More Chinning Rules

At present the chaos of chinning rules which has reigned among Dartmouth fraternities, has boiled down to the simple agreement that no freshman or transfer shall receive a fraternity invitation before September 28, 1912. Psi Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Theta Delta Chi, and Phi Delta Theta have, however, agreed to make no pledges before March 15, 1913. If the last named fraternities hold their ground, the chances are that there will be little or no chinning before the second semester. Whether they will hold their ground remains to be seen.

Theoretically there can be little doubt as to the advisability of postponing the pledging of freshmen until there has been ample time for them to prove themselves scholastically and otherwise. The practical difficulty in the way of such procedure is the unfortunate fact that the fraternities have more faith in the unerring quality of their snap judgments of prospective candidates than they have in one anothers fidelity to agreements. Hence the process of lining up a chosen band of younger brethren is pretty sure to begin very early in the year and the pledging at a given date to reduce itself to a mere matter of formality. If the freshmen could be let strictly alone for a two or three months and then gradually corralled and branded it would be well for all concerned.