USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Waterville > The history of Colby College > Part 61
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FRATERNITIES ON MAYFLOWER HILL
When, in the 1930's, the time had come to consider the status of fraternities on the new campus, a number of questions confronted the authorities. Should there be fraternities at all on Mayflower Hill? If so, how should they be housed? If in chapter houses, should those houses be on college or privately owned land? Should the college assist in financing fraternity houses?
The whole matter of the housing of male students on the new site was thor- oughly studied for more than a year by a committee of twenty-one persons, headed by Trustee Chairman George Otis Smith. On that committee were the Dean of Men, the College Treasurer, representatives of the faculty and of the Alumni Association, two trustees besides Dr. Smith, and a representative of each Colby fraternity.
From the time of its first meeting, the committee found several of its mem- bers opposed to the continuance of fraternities on Mayflower Hill. As the investi- gation continued and it became known that three of the fraternities already had substantial funds laid aside toward eventual construction of their own chapter houses, while another already owned valuable property on College Avenue, a large majority of the committee became persuaded that Colby should continue the fraternity system. The final vote was 19 to 2.
The committee was unanimous in opposition to permanent, or even long- range fraternity housing in the dormitories, and recommended that quarters in the new dormitories on the Hill should be assigned only to such fraternity groups as could give assurance of erecting their own house within a reasonable period, preferably within five years. The committee further recommended that fraternities able and willing to build houses should be required to locate them on college prop- erty, and because that would legally give the College ownership of the buidings, it was proposed that a careful agreement, drawn up between the College and the fra- ternity corporation should protect the latter in permanent occupancy. Another important recommendation was that a house mother should be required in each fraternity house, and that construction plans should include a private suite for her residence.
The Trustees accepted completely the recommendations of the Committee of Twenty-One, and voted that the College would enter into agreement with each individual fraternity to loan one-half the cost of the house, provided the whole cost did not exceed $45,000. The terms would provide amortization at 41/2 per cent over a period of thirty years. The College would agree that, as long as the fraternity desired to do so and continued to maintain standards required by its national office and by the College, and met its financial obligations, it should be permitted the right of sole occupancy of the house. Financing, both of amortiza-
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tion of the loan and of current operations, would be handled through the office of the College Treasurer. Careful estimates would be made annually, in advance, covering costs of service, insurance, water, heat, lights and house mother. That total, added to the annual amortization charge, would show the amount for which the fraternity must be responsible to the College during the ensuing year. The annual charge would be collected by a uniform fee, decided by the fraternity, to be levied upon each of its members not living in the house but enjoying its social privileges, and the remainder of the charge could be divided among the mem- bers living in the house. Each house was to provide rooms for thirty or more members, and if any house failed to fill its rooms in any particular year, the Col- lege reserved the right to place non-members in those rooms. As earnest of its conviction that house mothers were a necessity, the College agreed to provide meals at Roberts Union for those women. It was estimated that the entire plan would cost each fraternity about $3800 a year, $1344 of which would go toward amortizing the loan.
In the midst of the great depression of the 1930's it seemed quite possible that a fraternity house could be built for $45,000, but not until the close of World War II could any of the Colby fraternities erect a house, and by that time building costs had become so inflated that no house could go up for less than $100,000, and several cost considerably more. A revision of the plan therefore became nec- essary. The College still agreed to loan half the cost, but the amortization period had to be extended to forty years, and even then the annual charge was nearly double what had been originally contemplated.
The first houses to go up were those of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Tau Omega. Because both had substantial funds or already owned saleable real estate, they were able soon to complete alumni campaigns for their half of the needed funds. Zeta Psi also had a sizeable "nest egg" and was soon able to start building. Before 1955 six fraternity houses, built half by alumni subscriptions and half by college loan, were occupied in the assigned space between Miller Library and Roberts Union by DKE, Zeta Psi, DU, Phi Delta Theta, ATO, and Tau Delta Phi. To show that they meant business, Lambda Chi Alpha put in a foundation on their selected site, and a few years later were able to complete and occupy their house.
