Kappa Alpha Theta Journal, Vol. 15 no. 3
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA, Published by the Fraternity. Edited by Iota Chapter. JANUARY , MARCH , MAY, NOVEMBER. TABLE OF CONTENTS. s The College Woman in the World. Marion Crins Whipple , California , ’p£, _ 109 Personal Preference in the Choice of New Fraternity Mem¬ bers. Mary McLean Olney , Omega , ’95, _ 112 Our Journal. _ 115 Self Development. K. S. S., /to', _ 117 Alumnae Department: Zeta Alumnae , _ 1 20 Undergraduate Department : Some Methods of Study, _ 122 Chapter Life, _ 123 Social Side of College Life, _ 124 Chapter Letters, _ 128 Personals, _ I _ 141 Wedding Bells, _ 143 In Memoriam, _ 144 Editorials, _ 145 Exchanges, _ 147 Address everything intended for publication, and all business communica¬ tions to CECILIA AGNES LAW, 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. All material intended for publication should reach the editor before October 5, December 5, February 5, April 5. TERMS— $1.00 per Year; 25 cents Single Copy; Sample Copy Free. The Kappa Alpha Theta will be sent to all subscribers until ordered dis¬ continued and arrearages paid, as required by law.
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FRATERNITY DIRECTORY. GRAND COUNCIL. President — Myra M. Post, . 342 Cadillac Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Vice Presidents— Mary E. S. Scott, . 32 Broadway, N. Y. M. Edith Bell, . 382 E. Town St., Columbus, O. Ednah Harmon Wickson, . Berkeley, Cal. Secretary — Alice E. Wadsworth, . 1008 Hill St., Ann Arbor Treasurer— Mary E. S. Scott, . 32 Broadway, N. Y. Editor — Cecilia Agnes Law, . 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Editor-in-Chief— Cecilia A. Law, . 33 East Ave., Ithaca, N. Y. Exchange Editor— % Jane D. Cavarly, . Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Editor of the Catalogue — M. Edith Bell, . . 382 E. Town St., Columbus, O.
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CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES. ALPHA DISTRICT. President — Mary E. S. Scott, 32 Broadway, N. Y. Iota, Cornell University— Louise Katz, Sage College, Ithaca, N. Y. Lambda, University of Vermont— Alice L. Beau, 411 Main St., Burling¬ ton, Vt. s 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— A. L. Norris, Baltimore, 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 Alumnae, Ruth Ida Norton, Shelburne, Vt. Theta Alumna, 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, Hoover Cottage. Worcester Ohio. Eta, University of Michigan— Jane V. Pollack, Ann Arbor, Mich. Kappa, University of Kansas— Estelle Riddle, 1301 Vermont St., Lawrence, Kansas. Pi, Albion College— Alice Wixam, 404 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— Kate Buell, University Heights, 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 Alumnae, Helen Rich Powell, 176 Twentieth St., Columbus, O. ZETA Alumnae, Hattie Mary Tutewiler, 801 Senate Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. GAMMA DISTRICT. President — Ednah Harmon Wickson, Berkeley, Cal. Phi, Stanford University— Helen Lathrop, Stanford Univ., Cal. Omega, University of California— Katharine Bunnell, Dwight Way, Berke¬ ley, 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. MARCH, 1901. No. 3. The College Woman in the World. Much has been said, of late years, of the position of the college woman in the world ; that theoretically her educa¬ tion keeps her, doubtless, in her attitude of grappling with life ; while practically, the average specimen we see is but little endowed, and often actually handicapped in meeting the real, after so long and intimate an acquaintance with the ideal. To meet the question, one should go back to the college itself, and the girl herself : what each has given, and what each has taken ; for that the value should be genuine, an exchange of gifts is essential. Can a girl in college give to her Alma Mater her mind ? Possibly, as she receives from it the materials for her mind’s culture. Should she sacrifice to it her health ? Never, for the physical is the basis on which the mental surely, and the ethical, not uncommonly, rest. What then can she give to her Alma Mater, broadly enough that it may be felt, unconsciously enough that she shall suffer no loss herself? There is a field of college work for women greater than science or the classics, be¬ cause it develops in them the possibility of a womanhood which the other side of college work does not pretend to recognize. This field the Fraternity aims to embrace ; the development, in a girl, of those traits of character which shall assist her growth into a true woman. Incidental circumstances in the college, fraternity and individual life have much to do in shaping results, but the primary ideal remains the same.
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I IO THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. The girl whose interest centers wholly in books is to be dreaded, as companion, friend, or wife ; she gives too little of herself, her personality, her energy, to the Fraternity. She returns no real gratitude to the University. The other extreme is not to be considered here, for the Fraternity, depending on the University for its life seeks of necessity the student, other qualities taken for granted. But the girl who, student and book-lover though she be, sends out warm human sympathy to others, sincere enthusiasm for her Alma Mater and its manifold enterprises, generous interest and unselfish friendship among fraternity and college students ; above all, who lends of herself where there is a call for her¬ self and her ability — this is the girl who will become a happy and cheerful college woman in the world. The truest preparation that a girl can have to eligibility for a high place among women, is, we truly believe, the right kind of a college life ; for no other experience educates in exactly the same way, in as all-rounded a way, as does the college experience. When a girl graduates, four of the more usual phases of the modern woman’s life are open to her : she may be the girl, quietly domestic at home, picking up again the threads of her former friendships, or she may be the teacher, busily occupied in her associations, testing by experience the theories she has so sanguinely laid down as law. A still greater change finds her as wife and mother, her hands and heart full with cares, — no longer for herself, but for others. L,ess often, she graduates to fill a place her home and breed¬ ing have opened for her as a thorough society woman. Which then, of the courses that she has taken in college — the higher education for women — will not fit her for the new complications, the hard practical realities, the little crises of character development, that are to test her in their furnace, and prove her true gold ? Are any of the books we read or studied in our college four years as clear to us now ? Are the exact incidents of our soul-rending exams as vivid in our minds ? Will the formula we used in higher mathematics, or the technicalities
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HE COLLEGE WOMAN IN THE WORLD . iii of philosophy or science stand, with us, the test of time ? Ah no ! Good students we were, and dear to us our firsts ; but clearer in our minds, dearer in our hearts, are those winter evenings on the divan before the glowing embers, when an older girl spoke slowly and eloquently of the great little truths she had discovered, and would help us to know ; those walks in the summer afternoons, planning teas for non-fraternity classmates, with a gracious tact and a womanly sympathy that made us true hostesses ; that fragmentary courtesy to eager, shy faces on the campus, which meant so little at the time, but came back in ripe measure afterwards. These are the things, all that which is hazy background to the vivid, absorbing picture of our daily college life, which in time we recognize to be the essential ; the life itself has become the merest picturesque incidentals. A college life for women should be as general and all- rounded as health and opportunities will permit. We neyer realize that at the time ; we specialize, because the im¬ mediate ideal is far more tangible and suits far better our ambition. But to cut ourselves off from the general training of the college is a great loss— greater each year to us as we mingle in the world. Home-girl, high-school teacher, home-keeper or society woman— does not the world expect more from the college-bred than from the 11011-educated ? And does the world ever expect more than we can give ? Rarely, for it is a wise old world, after all. Of that class of college women in the world whose num¬ ber is yearly increasing, should there not be a certain standard of culture and character which should place them, according to their opportunities, a step above those who have never enjoyed these opportunities? The home-girl need not parade her books nor her German classes ; the teacher need not revel in non-applicable advanced ideas ; the wife and mother need not spasmodically forget or recol¬ lect her studies in the pressure of little childrens’ faces against her own ; the society woman need not cut herself off from the pleasures of her set to lose herself in abstruse study. Each may carry with her into her new life the great
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I 12 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. general impression left upon her character ; each may em¬ body in her life the true principles the four years must, though, in an elementary form, have shown her. Rather than the mind— there is enough mind nowadays — let her carry into the world the charm of a true character; the sympathy of a broader charity, because of a broader under¬ standing ; the touch of a kindly gracious hand ; because humanity is after all the greatest study the university affords. Let her develop h ■ art with mi ld, giving generously of both, and we shall have a type of woman in the world who shall truly stand as an example of the highest education. “ For life is the mirror of king and slave, ’Tis just what you are and do Then give to the world the best you have And the best shall come back to you.” Marion Crins Whipple, California , '98. Personal Preference in the Choice of New Fraternity Members. The question of how far one’s personal inclination may govern his choice of a new member for his fraternity chapter has, it may be supposed, been coming up ever since frater¬ nities began ; at any rate, it is constantly appearing now in the chapters concerning which I am informed. Yet perhaps one might dare to hope for at least a partial solution pro¬ vided one principle could be kept in mind— the principle on which fraternities are founded. To come right down to the matter, what is a fraternity for after all ? This would seem a foolish question enough, yet I have heard answers that seem to me to come from a mis¬ taken point of view ; I have known fraternity members to look on their society as a developer of character, as a stimu¬ lus to scholarship, or as a means to wider social life. All these, to be sure, are found in a good fraternity, but they are not its essence. A fraternity is essentially a society of friends ; friendship is its original basis, by means of friends
