REPORT ON THE FRATERNITY SITUATION

During the last semester President Nichols has been making a thorough study of the fraternity situation at Dartmouth. He has been aided in his investigations by a faculty committee, consisting of Professors Burton, Page, and Boggs, and the results of the study have appeared in a printed report of over 100 pages. This report contains all material bearing on the subject which has appeared in the Dartmouth and ALUMNI MAGAZINE during the past ten years, the report of the faculty committee which had been investigating the activities of fraternities prior to Pledge Day, 1914, and a report of an interview which President Nichols had with a representative of each fraternity. The report is simply a full presentation of the facts regarding the fraternity development, agreements and personal opinions regarding the last season. No argument is made nor is a plan for future seasons suggested. It is expected that the final solution will come from fraternities themselves and from this aspect it is significant that while all the fraternities agreed that the past season had given them satisfactory delegations they were equally unanimous that the long season had not yet proved itself a success from the broader viewpoint of the good of the fraternity idea as a whole in its relation to the College. What the eventual solution of the problem will be cannot now be predicted. For the next year, however, the pendelum has swung to the opposite extreme. The season will be a wide open one and the unsuspecting freshman may be pledged as he leaves the train at Norwich if indeed he has escaped until then.