Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/236



The question of expansion is probably one of the most vital and regularly discussed questions before the general fraternity world today. It has been discussed freely at meetings of the Interfraternity Conference, and the consensus of opinion has been in favor of it. The reasons are quite obvious.

The attendance at colleges is increasing by leaps and bounds. At many institutions the attendance during the last few years has doubled. The effect of this increase has been to reduce the percentage of undergraduates who could belong to fraternities, for the increase in the number of fraternities has not, in any way, kept pace with the increase in the number of students.

Most young men like to belong to a college organization. A good many of them feel, perhaps, as the freshman did to whom I was talking not long ago. "I don't give a damn to belong," he said, "but I would like to be asked." And with the increasing number of students in our colleges the percentage of men who can be asked is growing smaller and smaller.

It is interesting to note that the opposition to fraternities which has sprung up all over the country and the talk against fraternities is not led by men who have belonged to fraternities in any case