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PERSONAL PREFERENCE. 113 it grows and continues, and the truest possible friendship is its purpose. By true friendship — the kind that is worth having — we understand that intercourse of various minds which, while each strives for life’s noblest things, unite for the sake of mutual strength and mutual happiness I would not by any means be understood as making the fra¬ ternity no more than a social club ; all of us who have taken the vows and accepted the objects of the fraternity as our own must surely remember that ours is a stronger, purer bond than that which unites an ordinary club. But after all, what we expect to exchange with fraternity sisters is friendship, and friendship is what makes a true fraternity. No number of members, therefore, who will “ do the chap¬ ter good” by living in an imposing house, by winning first grades in scholarships, or even by exhibiting to the college world exemplary conduct and character can com¬ pensate for any lack of real congenialty among the individ¬ uals of the chapter. Perhaps, then, we are ready to concede that personal preference conies into the problem reason¬ ably and justly. It is bound to come in anyway : it cannot be kept out, because it is too deeply grained into human, and especially into feminine nature. But I venture to assert that the fraternity idea succeeds, really reaches its end, where its members are closely and chummily friends. I11 actual practice, however, we meet a difficulty. How to control this personal preference, desirable though it be, is the real problem. Where shall we let out our stong feel¬ ing for our outside friend, where hold it in? This is the delicate question — a question moreover, that after all is said, can finally be left for answer only to that sympathetic con¬ sideration for others, that sensitiveness to appropriate con¬ duct which we look for in every woman and especially in every Theta. But, in general, no one member has a right to foist her personal friends, no matter how dear to her, on the chapter. In the first place, we must remember that one’s circle of friends is not bounded by the limits of frater¬ nity membership, and that it is not absolutely necessary to make a friend a fellow-member in order to have her as a
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THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. 114 friend at all. It may easily happen, indeed, that one’s friend is not acceptable to some of the chapter, and it would be utterly lacking in appreciation of the fraternity idea to insist on or even to urge with unwelcome warmth her elec¬ tion. Every woman who joins a fraternity, by that very deed casts in her lot with a society, becomes one among a number ; what satisfies the number, therefore, is the greatest good, not what pleases her alone. We may even go so far as to say that it may be well oneself to blackball a friend if one feels she had better stay out. Such a case happened a few years ago in our own chapter when a member put in what proved — to her dismay — to be the only blackball against a friend of hers, a woman of attainments and charac¬ ter, because she felt the candidate would not, in plain Eng- glish “ get along ” with some of the chapter members. Al¬ though the woman rejected was throughout four years one of her best-liked college-mates, this judgment has never been regretted. While this happened to be a clear case, it often costs a struggle to see with no resentment a friend left outside ; and yet the effort has adequate reward not only in greater power of self-control in the individual, but in in¬ creased harmony among members — a consummation worthy not only of devout wishes, but of earnest labor. Side by side with the girl who wants a candidate in, stands the girl who wants her left out. What ought she to do ? This same consideration, that she is one of a number, ap¬ plies to her as well as to her sister. There may be times when one is justified in standing out indefinitely against a whole chapter. There may be times when one is in duty bound so to stand out. If after careful thought, every con¬ sideration having been weighed, one is really convinced that the election of a certain new member will affect, not one’s pride, one’s preference, but one’s entire future relation to the whole chapter, then one can do 110 other than to stand op¬ posed and still to stand. This power of veto should, how¬ ever, be used most sparingly, only after cool and impartial deliberation. For if the whole chapter, with only one ex¬ ception, is convinced of the worthy character and congenialty
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OUR JOURNAL . ii5 of an outsider, the chances decidedly are that the excep¬ tion is mistaken in her judgment. One must, of course, be just enough to suppose the others fair in their opinion ; as a general principle, therefore, the wisest, most friendly thing to do is to give in to the judgment of fifteen or twenty other women who equally with her have the welfare of the the chapter at heart. But — and this demands emphasis — no chapter has a right to press a member to a favorable vote. This has been done, and to the hurt of the chapter that did it. What could be more out of accord with the Theta ideal than to badger a fellow-member, bound to the rest by mutual promises of loyalty and aid, until, sick of the whole affair, she gives in and casts her vote ? What could be more short sighted indeed ? Such treatment is bound to lead to resentment against the other members and indifference to chapter interests. So much power will be gone to waste, lost out of the collected strength of the chapter. Such a waste as that no chapter can afford, for once started it means increasing disunion, coldness, weakness throughout the fraternity. Far better to miss the possibility of good ma¬ terial in three suggested candidates than impair in one member the cordial feeling that, to win success, must be preserved among fraternity associates as friends. Mary McLean Oeney, Omega , ’95. Our Journal. It is the easiest thing in the world to criticize. One need only look around and scrutinize what his neighbor is doing, and he is immediately filled with the spirit of criticism. It is usually those who accomplish the least who are the most ready to find fault. So when I, who have done almost noth¬ ing for the Journal, attempt to write an article, the first thought that comes to me is to criticize what has been writ¬ ten. However, what I am going to say must not be regard¬ ed as mere fault-finding, for it comes from one who has the welfare of the fraternity at heart and whose dearest wish is its advancement.
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1 16 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. The first thingthat strikes one in looking over the Journal is its monotony. The same class of subjects is treated year after year, each article somewhat colored, to be sure, by the individuality of the writer, but yet without striking origi¬ nality of treatment. How many girls really read their Jour¬ nals ? Of course, most of them glance over the pages and read their own chapter letter — there is a certain fascination in seeing one’s own doings in print — but few go any further than this. Such a state of affairs should not be, and yet, how can you expect anything else when most of the articles are uninteresting and obviously forced. “We must have a certain amount of material for the Journal, so put in as many words as possible,” might be the rule according to which many of these articles are written. Such empty wordiness, such literary padding is good neither for the writer nor for the reader. As for the chapter letters, some of them are well written, but in others the effort is almost pathetic. We can imagine the poor corresponding editor, sitting at her desk, biting the end of her pen and cudgelling her brains for something to say and for a striking way of saying it. Extravagant praise of pledgelings and bombastic expres¬ sions of love for Kappa Alpha Theta shed a glare of artifici¬ ality over these letters which, to say the least, does not tend to strengthen the loyalty of those who read them. What is the object of a fraternity magazine? Is it merely that chapter number one should suggest to the others the best method of preparing for the examination, or that chap¬ ter number two should discuss the pros and cons of the fra¬ ternity girl’s relation to other Greeks or those outside the pale of fraternity life ? A certain amount of this sort of talk does us good, but such fields have been worked over until they are exhausted. Our interests as a fraternity should not be limited by the narrow routine of chapter life. Why not write about other subjects than fraternity life ? Now, I do not mean that we should turn the Journal into a Century or a Scribner' s, or that its pages should be burdened with any long, drawn-out disser-
