’89, will sail Oct. 23d for Leipsic, Germany, where she will spend a year in study. OMEGA. On July 1st Amanda Krenz, 96, was married to Mr. Fred¬ erick Koch, U. C., ’96, a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. On July 15th Lou Whipple, '96, was married to Mr. Thomas Pleasants McCrea, of Los Angeles. alpha delta. Eva May Blake, ’97, is studying medicine this year in New York. We are glad to have Elizabeth Sooy, who was away last year, with us again. Mrs. Brownell from Chi will be in Baltimore this winter. ALPHA EPSILON. Miss Josephine Bean and Miss Clara Whitehead, both of ’97, are teaching in the Providence High School. Miss Martha Briggs, ’97, is teaching in the Attleboro High School.
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Jn Ittcmorianu VIOEA KIPP. Whereas, God in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to take to Himself our beloved sister, Viola Kipp, and thus"to deeply bereave her parents, — Whereas, We desire to express our sorrow at their be¬ reavement, be it Resolved , That we, the members of Upsilon Chapter of K. A. ©. tender them our deepest love and sympathy in their sorrow. Resolved , That a copy of these resolutions be sent to them, printed in the Kappa Alpha Theta Journal.
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EDITORIALS. The convention has come and gone and those who were fortunate enough to attend it have only the happiest memo¬ ries of the place, the people we met, the delegates and the entertaining chapter. Of the beauty of Madison too much cannot be said and to the pleasure of visiting a place of so much natural beauty was added the interest that college stu¬ dents always feel in seeing a sister university. The people of Madison whom we were fortunate enough to meet aud the chapters of other fraternities showed us the kindest and most considerate hospitality and did much to make our memories of the beautiful town and university only pleasant ones. Every chapter was represented by at least one official delegate and in some cases the official delegate was accom¬ panied by five or six visitors, so that between seventy and eighty sat down to the banquet Friday night. The dele¬ gates came prepared for business and no time was wasted during the meetings. Miss Sargent^ our Grand President has given some account of the business transacted. Some important changes were made in regard to the Journal which it is hoped will prove satisfactory. We have gone back to the old plan of publishing quarterly and have put the four numbers during the college year in order to avoid a summer number that would reach the chapters while they were all scat¬ tered. The new record blanks are described more in detail by Miss Caldwell the editor of the catalogue and will be sent to the chapters as soon as possible. Only one member of the grand council, as it has been for the last two years, laid aside her duties at this convention and gave up her official work for the fraternity. The fra¬ ternity as a whole, as well as those who have been more closely connected with Miss Funck while she has filled the
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52 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. place of Grand President, appreciate most highly the ability she has shown in fulfilling the arduous duties of her posi¬ tion, and the careful and conscientious way that she has worked for the good of the fraternity. And she has their warmest wishes for her success and happiness in the wider future upon which she is entering. To Psi the entertaining chapter every delegate owes a vote of thanks and appreciation for her cordial, thoughtful and considerate hospitality. Only those who have been in the same place understand how much work the entertainment of a convention entails upon the chapter undertaking it, but all who have attended a convention have some idea of the careful planning that must precede and the amount of work that must be done during the sessions and we have the sin- cerest appreciation of Psi’s unselfish, thoughtful care to which a large share of the success of the meeting was due. It is undoubtedly the influence of the convention that has produced such a unanimity of thought in the contributors to this number of the Journal. The desire to know the fraternity as a whole, to meet and become acquainted with our sisters from other chapters than our own is always pres¬ ent but the wish is stronger and the benefits to be gained from such a privilege are more evident directly after the convention has met. Requests come from one chapter for fuller chapter reports, from another for a traveling president and from still another for district conventions. The tendency of them all is toward greater unity in the fraternity as a whole and toward bringing the chapters into closer and more intimate relationship. The chapter letters and reports are the most frequent opportunities for the interchange of ideas and the possibility of becoming better acquainted. No matter how much we may attain in our efforts to make these the best possible, there is always sure to be room for im¬ provement, and they can never in any degree equal the possibility of rousing that enthusiasm and securing that in-
