Interfraternity Council Celebrates Golden Anniversary One hundred-twenty years ago, a member of the University of Michigan faculty was strolling through the Black Forest (or what is now Forest Hill Ceme- tery) and happened to stumble across a log cabin, conspicuous only by its isolation. Upon investigating, he was refused admittance. On, an average day this year an executive or ad- ministrator of the University can walk into a modern, well-lighted office of the Student Activities Building- the initials on the window are IFC. Inside are a dozen or more college students working on any number of projects, talking about FPA, FBA, the Administra- tive Board, the Executive Committee, District Meet- ings, the Alumni IFC and a score of other organiza- tions unheard of a century or more ago. What the administrator didn't know back in 1845 while taking his leisurely hike through the trees was that he had discovered what would later become the Michigan fraternity system-a system which would three times during the coming years be selected as the best system of its kind in the United States or Canada. This year marks the Golden Anniversary of the Interfraternity Council of the University of Michigan. The record indicates "Fifty Years of Progress." When Beta Theta Pi and Chi Psi became the first fraternities to appear on the Michigan campus in 1845, the University had only been in Ann Arbor eight years. The college department had been open only since 1841, and the enrollment was well under a hun- dred. Social life on campus had few organized outlets, with only an occasional reception being sponsored by the faculty. At the same time the strongly paternal- istic and puritanical philosophy held by educators of those early days greatly inhibited student life and channeled it into purely academic veins. Many of the more mature students chaffed at the restrictions, as students at campuses in the East had been doing for decades. The restless and undirected energies of these young men were attracted by the arrival of the Greek- letter societies on the campus in 1845, when the Chi Psi log cabin was built near what is today the Forest Hill Cemetery. Beta Theta Pi and Chi Psi preceded Alpha' Delta Phi, which appeared in the summer of 1846 and was the third fraternity to be established on this campus. Before the Civil War, fraternity men included two- thirds of the students at the University of Michigan. In 1897, as a result of the rate of increase in enroll- ment, the 265 fraternity men represented only a fourth of the male enrollment at the University, not a large fraternity system but a beginning. The decades of the '80's and '90's witnessed a rapid growth in the number of fraternity chapters and members. With greater numbers of students being admitted and a disproportionate increase in the number of men, the fraternity system began to prosper. The University of Michigan was ranked along with Cornell as the strongest fraternity school in the country. As the University proceeded in its second decade of the new century, with the students now numbering well in the thousands and the coeds becoming an ac- cepted sight, an increasing number of new fraternities found their way into the stream of campus life. In 1914, the Interfraternity Council was founded by rec- ommendation of the Committee on Student Affairs. By 1922 there were 1500 fraternity men on the Michigan campus. The average house had 30 members. Fraternity men continued to remain prominent in all phases of University life, and a greater conscious- ness of fraternity responsibility, together with im- proved and broadened relations with University offi- cials were the results of the establishment of the Interfraternity Council. When the campus government was overhauled in 1955, the new Student Government Council significantly included the president of the IFC among its ex-officio members. The two first prizes won by Michigan in the last decade, 1953-54 and 1954-55, in the national competition among collegiate fraternity systems fur- ther attests to the remarkable strides which the University and her fraternities, working together, have made. Critics of the fraternity system are still many, as college education falls more and more into the public spotlight and more people become aware of this phenomenon, unique to American colleges and universities. MICHIGAN FRATERNITY SYSTEM-A repeat winner of the "Iron Man Trophy" for the best sys- tem in the nation. 