ching, woman is not to be a very important sector in
the learned professions in the near future.

=Undergraduate life--Fraternities=

Nothing differentiates more clearly the American college from European
institutions of higher education than the kind of non-scholastic
activities undertaken by the students. From the very beginning the
college became a place of residence as well as of study for students
from a distance, and the dormitory was an essential element in its
life. With increase in numbers, especially after the Revolution, when
all distinctions of birth or family were abolished, students naturally
divided into groups. The first fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, was founded
in 1776 at William and Mary, with a patriotic and literary purpose,
and membership in it has practically ever since been confined to
graduates who have attained high scholastic standing. When one speaks
of college fraternities, however, he does not refer to Phi B K, but to
one of the intercollegiate social organizations which have chapters in
several colleges organized somewhat upon the plan of a club and whose
members live in a chapter house. The first such fraternity was founded
at Yale in 1821, but it was limited to the senior class. The three
fraternities established at Union in 1825-1827 form the foundation of
the present system. The fraternities spread rapidly and are today very
numerous. There are about thirty of national importance, having about
a thousand chapters and a quarter of a million members. The fraternity
system is bitterly attacked as being undemocratic, expensive, emphasizing
social rather than scholastic attainments, and, generally speaking, a
divisive rather than a unifying factor in college life. Hence some
colleges have abolished it. Fraternities have been defended, however,
as promoting close fellowship and even helping to develop character.
So strongly are they entrenched, not only in undergraduate but also in
alumni affection, that they probably form a permanent element in
college life.

=Religious life=

The early American college was primarily a place to prepare for the
ministry, and personal piety was a matter of official enforcement. For
a number of reasons religious zeal declined in the eighteenth century.
After the Revolution, under the influence of the new political
theories and of French skepticism the percentage of students
professing to be active Christians fell very low. In the early
nineteenth century the