Asa phoenix vol 2 no 8 nov 1915

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NOVEMBER 8, 1915 ... . ......

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THE ASSOCIATIOn 3':'ATEMENT Ia t~ · last is~use of the PHOENIX, mention was made of the faQt that the Association of Pedasogicnl Serorities intended t~ send out e. St&tenent concerning the stand that it had taken, and which it i : tended to matatain, in regard to its relative pesition in Hellas. The Association believes that it has an inviolable right to the pt.:P~ss i~~ of the Pedagogical Field. to the entire exclusion oi every k1n~ .:>f Oreek-Letter organization, other than those of the type Go be founC: on the roll of the Association. This Statement has been published anf. ,·v-idely c.istributed in Hellas. Since the areuruents that the Associ::-.tion . has used in G.efense. of its position must be of unusual interest to every member of ASA, the Statement is issued as part of this ~eek G PHOENIX. · With the Statement went a letter that read as follows:1

October 25, 1915.

T~ the Greek Press:-

. On September 4th, there was organized in Boston what is known as the Association of Pedagogical Sororities.

It wa~ the intention of the originators that this Association should bear the the same relation to profession~l sororities in the peC.ag.ogic~l field that the National Panhellenic Congress bears to the strictly CQllegiate ,rders.

As the Professional Pedagogical Sorority is a relatively new idea, and as the field in which it works is markedly distinct from every other, the Association had not expected to crme into contant "r conflict with any organization whatsoever. 013rt~in ~"f"en-Gs of the las"t two weeks. r~ •T·r~ver, have seerJec~ to muke it necessary for the Ass~;;~ciation t.e SJ-t.c .te its pr)Sition to th~ G:..·eek 11orld generally, as well as to set forth plainly r:hat it deems to be its inalie.nable rights as ' H S?eaial asency in a ~pecial field. · We a.sk rf>i you, therefore, n careful ~erusal of the accompanyine sheets, which are being sent out to all irater-nity 2-nd S("):rority editors, as well as to the national ~ffice .rs 'l:f all Congress Sororities. .

In Hell enic bonds, I c1a Shaw Hart in, Chairman .

M~rguerite

C.Hearsey, Se0retary.

THE ASSOCIATION OF

P~AGOGICA1

SORORITIES

It is not definitely knor.n ·rrhen the fi!'st p~ dD..gogicnl sor e · rity rrus estublished, but there ure records to shou that one nt least existed as early as i!l0'10. Lil~e many another, it d.id not have n Greek name, but in all other uays. it was a frank copy of the ever-populnr college fraternity. Those t~~t f0lloiTed it in the same fi eld used Grock letters, or fanciful names, as most appealed to the founders in eaDh case. Later, when the collegiate ~ororities began to extend ~d to become better lmom in eonsequence, many pC;dngogicnl s ororities souglrt affiliation \lith them, bnt, barring· n chapter established by Pi Beta ~hi at the South Iowa Nonmal School in 1881, nnd m2 int a ined until 1885, none succeeded in securing the coveted cha rter. As the pedagogical sororities desired growth, together wi th nll th&t the ter~ iLlplics, the·y found it necessary to branch for themselves.

This they did in tVJo vre.y'/t. The orgnn izations t1:.at had originc.ted in Nen York, ' :\~ich igon c.nd Missouri remained ~ .- holly in the pedugogiccl field, while those founded in Virginia established chapters wherever they discovered the type of girl they wonted, iihctner .in college or finishing school. This plcn of carrying o mixed, or 'hybrid', roll worked out very well for a number of years, but shortly c.fter the orgnnization of the national Pcnhellcnic Congress in 1902, · and especially after its rnlings in J905 concerning udmission to its roll, the Virginia Sororities were mc.de aware of the fact that their chapters in collegiate institutions r:ere laboring under a decided hnndica.p. These chapters had lec:rned to their sorrow th['.t such of their rival§ as · were on the roll of the Congress ~ere able to offer desirable 'rushees' something more than· could the 'hybrid.' sorority.

A Congress badge vms inv~.riably l.".ccepted as proof th ~ t its possessor was 'college bred'. . Since a 'hybrid~ badge did. not carry vTi th it that enviable distinction, the Virginta Sororities soon realized th~t some thing had to be done. · · Two of them, Zeta Tau Alpha and Kap·pa Delta.. recalle d tne chc.rters of chc.pters in non-collegiate institutions. l.".nd thus qualifie~ for membership in the Na.tione 1 Pnnhelle·n ic Congress. The other mo.

Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alphn _ :!igrn~ Alpha, concluded, ~fter very care- · ful thought given to every phase of tl:e subject, that an ent ir ely dif ferent" course "rT2S the wis e policy for them. These t Ho orgen i~ations hc.d become convinced, aft e r their exp eri en ce c.t the Virginia State normal School, that ther E· was c decided nc·ed for the stridtly Pedagogical Sorority, in· order th c. t P omen students in the Normal Schools end ]Reachers Colleges might en joy the very manifest advantages of raJ>t!l· llersh ip in a Greek-Letter society. l~creover Alpha S igmn /.l"[l"t.::t end Sigma Sigmc Sigma thought that they hnd indubitable proof, nf~er many conferences VTith leaders of Congress Sororities, that the nat1on~l P~nheilenic Congress Tins irr ev oc 3bly opposed to permitting anyth1ng on its roll to enter any professional field. A c e reful s~ud~ ~~ Congress Records had ~l so r ev e al e d the :raet that me~bersh1p 1n t~~ C on~ress hc.d been persistently nnd co~s1st entl;y- den1cd to ever~ l~ln~ , cf professional so ro ri ty, ·~7 hether Y?Cdl c~l, ~u&l ? 21. or mer el y ~Jbr; n ··, ith only one chapter in o. pedugog1cnl 1nstltu~1on . The nnly n . . . tur .J.J inferen ce, then, :ms. that ev ery ~ong res~ ~oror1ty was equally dc~c.rred from entering nn y profess1onal f1e~e.. -r.r hntsoever. an~ tha t th e ? rofession~l Pedcgogictl Sorority v1ouJ.d not onl~· be neeting the need..s cf :rrornen student~ in NorY?o..l Sc~ools ~o; c.nd Te :::.chers Coll eges, but tlould G.l so hnve tha.t f1.eld en t1. rely to 1. t .~1 f. .

There was an ioportant additional fact taken 1nto n~t 1

D~.ring their study of Congress Records, they hnd_come to the rertlizotion th c t, t h ougl: th i.J Congress h2d refu s e':i manbersh1.p to all 'specia.l' sororities, it h :.1 d never presumec to se.y t~at o. college of medicine, or music, or ped£~ gogy, nus not ~ 'bona i'1de' college, or that the sororities in these inGtit ~l tions might no t ~e consi.dered as of 'collegiate' rnnk.

It !1::tC! n~:?rcly clessed these smne colleges as profession:-..1, since they bent their energies in one ~)t.l.r~icular d~ recti on, i.e., to~rard preparing matriculates t9 enter t h e m~d~cnl, mus1.cal, or teaching professions, '"hereas t11e Conrress Sor or1t1.eu had elected to enter only such institutions of collegiate r an k u~ might ?-e called 'culturnl', and \ihich 't'Terc in reality nql-profess 10nal, s 1nce the courses given by them tended toward n gen eral , instead of torn:~.rd n special education. 'l':he cst~blishment of n professsionc.l pedagogic~.l sorori t:l. therefore, would mean no lowering of t::.c rank previo~sly ·~ttained by entrance into the 'cultural' field on thr part of a rhybrid' society, but rather n narked improYement over the old order of thingsJ since, in being professioi'lnl, the pedago g ical sorority would necessarily be c.lassifiec as 'oolleginte ' .

'After C:ue consideration had been given to all these various facts, Alpha Sigmn lllpha· nne! Sigp1a Sigma S i~a decided to release all their ehapters in colleges of the purely 'cul tl?lnal' type, ~nd to aid them in every ~ay possible to affiliate with strong Congress S0ror i ties. This ·aecis ion opened the wa:r for the r.!other Chapter in each co.se to become the parent of a pedagogical sorority . . since both of these two Virginia Sororities hc.d carried on operations in the collegio.te . field, and since the officials in both were in clmost every insto ~ college wotien, it came to pass quite naturally that Alphn Sig:w ~~ and Sigma Sigma Sigma had unusually high ideals and rather unusual -conceptions .of what a professional pedagogical sorority should be nnu what it "Should nttempt.