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SELF-DE VEL OPM ENT. 1 1 7 tations on weighty subjects. It is hard for me to say exactly what I do mean, but I have iti mind the brilliant Breakfast Table Talks, or such airy, witty trifles as the Apology for Idlers, or that most exquisite of stories, The Roman Road. Far be it from me to suppose that we have among us a Holmes, a Stevenson, or a Kenneth Graham, but this much is certain, we have talent. The number of Thetas who wear the Phi Beta Kappa key is sufficient evidence of that. Surely some of this talent must run in literary lines. The Alpha Phi Quarterly suggests, in a recent number, that a prize be given to the best chapter letter. That is de¬ cidedly un-Hellenic, but perhaps in these materialistic days the Muses need some such encouragement. Whether or not this would be advisable is an open question, but the fact still confronts us that the best energies of our fraternity are not being used in the services of the Journal, and that we ought to do something to remedy matters. The Journal makes us us feel, with just pride, the extent and importance of our be¬ loved fraternity. Would it not serve the end more effectively if it were more readable ? Self-Development. In his Easter sermon before the students of Cornell Uni¬ versity, Dr. Lyman Abbott shows that while the distinct aim of students is self-development, they must nevertheless strive against being self-centered, and must find ways for developing the spirit of love. Where can there be a more fitting or congenial place in which to develop these characteristics than in the chapter circle ? There are to be found representatives of the world of which the student is so soon to become a part. The holy influences of the initiation service are not enough to rob one girl of arrogance, another of selfishness, another of timidity, self-consciousness, or forwardness. It is difficult so to tell another of her faults as to make the desire to correct them paramount ; especially when the helper is young and in-
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1 1 8 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. experienced. But it should be possible to create an atmos¬ phere that would stifle sordid aims, desires for unworthy companionship, or impulses to ungenerous action towards Theta sisters or towards any one. A noble character will not be one’s priceless possession simply by sighing for it. It must be earnestly and actively sought. Ways of service are continually open — not by doing those things for another the performance of which are essential to her well-being ; but by the encouraging word, the true sympathy that shall lead to further effort, the honest performance of duty, or the not uncertain condemna¬ tion of disobedience, or of disloyalty to the high demands of Theta, of university, of life. In my undergraduate days the chapter was inspired and stimulated by the helpful talks of Mary Roberts Smith, now of Iceland Stanford. Among the many wise things she left with us was this thought : “ Remember that if the training of your college course has not helped you to bear with fortitude the petty details of every day, it is a failure.” The longer one lives, the more clearly this truth is realized. Cannot college women be as heroic as those who have not had that training? Are college women whom you know, above petty fault finding, idle criticism, and aggressive self- seeking ? With many girls the mere fact of having been in a uni¬ versity gives them an air of having done all that there is to do. How much of your receiving these advantages is due to your own effort, your own self sacrifice, your own appre¬ ciation of the largeness of life into which you may enter? Some one has said that the one base thing in the universe is to receive favors and render none. Cultivate the power of giving. Is your home in the country ? Is your family isolated from congenial society ? Take to it the added richness of your life — the interest you should have acquired in the great movements of the world. Joy in a new found poet may be yours. A character in history may have become real. The universe may have become alive through a study of plants
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SELF-DE VEL OPMENT. 119 and animals. If these treasures of learning are a part of you, it will be easy to infuse into other lives a new interest, even though the hands be employed n drudgery, and the body weary with much work. It is the least, and at the same time the greatest return you can make for the sacrifice in your behalf. If new social opportunities have come to you, take home the results of them also. There is no one so glad to im¬ prove as the one deprived of the advantage of college or university. The problem of the social settlement awaits you in the country and in the village, no less than in the city, but it is well to bear always in mind that no one wishes to be thought a dweller in the slums, or an object for charity. The wise words of President Caroline Hazard should be known and remembered. In her inaugural address she said : “ Intellectual knowledge is so much dead matter until it is vitalized by a union with the soul’s wisdom. To foster this union, to provide materials for the nourishment of the spirit are the loftiest aims that can be set before us. . . I believe that women have an increasingly important part to play in life. With enlarged opportunities come increased responsibilities — responsibilities as yet unadjusted to un¬ accustomed shoulders.” If life outside the university brings you in contact with all sorts and conditions of people, rejoice rather than re¬ pine, for if you have in you the elements of leadership and true nobility of character, they will shine grandly forth and lead you to the performance of something worthy the trained mind and soul. If people only know how to take it, they like good fun better than the vulgar sort, interesting conversation better than gossip, something worthy of emu¬ lation rather than negative. In the beautiful ritual of Kappa Alpha Theta are the elements that make may Thetas true and noble. May not each wearer of the kite make that ritual such a part of her life that not only the chapter may reap a rich reward of her loving service, but also that each person with whom she comes in contact may feel the influence of its high teaching ? K. S. S., PH.
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ALUMNAE DEPARTMENT. Zeta Alumnae. Zeta Alumnae’s Corresponding Secretary earnestly re¬ quests that her dear chapter may not be judged by the tardiness with which she may justly be charged. If her fault may be pardoned this once, there shall be most earnest effort to be prompt in the future and atone in what meas¬ ure she may this time by reporting a fine state of affairs in our midst just now. Our first meeting was held in October, when we enjoyed our President’s day luncheon with our new leader, Mrs. Lockridge, who entertained us royally as is her custom. There were a number of visitors who responded to toasts and told us of their own fraternity life elsewhere. While we were more than glad to see the new faces, we could hardly fail to miss some of the one’s we had loved and lost, chief among whom, was Margaret Roberts Henry, whose place has not been filled and whose memory will be kept ever green in our midst. One of the necessary conditions of the Alumnae chapter and much to be regretted is the ever changing transient list of members. Our chapter has had about an equal number of losses and gains so that in point of members we have not gained. But in power we have made strides, for there is always present the same working nucleus with an ever in¬ creasing interest and enthusiasm and real active mutual regard. Only those who have tried the organization of an alumnae chapter in a place where there is not the college spirit, understand fully with what delight we have watched the ever growing spirit of congeniality. The time alloted for meetings in the beginning, then all too long to be con¬ sumed, is now wholly inadequate. For before we are per¬ mitted the purely social pleasure, we have a paper and a discussion thereof.
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ALUMNAE DEPARTMENT. 121 The theme of the November paper was “Woman’s Edu¬ cation— How should it differ from Man’s Education ? ” The paper and conversation that followed brought to light diver¬ sities of gifts in our midst and ever since that revelation, there have been new ones. Our list of topics for the year is especially interesting to us just now. For December we had, “The Cost of College Education.” For January, “The Student Life of Harvard’s Famous Men,” and for February, “College Settlements.” In March we are to have a guests’ day and Mrs. Rabb is to read for us her story, “ Once Upon a Time.” April brings us to a business meeting when “ we shall be as secret as the grave.” In May we are promised a paper on “ Women of Yesterday and Today.” In June “Social Forces in Education” and in July we shall have our picnic meeting when we shall “ — jes’ git out and rest And not work at nothin’ else, Jes’ the whole sky overhead And the whole earth underneath ” and this is the story of our Zeta Alumnae for another term. We can wish nothing better for our sister alumnae chapters than that they may see the same promise of the blossoming beauty of a wholesome congenial happy and prosperous cir¬ cle of Theta girls who still love their fraternity and all the good and beautiful things in life for which it stands. Margaret Ashby Todd.
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. Early in the autumn of 1900, even before the weeks of “rushing” had passed we determined to adopt some me¬ thodical plans for study during the winter months. To the most of us, I think, our regular meetings are a great source of pleasure, for then it is that we can talk and plan and learn to know each other. But they Some Methods also afford the very best opportunities for of Study. improving ourselves, if we only use them, and that is what we have been trying to do this winter. I11 the first place we began with our constitu¬ tion. Different sections were assigned to different girls, each of whom made her own outline, developed it, and then came to meeting ready and able to ask and answer any question included in the section assigned to her. In this way quite a number of meetings have been made enjoyable and instructive and we have had impressed upon our minds many important facts, which we did not know before. We also thought it would be profitable to take up the various topics of the day, so we have a girl appointed for each meeting to discuss current topics and give in brief, the news of the week. This is a great help to many of us, who are very busy with college books, and so cannot al¬ ways find time to read the daily papers. Occasionally we have a good book review on some popu¬ lar book. This is both pleasant and instructive at the same time. Thus we have tried to make the best of our time spent together, and we are pleased with the results. There is room for much more work in these same lines, but we feel that we have made a small beginning which must be steadily developed. Alpha Delta.
