Kappa Alpha Theta Journal, Vol. 15 no. 1
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA, Published by the Fraternity. Edited by Iota Chapter. JANUARY \ MARCH , MAY, NOVEMBER. TABLE OF CONTENTS. General and Chapter Government. Rho _ i Report of the Educational Committee on the Examination held in Spring, 1900. Educational Committee , _ 4 Method of Pursuing Our Educational Work. Jane V. Pollack, __ 5 Fraternity Singing. Mu, _ 7 Alumnae Department: Gamma Alumnae _ 10 Mr. Bliss Perry on Kipling at the Billings Library _ 10 Eta Alumnae _ 12 Undergraduate Department : Life in the Fraternity House _ 13 Cornell Campus _ 15 What Shall We Write About _ 16 A Plea _ 17 Chapter Letters, _ 19 Personals, _ 37 Wedding Bells, _ 43 In Memoriam, _ 45 Editorials, _ 46 Exchanges, _ _ _ 48 Address everything intended for publication, and all business communica¬ tions to CECILIA AGNES LAW, 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. 8^ 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 < continued and arrearages paid, as required by law.
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FRATERNITY DIRECTORY. GRAND COUNCIL. President — Myra M. Post, . 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Vice Presidents— Waxy E. S. Scott, . . .113 Rutgers St., Belleville, N. J. M. Edith Bell . 382 E. Town St., Columbus, O. Ed nail Harmon Wickson, ....... Berkeley, Cal. Secretary — Alice E. Wadsworth, .... 6317 Lexington Ave., Chicago, Ill. Treasurer— Mary E. S. Scott, . 113 Rutgers St., Belleville, N. J. 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— ^ Jane D. Cavarly . Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Editor of the Catalogue— HI. Edith Bell, . . 382 E. Town St., Columbus, O
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CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES. ALPHA DISTRICT. President — Mary E. S. Scott, 113 Rutgers St., Belleville, N. J. Iota, Cornell University — S. Jenuey Gilbert, Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Lambda, University of Vermont — Helen M. Ferguson, 77 N. Union St., Burlington, Vt. Mu, Allegheny College — Grace Jenks, 769 Market St., Meadville, Pa. Chi, Syracuse University — Mabel R. Ramsay, Winchell Hall, 301 Univ. Place, Syracuse, N. Y. Alpha Beta, Swarthmore College — May K. Flannery, Swarthmore, Pa. Alpha Delta, Woman’s College of Baltimore — Alice P. Bennett, Balti¬ more, Md. Alpha Epsilon, Brown University — Saida N. Hallett, Pembroke Hall, Brown Univ., Providence, R. I. Alpha Zeta, Barnard College— May A. Johnson, New York, N. Y. Gamma Alumna, Harriette Waller, 204 N. 123d St., New York, N. Y. Eta Alumna, Ruth Ida Norton, Shelburne, Vt. Theta Alumnae, Mary Schofield Ash, 1717 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. BETA DISTRICT. President — M. Edith Bell, 382 E. Town St., Columbus, O. Alpha, De Pauw University — Edna Locke Hamilton, Greencastle, Ind. BETA, Indiana State University — Emma Clinton, Bloomington, Ind. Delta, University of Illinois — Ellen T. Smith, 312 E. Green St., Cham- paigne, Ill. Epsilon, Wooster University— Ruth Bogardus, Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Eta, University of Michigan — Jane V. Pollack, Ann Arbor, Mich. Kappa, University of Kansas — Marie Nelson, Lawrence, Kansas. Pi, Albion College — Lena M. Hunt, 1109 E. Porter St., Albion, Mich. Rho, University of Nebraska — Ella B. Wirt, 335 North 14th St., Lincoln, Neb. Tau, Northwestern University — Margaret J. Pearson, 1930 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Ill. Upsilon, University of Minnesota — Margaret Moore, 1119 Sixth St., S. E., Minneapolis, Minn. Psi, University of Wisconsin — E. Genevieve Stevens, 139 W. Wilson St., Madison, Wis. Alpha Gamma, Ohio State University— Jessie M. Carpenter, 105 W. Third Ave., Columbus, Ohio. Alpha Alumnae, Lillian E. Southard, Box 284, Greencastle, Ind. Beta Alumnae, Jessie A. Bradford, 515 15th Ave., S. E., Minneapolis, Minn. Delta alumnae, Mrs. M. Borthwick Cheney, mo So. Boulevard, Oak Park, Ill. Epsilon Alumna, Annis McLaughlin, 1115 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio. Zeta Alumnae, Hattie Mary Tutewiler, 801 Senate Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. GAMMA DISTRICT. President— Ednah Harmon Wickson, Berkeley, Cal. Phi, Stanford University — Helen P. Vinyard, Box 5, Stanford Univ., Cal. Omega, University of California — Isabel B. Godin, K. A. 0. Hall, 2626 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. The K. A. 0. Club of Southern Cal. — Mrs. Thomas P. McCrea, Los Angeles, Cal. Entered at the Post Office at Ithaca as second-class matter.
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The Kappa Alpha Theta Vol. XV. NOVEMBER, 1900. No. 1. General and Chapter Government. The methods of government in fraternities are as diverse as fraternities themselves. The principle of the least govern¬ ment possible has its adherents, though it seems rather less in vogue than the principle of all the government possible. The conditions are practically the same in the general fra¬ ternity and in the local chapter, though, of course, the kind of government, if there is any at all, is varied or is changed more frequently in the latter. Government where all are on a parity, as in a fraternity, is simply provision made for carrying on business and for carrying out projects in an orderly manner. The conserva¬ tion of time and effort is even more important in fraternity matters than in many others, as, locally, at least, the frater¬ nity should have only so much of either as can be spared from the more important duties of school. Good govern¬ ment, then, must take care to have things accomplished in the simplest, most expeditious manner possible, with a mini¬ mum expenditure of time, energy and patience. A system in which there is government for government’s sake is un¬ fortunate, and is always subversive of the best results. In short, the government should be simply a mechanism driv¬ ing swiftly, surely and noiselessly. The general government of a fraternity should be at once an aristocracy and an oligarchy. It should be constituted by a very few of the very best minds in the fraternity ; all bent upon securing the desired results with the smallest amount of
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2 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. government. Such a body should be as autocratic as is con¬ sistent with the spirit of the fraternity, standing firmly upon an intelligent rather than upon a traditional constitution, and endowed with plenary powers in matters of general policy as well as of detail. Their duties and jurisdiction should be most accurately defined, in such a way as to assure to the chapters entire independence in local matters under the con¬ stitution, and to permit the council to carry on all general business without the delay incident to consulting all the chapters. The peculiar work of the general council of a fraternity should be, in addition to carrying the routine work of organization, convention, publishing, etc., the direction of the general policy of the fraternity, especially in the matter of extension. The granting of charters especially should be the duty of the council alone, and not the privilege of the chapters. The constitution of a fraternity should be the simplest, clearest, most explicit document that can be written. A venerable constitution that is tradition itself makes very in¬ teresting reading, but it is apt to be much less effective than a more recent one, written in the light of newer, different conditions. The constitution is the sole law of the fraternity. Hence, a thorough study of it should be obligatory upon each new member, and a working knowledge of it, at least, should be expected of every active member. In men’s fra¬ ternities some knowledge of the constitution usually goes with an acquaintance with parliamentary practice, but in the women’s fraternities there is too often an entire ignorance of both constitution and rules. In the chapters, at least, there is generally a vague impression that anything that the chap¬ ter wishes to do, or can be persuaded to do, is constitutional. Even in the general government of fraternities there have been times when ignorance of the constitution has been the only excuse for unconstitutional action. The organization of many fraternities is defective in one essential feature. The general council may be well organ¬ ized, the chapters may work together harmoniously, but be-
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GENERAL AND CHAPTER GOVERNMENT. 3 tween the council and the fraternity at large there exists a wide gap. As a rule, the officers of a fraternity meet one or two delegates from each chapter once a year at convention time. During the rest of the year their relations are con¬ fined to an interchange of notes concerning general or con¬ vention dues, and to occasional roundabout communications in the fraternity journal. The chapters have an indefinite idea of the province of the general council, and a still more indefinite impression of the general policy of the fraternity. This condition of affairs can only be avoided by an inter¬ ested, loyal body of resident alumnae, standing midway be¬ tween the council and the local chapter. The alumnae, by reason of their longer acquaintance with the fraternity methods and especially with the fixed points of the general policy, are often able to save the chapter valuable time and effort in experiments which have been tried before, and they would serve to bring the general policy and purposes of the council closer home to the members of the fraternity. The value, moreover, of such a body of alumnae as a corrective can hardly be overestimated. The essentials in chapter organization are a knowledge of the constitution of the fraternity, a slight acquaintance with the main rules for conducting business meetings, an obsolete majority rule, and some understanding of the value and place of committees. To those not conversant with the facts it might seem that general fraternity examinations would furnish an easy solution of the first two points. The value¬ lessness of such methods is notorious, however, and a whole¬ some chapter sentiment, brought about by the alumnae, if need be, in favor of doing things constitutionally and systematically, is the only efficient way of accomplishing the results desired. A majority rule has no place in a fraternity. It is, of course, fatal to harmony, and where the latter pre¬ vails, majority rule is not needed. The committee is invariably the weak point in present systems of organization. The defects of committee work are obvious and need not be commented upon. They can be
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4 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . avoided only by doing away with committees, and by dele¬ gating an active member for each task before the fraternity. Such a deputy, if the term may be used, should receive full instructions from the chapter, and should be permitted to choose aids as need arises. As a rule, a large amount of work, done often very tardily and imperfectly by committees, should be done promptly in the chapter meeting, leaving only certain details to be carried out by a deputy and her assistants. It is in the chapter especially that it is true that the least government is the best, provided always that the least is what it should be. Rho. Report of the Educational Committee on the Exam¬ ination held in Spring, 1900. We are glad to print the averages reached by every chap¬ ter in the last examination, no chapter having failed to send in its papers. We make no comments through the Journal, for the grades speak for themselves, showing conclusively where our weak chapters are in their work. During the month each corresponding secretary will receive the marks of each member of her chapter with accompanying sugges¬ tions. The low marks are invariably the result of failing to pursue some systematic educational work ; the plea being that there is small time enough for social intercourse. May the chapter study not be made to contribute to such enjoy¬ ment rather than detract from it? To the chapters who have distinguished themselves, we say : do not be satisfied in yourselves, but try through the Journal by suggestion and new methods, to help those less fortunate. Alpha Gamma, 84. Iota, 63. Omega, 83.9. Alpha Epsilon, 63. (Phi), 83.1. Kappa, 79. Psi, 78. Rho, 61. Beta, 60. Alpha Delta, 58. Alpha Beta, 56. Lambda, 77.
