Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-11-22
FRATS IN SCHOOLS
ARE MADE TARGET
Opponents of the Secret So
cieties Present Arguments
for Their Abolition.
DEFENDERS TO BE HEARD

|
With a great number of civic organi-
, cations, as well additional high
school teachers, wishing to be heard on
the subject Of abolishing secret soci-
cites from Washington high schools.
the special committee of the board of
education having the matter under ad-
| visement is to give another hearing on
the subject Tuesday afternoon at
| o'clock at the Franklin School build
| ing. hearing yesterday, occupying
| more than two hours. was replete with
| specific charges against the local secret
organizations as well as general argu-
ments in opposition. Defenders of the
fraternities admitted indirectly that the
secret societies had maintained cha pier
rooms. in spite of the prohibition by
| the school officials.
| Not only were many charges placed
| at the doors of the fraternities, but
| remedies were suggested whereby other
school activities and associations could
| be made to take their place. Only two
I advocates of the fraternities were
heard yesterday, but William T. CALI
| her, chairman of the committee of the
| board, gave assurances that the fra
| ternity and sorority members would be
given ample opportunity to present
| their side of the case.
| 1t had been planned at first to have
the meeting a closed one. 1t took on
! such broad scope, however. that 1t
| was decided to make 1t public, num-
| Der of those present pointing out that
| it was question in which all the pub
| lie was interested By unanimous vote
the teachers present asked the commit
! tee to allow representatives of the
| press to be present. the committee hay
ing desired secret hearing.
People Deeply Stirred.
| 1t was apparent from the size and
personnel OF the meeting yesterday
that nothing since the congressional
hearings of last spring as to where the
| control of the schools should be vest
| ed had SO deeply stirred the people of
| Washington in regard to their schools.
Rev. DIR. Abram Simon, rabbi of the
| Washington Hebrew Congregation,
whose plea for the abolition of the Sc
| cret societies was the climax of the
discussion, struck a keynote when, aft
| er an arraignment of the societies on
many grounds, he turned dramatically
| to the committee and declared:
Il believe the time has come when
! these organizations should be abol-
| ished. am certain there is a stronger
| feeling against them in the community
The feeling is growing stronger and
stronger. A postponement of this ques-
ton is really dangerous.
1.-The time has come for a surgical
operation. You must operate; the COM
munity will cooperate. We need few
er fraternities and more fraternity.
They remind me of primitive days; they
are a 'hand-over' from olden days. The
high school fraternity system is an in
visible empire. an insidious empire,
dangerous empire,
MY main opposition to secret soci-
cites is that they create false values in
high schools. That is why the college
fraternities are opposed to them-be-
cause the high school fraternity boys
come to the colleges and universities
SO self-opinionated and SO full of false
values that the college men simply
can't stand them.
Kills Fraternity" He Says.
81 am not afraid to say plainly that
high school fraternities have killed
high school fraternity. There should
be no 'doctoring up of this proposition.
These organizations are not education
ally defensible."
L. V. Lampson, faculty adviser in
athletics at Central High School. told
of how the privilege of electing Off
GERS of teams had to be taken away
from the students of that school be-
cause fraternities and sororities con-
trolled the elections. The privilege
has been restored since the removal
into the new building, he said; but
even now there is danger of having 1t
taken away again because of this ele-
ment.
High school fraternities and soror-
tiles are unsociaI and undemocratic,"
said Mr.. Lampson. They thrive upon
social distinctions. They are not based
on love of their fellows, but on love of
themselves. They are not for the good
of the many, but for the fellowship of
the few. Sometimes. I'll admit. these
are very fine feilowships. So was
knighthood fine. but it was based on
the thought that might is right and
therefore did not stand the test of time.
Privilege Taken Away.
"At the old Central High School we
had to do away with the election of Of
ficers by the students because of the
interference of fraternities. The stu
dents had to be denied the privilege of
electing managers Of their teams de-
spite the fact that the students pay for
the support of athletics. When we
moved into the new building, with its
large amount of valuable athletic
equipment. we felt that it would be
necessary to have democracy l am
frank TO ADMIT tHdt our chief concern
was with the fraternities and sororities.
Since it has been suggested that the
fraternities be continued we have had
| to take up the question of changing our
present system
You can't entirely abolish the fra
| ternities, and you can't settle this
question with stroke of the pen, but
you can combat them They represent
an invisible government in the public
| high schools. The burden of proof is
| not upon those who defend the rights
of the many. but upon those who speak
! of the rights of the few. Until the fra
| ternities can guarantee no ostracism,
| no aristocracy, no black ball and no
| secret alliances. can they be accepted
as part of our school system"
W. &. Myers one of the teachers at
| Mckinley Manual Training School, de-
| clared that even if the fraternities and
! sororities represented only 10 per cent
| of the school population, they could.
| being organized, control the 80 per
| cent unorganized.
European War an Example.
| at is this control of the majority by
| the small minority which has given us