Of the eight fraternities that had moved to the Hill when all activity ceased on the old campus, only Kappa Delta Rho remained without its own house in 1960, and it had made a good start on its fund campaign.
Increased numbers of students on the new campus justified the formation of additional fraternities. Two local groups were organized: Sigma Theta Psi in 1955 and Beta Chi in 1957. The latter soon made national affiliation with Pi Lambda Phi and the former with Alpha Delta Phi.
Fraternity visitors from other colleges express surprise that the Colby chapter houses do not have dining rooms. That deliberate omission was the unanimous recommendation of the Committee of Twenty-One. It stemmed from the unsavory reputation of the fraternity "eating clubs" on the old campus. Both Dekes and Phi Delts operated such clubs in their houses, because only they had kitchen facilities until KDR occupied the Davis house; but other fraternities made deals with persons in town to supply diners for meals to be provided by some woman who was known to be an excellent cook. Whenever the deal was on a definite pay-by-week basis, individually to the boarding-house keeper, the operation went rather well; but when the fraternity took charge, through an appointed steward, of buying the supplies and paying the cooks, there was frequent trouble. A steward
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who was both a good buyer and a ruthless collector could run a successful club, but one who was too easy a mark for suppliers or not tough enough on his fra- ternity brothers who owed board bills would inevitably plunge the club into debt. It was no fun for an innocent alumnus, a couple of years after graduation, to be greeted at the railroad station, on his return for Commencement, by a deputy sheriff with a warrant to round up all persons who were members of some eating club that had left behind them an irate creditor. Determined that such tactics should end forever, the College decided that there should be no dining rooms in the fraternity houses on Mayflower Hill.
An important advance in fraternity affairs was made in 1938 with the forma- tion of the Interfraternity Council. Gradually the Student Council of the Men's Division had become so absorbed in fraternity matters that they came to neglect larger issues concerning all the male students. Furthermore, since the Council was composed largely of representatives of the fraternities it was open to the charge of continually playing fraternity politics. In 1938, at the persistent urging of the Dean of Men, the men students voted to set up two bodies: a student council elected by proportional ballot and representing all the men students, and an inter- fraternity council consisting of a representative from each active fraternity chapter, the faculty adviser of each chapter, and the Dean of Men. The faculty advisers and the Dean had no vote, but sat only in advisory capacity. The Dean of Men was for several years the permanent chairman, but after 1946 the chairmanship rotated among the undergraduate representatives in order of the fraternity found- ings.
The Interfraternity Council became exceedingly influential. It settled ami- cably the assignment of dance dates, a matter that had caused long wrangles and bitter feelings for many years. It worked out a plan of delayed pledging and second semester initiation, and when that plan did not work well it had the cour- age to scrap it and permit earlier pledging. It secured the adoption of a require- ment for a fixed scholastic average before a man could be initiated. It tackled the pernicious practice of "Hell Week," the physical hazing of initiates, and went far toward persuading all the fraternities to substitute "Help Week," during which the pledges were assigned to do work for churches, societies, and hospitals in Waterville. Not since the formation of the Interfraternity Council in 1938 has Colby been troubled by the "bad blood" that so often characterized relationship among the fraternities in previous years.
On every college campus where fraternities exist one hears the repeated cry of "fraternity politics." In the 1910's at Colby one used often to hear about "fra- ternity combines" and how some worthy man was kept out of student office be- cause two or more fraternities "ganged up" against him. Doubtless there was some truth in those statements, but not so much as has been alleged. As anyone knows, it is not easy to assure that any group will vote as a bloc if the voting is protected by secret ballot. Fraternity politicians might make a deal, but they could never be sure that the voting membership would sustain it.
