 Marshall joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity , participated in literary and debating societies , and founded a Democratic Club . He secured a position on the staff of the college newspaper , the Geyser , and began writing political columns defending Democratic policies . In 1872 he wrote an unfavorable column about a female lecturer at the school , accusing her of " seeking liberties " with the young boys in their boarding house . She hired lawyer Lew Wallace , the author of Ben @-@ Hur , and filed a suit demanding that Marshall pay her $ 20 @,@ 000 for libel . Marshall traveled to Indianapolis in search of a defense lawyer and employed future United States President Benjamin Harrison , then a prominent lawyer in the area . Harrison had the suit dropped by showing that the charges made by Marshall were probably true . In Marshall 's memoir , he wrote that when he approached Harrison to pay his bill , his lawyer informed him that he would not charge him for the service , but instead gave him a lecture on ethics . 