A careful survey of the field in which the,y ha d decided to operete soon showed the tno organizations that there 11rere in nll nbot1t 300 Uomal Schools and 'i'eachers Colleges, of nh ich one-fifth '77ere unie'l" private control, and tl:e remai11der unC:.er state or municipc~ l jurisdiction. Some had been in existence for n €~rly a century, Dhile others, esp~cially those under private control, had only a few years · to their credit. Some had en annual incorne o:f Over $200,000, Hhile others had less than $2000. Some cmUlted their students by thonsands, other~ by scores.

Some required for ontriculation a diploma from a four yeurs high school, others a.dmi tted stuc.ents directly from the grac.e schools m1d gave o. certificate n.fter one year's training. Some offered courses demanding n four years residence nnd leading to a baehelor's degree that was accepted by lending universities, others granted only diplomas. It v;as very clcn r, then, that there must be s OL.lr= agency that should do the same service for th e professio'!J-al pedngo gioal field, as was being done by the Nationc.l Penhellenic Cenf;ress £.:· the non -profess iont-.1. · Hith this purp O" e in view, Alpha Sigma Al p h~ and S i gmn S i e'[r Sigma held c preliminary conference in Cincinnati l a st J u l y o.n ~ c . fino.l meeting in Boston on Sep t ember 4th . T~1e -res u lt vrc.s ?.n or gn.nlz a. t i on J:mo·:m as the Assoc i ation o f Pe dago g ical Sororities . Atco rd .~. r~ c to t!1.o Constitution and the B~r-Ln.'"' s adop ted a t t h e s e cond c on fe r enc e , t1~ e !1ssociati on Sororities may not en te r on:y inst :tution, t hut d oe s n ot _ of fer ::. two years oaur 3e at lec..st in Pedagogy , n.o r may they ex t ~nd t 1-:c ·n· ivileges of membersh ip to an y bu t g r a du o.tes o f a fcn r y c ~. rs h l gl_l ~ c hcol.

It is thei r present int ent1 on , th e refore, to c onf 1ne t h el r . ~ r"'n.._s to high class :normu l Sci:.ools a nd J:cachers Coll ee; es , t o b e :.-. :>r:. :... t:' n ""'-f.!'VT!r:,r " .

1 , 0-n Q t o .ence ' uvor b y t h. r:..~: r sEm.se, of th e ·. .rorG ~~ro f c s s 1.on~

by the tHo organizations.

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example and influence to bring everTJOthcr similar nr gnniz2ti n to a understanding and appreciation ef the dign1ty ef the pr- s i t10n ta:~ n i' ~ ~hP. As ~ ocintion of Pedagogical Sororiti~ s . .

With this latter idea i n view, activ~ opern ti~~ s we r e be~r 'uy the A!3seciation toward dissemin u tine its id eals thro nt;h pnbl1 h " , statenents to be sent out, not only ta the general member ship of A l~ h ~ C: iema Alpha and Sigma S iema S igrJa, but to officers and chapters in o t·~ pP.~agogical sororities as well.

Bef0re a month had passed, howe ver, and before any of the plans were perfected, th~ Asscciatitn found i t3 fnce to face v1ith a most unusual situation.

Tw~ Congress Soroeiti es ; one founded in the South and the other in the North had opened negot j ~ ti~ns with groups in Normal Schools, and one had all its plans m2.de tr (-!stnbl ish a Chapter. ?his was wholly contrary to assuranc~s given t,· Alpha Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma by leading officials in Co n g ~ sororities on oc~asions when the ouestion of relative fields h ad b ~ e ~ under particular discuss ions.

Mn:teov~.!i, wa~~areful study ~f Con t; r e~ --: Minutes shswed that the contemplated ~barter grant t~ a Ntrmal Scho 1 group would be a dir~ct violation of certain ftmdamental Congres s r lings.

The Association, therefore, confident that its position wn R ~bsolutely impregnable, promptly crossed swords ~rith the society that was on the point of establishing a Normal School chapter, and sent its ultimatum to the one that was entertaining a petition.

As a result of this action on the· part of the Associati c•, both Congress ~prorities ceased operations at once in the pedagogiccl field.

The Association regrets exceedingly that there arose cny nec e· sity for a clash between itself and anythine; on the roll of the Hatio:u.; Panhellenic Cong!_~ss. It VTould hove preferred to put all its strengt;t} on it own develcipment.

