University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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X X . -.,. Q . 1913 CORKS AND CURLS 21 one another indiscriminately upon the back or engage in boyish , ,, , pranks. There is, nevertheless, a . . . . 11.4 ,.. : sociability and esprzi cle corps, 1 which he has failed altogether to find. Among eight hundred and - twenty-two students, fregistraris figures for February 7, twice the , enrollment under Dr. Smith's charge? an individual acquaint- g r ance can not extend to the whole LAMBETH FIELD community, but friendships are sin-cere,.the enjoyments of social intercourse considerable, and there is no snobbery. A man chooses his own friends, and is estimated at his own worth, more than which can hardly be asked of the most democratic spirit. There is no class distinction. . . Among the social organizations, the broadest' classification is that Fratern1t1es .. . . , . of the twenty-three general fraternities. These include in their member- ship about one half of the student body. Each is labelled with distinctive letters of the Greek alphabet, and in the course of time each has come to stand for a definite thing. The part that the fraternities play in college life usually amazes the first year man, who often has but a vague idea 'of their existen-ce.i All but two of them have chapter houses, and all have their meeting places for the transaction of affairs. Within the past few years, many of them have put up handsome buildings and the rest have but one obsession, viz., to change their rented halls for homes owned outright. The day is not farndistanz when all will be enclosed between walls of masonry fronted by impressive columns, so firmly has the desire for proprietorship taken root. All fraternities are alike in their basic fundamentals. In the cellar or loft, each stores in a sacred crypt its symbols of inviolable secrecy. In its archives are related the circumstances of the birth of a new spirit in freemasonry and the dissemination of the doctrine abr-oad to other pure-souled adherents. There is a chart showing how to trans- mute an ordinary hand clasp into a grip by intertwining the fingers in a -characteristic vise. It is well, also, to have a skull or two lying around for state occasionsg an iron chain that will clank significantly in ominous suggestion of the terrors of the Inquisition, and a few chemicals with which to make a spectral light at initiations. Thus, a glamor is thrown over the cementing of the Hbondsf' It was once said by Deacon Hemphill that the fra- ternity throws around firm and lasting friendships the strong and enduring chain of mysti- cism. Well may the disclosure of the occult bind by vows taken in trepidation amid awe- some surroundings! . 1 - ,Y V W-,N HA--,W , ,.,,.,. ...-.,..--. .... M... -- . n-as -

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20 coRKs AND CURLS V01-XXVI oke a few months ago of the ice-bound frigiclity of the University of Virginia. This, sp D i . V . too, facing the fact that it has been an unusually mild winter. .At a Lexington alumni meeting held in Richmond on JanuaYY 20, DT- Smith, In glonflcauon of hls refently adopted step-child fdoubtful genealogy, Pefhapsl, dwelt UPOU the unadulterated Joy ff life at the institution to which Washington gave a legacy Of a few hufldred dollars when It was a struggling grammar school, and to whose patronymic a twin title was dubbed after General Lee had occupied a chair there at the end of the War. Within direct quotation marks, Dr. Smith is reported in the press as saying that compared to the genial tempera- THE STRUCTURE'BREATHES BOTH NOBILITY AND DIGNITYH ment of Washington and Lee, the atmosphere of the State University is a chill and biting blast such as Dr. Cook encountered on his quest for the Pole. It is left to be inferred that every time Dr. Smith comes to the University, he feels like Lieutenant Peary paddling a twenty-foot canoe across Baf'lin's Bay. Goose-flesh breaks out all over him, his teeth chatter, and he haistens back to his boys at Lexington to thaw himself out. This is not as it should be. Presumably, Dr. Smith is entertained on his visits les Alphonso Smith, and the distinguished ex- here at the home of his brother, Dr. Char Roosevelt professor to Berlin ought not to allow his guest and close collateral relative to t visit, he should help his 'circu- lation by circulating a little more around the campus: l-le will find that the students are, perhaps, more mature than those of his own fold, which may explain why they do not slap shiver thus unaccountably. On the occasion of his nex fr 511-1-51.45. f -V if YU' - ' A ' '1 -.'- ,f..,,,,V . , - --- , ,.,,4,5,l,,.,,s,.,g,,A,.3,,..t....-l-'s-4.x-N.e ,,ggQ.-4.......Q.-lQ...i.l.g..Q--4:::.f.'.:,'.,....a-.-.A-.,z,Q,.- A, - ' , ,, - 4- I

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, ,Y . .. ..-,..f ,,....-,.........?.----T-f---v---f f 'rv--v-fre. -1. 22 CORKSAIQDGURLS VOLXXVI The fraternity thus formed from they amalgamation of kindred characters, becomes a unit in the college world. It provides a home for its members, Where thCY are thrown closely into contact with one another, although there is an additional and unrestricted inter- mingling with Outsiders. At frequent intervals, they give soirees, to which they invite their friends from the college at large. These functions are in the nature of. informal recepti-ons, and are sometimes largely attended. The objection that the fraternity at the University is undemocratic can not rationally be advanced under the present system of things. It is rather an agency for increased intercourse among the student body.. Nor is there any confli-ct or differentiation between the so called 'ifrat man and the man who does not belong toa fraternity, first, because there are so many gradations of fraternities that their membership is not necessarily one of ultra-selectness, and secondly, because many who could become members see fit not to do so. Often, moreover, a man is passed as acceptable by all but one member of'an organization. The fact that he is secretly black-balledn by that hostile soul does not disturb his relations with the others. It is more to be wondered at that so many initiates win an unanimous approval. It is a hard test to be required to meet with the general favor of a reputable organization. , sprinkled around these stable and compact clubs and more or less animated by the same-spirit of competition, is a plethora of societies founded upon various principles. Many of these fulfill a useful function in the form of entertainment provided. Some are the self-confessed leaders of the social realm, others offer subjective reward to ardent seekers after knowledge. The class fraternities figure in department politics, and some of them enliven festive occasions with their public skylarking. Beyond question, a few organizations are superfluous. They are, likewise, secret societies. Through the years, their secret has remained concealed in an impenetrable mist. The deepest investigation has failed to reveal it. Wise men have abandoned their search, baffled and disheartened. Sages have been unable to divine it. ilt is the riddle that for these few will never be solved-their raison dietre, the secret of their reason for existence. u . But the useful are not to be condenmed with the futile and it Soc1et1es and . . . . . . ' . IS not for a critic to carp at the things not dreamt of in his philos- ophy. Some of the societies have a definite place to fill in the social scheme, and they serve their purposes well. Take the ribbon societies, and ask what Easter Week would do but for their allegiance to the dance and the assistance they give to the German Club. Not that their ideals are altogether those of saltatory grace! If they .were definitely known, they would be impartially defined, but Baird's Manual contains nothing about these local orchid growths-T. I. l... K. A, and Eli Banana. beliefTil3earici1E1: jiollurnjxlbership in t-hem, speaking purely from the' uninformed popular ' CIUOI, Or, It may be ventured, an appreciation of savozr faire andicomrric il faut. But in the combination there must be nothing cle trop. And a manner JISUUEUC IS likely to Will YOU, eh, a blue or red ribbon for your waistcoat to Show! When Organizations. X -:Lay 1' - -. . . 1 Y t '1 :.i '-'- '-'r-'e.1'lu....:..-....L '. c.. .....,...1-f-. 1 ,- ' . c..c...... ....-..s,... ,,,. . .,.--,.,,.,g,, ,M