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

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5 Q 'x .51 3,51 2 L f' F 1 rf 5 ff 1 V . s 1913 CORKS AND GURLS 23 Browning wanted to get over a situation that required idelicate handling, he lapsed into poetry that nobody could understand, but the French language, as per above, is a good enough disguise for the average reader as long as the Gallic holds out. F or those who have not gotten any further than Dr. Kent's English VIII-C, it may be predicated that a ribbon u. ,, ,, ALL ROADS LEAD TO ITS Renew society denotes class. When- KINDLY RENDEZVOUSN ever an exponent of the beau monde is discovered-to use an expression traced to that other man of fashion, Count Boni de Castellane, of the province of Champagne-he is placarded with a cloth decoration. The ribbon societies include many leaders in college life, especially those who can scintillate at a pink tea or go through a ten course dinner without missing the right fork. There is a premium on athletes, but an artless gridiron hero without ia touch of fashion could not wedge his way in by breaking a bone in Costello's leg or making three touchdowns in the Vanderbilt game. Fame is not an open sesame, for fame reveals every trait, and who is there without blemish in character or demeanor? The next fall's initiates will be those young gentlemen-sober, steadfast, and demure-who combine a modish dress and extreme propriety with a per- sonality of either reserve or attractiveness. Or, perhaps, one or two bluff characters may compel admission by sheer force of inviting uncorcern. The distinctive badge of the ribbon' secieties is a five or six inches length of lettered silk, worn on the left breast right over the seat of pride. A recent schism in the Legion of Honor, the ambition of all Frenchmen, illustrates the serious differences that may arise over a point of taste. M. Le Bargy and M. Fallieres contended in the press: Good form lays down the principle that a decoration ought not to be worn either on a short coat or an overcoat. Evening dress should alone show it. To which Mme. Henri Lapause, arbiter of elegancies and famous authoress, replied with the usual feminine acumen and insight: Whoever has been honored by a decoration like the Legion of Honor has not merely the right but the duty to wear it on all possible occasions where it can be seen. And so the custom of some at Virginia is unreservedly lent the authority of a lady. The HIT' Club is a step removed from the ribbon societies-going up!-the pink of fashion made pinker and the height of fashion elevated to a more cloud-kissing altitude. On the ill-om-ened days of the months, the initiates wear dark suits and have the sign of the baker's dozen chalked on their backs for public scrutiny. This is their sole form

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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

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24 uonxs AND CURLS VOLXXVI f dvertisement using the term in no disparaging sense, for no small part of the prestige o a , f every organization comes from a characteristic display. Take, fOr il'1St21flCC, the CUS- O 39 tom of theiEli Banana neophytes being made to Salaam to the gmufld at the Order of an older member, and the parades of the whole body around-the campus at,midnight and after to the thunderous booming of a large drum. Also consider the yells and anthems 1 d T. I. L. K. A., and the songs of the other organizations that are known by heart to all of college. The I 3 Club has no traditional ballad, so far as is gener- ally known. It conducts itself with decorum, and is conspicuous only by an annual ban- quet where one may be sure that the punctilios of etiquette are properly regarded. The HZ society is the last letters in select exclusiveness. Of late years, at any rate,iits shibboleth has been some token of athletic attainment, but a manager's V has been deemed sufficient passport, the other requisites existing. The members are very, very jealous of the feast interference, andvvisit their displeasure upon interlopers to the extent of leaving the presence of one who utters the sibilant sound of the alphabet apex. They take off their hats to one another when passing on the street, and by the early morn- ing light mark up the walks with chalk Z's and inscribed hieroglyphics, after taking of this society an effective precaution against detection. Their designs are shrouded in mystery, and their most ardent wish is to be let alone. The Seven Club, an even more uncommunicative congener in that not even its membership has been known, once enjoyed a similar vogue from a like penchant for the use of chalk, but has not been active of late. Reverting to the subject of the class fraternities, we find ourselves at a baseball game around Easter Week, the period when the dance transforms the gymnasium into a Florentine garden and changes dark crannies into bowers of ribboned loveliness. The goats of these organizations are being put through their antics for the amusement of the crowd on Lambeth Field. Phi Delta ,Phi fLawJ has an 'equestrian parade, the old men gowned in red dominos or cowls and mountedion tractable steeds, but the initiates in tore- ador costume astride refractory mules. The cavalcade is the matinee performance preced- ing the play of local color to be given in Cabell Hall at night before a packed house. Then, there are the Phi Rho Sigma fMedicalD sawbones in antiseptic dress, who come rushing to the aid of an indisposed patient and by dexterous incisions extract a rooster or a rabbit instead of a part of the anatomy. The Skull and Keys and Lambda Pi fAcademic locals, gambol on the greeng the former as convicts in charge of a guard who always has to checkla mutiny by firing off his gun with deadly effectg the latter as harlequins or what not in every conceivable rig and costume. The initiations into these class fraternities are twice-yearly, and at these periods the voice of the ucuckooi' is loud in the land. Until they are formally sworn inf, the initiates are obligated to obey every beck and call of the old men, and the fav to simulate the horologist bird in voice and ll ' f h difficult vocally tlian might be suspected. orite indignity imposed upon them is an order applng o t e wings. This feat is more -Ln.