January 22, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



137 



politan Club or Corda Pratres, considering 

 that it is largely made up of foreigners more 

 or less unfamiliar with our language and our 

 educational methods. 



Observation of the grades of various indi- 

 viduals and classes has shovm that carelessness 

 in pledging is largely responsible for fluctua- 

 tions in scholarship. A sudden drop in the 

 standing of an organization is usually due to 

 the entrance of an inferior group of freshmen. 

 Sometimes this one class will handicap the 

 whole organization for several years. Other- 

 wise the weeding out of incompetents and close 

 supervision of the weak will remove the diffi- 

 culty in a year's time. There is at the present 

 time a general disposition on the part of the 

 fraternities not to initiate pledges who are 

 conditioned in any way. 



A comparison of the class averages of fra- 

 ternity men is made in the accompanying 

 table : 



College Tear 191S-19U 



First semester 

 Second semester 



The gradual elimination of the unfit and the 

 survival of the fit is pretty closely shown by 

 these figures. 



When we come to study the records of indi- 

 vidual organizations for a period of years, we 

 find some interesting facts. 



In 1912 the Sigma Pi, a new chapter, was 

 at or near the bottom of the list with a grade 

 of Y6.3. Six months of determined work on 

 the part of its officers and members put it 

 tenth in a list of twenty-eight organizations 

 with a grade of 81.9 and second in a list of 

 thirteen Greek letter fraternities. 



On the other hand, one of the house clubs 

 through carelessness in its pledges and its 

 house rules has dropped in one year from the 

 fourth to the twenty-fourth place. 



One of the fraternities, Sigma Nu, has re- 

 mained consistently near the bottom of the 

 list, never rising higher than No. 21 and being 

 now No. 2Y in a list of twenty-eight. 



One of the other fraternities. Beta Theta Pi, 

 has remained just as consistently in the upper 

 middle section, its grade never falling below 

 80.4 and never rising above 81.5. 



Of the four Greek letter fraternities winning 

 the Alford trophy in successive semesters, the 

 present rank in a list of thirteen is as f oUows : 



Delta Tau Delta 4 



Phi Kappa Sigma 9 



Sigma Phi Epsilon 8 



Kappa Sigma 1 



a list which shows the rather violent fluctua- 

 tions in rank occurring in a short period of 

 time. 



A comparison of the various classes or 

 groups of organizations gives the following 

 average grades for the two college years 1912- 

 13 and 1913-14: 



(2) Honorary fraternities .... 86.8 



(3) Departmental 82.7 



(13) Greek letter 80.1 



(2) Sororities 83.5 



(4) Special fraternities 80.5 



(4) House clubs 81.2 



The fraternity or social club suffers from 

 certain tendencies which are more or less un- 

 avoidable in this kind of community life. 



First, there is the disposition to choose 

 pledges hastily and from considerations apart 

 from the real value of the man. On the 

 score of relationship, of social standing or of 

 athletic prowess many candidates are chosen 

 in haste and repented of at leisure. 



Second, there is the tendency to relax the 

 house rules and to permit more loafing, sing- 

 ing, smoking and card playing than is for the 

 best interests of the organization. The more 

 or less luxurious living and the feeling of boon 

 companionship are too alluring for weak-kneed 

 students who have not been used to such oppor- 

 tunities. This is a matter which any chapter 

 can easily control if it wishes. 



Third, there is the fact that fraternity men 

 as a rule engage in student activities to a 

 greater extent than do the non-fraternity men. 



In 1911 the writer addressed letters to the 

 deans of several neighboring universities, ask- 



