I don't think they were "breaking away." As they point out, they had never fully joined to begin with.

There was A LOT more leeway in how chapters were run 20 years ago - I brought this exact story up in that whole Wake Forest/Chi O thread. Point being if everything's been copacetic for 10 years and no one's really disciplined you, and then all of a sudden you're told to come into compliance, of course you're going to say forget you.

As far as the ritual, they were simply following what Theta themselves had said. It didn't bring them closer - it only served to upset them. I'm assuming that the chapter had women of many different races and religions and instead of just sleepwalking through the ritual by rote, they actually THOUGHT about what it said. I wish we were all so conscientious when it came to our ritual and symbolism.

Excellent point!

Isn't there a similar thread in the Rush forum?

Yes - most of this thread was cut from that thread and moved here.