Asa phoenix vol 1 no 24 apr 1915

THE PHOENIX

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VOLTJME ,I

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April 24~ 1915.

24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DUMBER ......

EXTENSION

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There are in the United States 285 Normal Schools, of which a l1ttle more than 50 are under private control, by which is meant th~t the~ are.wholly dependant upon tuition fees and receive no city or state ass1stan~~Some of the no~al schools in the country are rapidly nearing the ce~tury mark, Wh1le others were established ver,y recently.

Some oount the1r students by hundreds, while in many cases a single hundred would more than cover the entire matriculation for a year. Some have as few as four instructors,while others have twenty times that number o~ the faculty~ Some cover all the work in one year, while 0thers offir a four years OOlolrSe. There is one school that· is worrying al0ng on ~2,000,wit~ student body of 20 and a faculty of 6, while several have · more than $200,000 at their disposal.

It is very evident from these statements that tt i& necessary for ' ASA ·to exercise care in the matter of extenl6:ton.. . The Convention held last Thanksgiving decided that no 0ha~ter grants should be made to any group, . untle~s the institution of which thebetit~oners were students demanded for m~ fl.culation a full f"ur years hig'h school· course.

It is quite possible~ tb "6~ sure. tha.t some in·a ti t11t1.ons may make su0h cla;..ms, \'7hile as a matter of fact the rule is not enforc~d- ~e::-e are many so-called colleges that print in their catal-1gu~s that s:1oh '!.s their requil.'ement, but that d0es not preclu~e the admission of1..many poo:t.'ly prepa:::·ed st·.1dents who enroll as mspec ials" • The Collegiate Sorori t:i.es have :lvu.n.Ci p:L'actica.lly only one solution of this problem, and thr:lt is to !'ef\;.$e ·co enter an inst~tution unless it has at least a certain am'1unt o·f ena.omie:m.t, or the equ1. valent in public support. ASA w:f.ll p~'obabJ.y have to make a ~CJmewhet stmila~ ruling. As · the privately controlled Loxwal scho0ls, with the except:1.on of C";-)lumbia Peabody and a few others, seemed to hnve no endowment whn~­ soever it ~ould seem wise for ASA to VTS$'!je but· 1 :l.tt~.e time withthat c.1ass of ins1a tution, confining its attention a)mo8t ant ~ely- to those norrca_l nch-1o1s that are supported from public funds. , As the amounts appropriated differ g x·aat}~, it wot;-ld seem~") ~n nec·e ssary to arrive at some definite amount as a minj.mum appropr1at1.on.

The Central Office has thought of $10~,000 as being a mus~ s~tjs~a~tory sum, since there is no institution on th& ASA roll at prese:g.t rece1.v . . ng less than that amount annually. Should such a ruling be put.into force ASA would have a large field to work in from the very beginnJ.ng. In the following list of 32 institutions, ther~ is no one that has nn annual incnme of less tbah $100,000. ·Most have , consj.derably ove: that amount at their disposal. Thoser ~arked with a * have an annual 1ncomc of $200,000 or more. Those with beside them grant degrees.

California.

San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barabara.

Illinois.

Charleston, Chicago, Normal, Indiana.

Terr~ Haut~* ** Iowa .

Cedar Falls Kansas.

Empcria* Kentucky .

Richmo-.d·.

L•uisianna.

Natchitoches.

Massachus~tts . .Bridgewater, Fitchburi·

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Mj chigan.

Ypsilanti.

M.i:ori ~ ~~ •t.cl. -

Manka.tQ.

Missouri· · Cape Gi:r.a.cdeau,Springfield, warrensburg.

Nebraska.Ken.~ney, Peru..

New Jersey.

Trenton, New York.

Albany, Columbia* ** Hunter•• No. Dakota.

Valley c;.-ty.

Oklahoma.

Alva.

Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg~ West Chester.

Tennessee.

Peabody* •• Wisconsin.

La Crosse, Oshkosh, Superior.

As std;ed in an earl·ier PHOENIX, the Central Office

has not been

ke~n about Extension the present year.

It has felt that the ~h1.n~ was not new chapters and new members, but a perfecting

important of the orgnn1.zat1.on that was put into ·operation at the Thabksgivil'ig Convention. To attemp~_ to spread out while the sorority was incompletely organi£ed would have been very unwise, for it would have meant the dissipating of strength that vyas need for internal development. Now that the sorcrrity is well·org~nl..zed, with four splendid chap·t ers o.nd strong alumnae backing to berelled upon, the Central Office feels that it can turn its attention the-· coming year largely to the: Ju~dect of Extension. It has, therefore, mad~ what it considers an eligible list and present this to the sor~ity at this time with a view to ~sking assistance from individual ·members.

