Page:The Fraternity and the College (1915).pdf/102

 ing his fraternity obligations. There are, of course, legitimate excuses, and these are generally offered and received in good faith. Even fraternity men suffer misfortunes, are compelled to meet unexpected situations, and fall victims to real hard luck; but they are honest and when the sun comes out and the financial sky brightens they come across with the ten dollars.

The men who never have to be notified, and their number is small, or who, if they forget, respond to the first call are the men who when in college amounted to something in the fraternity and in the college. The really strong men in the active chapter are the dependable supporters after they go out into the world. As I have said, the meeting of obligations promptly is a habit rather than an incident. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but as a general thing the men who, after they are out of college, meet their fraternity obligations regularly and willingly are the men who while in college did the greatest amount of hard work to make the fraternity what it ought to be. The fraternity notes with reference to which I have drawn these conclusions first came into my hands about twelve years ago, so that for many of the men the tenth note is now past due. As I look over the list of men whose obligations were met and who have paid up the entire series, I find few who were not as undergraduates a source of