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PURSUING OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK . 5 Eta, 75. Alpha, 54. Chi, 49. Alpha Zeta, 47. Epsilon, 47. Tau, 37. Upsilon, 73. Mu, 69. Pi, 67, Delta, 65 Members of the Fraternity who hold the highest mark in their own chapters : Frances Patterson, Phi, 98. Isabel Lodin, Omega, 96. Bessie Hendrix, Beta, 95. Mabel Brownell, Lambda, 94. Millicent Rawson, Alpha Epsilon, 92 Mary Loren, Alpha Gamma, 90. Bess Hafer, Kappa, 90. All other chapters failed to secure 90. In the January Journal we hope to publish the names of all who reached 90. Ednah Harmon Wickson, Jane Pollack, Nina Angell, Educational Committee. Method of Pursuing our Educational Work. What can we do to improve our educational wrork ? This is the great question. All of us can criticise — all of us see points where it is defective — but who can point out the right way ? We realize that in all departments of study we gain very little good by neglecting the work day by day and then re¬ viewing and cramming a few days before examination. Many are opposed to examinations on the ground that they lead to this way of studying and hence are harmful. They certainly are, if, to stand well in the test is the end and aim of the one taking it. But this is not our object in having educational work. It is to know the history, laws and constitution of the associa-
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6 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. tion of which we are a part. To know the purpose of its establishment, the results it aims to accomplish, its princi¬ ples, ideals and policy. Is it not the duty of each one of us to know these things ? More than that — should it not be the pleasure of each of us to know them ? If it were, they would not be left till we are compelled to learn them for examination but each one would be earnestly seeking to know them for her own sake, for the sake of knowing what her fraternity stands for. Some one remarked that it would be far better to live out our principles and ideals than to learn them. How can we live them out if we don’t know what they are ? And we certainly can’t know them if we can not tell them or write them down. Many are opposed to exam¬ inations— but if the work were done in a methodical way, if each one had the interest that she should have in the things of her fraternity — then examinations would be simply a little practice in expressing what we think and could be taken at any time with very little preparation. This is noticed especially in looking over the papers, the result cannot help being better where some plan has been followed. As to some definite method, I may repeat what, has been said on this subject — but I think the best plan is to have an educational committee in each chapter. Have it appointed at election time so as to have plenty of time to plan work and make a syllabus for the next year’s work. I should advise putting a sophomore at the head of it each year, so as to have her with you as a referee for two years after. Then I should plan to spend at least an hour a month in questions and answers. I wish the constitution required it. Then review orally at least once a month the things that are never to be written. I would advise that a translation of the charter be sent to each chapter as soon as possible, and that each one be able to translate it. Also that each one know the pledge. Among
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FRA TERNITY SINGING. 7 the important things to know, are the fraternity history, principles and policy ; its constitution and bylaws, the min¬ utes of its conventions, the colleges in which we have chapters, the contents not only of our own journal but of those of other fraternities, and in the clippings we find many interesting and profitable articles. Some one has asked if there were fraternities in Europe, and if so what relation exists between them and those over here. It might be well to investigate such things and give them to the journal and I suggest that the chapter asking that question send an article on it to the journal. Several have suggested that the questions be typewritten, and a set made for each member. This seems to me too much to ask of a ny one person. A good method is to have the corresponding secretary of each chapter read the ques¬ tions while each member of the chapter makes a copy for herself. In this way no one is burdened. Now a few points as to the examination papers. Use uniform paper. Write plain, black and distinctly. Write on one side of the paper only and if on separate sheets fasten them together. Above all things do not write on any other subjects than those asked for and do not go further into detail on these than the question calls for. Last of all, begin now at once to know these important things, let it make no difference whether the examination comes at Thanksgiving, Christmas or spring, be prepared now even if it should not come until the end of the year. Jane V. Poixack. Fraternity Singing. Since the great demand for material for the new song- book, when all the musical talent has been utilized to its fullest extent, the question arises as to what kind of songs we should sing in our fraternity meetings and what place the songs occupy in fraternity life.
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8 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. In the first place, we do not sing enough. It may be be¬ cause of the lack of enough appropriate and pleasing songs, but at any rate, this means of grace is often sadly neglected. Even if we have not a large collection of beautiful songs, yet we can sing those which we have with spirit, and not drag them out in a dirge-like manner which would tend to dampen the enthusiasm of the most ardent. But one may say that the songs do not inspire enthusiasm. If this is the case, then the need of new songs will awaken the slumbering genius of some bright-eyed sister and a new song will be the result. The poetry may not be the work of an artist, in fact it may be atrocious, and the music may be strangely similar to one of the popular airs, but it is the ex¬ pression of a loyal heart and is so interpreted by the girls who sing the song and thoroughly enjoy it. By this means each chapter would have a collection of songs all her own which are dear to her, but would not be appreciated by others ignorant of the circumstances which led to the crea¬ tion of the song. We all love a good, rousing college song, not because of the beautiful and intellectual sentiments which it contains, but be¬ cause of the bright, “ catchy” air, and the spirit with which it is sung when a company of college students find it a means of expressing their good-will and enjoyment in life. I plead for more fraternity songs which will inspire us with the same kind of enthusiasm as the college song calls forth, and which will teach us to sing them with the same spirit that “ Michael Roy” and “Solomon Levi,” etc., re¬ quire. The songs after this fashion should not be the only kind to make a part of our fraternity life. There are noble ideals which we try to reach, and these can be advocated under the symbolic name of fraternity. We may sing of the Kite, the black and gold, and the pansy, and the meaning which attaches to each of these gives a sacred ness to the songs of this nature. We are reminded of the beautiful na¬ tional songs which inspire us with such feelings of patriotism that we are willing to risk all in the cause of our country.
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FRA TERNITY SINGING . 9 So in our fraternity songs, we may find the power that will lead us to loyalty, truth, and goodness. The fraternity songs in which we find inspiration, not only to a loyalty to fraternity but to its noblest principles, are those that should form an important part of every fra¬ ternity gathering. This will raise the standard of fraternity and will make it stronger and more united. For there is a uniting influence in the singing of the songs which we all love, and when all sing together and feel the sentiments ex¬ pressed, there is sure to be a closer tie among the members of a chapter. Thus while the “college fraternity song ” is to be desired, more songs like “ The Black and the Gold 99 should be found among our collection. Let the songs form as important a part of fraternity meet¬ ing as the literary or social part. We cannot all sing, nor write songs, but there are in every chapter some who can have charge of the music, and can use their influence toward a better class of songs, toward better singing and better piano playing. An energetic girl at the piano will make the singing come up to time, and will add much to the success of the song. When we are in possession of our song-books we can put the singing to the test and find if it is not really a strong factor in fraternity life, and if it could not be made to be¬ come a more important factor. Finally, let us learn to sing, let us sing heartily, and all sing. Mu.
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ALUMNAE DEPARTMENT. Gamma Alumnae. Gamma Alumnae’s fall reunion has not as yet taken place, and various individual members are disconsolately recalling those earlier, more frequent assemblies of the college years. It is true that our officers have already met and planned, they modestly and confidentially report, a most attractive winter’s work, — ‘ ‘ stimulating, entertaining, charming. ’ ’ With all due regard for one wise Journal editor’s antipathy for vitiated adjectives, and indiscriminate enthusiasm, we must express mild joy at the prospect of a winter’s fun. Meanwhile, we have a vague fear that the alluring program may be but another phase of the Labor Question ; that our line of activity may be less social than socialistic, and that our officers may have on the tapis effective and elaborate schemes for co-operation with any or all of the multitudinous organ¬ izations of our great city. I am convinced at least that when Gamma Alumnae’s next letter goes into the Journal , she will have “such a much,” as the April baby says, to tell you of her increased energies and broadened interests that you will marvel greatly. It is also quite probable that you will murmur in a mannerly aside, “ How prosy our old ladies are growing 1 ” But the old ladies have hearts that grow but the more tender towards a fraternity idealized as the years pass by, the more faithful as love and loyalty real¬ ized in the fullness of time. Mr. Bliss Perry on Kipling at the Billings Library. The local Alumnae chapter of the Kappa Alpha Theta society has set a high standard in the character of the an¬ nual lecture given under its auspices and it is sufficient en¬ dorsement of the lecture given by Mr. Bliss Perry, of the
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ALUMNAE DEPARTMENT. 1 1 Atlantic Monthly , on Kipling, to say that it lent added lustre to the enviable reputation which the entertainments of pre¬ vious years have already earned for the society. The sale of seats was so large that the capacity of the rotunda was of necessity enlarged by the use of smaller chairs and all of them were filled. In appearance, Mr. Perry is a young man with a bright, keen glance, a very attractive personality and delightfully informal manner of addressing his audience. He was in¬ troduced by President Buekham with one of the latter’s characteristically happy speeches. After speaking of the difficulties of criticising or assessing the work of a living writer, Mr. Perry spoke of the influence upon his work, of Kipling’s early life and his experiences as a journalist in India, leaving, he said, the debatable ground of his political verse, his incontestable merit is as a teller of stories. He has the journalistic style of saying things effectively, the reporter’s instinct for points salient and picturesque. One secret of the immediate popularity of his early writings was the new world which he opened to his readers ; his stories had a new flavor, the romance of the Orient “ where there ain’t no Ten Commandments,” Another source of his success was the ever-popular note of youthful assurance in his writings, his delightful naivete. He glorifies, as no man since Carlyle, the type of man who can do something : of women he has but two types, a certain type of English woman, and the native woman who loves the Englishman. His hero is the man of action ; he cares little for common¬ place, inartistic people who live in peace. The favorite ar¬ tistic motives of his writings are : First, a sense of pic¬ turesque contrasts ; second, admiration for action and con¬ tempt for ideals for mere educational theory, for the idealist the thinker, the philosopher ; third, what we may call ” fin¬ ishing in style,” the passion of dying a glorious death ; fourth, a cynical delight in showing things as they are; fifth, a sense of humor, always strong, sometimes irresistible, sometimes unreliable ; sixth, a passion for creating character
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12 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. sketches ; seventh, the wonderful beauty of feeling with which he deals with the lives of children and native women. Mr. Perry’s lecture was so besprinkled with delightful anecdotes and scraps of Kipling’s writings, illustrating the points he wished to make, that any abstract gives but the bare bones of the feast. At the close of the lecture an in¬ formal reception was held in the fire-place room of the library, President and Mrs. Buckham and Mrs. S. D. Hodge, the president of the alumnae chapter, presenting to Mr. Perry those who cared to meet him. — Free Press. Eta Alumnae, Our chapter has held one meeting since the last issue of the Journal. It was the annual meeting, and the following officers were elected : President, Mrs. L. M. Hodge ; Vice- President, Miss S. M. Martin ; Recording Secretary, Miss M. R. Bates ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss R. I. Norton ; Treasurer, Miss M. E. Matthews. College Settlements were discussed, and we are planning to take up some work in that, line soon. One of our own chapter was very active and influential in the founding of the Rivington Street Settlement, so we feel especially inter¬ ested in that one. Our next meeting is to be April 20, and will be a social one. There will be music, refreshments, and reading of “ Cyrano de Bergerac.” The active chapter are to be invit¬ ed to this meeting, and we hope all will be present. We of the Eta Alumnae chapter are having made to order a large black satin banner with Kappa Alpha Theta em¬ broidered in gold thread upon it, and we will present this banner to the active chapter at that meeting.