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UNDERGRADUA TE DEPAR TMENT. 1 2 3 Chapter life is by its very nature radically different from any other mode of life that the world has ever seen, and ac¬ cordingly needs very special treatment. The uninitiated have an idea I think that everything inside the mystic cir¬ cle is ideal, but even fraternity girls are very human, and it requires infinite tact and skill to avoid the little rubs and hurts which can make life miserable. It Chapter is very much easier to bear a great sorrow un- Life, complainingly and bravely, than it is to pass cheerfully over the little things which wound us, not so much because of the hurt itself, but because of the fact that the hurt comes all unintentionally from one of our nearest and dearest. It is unfortunate that these little annoyances must come, but on looking at the trouble in an impartial way it must be admitted that it would be wonderful were it otherwise. Take perhaps, a dozen or sixteen girls, bring them together from the four corners of the United States, each girl of dif¬ ferent temperament, habits, ideas and education, yet all united by the same love of a common ideal, of a common Father, and the result is chapter life. It is here that ones own likes and dislikes must be held back, that all petty feelings must be kept under control resolutely, that love must conquor selfishness. The whole lesson of chapter life is beautifully summed up in I Cor. XIII, 7. “Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” In ap¬ plying this broad ideal to our life in the chapter we find that we bear all things because we love, from no one for whom we did not feel a great love would we be willing to receive the words of caution, advice or censure which may and do come, just because we love our sisters we believe in them and hope for the perfect ordering of our daily lives. We all know that the deeper and closer our relations with people are, the greater are the opportunities for hurting them. We know them, as we believe, through and through, and we can in a moment put one finger on the sensitive spot. And how very often we do this — in a moment of thought-
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12 4 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. lessness, unhappiness perhaps, or selfishness, and if our sister hides her hurt, all because she loves us, we never know, and then we wonder why that shade of difference exists — for it does exist. There are few girls of a character unselfish enough to pass often through words of hurt pride or of wounded feeling and be just the same as before. And it is not spite nor anger that changes, it is just the shrink¬ ing back into her shell because of the opportunity which her friend has missed. And these opportunities, how numerous they are and how often unseen, and so passed over. We goon urging others to say the kind word or cheer with a bright smile, yet we consider that it is the duty of that other, and so the lesson never really comes home to us in our relations with our sis¬ ters in Theta every day of our lives. But we can try and we can go on bearing, believing, hoping and enduring. We lighten the load for others by being kind and loving and thoughtful. Alpha Beta. The social life at college does more for a girl than the in¬ struction that she receives from the professors. Students are influenced greatly by each other. A pleasant personality is much more to be desired and cultivated than the most profound intellect that tacks such a personality. It is the social life that brings out the student’s per- Social Side of sonality. With a strong, charming, person- College Life. ality a college-bred girl is able to cope with the great out-side world. How does college help to give a girl this personality ? Upon entering it, one finds all kinds of girls, rich girls, poor girls, wise girls and otherwise, girls who have high ideals of life and work and those who have entered college because they had nothing else to do. For four years, these girls are associated together, all of these conflcting natures and various faculties are brought together daily. The girl is obliged to learn how to make friends and the still harder lesson how to keep them. She
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. 125 has to learn how to treat girls, who are not congenial, ever preserving her own standard of womanhood. She also learns the necessity for and power of tact. And she learns that the girls who have risen to places of trust and promi¬ nence and who exert the strongest and best influence, all have a wholesome, hearty and pleasing personality. The social life of a college is a liberal education. It is only by means of her own personality that a college girl can ever hope to influence her friends. Social life also strengthens our sympathies, makes us broad-minded, deepens and en¬ riches our characters. In the fraternity as nowhere else is the power of personal influence manifested. In the frater¬ nity a girl learns to surrender herself to the good of others and to make the interests and honor of her fraternity sisters as important as her own. Trumbull says : “ Friendship is to be valued for what there is in it, not for what can be gotten out of it.” So it should be with our fraternity life. Fraternity like friendship means discipline. Strive as we may, we can never fulfill our ideals, but as our aim is high we will with hard work succeed in climbing up a few rounds at least. Fraternity friendship costs time, affection, strength and patience. The book of Proverbs contains a great deal of good advice about friendship. Let us be patient, let us be kindly, let us be self possessed in our fraternity friend¬ ships. The influence and effect of these friendships often lasts throughout a girl’s after life. A senior girl can do so much to help a new sister. How often we hear the word “crush” in connection with preparatory schools. We as fraternity girls do not approve of this extravagant demon¬ stration of feeling, but should not the new girl admire the upperclass girls to such an extent that she will strive to be like them ? It is perfectly natural for a Freshman girl to choose a dignified Senior as her ideal. The Senior Theta thus has a great responsibility. She has in her power a young life. The older Theta girls should feel free to advise all of the new girls and the younger girls should gladly receive this advice, believing that it is given for the benefit of their welfare and that if followed will Isave them
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126 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . a great deal of trouble. A great deal of tact is needed by the seniors, especially. It is the little things, a pleasant word, a little kind act, sometimes only a smile, or a cheery “ Good Morning,” that comforts a poor home-sick Fresh¬ man. We should remember how we felt during the first few weeks of college life and try to sympathize with the new sufferer. We all need sympathy, and therefore we crave friendship. We need sympathy in times of prosperity as well as in times of adversity. How often our fraternity sis¬ ters help us in time of doubt when we have some puzzling question that must be decided. Bacon says : “ Friendship makes daylight in the understanding, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts.” These fraternity friends are or should be frank, when we appeal to them for advice. They should seek our good even if they must say things that we hate to hear at the time. Unpleasant truths do not seem so cruel when coming from their loving lips. Encourgement is one of the many bright sides of fraternity friendship. This often aids us to do many unpleasant, hard deeds. Confidence is another helpful result. If we know that one person believes in us and thinks that we are capable of doing noble deeds, how anxious we are to do our best. And when we have a whole fraternity of trusting sisters we are urged on to do the best possible work. Influence is the greatest of human gifts and we all have it in some measure. It is the real impress of our true character on our friends. It cannot rise above the level of our lives. Influence is a great responsibility and we should be very careful how we exer¬ cise it. People judge a fraternity by each girl’s actions. Our conduct in classes or upon the campus, either debases or uplifts our fraternity. So how careful we should be always to conduct ourselves like true Thetas. In our re¬ lations with other fraternities, especially in the so-called “rushing season,” we show our real characters. A great evil would be abolished if this trying and unpleasant season could be omitted from our fraternity life. It should be the aim of every true Theta to work for this end. In choosing our new friends for life we wish to see them in some other
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UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT. 127 light besides that of the “society whirl.' * We want to know them in their everyday life and acconipaning man¬ ners. It is the “ real self” of the girl that we wish to see. To discern this, insight and far-sightedness are needed. But while we have this so-called “ necessary evil of rushing" let us try by friendliness to the other fraternities to make it as pleasant as possible.
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CHAPTER LETTERS. The date upon which the next chapter letter should be sent out is April 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. Iota is pround and happy to begin her letter by telling that Mabel Hale, ’02, from Raleigh, N. C., was initiated into the chapter early in April. The initiation was solely her own and took place at the home of Mrs. Comstock. Our present outlook leads us to think that we have had our last initiation for the present college year. We are not sorry, for greater attention can be given to internal improve¬ ment. To this end we are again following the old-time cus¬ tom of chapter entertainment after the formal meeting. All through the year we have kept up our Sunday evening gatherings. An old question of general fraternity interest is being dis¬ cussed anew among the women’s fraternities here at Cor¬ nell. It is whether or not Saturday night may be rigidly kept as a fraternity and club night to the exclusion of any entertainment given by and to the women of the university as a whole. A pan-hellenic has been called to discuss the question, and we are waiting for the result. While Iota feels the necessity of not having the chapter meetings fre¬ quently interfered with, she feels that she is only a part of the whole body of women students, and when the gen¬ eral good of the whole is to be considered, she should ad-
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CHAPTER LETTERS. 129 just herself to that end. Are we not supported in this atti¬ tude by our general fraternity ? During the Washington Birthday recess we had with us Adelaide Young, ’99, and Marcia Vedder, ’oo. While this letter is being written, Lillian Swift, ’97, is with us. We always welcome back the old girls, from rather selfish motives, I fear. Iota sends best wishes to all Kappa Alpha Theta sisters. LAMBDA — UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT. So swiftly have the last few months gone that we can hardly realize that the mid-year examination period has actually arrived. Our Saturday evening meetings are more welcome than ever, at the end of a week characterized by crucial tests. Our alumnae remembered us Christmas with the gift of a chafing dish and a dainty little book of receipts. This has proved a very delightful addition to our evening’s pleasure. We owe to them, also, the opportunity of hearing a lecture on “ Art in Every Day Life ” by President Buckham of our own university. The subject was treated both ideally and practically and could not be otherwise than interesting and helpful to all who heard it. The November Journal was eagerly received and the feel¬ ing of wide fraternal interests was brought home to our initiates now learning for the first time to read into the let¬ ters of distant college girls the expression of a real bond of sympathy. Since our last Journal, we have entered not only upon a new year, but a new century. Without adopting the con¬ ventional code of New Year resolutions, we feel more deeply responsible than ever to live up to the highest Theta ideal, individually and as a chapter. Lambda sends heartiest New Year’s Greetings to all her sisters. MU— ALLEGHENY COLLEGE. Whatever is of benefit to a college is a benefit to every organization and every individual student in that college.
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130 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. And so Mu chapter is rejoicing with Allegheny and the friends of Allegheny in the gift of a twenty thousand dollar memorial chapel. This gift was announced at the close of the services in the day of prayer for colleges when in the course of a very impressive speech, President Crawford said : “ We have today held the last services on the day of prayer for colleges which will ever be held in this old chapel.’ * This was entirely unexpected and the occasion will long be remembered by every one present. The Newton observatory will be completed in June and Allegheny will then have as fine an observatory as is pos¬ sessed by any college in the United States. The prospects of our alma mater are bright indeed. Of course the social event of this winter for us was the wedding of our sister, Marian Sackett Tarr. Of the Mu girls Jessie Williams and Eleanor Doty were among her brides¬ maids, and as the wedding was one of the social events of Meadville society, we were very proud to claim the bride as our own. With the exception of the wedding we have been very quiet because very busy, patiently waiting for the winter term and its hard work to close and anxious to welcome the glad Easter season which will usher in the spring time with all its delightful possibilities. And so in the midst of a stormy winter, we send Easter greetings which will not seem quite so out of season by the time they are received. CHI — SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. The campus is one great shining expanse of snow and the wind seems to blow the days away faster than ever. De¬ cember and January have been busy quiet months with us. Our December tea came on a dismal storm y day so we did not have as many callers as usual. Later in the month our annual party in honor of the freshman was a very jolly affair. Everything partook of the nature of “Olden Times ” except the frolic about the Christmas tree which held amusing gifts for every one.
