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

THE SCROLL. 151we may be sure that new fraternities will be organized. Thenewer fraternities will not have the prestige of the older organizations,but they will counteract the tendency of the olderorders to become aristocratic, and, as regards social privileges,will bring about an approximation of equality amongstudents wherever fraternities are established. Therfore, webelieve that the charge that fraternities are not democratic willnot prove to be permanently a serious objection to them.CONCERNING Greek-letter societies in academies and highschools, we confess that we have very little information. Thewriter in the Independent regards them as "pestiferous," andprobably they are a nuisance, but we are not prepared toaccept the view that the existence of these boys' societies area menace to college fraternities, or that their abolition wouldcause an abolition of college fraternities. The juvenile societieshave possibly in some degree cheapened Greek-letterorders, but the college world will always discriminate betweenthe academic and the college societies, and the only peoplewho know anything about such orders are those who haveattended institutions in which they are established. Withoutdoubt many of the juvenile societies will have only an ephemeralexistence; in many places the school trustees will prohibitthem, and we hope that many parents will spank this Greeklettercraze out of their youthful offspring. Some of thesesocieties will die if let alone, but some of them will probablycontinue to exist. We have little hope that all of them canbe suppressed, but still their existence, we believe, is not acause of alarm to college fraternity men. And if their existenceis snuffed out by angry teachers or parents, we hardlythink that the same or similar influences would be aroused tosmash college fraternities; but even if this should happen, thefraternities would doubtless be able to resist the attack, asthey have successfully resisted formidable attacks at manyinstitutions in former years. Many fraternity men have notlooked with favor upon professional fraternities, which have