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

374 THE SCROLL.membership, usually two or three from each class, who wereconsidered the most promising students. As a consequence,most of the names I have mentioned, and many others of ourfraternity were honor men in their classes. And, during myterm of four years, the Mystic members carried off the highesthonors. The well known fact that three members of thefaculty belonged to our fraternity also gave us a great advantage.These faculty members occasionally met with us,but were prudent and especially impartial in grading andawarding distinctions.This restrictive rule, allowing not over fourteen activemembers, also lead to the establishment of other fraternities.I do not know the dates of their organization, but the Crescentsociety was the next oldest to the Mystic and enjoyed avery high reputation. There were also the Irenian, thePalladian, the 'AStXt^oi. the Olympic, and the Hermesiansocieties, established before my time in college, and afterwardstwo or three others, one of which was called *tXot ErepotIn the year 1853 a new college building was erected onthe ground now occupied by Seney Hall. By consent of thetrustees, for a satisfactory consideration, the Mystic andCrescent fraternities each acquired a permanent lease onrooms in this building for their exclusive use. This arrangementdid not please the other fraternities, and added to afeeling of jealousy and rivalry which sometimes was veryunpleasant. In order to control this tendency, the collegeauthorities thought it wise to place, some restraints on thefraternities by requiring them to exhibit to the faculty theirconstitutions and by-laws, and to designate some one of thefaculty of their own selection, as an honorary or advisormember, who should have the right to consult freely withthem. Of course this arrangement was popular with theMystics, because several of our members were already professors.But it did not give general satisfaction, and dissensionsand jealousies increased to such an extent that, on theadvice of the president of the college, in 1857, the trusteesprohibited the secret societies from making any more initiations.The societies then or soon afterward suspended, andnone of them was ever afterwards revived.I never knew anything definite of the secret workings of theother fraternities, several of which were considered very laudableand commendable, but I doubt whether among old ormodern fraternities there was ever one with purer, nobler or