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. No matter how long one has been in a fraternity each year brings many revelations. We are always doing things which surprise even ourselves, things which a year before would have looked like a white elephant to even the most enthusiastic of us. This has always seemed a good problem to solve but one which still remained in Life in the Fra- tjie jiaZy A solution which will ternity House. ,, r .. . . . . seldom fail, is for a town girl to live at the Fraternity House for awhile. It is splendid. You learn just how the yarn gets untan¬ gled, and things once more run smooth. It is the result of close comradeship of a number of girls all working for the same aim, broader views of things, and all having the same beautiful bond to keep their interests one, the Fraternity. You see why the House runs so smoothly ; everyone in it is willing to sacrifice. Yes, even the girl whom you had just a faint suspicion was selfish, is found to be the most thoughtful girl in the whole fraternity. She is the one who is willing to go without her dinner to smooth away your headache, or the one who surprised you by having your room all fresh and sweet when you return to it after a whole row of tedious classes. Here you find yourself fairly gasping at the meek little girl who never says much in “ frat ” meetings, when she orders the others around and rearranges the house-keeping funds in a surprising manner. It seems so funny to hear the one really extravagant girl in the chapter going around each night telling each girl to put out the gas as soon as pos¬ sible. But of all the girls, the house is most beneficial to the lazy girl, for how could one put off her work when every one around her is working with might and main. The buzz is contagious. A girl simply couldn’t live in the House and not study if she were possessed of an iota of that some¬ times troublesome thing, a conscience.
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14 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. It is easily apparent to a town girl living at the House for some time that the House girls represent the can and will element of the chapter. The responsibility of the House only helps them to bear the burdens of the chapter. Sys¬ tem and promptness get to be second nature, because they must be exercised on all occasions. But it is not all a weighty side to .the girls at the House. There are the jolly times, the after-dinner hour, for instance, when all the girls gather on the porch or in the sitting-room by the grate fire, telling jokes on each other or ghost stories, or poking fun at the different kinds of dinner decorations that had been assumed for the one stately meal of the day. For, of course, there is a rule that each girl must put on some little touch of freshening for dinner, even it is only a bow in her hair. Sometimes the stories get so gruesome that they haunt the timid one even in her sleep, and the peaceful midnight hour is disturbed by a startled cry of “ Oh, girls, there is a burglar ! I am sure a dark lantern flashed in my face.” All are mustered in a moment to make a journey down stairs. Not one stays behind. Oh, no ! In this body of helpmates each one strives to carry all the burden, and as a result, either pleasure or danger is endured by each and all. Danger is faced in a solid phalanx. Nothing is found to be the matter except none remembered to lock the House, and the midnight breezes thought they would like a peep into that comfortable looking sitting-room. There is a sure cure for the blues, given at the House. Here if anyone is observed to have a little longer face than usual she is picked up and whirled around in a maze of jol¬ lification until the melancholy has been forced to take a back seat. The fun is innocent, not noisy, but it serves its pur¬ pose. Your own personal grievances are merged into those of the entire group. Four years of active chapter life ought to make one fully appreciate what comradeship means. It does in a measure, but not completely. Just try six weeks at the House. It will show that the true meaning of fraternity has never been
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. 15 revealed before. The mutual interests of a crowd of girls so closely bound together as they are with the unity of the fra¬ ternity and their house, gives an example of the most perfect harmony one can imagine in any walk of life. Rho. An Eta Theta had the rare good fortune this summer to be included in a camping party of Cornell Thetas and their friends — a party which has had a regularly-recurring exist¬ ence for several years. These Thetas Cornell Campers, have gone out from their Alma Mater into various fields and to be with them and hear of their work and their aims was in itself an in¬ spiration. In a lumbering camp, fifteen miles from a railroad and three from a post-office, opportunities for adventure and fun were numerous. Inspired by Dr. Van Dyke’s “ Little Rivers ” we determined to sleep on Ampersand and a party of ten made their own trail up the mountain, each laden with blanket and lunch. The long, hard climb was not all fun but the reward was great. A glorious sunset and, after a night around the camp fire, a sunrise yet more glorious heralded by the morning star — this, with what Van Dyke calls the most beautiful view in the whole Adirondacks region, wTas worth ten times more exertion than it required. We were honored in having with us Mr. John Burroughs, the well-known author, who helped us to open our eyes and our hearts to the birds and the flowers. We slept on fragrant balsam and alas ! we ate the brook trout and even the sad-eyed deer. We tramped and fished and picnicked. We were rocked in the cradle of the buck- board. We heard marvellous stories of bears and wild cats and mysterious murders. We were overtaken by inky darkness miles away from human habitation. But finally with greatest reluctance we tore ourselves away and re¬ turned to civilization, brown and mosquito-bitten but with delightful memories, never to be effaced, of Camp Marlowe. Frances N. Boynton, Eta.
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i6 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. I venture to turn to a topic which has often been dis¬ cussed in the Journal. Not with the hope of adding any¬ thing new to what has already been said, WhErt shall we but keepjng before our minds a ques- nte a out. ^Qn wj1jci1 j believe to be of great importance. Our Journal is the medium through which the various chapters learn of each other and of each other’s work. It is through the Journal mainly that the officers and organizers of the fraternity keep in touch with the chapters. Are our chapter letters and the material we send to the Journal of such a nature as to give to each other, the officers, and those interested in us, a true conception of the character and inner life of our chapter? We know that all the chapters “ rush,” gain glorious victories, win college honors, and take a leading part in the exchange of social courtesies. But we do not know as we should like to know, the characteristics of the different chapters, their special aims, the line of work, along which they are ac¬ complishing their greatest development. How we can but make the matter clear is indeed a serious problem for us all. One member may best convey her meaning in verse, another by a clever story, and there are doubtless many Theta artists who could now and then brighten the pages of the Journal with a sketch ; and thus each one might speak to us in her own chosen way concerning her chapter life. We in turn would feel a deeper personal interest in the individual mem¬ bers and chapter. All that is of interest to the chapters, that shows their relative position in the college world, their relation to the non-fraternity element as well as to the fraternities, is of interest to the readers of the Journal. Would not a glimpse of the college life in which we live, the character of the ad¬ ministration, the environment in which we are developing, give a better insight into the inner life of the chapters? The bits of college history which have appeared in the Journal are intensely interesting. More of these sketches would surely draw us into closer sympathy. It would be an in-
Page 20
UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT i7 spiration to us also to know more of the lives of the noble women of our fraternity. It seems to me therefore that the question is not so much whether the material sent to the Journ al shall be purely literary, of a lighter vein, or of a strictly serious character, as whether it really portrays the character of the chapters and the general conditions of the college world in which the fraternity exists. Rho. This plea, perhaps, is of interest to our chapter alone, but knowing no other way to reach the fraternity in general, we here present a request which we hope our sis- A Plea. ters will grant. During the last few years in which there has been a chapter at Brown Uni¬ versity, one of the greatest delights experienced as a frater¬ nity has been visitors from other chapters. The pleasure of hearing that a Theta was in town and on her way to Pem¬ broke Hall has been intense, and we positively long to see more girls; and this is the very thing that we bewail, that we do not see more. We are sure that many sisters come to Providence who never let us know that they are here. Sad experience has taught us that it is perfectly possible that such a thing may have often happened. A girl from another chapter once came to this city and stayed two months before we had the least knowledge of her presence. Yet she was very near the college, and within a few blocks of several Alpha Epsilon members. We knew her but two days before she went away, and we were so proud of her that it did seem a shame that her — I don’t know what to call it— "bashfulness, perhaps, kept her from hunting us up. Such a thing as bashfulness should not sep¬ arate any Thetas. Another member of our fraternity, one who graduated several years ago from college, had been in the city for some time before we accidentally heard of her. From something she said, I concluded that she thought we might not take any interest in her, for in the course of conversation she re-
Page 21
i8 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. marked that in her own chapter the active members did not like to have the older ones interfere. I hope that she was mistaken, and that few of our chapters may ever get to a point where they do not welcome most cordially the ad¬ vice, suggestions, and criticisms of their graduates. At Brown, of course, we have but three graduated classes in which there are Thetas, and they know that we could not get along without them. In years to come, however, when the Alpha Epsilon girls are scattered everywhere through¬ out the world, we trust that they will never come near to Brown without immediately hunting up the chapter mem¬ bers. Truly, thought of our own graduates ever feeling that we are not interested in them cuts us to the heart. It is almost as bad to believe that there may at this moment be Theta undergraduates or graduates in the same city with us who do not know how we are pining for their acquaintance. Beside the mere pleasure of meeting our sisters, it gives us the greatest enjoyment to hear of other Thetas, of who they are and what they do. Now, chapters, please let us know when any of your members are near us, and, individual Thetas, don’t let bash¬ fulness or a fear of no welcome keep you away. In summer Pembroke Hall is always open ; you can always find there the addresses of Kappa Alpha Theta girls, who will welcome most gladly a call from another Theta. In winter, some of the girls can almost always be found at the hall itself. Now, all Thetas, if you are passing through Providence, spare us an hour ; if you are visiting here, spare us more ; and if you come to live in the vicinity, please, please spare a great many to us. Alpha Epsilon.
