Reviving Ritual
 

So recently it has become the chapter ethos for a large proportion of the chapter that ritual is a waste of time, should almost never be done, and when absolutely necessary, is done simply because we have to.

I for one really enjoy ritual, find it powerful, and it's one of those side benefits I found to joining. I guess I kind of get off to the idea that so many people have done and said the exact same things before me, and here I am still doing it.

Our newly elected president for next fall (our positions are only semester long) definitely wants to try to bring back ritual, but I doubt he knows how, and so as a past president (presidents are usually juniors), I feel like I should help him with this.

Any thoughts?

If allowed, find a special place to do it. A place that's cooler than just a room in the house.

Make it an occasion.

Act excited about it yourself. Figure out the people that feel the same way as you do and get them to be more vocal about their interest in it. When the people who are interested in ritual become a vocal part of the chapter, then the people who are neutral towards it will be more likely to be interested as well, silencing the critics.

its kinda hard to me to help, you know, apples to oranges, but without sharing too much info, what exactly counts as "revving ritual?" is it as simple as reciting a pledge or singing a hymn at chapter meetings, or annual traditions that the house (or the organization, on a national level) had over the years? are there certain ceremonies or certain badges/articles of clothing you wear once a week or something?

and why do you think your chapter has fallen apathetic?

the ritual that I would like to see more often that people don't like is the way we enter a meeting and the way we start it. We did it 3x during my term as president, and twice during this semester, and both times we did it this semester it was clearly half assed because our president could tell that most people didn't want him doing it. (we meet every week), Two or three times a semester is still too much for many people as far as they're concerned.

The reason why I think people are becoming apathetic (and trust me apathetic would be better than what I think we're going towards now) is that when I was president, I had people ask me "why are we wasting time on ritual", i've heard them say things at other times, and during our elections they asked the presidential candidates their thoughts on ritual, and then during discussion made it clear that they liked that one candidate said that if people think ritual is a waste of time, we shouldn't do it.

I'm going to make a guess that this is the crux of the problem right here. They don't understand why they're doing it, so it = a waste of time. I always cringe a little inside when someone says this, but perhaps some education is the answer -- here's why we do this, here's what it means, here's why it matters. If guys are asking that question and no one has a good answer, then things are not going to get better.

Does your org have some kind of ritual education program, or does it have people who are particularly knowledgeable about your ritual who could come and speak with the chapter? Is there someone at HQ or a district/province/whatever-you-might-call-it official you and the president could talk to about this?

You want to be careful -- if someone comes in, you want it to be with an attitude of "let's try to understand what this is all about" rather than "you have to do this and we're here to make you do this." If done right, though, it can be very powerful.

^^exactly. I will also add that it's important to illustrate that without ritual, a fraternity becomes any old organization and is not very distinguishable from any other type of group. Ritual is special and (as far as I know) fraternal organizations are the only campus organizations that use it.

I had not thought about getting someone from national to come.

We have brought up the point that it's what separates us from other groups. Normally people respond with "yeah, thats what the pledging rituals are for, this one is a waste of time and stupid."

I'll admit it's harder to see the deeper meaning behind how you enter the room and call a meeting to order, but getting someone fro national is a good idea. I also think it would be good for me to spin it as a chance to air your thoughts to someone who really knows and understands our ritual and can respond better than any active brother here could.

Thanks guys.

Hmm. I'm LXA, and our business meeting ritual, so to speak, is open, and it's not very long, so it's not really a burden. If you have the power to make the decisions, maybe start with a formal roll call, then add in your creed (if it's part of your chapter ritual), and once the chapter is used to starting off and ending chapter in a fairly formal way, add in the ritual proper. Make sure that people know their parts; if the people doing the ritual show respect for it, the chapter will show respect for it. Just don't go in one day and suddenly change everything from what people are used to; take your time with it.

Matt, I wonder if we belong to the same LXA?;)

Our Ritual is closed and there is a Ritual for PNMs that are open along with a closed one of course.


Hamburglar, not knowing if you are a National, regioal, or local, it would be hard to explain.

If a National, then there are regulations to follow.

Becoming a full member should be a major item for any new member. It needs to explain the true secrets of your organization. LXA reccommends that the Ritual be held in a church for that matter.

I would also suggest that officerships be for at least a year as one semester is not long enough to learn the job, but to be able to then carry it out.

Do you have a ritual chair? If not maybe the new pres can appoint you to the position. Also, is it a national rule that your positions are only a semester long? That seems way too short. If it's not a set rule check with your HQ to see if there's anything wrong with extending it to a full year. Most groups that I'm familiar with will have positions begin in the Winter quarter/Spring semester.

If you don't have a ritual chair (and if not, is it because there is no interest? The position doesn't exist? ??), you probably have a Ritual Advisor. He might have suggestions on how to present Ritual as an integral part of your fraternity, and how "living the Ritual" is important on a day to day basis.

You need to find out what is expected of you on a national basis, and figure out a way to demonstrate how it is important. If you cannot answer the question, find someone who can, and then live by example.

We are a national organization, and the person in the chapter responsible for ritual is the Sergent-At-Arms. There is no local "ritual adviser". I didn't think of the idea of weaning ritual. That could definitely work. I was thinking that upon returning in the fall, I would setup a meeting where people could air their grievances regarding ritual to me, the president (a past SAA), and our SAA. This way we would know for sure why people had issues with it, which would allow us to know if a) bringing someone from national would actually accomplish anything, and b) how this person from national should approach the situation.

Whether or not our positions are year long or semesterly is not up for discussion here. We are a chapter at an Ivy League school, and for the more intense jobs like President, VP, treasurer, and house manager, doing them for a full year is too much to ask given our academic workload and the fact that we emphasize that all brothers be leaders in at least one other organization on campus. There is no rule against running for re-election (and people have held positions for multiple terms), but we like to try and get as many people involved in the house as much as possible.

I meant the open ritual for business meetings, nothing else. sorry if I gave the wrong idea; we call it going to 'chapter'.

We use ritual weekly for our meetings. It may help if you start having a very formal meeting at least once a month that may bring the 'ritual' & 'formal' tone back :) Hope that helps :)

Wait a minute...

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