544 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1033 



"He didn't know a thing about national 

 standing, but he knew exactly the scholastic 

 reputation of every bunch which he was con- 

 sidering." I do not suppose that good or bad 

 scholarship in the abstract, unless it is very 

 good or bad, enters largely into the reputa- 

 tion of a chapter, but the fact that in the only 

 definite scheme of ranking we have this or 

 that chapter ranks high or low is taken as a 

 presumption of its general merit. 



A rather interesting commentary on the 

 prevailing attitude toward low averages is an 

 ironical line which appeared in the funny 

 column of the Daily Illin% apropos of the re- 

 turn in the second semester of certain well- 

 known fraternity men who had been dropped 

 out a semester for poor scholarship : " Now 

 listen to the joyous celebration in the frater- 

 nities upon the return of some exiled flunker, 

 batting average 52.08." 



Beginning with the first semester of 1912- 

 1913 the university at the request of the fra- 

 ternities put into effect a rule providing that 

 no freshman could be initiated into a frater- 

 nity until he had earned eleven hours of uni- 

 versity credits. The immediate effect of this 

 rule, as shown by the graph, was to give the 

 general fraternity average a gain of one point 

 over the general university average. (The 

 actual gain of the fraternity average over the 

 non-fraternity average was more, for the gen- 

 eral university average includes the fraternity 

 average.) 



The direct benefit of this rule is, of course, 

 upon the freshmen. The effect, however, has 

 been felt by the fraternities all through, due, 

 perhaps, to the additional emphasis placed 

 upon scholarship in fraternity welfare, and 

 especially upon the need which the fraternities 

 have found to make conditions for study as 

 favorable as possible for the freshmen. The 

 flunking freshman has long been the " gold 

 brick " which every fraternity might buy un- 

 wittingly. The erratic record of Kappa Sigma 

 in 1909 and 1910, as shown by the graph, as 

 well as the record of Sigma Nu in 1910-1911, 

 is explained by the coming in and the going 

 out of the freshman flunker. In these cases 

 the average for the first semester is very low; 

 in the second semester, after the freshman 



flunkers have dropped out, the average unex- 

 pectedly climbs. 



The rushing season at the university is very 

 short and hurried, and only the most excep- 

 tional care serves to guard the fraternities 

 against the irresponsible and purposeless fresh- 

 man who will turn out to be a loafer unless he 

 finds a strong necessity to be otherwise. There 

 are always many such freshmen who must in 

 one way or another be held to study during 

 that early period which comes before they have 

 learned the need and value of study for study's 

 sake. This freshman rule furnishes to fra- 

 ternity freshmen the necessity and incentive 

 to do otherwise than loaf. 



The following table shows the effect of this 

 rule upon fraternity freshmen : 



Average of fraternity freshmen 1st sera- 

 ester, 1910-11 80.57 



Average of fraternity freshmen 1st sem- 

 ester, 1913-14 82.29 



During the present year the fraternity 

 freshman has been in an enviable place so far 

 as grades are concerned, for he ranks higher 

 than non-fraternity freshmen, higher than fra- 

 ternity upperclassmen, and higher than the 

 general university average for men, as follows: 



Average of fraternity freshmen 1st semester 



1913-14 82.29 



Average of non-fraternity freshmen 1st sem- 

 ester 1913-14 81.19 



Average of fraternity upperclassmen 1st 

 semester 1913-14 80.32 



General University average for men 1st 



semester 1 913-14 81.95 



The ambition of the freshman to pass eleven 

 hours so that he may be initiated is, of course, 

 not alone responsible for this high average of 

 fraternity freshmen. It is to the interest of the 

 chapter and its reputation to initiate all of its 

 pledges ; and so most of the chapters have strict 

 rules for the conduct of the freshmen during 

 study hours and in other ways urge them to 

 study. I think, however, that the prospect of 

 initiation at the end of the first semester 

 furnishes a stronger stimulus than would the 

 prospect of initiation at the end of a year's 

 work. One is led to the conclusion that if the 

 upperclassmen were as closely supervised as 