Page 22
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 on 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. The parting of Iota girls last Spring is one which will never be forgotten by those in the chapter in 1900. In the first place we were forced to add the names of seven of our strongest girls to the alumnae list — seven whom we felt we could not get along without. The few undergraduates who were left secured two of them to join in a two weeks’ house party at a small place called “ Kidders ” about seventeen miles down our Lake. Those chapter girls who have tried such a two weeks together need not be told of the jolly good times we had. To those who have not had such an experience, we heartily urge such a one upon them. The end of that fun separated us for the summer vacation. During this time one event was of great interest to us all. The thirtieth of July was the wedding day of one of the seven who left us in June. With this great exception nothing unusual happened to Iota girls during the summer. Since then, since we have come together again as an active chapter it seems to us that a great deal has happened. With but six to uphold the glory of Iota, we felt that we were put on our best metal. This thought was very prominent during the rushing season. We strongly felt the
Page 23
20 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. necessity of pledging only those girls whom we thought would carry forward the good name of Theta and Iota. We feel that we have promise of such in the five who are now wearing our emblem for the first time. They are Mary Wise, ’02 ; Harriet Bishop, ’03 ; Fanny Lyon, *03 ; Grace Northrup, '04, Ida Laird, ’04. Iota is always indebted to her resident alumnae members. This year they seem to have taken more than a usual in¬ terest in us, and we need not say how much we have ap¬ preciated it. Iota sends those wishes to all her sister chapters which will be for their fullest growth and highest development. LAMBDA — VERMONT UNIVERSITY. To her sisters in Theta, Lambda wishes a happy year, and prospects as bright for all as those with which we begin an¬ other period of work and play. The new girls are to be thoroughly welcomed the first evening. The girls of the Young Women’s Christian Asso¬ ciation entertained all the college girls at Grass Mount, and everyone enjoyed a peanut spread. Friday evening a re¬ ception was given by the united forces of the college Y. M. and Y. W. C. A. The second week is a round of fraternity receptions. Wednesday evening our own chapter invite the new girls to a marsh mallow toast at the home of one of our seniors, Florence Nelson. Saturday afternoon we are to have a more formal reception, for which Mabel Brownell has opened her home. As yet no pledge pins have appeared among the thirteen new girls, but each fraternity is evidently looking for the particular affinity which draws the girls together, to one fra¬ ternity or another. By the time the next issue of the Jour¬ nal is ready, we hope to send an enthusiastic account of our pledglings. Of the girls of 1900, Mary Brownell and Fannie Atwood are so near that we can see them often. Another, Amy Burt, has a fine position not far from Burlington, so that
Page 24
CHAPTER LETTERS. 21 we have hopes of having her with us occasionally. Jose¬ phine Morris is at her home in Webster, Mass., so far from us that we will have to depend upon letters. We were represented upon the commencement programme last June by Amy Burt, and in Phi Beta Kappa by Fannie Atwood and Amy Burt. We are very fortunate this year in having so many of our alumnae near us, and hope for a prosperous year. MU — ALLEGHENY COLLEGE. College has again called us from our widely separated homes, called us to our round of work and play, to our days of sunshine and of shadow, and best of all to each other. We are commencing this year with only four girls in Hillings Hall, but in our next letter . we hope to introduce some new Thetas. We had an ideal inter-fraternity contract in which we agreed to no rushing this year. Alas too ideal to be prac¬ tical — at least here in Allegheny. But in spite of our disap¬ pointment in regard to the contract we are confidently look¬ ing forward to asking day. Besides our three seniors, Claribelle Wilkins, Coral Merchant, and Julia Krech, we miss from our number Maud Bartholomew, Bessie Philips, Zella White and Isabel Klingensmith the latter we hope to have with 11s again in the spring. These girls have left vacancies which it will be hard to fill. But every chapter in the fraternity must feel this same loss just now and here as ever “ misery loves company.’ ’ Last June, too late for the Journal letter, we initiated Bessie Dutton, daughter of our professor of mathematics and we have not yet ceased congratulating one another. Anna Haskins, full of enthusiasm and loyalty to Kappa Alpha Theta, is at home again after four years at Smith. Never before has Allegheny College welcomed so many new students and never have her prospects been brighter. We feel that a happy and prosperous year is opening for
Page 25
22 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Mu. May all our chapters be successful in their rushing, and throughout the year. CHI— SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. We Chi girls were very glad to get back to each other and college. It seemed very odd to miss our seniors and the other girls who will not be with us this year, we can’t get over feeling they ought to be with us. We were so proud of our pretty chapter house “ rushing” week. During the summer it has undergone a complete renovation, including new decorations in two rooms. Then the weather was almost perfect so that teas, receptions, drives and drag parties went off finely. Mary Curtis, one of the 1900 seniors opened her home to us, on which occa¬ sion some of us appeared in a play. Altogether the first weeks of college have been very jolly and now we are really settled down to work ; we are as happy as can be. The girls who camped at the Islands together are laughing yet over their summer experiences and the girls who went to North- field are so enthusiastic about the Theta sisters they met there. Then a party of us and some of our Gamma Phi friends went to Ithaca to a recent football game under the charge of our chaperon and they fell quite in love with the Theta girls at Sage. We very laughingly claim two chaperones this year for Mrs. Peter — Iva Lovvther — is back for her degree, it does seem so good to have her with us. We are still struggling with the song-book, and hope be¬ fore the year is over that it will become a realization. Of course you want to know about our pledglings. They are Katherine Tracy, 1903, who was pledged last year you may remember, and from the class of 1904 we have chosen La Vantia Russel, Alice Hosley, Elizabeth Throop, Eliza¬ beth Tennant, Katherine Brundage, Gertrude Kempli, Grace Ramsey, Lola Lowther, Maisa Parker, Grace Baird and Evelyn Peake. We are so proud of them all.
Page 26
CHAPTER LETTERS. 23 ALPHA BETA— SWARTHMORE COLLEGE. Life in Alpha Beta seems to be imbued with new zest as though with the new year we had suddenly awakened to a realization of what a close bond it is that binds us under the name of Fraternity. During the months just preceding the close of the last College year the future of the chapters of the Greek letter societies here was threatened, but through the splendid work of the alumnae (and our own weak efforts) we are happy to have been able on the 19th of September to send up our Kite over a small band of seven, which for Alpha Beta is a very small chapter, but a very happy one. Com¬ mencement robbed us of seven sisters but we trust this will prove a ‘ loaning ’ rather than a ‘ losing for it is always such an inspiration to the active chapter to have the old girls back. The week following Commencement found us at Chelsea, where for the second time we had our annual house party, but as usual this was voted the “ best of all 99 . Mrs. Eastwick, the mother of one of our last year initiates, chaperoned our party, and surely gained the right to be one of our dear Theta Mothers. We had a short but delightful visit from Grace Barnheisel, Phi, last spring, and recently we enjoyed meeting Mrs. Russ, 1900, Mary McClure, 1900, and Ella Craig Russ, ex- 1 903, all of Iota chapter. The fall season this year is enjoyed by Alpha Beta in an entirely new sense, for due to the faculty action our pledge for both the men’s and women’s fraternities has been ex¬ tended to May 15, in the hope that the violent fall rushing will be abolished and that we will grow to know the new girls gradually and naturally. This is an experiment for this year only at present, and we are all anxious to know the outcome, so for some months we will have no initiates to introduce to our sisters, but we wish you all a successful season and send heartiest greeting.
Page 27
24 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. ALPHA DELTA — WOMAN’S COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE. Ill the fall the college girl’s fancy sadly turns to thoughts of work. Sadly? Well, yes it must be confessed that it was hard to leave home after all the delights of a season spent at some gay summer-resort, or — as was the case with some of us — after the more quiet but none the less real joys of a summer at home. But, on the other hand, what a deep, warm welcome we received at our journey’s end from the hand of loving loyal Thetas gathered there. How glad we girls were to see one another, to talk over our summer’s experiences, and to make plans for the season’s rushing. Pan Hellenic agreement placed “ pledge-day ” at October twenty-seventh, an earlier date than we have ever had be¬ fore ; and accordingly “ rushing ” began almost the first day of college. The gaiety is at its height now and the popular Freshman is beseiged with invitations to teas, receptions, luncheons, drives and every form of entertainment that girls’ ingenuity can devise. A fine set of girls has cotne to Baltimore this year, and we are hoping that a few of the best of these may be wearing Theta pledge pins before another month has gone. It is interesting to us who have had experience in rushing to watch the girls whom we took in last year. They are simply bubbling over with enthusiasm and interest. We miss more than words can tell, the wisdom and good judgment of our dear nineteen -hundred girls. One of these, Carolyn Golding has done the next best thing to coming back herself : she has sent a younger sister. Why haven’t all Thetas little sisters? Another face we miss from our circle, Edna Coultas, one of our nineteen-three girls. We are hoping though, that she will be with us next year. Alpha Delta sends greetings to her sister chapters, and wishes them all success for the coming year.
Page 28
CHAPTER LETTERS . 25 ALPHA EPSILON — BROWN UNIVERSITY. The months from May to October have been eventful ones for Alpha Epsilon. O11 May twelfth, for the first time in Brown University, an election of women students was made to Phi Beta Kappa. From the class of 1900 eight girls were chosen to wear the key ; and from the Junior class of 1901, two were elected, Ruth Appleton and Saida Newton Hallett, both Kappa Alpha Thetas. Our sister, Martha Wilbur Watt, 1900, not only “made” Phi Beta Kappa, but also joined the ranks of Sigma Xi ; and, as if these were not honors enough, on commencement day, received the Howell Premium in Mathematics. We are all sorry that Martha will study for her Master’s degree at Columbia this winter, instead of at Brown ; and we envy our Barnard sisters her presence in New York. The twenty-second of June we remember as another red letter day in our recent history ; for then it was that we visited Mary Wilbur at her charming seaside home. During the rest of the summer, however, we were more or less sep¬ arated from one another, since it did not seem practicable this year to arrange for a Theta house-party. By the end of August, therefore, we were quite ready for the college bell to ring. The new fall term has opened for us most pleasantly. We are very, very happy in our new Dean, Miss Emery from the University of Wisconsin ; and we are delighted to know that she is glad to find Thetas at Brown. We are happy also in our splendid fraternity room — already known to the fresh¬ men as the K. A. T.’s Cradle. Indeed the freshmen seem well pleased with us from the fact that we really have en¬ tertained them royally. During the first college week we gave them a tea at our room ; and, on the evening of Sep¬ tember twenty-eighth, we received at Pembroke Hall in the costumes and characters of the well-known women of Cran¬ ford . The new-comers seemed to appreciate our tea, our seed-cakes and our peppermints ; and it certainly cannot well be concealed that the Thetas rejoiced openly in the fruit¬ cake.
