New Local at Marietta College needs input

[pshsx1]

Well how would you know what pledges the members of other fraternities and sororities have made? That'd cause you to change the ritual every time a new person joins. And with so many fraternities and sororities, it will probably be impossible not to unintentionally borrow something that another greek org employs.

[GammaPhi88]

Originally Posted by pshsx1

Well how would you know what pledges the members of other fraternities and sororities have made? That'd cause you to change the ritual every time a new person joins. And with so many fraternities and sororities, it will probably be impossible not to unintentionally borrow something that another greek org employs.

I'm sorry, but do you really think said transfer greek in question would admit that this new group had stumbled on some of the contents of his pledge? I really doubt that during the creation/teaching/recitation of a pledge, the transfer greek would say, "Heyyy! We can't pledge to love one another in appreciation and reverence to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Thats what Gamma Phi Beta does in their initiation ritual!"

(Obviously, thats not Gamma Phi's ritualistic beliefs, but you get my point.)

[pshsx1]

hah I just thought of the transexual turtle from a Christmas ornament thread..

Anyway, no, I'm not saying that someone in the middle of the ritual will be like OMG HEY, ZETA OMEGA NU DOES THAT. But if you're creating a ritual and you have set as a goal not to use anyone else's symbols and whatnots, you'll have a lot of trouble.
I may have just contradicted what I said before.. if so, let's go with what I'm saying here.
You'd be better off, if you're to create a ritual, just doing what you think fits best for your organization.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by pshsx1

Well how would you know what pledges the members of other fraternities and sororities have made? That'd cause you to change the ritual every time a new person joins.

Of course not. I didn't mean it any more literally than I said it -- encouraging members to honor the pledges that they have made: "We expect you to honor the pledges and commitments you have made to ____ Fraternity," not "We expect you to honor the pledges and commitments you have made to appreciate and revere the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

As far as copying symbols, there are actually plenty of symbols that aren't associated with any national fraternity (especially when you take into account how many fraternities share some of the same symbols). Unless, of course, you're talking about esoteric symbols, and then yeah, no one else would know.

[pshsx1]

kay. All is good.