1845-FRTERN ITIES at MICHIGAN-1965 TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1965 SUPPLEMENT TO THE MICHIGAN DAILY FOUR PAGES 120 YEARS OF THE FRATERNITY TRADITION What are the Enduring Values in the College Fraternity? This four-page section is paid for in full by the Univer- sity of Michigan's Interfra- ternity Council. SCHOLASTIC EgCELLENCE: The basic purpose of college-to obtain an education-demands at least "passing" grades. Modern fra- ternities seek ,not merely minimum scholastic requirements, but achievement above the average. With counsel and guidance from older members, an environment that encourages diligent study, and special incentives for superior scholarship, the chapter makes perhaps its most vital contribution to the individual student. EXPERIENCES IN EDUCATION: A valuable supplement to 4 formal classroom teaching is provided by the fraternities of America. A man becomes fully educated only through learning to play an im- portant role in life with other men. The fraternity supplies such training. THE ROAD TO MATURITY: Since its earliest days, the fra- ternity system has taught and exemplified the idea that each member is a man, not a boy, and must assume adult responsibilities. In his chapter house-his "home away from home"-the young student grows to maturity, an invaluable prelude to any successful career. BUILDING AND SHAPING: A great institution, it has been often said, it but the lengthened shadow of a great man. Many great men have left their indelible marks -on the history and traditions of fraternities. The meaningfulness of their lives is translated into the building and shaping of young men as the Nation's future leaders. BONDS OF FELLOWSHIP: Beyand all else a fraternity offers close,,warm friendship. This means much to the incoming freshman, who iay know few if any other students. The bonds of fellowship gain deeper meaning-with shared efforts in college and expand to all mem- bers in later years. ENCOURAGEMENT AND GUIDANCE: To live together har- moniously, men must strive together. Each man in a chapter benefits by the encouragement and guidance of his brothers, and enthusiastic- ally supports their efforts-as individuals and as a team-whenever the opportunity arises. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: A man is known by his traits of character. The time when these reach final development is that event- ful period between boyhood and manhood. In those formative years, the fraternity can inspire sound living habits through example and constructive direction. DISCIPLINE AND RESPONSIBILITY: Noblesse oblige-the be- lief that superior rank demands honorable conduct-is the mark of a truly educated man. The right to budget one's time, the acceptance of responsibility, the ability to rise above distractions, all require disci- pline, self-imposed. These are lessons the fraternity teaches. TRAINING IN LEADERSHIP: Within the chapter, men gain valuable experience in leadership, as they learn to make decisions and carry out worthwhile programs through careful planning and dynamic command. STRENGTH THROUGH ASSOCIATION: America is unique in the multitude of voluntary organizations formed for purposes of mu- tual helpfulness, as the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville noted 125 years ago. Even then, college fraternities were a factor in higher education. They have gained strength through the association of men with kindred interests and ideals. HUMAN RELATIONS: Man's meteoric progress in science, due to intense research, calls for equal progress in human understanding. A fraternity is'a research laboratory in human relations: distilling men's views, precipitating joint action, catalyzing thought, evaporat- ing prejudice, and blending effort. BROADENING INTERESTS: As the world shrinks, men can no longer live insulated from the problems of peoples in other lands. A fraternity builds unity out of diversity, broadening the interests of its members in the world at large. COMPATIBILITY AND STANDARDS: That which elevates man is to be encouraged always. Fraternities believe that standards of con- duct, responsibility and attainment, voluntarily accepted by men who have chosen one another for compatibility and common purpose, provide a positive incentive that enhances the college curriculum. CONSIDERATION FOR OTHERS: Group effort succeeds only in an atmosphere of cooperation and consideration for the rightsof others. In a fraternity the members learn that each must beahis full share acccvding to his talents. FRATERNITY IDEALS: The founders of every college fraternity were moved by the same spirit of idealism. They decried the desire to get without giving, to achieve without working. They challenged men, at a young and impressionable age to pledge themselves to support a code of ideals of enduring value. The same challenge exists today. THE BASIC TRUTHS: The American way of life stands as the great bastion of freedom in a world of unrest. The basic truths of democracy were drafted -into our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Supporting and living according to these truths is a solemn obligation every fraternity man assumes on initiation. THE ENRICHING YEARS: Bright college days soon pass, but their memory remains for a lifetime..And those campus memories are enriched by the unique adventure in brotherhood that is fraternity living. "The genius of education is that it equips one for successful living. After forty-two years as a frater- nity member 1 submit that as a partner of higher education it con- tributes much to education's ulti-a mate goal." TOM C.CLARK Former AttQrney General of the United States Delta Tau.Delta RUSH-The first step toward Fraternity Membership _. . . .. - :. : .:1._:. r'i:rij: :"" -.::". : .-. y*Wi{: +.