Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/69

 those fraternities whose history is the oldest. "My father, or my Uncle William, was a Beta Psi," seems to many a young fellow an adequate reason why he should be likewise. I have no prejudices in this matter, but I believe I could go over the records of the chapters at the University of Illinois and easily establish the fact that those which have followed this practice of nepotism have more frequently had cause to regret it than otherwise. An energetic father is with no assurance followed by a hardworking, energetic son; brothers are as unlike often as if they hailed from different planets. "Puny's brother is coming next fall," a senior informed me at inter-scholastic time. "Puny," besides being what his name indicated, was a nervous, impulsive, tricky sinner, who would slip from your grasp like an eel. He was imaginative, talkative, irresponsible. He studied only when he had to, and went to class with the most regular irregularity. His brother was a husky athlete, studious, dependable, regular, and steady as clock work. He had nothing to say; I was scarcely able by the most subtle means to pry a dozen words out of him during the fifteen minutes he was in my office. The boys were alike in nothing I could discover, excepting that each had black eyes.

"We look them over, but we don't take them unless they measure up pretty well," one man ex-