|
About the ritual robe...it is a Beta Theta Pi ritual robe.
Does this make me angry...kinda but not really. I'm angry that this guy is making money off of my organization, and that he is ignoble about it. I'm dissappointed that somehow he managed to get this whether by acceptable, explainable means (like finding it in a house he bought or something), or that he through other means came across this.
That said, as far as I can tell at things like convention, those robes are not secretive. We had our convention at a large hotel this past summer and one of the highlights of it is the model initiation. The guys who were being initiated there were in and out of the "secure" quarters several times and were held out in the lobby where anyone and everyone could see them. The housemothers who attended Convention were right outside in the lobby and saw them go in and out several times. By the actions of my General Fraternity Officers I know that the importance of the robes is little.
In fact the robes are not a required part of our ritual. My chapter has never had pledge robes until this month when an alumni donated a large sum of money that we used to buy them.
So people just need to calm down about what's secret and what isn't. If it doesn't directly reveal what your letters mean (like in Greek) then it probably isn't that big of a deal. Things like attire and props don't make the ritual.
Remember that when we were all founded there were no initiation ceremonies. The person to be initiated was read what the meaning of the motto was, given the grip, signature if your org has one, and read the constitution of the organization.
Everyone needs to focus on what truely are the secrets of their own org and focus on living them, while guarding them closely. The superfluous regalia and such is just that: extra.
|