Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/197

 he keeps out of a fraternity. I remember a young fellow of this sort who came to college some two or three years ago. He wanted the honor and the prestige of belonging, he had an attractive exterior, and he was pledged in a short time. The life got on his nerves at once, however. He could not stand the restraint of the house, he could not bring himself to submit to rules, he could not yield, or follow directions. He wanted his own room, he objected to the food, he wanted his own comfort and his own way. He tried living out of the house for a while, but nothing was right; so he went back to his own isolated selfish life. The next fall he was bid by another fraternity, but it was not in him to get on unselfishly with anyone. So he soon gave up the pledge button and left college.

A great many men entering college would like to join a fraternity but feel that they cannot afford the expense which such a procedure would entail. Their going to college demands sacrifice on their part and on the part of the home folks, and they very wisely are not willing that this sacrifice should be made heavier simply for their own pleasure. It is true that every chapter at the University of Illinois, as at many other institutions, I have no doubt, contains members who have little means or who are partially or wholly self-supporting, but it cannot be denied that the ex-