The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04
COLLEGE FRATERNITIES
THE EXTENT TO WHICH Thick
FLOURISH IN INDIANA COLLEGES.
Regarded as an Important Adjunct Of
school Life by New Students
Unpleasant limitations.

TIE foremost ambition OF young man
when he enters college is to be received into
Greek letter fraternity. Even before he is
out of the high school he allows himself to
anticipate the joy of such victory And
| when it happens, as it occasionally does,
| that he is not accepted by a fraternity, he
| is made quite miserable for time, and
his disappointment may result either in his
| suddenly becoming dissatisfied with higher
education and leaving college at the end OF
| the first term, in his becoming a. sour
grape fiend and very dangerous ..bar-
baran." If he be made a Greek. however.
| ne feels that he has new lease of life. and
| ne invariably assumes a greatness the an
pearance of which is never disproportfonate
| TO his real feelings. During the first days
OF the college term the eligible young man
| hnds himself confronted by conditions that
| are very annoying TO him, and he loses a
| great deal of valuable time as a result of
| his popularity. Several fraternities are
wanting him, and he cannot decide where
| to cast his die. Each society has represented
| Itself to him as being the best. and all of his
| new-found friends are very fine fellows. OF
! course the young man wants to be true to
| himself, and join the organization that win
| oeneht him most AS a consequence ha
usually continues in this undecided state OF
mlnd until either because they have de-
! SPARED Of success or have found some otheR
man more to their liking, the fraternities.
! one by one, drop him, and he at length fnds
| that he has only one chance left. The
proper course is now easily SEEM the young
man quickly makes up his mind and ac-
| cepts Hobson's choice On the other hand.
there are young men who embrace the first
| opportunity given them, and forever after.
wards they are eminenty satisfied with their
action.
THE INITIATION.
| With fraternities the initiation is a very
considerable feature. Especially is it re-
garded SO by the candidate The fraternity
goat is the least manageable of all goats.
and he is approached with much fear and
trembling. The college youth has not alto-
| gether forgotten his early conception of in-
| itiations, and with an imagination not VET
dulled by practical cares he pictures to
| himself all sorts of scenes Of torture and
adventure. He expects almost anything.
The morning after he has been shown into
the mysteries OF his society, he writes
home to his sister, 'Well, my frat initiated
me last night. but I wasn't killed" OF
| course he had written her previously that
| he expected to be killed. AT times howe
ever, the forms of initiation are very se-
| we're and go far beyond the point OF come
| fort. This is more often the case at East
| ern than at Western colleges. In the East
the examination for admission into a fra
| ternity is very rigid The young man must
be willing to take his life and reputation
into his hands He is often called upon to
do some deed which, If he should be caught
In the act, would insure him expulsion from
| the college. The West however, is not
| wholly lacking in such Incidents At Wa
bash, this year, the limitations praoticed by
some of the fraternities were so objections
able to the faculty that that body took
action against them. The victims have since
been taken to the woods and the ceremonies
have been conducted there. At Indiana
University there is an organization that ex-
lists merely for the pleasure of initiating a
man. They call themselves THE Skulls's
and to the person who knows their ways
there is suggestiveness in the name This
organization is not really a fraternity,
though all of its members are fraternity
men. The way it has of filling its ranks
Is a very effective one. No person is asked
TO become a member he is simply singled
out ana gone after, and if it so happens
that the young man shows unwilling
ness TO cast his fortunes with them, he Is
taken by main force One thing may be
said 10 the credit of the organization il
DpSE
or health-a very essential matter This
ceremonies, if such they may be called be-
gin about midnight and end d few hours
later Nd regular form or initiation is adj
hered to, the humor of the participants be-
ING the only thing that determines what tha
victim is to be put through Usually the
first hour or two is spent I'm a cross country
run. the young man blindfolded. The next
hour hnds the gang in front of chapter
to sing some love songs to the girls and 10
pour out his heart to them in an Impromptu
speech all of which is desperately hard for
any one except a Spaniard 10 do The next
division of time IS spent in social reyelry
and the cock has been known to crow nlors
than thrice before they left off. An organi-
cation similar to the Skulls once existed
at De Pauw. 1t was the Club of Tbirteen''
and the mere mention of it's name will re.
Vlve volume of memories in many men il
Indiana to-day
NO LONGER LITERARY
One of the original purposes, that of lit-
erary culture, most of the fraternities i'm
Indiana have departed from. The social side
is emphasized now almost entirely. When
they were first introduced into the State
the old literary societies were fourishina
and in order to get the best men the fra
ternites were obliged to offer inducements
OF literary nature Gradually however,
this feature has faded away and college
politics and social functions have become
predominant.
lief in many places that college fraternitiea
are not commendabe organizations, and
following up this belief there have been
various movements 70 suppress them. One
instance OF this in Indiana occurred a few
years ago at Purdue University. 1t was dur
ing the administration Of President White
tTaterHihes had been in existence at that
institution for some considerable time
though they had kept themselves very
much under cover, we'll knowing that the
president was hostile to them Dr. White
however, knew that If they were allowed to
exist at all they would continue to grow and
gain strength. Consequently he took meas
ureS to eradicate them. His actions at once
brought forth cry of opposition from tina
young men which was heard by fraternity
men all over the State. Letters were sent
10 the president, protesting against his in
reference and asking consideration for the
societies But his views were fixed and he
could not be turned from his pursuit. The
matter at length got into politics. When
the General Assembly met and the bill APP
propriating money for Purdue University
was under discussion friends OF the fra
ternitieS succeeded in lacking on a rider
permitting secret organizations to exist at
that institution. OF course, the bill was
made law and DR.. White was obliged to
cease his warfare. Since then the Greeks
have enjoyed peaceful reign. One of the
men who took a very active part I'm that
controversy on the side Of the fraternities
is now editor Of a Democratic paper at
Anderson There IN Tn