1918 Volume 43 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

16 THE SCROLL
As a result of this misconception in regard to fraternities, the new
student, if he is not severely disciplined by the organization which
pledges him, fails to realize the importance of college and Greek-letter
societies, and he either gets kicked out of school for some misdemeanor
which brings disgrace on himself and the fraternity, or, worse yet, he
remains in college as a dead weight to his organization.
No matter what the cause, if he does not succeed in college the
fraternity to which he belonged gets the blame—in many cases undeservedly,
and it is up to the fraternities to steer their freshmen in the
right course if they are to be free from criticism.
For many years the need of some system which W'Ould bridge the
chasm that exists between initiated men and Phikeias has been f elt by
the members of Indiana Delta. Each year there has been at least one
frosh whose skin the brothers failed to penétrate, and, as a result, he
has been classed as a failure and tlie cause has been charged to the
fraternity.
At the beginning of each school year the proposition of how to
secure the best cooperation between Greek and "near-Greek" has been
considered by the brothers, and at the end of this same year there has
always been at least one beginner whose work was a living testimony
of the fallacy of the attempted system.
Last fall when college opened the same problem of past years again
confronted the local chapter. The inroads of war upon our membership
made it very essential that every precaution be taken to utilize
every ounce of man-power at our command, in order that the few who
remained might carry on the work that had previously been done by
many.
FoUowing the custom of past years, a committee was appointed to
devise some system which would enable the initiated men to discipline
the freshmen in such a way that next year they would take the places
of some of those who have gone into national ser\'ice. The "Big
Brother Plan" was finally recommended and adopted by the chapter.
This system is founded on the principie that you can lead a horse to
water but you can't make him drink. In other words, barrel slats
alone will not correct all the faults which are found in the yearling.
Each of the upperclassmen were assigned two Phikeias, and it was
his duty to keep them in "the straight and narrow," not only by
precept but also by example. In general the duties of the sponsors
were to co-operate with their proteges in every way possible. This
included everything from tutoring and the arrangement of courses
down to "suggestions" in regard to personal appearance.
It has been customary to start the social activities of the year with
a parents" party, which is held at the chapter-house soon after the first
semester opens. At our party last vear the "Big Brother Plan" was
outlined in detail to the parents, and all assured us of their cooperation.
During the evening each sponsor had a talk with the