“He who enters selfishly here – endangers” is the quote from University of Illinois Dean of Women Maria Leonard which appears on a small card titled “A Code.” It was found in a 1938 scrapbook put together by a young fraternity woman who attended her organization’s convention 75 years ago.
Amazingly, the sentiments on the card are as true today as they were three-quarters of a century ago. The card reads:
A Code:
F Fellowship
R Responsibility
A Altruism
T Tolerance
E Earnest Endeavor
R Refinement
N Nobility of Character
I Individual Development
T Truthfulness
Y Your Best Self
L Loyalty
I Inspiration
F Faith
E Excellence
Dean Leonard spoke twice at the convention. One talk was “Calling All Youth” and the other was “Training for Leadership.” A roundtable discussion followed the latter talk.
Maria Leonard became a member of Pi Beta Phi while she was an undergraduate at Butler University. She served as Dean of Women at the University of Illinois from 1923-1945 and she founded the honorary fraternity Alpha Lambda Delta in 1924 (To read more about her see http://wp.me/p20I1i-y3.)
There is a mystery here, too, unless the answer is so obvious I can’t see it. I have no idea what the Eta Alpha Chi crest means. If anyone knows, please fill me in on it.
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.
