Freshman Pledge Revived

The pledging of freshmen to fraternities, halted by President Hopkins after the 1925 rush, was resumed this year— but in the spring rather than in the fall. The new plan, approved by President Kemeny upon recommendation of the Interfraternity Council and the Faculty Committee on the Freshman Year, was adopted because many sophomores will be away from campus for the fall term, under year-round operation. It was also argued that spring-term rushing of freshmen would increase fraternity membership, which has suffered a steady decline in recent years.

The new system did produce a marked increase in pledges for the twenty houses that conducted rush for three days, April 14-16. The total of freshmen and upperclassmen who joined houses was approximately 450, a gain of 90 over last fall's total. Several houses, in deep financial trouble, pledged delegations of thirty or more men and were facing the future with optimism, A few houses did not share in the gain, however, raising the prospect that the number of fraternities at Dartmouth, already down from 24 to 20, may undergo still further shrinkage.