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CHAPTER LETTERS. 131 About forty of the freshman men were our guests on this oc casion. The college events in December were the Junior “ Prom ” and “ The Historical Benefit ” which was held at the Weit- ing opera house. One of our girls, Lucille Baldwin, 1902, took part in a play given at that time. After vacation we settled down to steady “ grinding ” till the “exams ” and their attendant horrors were over. If you could see the unique advertisements posted on our hall wall you would appreciate our strenuous effort at money making. Hats trimmed, poetry written, pillows made, hot lunches served, everything imaginable taught, errands run and even a magazine published, all at very low rates. All this sudden commercial activity will certainly make our treasury more opulent. We are all looking forward to the Glee Club concert and Senior Ball now, for hard work has not made us lose our love for a little of the frivolous. Our February tea did not come on a very pleasant day but the house was filled with our city and college friends, who came to greet us for the New Year. One of the most welcome of our January callers was Laura Hills Norton from Evanston. Chi would like to hear what other chapters think about fraternity examinations. We honestly tried systematic study last year and all in vain for through a misunderstand¬ ing our papers proved anything but satisfactory. “ We’s powah-fully shamed,” to have so low a mark. ALPHA BETA — SWARTHMORE COLLEGE. To the one whose duty it is to write the chapter letter, the fifth day of four certain months of the year seems to come at least four times a month. The interval since the sending off of our last chapter letter has been spent by Alpha Beta with little excitement and less rushing, due to faculty appointment of a late asking day. Alpha Beta would welcome such an arrangement as was considered at the Kappa Alpha Theta district con veil-
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132 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . tion, in November, of having in each college where K. A. T. is represented a committee composed of a member from each fraternity having a chapter there, which shall concur with the faculty as to the regulation of rushing in general. As we are the only Thetas near Philadelphia, we are al¬ ways happy to receive visits from sister Thetas passing through the city. Recently we enjoyed a very pleasant visit from Miss Fanny H. Atwood of Lambda. This year we held our annual banquet at the home of Bertha and Alice Lippincott at Riverton, N. J., on the six¬ teenth of February. Caroline Cotnly acted as toastmistress. The following toasts were responded to. 1. The Twentieth Century Theta _ Caroline L. Hawke 2. At Home and Abroad _ Alice Lippincott 3. Modem Utopia - Lydia Williams Roberts 4. 1891 — Our First Decade — 1901 _ Ella Williams Battin 5. Cat-tales - May K. Flannery In the evening some of the college boys came out and we had an informal dance. ALPHA DELTA — WOMAN’S COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE. In that busiest of all times, the winter term, the weeks succeed one another with such astonishing rapidity, that we girls wonder how we can possibly in six short days accom¬ plish all that has to be done in that time. However, we manage in some way to get through and to smuggle in some jolly times as well. A reception given February first, by the residents in the halis to their city friends, broke the monotony of college work. The affair was an unusually successful and pretty one, Grucher hall, as well as the students being in festive attire for this occasion. The following week another reception gave those students who are taking advanced Engish courses an opportunity to meet Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie. Our chapter meetings have been very cozy ones this year. One evening a month we give to the study of the constitu¬ tion, another evening we spend in a purely social way, while for the other two weeks we usually have some literary
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CHAPTER LETTERS. 133 program prepared. These literary evenings we find quite helpful as well as entertaining, but the greatest good of our meetings I think, comes not from the instructive part, but simply from our being together. For it is in those two hours Saturday evening, when all cares and worries are forgotten, that we are drawn more closely together and those friend¬ ships strengthened, which in after years will be our most precious heritage of college life. Alpha Delta sends loving greetings to her sister chapters. ALPHA ZETA — BARNARD COLLEGE. Since the last letter to the Journal, the chapter has enter¬ tained the college by a play and reception. The play Francis Coppee’s “Fennell,” the first really serious dra¬ matic attempt given in college, was, considering its very great difficulties, very well presented. We have just lately pledged five freshman, whom we shall be delighted shortly to present to the fraternity. We have done no rushing whatsoever, this year, and are very well satisfied with the results. Yesterday the chapter was delighted by a visit from Mrs. Little of Tau chapter, Evanston. Mrs. Little made Tau chapter seem very real and near us. We only wish that we really could see all the girls of the different chapters. Beta District. BETA — UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA. Since the opening of the winter term Beta has initiated Madeline Wylie and Martha Weir, both of Bloomington, and has pledged Margaret Harris Cook, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. At our first fraternity meeting after the holidays we had a Christmas tree, to which each of the girls contributed some present for the chapter house and especially for the new dining room which we are now planning. Our winter term receptions are over now and we are all
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134 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . looking forward to the meeting of the Panthygatric. This is an organization composed of the active and alumnae mem¬ bers of the four sororities represented here, which meets once a year in the late winter or early spring for a masquerade dance and supper. The four sororities hold the four offices of the Panthygatric in turn. This year it falls to us to take charge of the arrangements for the meeting. DELTA— UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. February has once more found old Illinois with a soft deep covering of white, in consequence of the fact, we Delta girls have had a jolly bob sled ride. Perhaps the girls in the Northern Universities do not appreciate what a treat a bob ride is to us Illinois girls. The second semester began last Monday and a little mild rushing is going on for a few new girls have entered the university. There is a great probablity that there will be fixed dates of pledging for all Greek letter societies here, and we girls are in favor of a legislation to that effect. We have had a very sad break in the Theta circle this year, for one of our dearest girls, Alice Zilly, died on the 14th of December. You cannot realize what her death means to us. I am sure that everyone who ever knew her regarded her as a most loveable girl and we looked upon her as an ideal Theta. Louise Brarkings was called home on the 6th of January on account of the sudden death of her father, and so we will not have her with us the rest of this year. EPSILON — WOOSTER UNIVERSITY. Once again Christmas holidays have rolled by, faculty rules have expired and we are able to introduce to you three of the finest girls in Wooster as your sisters, Cecelia Forney Remy, Inez Kinney and Mary Sanborn. They represent a great deal of love and many hopes and fears in the past, and pride in the future in the firm belief that Kappa Alpha
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CHAPTER LETTERS. i35 Theta will find in them all that she demands of her daugh¬ ters. On January 24, Epsilon entertained about thirty five men and twenty outside girls at a Salmagundi party at the home of Lucy Warren. Among our out of town guests at this affair were Mr. Harvey Kittredge, of Dayton, and Mr. Paul Elliott, ofShreve. Since then a new excitement has developed. Besides the conventional grip of the year, diphtheria and scarlet lever have developed about us and the latter (fortunately in a mild form) has quite depleted college circles. Our own little family has not gone quite unscathed but nothing of a fatal or even serious nature has touched us for which we are most devoutly grateful, wishing the best of health to all members of all our sister chapters. ETA— UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. Eta has been most prosperous and successful in all its undertakings thus far this year, and now with the coming of Lent, we feel ready and willing to rest and study. We initiated eleven splendid girls and our initiation banquet was the most delightful we have ever given. A T shaped table was arranged in three adjoining rooms and it was dec¬ orated with candelabra and yellow chrysanthemums. The toasts were especially clever. We have recommenced our Saturday night suppers of last year. All the girls come to the chapter house for fraternity meeting and after business is over we all have a good time together talking, eating and singing our songs. Very often some of our alumnae from Detroit are with us. Mrs. Eastman, one of Eta’s old members was here again this year on our anniversary and we gathered around the piano to welcome Theta’s birthday in song. Eta’s crowning glory of this year took place last night in form of a formal dancing party. The hall was very tastily decorated with large American flags and numerous Japanese lanterns. The electric lights were covered with red crepe paper, thus throwing a very soft light about the room and
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I36 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . setting off the decorations. Many bright pillows were scat¬ tered around the hall. The programmes were done by one of our alumnae and were very artistic. A word about college life aside from fraternity. The Junior Hop, the most elaborate ever given here, was truly a college affair for both fraternity and non -fraternity men and women were well represented. The display of colored elec¬ tric lights was an especial feature. The Student’s Christian Association gave about a week ago, a large reception. It proved interesting and pleasant to all who were there. A touch of dignity is added to our college life this year by the renewal of the Vesper service discontinued last year because of the illness of Professor Stanley. These services occur on two afternoons in the week, and are well attended by col¬ lege students. The chorus composed of students, always renders delightful and appropriate music. Eta feels that she has started the new year and the new century well and only wishes to all her sister chapters the good fortune that she has had. RHO— UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. The last letter went just before Thanksgiving and its at¬ tendant game. Rho was delighted to meet the charming Minneapolis Thetas who came to cheer their college team. They were entertained at the chapter house. The girls gave a reception in their honor to all the fraternities most of whom had guests also. A chafing dish party ended the festivities of an all too short vacation and visit. Since then there have been many pleasant affairs given us by our alumnae. At Mrs. Ladd’s we enjoyed untangling the knots ot a “Culinary Courtship.” At Mrs. Eason’s we embroidered Theta pins. The results will make a curious patch work pillow for the chapter house. At Rose Carsons’ each of us were given a certain number of minutes in which to entertain the others. The musical girls played, those with voices sang, some told stories and jokes or recited verses. One of the freshmen received a prize for clogging. The fraternity has given one morning card party at the chapter house. We played high five.
