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  #1  
Old 12-01-2008, 06:11 PM
dakotamamma dakotamamma is offline
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My Chapter is Clueless! Help!

I was recruited to join a new chapter of *** sorority (obviously trying to keep the name anonymous here, just in case), but it was very clear to me at the initiation ceremony that everyone is clueless. Even the elder sponsoring group didn't know what was going on - they repeatedly had to check their book, whisper to each other, etc., just to get through the ceremony. Most of the other members didn't know the ritual, handshake...anything! Now my pledge group is on it's own to continue until we are given member status, but it is becoming exceedingly clear that no one knows what is going on or what to do. I love what *** stands for - I did my research before joining - and I was so inspired by what we were told at ritual (even if those presenting didn't seem too familiar with it) that I really want to continue on this path. But no one seems to know what to do. HELP!
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Old 12-01-2008, 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by dakotamamma View Post
I was recruited to join a new chapter of *** sorority (obviously trying to keep the name anonymous here, just in case), but it was very clear to me at the initiation ceremony that everyone is clueless. Even the elder sponsoring group didn't know what was going on - they repeatedly had to check their book, whisper to each other, etc., just to get through the ceremony. Most of the other members didn't know the ritual, handshake...anything! Now my pledge group is on it's own to continue until we are given member status, but it is becoming exceedingly clear that no one knows what is going on or what to do. I love what *** stands for - I did my research before joining - and I was so inspired by what we were told at ritual (even if those presenting didn't seem too familiar with it) that I really want to continue on this path. But no one seems to know what to do. HELP!
Get off Greekchat and contact your HQ for help. We can't help you here.
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  #3  
Old 12-01-2008, 06:17 PM
KSUViolet06 KSUViolet06 is offline
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Originally Posted by dakotamamma View Post
I was recruited to join a new chapter of *** sorority (obviously trying to keep the name anonymous here, just in case), but it was very clear to me at the initiation ceremony that everyone is clueless. Even the elder sponsoring group didn't know what was going on - they repeatedly had to check their book, whisper to each other, etc., just to get through the ceremony. Most of the other members didn't know the ritual, handshake...anything! Now my pledge group is on it's own to continue until we are given member status, but it is becoming exceedingly clear that no one knows what is going on or what to do. I love what *** stands for - I did my research before joining - and I was so inspired by what we were told at ritual (even if those presenting didn't seem too familiar with it) that I really want to continue on this path. But no one seems to know what to do. HELP!

I know that my sorority assigns new colonies a Leadership Consultant whose sole job is to help them with anything they need, maybe you have someone like this that you can contact?
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  #4  
Old 12-01-2008, 06:17 PM
Kevin Kevin is offline
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The next time your elections come around, run for the office which is in charge of ritual. Actually hold practices. Make it a goal for ritual folks to memorize their parts.

Other than that, no, I really wouldn't recommend going behind the officers' backs and contacting HQ. Handle this from within.

If you have a good relationship with the ritual officer, you might want to talk to her about the situation -- maybe volunteer to assist her... but then again, that might just piss her off You'd know best.

Unless there's some NPC rule I don't know about (that happens a lot), I'm going to disagree with OTW. Handle this internally. If anyone contacts your HQ folks, it should be an officer.
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  #5  
Old 12-01-2008, 06:33 PM
Thetagirl218 Thetagirl218 is offline
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Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
The next time your elections come around, run for the office which is in charge of ritual. Actually hold practices. Make it a goal for ritual folks to memorize their parts.

Other than that, no, I really wouldn't recommend going behind the officers' backs and contacting HQ. Handle this from within.

If you have a good relationship with the ritual officer, you might want to talk to her about the situation -- maybe volunteer to assist her... but then again, that might just piss her off You'd know best.

Unless there's some NPC rule I don't know about (that happens a lot), I'm going to disagree with OTW. Handle this internally. If anyone contacts your HQ folks, it should be an officer.
I have to disagree with Kevin on this one. I believe most, if not all, NPC sororities have at least one, if not several Leadership consultants assigned to new chapters. When my chapter was founded we had one there permanently for a year.

If this was an older chapter than I would agree with Kevin and say handle it internally with the officers, but since it is a young group of newly initiated members, you should contact your sorority's HQ. Express your concerns in the appropriate way, and you should find the help you are looking for. Again, most NPC groups have ladies whose job it is to assist new chapters.
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  #6  
Old 12-01-2008, 07:04 PM
DGTess DGTess is offline
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I'm not reading NPC here - obviously there's an "initiation" and then "until we're given member status" - though I could be misinterpreting.

Contact your board of advisors, asking for help. Do so through your chapter's leadership.
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  #7  
Old 12-01-2008, 07:13 PM
UGAalum94 UGAalum94 is offline
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Originally Posted by DGTess View Post
I'm not reading NPC here - obviously there's an "initiation" and then "until we're given member status" - though I could be misinterpreting.

Contact your board of advisors, asking for help. Do so through your chapter's leadership.
I agree unless maybe the OP just doesn't know the terminology.
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  #8  
Old 12-01-2008, 09:31 PM
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honeychile honeychile is offline
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Is there another chapter of *** sorority within driving distance? Is it possible for you to call them, tell them that you are a member of the Whatever Chapter, and could you sit in on an Initiation? I would imagine that they would have to have your national hq sign off on it, but it's much, much better to initiate correctly than to leave the door open for hazing.
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  #9  
Old 12-01-2008, 10:21 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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It really sounds like you're making a mountain out of a molehill, quite frankly.