Page 29
26 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . ALPHA ZETA — BARNARD COLLEGE. College opened on the first of October, and consequently Alpha Zeta has hardly got past the stage of enthusiastic greetings. Twelve undergraduate members have returned to College, and two of our graduates are taking work in the University, and are still active members of the chapter. There are also two girls from other chapters in the College. This year sees the largest freshman class that Barnard has ever known. It has ninety-two members among whom are doubtless many desirable girls. It is for us a feeling of great relief that for a long time to come we have to give no thought to rushing. Our chapter room has made improvements in appearance this year, as most of the girls have brought contributions for it, on their return. We expect to have the best possible time in it this year. Alpha Zeta has not as yet seen the May Journal. We suppose that the delay is unavoidable, yet we regret it, as the interest in the Journal dies, when it does not come on time. Alpha Zeta sends best wishes for a prosperous year to all her sister chapters. Beta District. ALPHA — DEPAUW UNIVERSITY. To every Theta greeting from Alpha. In some subtle way the bonds of sisterhood seem to have been more closely riveted, uniting each individual Alpha girl with every other girl who wears ‘‘the tiny jewelled kite M in the land. Mayhap, it is the initiation service so lately gone through with. We girls of Alpha are well content after our pro¬ tracted rushing season of two weeks for our labors were not vain. The fifteen girls who came back at the first of the term are rejoicing with twelve new girls. Twelve
Page 30
CHAPTER LETTERS. 27 new girls have shared with us the mystery and learned but the first A, B, of what it means to be a Theta. We are exceptionally proud of our initiates this year for be¬ sides many of them having Theta mothers or Theta sisters they are each individually of that material whereof Theta womanhood is fashioned. There is Emma Buchtel, whose mother was the first Theta initiate ; Louise Tutewiler, Irene Barryhill, Minna Maddern, Margaret Quayle, Hope Erwin, Edna Arnold, Grace Allen, Bertha Wood, Nellie Walker, Jessie Heffner, pledged last year, and Adelaide Lamport. We have but one senior but she is a host in herself. And while we are congratulating ourselves on our success even with small numbers we must not fail to mention our many friends in the city who have shown their appreciation of Theta. We are very much excited over the numerous “ alliances ” that have been made during the past year. One especially we are so happy to hear of and have near us, for it brings back to the old mystic circle a ’97 Alpha girl although she is now the power behind a faculty chair. Verily it seems as a good bishop once said that matches were made in heaven but there was a terrestrial station here at DePauw. But though such danger lurks in the corners and even in the atmosphere we are delighted to see the old halls again. And so even though the fall has come with brisk days and the soft haze of Indian Summer we are earnestly studying text-books, fraternity rules, and ways, and principles, and incidentally autumn campustry. BETA — UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA. For the first time within the last five or six years the rush¬ ing season opens at Indiana with no pledging contract among the four women’s fraternities. There was so much trouble and dissatisfaction over that of last year, that no general contract has been attempted this fall. Our chapter, how¬ ever, has decided to offer no propositions for membership until the expiration of the third week of the term.
Page 31
28 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . As the University is just opened, there is little to tell about the rushing so far. Our most successful rushing par¬ ty has been a moonlight drive to a charming old house sev¬ eral miles from town, where a regular country supper was waiting for us. We are still in the chapter house which we have had for the last two years. Chapter houses are steadily growing in popularity here, for some time only the women’s fraternities tried the chapter house plan, but now handsome houses are being built for several of the men’s fraternities, and the others are planning to follow suit as soon as possible. DELTA — UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. The first semester opened this year with the happiest out¬ look possible for us. Among other things we are the proud possessors of what we consider the most attractive house on Green street. There are ten girls in the house with Miss Carpenter, instructor in physical culture and a Theta, as chaperon. Seven of last year’s Thetas are back this year, and each seems more eager than ever before to have our chapter all that a Theta chapter should be. On the twenty- sixth of September we initiated our five pledges of last spring : Edith Roberts, Bessie Burr, Isabel Staley, Edith Willis, and Juliet Scott. We are happy and fortunate in our four new pledges of this year, though I think we are all glad the “ rushing season is almost at an end for this year. Most sincerely do we hope that every sister chapter has experienced success and happiness equal to ours. EPSILON — WOOSTER UNIVERSITY. Epsilon sends her heartiest and most loving greeting to all her sisters. We are at work again, as doubtless the rest of you are also, studying and trying to accustom ourselves to the dig¬ nity of titles one year higher than last year’s ; trying besides,
Page 32
CHAPTER LETTERS. 29 to make life smoother for the new girls and trying, albeit sometimes with aching hearts to “ stand a little closer” and forget the empty places left by some of our girls who have gone out from among us forever. The inevitable losses of Commencement time left us with nine girls ; of these, two — Nell Lloyd and Lucy Cass — were unable to come back this fall, so that we were reduced to seven at the college opening. For two weeks we were so fortunate as to have with us our dear Grace Anderson of 1900, and during her visit we initiated Lucy Warren, a charming girl and a Theta born and bred. The rules of the faculty prevent 11s from taking Freshmen until December, so we are patiently biding our time and meanwhile taking the opportunity of getting acquainted in leisurely fashion. One jewel we did find in the Sophomore class, Margaret Elder, (last year of Lake Forest Michigan) and with joy and alacrity we made her ours. Wishing you all joy and prosperity. * ETA — UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. A new year has opened in the college and fraternity world, and we of Michigan have just about settled down to work. Our university is steadily progressing, and we feel that its surroundings are even more beautiful than ever before. The greatest events that have taken place are the address delivered by our president, Dr. Angell, in the name of the oldest Students’ Christian Association in existence ; and the big athletic association mass meeting. The former was delivered Sunday, Sept. 30, as a welcome to the freshmen ; and the latter was held Friday, Oct. 5, in the gymnasium. It is the largest, most enthusiastic meeting of the year and at that time money is raised by subscription for the association. Hundreds and thousands of dollars are some¬ times taken in in an hour. The yelling, cheering and applauding are deafening, but the enthusiasm is glorious. The terrible season of rushing is just about over. It cer-
Page 33
30 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. tainly is terrible here, for we have not been able to get a contract for pledging. The result is that sometimes the first time we see a girl she has someone’s colors on. We are doing all in onr power to go slow. We may lose for a time, for it often happens that a girl we are endeavoring to know conscientiously, is over-persuaded by someone else, and appears in other colors before we have had a chance to decide ; but in the end we hope to gain — for surely it is the girl who will wait to know us conscientiously that is worth having. Our outlook for the year is very promising. We are still in the same home that is so dear to us all, and there are more of us in it than ever before and two or three anxious to come in that we have no room for. The girls we have pledged are full of Theta spirit and loyalty and are a great addition to our chapter. We feel especially rich in having so many of the old girls with us and at having so many in Detroit who are able to make us short visits. Charlotte Walker is with us at the end of each week, and very often we have Sue Patterson, Myra Post, and Mabel Gale. Our work, both fraternity and college, has started off so well and is running so smoothly, that we hope for great things and wish the same for all of you. KAPPA— KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY. Kappa, after a rather protracted and exciting rushing sea¬ son, can report the following pledges : Ethelyn Rice, Fort Scott : Mary Bowen, Independence ; Anna Rankin, Law¬ rence ; Maud Bates, Topeka ; Anna Harrison, Topeka ; Mary Boaz, Pittsburg; Helen Calhoun, Fort Scott; Wini¬ fred Everingham, Wichita, and Laura Graham of Peabody, who put on the colors just before the close of school last spring, The season has developed no very striking modes of entertainment. The path of the 1900 rusliee has been much the same as that of many of her predecessors. We have scarcely yet ceased to look around hidden cor-
Page 34
CHAPTER LETTERS. 3i ners, or in old favorite nooks for the faces of our last year’s girls who are not now with us. Of these, Lucile Knight is teaching in Escanaba, Michigan, Louise Fanger in Baxter Springs, Kansas, Marie Nelson in Goodnight College, Good- niglit, Texas, and Daisy Dixon in Haskell Institute, Law¬ rence. Of our this year’s girls, Anna Warfield is society editor of the University Weekly , and Estelle Riddle has just been elected editor-in-chief of the Annual for the class of 1901. We have formulated a definite policy to govern our ac¬ tions in the fraternity and out of it, and have adopted it be¬ fore the initiation of our new girls, and, in great part, for their benefit. We think the plan is to be commended as giving a definiteness of purpose to the whole fraternity life during the year. PI — ALBION COLLEGE. After a very pleasant vacation we again assembled in our dear lodge, ready to begin work for another school year, but still cannot help feeling sad for the great loss of our five Senior girls, Emma R. Osborne, Lotta Page, L. Gertrude Strickland, Mabel Marion Hanlon, and Edna B. Thompson, and five other girls who left us for this year ; but with eight of us left we again take up the load with eager hands. Our rushing season has been filled with triumphs and we are bubbling over with enthusiasm over our new girls. Much can be said about our new girls, but I will only take time and space to introduce them to you, Bertha Fellows, Jessie Cooper, Clara Belle Schaffer, Lily Schaffer, Jean Frasier, Bessie Tanner: — all of them members of the Fresh- man class. We have our at home the same as usual, this year. Just now we are very much interested in our foot ball team. They have done some splendid work. They have not been scored against so we feel very proud of our boys. Convention time is drawing near and this time we send two girls as representatives.
Page 35
32 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. RHO— UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. Rho has been rather more occupied than usual this fall. Our new chapter house, large and well appointed, required most of our attention during September. We are singu¬ larly fortunate in being able to secure so charming a home, the beautiful grounds not the least of its attractions. It hardly seems to Rho that a long vacation has gone by. Most of the gills were together during the summer in one place or another. There have been the ordinary number of rushing parties — morning Kensingtons, teas, luncheons and all that. One of our alumnae gave us a jolly car ride in the “ Oneta ” and a feast afterwards at her home. The University is welcoming our new chancellor, Benjamin Andrews, of Brown University, and it is the week of the annual Street Fair in Lincoln. We find it hard to think only of studies when there is so much gaiety on. However, the University closed when Teddy Roose¬ velt spoke here. TAU — NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. This is the. third week of school and rushing is practically over with us. We are feeling very joyful over our three new pledglings, Grace Haven and Josephine Morphey of Evanston and Ruth Banner of Edgewater. Much to our regret two of our Freshmen of last year did not return. Nell Fleshiem, ’96, is taking her Master’s degree and we also have with us this year Mary Orth and Jeanette Becker. We are very glad to have these three back for they add much to the strength of our Fraternity. Northwestern is still without a president. Mrs. Crow has been elected Dean of Women. We expect to have our initiation soon, so that Margaret Bennett, who is going to visit us can be present. Greetings to all Theta sisters.