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CHAPTER LETTERS. 137 Since Thanksgiving there have been three university dances — the Freshmen Hop, larger and more pretentious than any before it, the Perching Rifles Hop, with its usual military setting ; and most gorgeous of all the Junior Prom. There were more pretty girls and pretty gowns this year than ever. Rho is looking forward to the annual banquet. We always have such glorious times, so many alumnae come from out of town and we are all together. Last year we initiated Jeanette Post, of York, the day of the banquet, and this year we initiate just as dear a prize, her sister, Hallie. This week the girls of the chapter house were treated to a charming surprise. Emily Weeks invited us all to dinner and afterward the whole fraternity came laughing in to the party too. Rho had a pillow tax — each girl made one for the house at Christmas time, and together with the new couch and rugs and various presents, it has taken on a rejuvenated as¬ pect. We are having a snow storm and one of the men’s frater¬ nities has invited the chapter to a sleigh ride and dance to¬ morrow night. Next week there are two very interesting lectures in the University chapel. Dr. Fling speaks 011 the “Political Aspect of Queen Victoria’s Reign” and Dr. Sherman on “ The Literature of the Reign of Queen Victoria.” TAU — NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. Tau is feeling very happy over two new initates, Mary Bellows and Gail Wasson, who have taken their places so naturally among the ranks of enthusiastic Thetas. Some of our alumnae had helped us place a reunion supper as a birthday party for the fraternity, to take place January twenty-sixth, the twenty-seventh coming on Sunday. So we had a double pleasure for we began our initiation at five o’clock and followed it with the supper up in our hall which had improved so much under the generous gifts sent,
Page 33
i3» THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . or brought, in response to the suggestion in the invitations. Many of Tau’s members were too far away to come, but we are fortunate in having a number of members from other chapters near us, so that in all we had thirty-six Thetas to¬ gether, although it was a very snowy night, so that some were unable to come in spite of having planned to do so. We would like to make this an annual affair, for in addition to the pleasures of the alumnae in meeting again, it is great pleasure and inspiration to the active girls. This month also we had one reception to all the girls in college and to the wives of the faculty at the home of Mar¬ garet Pearson. This is the third year that we have given these receptions, which we enjoy very much and we have found that they help to break down the barrier between us and the non-fraternity girls as much as anything which we can do, besides being careful not to remind them continually of our better fortune by that exclusiveness which is so apt to grow out of the close friendships which otherwise are the great blessings of fraternity life. PSI — UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. Since last writing the girls of Psi have had many good times that will always be a pleasure to look back upon. Let me tell you about one of them in particular. On the last Monday night before Xmas, instead of having our reg¬ ular fraternity meeting, we decided to have a social meeting and invite in a few of our friends. A few days before this the names of all the girls to be present had been written on slips of paper and these placed in an envelope. Then each girl drew a slip and she had to get a present, costing not more than ten cents, for the girl whose name she drew. But she must tell no one whose name it was that she had. Then on Monday night each one placed her present on the little tree in the second parlor. The little tree had been trimmed with popcorn, candy, candles, etc., so that when the presents were added and the candles lighted, it present¬ ed quite a brilliant spectacle. The electric light bulbs were shaded and the room trimmed with holly.
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CHAPTER LETTERS. i39 Most of us were as eager for seven o’clock and Santa Claus to appear as any children. Finally he came, in big fur coat, with deep pockets, out of which he drew nuts and candy from time to time and generously distributed amongst us. The various presents caused much merriment as their peculiar appropriateness, explained in a little verse, was recognized. Altogether it was a very merry occasion. We gave an informal reception to our alumnae and a few friends, January nineteeth. It was given at that time, so that all might have an opportunity for seeing Laura Austin again before she left for Europe, where she and Dr. Austin have gone. They expect to be absent about six months. We occasionally get long letters from Blanche Brigham, who is far away from us in Los Angeles, Cal. Just now we are very busy with our Semester’s examina¬ tions. ALPHA GAMMA — OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Alpha Gamma’s girls come back much refreshed after a pleasant Christmas vacation, ready to work with renewed energy and very happy to be together again in spite of the many delights of holidays. We have adopted a new plan for our meetings which is a perfect success. We have a regular weekly meeting every Saturday night, but every fourth Saturday we meet at four o’clock instead of seven thirty, and have our business meet¬ ing, then a spread at six o’clock and then a social evening. We find this thoroughly delightful and it gives more oppor¬ tunity for good Theta chats than any plan we have tried. We have no hall, but have our meetings in our homes, the girls entertaining in turn, and part of every Saturday evening is given up to business and part to a good time and Theta songs. We have a regular spread committee and they make out each menu and assign things to different girls to bring, taking pains that each girl has her turn at making salads and sandwiches, as well as at bringing the things which can be so easily bought, ready prepared, so that the work con¬ nected with our spreads, light as it is, is evenly divided.
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140 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. We have a number of new songs, written by members of the chapter and, though we are very anxious to see the new song book, we have no difficulty in making the air ring with Theta spirit now and, though we are by no means all good songsters, we thoroughly believe in singing. We are now looking forward to the Junior Prom., Feb. 15th, and, to our second Prom, for girls alone, which is to be Feb. 22. At these affairs half of the girls wear gym. suits and take the other half. They are given in the gym¬ nasium, the doors being bolted and barred to men and they are as the girls express it “ great fun ” and “ its better than dances with men.” Alpha Gamma hopes the beginning of the new semester finds all chapters as happy as we are. Gamma District. OMEGA— UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Since the last Journal letter Omega has placed the pin upon three girls : Jacqueline Moore, 1903, Rourna Moore, 1903, Nora Thomas, 1904. We are delighted with these new girls. They, in turn are entering into all our projects with a vim that is inspiring. Each Theta came back from her Christmas vacation fired with a determination to work like a beaver at every study ; and now all have been further inspired since Phi Beta Kappa has been bestowed upon Agnes Frisius. Agnes is also President of the Associated Women Students of the Univer¬ sity of California, besides being the moving spirit in all the college undertakings. Our girls, together with all the college women, have been greatly interested in the dedication of Hearst Hall, which is the largest and best equipped gymnasium in the country. This was the generous gift of Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, who longs that each one of the students shall possess a sound mind in a sound body. Our birthday was under the supervision of the Sopho¬ mores. Right royally did they entertain us with a farce that was bubbling over with gems and hits upon the active girls and alumnae. The farce was written by Mary Powell.
Page 36
PERSONALS. DELTA. Louise R. Brookings, ’03, will not be with us this semes¬ ter but we hope to have her back next year. Edith Willis, '04, has gone south for two months. epsilon. Jean McWilliams, ’03, has gone home with scarletina and probably will not be with us again this term. Miss Margaret Platter is spending the winter in Cincinnati. Miss Irene Flattery, ’00, has returned to Wooster after three months in Emporia College, Kansas. Miss Evaline Harrington, ’99, has been spending the winter in New York City. Mrs. Orr, nee Birdie Wallace, of Chicago, made us a short visit last term. Louise Scovel, ’96, now Mrs. Laux, of Chicago, visited Wooster in the fall and charmed us all with her delightful personality. The engagement of Chloe Fink, ’97, is announced. ETA. Minerva Rhines and Katharine Johnson, of Detroit, Katharine Veit, of Flint, Michigan, and Bertha Hull, of Ypsilanti, came here for our dancing party February fif¬ teenth. Anna Harris, of Ann Arbor, who has been teaching in Detroit, was also present at our dance. Myra Post, of Detroit, has visited us several times this year. Alice Wadsworth, one of our alumnae, is with us for this semester as she has returned to do some post-graduate work. We have a new Theta baby. Mrs. James Brewster, one of our patronesses, has just had a little daughter. Mrs. Eastman, a member of old Eta, was with us again this year for a short visit. IOTA. Nina Angell, ’oo, has returned to Ithaca to accept an in- structorship in the Ithaca High School. She is teaching history and mathematics.
Page 37
H2 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Jane D. Cavarly, ’oi, has accepted an instructorship in the same school. She has full charge of the German de¬ partment and at the same time is doing University work in order to be eligible for her degree in June. This year Iota has had with her Miss Lucy Howe, from Beta chapter and Miss Zella White, from Mu. Miss Howe is doing graduate work ; Miss White is a medical student. LAMBDA. Fannie Atwood, *oo, has returned from a visit in Phila¬ delphia. While away, she enjoj^ed meeting the Thetas of Alpha Beta. Katherine Parker Huntington, ex-’oi, has a son, born Jan. 26. RHO. Vallie Stewart, of Axtel, came down to the Junior Prom. Nelle Randall, of Omaha, made us a short visit last week. Rho has lately welcomed another little Theta — Olive Latta Ladd, aged three months. TAU. Irene M. Graves, ex- 1902, left January the twenty-sixth for a trip to Egypt and Palestine returning through Europe. Ruth Gould Jewett and her “Theta baby” are visiting Alta Miller. Irene Parker returned last month from a year’s trip abroad. CHI. Mrs. Gladys Hibbard Stranahan, ’97, has a little son. The engagement of Miss Florence Buck, 1903, to Charles L. Knight, Harvard Medical 1901, is announced. ALPHA BETA. Miss Fanny H. Atwood, of Lambda, recently made Alpha Beta a little visit. The engagement of Edith M. Wilson, '00, to Mr. Charles Eastburn, of Philadelphia, is announced.