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 53 spiration which are to be gained from a personal meeting. The problem of the traveling president is excellent in theory but difficult of practical solution. Much good could be ac¬ complished and many difficulties could be more easily ar¬ ranged than is now possible if such an office could be estab¬ lished. And if at present the practical obstacles seem too many to surmount, at least it will do us no harm to consider the question and be in readiness to decide intelligently when it comes up for decision. The district convention could be more easily managed. More especially in two of the dis¬ tricts, perhaps. Beta district is large and widespread and might find it quite impracticable to come together oftener than for the biennial convention of the fraternity. Gamma dis¬ trict holds conventions with comparative ease and reports a great amount of good as a result. It does not seem as if Alpha would meet with any serious difficulty in carrying out the same idea. The chapters are not so widely separ¬ ated as those of Beta district and it is more than likely that some of the girls from each chapter pass through or very near to one of the large cities of the district on their way to and from college. If the time were chosen at the beginning or end of the college year a convention might be arranged with little trouble or expense. This number of the Journal has been necessarily delayed waiting for material that could not be had until after the convention. Corresponding secretaries and other corre¬ spondents will please note that the time when contributions are due has been changed to suit the change in the issue of the Journal from three times a year to quarterly. Also will the secretaries who have not already done so please send a statement of the number of Journals that their chapters need ? If any chapter has not received enough of this issue more will be forwarded if sent for.
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EXCHANGES. In his introductory remarks, the newly-elected exchange editor of one of our well-known fraternity journals, ex¬ presses by a beautiful mixed metaphor the state of his feel¬ ings on assuming for the first time the grave responsibilities of his office. He writes : “It is with fear and trembling that I take my pen in hand to fill my predecessor’s boots.” All heartily sympathize with him if an ordinary stub pen was the instrument he had in mind wherewith to accomplish this arduous task, be les bottines de M. Predecessor e’er so tiny. However, if the editor contemplates using a fountain pen, it is less difficult to account for the strange mental and phy¬ sical phenomena which attended his initiatory services, especially if he feared the consequent wrath of Mr. Prede¬ cessor on finding his boots filled with a something unknown to the reader — most probably ink. “Fear and trembling” do not constitute a part of the emotions of the present writer on assuming for the first time the duties of her predecessor, in comparison with whose massive brain and eagle eye her’s are but embryonic. But, knowing that all realize this, she can only hope for the charity and long .suffering of her fellow Thetas until she has, by practice and diligence, become more familiar with the duties and better able to cope with the requirements of the office of Exchange Editorship — of The Kappa Alpha Theta. The first number of The Western College Magazine , an old magazine under a new name, appeared in October. It is to be an inter-collegiate monthly and the publishers an¬ nounce as one of the noteworthy features to appear during the year a special department on College Fraternities “which will interest every fraternity man, as it will faithfully chronicle the news from all western chapters. Being con-
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 55 ducted in the spirit of true fraternity feeling, it will prove of interest as well to every non-fraternity man who is at all interested in college social conditions.” The October Key contains the following paragraphs on the ” personal loyalty” which must co-exist with and be the foundation of chapter loyalty. Much emphasis is placed upon loyalty to the fraternity and of that we know there is no lack. But in one kind of loyalty it seems to me we may be in danger of failing, and that is in loyalty to each other. In the intimacy of chapter life, and that intimacy alone makes chapter life worth the living, we find in each other many little contrarities and peculiarities which in the formal meeting would never have been discovered. We may find little traits of character of which we do not approve and it is our impulse to speak of these. It is against those very comments that I wish to protest. If one of our Kappa sisters has some little foible, there is a great temptation to speak of it, although in no malicious spirit, when we are talking things over, as every human girl must love to do. In this lies the mistake. We ought to realize that the less personal comment goes the rounds of our little band, the better for us all. We are none of us flawless, and the quality most needed to perfect our chapter life is toleration and much of it. Did we but realize the worth of this virtue, what it means to all our lives, I am sure more strenous effort would be made towards its cultivation. So let us impress this on our¬ selves and, while holding closely to fraternity loyalty, let us also be mindful of personal loyalty. The same number of the Key gives an account of the in¬ stallation of the new chapter at the University of California. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to see the Key for July enjoyed looking at the chapter groups, twenty- six of which are given therein. Among the Exchanges of the Arrow we find a quotation from the Key on the unanimity question, the final solution of which involves the harmony and very life of a chapter. The discussion is quoted in full : The question whether a member should exercise her prerogative and blackball a candidate to whom she alone ob-
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56 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. jects has provoked considerable discussion. The prevailing impression seems to be that a member has such a right but that she should be very careful about using it. Those who argue most strongly that she possesses the right, at the same time assert that she should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in her. They are inclined to make a list of the reasons which may be given with impunity and there is a tendency to limit her to these. If she oversteps the bounds and discovers some reason perfectly satisfactory to herself but not palpably rational, what follows ? Her chapter will rise up and call her “ — well — not blessed.” They are also likely to insist that a great injustice is being done them. Any one who has had experience in fraternity life can attest to the truth of this statement. A little reflection shows that this view of the case is en¬ tirely wrong and that the injustice is really on the other side. A chapter has no right to force one of its members to vote for a candidate or even to urge her strongly to do so, when she feels that the proposed member will be detrimental to the chapter or will destroy her happiness in it. She consents to a new member against her better judg¬ ment, she is placing herself in a most perplexing position ; she is compelled either to take upon her lips promises which she does not mean, or to altogether abstain from taking part in the initiation service. A chapter has no excuse for plac¬ ing a member in this position or feeling aggrieved if she ob¬ jects to putting herself there. If the matter is regarded in this way, the solution of the problem is comparatively simple ; and, to one person at least, it seems the only way in which it should be regarded. If we are to make vows to new members and to each other let us make them from our hearts and live up to them. If we can not do that, let us be honest with ourselves and ask that the fraternity vows be made less binding. Nothing is more degrading to character than to make promises with no in¬ tention of fulfilling them. In indignation at the General Assembly of South Carolina for passing a law forbidding the existence of college Fra¬ ternities at any educational institution receiving State aid, the Caduceus of Kappa Sigma has published an article on Anti-Fraternity Legislation, from which we quote the fol¬ lowing : “ No, a thousand times no, Fraternities are not harmful.
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 57 They do not create caste any more than any other ciyic society. They stand for all there is in true scholarship, they stand for all that there is in morality, they stand for the development of the Christian element in man. The college Fraternity will live forever despite the outrage perpetrated on it by the General Assembly of South Carolina, despite the feeble attempt of the Populistic Legislature of Nebraska, which tried to imitate the action of its Southern contempo¬ rary. The college Fraternity is a permanent fixture in col¬ lege life. It may have its enemies just as Masonry hashers, but notwithstanding what little opposition there is to Greek- dom, educated and intelligent men to-day testify to the efficiency and value of college secret societies and bid them God-speed.” In the June Anchora the editor of the exchanges thus takes exception to the following statement made in The Kappa Aepha Theta: “In a fraternity the weak and strong are united in a bond of sympathy, helping each other in every way and correcting each other’s faults’’ : “ We sincerely hope that no girls in any chapter of any fraternity go about ‘correcting each other’s faults.’ That is about the last thing that anybody ought to do in this world, if she values her friends and has any respect for her own character. The theory may be stated in an attractive man¬ ner, but the practice can never be tolerated. It is a much wiser and safer plan for people to endeavor to correct their own faults. They usually have plenty of them. The greatest social virtue is not to be honest but to be agreeable, and nobody can be both agreeable and fault-finding. The person who tells one of one’s faults from a mistaken sense of duty may endeavor to perform the operation with kind¬ ness and tact, but the victim hates her just the same. Our advice is for general improvement, but not upon these terms. Let every girl strive to correct her own faults and to magnify the virtues of her friends. Cultivate amiability of manner and speech. It will have a salutary effect upon yourself and your associates. Avoid adverse criticism, — there are many occasions when the truth should be suppressed. And do not try to make yourself and others believe that women are so ill-bred in their fraternity relations as to correct one another’s faults.” However much ridicule this chance statement seems to have excited, we would still support the sentiment of the,
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5» THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. perhaps, hastily worded phrase, as containing the very essence of the fraternity summum bonum. We sincerely hope with Ayichora ‘ ; that no girls in any chapter of any fraternity go about correcting each other’s faults” indiscriminately and unforbearingly. It goes with¬ out saying that such a spirit of cold criticism and fault-find¬ ing is entirely foreign to the ideal and actual attitude of the members of a fraternity chapter toward one another, where the members must and do stand “ one for all and all one.” Yet we must earnestly maintain that it is the solemn duty, especially of the older members of the chapter, to watch over and to “correct” one or another of their younger sis¬ ters who may consciously or otherwise be the unfortunate possessor of a “fault” — or more than one. Is the faulty freshman to pursue the even but disastrous tenor of her way through four years of fraternity life without a word of sis¬ terly correction or advice from the chapter that has taken her into its midst and with her the responsibility of her development ? ’Tis true correction can be administered in many ways, some of which would be far beyond the endurance of the most loyal underclassman. Lamentable, indeed, must be the inner life of the chapter in which there does not exist a bond strong enough, a trust deep enough to admit of sincere and concerted striving against the faults which must not be neglected. For nowhere is it more true than in a fraternity chapter that “ a chain can be no stronger than its weakest link.” Perhaps the most indisputable raison d’ £tre of a fraternity lies in its claim and tacit pledge to supply, in so far as this be possible, the love, influence, protection and atmosphere of “ home.” Where, then, lies the mistaken sense of duty in the senior who thus deliberately assuming the greatest responsibilities explains to her erring freshman that she “ must ” or “ mustn’t ” ? Wherein lies the cause, nay, even the possibility of the “victim’s” hating her “just the same ? ’ ’
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 59 “ L,et every girl strive to correct her own faults and to magnify the virtues of her friends' * is a theory “stated in an attractive manner” without a doubt ; but is it logical or beneficial ? How are we to know the faults in question and how are we to correct them save by the illuminating ray from the search light of fraternity wisdom and maturity, to penetrate the darkness of our own unconsciousness ? Advice to “avoid adverse criticism ” seems a mild absurd¬ ity to even the uninitiated. Finally, we sincerely desire to correct the impression, if we have indeed conveyed such, that we are trying “to make ourselves and others believe that women are so ill-bred in their fraternity relations as to correct one another’s faults.” Meanwhile, “ Honor be to them and eternal praise, Who give us nobler hopes and nobler cares.” The July number of The Arrow gives a full and interest¬ ing account of the fifteenth biennial convention of Pi Beta Phi held at Madison, Wisconsin, during the second week of July. Our own convention delegates agree with The Arrow in their recognition of Madison as an ideal place for a con¬ vention. We quote as follows : “ As a convention centre Madison is almost ideal. With its beautiful surroundings, its massive halls of learning, and the atmosphere of aloofness, from the active world of busi¬ ness, it is the place par excellence for the fostering of noble ideals, the renewing of vows of friendship and the consider¬ ation of problems of vital interest to the fraternity.” The Kappa Alpha Journal for September is also a conven¬ tion number telling of the nineteenth biennial convention of Kappa Alpha held in Nashville, Tenn., June 14, 15, 16. The Alpha Phi Quarterly for August contains the follow¬ ing hints on rushing, which may be of interest to those who are thus engaged or of value to those who have failed in past methods : “ Rush less professionally, O my sisters ! Bring into play more of the elements among the chapter girls. If you want ■deep girls, set the deep girls to rushing with dignity, if that
