Page:The Fraternity and the Undergraduate (1923).pdf/213

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they have previously been registered. Their work or their conduct it is frequently thought would be improved by a change. Even when the man comes of his own desire and planning, he is not infrequently uncertain of himself, vacillating, not satisfied with his course or his surroundings, anxious to do something new or something different from what was offered in the college in which he had previously been registered. Such a malcontent is not likely to fit in harmoniously with the men of the new chapter, and not likely to be a help if he is affiliated. Of course there are men who change colleges as they change their minds, thoughtfully and carefully, because they feel that the change will help them better to accomplish the very definite purpose which they wish to accomplish. These men are likely to fit in when they come to a new chapter and likely to show interest and initiative; their number, however, is small as compared with the total number of those who transfer.

"But the whole purpose of the fraternity is changed and frustrated," a junior said to me today, "if a man loses his influence and his standing in a fraternity by going from one chapter to another. In my fraternity the doors are always open, and any brother who wishes may enter and receive a warm welcome." This doctrine is all very well both as to sound and sense, if the fraternity