It is historically interesting that it was a later President of Colby, Franklin W. Johnson, who as editor of the Echo in his senior year as a Colby student, at- tacked boldly the fraternity politics of his day and won a lasting victory. The issue concerned the editorship of the college annual, the Colby Oracle. The fra- ternities had made a deal that the editorship should rotate among them, as an improvement on the older, politics-laden method of allowing the outgoing editorial board to select its successor. Young Frank Johnson thought the new plan was
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merely swapping one political set-up for another. In the editorial column of the Echo he therefore proposed that a plan be worked out to provide that, with faculty approval, nominees would be presented on merit, the final election to be left to popular student vote. With the wisdom and the courage that years later marked him as a great college administrator, Franklin Johnson, the student, wrote in 1891:
Fraternity politics plays too large a part in college affairs. Many col- lege interests are hazarded in order that fraternities may profit. But today we see fraternity men taking a broader view, recognizing the selfish- ness that has prompted their actions in the past. There is a growing sentiment against fraternity combinations and their kindred evils. The students, while no less loyal to their fraternities, are becoming more loyal to the College. The consequence will be better publications, bet- ter athletics, better student activities in all areas.
As this history goes to press, college fraternities all over the land are under attack as they have never been before. Can they survive another century? Can the discriminatory constitutions, the expensive national offices, and some of the inevitable snobbery survive against the rising American demand for equality, for less bureaucracy, for less adherence to conformity? Or will the fraternities so change with the times that their ideals of brotherhood, their practice of mutual helpfulness, and their value as incubators of leaders in American society will con- found the critics and assure the system's preservation? Time, and only time, will tell.
SORORITIES
As soon as women were admitted into Colby in 1871, it was inevitable that they would soon organize into societies just as had the men. By that time the pattern of the Greek letter fraternity had become accepted, and it was that pattern the women decided to follow.
In the fall of 1874, Colby's first woman student, Mary Low, was a senior, but there were four girls in the Class of 1877 who would have three more years in college and who could form the nucleus of a permanent society similar to the Dekes, Zetes, and DU's among the men. They were also determined that their organization should become a national society for college women. The faculty approved, and on November 9, 1874, Sigma Kappa was born. At first meetings were held in the homes of local members, but with the opening of Ladies Hall in 1886 weekly sessions met in that building. The society had always regarded its true founders as Mary Low, Louise Coburn, Elizabeth Hoeg, Ida Fuller, and Frances Mann. "For years after the admission of women into Colby the number of women students remained small, and practically every girl became a Sigma."+
In 1890 fifteen girls entered the college. Since Sigma Kappa had voted to limit its total membership to 25, it could not take all of them. The society there- fore decided to establish in the college a second chapter called Beta of Sigma Kappa. The new girls were divided between Alpha and Beta chapters, and in 1892 a third chapter, Gamma, was set up.
The fall of 1893 saw thirty-three girls in the freshman class. Even the re- sources of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma could not absorb them all. Two roads were open to Sigma Kappa: either continue intramural expansion with additional chap- ters, or limit membership to conventional size for a single chapter, encourage the
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formation of other Colby sororities, and look for Sigma Kappa expansion in other colleges. The sorority chose the latter course. They decided to fill the ranks of Alpha and take no more members into Beta and Gamma.
In 1895 Sigma Kappa got its first regular meeting room, in the home of Professor Samuel K. Smith on upper College Avenue. The next year they moved to a room at Dr. George Pepper's on Pleasant Street, but in the spring they changed to a suite on Appleton Street. In 1897 they took rooms in the Boutelle Block on Main Street, staying there until 1900, when they transferred to the Carleton Block.
In 1904 Sigma Kappa became a national society with the installation of a chapter at Boston University. This was followed by a chapter at Syracuse in 1905, and by three more in 1906: at George Washington University, Illinois Wesleyan, and the University of Illinois. In 1910 the sorority reached the Pacific coast with chapters at the Universities of California and Washington. By the time of its semi-centennial in 1924, Sigma Kappa had organized thirty-two chapters beyond Colby. The sorority's first Grand President was Miss Florence Dunn, Colby 1896. Until 1912 successive grand presidents were all members of the Colby chapter.
