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

22 THE SCROLL
January 2, 1918, was a glorious day for $ A ©, for on that day in regular
convention assembled, we declared to the world that we were a
truly national fraternity and that we would no longer be tied down by
convention and prejudice, but would carry our banner into every place
in the country that was worthy of a chapter of $ A 0. Our expansión
is not yet finished for the great state universities of the West, that
are in a state of development, present for us a fertile field. To satisfy
the cry of "no more chapters but internal improvement," we have
instituted a plan for carrying out our internal improvement to the
very highest degree. Professor Sheperdson, in an editorial in the
Beta Theta Pi magazine, has given us great praise for daring to turn
our backs on tradition and forge ahead, and he points out to his fraternity
that they must man their guns and look to their laurels. We
should truly rejoice that the day has come in A © when the wolf
and the lamb can lie down together in peace.
One great problem which confronts us at present is the payment
of the debt on the Miami Memorial Chapter House. This house was
built in 1907 to commemorate the birthplace of our Fraternity and
to honor the Founders of A 0. It is also the home of the fraternity
library, which contains all the valuable records and priceless relies
of our early days. As such every Phi in the land has an interest in
it. The original plan of finance was good, on paper, but it fell
through because there was no one to push it to completion. According
to this plan the active members of the Fraternity were to be assessed
one doUar a year for a period of four years, the alumni of the
country were to raise six thousand dollars and the alumni of Ohio
Alpha were to raise the balance. The active men of the Fraternity
are the only ones that fulfiUed their part of the plan. The alumni of
the country have shamelessly failed to do their part and there is
probably some excuse for them, for the matter has never been handled
in a systematic manner. Many plans have been suggested, but none
have ever been carried to completion. After a lapse of ten years we
find the debt on the chapter house to be ten thousand dollars which
is a reflection on our Fraternity. To think that a great Fraternity
like ours has not been able to raise so small a sum for such a worthy
cause. In 1914 we were threatened with foreclosure. The General
Council came to the rescue and used money from fraternity funds
to stave off the disaster. At Birmingham the title of the property
was turned over to the Fraternity, and it was planned to turn into
this fund the revenue from the jewelry sales. This in time will take
care of the debt, but it is consuming funds that ought to be devoted
to building up our Fraternity. We alumni must redeem our honor
and raise the sum apportioned to us. The General Council has given
to me the task of raising the funds from the alumni and I consider it
an honor and privilege to undertake the work of redeeming our alumni.
You can realize, however, what a tremendous undertaking it is. To
send out circular letters to twenty thousand alumni is a big undertak-