LETTERS

Fraternity Freedom

To THE EDITOR:

I have read with great interest "Fraternity Discrimination Faces a Deadline" and lend my wholehearted support to the stand taken by school and students alike. I was no less proud of this than when my fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, chose to be among the first to stand up and be counted.

Although I agree with Mr. Green's summary and report of the situation, I worry about the words with which he closed: "The 1954 referendum forbids any fraternity to accept a command by an outside group that racial or religious discrimination must be part of their value system, a command that restricts the freedom of the individual at Dartmouth to decide for himself with whom he should associate." I don't think this is what Mr. Green meant to say, or if it is then Dartmouth is fighting with windmills while the rest of the nation is at war.

The issue is not, I hope, centered on the right of an outside authority to impose itself on Dartmouth men. While I would hope that a liberal arts education would train a student to exercise value judgments on which outside authority(ies) he is Willing to accept, yet our lives are to a large measure determined by the authority of forces outside ourselves. Mr. Green and I would (I hope) agree on rejecting Greek letter loyalists as our sources of authority, but I would hope that we would also agree that this is not the basis of the fraternity discrimination problem.

Furthermore, since a group such as a fraternity is no more than an assemblage of individuals, it is often possible for it to speak with one voice, i.e. as an individual. Does Mr. Green mean that if such a grouping is unanimous in choosing for itself to limit fraternity membership by racial or religious standards this is all right merely because this decision was not imposed by an outside authority? I doubt whether he does, yet this is what he says.

I write this letter not because I think Mr. Green and I are at odds, but because I smell something of the Organization Man in his conclusions, for after taking a strong position he tries very hard to make certain that he has not offended anyone. Of course, Mr. Green is not alone in this affliction which has reached epidemic proportions.

The discrimination issue in our day is one for which men and women on both sides are willing to suffer and inflict suffering, to both face and cause death. It demands a courage that is willing to offend. There is this courage in Mr. Green's article; I just wish it had persevered to the end.

My thanks, however, go to the author and those for whom he speaks. Tritely but truly, their voices crying in the wilderness will be heard, be joined by others, and swell to a roar that will not be denied.

Lenox , Mass.

More A bout Females

To THE EDITOR:

To further Heinie Urion's letter in your March issue, I enclose two pictures of the pulchritudinous female students in the summer school at Dartmouth in 1913. What does Heinie mean by "female collection"? Look at the one in the hat!

Those shown in the group picture are Hannah Tilton, Gladys Wingate, the late W. W. Stickle '14 and myself. I have other pictures showing '14 and '15 men that summer. I roomed with Stan Llewellyn '15 at the Boys Club (no rent) and for rugs we used newspapers.

Winthrop, Mass.

A Salute

To THE EDITOR:

Being a resident New Yorker in fairly close proximity to Manhattan's Lower East Side, I was much interested in Robert I. Postel's article on "Life with a Teen-Age Gang."

Such an experience is indeed a standout and Mr. Postel is to be congratulated, both for the opportunity and for the manner in which he carried out his assignment.

The article carries quite a punch and, dealing with a vital problem which confronts us all, he has opened our eyes to an effective step the New York City Youth Board is taking in dealing with the problem of juve nile delinquency.

I am sure all Dartmouth men must have a slight feeling of pride that a Dartmouth "youngster" has what it takes to step into a situation like that and accomplish what he did, and then tell us about it with no semblance of "patting himself on the back" for the part he played.

Mv hat is off to Mr. Postel!

New York City

Proud "Daughter"

To THE EDITOR:

Concerning co-eds at Dartmouth do you recall that Katherine Quint and I were graduate students at Dartmouth during the college year 1895-96? Katherine received an M.A. degree at the end of the year. Having graduated from Smith College the previous June, I was obliged to wait, after completing my work requirements, until 1897 to be given an M.S. degree.

Are we, like the New England school teachers, "better left uncharacterized"?

Though my work was limited to one year, I am proud to be one of Dartmouth's daughters!

Woodstock, Vt.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Miss Quint was the first woman to get a Dartmouth degree and Miss Hazen was the second. Both degrees were earned Master's degrees. Three earned M.A.'s were awarded in 1911 to Florence M. Powers, Josephine R. Roe and Helen Thomas; and one other, to Maud G. Leadbetter, was awarded in 1917. There have been no other earned degrees since 1917, but six women have since received Dartmouth honorary degrees, making a total of twelve "alumnae" in the history of the College.

Likes the Forum

To THE EDITOR:

Just a note to express my congratulations on the recent Faculty Forum supplement to the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. I found all three of the articles well worth reading and containing some genuinely new information and ideas. I must also say I appreciated their short form because with everything we have to read nowadays it is becoming increasingly important to express things as succinctly as possible.

I hope that you will continue the Forum as it really makes the magazine much more interesting.

New York City