Page 38
WEDDING BELLS. BETA. On the morning of New Year’s Day, Edith Catharine Holland, ’oo, was married to Glenn Gifford, ’99, 4>. A. ©. MU. Married, Feb. 7, 1901, in Meadville, Pa., Marion Josaphine Sackett to Walter Irving Bates. ALPHA GAMMA. Married, Jan. 3, 1901, at the home of the bride’s brother in Columbus, Miss Annis McLaughlin, ’95, to Mr. Harry Miller, of Portsmouth, Ohio. 143
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3n ilemoriiim. Alice R. Zilly Delta Chapter Died, December 14, 1900.
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EDITORIALS. With the convention meeting in the summer time and in New York City this year, we should have a large number of the fraternity present in addition to the regular delegates. Many of the chapters are within easy distance of the city and every girl who can possibly plan to be there should do so. A good many alumnae will undoubtedly be present, since there are so many in the city itself and every chapter should see that its alumnae, who live near the city are noti¬ fied and urged to come to the convention. The active mem¬ ber probably does not need to be urged, even if this is her first convention and she does not yet realize how much it will mean to her. The difference in her feelings toward the fraternity as a whole will be probably her greatest gain. The girl who comes to the convention thinking that her own chapter is practically the fraternity, will go away knowing as nothing else could teach her the extent and im¬ portance of the organization as a national fraternity. She will .see the necessity for each part to work in harmony with the rest and she will see and understand the reasons for rules and regulations that may have seemed unnecessary and unimportant to her before. The first year after a con¬ vention always runs more smoothly in a business way than the second. The delegates have seen the fraternity as a working whole and have had it borne in upon them that the individual chapter or member must not block the wheels by forgetting that she is only a small part of the whole. Very likely the reason for this fresh interest in things is due, at least in part, as much to the preparation made by the dele¬ gate as to the convention itself. She has of course been chosen from the girls who take most interest in fraternity work and who know most about the fraternity, and her careful work of preparation must necessarily involve the rest of the chapter and through them comes partly this fresh impulse that is always felt the year after convention. The visitor no less than the official delegate will feel the advan¬ tage of more or less careful consideration of the questions to
Page 41
146 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . be discussed. The pleasure of the social side of the conven¬ tion is enough to repay the visitor for her attendance but the interest of the business sessions will be greatly increased by an intelligent understanding of the business on hand. If the convention is such a good thing for the fraternity, why is not the district convention equally good for the dis¬ trict ? All of the advantages, differing only in degree, may be expected from the one that we expect from the other. The district convention then is obviously a thing to be en¬ couraged. How encouragement may best be given is a problem. Undoubtedly there is not a chapter but what would welcome more frequent district conventions if they could be arranged for without too much expense, work and without the loss of too much university time and work. Of course the obvious way of lessening if not altogether re¬ moving those obstacles is to keep the districts small enough so that the reduced distances may be an encouragement to the chapters to meet. Of course the gain in one direction that would result from the subdivision of the districts might be more than counterbalanced by the loss in other direc¬ tions. Fewer chapters would meet and the interest, en¬ thusiasm and good of the meeting would be correspondingly lessened. The question then is, would the gain be sufficient to justify this meeting of small numbers ? This can only be answered by actual experiment or by discussion among the chapters. Those of us who belong to a small district will probably advocate small districts and frequent meet¬ ings. Beta district can probably put before us the pros and cons of the entire question as a result of her late and suc¬ cessful experience of a district convention. What do the chapters think about it ?
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EXCHANGES. We quote the following from an article upon the “Nar¬ rowness of Fraternity Life” in the Trident of Delta Delta Delta : “ Blessed is the man who has the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and see¬ ing and appreciating whatever is noble in another,” — so wrote Thomas Hughes. And we would add : Thrice blessed is the one who has the gift of holding friends, for with it go always the spirit of unselfish helpfulness and self- sacrifice. Every girl has her own Waterloos to fight, but I believe a temptation common to every college student is the tempta¬ tion to a coldly correct, and exclusive selfishness. The conditions of student life are in a way abnormal ; we have not the thousand-and-one calls to self-sacrifice which come in home life, and we are in danger of becoming unrespon¬ sive and self-centred, and of forgetting to do “ The little kindnesses. Which most leave undone or despise.” We plead the lack of time. But we have time for the necessary things, and the things we find time for, show the order of importance in which we rank them. These things do take time. It takes time to be kind, thoughtful and helpful. But are not these the things that we will care most about afterward ? Nowhere as in college do we have so many opportunities to touch others ; the days that come now will never dawn again, and we must not refuse the gifts which these silent messengers offer to us. Maria Mitchell once said : “ Girls, you are throwing away in¬ finites for infinitesimals.” No girl goes through the four years of college without those about her knowing whether her actuating motive centers upon self or others. “What we are in the dark” stands revealed through any pretence. And there is no higher tribute than the genuine respect accorded by all to an unselfish character. I believe that every true-hearted girl, if she were to choose deliberately, would decide that it is better to be re¬ membered as noble and unselfish, than as brilliant or popular. Certainly when our college days lie behind we shall not be saddened by such a host of “ might-have-beens ” as haunt us, when we are conscious of having failed to live true to our highest impulse.
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148 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. Holmes once said, “Genius has an infinitely deeper reverence for character than character can have for genius.” The absorbing, and, to some degree necessarily, self-cen¬ tered life of college, has a distorting effect upon our mental vision which prevents us from seeing things in their true proportion. But at times even in the busy whirl there comes to us some quiet hour, when we question, “What is really worth while?” and the longing which identifies all humanity springs up : “ We need, each and all, to be needed, To feel we have something to give Toward soothing the moan of earth’s hunger.” From the Pi Beta Phi Arrow we clip, part of a short article upon personal development and the importance of personality. Does or does not fraternity life tend to develop personality ? Doubtless there are conditions of fraternity life which are favorable both for its development and for its blight, but in the average chapter what is the case ? Look into your own midst and answer the question for yourself. When the numbers are few you will probably find every member pos¬ sessing qualities essential to life of the chapter. These, through repeated use, have become permanent possessions and the importance placed upon her part in the work of the chapter has given stability and an added confidence to the character of each girl. There are tendencies, however, in a large chapter which need to be guarded against or the greatest good to the greatest number will not be the result. In every case our aim is development. Then see to it, both that every member is given the benefit of such influences as her special needs require, and also that she be as intimately associated as possible with all the other members of the chapter. It sometimes happens that two or three chapter members become so strongly bound to one another as to exclude other friendships, even in the fraternity. This, indeed, is disas¬ trous, for it usuallv happens that the girls are of widely dif¬ ferent personalities and the stronger tends to absorb the weaker. At length, when apart from her comrade, the girl who has learned to lean unduly upon her friends becomes a mere nonentity. There is no question upon which she feels competent to express a decided opinion and she learns to her dismay that her friends are all combined in the one girl or the two or three.
