Page Eight

T HE MI CH IGAN DA ILY

Sunday, April 28, 1957

Page.EighTHEMCHIGANDAILYrSund, Anri 17

I

BEST ONE ON CAMPUS
During Pledgeship, Chi Chi Chi Builds Unity and Security

By RICHARD TAUB
} Daily Staf Writer
{W HAT MAKES a good fraterni-
ty? This is an intriguing ques-
tion, one people seldom trouble to
examine.
There are some for whom "fra-
ternity" and "good" are equated,
others for whom "fraternity" and
'evil" are synonymous. The form-
er position is presented most often
and eloquently by interfraternity
councils, national affiliated or-
ganizations, schools with fraterni-
ties, and old grads, for whom rv-
erything about college looks gold-
en when seen through the misty
haze of time.
The latter position is most often
espoused by people who didn't
'make" a fraternity, people
troubled about bigotry, anti-so-
's'*cials, and others worried about the
harmful effects of group conform-
ty.
Perhaps the best way to make a
value judgment is to examine a
-11

fraternity carefully, in its many
aspects, then weigh the good and
evil, both of which arepresent.
For the pm'pose of this story, a
close examination will be made of
a fraternity which is not located
on this campus.
CHI CHI CHI, we'll call it, is a
"real fraternity." It is ack-
nowledged to be one of the best
houses on campus by everyone
who knows anything about such
organizations. This is a particu-
larly great feat, because the
school at which it's located is a
fraternity campus.
It has 50 Greek organizations a
compared with 42 at the Univer-
sity, with membership averaging
around 100 per house, consistently
more than this campus.
Chi Chi Chi has more men i
activities than any other fratern-
ity, and fraternities run most of
the activities. Th members, any
coed will tell you, are all "perfect
gentlemen" and a "nice bunch of
boys."
They're always in the top three
fraternities scholastically, in ath'
letics and are always rated highly
by the dean.
Perhaps the best description of
Chi Chi Chi is one mind, one soul,
one heart and about 100 bodies.
Visitors to the house will immedi-
ately have their suit-cases "whisk-
ed away" by some pledge who must
have crawled out of the wood-
work. He is immediately beset by
a group of smiling, handshaking
individuals, all eager to help in
whatever way they can.
After establishing the guests in
a room, some eager pledge will be
certain to draw a diagram for hi
visitors so they might find their
beds 'the members sleep dorm
style).
THE FIRST THING a visitor
must notice. aside from the
cheerful hospitality of the organi-
nation, is the lack of comfortable
furniture in the room, There are
desks, bureaus, closets, bookcases,
but no soft chairs or couches. Tq
relax. the fraternity member must
go either upstairs to the dorm
where everybody sleeps, or dowir
stairs to the living room or li-
brary.
The visitor's first meal is ruite
an unusual one. Ats i ut five times
ding ithe dittir, the presiden'
who sits on a specially designed
throne-like wouden chair, rings a
silver ell. Instantly the ho lu
b rsts "spontaneously" into song
-lustily voiin' tptise to Chi Chi
Chi.
THE 5'BASIS ot this uty1sectis
to lie in the pcdge period. Uf-
like tis campus, pledges lite i
the house, and the r ctis pa-
1ier sotnething proudly called
"personal servitue"
One active ioudly explamissd,
. . ii at two in the morning I
sant a spaghetti dinner irom a
Seitaiin resaimant downtown, cPil
wsake the pledge and send him for
it."
A pledge must do pretty much
anthing he is told. On a cold
night (in fraterity dorms all the
windows are kept open) pledges
hid to give up their blaiskets to
fraternity "uests
An active's call of "Pledge, do
push-ups" means the pledge is on
the floor until the Chi Chiis
satisfied.
Pledges aren't peirmitted to go
out duiin, the week. There ar
enforced. strictly enforced, study
hours every nig it from 6:30 to
10:3, I sn absolute quiet is r
-ured.
T e't permitted in ce
ta.in _,startsind of coure
mu bIhave in a manner which
is ill Sit honor to Chi Chi
r IACTIVE-pledge distinction
i s carried to mel as pljes
cat at a speial tibe. le plede
master sits at the head of the
table, and w atches the boys O

make sure they behave, or soote-
thing like that.
Set -RA'TERNITY, page 9

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