Lamplighting

bgsugirlie · #1 10-12-2002, 11:55 PM

What special traditions does your chapter have for Lamplighting?

DZetaBiotch · #2 10-13-2002, 03:52 PM

I don't want to divulge too much in case any of our new members come across this site--Lamplighting ceremonies are supposed to be a surprise in our chapter!--but I know new members are encouraged to sleep over at the house during Lamplighting. They don't have to, because my house understands that people have schoolwork and other things to worry about, but you can if you want to! There is also a big new member sleepover at the house where everyone bonds and passes around their turtle books- your pledge mom is supposed to give you a book with spaces for others in your class to sign and fill out info about themselves, and so on.

Oh and also your Guardian Turtle is revealed to you during Lamplighting! She's an older member in the house who secretly watches over you in the four weeks leading up to initiation and leaves you little gifts at the house that you pick up when you go to chapter! During I-week she leaves a big basket full of magazines, food, etc. for when you sleep over.

And then there is the rule about no boys and no going out...it's not strictly enforced because I guess that could be construed as hazing, but it's looked down upon if you brazenly break it- it's there to encourage you to spend time with your sisters. I've heard of other chapters on campus hazing during their I-week, and we don't, so I'm glad my house deals with things the way they do. I had such a great time last year!

AchtungBaby80 · #3 10-13-2002, 10:24 PM

Wow, DZetaBiotch, we don't do any of that! I think this year new members will spend the night at the house the night before Initiation, but for the past two years we haven't done that. Lamplighting was just a 5-minute thing we did for the three nights before initiation, but last year we started doing it more "by the book." I would think it'd be a bigger deal than we make it...

DZetaBiotch · #4 10-14-2002, 12:43 AM

I think you should totally encourage your new members to sleep over during Lamplighting! Obviously you shouldn't require them to, that could be considered hazing I guess, but it really does help you get to know the girls in the house. Last year the first night of lamplighting fell on Halloween-- two other of my 05 pledge sisters and I slept over with an 04 and spent the evening drinking lots of caffeine and watching horror movies, since we couldn't go out. We were totally wired by the end of the night! Halloween is during Lamplighting again this year, so we were thinking of maybe getting the girls together to go trick or treating around the neighborhood- our house is located in a quieter, residential area right off campus

AchtungBaby80, don't be distressed- our lamplighting ceremony is only about 5 (sometimes 10, because we have a lot of members) minutes each evening. Sometimes they can get really emotional, sometimes they're a bit on the duller side, and sometimes they're very entertaining! I think a lot of the new members are pretty apprehensive about it because the word "initation" conjures up images of hazing in their heads- and when they find out it's all harmless I'm sure they're very relieved!

AchtungBaby80 · #5 10-14-2002, 12:37 PM

I bet the reason we don't ask new members/out-of-house girls to sleep over at the house a lot is because of the fire regulations...our house holds 42, and the maximum occupancy at any one time is supposedly something like 80, but our chapter has around 120-130 girls. That's not *too* huge, but it's a lot of people to cram in this house!

Blaire · #6 10-14-2002, 03:16 PM

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but arn't Lamplightings ritual? Just making sure....

Blaire

DZetaBiotch · #7 10-14-2002, 04:47 PM

Blaire, I think they may be, which is why I'm being fairly reticent about the actual ceremonies...but we have a lot of traditions and group bonding things that happen over Lamplighting week that I am pretty sure is okay to share, seeing as how it's just your regular sisterly bonding stuff

#8 10-14-2002, 11:52 PM

Lamplighting WEEK is NOT ritual

It also varies from chapter to chapter. We didn't have a house, so we met for about 2 hours each night (we were a colony) and our Chapter Consultant (who might as well have been our pledge mom) lead our activities. They ranged from Scavenger hunting to sisterhood bonding

One time we even had to go back to various off campus houses and bake a DZ related cake and decorate it in under 2 hours...the best cake won something, I don't remember what though (was about 10 years ago!!).

Blaire · #9 10-15-2002, 01:37 PM

I wasn't critizing guys! I was just making sure that everyone was careful with what they said! No harm done, just a "friendly reminder"!

DZ love and mine,
Blaire

ps all of your traditions sound really fun!

#10 10-15-2002, 02:16 PM

I didn't think you were criticizing

It's always better to be safe than sorry

Star Turtle · #11 11-21-2002, 02:13 PM

this week was our lamplighting, tonight is initiation. our lamplighting ceremonies always take at least two hours, and most girls in the chapter are pretty fed up with the activities that we do EVERY semester. (it's a pretty small school-greekwise-so there is formal rush in the fall, run by the panhellenic, but informal in the spring is just as big (mostly bigger) and each chapter gets to do it their way.

anyway - if there are any really cool activities for lamplighting, please pass them along to me, i'd be more than happy to pass them along to the newly elected pledge mom (not me though

)

Nikki_DZ · #12 11-22-2002, 12:46 PM

IowaHawkeye-

Congrats to you and the ladies of Iota chapter! How exciting!!!!

-N

MaryDZ · #13 11-22-2002, 05:53 PM

We used to have lamplighting ceremonies 3 different nights. But being that everyone is so busy, we just do one now, the night before initiation. After that all the new members stay at the sorority house until midnight.

They don't spend the night because we have initiation early in the morning (8ish). The room they would sleep in is the room we use for initiation.

As for lamplighting, there are alot of ideas in your New Member Education binder from nationals. I know because I was just trained for the job not more than 2 hours ago. We don't have to follow any of them exectly. Mix them up and stuff. My favorite one is the one we call "The beauty of Delta Zeta."

DZTUBAGIRL · #14 11-24-2002, 12:18 PM

Wow, we do lamplighting so much different here. We only have a short ceremony early on one day of the week before initiation and that is it. I wonder why we do it so different. I wish we did more like everyone else.

Anne Marie Church

AngelPhiSig · #15 11-28-2002, 02:20 AM

Aww... you DZ's are lucky to have fun things like Lamplighting... we dont have anything like that in Phi Sigma Sigma! Our chapter does a new member candlepass which is an our chapter thing... thats about it... and before that we find out who our Teddy Buddy is (a sister who secretly leaves you gifts during your four weeks)...

I was preffed by DZ when I went through rush, I seriously concidered it, but knew more sisters in Phi Sig... but DZ is a great org

and my friend Ashley just became one last week!