1905-06 Volume 30 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

138 THE SCROLL.concerning all of its members. No matter how long he hasbeen away, he finds somebody in the college town who knowswho he is, who is glad to see him. His name has been readin the old minute books. Traditions concerning him havebeen told around the fireplace, and he out of college thesetwenty-five years, perh'aps. When he enters the chapterhouse,he gets a warm clasp of the hand. The boys proceedto pick out his picture in the groups hanging on the wall. Inmy chapter they call you by your old college nickname, or byyour given name, unless you are too frostily dignified, andmake you a boy again with them, an elder brother, but abrother. When I go into the house of my chapter and theycall me, fifteen years out of college, by my given name, itwarms the cockles of my heart and my blood flows faster.Your old college name in the mouths of college boys. Howsweet it is! Here is time defied, here is the one place in theworld where the fountain sought by Ponce de I^eon ever flows,perpetual youth realized. The chapter is eternally young,eternally joyous, and to have an eternal welcome to it is aprecious privilege.In some chapters there are literary exercises. Completesuccess in this respect means complete supplanting of the oldopen literary society, so this cannot be argued as a plea forthe fraternity. It is not a desirable substitution. In a greatmany chapters there is a system of supervision over the classwork of members. In some this merely takes the form of a"class officer" chosen to look after men who are lagging, whocounsel with him and his instructors, get his marks, whichperhaps are read in meeting. But in some few chapters themarks of all members are read in meeting; there is personalexhortation and appeal to personal and fraternity pride. Thechapters which do this have made remarkable records inscholarship, and wherever you find one that has carried onthe system long—and some have been doing it for half a century,have half a century's marks in their archives—you willfind that the alumni list has a notable number of scholars anddistinguished men of affairs. Every chapter teaches socialpolish, taste in dress, savoir Jaire. Whatever else they failto do, they all certainly do this.In my own case, my fraternity has seconded the educationgiven by my college. I do not refer to the chapter, but tothe fraternity, which is one of the nine or ten fraternitieswhich can truthfully call itself "national." I know that severalfraternities in nowise entitled to this designation, thin