The Washington times., 1929-04-09
MAY | 05E
CHARTER
BECAUSE
Of ROW
Continued from First Page)
r,1ental to the best interests Of the

IEaIGE1f1E E -
5.sSevefal5 f,iosiths ago, Mrsa Hem
mick, 8 letter continued. the fra.
terffty field secretary In his usual
course ofSdtty visited the chapter.
and found that drin king In the house,
was open ana that liquor was being
made in the basement. He discussed
the situation with the chapter and
was advised that drinking WAS GUS
tonary in the Virginia chapter
houses, and that the chapter could
not and would not comply with the
anti.liquor law Of the fraternity.
ION receipt Of this report Presi-
dent Mcleod (of the national body)
visited the chapter, discussed the
matter with the chapter president
and received substantially the same
reply.
Request Refused
'.At the southern Division Confer
once ii FEBRUARY, the chapter was
requested to take up the question
At its next meeting and advise the
president Of the fraternity officially
of its attitude. Is
4 Prior to the meeting Of the Area
Chapter, President Mcleod received
q letter from the president of the
chapter saying that no meeting had
been held since the conference, but
inclosing a copy of a letter to Deal
Page, of the University of Virginia,
indicating the position Of the chap
ter
.'The dean had requested the
chapters at the university to pass
regulations forbidding drinking in
chapter houses. Beta Iota refuses
to do so.
"The procedure under the consti.
tuition calls for the appointment uf
an alun1nus to make thorough in
vestigation of the charges and the
rendition of a report thereon to the
arch chapter. which may not take
action until at least SO days after
the receipt OF notice of charges by
the. chapter officers.
THE appointment of the inyesti-.
eating officer will be made at an
early date" @
Csentlemen's Agreement
The letter to Dean Page, in part,
Il as follows
"As requested by you following
our meeting Wednesday night. we
are submitting the reasons which
prompted us to refuse to adopt the
rule asked by the. administrative
council which would prohibit the
storage and drinking OF whisky In
the fraternity house.
SIT is our understanding that the
rule is to 5 be of indefinite duration
5, and one that will be more than a
mere gesture Such a rule would
require active enforcement on the
part of the men of the fraternities,
Gnd enforcement would necessarily
have to be accomplished through
the medium Of heavy fines for in
fraction or the carrying out of its
provisions by gentlemen's agree
( Ensflt.
Were we to place enforcement
under the fine system the officers of
the fraternity would be placed in the
light of State and Government en-
forcement officers-in fact, as no
more than Shoppers eeking to en-
force a law innpracticable of enforce.
Yiaent because Of its unpopularity.
Frequent violations must lead to a
disregard for regulation and a de-
: ceitfulness entirely foreign to the
spirit of this, university.
Enforcement by gentleman's
agreement, to our mind, borders
upon the honor system. While such
agreements may not come directly
under this cherished part of our uni
yersity 1ife-and we are not fully
convinced that they do not-they are
certainly indirectly related to the
honor system. At best there would
be created an unhealthy atmosphere
for the existence of the honor code.
I'VE are in favor Of passing no
rule that we do not expect to enforce
to the best of our abilities.
.'Passage of rigid rule is like
wise an hypocrisy inasmuch as few
OF Us believe in the rule and intend
to evade its provisions in every cor
ceivable way, passing the regulation
for no other purpose than to pre-.
sent ourselves to the public as what
we are not.
Nor can we see how such a rule
will be beneficial to the University
Of Virginia One Of the administra-
I've councils suggests the. possibility
that Attorney General Saunders in
his investigation might find that
one of the fraternitfes was not
properly enforcing the rule. The
resulting publicity would certainly
be undesirable for the university,
which stands before the world as a
citadel Of fntegrity--a leader in the
battle against hypocrisy and deceit:
Opposed TO Law
I'VE are asked to pass an un-
natural law-unnatural because fully
IS per cent Of those Of Us who vote
for the regulation are opposed to-
the law; asked to enforce it's pro-
visions upon ourselves, asked to-
place ourselves apart from the mil.
lions who are no different from us.
s'It seems to us that. although
the students pass this rule them
selves, they do so under pressure
ard are undermining the system Of
sttlAey..s government which has
placed the University of Virginia
apart from other. institutions. The
! university has insisted that the
Students have the right to- live their
cwn lives and that thev have the
right. of freedom Of thought Are
V9 - limit the one and suppress
the ether7
I'VE do not believe that students
should be driven from their homes
TO DO what. drinkin9 they do. In
fact, the improved conditions here
At this time in respect to drinking
are, We believe. due to the very fact
that studens now DO whatever drink
A. 49, - D. ktanfn hapaam a.-