University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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20 T CAME to me in a dream. As I meandered through my dream world one day, a vision ap- peared to me. From some part of the intelligible world a voice said, ouwx ovuyf' And I discovered the origin of rush week. It was long, long ago. Before your time and mine. Even before the good old days. It was in the what- is-the-basic-substratum-of-all-phenomena-days of Soc- rates and the philosophic round table. In fact, it all eventually Cso the vision goesb works down to a couple of practically prehistoric, but truly Aphrodisian queens Cthen known as goddessesD. These two seventh century B.C. femme fatales were swinging through the colonnades on that fateful day in September, sipping a couple of Allen specials. The Grecian skies were blue overhead, the gods were smiling benevolently on the two specimens of beauty in the ancient world. Suddenly, Mabel, the fair-haired one, gasped and turned pale with horror. For on the fingernails of her erstwhile friend, she had glimpsed a flash of color -a brilliant fire chariot red color. Dost thou not know, quoth the maiden tremblingly, that thou art flouting the gods above by thy rashness? Thou hast been stained by the vineyard of Bacchus, and shall be punished for thy iniquityf, Haughtily replied Gert: Fie! It is an entrancing idea recently conceived by me and if thou find it sinful in thine eyes, get thee hence. So Mabel got hence. She shunned her erstwhile friend, and distinguished herself in the annals of history as the first Cat. She initiated a whispering campaign detrimental to the character and reputation of audacious Gert. She rallied to her cause other Athenian maids who feared the wrath of the gods and stood for tradition. ' But Gert wasn't asleep with her ringer nail polish on. No, sir! She got up the old fight and started a whisper shooting right back at Mabel. She applied Socrates' current inductive argument method and put the squitch on all her buddies to join up for an all-out Pro-Finger-Nail Polish feud. Gert and Mabel got to organizing so thoroughly, they soon had all the toga girls divided into two WHMlN THE JAYHAWKER camps, and identified as Local No. 576 and 254 respectively. The girls really worked up the old esprit de corps. Words Hew back and forth. Smoke filled the air. They put the pressure on the girls in the Coliseum to join up the gang. They sent smart clay invitations on the best Babylonian lapis-lazuli to the non-union girls to pledge to the cause. Even the old standby, Britannica, got the idea when it spake, in earlier years the sharp rivalry among or- ganizations fostered clannishness and led to much bitterness of feeling. As the months and years went by, however, the memory of Gert and Mabel began to fade away, and the Grand Old Finger Nail Issue was all but forgotten. But the followers of those two lovely damsels continued putting on the pressure and send- ing invitations. And it's still going on. They're still putting on pressure, feuding, fighting, bickering, and pledgingf Ever since Mabel and Gert, however, it has been fairly confusing as to what the specific aims of such fraternal organizations are. For instance, the Fratres Pontifices, number one fraternity of the twelfth cen- tury, endowed themselves with the virtues of reli- gious societies for pious practices and benevolent objects. Rational thought rebels at the idea of drawing from that worthy statement of principles the development of today's societal brotherhoods. And in the eighteenth century, reliable sources still draw from the realm of idealism the definition of fraternities as intended for the promotion of litera- ture and of friendly discourse. Today, social life forms the basic reason d'etre of all fraternities. True, the Womens Panhellenic Creed sets forth that fraternity women stand for preparation for service through the character build- ing inspired in close contact and deep friendship of fraternity life . . . and opportunity to prepare for wide and wise human service. But is this what 239 women had in mind last September 10, 1941? Definitely not. They remem- bered how proud Suzie was of the little Kite pin she wore home last Christmas vacation. They thought of how that horrible little Molly Somebody was miraculously transfigured into a Thing of Beauty after the Crescent clique gathered her into the fold. They thought of all the dates they would write in their K-Book, under the wing of the Lyre bearers, They considered how impressed the crowd back home would be by a Gower Key.

