Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/214

 has few chapters and if these are located in small colleges. When the family increases and expansion is the watchword, and when the chapter is located in a big university, then most organizations find themselves forced to adhere to a different doctrine. The affiliation of a man from one chapter with the fellows of another is to me a good deal like a second marriage. I have seen many successful ones, a few really happy ones, but the tender sentimental feeling of youth is usually lacking. It is too often a practical, unemotional, business arrangement. A man usually has but one real college experience. After that, no matter where he goes or how many other chapters he may have affiliation with, when he drops into reminiscence it is always, "Our chapter at Albion," or "We had a pretty good system at De Pauw." He can never forget his first love.

The fraternity with few chapters is not likely to find great difficulty with its transfers, because there are few undergraduates to transfer. The total number of active men at any one time is small, and the likelihood of any considerable number of them leaving their own chapter and going to another one is extremely slight. It is perhaps for this reason that such fraternities have in most cases adopted the practice of affiliating all brothers who come to them and do not seem to be able