Page:The Fraternity and the College (1915).pdf/151

 to college. Sometimes it may seem that they are attracted too much by these things. Even in the better fraternities which have an eye out for a man's scholastic standing, other things being equal, the fellow who has made a name for himself in athletics, in debating, on the high school paper, in dramatics, or in any of the various class activities has a better chance of being rushed and finally bid than has the man with no such high school record behind him. Though with us the man who goes through the first semester of his freshman year without being pledged to a fraternity has relatively little chance of making such an organization later, yet there are few men who come to the front in college activities early in their college course who do not have a chance to join one or more organizations even if their ability is not shown until the end of the sophomote year. The case of one of our prominent track men will illustrate the situation. He was an "unknown" when he came to college but developed rapidly during his freshman year. At the end of his first year he was bid by a local organization but refused; during the first semester of his sophomore year he had a chance to join two national organizations but declined, and at the end of his sophomore year accepted the invitation of a third fraternity. His athletic successes kept him before the student public and made his seem a desirable man.