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OCTOBER 1941 19 SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON FIRST ROW: Lynn Williams, Salina' Richard Geiger Ottawa' Larry Hawkinson Kansas City, Mo., Bill Cave, Topeka, Kenneth Thompson, Kansas City, Bob Blackwell, Larned, Frank Gage, Kansas City, Mo,, James Sondifer, Stafford, SECOND ROW' James Galle McPherson' Bill Chivvis Kansas Cit Mo' Bob Dominick , , y, A ., , Kansas City, Mo., Clark Page, Kansas City, Mo., Evans Folger, Wichita, Valle Schlaesser, Fredonia, Jae Butler, Kansas City, Dick Ramsey, El Dorado, Bill Shaw, Hutchinson. SIGMA CHI FIRST ROW: Doug McLeod, Smith Center, Gene Roberts, Kansas City, Mo., Daniel Bachmann, Newton, Kenneth Adams, Bartlesville, Okla., Hal Weber, Hutchinson, Charles Bevan, Hutchinson, Frank Babb, Hutchinson, Frank Wilcox, Kansas Citb, Ma. SECOND ROW: Alfred Reed, Grove, Okla., Bill Forsyth, Medicine Lodge, Jack oore, Salina, George Lind, Kansas City, Charles Kauns, New Haven, Conn., Bill Butler, Kansas City, Mo., Bob Plumb, Hays, Art Dekker, Roswell, N, M. SIGMA NU FIRST ROW' Dail King, Eciir'igtn:lrI, Mo, Bob Ackerman, Lorned, Bill Stone, Kansas City, Ma., Paul Van D,l:e,! Plriinxiille, Jack Cleverly, Russell SECOND ROW1 Carl Schmidt, Kansas Cil,', Mo, Glenn liigelow, Osawotnmle, Bill Rolfe, Kansas City, Dick Bucli, Kansas City, Mo, Scotr Harvey, Salina THIRD ROW: Howard Shyrock, Kansas City, Mo , Charles Aycu, Koncas fjuly, Mo, Tom Twyman, Independence, Mo., Hills Kennard, Kansas CII-,', MO. .lglllllii SIGMA PHI EPSILON FIRST ROW: Lowell Beers, Olathe, Dan Henderson, lala, Harold Kissick, Seneca, Paul Moser, Jr., Topeka, Dan Coats, Topeka' Walter Martie, St. Joe, Mo,, Kenneth Cooper Topeka, Leroy Krug, Russell. SECOND ROW: Wayne Ruppenthal, Russell, Glen Kappleman, Lawrence, Lawrence Stream, -Kansas City, William Burt, Topeka, Don Johnson, Topeka, Jean Fisher, Phoenix, Ariz., Harald Bundy, Ottawa. NOT IN PICTURE: Edward Turner, Newton, Paul Turner, Kansas City, Jack Miller, Baxter Springs, George Nelson, Cheyenne, Wyo. TAU KAPPA EPSILON FIRST ROW: Wayne Dewey, Garden City, James Potter, Turner' Thomas Schumann, Dightan, Richard Williams, Anthony, L. C. Dyer, Great Bend. SECOND ROW: John Motley, Kansas City, Mo., Jack Bryon, Junction City, T, V. Anthony, Leavenworth, William Wyatt, Independence, Richard Rasenfield, Junction City. TRIANGLE FIRST ROW: Robert Eornheart, Kansas City, Joseph Hensley, Kansas City, Charles Theis, Topeka, Kay Thompson Kansas City, Mo, Tom Ackerman, Kansas ity, Mo., Charles Owsley, Kansas City, Mo. SECOND ROW: ,Bill Rundle, Kansas City, Mo., Bill Toller, Kansas City, Mo., Joseph Luby, Kansas City, Mo., John Strandberg, Kansas City, Ma., Jack Smith, Kansas City, Bill Irwin, Kansas City, Mo.