Page 36
CHAPTER LETTERS. 33 UPSILON — UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. The sororities of Minnesota are experimenting this year with a contract prohibiting the extending of invitations for six weeks. So we have no pledglings to report, but we hope to put the black and gold on several bright, sweet freshmen next week. We have had the usual round of parties this year — luncheons, dances, chafing dish parties, with a steamer ride given us by one of the “ Theta fathers,” and a mock lunch counter, in imitation of the university lunch room, where, amidst posters announcing ” extras” on the bill of fare, we bargained for lunches with the allotted handful of paper coin. But though we have enjoyed the parties very much, it is hard indeed not to be able to ” talk fraternity 11 to the girls we are rushing — and to withstand the temptation to find out “ how much love they bear us” — but we forbear. On the twelfth of this month we are to extend invitations to the girls, and on the sixteenth they are to give an answer. It is safe to say that we can count on our fingers the hours of sleep that we shall get between those fateful dates ? Our next letter will probably open with a fanfaranade of triumph and a list of our initiates ; but just now we are in the throes of uncertainty and on the verge of nervous prostration. PSI — UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. Once more College has opened and Psi begins the year with fewer members than she has had for some time. At present we are but nine but we hope soon to have our ranks swelled by the new sisters we shall introduce to you in the near future. Three fine girls — Carrie Knox, Lela Pugh, and Evelyn Johnson — are already wearing the pledge pin. The girls of Psi are busy now getting into our new7 house. It is a fine, three-story building, well-located, and finished in the natural wood. The house looks out upon the low7er
Page 37
34 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . campus and the imposing new library building. Those of you who have ever lived in a small-room flat will realize what it means to Psi to get into a large house where there is an abundance of room. For the past two weeks we have been greatly indebted to our alumnae who so generously opened their homes to us in this our time of need. We were glad indeed to have three of our graduates, Mollie Strong, Winifred Smith, and Blanche Brigham, with us for the first ten days, during which time we had a danc¬ ing party, several drives, spreads, and afternoon teas. Psi wishes her sister chapters all possible success in their undertakings this year. ALPHA GAMMA — OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Alpha Gamma sends greeting to all sisters and wishes you a very happy year. It seems that all Thetas are drawn nearer together, if possible, at this time of year than at any other. In the midst of our efforts to choose new girls whom we know are worthy of the black and gold and perhaps the breathless suspense of “ waiting for an answer,” it is a great help to know that all our sisters are working with their whole hearts for the same cause. We feel our strength as a fra¬ ternity and, if we are successful, we know that it is due, not only to our own chapter, but to every Theta in the country because of the silent encouragement given in the knowledge that she is interested in our welfare and eager to hear of our success. Alpha Gamma’s cup of joy is very full this fall. First, of course, there is the happiness of coming together after a long vacation and the long chats of the days when we have been separated but how much this happiness is increased by the fact that we have five new girls with us, no one can realize but you who have had the same experience. We have had unqualified success. The “ rushing season” is practically over and we have lost no one and feel that we have five true Thetas. We are
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CHAPTER LETTERS. 35 also taking a great deal of pleasure in looking forward to the Convention of Beta District, which we are to entertain at Thanksgiving. We hope to have many visitors besides the delegates and wish it were the three districts instead of one. Our cup of joy, however, has one great drop of bitterness. Alpha Gamma has known, this summer, her first death, that of Martha Fisher Griffin, one of the truest and most loyal Thetas we have ever had and a beautiful example of a nobler womanhood. As we look into each other’s eyes, in the joy of our success, there comes a mist as we realize our loss and the ties of Theta love grow stronger as we try to say, “ Thy Will be Done.” Gamma District. PHI — STANFORD UNIVERSITY. Phi has once more come together, but not altogether as yet, for we are scattered all over the campus, waiting the finishing of our new house. Our headquarters are at Roble Hall, the girls’ dormitory, where nine of us are living — rather unsatisfactory headquarters when it comes to enter¬ taining, but nevertheless affording opportunities for getting thoroughly acquainted with the freshmen. Our house will soon be finished and we expect to enjoy it, especially after our experience of dormitory life. Our friends among the faculty have been most kind in putting their houses at our disposal for entertaining, and Mrs. Stevenson, the mother of one of our girls, gave us a most beautiful garden party at her country home at Fair Oaks. Two of our old girls who were away last year, are again with us — Grace Barnhisel, who spent last year at Bryn Mawr, and Georgia Caswell. We have also a most welcome addition to the chapter in Ruth Wilson, of Rho.
Page 39
36 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. OMEGA — UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Omega sends heartiest greetings to all her Theta sisters ! The year has opened with the hardest rushing season ever known to Omega, all the fraternities having concen¬ trated on a few girls. Yet in spite of this fact we are re¬ joicing in the unification of our chapter, in the broadening sympathy of our girls and the growing willingness to see things from the standpoint of others. In the past year we have sent our greetings to new chap¬ ters of Delta Delta Delta and Pi Beta Phi. The University of California, under the strong leadership of our new Presi¬ dent, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, is enlarging its boundaries in every direction. With great prospects before us we can only strive to make our beloved Theta worthy of these un¬ usual opportunities. Many of our girls are taking an active interest in College affairs. Agnes Frisius, *oi, is the able President of the As¬ sociated Women Students. Grace Boggs, ’02, is a member of the Junior Day Committee ; she is also on the Blue and Gold Staff. We have received much help and stimulus from our new affiliate, Agnes Arneill. To Phi we extend our sympathy for losing Agnes ; we do not want to be selfish, but we are glad that their loss has become our gain. This is the crown and glory of Theta that the bond between the dif¬ ferent chapters is so strong that when one comes to us from afar we can open our hearts and take her in as one of our own.
Page 40
PERSONALS. ALPHA. Mintie Alice Allen, Alpha Alumnae, is teaching at Paris, Ill. Lucy Allen, ’oo, is assisting in mathematics in this university. Helen Jones, ’oo, is in Leipsic for a year or more studying German. DELTA. The engagement of Lydia M. Mather, ’oo, and Earnest Forbes, ’96, is announced. Louise Jones, *99. one of our charter members, sails this month for a year abroad. ETA. Eta is very happy this year in having several of her old girls back in Ann Arbor. Mrs. George R. Swain, who was Edith Rice of Omega and Eta, is now living in Ann Arbor. Sina Smith, who was with us in ’97, has come back to finish her course. Olive Blanchard, of Marquette, Mich., one of our '98 freshmen, is again with us. Charlotte R. Greist, of New Haven Conn., who left us last April for a trip abroad, gave us a delightful surprise by returning very unexpectedly this fall. We are glad to have among us Eleanor Rinn, of Alpha chapter. Laura L. Eames, of St. Louis, is still enjoying a trip abroad, and will not return till the end of October. Julia Benson is spending this year at Rome.
Page 41
3« THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. The Chicago Etas have had a delightful time this sum¬ mer visiting each other and gathering at the different depots as members of Theta passed through Chicago. We saw Lina Gjems, of Wilmar, Minn., as she came through on her way to Norway to spend the summer. We met Irene Blanchard on her way to Bloomington, Ill., where she re¬ turned to her position in the Normal. We spent a few hours with Charlotte Leavitt on her way to Topeka, Kan., where she will resume her work as Dean of Washburn College. Louise Gibbs will be teaching in the high school at Hinsdale again this year. Irene Baker of 1900, has passed the Chicago examinations for high school positions and will remain in that city. Flora L. Goeschel of 1900 is teaching in South Haven, Mich. Charlotte H. Walker of 1900 is teaching in Grosse Isle, Mich. Zoe Scliurtz, 1900, is still with us working for her mas¬ ter’s degree. Carrie Mowry and Esther Woodruff who were with us last year, are teaching in Saginaw, Mich. Alice Wadsworth spent part of her summer with Mrs. Kate Landfair Rosenberry of Wausau, Wis. ; both girls are charter members of Eta. Elsie Sawyer of jQliet was one of a camping party in which there were several members of Delta chapter. One evening last spring we were made very happy by the pledging of Hazel Mason the younger sister of one of our girls. Many of the girls of Omega and Phi will rejoice with us in the pledging of Zella Fay of Los Angeles, Cal. Louise Harris Thielen of Charlevoix, Mich., one of our charter members, is the mother of a fine baby girl. Sybil Stewart of Wandine, Idaho, on her way to Ann Arbor, stopped a few days with Irene Baker in Chicago.
Page 42
PERSONALS. 39 Elsie Sawyer spent a few days this summer with Jane Pollack in Chicago. Mabel Gale spent several days in Chicago and is now teaching in the Detroit high school. Frances Gale of Aurora, Ill., took the summer course at Chicago University. Florence May Lyons of our old chapter was also at Chicago University and has a fellowship there. Susan Patterson of Detroit, has been with us this week and we love her in the same old way. She spent the sum¬ mer at Long Island and is now teaching in Detroit. Jessie Harris, one of our charter members is with us this year. Anna Harris is teaching in Detroit. Myra M. Post has been with us two or three times this year. Jessie Beal Baker, her husband and two babies passed through Detroit this summer and were met by a delegation of Detroit Thetas. We are delighted to have in the house with us, our first pledge of this year, Mary Grace Holmes of Kenton, Ohio. In the death of Prof. Janies H. Norton, principal of Lake View high school, Chicago, Eta Chapter has lost one of her dearest and most loyal brothers. He was the hus¬ band of Laura Hills Norton, one of the charter members of old Eta, and from the time of its establishment in Michigan, in 1879, until the time of his death, was one of our staunchest friends. KAPPA. Em a Barteldes has returned from her two years visit in Europe. Ella Funston, sister of the Brigadier General, has been compelled to leave school on account of her eyes. Edna Warkenlieu, 1900, is to spend the winter in the east, visiting, among other places, an informal class reunion at Bryn Mawr.