A study of the PHOENIX Subscript!on :tist and a. checking off on your National Pres;. dent 1 s ~- i.nt of personal friends show that there are ASAs, or those deeply interP.sted in . tht future-of ASA, in close touch with the situation at 8 of the ::l~~ :'.nsti tutionE listed. There may be changes- of :-es idence next Fall tha·~ will put many ASAs into a position where· they· can be of great vaJ.ue to the Extension Committee. The summer season, too, may bring it to pass that som~ members may be throvm into contant Y.W. c.:A. camps and elserlhere ·with those who are oonversant with sorority condi t~.ons a.t other schools. The Central Office will be glad to hear from any such, for it is planning to make a very thorough study of the situation at the 32 institutions on the Eligible List and at any others that may be cnJ.led to its attention • . Right here it ma~ be well to call the attention of the membership generally to the fact that it maj not be an easy matter to convince loca~ groups in Bormal Schools that it would be to their advantage to affiliate uith ASA. The Professional ·uor,mal national is such a new idea that very few people have heard ·of it. There are about 60,000 women in the· ~nited States who belong to collegiate orders that have been in existence a~y­ where-from 10 to 50 years. One is always seeing the badges of those soTorities · and it is only natural when Normal '!School Girls ·have friefld.s and rdlatives in them to hope that a kind fate will bring it to pass eventunl~ that they too may wear arrow or an~hor, kite o~ key,-or some one oi the · other attractive badges. They were well aware that such hope was impossi~ of realization years ago when the Normal School ac~itted students who we!e well grounded in the three "Rs~' and when a one-year course turned out a -~eacher,but' they cannot understand why ocllegiate sorcrritie~ would not be glad. to enter in·s ti tutions that grant degrees afte'l' four years of professional study. Let us make · clear why such hope is futile. · - 'In the £irst place the plan has been tricd(and been proved imprac ~ ttcable. · Several of the m~n 1 s fraternities have experimented with chaJ?t~~s in nrofessional schools and nave found them a failure. The four sororlt1es fo~ded at the Virginia stat• Nortnal Sryhool tried out the 'hybrid' plan·- and Qiscovered that it did not work. Any one would su~pose that fine ideals · \/ould be a strong enough cement to hold the allegiance of students irflif~er ·8nt types of schools, but experience has shoml that there m·n.st be somethll;g ~or·e, a common interest, a similar vievypoint. How otheri"rise can we ex-f>laln ·;~hat with one Creed there are so many sects of religion'? "Je all kno\-r thnt ..;-~if' Te are many ·who must have their religion visua~ized i n ·;r estment and

in

.. voiced in thel.·r sp1r1. · · t s droop. There are. -~ . song. • othern·L·se .. . ~ ~ :- tltel' " hqnd, tho~e of the Pur1tan type who are happiest 'flith b~re r1al~a. ~'~ ./, went n?th1ng to ?orne between them and their llaker V/hen they ·wottl~ ~~T1' .-~: commun1on with H1m. Yet the teaching is the same in both t s of ~~ church. for it can be_none other than the Fatherhood of Godypa!a t~~ ., BrotherJ:ood of Man, s1nce those two things are the foundation stonrr .:-. . . · the Chrtstian faith. , ' ~> · ~erisnce ~as shown that the chapter in the professional sab~O~ ~· . ia not 1.nterested 1n the 1 ife of the chapter tn the college and vioe ,. · versa. The man in medical school, the man studying law the man in tb.t: . e~ectrical lab?~atory, the man absorbed in philosopby,may all be spl~. d1d types, memoers of the same church even and therefore possessing t~ · same ~deals~ 0ut ~hen it · is a question of a get-together, eaob is na &a~ est Wlth ~en of h1s own professional stripe, hence we find the nee~!~·~ . fo~ the d1fferent kinds of f~aternitiee. The last decade most certa1nl ~ has ~emonstratea that the •hybrid~ sorority can not e:Kist~ :.:;·· i-1.; Jll~~ 8 ~ ••• · no dJ.fference whether that 1 hybrid' is like those instituted ·.a..u ·- ., J.6 ...~-- ·.*"' or whether it is some other kind of .combination. ro be a succass n soro:ri ty must .b e homogeneous in all its parts.. It can not be fish and ~ :· flesh and f~at one and the same time. Those wonderful creatures that legend tells us were part ~ird or beast or human have all paosea away. ~ If we would c0.m~t:ruct an organization that shnll endure, Wft must make , something tha t has a distinctive character. : It is much better so anyway. Each particular type of institu- , tion has it own peculiar outlook, its own special needs. and these must be met in some. speciql way. The bational officials of the collegiate . orders understand the needs of college girls, becaus& they have passea ~ through that phase of life themselves and because they are making .a ys tematic study of the college si tua"c ion. They are not inte-rested in .. the professional school , whGtber it be for pedagogy. medicine, or law.

To admit as e. ch~pter a group in a professionn~ school would be bad for the n~tional sorority and bad for the group. The management. to be !air, wo uld have to divide tts interest on two types of institutions instead of ·concentrattng on one,as it s~ould to do the most effective uork. The group, moreover, if it did not get its full share of interest and attention,would never be mor~ than on the fringe of things, and could not, the ~efore, ever become a vital part of the organization. as waul~ be its due as a supporting factor of the whole. A great deal of the value of me~bership in a National is lost,i~ the membership does not set~ chance · far representataon· on the national councils of the society of which it i a part. The foremvst ).eaders in HP.llas realize that any ~ind of . (special' chapter would be a problem such as they could not adequately hnnd le in conjunction wth their regular sorority wo~k. !hose who at all consider the welfare of the tp~ofessionel' group must see that affiliation with a colleg~ate sorority would mean that the •speoinl' chapter would not gat the square deal.

