Alpha and Omega

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer will names be withheld.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

One phase of the House Plan has been conspicuously neglected in all the columns devoted to that subject. I refer to the fate of the many clubs and fraternities at Harvard under the House Plan. It is difficult to make any predictions, since there is so little positive data from which to predict. Nevertheless it appears certain that the new system, once instituted, will have an immediate and important effect on all the undergraduate social organizations at Harvard. It seems everyone is agreed that the outlook for the fraternities and clubs is serious, not to say alarming. It would be desirable to know what attitude the administration will adopt towards the existence of so many organizations, and what steps will be taken to guarantee these organizations an opportunity to continue to function and exist.

There is little point in discussing at length the value and importance of these organizations, both to themselves and as part of Harvard College. Nor is it necessary to show why they have a right to live. Every one of them, it is safe to assume, has justified its existence as a social institution. Yet when the House Plan threatens to force most of them, perhaps all of them, to give up the ghost, it seems only fair that the administration be duly considerate of all the circumstances, and protect the interests of the many organizations which have been so important in undergraduate life, and which at all times have worked at one with the stated policies of the faculty and administration.

From present building plans it seems likely that the college will soon have enough rooming facilities for all of its students. It seems likely, moreover, that a certain amount of suasion, if not compulsion, will be brought to bear to have students reside in Houses and Dormitories exclusively. If this should be the case, what are the clubs going to do with their clubhouses, which represent an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars? Probably very few of these houses are endowed, and even those that are owned outright will be a terrific financial burden to their owners, if it is impossible to make the houses self-sustaining through rental income. Very few organizations are financially independent to the extent that they can afford to use their houses exclusively for social purposes. A certain income is mandatory, which means that initiation fees will have to be increased to so exorbitant a degree that membership will off that account be not desirable. The alternative will be for the fraternities and clubs to disband, after selling the old homestead at a considerable loss. Yours Truly,   H. J. Freed '30.