Page 43
4o THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Mrs. Rose Watson Rising, 1899, announces the birth of a daughter, who has been named Edna Rosalia. Kate Riggs has returned from a year’s study in Germany. LAMBDA. Mabel Nelson, ’99, has a position as teacher of French in Barre. Marjorie Batchelder, ex-’o3, is teaching music in New¬ port, Vt. Geneva Jones has returned to College after a year’s ab¬ sence. Amy Burt, ’00, is teaching in St. Albans. Fannie Atwood, ’00, is teacher of Latin and Algebra in the Burlington High School. pi. Mabel Hanlon, ’00, is teaching in Middleville High School. Gertrude Strickland, ’00, is teaching in Cedar Springs, Mich. Emma Osborne, ’00, is teaching in Evanston, Ill. Lotta Page teaches in Bellevue, Mich. Ethel Cooper, ’99, is teaching this year at Little Falls, Minn. RHO. Selma Wigginham, who graduated in June, is stopping at the chapter house. Hallie Post has been visiting her sister at the chapter house. Ruth Wilson has gone to Leland Stanford. We envy Phi. TAU. Tau has four engagements to announce : Irene Mayhew Graves and Harold W. Bennet, of Minneapolis ; Edna Earl Fleshiem and Samuel Merwin. Mr. Merwiu is a member of Beta Theta Pi. Mary Ward Orth and Henry K. Web-
Page 44
PERSONALS. 41 ster ; Leila Morris and Oscar William Dorman, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, of Freeport. Mae Gloss, ’9?, is teaching Science in the Evanston High School. Ida Sawyer is assistant librarian in the Columbian Museum. UPSILON. Among the Theta brides of this summer were Jane Pomeroy, Elinor Williams and Elizabeth Fisher. Lulu Ridgway, ’03, and Franta Soule, ’01, are taking work at the state normal school, at Mankato. Alice Woodman, ’02, has returned to her art work at Pratt Institute. The engagement is announced of Alice Jackson, 'oi, to Charles H. Eckerman, a graduate of Columbia and in¬ structor at the University of Minnesota. Fannie Sawyer, ’00, is teaching at Fairbault, Minn. OMEGA. Maud Sutton, ex-’ 97, has re-entered College and is now a member of the class of 1902. We are very happy in the fact that Agnes Arneill, of Phi, has affiliated with us. Lena Macaulay has been made the head of the Greek and Latin Departments, at Mills College. Ruth Wilder, ’oo, is teaching English and Latin in the High School, of San Luis Obispo. Agnes Boreland Hart, ex-’oo, is visiting in Boston. Her husband, Walter Morris Hart, of the University of Cali¬ fornia, is studying at Harvard. AEPHA BETA. On September u, at Wallingford, Pa., a little daughter, Elizabeth Anne was born to Mrs. William E. Walter, our ex-Grand President. Mrs. Charles Hepburn, ’95, announces the birth of a daughter, Maria Theresa Shaw Hepburn.
Page 45
42 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Alice Lippincott, ’99, has returned to Riverton, N. J., after a year spent in travelling abroad and is now taking a course at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. Caroline Comly, 1900, is teaching at the Friends’ School, Danby, Pa. The engagement of Eva Foster, ’98, to Harper Furth, Phi Kappa Psi, ’96, is announced. Mrs. Mary Clark Marden, ’97, announces the birth of a son. Edith M. Wilson, 1900, of Bloomfield, Canada, is teach¬ ing at Germantown Friends’ School. The engagement of Bertha Lippincott, ’95, to Henry C. Parrish, Phi Kappa Psi, ex-’95, is announced. Caroline Hawke, 1900, has come with her mother from Piedmont, Ala., to spend the winter in Swarthmore. Ellen Williams Battin, ’93, has come to live at the Col¬ lege this winter as her husband is teaching here after two years spent in travel and study on the Continent. Mrs. Battin is one of our charter members and I am sure will be a help and an inspiration to us all. ALPHA GAMMA. The engagement of Miss Annis McLaughlin to Mr. Harry Miller of Portsmouth, Ohio, is announced. Mrs. Clyde Bartholemew, Ida Schille, has been living in Columbus since the death of her husband in June. GAMMA ALUMNAE. Vena Fenno, of Mu and Iota will be welcomed among us in the coming year. The probable presence of Nannine La Villa in New York, after her sojourn of two years in Florence will give many Iota graduates opportunity to renew a too limited acquaint¬ ance with this ex-member of 1900. Philadelphia is to be the home this year of Helen Huebner, Iota, ’99, whom we shall miss from our New York circle.
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WEDDING BELLS. ALPHA. Josephine Cartright, ’98, was married October 2nd to George Ives, Purdue University, ’97, at Delphi, Indiana. Kate Polk, ex-’oo, was married to William Sandy, ’97, Delta Upsilon. Ethel Nash Arnold, *97, was married at her home in Greencastle, September 13th, to Professor Frank C. Tilden, '96, Delta Upsilon. beta. On the evening of July 10, at half-past eight, at the bride’s home in Bloomington, Indiana, Marie Louise Brisen, ’oo, w*as married to Morton Clark Bradley, ex-’99. Bertha Orr, ex-’o3, was married to L. A. Pittenger, ex-’oo, Phi Gamma Delta, August 1, at her home in Selma, Indiana. Married at the home of the bride’s parents, in Blooming¬ ton, Indiana, August 15, Daisy Eloise Lovvder, to John Walter Laird, Phi Gamma Delta, ’01. Married, September 15, at Terre Haute, Indiana, Stella Daisy Marshall, ex-’oi, to Ernest Ludlow Bogart, Professor of Economics, in the University of Oberlin. pi. Married at the home of the bride’s father, in Parena, Mich., Sept. 20, 1900, Miss Susie Dean, ’97, to Mr. Leon Stirling Hubbel, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Miss Rebekah Striker, ex-’98, was married to Mr. Charles Gay Maywood, ’99, at the home of her mother, in Hastings, Mich., June 20. On June 6th, at the home of her parents, in Union City, Mich., Miss Maude Hollenbeck, ’96, was united in marriage to Mr. Leroy Perine, ex-* 96.
Page 47
44 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. TAU. Jessie Cope, *98, was married in June to Mark Cresop, ’97, in Streator, Ill. UPSIIyON. Among the Theta brides of this summer were Jane Pomeroy, Elinor Williams and Elizabeth Fisher. OMEGA. Edith Rice, ex-’96, and George A. Swain were married during the summer months. On the thirty-first of May, at Hyde Park, Mass., Eliza¬ beth Hoyt, ex- ’00, was married to Mr. Clifton Price. Elizabeth for the past two years had been studying at Wellesley. Mr. Price is an instructor in the Latin Depart¬ ment of the University of California. ALPHA GAMMA. Married at the home of the bride’s parents, in Ashtabula, Ohio, Aug. 22, 1900, Ruth Ford, ’97, and Lawrence Car¬ lisle, of Ashtabula.
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Jtt 3tlcmormm. Martha Fisher Griffin Alpha Gamma Chapter Died, July 20th, 1900.
Page 49
EDITORIALS. Once again we have the report of the Educational Com¬ mittee with its suggestions for another year — and again their most important point is to urge the absolute necessity of working along a definite well-defined plan. Desultory work and cramming can never compete with work that is intelli¬ gently planned and regularly carried out. An educational committee in each chapter is an excellent suggestion and one that must commend itself to every one. It should be formed of girls who will feel the responsibility of the posi¬ tion and the necessity of doing their work in the very best possible way. The chapters that have not done this work with the aid of plan and committee may decide from their standing which seems to be the most effective method of getting the best results. It would undoubtedly be of great aid to every chapter, whatever its standing in the examina¬ tion, to hear the plans of the others, and if these are to be of service this year they should be published at once. Will every chapter that has a suggestion to offer, be it great or small, send it to the next Journal. You may have learned by failure, if so tell us how even if you have no definite sug¬ gestion to offer as to how to avoid a like mistake in the future, some one else may be able to tell you just what you want. If you have been working according to a plan, give us your plan with any modifications you may think advisable but do not hesitate to give your plan because you think it is not perfect, it is not likely that a single plan would fail to offer several suggestions to some chapter, and the result of the whole would be very helpful and suggestive. The editor has usually only feelings of gratitude to the chapters and chapter editors for the prompt and careful attention to the Journal requirements in regard to chapter letters and other Journal material. At the beginning of
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EDITORIALS . 47 the year, however, when the new officers take up their work the patience of the editor is always tried by the mis¬ takes that are the result of this newness to office and that seem so small to each individual girl who makes them. The new secretary has not done her whole duty when she has written the best chapter letter she knows how and sent it off on time. She would often save some one at the other end of the line much tedious work by reading the directions at the head of the chapter letters. Write on one side of the paper, head the letter correctly, keep personals, other notices and pri¬ vate notes to the editor all on separate sheets, use paper a little thicker than the very thinnest you can find, leave a fair mar¬ gin, write names distinctly, and once again write on one side of the paper. When all this is done the secretary may feel fairly sure that she has done her fair share of the work. An apology is due to the chapters for the lateness of this issue of the Journal . Chapters that have, owing to this cause, not yet sent the chapter letters will please send them at once. Will the new secretaries also please see that the directory is correct and send notice of any mistakes at once so that they may be corrected in the next Journal. It will be of interest to our readers to know that the re¬ port of the Kipling lecture given under the auspices of Eta Alumnae was written by Mrs. Belle Chandler Gates, a mem¬ ber of Lambda chapter and a former editor of the Theta Journal. Chi chapter, in a note to one of the educational com¬ mittee, explains that her low average is due to a complete misunderstanding of a part of the examination paper, and not to lack of careful preparation, and protests against “ being thought lacking in fraternity matters which are dear to her
Page 51
EXCHANGES. From the August Trident we quote the following extracts from an article by Miss Bertha L,. Gardiner under the title Does College Training Create a Class of Intellectual Snobs : If space permits, I should like to emphasize the general statement made above by the suggestion of a particular ap¬ plication. I refer to the choice of occupation for the college women. Of course, she wants to give her life where it will tell most for good. There can be no question that the posi¬ tion of utmost influence for her is that of an American wife and mother. Unfortunately for us women, that position is not alway a matter of our choice. An alternate remains, however, in which almost as much of self-sacrifice, of patience, of judgment, of keen insight, of forbearance, of hope, of despair, of undying love may be exercised as in wifehood and motherhood. I mean the public school. I think we college graduates are prone to scorn as something too commonplace our public schools. We feel that our rare intelligence should be reserved for higher walks of life — for the academic cloister and the still dearer paths of profes¬ sional dignity . It is a noteworthy fact that at the last national convention of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, such men as Presi¬ dent Harper, of Chicago University, and Superintendent Andrews, of the Chicago Public Schools, urged strenuously that college women devote themselves to the public schools. So forceful are their remarks that I cannot refrain from quoting two extracts from their addresses. Superintendent Andrews says : “ Why such a rush on the part of college- bred women and men for college work and university work, and why relatively so little attention to service in our public schools ? For every college faculty of this country you will find young men if it is a men’s college, and young women if it is a women’s college, of the highest intelligence working away at abstract branches of literature and science for an insignificant renumeration. I do not see why they do not come to the public schools and obtain positions that would be far more lucrative. I fancy if some of them wTere here they would say, ‘ It is true that we might be more remuner¬ atively rewarded but we should not be nearly so influential.’ That is just where the folly lies. As I view it — and I am
