Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/53

 has not weakened because we have been sensible enough not to exaggerate our differences, not to extol one set of friends to the exclusion of another. Each side, no doubt, has its justification, but on the whole it is better to let it go at that and not waste useful time in discussing it. We are not different in our hearts because our ancestors came from different parts of Europe. In a remotely similar way I feel toward fraternity men and those men who do not belong to fraternities. It is only when they insist on recognizing that there are differences and disagreements, and are determined to discuss them and to exaggerate them that these differences and disagreements actually exist. The men themselves are not different in ideals or in purposes.

"How shall I treat my old friends, after I have joined a fraternity?" I am constantly asked by young fellows who somehow get the idea that when they become members of a fraternity they at once sever all diplomatic relationships with every one outside. I presume it is the same sort of question which presents itself to many a young fellow who is about to be married, and who feels that such a ceremony entirely alienates him from all other friends whom he may have previously counted as his own. Neither marriage nor joining a fraternity necessarily changes a man, and if either act is