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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 16, No. 17. September 11, 1952
[Introduction]
Courses in American universities needed to be a year longer than in Australasia to allow for twelve months of "sheer folly," Henry Kiker told an Australian audionce recently. Kiker and his colleague Hunter were too busy receiving a welcome from the nation by the Prime Minister, from the College by the Principal, from the N.Z.U.S.A. by its president, and from our students by our president to give any interviews, to "Salient" at least. However, we print this information from Australia in order to give you an insight on the present condition of American higher education.
Most of the "folly" comes from the highly organised Fraternity and Sorority organisations which are both like and very unlike our University Colleges. These organisations are run entirely by the students and are more like live-in social clubs.
When a freshman comes to the University he is taken around all the Fraternities and tilled up with beer. (The Sororities fill their freshers with equal quantities of tea). He then makes his choice of three Fraternties who in turn decide whether they want him.
There is an initiation period of half a year when the freshman may be asked to do anything, even scrubbing sidewalks with a tooth brush. During this period he is known as a "pledge."
Kiker said that it was the aim of every Sorority woman to get as many Fraternity pins as possible. After a number of dates the Fraternity [unclear: man] becomes "engaged to be enaged" to a Sorority woman and hands over his pin (which is incidentally a very expensive thing). The code says that this pin must be handed back if the girl gets another, but apparently this rarely happens.
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H. A. Kiker