Of course local sororities in normal schools have n~t had the matter presented them in thnt ligh ·~. They have thought only. of ~he pleasure of wearing a badge ·~hat has acq·.1i:red a measure of d istinot10n through the age of the organization or the achievements of its membership. Consequently they have gone right on pe_t i tioning col~eg~ate so: rori ties ;jTear after year, ho"Ping a.lwa.~rs to convince the soc1et1es of their choic& of the desirability of the local grollps. They have not receiv ed the slightest ~ncouragement, but they ~ave co~tinued their pursnit of this will o' the wisp. There a. re tvro re.asons why ~hey have -per~;is ted in such co urse.

In t he fiist plnce, the.re \7as n oth1ng else t0 i'ollovvr , anc~. i n the second place, the stndents in normal schoo ~s have ~een ~inGularly l acking in initiative in the matter ?f estab l1shi~g ~e~ soro ri t ies to meet their own ?eculiar ne eds. Some g1rls a.t the V1rg1n1a .~ tat~ N0rmal School. to be sur~, dreamed _ of.~stabiishing Nn~io~als, but tt PJ ~ot tnto the coililegiate f1eld, end 1nc1aentally 1nto d1ff~cul&Y.

to

as has been set fprth in the History of Al~ha Sigma Alpha.

Then there were girls in certcin norma 1 schools of New York Stat. e vrho organized Vlhat they considered •nationals' but which seem woefully lacking in the real sorority sp~it. It is very evident that the founder of these societies had no other idea in mind. than to form lite~ary clubs, because they g~ve to these organizations such na~es as Arethuaa Agonian, Clionian, etc. To be sure, there were badges, but such are in Tery gener~l use by many similar literary societies in all parts of the country.

Some of the later members who went bn to college and joined Greek-Letter societies have brought beck to the girls in these normal schools somethine of the sorority idea, so several of the New York organizatiohS have rather recently added Greek letters to their former names. but it can not be said that their character has been materially ohanged. A new dress does not change the individuality of the wearer, how&ver much it may change her appearance. Calling a society by a Greek name does not make a sorority of it. There are thousands of such societ&es. both in and out of school. They seldom have any serious purpose, are frequently only dancing, card, or sewing clubs. Within the week your National Presiclent received a . letter from one such. It has s i.X memb.e rs. who have banded together to have a good time. It did not know how to write a constitution, but it pad an idea that it must have one, in order to exist, so it \7anted to purchase one 'ready made'.

It is stwh organization$ as this masquerading as 1 sororities' that have caused so much critic ism to be m~. ue QJ.nct forced the Nat i vnal Banhellenic Congress a~ its Meeting in New York Citv last Fall to rule that no girl should be eligible to an N.P.c. sorority~who joined or retained her membershi~ in one of these 'near' sororities after September. 1915.

The Congress felt called upon to express strong disapproval of all such orggnizations, since, through their lack of serious purpose , they were giving people a very wrong impression of what the fraternity ideal really is. The true sorority is no more open to criticism than is the Y.w:IC.A. Its presence in any institution should be a big aAset, in that it is pledged, by its very nature, to work for those things· that are the goal of e~ucation at all times. Alpha S~gma Alpha is only one of many high grade organizations that are recognized as important factors in .the student life ' of colleges and professional schools, qut it is doing its share of Hellenic work, and it is doing it wall,in a quie ·t, but nevertheless effective way.

Much of the criticism that has been made of fraternities and sororities is most unjust. There may be here and there•a chapter that is not g iving a good account of itself, but it is not often so, for an increasingly larger number of the orders are keeping field secretaries at work all the time and SOl!.i closely in touch with every phase of endeavor that a lapse from accepted standards is quickly noted and dealt with promptly.

All the best institutions in the country stand ready tQ express th ·~A1gh chief executives that the frater.r1ity system is a. distinct force for uplift in their respective communities, that these societies have prD~ided pleasant homes for their members, where otherwise, owing to lack of doTmitories there v1ould have been nothing better than the promiscuous boarding ho;se existence. These college presidenms g0 further than this, for they are ready to acknowledge that the presence of the fraternit~es and sororities has meant a marked improvement in scholastic, social and moral standards.

Alpha Sigma Alpha may look forward with ·confidenee to its xuture as a growing organization, for it can cffer much to both local gro~ps and to fRUities. It is pledged to the very highest standards of life and conduct and it has a structural quality that tt makes it possible to ~ttain its ideal in every one of its chapters. It is only a few month$ SLnce Alpha Sigma was re8rganized, but representative faculty men are nlread~ telling the eetral Office what a change it hns wrought in the membershlp in depth of purpose, in breadth of outlook, ·tn sweet• r \7omanl iness.