Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/159

 order of excellence or standing. The papers were to be returned without signature, so that it was not possible to tell what fraternity had filled out any one of the papers. It was interesting to note that practically every fraternity was given first place on at least one paper, and it was not hard to guess that most of the organizations had ranked themselves first. If the estimates of correspondents are to count for anything the men who write must be able to see their own faults and the weaknesses of the organizations which they represent, and they must be willing to admit some of these faults. An upperclassman is more likely to do this than is a freshman or a sophomore.

A third characteristic of these letters which seems to me to show a weakness of judgment is the fact that nothing is seized upon a fit subject for praise and dissemination with such eagerness and self-congratulation as is the fact that some one of the brothers has been elected to something or has joined some organization outside of the fraternity. There is verily more joy over the one or two lucky brothers who get into the most insignifiant organizations than over all the others who stay in the chapter house and do the real work of the fraternity. A few excerpts will suffice to illustrate my point.

"The coming year promises to be one of great