The Days of a Man 1870 



gave rise to the many national college fraternities 

 features ( a nd sororities, the "sister" form among young 

 women) which assumed from the first a relationship 

 and intimacy never contemplated by Phi Beta 

 Kappa. The element of secrecy also, real or pre- 

 _tended, was early adopted by all except Delta 

 Upsilon, in imitation of the Masons and other 

 fraternal organizations, and in earlier periods was 

 used to cover numerous pranks and deviltries. 

 Sometimes also a fraternity led in political combi- 

 nations both in college and out. A special feature 

 was the law or custom by which a man enrolled in 

 one group could never afterward legitimately join 

 another. 



In the beginning, election to a fraternity was a 

 distinction and so sometimes it is today. In 

 Delta Upsilon and some other groups no freshmen 

 were originally eligible, a rule later abandoned 

 The through the exigencies of the "Chapter House." 

 chapter p or a b out thirty years ago fraternities everywhere 

 entered on an entirely new set of conditions, due to 

 the acquisition of individual residences in which 

 the members generally live, and to the support of 

 which each one contributes. A degree of uniform 

 temper is necessary within the group, and the house 

 must be kept filled ; members should, of course, have 

 the money to pay their share of the general expenses, 

 though the possession of ample means is hardly a 

 proper gauge of personal worth. Furthermore, 

 while the Chapter House promotes closer friendships 

 and coordination of ideals, it also involves other 

 disadvantages to which Delta Upsilon has been 

 subject not less than others, and which I may 

 briefly enumerate. 

 C62 3 