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EXCHANGES. 149 Let me impress upon you the necessity of guaiding against anything which will at length deprive you of the strength of your personality. Strive to develop it in all possible ways for it is truly a charm which nothing can re¬ place. It may be modified, strengthened, and made sweeter by the combined influence of many strong friends, but be¬ ware of the narrowing influence of the one friend. Everywhere be strong in your own convictions. Without them, you can attain nothing ; with them, you can work wonders. It is not enough that you have possession of your idea, it must also possess you. We quote the following suggestive editorial from the Phi Delta Theta Scroll : At the Louisville convention, roll books were distributed to the delegates from all chapters. Much care was taken in designing these books, and considerable expense was at¬ tached to their manufacture. They provide blanks for the entry of biographical information concerning members which it is desirable to preserve, and it is believed that they will meet all requirements. 3>. A. ©. chapters have never be¬ fore had uniform chapter roll books. If chapters will see to it that their historians enter therein important information as it comes to hand, according to the directions, the books will be of inestimable value. Not only will each chapter thus possess a complete roll, giving interesting personal details, but the labor of historians, in making out correct annual reports to the H. G. C., will be much lightened, and future catalogue editors can thereby be furnished with a full roll and data which will enable them to issue a catalogue far more accurate and complete than any heretofore published. The late catalogue editors, at great pains, entered in the books, before their distribution, the names of members ini¬ tiated since the chapter lists for the 1894 catalogue went to press. These names were obtained from the annual reports made to the H. G. C. since that time, but, strange as it may seem, these reports, we have reason to believe, do not in¬ clude the names of all members initiated since 1894. It seems that some historians in recent years have been negli¬ gent, and, in making reports on February 1, have given among initiates the names of those only who had been initia¬ ted from September to February, omitting those initiated from February of the previous year to June. We, there¬ fore, can not too strongly urge chapter historians to revise the entries which the catalogue editors have made in the books, and add omitted names and data which may be lack-
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150 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . ing. If any historian does not attend to this very important matter, we trust that the president of the chapter will make it his personal business to see that it is done, and that if both the historian and the president fail, the chapter itself should take proper action. In somewhat the same line of thought are the following extracts quoted from an article upon the Alumni Problem in the Kappa Alpha Journal • The most serious problem which confronts every college fraternity is that of keeping the alumni interested. The active members are few in comparison with the large body of the alumni. If the alumni could be kept as active as the members in college or even half as enthusiastic, the frater¬ nities would not experience one tenth of the difficulties that confront them in their march of progress. A discussion of this subject would be, to a certain extent, theoretical. But any plan which can be of advantage should be put forward. There is not the least doubt in the world but that the present condition of affairs could be greatly improved if the chap¬ ters, the interested individuals and the officers would exert themselves to the utmost. “There’s the rub” — so we must urge everyone to enter heart and soul into this work. Under our system each chapter is required to send out every November circular letters to the alumni of that par¬ ticular chapter. While this is required it will, no doubt, be found that many of the chapters do not do this and that many others in a very questionable manner. Each chapter should have these blanks and circular letters promptly sent out. These blanks should be prepared each year by the Order and furnished free of charge to the chapters and then the chapters be required to send these out and get a reply from each alumnus. These circular letters should contain a full account of the happeuings in the Order during the past year and all such matter as will interest the alumni. Per¬ haps it would be a misnomer to call these circular letters as they would be a full and complete review of the past year’s work. In addition to this matter concerning the general fraternity a short sketch of the happenings in the particular chapter and the list of members for the current year. This would give the alumni the information needed to make them realize that the Order is interested in them. The C. H. should be sure that every alumnus of his chapter re¬ ceives such letter. He must keep track of the alumni and always be able to find them. Once get the records complete and correct, and there will not be a great deal of trouble in
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EXCHANGES. 151 keeping them in good shape. But this law would have to be enforced rigidly and the C. H. compelled to get a reply from each alumnus or to “show cause.’ 1 Let the office of Catalogue Editor and Chief Alumnus be combined, for the General Catalogue deals much more with the alumni than with the active members. When I speak of catalogues here I mean the general, or decennial publica¬ tions. The annual catalogue will be spoken of in a later article. As suggested before let the law in reference to sending out circular letters be rigidly enforced and let the reply received from each alumnus be sent to the C. A. who shall preserve the data so collected. Thus the C. H. will be the representative in the chapter of both the G. H. and C. A. Both the latter will be preserving records, but neither’s duties will encroach on the other’s. It is a fact that the General Catalogue gives much of the information the G. H. is preserving, but it has been largely due to the magnificent and constant work of Brother T. T. Hubard that the perfec¬ tion secured by Bro. Paul Murrill was rendered possible. At stated periods then, every five or ten years the C. A. should publish the General Catalogue. If every C. H. has done his full duty each November the task of publishing the catalogue will be comparatively easy. The C. A. will have received each November blanks from the alumni, and there will be little if any, of the arduous work of tracing members up that our catalogue editors are met with. This plan is not only suggested to Kappa Alpha, but to all fraternities. There is no desire to criticise our system, but it seems that the plan proposed would minimize the labor and accomplish the best results. And it would not only save time and work, but would eventually prove the cheapest solution of the catalogue problem. But the Chief Alumuus may now do a great deal if he has the hearty co-operation of the active members. He has a difficult task and his hands will be tied unless he is met with aid on all sides. But we may look into the possibilities of that office under the most favorable circumstances. There could be a great deal done with encouragement from all sides in the way of organizing new chapters. I do not doubt the very great value of the alumni chapter even though they do not meet very often. From an article upon the initiate in the Caducens of Kappa Sigma we take the following extracts : We hear much from the oracle of the Fraternity magazine and the after dinner speaker of the Fraternity banquet
Page 47
152 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA. about the kind of a man we need in the Fraternity. We are told exactly what manner of man he is ; we are in¬ structed in the proper methods to secure him, and the man¬ ner of impressing upon him the beauties of Fraternity life in general and of our Fraternity in particular. But in all this there is often overlooked one important question : Are Fraternity men found ready-made? In the very nature of things they cannot be. How many fellows we all know who at the time of their Fraternity initiation seemed to measure up to all the requirements of an ideal brother, and who go through their whole college course taking only a perfunctory interest in the affairs of their Chapter, doing what is requested of them, living up to the letter of Fraternity law in every way, but failing utterly to enter into the true spirit of Fraternity, and finally passing into the outer world on Commencement day never to be heard of again in the sacred circle of brothers ? The truth then comes to us that we must not occupy ourselves wholly with the idea of what kind of a man we are to take into the Fraternity ; that we must bestow much of our thought on what to do for the brother after we have taken him in. * Tis with man as with the quarried marble, — there is yet the shaping and rounding work ; the rough places must be smoothed and the surface polished. Those brothers whom we have referred to as seeming to possess at once the all-important qualifications for a membership in our brotherhood, and whom we have found falling so far short of our expectations, are often the best of raw material, but the influence which should have shaped them has been lack¬ ing. They have missed the sweet communion of kindred spirits ; the broadening ideals of Fraternal fellowship have never been realized by them because, and only because, there has been a neglect, a woeful neglect, to attach to them the common chord of love which must be woven around every Fraternity Chapter. These are the ships that pass in the night of the Fraternity world. It is, therefore, easily seen that the old Fraternity man — the man who is nearing the end of his college course — has a stern responsibility. Indeed, the strength of a Chapter is very largely judged by the standing of its Senior class mem¬ bers. Far more important to the Fraternity, however, is the fact that the acts and example of these men, with their added years of contact with the world, help very much to form the character of the younger brothers. The experience of these Seniors in Fraternity affairs, their relation to the
Page 48
EXCHNAGES . 153 college in general, and the position tacitly conceded them by their associates usually gives them the leadership in the Chapter. But just as the child is the father to the man, so the Freshmen of to-day are the Seniors four short years hence, and their conduct of, and influence upon, the Chapter then will depend very largely upon how they are guided and treated by the Seniors of the present. The first step, therefore, in the measuring up to the full extent of Fraternity responsibility by an old Fraternity man is to improve the relations with the new initiates. It is not possible to have a hard-and-fast set of rules governing a course of conduct so varied as that toward young men in the formative period of their lives must be ; but it may be said that one thing always should be remembered, and that is that good Fraternity men are distinctly not ready-made, and, on the other hand, are the products of influence and environ¬ ment. Don’t play upon an initiate’s vanity, so that he thinks he has conferred a favor upon the Chapter by uniting with it, nor go to the other extreme by trying to make him feel that it was an act of condescension to notice him at all. Make him feel that he is the younger brother in a household of equals. Granted that he has been properly and unosten¬ tatiously invited to join the Chapter, and thus impressed with the idea that a membership in Kappa Sigma is well worth having, — and no true brother will otherwise invite, or “ rush,” a man, — the positive obligation of each member of the Fraternity compels him to conduct himself so that his life may be a guide for his younger brother, and to treat this brother so that all that is best in him may be brought out, and so that the fraternal instinct that is latent in all men’s breasts may be brought into full outward existence. The relations of the ideal Chapter members are those of a large family where scriptural harmony reigns, where the wishes of the whole are always considered before the desires of an individual, where each member is ready and willing to put his shoulder to the wheel of labor, and where the ex¬ ample and knowledge of the old are the guide and the in¬ spiration of the young. Such relations make in fact as well as theory a band of brothers bound together by the strong yet silken cords of love, among whom no dissensions ever exist. Such a condition being ideal, and we being all very human, can never be perfectly attained. But if in our Chapter relations to the new brothers, as well as the old, we fully grasp our responsibility to the Fraternity, this ideal
Page 49
154 THE KAPPA ALPHA THETA . state can be closely approximated by our Chapters. The nearer we approach the ideal, the more completely have we met our responsibility ; the closer we draw the fraternal bonds — with the new member especially — the stronger we make the Chapter and the Fraternity at large. We are building a structure which must stand or fall by its own strength or weakness. The foundations have been laid broad and firm ; the superstructure is planned along conservative and substantial lines, but upon the active mem¬ bers of to-day and to-morrow falls the work of shaping the stones and cementing them so that when the work is finished we see an edifice as perfect in completion as it is beautiful in conception. i