I just have to say it!

[Hootie]

I'm only going to post this to clear up some misinformation, not to flame.
According to my pledge manual Chi Omega and many other women's fraternities were started because the women longed for the secrecy and unity they saw amongst the men's fraternity. It wasn't started as a plight to make everything secret, but it was something they found they could have that men couldn't.
So in a sense I believe all of us women should be PROUD of our heritage, regardless of secrecy or not. You must remember what brought us together and gave us strength...secrecy.
That's just my two-cents worth!
Hootie


------------------
What do you get when you cross and Alpha Omicron Pi and a Sigma Phi Epsilon? A beautiful Chi Omega!!!

[IowaHawkeye]

Originally posted by Billy Optimist:
Diakia,
This obviously speculation, since i'm still GDI (gamma delta iota??),

Haha, Billy you crack me up a GDI is a gosh darn independent (god damn intependent)! But i have to agree with you - the secrecy part of greek life drew me in too. having secrest and rituals that only my sisters across the world know is an amazingthing to me. they've come to mean so much to me, and maybe i'm being selfish (no, i'm really not), but i'm not willing to share them with people who don't understand their meaning or importance to me.

[dzrose93]

Originally posted by Dikaia:
Hearing horror stories such as this initially made me decide that joining the Greek system was not for me. I changed my mind when I found a Fraternity that was secure and proud enough of their beliefs and ideals to make them known to the public rather than hide them away in a shroud of secrecy. Secrecy works against Public Relations. I realize that your secrets are a part of your heritage, and I respect that. However when your organisations began, the secrecy was necessary. Greek letter societys were a persecuted minority. Today that secrecy has become obsolete and counter productive. Hazing was also an obsolete and counter productive tradition, but today many if not all GLO's are Anti-hazing. Just proof to show that no matter how old a tradition is, it can be changed. I hope to see the day when other GLO's realize these truths. Eliminate the secrecy and the public will be less likely to believe the horror stories.

Eliminate the secrecy? I'm sorry. I don't understand the logic here. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you have to realize one thing. Our beliefs and ideals are no secret. They never have been. Ask any Delta Zeta and she will be proud to tell you the principles upon which our sorority was founded, what we stand for, and what we believe in. Want to know about our chapter history? We'll be glad to share that as well. Secrecy is not the problem here.

The fact of the matter is that the public will always choose to believe the "horror stories" because they are more interesting than the truth. That's why the National Enquirer is read by so many people. That's why the 5 o'clock news has a double murder as the top story instead of a piece about a police officer who was cited for bravery, or a group of kids who did something good for their community. Negative news sells - period. Making every little thing that happens in a particular GLO open to the public isn't going to change that fact.

[Dikaia]

Originally posted by carnation:
Secrecy has absolutely nothing to do with hazing. Secrecy=tradition. Any non-Greek who is threatened by our "secrets" or any part of our heritage has got to be some uneducated loser because if he's not part of the Greek world, why should he care what we do?

I didn't say secrecy had anything to do with hazing. I simply pointed out that both are/were counter productive practices that ought not to be continued. Still, you have to admit that being a secret organisation makes it look (at least to ignorant prospective Rushes such as I was) as if you possibly have something negative to hide. Hence the negative effect on PR. I learned when I joined Delta Upsilon that most other GLO's are in fact not as bad as they are made out to be by the public. Had I known that earlier I may have joined a Fraternity much sooner. Still, I'm proud to say that I can share my Fraternity's beliefs with others.

[carnation]

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.

[dzrose93]

Originally posted by Dikaia:
Still, I'm proud to say that I can share my Fraternity's beliefs with others.

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.

[Dikaia]

Originally posted by dzrose93:
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! 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?

[dzrose93]

Originally posted by Dikaia:
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?

[lifesaver]

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.

my bits and pieces.

[pikeks109]

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.

[gracie_freebush]

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.

[carnation]

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.

[Dikaia]

Originally posted by dzrose93:
So, let's just agree to disagree on this topic, okay?

Agreed.
(or would that be 'disagreed'? I'm confused! )

[dzrose93]

HAHA!! Right!

[dzrose93]

Dikaia,

Forgot to ask earlier - where do you go to school?