1912–13 Volume 37 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

THE SCROLL 543Connecticut, The first session was held in Hartford and a smoker at theTrinity chapter house, a second session and a luncheon at the Hotel Taft atNew Haven, another smoker at the house of the Wesleyan chapter at Middletown,and the final session at New Haven, with a banquet at the HotelTaft, Among the acts of the convention were including In the Secretary'sduties the visiting of each chapter twice a year at the least, and the other advisoryand regulative supervision pertaining to the office of 'traveling secretary'with salary and expenses; the adoption of the final draft of the memorial serviceto be added to the ritual; the postponement or rejection of four applicationsfor a charter; the announcement that the National Council had passedfavorably on the deferred petition from Allegheny, which is now up to theseveral chapters for unanimous acceptance or rejection,"As sororities have recently entered the Universities of Wyoming and Nevada,it may be of interest to readers of THE SCROLL to give some facts about theseInstitutions, culled from the AAA Trident. Wyoming was opened In 1887. Alldepartments, including engineering and agricultural departments, are locatedat Laramie. The university has nine buildings which cost about $400,000, alibrary of 29,000 volumes, 36 professors. There are a weekly paper, a monthlyand a quarterly magazine and an annual. The sororities are H B #, 1910,and AAA, 1913, The Trident reports that a local society for men has beenchartered A T fi, and another has, "with the help of a local at the Universityof Arizona, organized a new national, B H O, and is known as the RockyMountain National". Nevada was opened In 1874. All departments, includingengineering, mining and agricultural departments, are located at Reno. Thevalue of the university's property is about $500,000, the yearly income, $190,000,There are 54 professors and 277 students, 140 of the latter being women. Thepreparatory school has been abolished, the only sorority is A A A, 1913, asidefrom two local sororities. There are two local societies for men—T. H. P. O,,1890, and 2 A, 1896, the latter a former petitioner to ^ A 0.The B 0 n house at Missouri was burned in January, 1912. The chapterhas displayed wonderful enterprise in rebuilding. The insurance money and themoney received from the sale of the lot amounted to $5,300 after the debt onthe house had been paid. Another lot was bought for $4,000, the active memberssubscribed about $900, contributions were solicited from alumni, and $12,-000, was borrowed, to be repaid in nine yearly Installments. Ground wasbroken for a new house In April, 1912, and the house was formally opened onFebruary 27, 1913, the total cost of the new property was $31,000. Picturesand plans in the April Beta, Theta Pi show that the house is one of the mostbeautiful and admirably arranged chapter houses we have ever seen illustrated.It is a perfect piece of colonial architecture. The walls are of four shades ofmott brick, laid In Flemish bond. The K A house at Missouri and the B 0 IIhouse at Knox were burned last winter. The fact that one or more fraternityhouses are burned every year should impress upon chapters the great importanceof keeping their houses fully insured. Our province presidents and chapterhouse commissioner should see that this duty Is attended to.Several years ago the legislature of Indiana passed a bill, introduced bySamuel K, Ruick, Past President of 4> A 0, which exempts fraternity housesfrom taxation. We believe that similar acts have been passed by the legislaturesof Delaware and Kansas. The following is quoted from the Kansas correspondenceof the Phi Gamma Delta:Owing to the fact that the man who was going to bring a bill before the statelegislature to abolish fraternities at Kansas was not elected last fall, we escapedhaving to push a fight for our existence. A bill was introduced, however, to repealthe one introduced by "Billy" Morgan a few years ago which exempts fraternityhouses from taxation. The grounds upon which the Pan-Hellenic is fighting therepeal, and upon which Brother Morgan originally made the bill, are that fraternityhouses are for literary and dormitory purposes, and since the State does not furnish adormitory or suitable meeting places for students, the fraternities have had to takeit upon themselves to supply this lack. Brother Sheffield Ingalls, Lieutenant-Gov-