In 1918 Sigma Kappa accepted as a permanent philanthropic project the Maine Seacoast Mission. Interest in it had begun in a small way during World War I, when the sorority helped a few girls from Maine islands to complete a high school course on the mainland. Soon the sorority was raising enough money to support a resident worker in the mission, and Miss Lucy King became Sigma Kappa's representative on the islands. For many years the head of the Maine Seacoast Mission has been a Colby man, Rev. Neal Bousfield, 1929.
In 1895 a group of Colby girls led by Inez Bowler, Sarah Cummings, and Hattie Fossett formed a local society called Beta Phi. In 1906 the local society obtained a national charter from Chi Omega and became the Beta chapter of that sorority. It soon enjoyed marked prosperity, and many of its alumnae have been leaders in Colby affairs.
For this historian Colby's third sorority has peculiar attraction because his wife was a charter member and his daughter joined it in 1944, and for more than twenty years he was professionally associated with its most distinguished alumna, Dean Ninetta Runnals. A local group, formed in 1904, became in 1908 a chapter of the national sorority Delta Delta Delta. In 1907, Miss Grace Bacon, a young graduate of Wesleyan (then a coeducational college) came to Colby as Assistant to the Dean of Women. She was a Tri Delt and used her influence to secure for the local club a charter from that sorority. Besides Miss Runnals and Eleanor Creech (later Mrs. Marriner) there were sixteen other charter members. The first president of Alpha Upsilon chapter of Delta Delta Delta was Miss Runnals. It was Tri Delt that originated one of the most popular of Colby's annual social events - the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Perhaps they were stimulated by a visit to the campus of Al Capp, Lil' Abner's creator. In 1959 the Colby chapter won per- manent possession of the Tri Delt national scholarship cup, having for the third consecutive semester held the highest scholarship standing among all the chap- ters of Delta Delta Delta.
In 1917 a local sorority named Gamma Delta secured a charter from the Phi Mu sorority and was installed by members of that sorority's chapter at the Uni- versity of Maine. They had room in the building on Main Street occupied by Thomas Business College. The Colby chapter of Phi Mu became inactive during World War II in 1944.
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In 1904, inspired by Dean Grace Berry, a group of girls had started the Cosmopolitan Club, an organization designed to absorb all non-sorority girls in the college. Within two years it had become a partially secret society called Hypatia. In 1910 it became a Greek letter local and was admitted into the Colby Panhellenic Council as Alpha Phi Alpha. In 1911 the group rented a downtown hall for headquarters. On June 10, 1915, the local society was installed as a chapter of the national sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. They at once secured larger quarters at the corner of Main and Silver Streets, and took their place among the other Colby sororities.
When the College moved to Mayflower Hill four sororities were still active: Sigma Kappa, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, and Alpha Delta Pi; and those four were still the Colby sororities in 1960. Colby has never permitted sorority houses, which perhaps accounts for the relative weakness of the sorority system compared with fraternity strength. But that weakness has valuable compensation in the greater unity that prevails among the women. Membership in a sorority is rightly prized, but the inevitable exclusiveness that springs from residence in a separate house is lacking. Sororities at Colby are properly kept in subordinate status to the interests of the Women's Division as a whole.
Plans for the Women's Union on Mayflower Hill called for a meeting room for each sorority on the top floor. The four sororities took much pride in the fur- nishing and decorating of those quarters, which helped to increase interest in the sororities, yet made all four an integral part of women's activities in the women's major building.
HONOR SOCIETIES
Brief space must now be given to the so-called honor societies. The oldest of those truly distinguished as rewards of merit is Phi Beta Kappa, whose Colby chapter was founded in 1895 under the stimulus of Professor J. William Black, who served continuously as the chapter secretary until 1921. During the quarter century of his service the society elected into membership 456 Colby men and women. Unlike many other chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the Colby chapter has never elected members of the junior class, reserving membership for the highest ranking seniors soon after the middle of the senior year. Every Colby president since 1907 has been a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Where the custom started of organizing "honor" societies whose members were chosen for popularity, no one seems to know, but the custom spread to most college campuses. In the early 1900's the Men's Division at Colby had three such societies, one for each of the three upper classes. They were self-perpetuating, in that each year's membership chose its successors, and so strong was the fra- ternity system that an equal number of members was selected from each fraternity. More appropriately they were called "feed societies" rather than honor societies, for their chief function seemed to be sumptuous eating, The sophomore society was called Upsilon Beta, the junior society the Druids, and the senior group was the Epicureans. Only the Druids professed any unselfish purpose; they agreed to be hosts to visiting athletic teams. Long before World War II had closed the fraternity houses, all three of the class societies had ceased to function.
