Any ideas for new traditions?
 

My chapter recently has created a 'ritual chair'. while this chair is obviously associated with the rituals of Pike, it will also be responsible for the possible creation of new traditions for the chapter.

who's chapter (Pike preferably, but others are more than welcomed to respond as well!) has some good traditions that they'd be willing to share?

really?

have you posted your question in the pike forum?

whose

You should know some real life Pikes?

Aren't traditions supposed to mean something (to you)? Why would you use someone else's ideas, especially ones not relevant to your fraternity and/or chapter?

Brand your least favorite pledge with a sad face and your favorite one with a happy face. It'll really catch on.

[There's a happy face on my right shoulder!]

Then they can face fight, also known as the shoulder bump. Good vs. evil. Awesome.

On serious note, you can't just make up traditions. Traditions are something you did once, everybody liked, and you keep doing it until nobody knows why any more.

Just a point of reference, I'm the Ritual Coordinator, and I only deal with official Ritual that's Fraternity wide.

You should check the thread on sack tapping.

Choked on a Cheeto, thank you very much.

You owe me a new monitor. And a new cup of coffee.

I was my chapter's (Phi Mu) Ritual Chair for 4 out of the 5 years I attended college, and I'm just starting to get involved with Ritual on a national level now. As some of the others have said, a "tradition" isn't just started; usually it's a new idea or activity that catches on and is regularly repeated, so I would hesitate to call anything a "tradition" right off the bat.

Now... when I was in college, I of course took care of ritualistic matters--setting up for services, organizing ritualistic materials, and that sort of thing. But when it came to sisterhood events, I was also the one to start the Creed or our Benediction song. At least once a year, I was the presenter of a Ritual Chapter Development. A few times, I did a Ritual BINGO game, to test sisters' knowledge of Ritual, and we also performed a Re-commitment ceremony every year (this may or may not be an official Ritual ceremony). My main concerns were 1) helping sisters realize that Phi Mu's Ritual was--and IS--their Ritual, and 2) impressing upon sisters the secrecy of our Ritual.

We didn't have too many "traditions," so to speak, for which I was responsible. Okay, so the position of Ritual Chair in my chapter is probably quite dull compared to what your chapter seems to want. But you asked, so I figured I could at least chime in. :)

I believe the use of "new tradition"
 

is an oxymoron.

That being said, I would get the history of Pi Kappa Alpha, read it along with old copies of your fraternity's publication and search for old things that could be made new again.

It is my opinion that one of the things that is appealing to many (not all) of PNM's is the traditions of the fraternity/sorority. It's history is often the foundation that today's chapter is built on, its current membership is the cement that binds the present with the past.

Look for meaningful ways that your chapter could give back to the college or community...be mindful that for a tradition to build out of something new requires a wholesale buy-in by the current membership that would be picked up by the new members you are pledging today.

Purc