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6o THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . be not a contradiction of terms, and with an unforced de¬ velopment of true friendship. And when the candidates are gathered in, don’t nip any buds of growing interest in affairs. Take pains to lay before the Freshman the entire state of things, and then remember that she has brains. Remember also that if she shows a tendency to dissect pre¬ cedent, she will not usually go to the length of vivisection.” From the Exchange Department of the same Quarterly we quote part of an article upon “The Delta Type,” written for the Trident. Though all may not agree with the first statement, the clever description which follows is interesting as a view of chapter types from the Tri- Delta standpoint : ‘ ‘ It is comparatively easy to recognize the types of the other fraternities ; one feels almost instinctively in what group to put a girl after becoming a little acquainted with her ; and often her mere appearance, — what constitutes her personality in distinction from her individuality, — determine her place in the fraternity world. But with Tri- Delta it seems differ¬ ent. It is very difficult to describe the representative girl of our own fraternity, and this difficulty does not arise, I think, from the fact that one recognizes so many varying charac¬ teristics in the girls one knows intimately. ‘ ‘ Eook at the girls in your own chapter. There is your ar¬ tist girl, with her dainty ways, her intense love of the beau¬ tiful, and her recognition of it not only in things material, but also in fraternity ideals and friendships ; and there is your mathematical girl, with her exactness, her strict adherence to truth ; her ability to serve successfully on finance committees ; her dry wit, with which she can convulse an audience, while, save for the solemn twinkle in her eye, her own face is calm and impassive ; there is your society girl, who helps to keep a chapter from being narrowly a college organiza¬ tion ; there is your star scholar, who, though by no means a 4 grind,’ assists in gaining the favor of the faculty toward the society which an especially satisfactory pupil represents; then there is your ‘popular’ girl; she isn’t an extraordinary scholar, she isn’t particularly anything, but she is so sunny and bright, and sympathetic and in¬ terested in everyone’s puzzles or hobbies or joys, that every¬ body loves her. It is useless to name all your girls ; you know them ; they come from all walks in life ; they have different natures and varied interests, and yet they have some traits in common, and are all congenial and eager to be loyal to the same fraternity ideals.”
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 61 Delta of Sigma Nu contains an exciting case of the expul¬ sion of one of its members from the fraternity, upon which the unlucky victim is taken into a chapter of Chi Phi at the same institution. The case is headed “Expelled From Sigma Nu — Joins Chi Phi,” and, although we have-not space to quote any of the five pages which follow, we can assure our readers that they are no less interesting than the heading.
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NOTES AND CLIPPINGS. This fall, for the first time the doors of the University of North Carolina were thrown open to women and four young ladies took advantage of the opportunity. — Ex. For the benefit of the Women’s College at Brown Univer¬ sity the students of the Greek Department are to present a Greek play. Rehearsals are being held each afternoon and the students are making good progress in this rather diffi¬ cult task. — Ex. There is a plau now under consideration to consolidate Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which would make one of the largest universi¬ ties in the world, with a total of about 6,000 students. — Ex. At a meeting of the New England association of colleges and schools recently, President Eliot, of Harvard, spoke in favor of a three years’ course, and stated it as his belief that the hope for America depends upon this reduction. — Ex. Thomas W. Stanford, who is a brother of the late Leland Stanford, has recently donated $300,000 for the erection of a library for the university which bears the family name. — Ex. Governor Hastings, of Pennsylvania, has signed the Act of Assembly to prevent wearing of any badge or button of any labor or fraternal organization without right to do so by membership. The Act provides that any person who shall do so shall be subject to a fine of $100. — Phi Kappa Psi Sh ield . The value of chapter house property as estimated by Mr. P. F. Piper, Phi Kappa Psi, who recently contributed a general article on fraternities to the Cosmopolitan , is : Am¬ herst, $200,000 ; Colgate, $35,000 ; Cornell, $475,000 ; Dartmouth, $55,000 ; Hamilton, $75,000 ; Harvard, $125,000; Michigan, $80,000; Minnesota, $30,000; Prince¬ ton, $60,000 ; Rochester, $70,000 ; Syracuse, $50,000 ; Trinity, $95,000; Union, $25,000; University of Pennsyl¬ vania, $85,000 ; Williams, $350,000; Wesleyan, $125,000; Yale, $300,000. All other property and scattering, $425,000. A total of $2,660,000. — Ex. The Greek Letter fraternities, as they have come to be known, represent a very large element in American college life. For more than fifty years they have played an impor-
