SITUATION IS PRECARIOUS

Evidence on all sides indicates that Greek-letter fraternities at Dartmouth are in a precarious position. At the recent gathering of '38 men on Activities Night, the President of the Interfraternity Council told the freshmen not to "put too much into fraternities, for you won't get as much out of them." Another significant fact (startling, no doubt, to loyal brothers of ten and twenty years ago) reaches us from another member of the Interfraternity Council. An unofficial vote was taken at one of last year's Council meetings to determine how many of the members would be in favor of cutting off all relations between their chapters and the national organizations. More than one-half approved of the move! Talks with fraternity presidents during the last week indicate the same feeling. The fratres in Universitate complain of the large sums demanded by national headquarters, of orders and restrictions placed upon them, and argue that they do not receive corresponding compensations from the use of the national order's name and prestige. Each of them hesitate, however, to take the initial move; they fear others might not follow, and that thereby they would lose standing on campus.

Other houses show little tendency to agree with this plan. This group includes, of course, the so-called "power-houses," who have much to lose and little to gain by the change, although even here there are not a few members who favor the move.

Lax fraternity spirit at Dartmouth can be explained by several factors: the "first loyalty" to the College, the College rules which loosen fraternity bonds (no freshman pledging or rushing, no eating in fraternity houses), the few social functions accessible for the fraternity to perform in Hanover, and the strength of Senior Societies. The recent tendency for this spirit to become even more lax is difficult to explain, and although it might be blamed, as is everything else, upon the depression, we would lay it partly upon the sophisticated efforts of Dartmouth undergraduates to rid themselves of everything that smacks of the "hotcha" days of the 1920's.