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EXCHANGES. 49 fairly well acquainted with the college and university life of the country, having been in the great majority of my active life closely associated with that work — I regard the position of a woman principal in the city of Chicago as far more in¬ fluential, far more powerful in its effect on the life of our time, than that of any lady professor, or man professor eith¬ er, in the United States of America. If I had my choice, I would rather be principal of one of the elementary schools in the city of Chicago than to be professor in any college in the country. So I am advising young men and women to get the great¬ est possible intellectual wealth and widest possible intellect¬ ual outlook, but when they want positions of influence, to come down, if they think it is coming down, to the public school. After a while they will think they have risen by coming. This, I believe is the place to exert social power; this is the place to make your education tell. * * And President Harper says : “If superior training and broader knowledge count in the sphere of intellectual activi¬ ty, they will count for most in the grades of the elementary school, where ninety per cent of the children of the land re¬ ceive all the training they are to receive, and where the pupil is most sensitive to the character of the influence brought to bear upon him. It is here that the most careful work requires to be done, for so sensitive is the mind of the pupil at this age to each and every impression, that it is in¬ deed a chance in every case whether the impression shall be for good or for evil. In this work it is not the teacher who is most widely informed, but the teacher who has been most definitely and delicately trained that is to accomplish what thus far, in spite of every earnest and serious effort, has, in general failed to be accomplished. In my opinion, the greatest career in life for a woman, next to that of mother, is that of teacher, and, for many generations to come, every college woman who desires to teach will find abundant op¬ portunity, if not in the college ranks, in ranks perhaps more directly connected with the interests of the country at large; namely those which have to do with the instruction of the great mass of children who may not aspire to the training even of the high school. I do not forget that in the opinion of some a college women is by her very training unfitted to do this elementary work. It has with equal absurdity been maintained that a college woman by her college training has been unfitted for home life. It may at all events be said that the college training, which does not in real truth pre-
Page 53
50 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. pare a woman to adapt herself to any work to which she may find herself assigned, is a poor college training at best, and one only in name. If the higher work of education is to be lifted still higher, this can be best accomplished by making the lower work more thorough and satisfactory. And to this great achievement it would seem to me the col¬ lege women of our day should turn themselves even if the task requires sacrifice of self.” The October number of the Key opens with the following fraternity song : Kappa Song. Air — Kentucky Babe. I. Sisters, let us sing again the joys of friendship sweet, Friendship, true and strong ; All the love that fills our hearts when loyal Kappas meet Weave into our song ! Sing the blue we’ve borrowed from the depths of summer skies, Sing the blue we’ve borrowed from the calm lake’s darker dyes, Sing our gold key gleaming With its hidden meaning, Sing our love for thee — Chorus. — Kappa dear, Once again thy mystic vows we will all renew, Kappa dear, Once again we offer thee loyal hearts and true, Thine forever, Bound together In fraternity. ii. What the years may bring to us, which of us can tell, Whether weal or woe ? Lands and seas may sever wide friends we loved so well, Friends of long ago : Yet though happy college days shall fade into the past, Still within the fortress of my heart imprisoned fast, Failing, fading never, There shall live forever Love for K. K. G. Chorus. —
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EXCHANGES. 51 The business side of fraternity life is sometimes given too subordinate a place. A Delta Gamma gives in the Nov. Anchor a her view of the proper place of business in the fraternity. Fraternity life has many aspects. We spend a great deal of time considering it in its national position, in its college standing, in its inter-fraternal relations and in its reference to the individual. As the ideals of the chapters vary, we find it either social, intellectual or moral. The idea of a fraternity having a business aspect seldom occurs to us, and is promptly dismissed if it does arise. We measure a girl’s position in her chapter by other standards than mere money, and it is right that we should do so. But in fraternity life, as in the common work-a-day world, we find money a necessity. If all our girls were as well sup¬ plied with this world’s goods as we deem them rich in good qualities, no financial clouds need darken our horizon, and much of the jar and fret of chapter life could be avoided. But as few of us are blessed with a superabundance of riches, each must bear her share of the financial burden. It is too often the case that we hand the whole responsibility over to the treasurer and expect her by some sort of cunning to coax the money from the delinquent members. As long as our standing remains good whether we pay promptly or reluct¬ antly, we have a tendency to neglect our dues until the day of reckoning comes and our treasurer tells us that a certain amount must be paid by a certain day. In many men’s fraternities the good or bad standing of a member depends largely upon the prompt payment of dues. To make this the chief requisite in a girls’ fraternity would be apt to make us lose sight of many other things in fraternity life which really come first. The only solution of the difficulty seems to be to try to impress upon the girls that the true fraternity spirit prompts us to give as freely of our money as of our love and en¬ thusiasm. If each of us lived up to our fraternity obligations, finan¬ cially, the chapter could meet the demands of the national fraternity more readily, and thereby render the work of the latter much more effective and expeditious. We quote the following article entire from Beta Theta Pi as dealing with a question of interest not alone to one fra¬ ternity but to all :
Page 55
52 THE KAPPA AlPHA THETA. Shortly after the last annual convention two articles ap¬ peared in the Independent on a certain class of colleges. These articles were of great interest in connection with the debate at Niagara Falls as to the proper attitude of the fra¬ ternity to a chapter located in a declining institution. It will be recalled that this question was at issue, “ What is our duty to a chapter when the college is declining in influence and power ? 9 9 Some insisted that the charter should be with¬ drawn ; others with greater vehemence insisted that the chapter should be spared — 44 to perish with the institution.” The first paper declared that, as a rule, all denominational colleges west of Buffalo were declining. The other, in at¬ tempting to refute the conclusions of the first, admitted the fact, but offered in excuse a list of colleges founded by the denomination to which the writer belonged, and added a plea that they be permitted to ‘‘grow up with the country.” And a further suggestion was made that money spent on yacht and horse races and football teams in the east could be better employed in more fully endowing these western schools. To an outsider this latter plea was pitiable, for out of the eleven colleges named, not one possesses a chapter of Beta Theta Pi or of any other one of the six larger fraterni¬ ties, and their apologist admitted that their present position was inferior to the place held twenty years before. Now for the cause of the decline. We quote : “ The state university flourishes in the west. In the east the denomina¬ tional colleges are too well endowed, too hallowed by age to be ever endangered by rivals supported by the state. But in the west I do not believe there are more than a dozen church colleges that are sure of being alive a dozen years hence.” Again, ‘‘We have recently had figures showing the rapidity with which the state universities are striding away from the other institutions. But these figures show only the progress of the state colleges. They do not show the actual retrogression of a goodly share of denominational colleges.” After this the writer cites instances of padded catalogues containing names of absent, partial, musical and preparatory students ; pictures of buildings long since burned, and the like ! and shows that endowments and equipment have also degenerated. Material of this sort was found in a special investigation carried on by a great frater¬ nity, which resulted in the withdrawal of six chapters from institutions, once promising and prosperous, now dying of dry rot, because the resources of a denomination are fritter¬ ed away in trying to support from three to five colleges
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EXCHANGES. 53 where only one is required. The fraternity situation he sums uptlius : “ In the last three years, not more than a dozen chapters of the thirty-five or more fraternities have been established in other than state universities, making an exception of the colleges of New England and New York. In the same time probably twenty -five charters have been withdrawn from denominational colleges, and only three or four from state colleges, and this through dissatisfaction with the chapters, not the colleges.’ * Now, I am an eastern college man, from an ex-denomina¬ tional college, and so hold no brief for state universities. But even in the east, the denominational college is falling behind ; and only those institutions which have cut loose from sectarian control and government have a prosperous present, and a bright future. What more humiliating and hurtful to a college than to come to any church convention begging for money ? Self-respect and self-interest have caused many, and will cause more, colleges in the east to cut loose from denominational ties. But what has all this to do with Beta Theta Pi ? Much ; when other fraternities investigate colleges, and withdraw chapters, and we do not even in¬ vestigate ; and when we have in years past more than once refused petitioners in state universities, and continued chap¬ ters in, or granted charters to, small, weak, puny, but pros¬ pectively big and flourishing denominational schools, which prospects have not materialized. And more, when it seems to be the policy to grant no charters anywhere ; and we hear the cry, “ We must not withdraw a chapter ; let it die with the institution ; or totter along with the pitiable cripple for untold years.” The fraternity which follows this policy will itself die of dry rot. Plas Beta Theta Pi a policy ? If so, what is it ? Are the facts as stated by Mr. Curtis in his article? And is the re¬ ply by Dr. Day, of the Congregational Church the best that can be made? Is the “denominational college” de¬ clining, relatively and absolutely, east and west ? That is, the college church-controlled and church-supported? Can Beta Theta Pi afford to be indifferent ? Are chapters loyal to the fraternity if they use padded catalogues to give assurance that the declining institution is flourishing? Shall we close our eyes and shout, “ ’Tis false, * tis false ;” when “ ’Tis true, and pity ’tis, ’tis true !” Finally could a chapter, if it unfortunately finds itself in a declining institution, better prove its loyalty and love to the fraternity, than by revealing the facts and surrendering the charter?
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54 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. I do not contend there are such cases, yet other men and other fraternities do so contend and do not hesitate to act. My ideal Beta would prove his right to “ bear the name and wear the badge of Beta Theta Pi” by such a supreme love for the welfare and prosperity of his fraternity that he would not hamper, hinder or harm it, even to preserve the life of his own chapter. The following editorial is quoted from the June Scroll of Phi Delta Theta. All editors have their theories on the subject of rushing, and every chapter has its own peculiar way, which is deter¬ mined sometimes by local custom and sometimes by the character of the chapter’s best rusher. No chapter can afford to sacrifice dignity or honor to win a point or a man, but snobbishness is not dignity nor laziness honor. No man needs bringing to his senses more than the chronic objector who insists that men shall meet impossible requirements, re¬ quirements he could not fill himself, who insists he must know a new man thoroughly, and who will not try to make his acquaintance. The chapter has no place for such an incubus. The chapter must insist that a man have character, breeding, ability and congeniality — all of them to a reason¬ able degree. It should look out especially for men with Phi relatives and for good men from the college town. These are almost always unusually valuable. The members of the rushing committee, and, indeed, most of the members of the chapter, should keep in touch with each other during the summer and exchange all news of importance and interest while it is fresh. Alumni who wish to recommend fresh¬ men, or a member of one chapter who wishes to report to members of another, can perhaps do what they wish quickest by sending information and communications through the editor of The Scroll , though addresses can easily be obtained from chapter letters in this issue and from the list of initiates in the last Palladium.