Many chapters only hold initiation and other pledge class related ceremonies once a year, and if the majority of the membership is new (which happens if there's a big graduating class) they don't know it by heart and it's going to be a bit of a cluster until there are people who go through it several times. It's not automatically going to be a perfectly choreographed Broadway number.

Are the majority of chapter members attending meetings and functions? Are women paying their dues? Is the chapter in good standing with Panhellenic and participating in campus-wide Greek functions? These things are far more important than if one of your sisters stumbles over a line in your ritual. It'll get smoothed out with time. Honeychile, this doesn't sound like a potential hazing issue, more of a "holy crap how do I pronounce that goddess's name" issue.

I agree with Kevin - when elections come around, run for chaplain or whatever the ritual conductor is called in your group. You aren't going to make ANY points as a new member/pledge running to HQ or complaining about how it came off - especially if you throw in things like "I did my research and know what this sorority stands for."
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  #10  
Old 12-01-2008, 11:00 PM
navane navane is offline
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It really sounds like you're making a mountain out of a molehill, quite frankly.

Many chapters only hold initiation and other pledge class related ceremonies once a year, and if the majority of the membership is new (which happens if there's a big graduating class) they don't know it by heart and it's going to be a bit of a cluster until there are people who go through it several times. It's not automatically going to be a perfectly choreographed Broadway number.
This is what I was thinking.

OP, if you're a new member of a new chapter, the women initiating you will likely have volunteered to conduct the ritual on your behalf and those women may not have even known each other before the installation.

You'll understand later that ritual is something that needs to be practiced; but, it's not always easy to get lots of practice in. Let's not forget that the sisters conducting ritual likely aren't oscar winning actresses, they're just people. People are human...they make mistakes. You'll find out when it's your turn.

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  #11  
Old 12-01-2008, 11:40 PM
IowaMullet IowaMullet is offline
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This is an important issue. Ritual is the conduit for new members to fully enter the organization. When ritual is performed without the greatest care and respect, it can diminish the new member's perspective of the sorority.

"I did all that for this?"

In other words: practice, practice, practice.
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  #12  
Old 12-02-2008, 12:01 AM
KSUViolet06 KSUViolet06 is offline
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Originally Posted by IowaMullet View Post
This is an important issue. Ritual is the conduit for new members to fully enter the organization. When ritual is performed without the greatest care and respect, it can diminish the new member's perspective of the sorority.

"I did all that for this?"

In other words: practice, practice, practice.

Something to think about, making mistakes and such during ritual doesn't always mean that people don't care about or respect it.

Sometimes people get rusty, and I'll agree though that running through it isimportant.
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  #13  
Old 12-02-2008, 12:04 AM
amanda6035 amanda6035 is offline
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Let's not forget that the sisters conducting ritual likely aren't oscar winning actresses, they're just people. People are human...they make mistakes. You'll find out when it's your turn.
I'll never forget the first initiation my chapter had after I graduated. My grandlittle was reading an important part of the ceremony (first time she'd had a speaking part) and realized that she hadn't asked for the pronuciation of a couple of the words. Those words got butchered to hades, and it was all I could do to not bust out laughing in the back of the room with the chapter advisor. After all was said and done, she was like "Okay, somebody tell me how those words are REALLY supposed to be pronounced????" We had a good laugh over it. It was a great sisterhood kind of moment, in my opinion.
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  #14  
Old 12-02-2008, 06:27 AM
AGDee AGDee is offline
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I've been working with chapters for a long time and it's pretty common for them to do some things wrong. SO much of ritual isn't written anywhere so the only way to know for sure that you're doing it right is by having someone who knows how it is supposed to be done to teach you. With a new chapter, if you don't reach out to consultants or higher level volunteers with the sorority, there may not be anybody who knows how to do it properly. Often the alumnae working with a new chapter haven't done it/seen it themselves in years. Asking a regional officer for help with this is not a bad thing. As a regional volunteer, I would gladly attend some rehearsals to help a chapter do it right!

One of the biggest comments we see on post Convention reports is "It was great to see Initiation how it is supposed to be done!"

I would NEVER slap a chapter on the wrist for asking for help with something like this. I'd much rather get the phone call "We need help making sure we're getting ritual right!" than the "So and so is dating sally's ex-boyfriend and it's causing trouble in the chapter"
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  #15  
Old 12-02-2008, 09:45 AM
ASTalumna06 ASTalumna06 is offline
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If sisters don't know things like the handshake, I have a very simple solution... read the ritual book.

And you definitely need to practice the ceremonies.

My chapter, at the beginning of each semester, would run through all of the ritual ceremonies after a business meeting so that everyone knew what they were required to do. This is especially important to do the semester after officer elections, as the people who used to perform parts of the ritual ceremony will no longer be doing it, and they will pass it on to the next person. And that person won’t have someone next to them to hold their hand. They’re on deck, and if they’ve never performed a part of a ritual ceremony before, and it gets handed to them 20 minutes beforehand, then naturally they’re going to be nervous, and generally, they won’t know what they’re doing.

Does your chapter have an advisor? If so, make sure they're attending the ritual ceremonies. If your chapter has specific questions about the ceremony that your advisor can’t answer, contact the next person up the chain. If you continue to practice ritual, but you feel some things still aren’t going well, contact any leadership consultants, or anyone else whose purpose it is to make sure that things in the chapter are being done properly.

And if you're a brand new chapter, I wouldn't be too worried about this right now. Granted, yes, you want ritual to go smoothly, and you want things to be done correctly, but unless people are completely clueless, and are unwilling to actually read the ritual book and take ceremonies seriously, I wouldn't start contacting all of HQ right now.
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Last edited by ASTalumna06; 12-02-2008 at 09:49 AM.
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