Two societies among the women were counterparts of the men's "honor" groups: Kappa Alpha for seniors and Chi Gamma Theta for sophomores.
Very few Colby men living in 1960 remember the scandal of Theta Nu Epsilon half a century ago. It was professedly a "booze" society, though its members
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were usually bigger boasters than they were drinkers. It attempted to dominate college affairs by enlisting into secret membership men from each fraternity. Sev- eral national fraternities took action against TNE. For instance, ATO announced to all of its chapters in 1910 that proved membership in TNE would subject an ATO to expulsion from the fraternity.
In 1911, Wilford G. Chapman, Jr., a member of DKE who was editor of the Echo, felt that the time had come to expose TNE on the Colby campus. He proceeded to publish the names of certain TNE members and to demand edi- torially that the organization be banned from Colby. Although he was anony- mously threatened with a dire fate, Chapman was successful. The faculty took action and TNE disappeared.
After the move to Mayflower Hill there were organized two honor societies worthy of the name. The first was Cap and Gown, a group of senior women selected annually for their unselfish contributions to the cause of the College and of unity in the Women's Division. Blue Key became their counterpart in the Men's Division, and many students looked forward to the "tapping" of new members of those two societies as the most interesting feature of the annual Recognition Assembly.
Colby's societies, fraternities and sororities have not been an unmixed bless- ing, but through the years their positive contribution has far outweighed their short- comings. Perhaps the best application of true fraternity spirit at Colby comes just before the student receives his diploma at the graduation exercises when the Presi- dent of the College declares in Latin that these young men and women are "non jam discipuli sed fratres et socii" -- no longer pupils, but brothers and associates. It is a significant reminder that stronger than the ties of fraternity or sorority are the bonds of membership in the big Colby family.
CHAPTER XLIII
The Library
I LF religious affiliation seems to have been the feature most common to Amer- ican colleges founded before the Civil War, the next most common feature was certainly a library. Springing as the American college did from British roots, it was unthinkable that it would not imitate the libraries that had been built up for several centuries in the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. In fact there is con- siderable truth in the statement that Harvard University had its beginning in the private library of John Harvard.
It has been stated that "the early records of Colby refer only occasionally to the library."1 Quite the reverse is true. Although no library catalogue earlier than 1835 is extant, and although the archives contain no librarian's report earlier than 1844, the records of both faculty and trustees for the first decade of the Col- lege, 1820 to 1830, contain many references to the library. Nor is it quite fair to say that the library "was not well chosen, being made up of such books as our friends could best spare."? That statement ignores the important fact that the gifts to the library in its first decade were not exclusively theological, but contained items of general worth.
In the first year of its operation, the College had only two faculty members, President Jeremiah Chaplin and Avery Briggs; yet Briggs was immediately desig- nated as librarian. Because of the emphasis on theological studies during the early years, it was natural that the first gifts should come from ministers and should be volumes of sermons and other religious works. But by no means were those books valueless. Among the earliest gifts were the 1761 folio of the Com- plete Theological Works of Isaac Ambrose, published in Edinburgh; Lyman Beecher's Lectures on Intemperance; an early London edition of Butler's Analogy; a copy of Calvin's Institutio Christianae Religionis, printed at Heidelberg in 1572; the 1677 London edition of Caryl's Exposition of Job; John Cotton's Ecclesiastical History; Cotton Mather's Essays; and most surprisingly, thirteen volumes of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. A few extracts from official college records show that the library was not forgotten, even when the college had fewer than fifty students.
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