Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-04

"Retty COED" and her roisterous col
lege boy brother have survived without
casualties another searching inveStiga-
ton of their morals and antics and the
manner of life in their far-f1ung soror-
ity and fraternity houses.
This time it was a survey OF all
phases of college life in So institutions
of higher Misunderstanding such large
units as the Universities OF California,
Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota and Mas
sachusetts Tech-conducted by the
United States ONCE of Education.
It was started in 1927 with con-
gressional appropriation to meet ex-
penses and included all the land-grant
colleges, which receive annual subSi-
dies from the Federal Government. AL
together they enroll $4,000 resident
students.
The report, just issued, gives its only
slightly qualified approval to the frater-
mites and sororities as they exist today.
They have" it says, enormous posi-
bilities for value to their members and
to the college community" But 1t urges
better working arrangement between
them and the college authorities.
Bugaboo Now Respectable.
ION every campus" it Is reported,
there are activities which the college
does not sanction. These wildcat &C
tivitieS range from individual pecca-
dillos to the subrosa meetings OF reg
ular groups that have become important
enough to join with similar groups on
other campuses and effect a Semblance
OF national organization"
But the Investigators found that the
worst of these are losing ground or have
disappeared altogether. The famous
n 11Hx1n GA nf fathers
and college presidents of past genera
ton and whose organization was for
the widest kinds of indulgence boyish
minds could conceive" now has become
a recognized and respectable Greek
letter fraternity, the report points out.
It no longer Is a secret national society
of good fellows" whose membership
cut across fraternity lines.
Although not so we'll known, college
girls had a sister organization even
more reprehensible This was known
merely as TX" or Chi" its membership
was a dark secret, and Its initiation
ritual violated every canon Of decency
and good taste" But it apparently has
disappeared altogether.
Groups Dissolve Easily.
One type of present day wild cat"
activity, says the report, sis the culti-
walton of eudo-intellectual group
interests. Its members are apt to call
themselves the intelligentSia and to look
down on the bourgeoisie and prole-
tariat, their fellow students, who do not
rebel at every sign of social convention
or authority. These groups are very
loosely knit together, as is inevitable in
the case Of groupings of such indi-
vidualistic personalities. The only thing
that seems to remain is the feeling Of
superiority. Since they are superior rot
only to all those outside but to each
other the bond Of union Is very weak
and, fortunately for the rest of the COL
lege community, the groups dissolve
quite easily. Apparently the vast
majority Of the students in colleges to-
day are little interested in revolt.
Another type Of wildcat activity
which has little organization Is that of
the gambling and drinking fellowship.
This group has always existed and prob
ably in proportion is no larger today
than It ever was, although In actual
numbers 1t may have increased with
the increase of the student bodies. For