Yea for the DZs above and Hootie! Secrecy enriches our traditions and makes them special to us. If someone told me, say, the Delta Gammas' secrets, it wouldn't be thrilling, I'd just say, "Huh," because I wouldn't have experienced all the fabulous traditions that go with their sisterhood. Where's the thrill?

And can you imagine having an audience during initiation? The pledges and officers would be turned into performers, not participants. What if a high schooler attended her older sister's initiation? Why would she bother to go through it if she pledged that group later?

The Masons have secrets. I couldn't care less because that has no bearing on my life and is none of my business.

I'm proud to say that, too... That's my point. All GLO's can tell someone what they BELIEVE. How do you think we get people interested enough to join? A ritual, however, is a private ceremony that has special meaning to the participants. To open a ritual to the public would be like planning a wedding, sending out invitations to 50 of your closest friends and family, and then having 600 strangers who you've never laid eyes on show up just because they wanted to see what was going on. How special would your wedding be then? Same goes for a Greek ritual.

Well it's actually worked out quite well for us. As a matter of fact, I attended an initiation while I was still a rush. Most rushes are quite impressed by the fact that they are allowed to sit in on our meetings and initiations. They're like "Wow! I'm allowed to stay to see this? You mean, I don't have to leave or something?" It gave me a real feeling of welcome and acceptance. It's good PR for parents too. They can come out and actually see first hand what their son's are becoming a part of. As for 600 strangers showing up to witness an initiation, it hasn't happened yet, but it would be pretty kewl! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif We've never had more non-actives than actives at an initiation.
But I suppose I'll stop posting now cuz it's getting kinda cold in here... You know?

Dikaia,

Not trying to make you feel unwelcome here. I'm glad that the way your organization is run seems to work for y'all. I just don't feel like you should be acting like your GLO is better than the others because you have no secrets and we do. Maybe that's not what you were trying to imply, but it sure sounded that way to me. And that's what opened the whole proverbial "can of worms". People feel very strongly about their rituals and traditions, so you can expect some criticism when they are made to seem trivial.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that for the vast majority of GLO's, opening up a ritual to non-initiated members would be a break with tradition, and basically a slap in the face. Being able to watch a ritual before you can even understand the underlying meaning behind it seems pointless and, for me at least, would make the ritual itself seem trivial. It seems very disrespectful. I guess I shouldn't really expect you to see it that way, considering the organization you are in and the way they conduct their business. But, on the other hand, I guess you shouldn't really expect us to see it your way either. So, let's just agree to disagree on this topic, okay? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Its kinda interesting, but I really dont think any of our rituals are secret. Sure, the exact specifics might me a private matter, but if we are living our lives by the principals it sets forth, people who know us, know our ritual by the way we live our lives by it.

I always tell our new members and prospects when they ask about it, that they know it already. They just dont know they know it. If we are living it, they can see it in our thoughts words and deeds. Usually after initiation, they agree that it was right there before their eyes all along. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

my bits and pieces.

I think secrecy is very important to my fraternity. Its what separates other fraternities from each other. I would not tell anyone what my letters meant unless it was to a brother. It what makes them so sacred to me. For example, I would not be happy if someone wore my letters if they weren't my brother, plus they didn't know what they meant. Ritual is something that is sacred and you cannot witness it unless you know what everything symbolizes and it has more meaning. I'm not trying to downgrade or to be disrespectful to anyone, I'm just stating that secrecy is very important to my fraternity.

People are begining to believe that the secrecy is why there is so much hazing. It looks like we have to make sure everyone is "up to standard" to be able to "know" the secrets. Like you have to test them to make sure they won't break. In fact, I've seen posts to that affect, here and elsewhere-more from the guys than the girls, though.

I think we've all got the same theory here, ladies! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif Not very good at being incognito is she??? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif

<<soror6 looking at her watch...must be late>>
Hi everybody! Kudos to you, Gracie http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif! OK, there is something I would like to say about this post, but I don't know what this is stemming from...Yeah, i guess I'm late! Can someone tell me what book or post started this discussion, so I can be up to par? Many thanks! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

soror6

Hi, soror6... To find out what we're talking about, you can see a brief summary under the thread in Greek Life called "Threatening E-mail." It has been closed but you can still read it. I posted the summary - just scroll down to see it - towards the end of the thread. Thanks! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Oops, looks like it's been removed all-together, unless I'm overlooking it somehow. Sorry, soror6! I didn't realize that it had been deleted since yesterday!

Sal de aquí, Barb/Gracie fb. Do you really think some guy is going to come on here and say, "Yes, we hang our pledges by their toes over pits of sharks to prove their worthiness," so you can add it to your so-called research on hazing? Díos.

Agreed. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif
(or would that be 'disagreed'? I'm confused! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif )

HAHA!! Right! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Dikaia,

Forgot to ask earlier - where do you go to school? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif