Page:The Fraternity and the College (1915).pdf/82

 and, after one experience, a man's enthusiasm for such things generally palls.

"In the initiations I have been put through I think a great deal more of those that did not have the 'horse play,' and I have a higher respect for the organization that gave its initiation without the 'rough house.' 'Rough house' initiations are a dangerous sport, and serious accidents take place easily. I believe that it would be a good measure for fraternities as national bodies to forbid 'horse play' in their initiations."

Perhaps the strongest arguments against the practice are summed up in the following, quoted from the letter of a president of one of the fraternities and one of the best respected fellows in the Greek-letter organizations.

"A fraternity is supposed, by those who know, to be a men's organization with serious motives and purposes behind it, and the 'rough house' is mere child's play. It is said that the pledges expect it—but one does not always get what he expects in college. One of the worst features of the farce is that it cheapens the real ritual. The freshman is very likely to put one on a par with the other and to consider the pledges that he takes as a huge joke.

"I do not believe that there is a great deal of danger attached to the 'horse play.' True, those who go through it are stiff and sore for several