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . 63 taut role. It is apparent that they are to be permanent fac¬ tors. Of them are more than fifty, which have chapters in many colleges. There are also local fraternities. The foundation of some of them runs back more than sixty years. Various purposes control and various methods pre¬ vail. In some the literary purpose and motive, in some the oratorical, in some the scholastic ; but more generally and quite generally the social and friendly method and purpose dominate. College fraternities are becoming more and more simple associations of men who like each other, and who like to be associated with each other. Whether a student shall join one depends very largely upon the student, and also upon the fraternity which he may be asked to join. On the whole, I feel that if he can afford the expense, — and the expense in some cases is slight, and in others heavy, — he will get more out of his college life by being a member. He will form more numerous, more ardent, and more last¬ ing friendships. The disadvantage of fraternities is pretty closely related to what is called “ college politics. ” Col¬ lege politics, on the whole, is quite as bad for the college as what is known as “ politics” in the larger world of civil relations is bad for pure democratic government. For the bickerings and squabblings prevailing in college politics consume large amounts of time and strength without ren¬ dering adequate results. But the same temptation of going into college politics exists for the man who is not a member of any fraternity. — Review of Reviews for April, from an article by President Charles F. Thwing, Western Reserve University and Adelbert College, Cleveland, Ohio. The following is clipped from the New York Sun : Columbia, S. C., March 6. — Among the specimens of ‘ freak ’ legislation passed by the South Carolina General Assembly was one known as the ‘ Anti-Greek Letter Society law. * It is the outgrowth of bitter social feeling at the State University here. The law forbids the existence of such societies in colleges which receive state aid. This kills a powerful fraternity in the South Carolina College, which has a handsome hall on the campus. It was urged that these societies encourage class and caste feeling ; that a stu¬ dent who was not a member was not considered in good so¬ cial standing, and that the first thing young women of Col¬ umbia did upon having a college man presented was to in¬ quire in which fraternity he had membership, and then they governed their smiles accordingly. The fight was led by an old student who seemed to have suffered. The fraternity
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64 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. men made a hard struggle, but the farmers were too many for them. Kappa Alpha Journal under the heading, “ The Latest in Freak Legislation, 99 remarks as follows : “ Never before have the ignorant legislative cranks been so numerous and general. An anti-bloomer bill in the Ala¬ bama legislature, a ‘ Johnny bill ’ in the Tennessee Legisla¬ ture (to prohibit dudes from speaking to seminary damsels,) a bill to make the Ten Commandments State law in Kansas, are unique in their way, but the South Carolina hayseeds deserve the belt for eccentric and resplendent idiocy. They have prohibited fraternities at the State College, principally on account of alleged feminine discrimination. 99 The Century Magazine has offered to give, during four successive years, three prizes of $250, open to persons who receive the degree of Bachelor of Arts in any college or university in the United States during the commencement seasons of 1897, 1898, 1899 and 1900. 1 . For the best metrical writing of not fewer than fifty lines. 2. For the best essay in the field of biography, history or literary criticism of not fewer than four thousand or more than eight thousand words. 3. For the best story of not fewer than four thousand or more than eight thousand words. On or before June 1st of the year succeeding graduation, competitors must submit type-written manuscript to the edi¬ tor of the Century Magazine , marked outside and inside, “ For the College Competition, 99 signed by a pen-name, and accompanied by the name and address of the author in a separate sealed envelope, which will not be opened until the decision has been made. It is to be understood that the ar¬ ticle submitted has not been previously published. The Century Magazine reserves the right to print the prize manuscripts without further payments, the copyright to re¬ vert to the authors three months after the date of publica¬ tion. These prizes have been offered with the aim of encour¬ aging literary activity among college graduates. — Ex.