University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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I. Preparations at the Triangle house. 2. The Sigma Chis take time out. 3. The Phi Delts pose for a picture. 4. Window- washing day for the D Us. 5. Greeting rushees at the Theta central office. 6. Rushees arrive to register at Corbin. 7. Looking over the Kappa preferential list. 8. Housecleaning for the Sigma Kappas. 9. Reception committee at the Gamma Phi manor. 10. Greetings from the Kappa Sigs. 11. Saving the A D Pi voices. 12. Phillips explains about Phi Gamma Delta. 15. The Delta Chis shine trophies. 14. The Sigma Nus clean their rushing pictures for a rush pictu as they tell that annual story of only eight hoys this year; to the Pi Phis as the chapter house plays second fiddle to tales of life in the White House; to the Phi Gams as they hang AITs picture in every room; to the Sigma Chis as they point with pride to their hotel; to the Phi Delts as they try to smooth over their multiple dining system and numerous annexes: to these and others the horrors of war appear as pale heside the horrors of rush week. Yet the end arrives at last, and each organization emerges worn out. hut proud and happy with the best class on the Hill. And. as a rule, the pledges believe it too. but there comes a day of reckoning, with black mark and paddle. So rush week is but the begin- ning, and in time fades into a pleasant memory. For some a time when cherished ambitions are dashed to bits, for others the end of the rainbow, to all a brief period of hectic, nerve-wracking nonsense. A Roman holiday indeed.

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I. Tea on the Alpha Chi porch. 2. The Pi K As pause from their labors long enough For n shot. 3. Wash day at the A O Pi house. 4. The Sig Eps air the mat- tresses preparatory for a new year. 5. Relax- ation for the Sig Alphs. 6. A hearty welcome for a future Phi Psi. 7. The Pi Phis take slock of their charms. 8. New arrivals at the Chi Omega headquarters. 9. The A T Os make things shine. 10. The housemother greets prospective Delts. II. The Betas greet a rushee. 12. Rush week preparations at the Alpha Gams. 13. Sigma Alpha Mus arrive for school. 14. A coal oi paint ror the Acacia house. A Roman holiday for the Kansas Greeks. There you have a K. U. rush week in a nutshell. Nor from the standpoint of rushee. rusher, or innocent bystander is the name a misnomer. To the fraternity or sorority member who has to let dignity and sen- iority slip so far as to apply an effective combination of wax and elbow grease to a hardwood floor; to the football hero who grimly bears the humiliation of trundling a lawn mower over an acre of summer ' s growth; to the rush captain who engages in a frenzied last minute harangue to already overburdened brethren or sisters; to drowsy Greeks in midnight session; to the green rushee from Podunk corner; the blase one from the metropolis; to the girl who for a week can ' t speak to her sister or best friend: to the boy who for a like time can ' t talk on the phone to his best girl; to the worried mama who frantically calls a soror- ity house to say, Nellie comes from a fine family, I ' m Nellie ' s mother; to the Betas

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THE JAYHAWKER The freshmen voluntarily don their caps WHAT DF OUR TRADITIONS? A close observer discusses the history of the University ' s traditions and traces clearly the trends in their development. ON THE night of September 25 the freshmen of the University of Kansas assembled on North College Hill to take into their own hands the respon- sibility of voluntarily donning the freshman cap. The group, though not large, was attended with a genuine enthusiasm which is often lacking at such functions. It appears that at least one phase of the much mis- understood question of Hill traditions has settled itself. The problem of the freshman cap has confronted the Men s Student Council, the K-men, and other groups in the University many times before this last incident occurred. The perennial question of what is happening to our traditions apparently is solved in this one instance, for the recent initiative taken by the freshmen is in a direction harmonious with the original intent of the custom. In 1909 the treatment of freshmen at the Uni- versity by upperclassmen began to assume the aspects of organized hazing. Certain obstreperous individuals of the freshman class had been duly chastised for some of their deeds, but no organized punitive measures against the class as a whole had yet been By ROBERT BURTIS practiced. In order to try to ward off such measures, certain upperclassmen suggested to the freshmen that they could better protect themselves and build class and school spirit if they organized their class into a compact group, and that in organizing it they should have some means of identifying their fellow members. Thus it was that the freshman class of 1909 adopted a cap as a means of protection, and as a symbolic gesture establishing their association as an integral part of the University. In its inception, then, it is obvious that the cap was a sign of honor. Its use was to be governed by the freshmen themselves. Not until later did the nefarious practice of employing physical coercion to enforce the wearing of the cap make its incursion on the college scene. Just how the practice began has not been defi- nitely determined as yet; research on the subject is being conducted at the present time. One thing is certain, and that is that the paddling of the freshmen for infraction of rules regarding the wearing of the cap was a serious deviation from the real tradition as first conceived. In the school year of 1919 and 1920 the hazing situation became so outrageous that it finally pre-