FRATERNITY OF PHI GAMMA DELTA ^JTaEDOilE 0 JUN 13 W67 tSEDTTG OHI TJSHA - SIEOIAL ISSUE general headquarters WASHINGTON. D. C- 2003P Alter talking i-rlth several campus leaders a few weeks ago, I omme to the conclusion that President Martin had made certain statements which I related to you in the last issue of the Ohi ^ama. I have since talked irith Dr. Martin and I must novr apolo gize for my remarks irhich in most cases were not accurate accounts of his statements and in any case i-r^re quite slanderous. Dr. Martin is concerned over the actions of ma-ny of the stu dents on party weekends bjit this would only pertain to fraternities if he felt that they encouraged such behavior. At our Pig Dinner last year and at the opening convocation this j'^ear, Dr. Martin expressed the opinion that fraternities must be a positive influence to the academic atmosphere of the College and their fa/ce on this canpus depended on their ability to enhance such an atmosphere. He assured me todajr that he has no'", made any more recent statements contradicting these earlier speeches. I believe "tery strongly that in spite of our shortcomings, Phi Gamma Delta is a,n institution worthy of a place on the Union College campus. This is whjr I reacted quickly to what I believed to be an a";:tack on the Fraternity. I have since been proven wrong and now I am trying to repair what nay well be irreiKsi-anie damage to the ths name of a far more important instlLutlon and its pres ident, Dr. Martin, idiich has occurred because of my hasty actions. The fate of Union College must be foremost in our thoughts as the College faces many difficulties; one of the "most serious being competition from state-supported schools. I believe that it is our duty to lend all "the support we co.n to the College to repay it for its contributionrj to us, as individuals for our education, and as a fraternity for an attitude best exemplified bjr the fact that it made it possible fot the undergraduates to be housed in a, beau tiful, new building at no cost to the undergraduates. Perhaps I have been too ready to criticize the administra.tion while over looking thfeir good points. Fraternally yours, PSRGE! Robert S. Farnum * * re i'e a EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER TO BROTHER FARHUM IJRITTEN BI BILL ZERI-IAN "As you will remember, and as I "bhinlc all of the Union fa.raily people who were present to hear me speak when I visited the college vrili remember, I explained in some detail that fraternities must p progra'm themselves so as to be an asset to the college not only academically but socially as irell. "I believe it is time that the fraternity leadership at Union became more concerned about the college and through the leader ship that I am sure you have available to 3'"ou, established a program which trill reflect all that is good a,nd peiesonal in frs.ternal behavior. "Bob, when and if fraternities cease to exist at any campus, the record trill shotf that the fraternities themselves played a major role in their demise by being thoughtless about others and not remembering the important tenets trhich have promulgated the system for over 100 jrears. \r\nSpecial Edition June 5, 1967 TO THE ALUMI OP CHI CHAPTER OP PHI GAMIiA DELTA EiAK years ago when I came to Union College as Dean of Students, one of my first and greatest problems was how to bring the fraternities back from the brink of complete selfdestruction, Many of you will recall the financial morass that faced most chapters; the many ma;5or housing problems; the lack of cohesion among and Tfithin the fraternities, and the diff iculties of the social patterns of that time. Uithin a matter of months, as I attempted to deal with these and other problems, I learned that students had started saying that I was antifraternity and had been brought to the College to get rid of fraternities. Now, eight years later, our new President, Dr. Harold Martin is the sub;3ectoof the same kind of speculation. I can assure you that the President has made no statement that in any way can be construed as being opposed to fraternities. He has spoken many times about his hopes for leading Union forward as an outstanding educational institution. As an integral part of the College, fraternities should also move ahead. The President, the faculty, some of the students themselves, and I have been critical of wanton destruction and abuse of fraternity quarters and furnishings; excessive noise causing disturbance to nearby residents, and public demonstrations of excessive drink ing. It seems to me that these criticisms do not qualify as anti-fraternity sentiments in any stretch of the imagination. It does suggest that fratemity men recognize that there are faults vjithin the fraternity system, and that they tend to con fuse criticism of these faults ifith attitudes to>7ard fraternities in general. In point of fact. President Martin has stated that he believes that small group living and lea.rning situations are probably the best living and learning situations to be found in higher education today. Uithin the next school year the President, fraternity leaders, alumni and I will be seeking a better understanding of our goals and purposes, and a general strengthening of the fraternities in all of their operations, I mil welcome your suggestions and continued support for the Union College fraternity system. C. Edward Pollock Dean of Students Union College