Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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fraternities and then you made a choice. I pledged in January of my freshman
year and I was actually inducted in November of my sophomore year.
Q: So this was a whole year process of making the decision.
A: About six months, really, Between January and November, with being out
for the summer, of course.
Q: Did you have a rigorous initiation into the . . .
A: Yes, it was quite rigorous, both mentally and physically, There was a lot
of physical attachment to joining a fraternity in those days, with paddles
and all that kind of thing, and then there were some guys who would put you
to some mental tests. My final week, some fellow asked me to learn a poem to
say that night. It was a poem, "~ungha Din," which was a little over a
hundred lines. He asked me to commit it to memory for a presentation during
that week and I did. I don't remember it now, because I learned it under
force, but I had to commit "~ungha Din" to memory for this guy. So, they put
you through a lot of both physical and mental stress and strain.
Q: Did you feel that it was helpful, the fraternity?
A: Well, I suppose at that day and time it had a great deal of meaning, to be
a fraternity man was a social kind of attribute and a lot of things are
geared along social lines, in addition to the school side of it. It was
helpful, I suppose. It gave you a close liaisan with a group of men throughout
the country. I still have a very good liaison with--as a matter of fact,
we had our annual convention here this year and I was the master of ceremonies
of a roast, we roasted one of our brothers, a fellow who is now the mayor of
Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, who is a Kappa also. Any town I go into, I can,
just through my Kappa contacts, be put in immediate contact with some of the
top people in that city. So I guess, from that vantage point, it has some
meaning.
Q: Was it helpful scholastically in the . . .
A: Well, I suppose I could have got along without it. There were nice guys
in there who you could study with and that kind of thing, some guys who
could give you some information about past examinations or things of that
sort, or particular teachers' foibles or attitudes or mentality, but that was
not on the major side. That was kind of a minor side of it, but it could
happen.
Q: You say there were three other fraternities on the . . .
A: Yes, three other fraternities and three other sororities. (pause) I
guess I chose the one I did because I sort of liked the guys in that one
better than I did the others. I guess that's what it was about.
Q: Did you know any of the . . .