Since the issue, however, was forced upon t~ t Association, o.nd (!uite irrespective .of any arguments that coulbe be a~ vanced to show thnt the establishment of a chapter in a Normal School . ~ny Congress Sorority would be a direct violation of several fundamP.ntal Congress rulings, as well as an open defiance of certain sorority conventions maintained for more than ~ quarter century, the Association believes it is nell at this time to lay n few self-evident facts before Hellas, as further proof of th~ unnuestion.~d. justice, as "'ell :; ~ the practical wisdom, of the Ass~oiation 1 s ~ourse in pre~mpting the entire Pedagogical Field for the sole nse of the strictly Pedago gi ca Sorority.

1. The Pedagogical Fi.eld is a peculiar one and needs peculiar treatment,

No matter h0w experienced may be the Council of a Congre s ~ cannot do all that it shonld for its chapters in r~ u l tn ­ ral' c olleges and at the sa}'Tle tiMe do justice t0 others in prof e s ~ 1. c . . al school.

The two types af chapters a re essPntiall y different ~nd need entirely different h<lndling.

Just as it would be the hP. ig}1t c--: folly to call in a lawyer to diagnose and prescribe in the case or . f.hysicnl mulady, even though the lawyer were j n eveyy sens e the e c1,,, 1 . or even the superior , in mentality of the best ava ilable phy 3i~ i an, ~ . rr ould it be a grievo u s Hrong L. o en trus t the Y.relf.:J. r e r f one or !u" !' uchapters in proff'ssio n:::. l s c hrols t o th os~ ;r,ho s e t r a ini~ g <' Yl d 0Y..~ · ':r i 011 Ce hud been v 'Tholl y c c;nfln cci ·t o e ol l c;; e l 1f e ~ s ::-o ~m c1 1 n .r, c . - IJ !'t:. , ., : ::; l Cn::: l .;; choo ls . ~orority,

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ConsP.c:uentJ.;Jr, O::lll thc.t is called fer nt thi:q i:;t-- .e i.s tc 'lgin -r. un t t:-t, i: c:l::!.::?".iers ·: :h ic:l o. re es~enticll :' different 1n ;' r.~·-··:- :; , eve :1 ·:: ~1 o nc h t : ~ .a ,_ :;: iclec.;.ls m 8 ~· be identical, ce.nnot be vT};.oll y con~en1~1. ; · n ~ . c.:.nne·., tc e :: -~')e:-: ·c:e d to ,~ork together h~tlillOUiousl~r. :Each, to he at its "Jest, must

ane, such self-e x~ ressien it 1ir~s not 3enerall~r nncc· ~ too<i ~.nc. acknowledged.

Just as the ~jhy'3ician, the 2rtist, the· I!ms ici::m , receive ins?iration and T:Ientr-·.1 gtirJulus from clor:~e :;.ssoci::J.tion r. ith kina red s,irits whos e thouehts concentrateG on like int er2 ·ts , ~ 0 ~~ J cha?terin a professional school woTild gain ereater good fo ~ j~s ~ ~i ~u Q ~c o ~r e oi c io:rce i n a strictl~ ?r tte~~i~nol i~ c~trni t~ ~ ~c~ t: i 'J 1.' 1 ' ' ., ~ s one oi a. "'ro· ,· · o ·:· ~'"\ e +- ero r.' c.n ell ·,c o"l... ~ ""'t·.,..., .., l· --h n 1.· "' • l ·: : ·t ·:~-

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3. Simple justice demands . that a girl '\"rho may

later enter a ~aulturalt college shall not be committed to any special Congress Sorority pr,or t~ matriculation.

The experience of yearn has shov~n thnt pledging prior to matriculation may be the gravest injustice to a girl.

One of the earliest Congress rulings was made to preclude such a possibility, yet the entrance of a Congress Sorority into a pedagogical institution \"JOO.ld mean not merely pledging, which carries with it the possibility of an honorable withdrawal la.ter, but actuc.l initiation and the clesing for all time of every road leading intoany other Congress Sorority It could mean also the enforce abrogation of all social life, should a girl enter where her sorority had no che.pter, or where there was one that refused, for rJ.n y reason, to affil in te members from other chapter3 7 ith the entire pedagogical field in the hands of the purely professi ? · al orders, there would be s:bsolute freedom for a girl to become as soc 1 -· ted else\7here with an"r other type of sorority.

Similarly, members of non-professional sororities matriculating at pedagogical institutions could be extended the privilege of membership in e. professionnl order. ?his is the present practice of Alpha Sigma Llpha, Sigma Sigmn Sigma~ ' and other pedagogicnl sororities.

4. Simple justice demands that the girl who is never to have an opportunity for advanced work other than that to be obt~ined in the pedagogical college shsll be connected with a ~rofessional sorority only. · 1ffiliation during professionnl training ~ith R Congress Sorority, thP majority of uhcse chnpters are in non-n rofrssi on~ l schools, 't"ronld meun that u member's lot v1ould be forever p ast~ L".. ''ntt. an org.J.nizationwhere fevJ Chapters v.rould be in hearty accord '"l th her or.rn. :.:e r future happiness demands that she be assoc1oted \"'!l th ?-.

Joro rity everyone of ~h os~ cha ~ters is deeply interested 1n the 1 1n 0 of 1'.~ork t hat she ho s sr. lecte d f.?.S her pro fes s ion, 8.nd ~ver y onA o :f ·.: Lc . ~ emte r g has the highest _rega rd for tho t s nme coll1ng.

G. ~he entrance of a Congress Sorority into the!edagogical ?1P Jd ~ o ~ ld prccipit ~ t e ~ fri 3 i s i n the Congress th ~ t must nec ~s sarily re~ J ll l t in its en t irl? re{jr r; ~.r: i z t. t ion .

3orerities tha t have •airltninec u distincti.ve eharaofer many ye~r s and whos e badgos have come te st3nd f~r a cer ta in ty,e of educ3tion ~~11 nAt lightly f~rego des1derat~ a ttuin~ ct t;"it)ro,lgh decade~ of earnest effort.

Snch •rga:c.izations mt;.y be r c: . dy te . VlOTk td th others of their kind, fa: the purpose of establ i. s 1"~· · ing stnndards of excellence in their c h os~n field, but th~.:y 'l"IOnld never consent to membership in ~ meaningl~ss organizatiQ• e ~ d th c 1 is mest certainly r1h2t the Congres!=l v;ould be. if any ss~ri tics en its roll were to enter professional sehools.

A Congresci sancti o ~ ing the presence on its roll of a sorority that made a charter gr2 :. to a Normal School or Teachers College could not logicnl1~7 deny mE'> ' bership to sororities that carried thi.s sume l!ormal <;choal or ':'ea;;h ers College on their rolls.

A Congros3 composed of all collegiatP orders, prof~ssional as well us non-professional, wonrcr-be wholly lacking in character and purpose, ~~ould have ·no excuse for being.

A re6rganization must inevi tabl~l follov! l7i th sharp 1 ines of demarcation drawn between the profession~l, the non-professional, o.nd tr11 'hybrid 1 • t ~r

6. Failure to effect an immediate re6rganizn-

tion, in the event of any Congress sorority entering a professional school, ~ould mean the insistent demand from all professional sororities for Congress membership, as well ns the prompt flooding of the r cul,tural r field ,_. i th. pedagogical sororities, of which there are quite a score.

Should any Congress Sororities grant chnrters to groups in the Pecagogical Field, there could be but one result.

Professional Sororities ~ould no longer regard the 1 cultural college' as the peculiar and exclusive property of the Congress sorority, but \70uld promptly :place chapters in terri trr~r never before enterA u by them.

The Pedagogical Sorority of 1915 is not the Pedagagioal Sorority of 1905.

A decade has made as much difference in it ~s 1 . any of the Congress Sororitie~!J. ':'he Pedagogical Sorority t oday is an endowed, i'7ell-manage:1 orgcnizution, f:ull ~f d~rnamic possibil i ties.

It could enter and hold i tJ 0\711 in the r cu.l tural' field. , ::. n ~ it v1ould not hesitate to do so, were it forced into such a conrsP o: being brought into C'"~mpetition rrith Congress 2-orrrities in the prafessional fiold.

The P~dagogical Soro~ity, however, ~isbe s tQ c sn fine its activities to the Teachers College, and t~ the iiormal School Af bigh grad~, believing most earnestly that there is imperative need for pr~fession~l orders in that field, en d c~nf1d ent thut within those confines lies its gre~test destiny as an educ & ti ~ force,

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