University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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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-

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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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OCTOBER cipitated serious action on the part of the Men ' s Student Council. A constitution which was written for the Council gave to that organization direct over- sight of the Hill traditions, but it also specified in a further clause that these customs were not to be enforced by resorting to physical or punitive methods of any sort. To police against abuses the constitution delegated to Sachem and to the K-men the prerogative of enforcing the letter of the law. The constitution was too long to put into the K Book in its entirety; con- sequently it was condensed, and through this process was also deleted of the very clause which positively denied the Council the right of using physical punish- ment to enforce traditions. With the changing of personnel from year to year not only in the Council, but in the school as a whole, the original constitution was soon lost from sight. Then the K-men adopted paddling and resorted unknowingly to the very type of abuse that had been their duty, given by the constitu- tion, to keep out. Under this status K. U. tradition history proceeded until the school year of 1925-26. Again the foreboding clouds of the problem of freshman discipline darkened the horizon of the University picture. The freshmen protested against the spurious intentions behind many of the disciplinary measures used to maintain tradi- tions. Their protest became so active that it threatened to manifest itself in the burning of their caps publicly at the homecoming game with Missouri. Fortunately a few foresighted faculty members realized the immen- sity of this threat and managed to bring about an understanding between the freshman class and the Men ' s Student Council. Each went half way to meet the demands of the other; the freshman induction cere- mony was introduced, with the cap being placed on the representative of the freshman class as a symbolic gesture of honor by the Chancellor. The Men ' s Student Council lived up to its promises in eradicating some of the objectionable features of the freshman discipline, but the problem of real impor- tance, the actual paddling, was soon back again. Last year the K-men voluntarily abdicated t heir rights An outstanding ce efcration of last year to wield the club after a combined public opinion, with the editorial policy of the Kansan and a virtual storm of protest by the faculty, expressed itself as being disfavorable to the custom. Thus following three periods of crisis, 1909, 1919, and 1925, the recent action of the freshmen finally has reverted to the origi- nal purposes of the cap tradition as first intended. The freshman cap affair is only a part of the whole body of customs and historic practices which consti- Tiro froth talk it over tutes what we call traditions; yet the story of its development, culminating in this last incident, goes far in pointing the way in which our traditions now are trending. In spite of the unwarranted fears of many persons to the effect that we are losing all the worthwhile traditions of the school, a conjuncture of the cap-donning incident with other circumstances shows that we decidedly are not forfeiting our heritage. Rather would it appear that for the first time in years we now are falling back into a line of development which is in conformity with the true traditions of the University as originally instigated. To comprehend fully the previous statement it is necessary to realize the type of traditions K. U. has cherished and fostered in accordance with its purposes and ideals. From its incipience Kansas University has been singularly renowned for its love of culture. Its adher- ence to this ideal has been responsible for the place it has gained among the universities of the mid-West. From the first there was built up a spirit, an esprit de corps, concordant with this ideal. Emanating from (Continued on Page 76)