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OCTOBER 1941 And as they pondered on these things, they prepared for The Ordeal. Some were confident, some were afraid, some knew what they wanted, all were just a little fright- ened. So to the great god Alum they offered supplications and placed themselves in the hands of Fate. It's always confusing, but this year accentuated the usual state. Many girls had conflicting rush and orientation dates. They were required to keep all dates, and so they could stay at each house for only a short time. From sorority house to convocation, meeting, examination, or induction, moments of relaxation were rare and treasured. The rushees talked about the weather, and their boy friends, while the actives talked about the pledges, the weather and their boy friends. Everyone talked. The one unforgiveable sin during Rush Week is to run out of things to talk about. If there is nothing else, you must simply start over and repeat the same conversation. A point of confusion was the Panhellenic ruling that women could not pledge until Monday night. Most girls knew where they were going to live long before the dead- line, and an occasion of amusement to the cynical was the confusion of a freshman woman enrolling Monday who had probably been spiked for at the very least three days, but for the sake of correctness was completely at a loss as to what address to place on the enrollment card. How often it happened this way. Also amusing but confusing, were the contradictory grapevine reports that Suzie went this and that until even Suzie didn't remember which lodge she had last pledged. Boys were enlisted in the cause of Suzie's salvation. johnny, you just cou1dn't let Suzie do that . . . she is not that kind of a girl . . . she is definitely our type. Of course johnny may be somewhat in doubt as to just what type of girl he may be speaking to, but he nods his head in affirmation as if he understood perfectly the serious- ness of the situation. After this happens to johnny several times he is as confused as Suzie, but Suzie usually decides before Johnny does, which makes his decision irrelevant and immaterial, and succeeds in securing nothing for Johnny but the bitter enmity of several women's Greek societies and winning him the true love of none. Suzie's friendship for Johnny profits him nothing and only brings about his early downfall and probable mid-semester suicide. By the time it was all over, everyone was so weary, they gave one exhausted cheer and sank into a coma. Every- one bragged about their pledges, of course, and all had a right to, for along with a high registration, rush week uncovered an exceptional group of women. All this has been going on for the last 27 centuries, and probably will for 27 more-thanks to Mabel and Gert. 21 -,x S S, ALPHA CHI OMEGA FIRST ROW: Margie Holcomb, St. Joseph, Mo: Frances Tucker, Roswell, N. M., Phyllis Collier, Dodge City, Mary Louise lsgnig, Tekamah Neb., Charlotte Frichot, Cushing, OkIa,' Ann Cowan, Wichita, Marjorie Beukar, Newton, Helen Guessford, Sioux Falls, S. D. SECOND ROW: Mary Munson, Albany, Mo, Edith Fleming, Garden City, Marian Ransom, Ottawa, Wahnaton Felts, Garden City, Lucille Gillie, Joplin, Mo., Jerry Crago, Kansas, City Mor Virginia Brody, Excelsior Springs, Mo., Mary Helen Sl-iughart, Kansas City, Mo., Mary Bea Flint, Dodge City. F, . . -.I 'I R 1251 ALPHA DELTA PI FIRST ROW: Betty Isera, Ellenwood, Jeanne Haycock, Kansas City, Mo., Sara Sauter, Oswego, Bobbie Dill Ikerd, Kiowa, Mary Louise Hallabaugh, Wichita, Doris Niewig, Leavenworth, Betty Dunlap, Kansas City, Mo. SECOND ROW: Annabelle Jones, Kansas City, Mo., Mar Ward, Highland, Hariette Neille, Topeka, Mrs, C. L. Miller, Esther Marquis, Des lixaines, Iowa, Virginia Adair, Topeka, Mira Jean Sluss, Lawrence. whit bfi sis CHI OMEGA FIRST ROW: Nadine Fox, Wichita, Dorothy Burkhead, Wichita, Martha Nearing, Martin City, Ma., Marilyn Rice, McPherson. SECOND ROW: Florence Clement, Inde- pendence, Betty Cobb, St. Louis, Ma., Margaret Kreider, Lawrence, Christine Turk Wichita, Diana Creighton, Leavenworth, Alouise Brown, Wichita, Marion Smith Independence, THIRD ROW: Carline Rice, Kansas City, Joanne Croson, Clay Center, Jane Coolidge, Estes Park, Colo., Midae Diclcey, Kansas City, Mo., Mary Lashley, Siraldqdgloria Brinkman, Emporia, Virginia Britton, Ellsworth, Margaret Byerley, um a . 1 1