Revealing secrets of defunct/absorbed GLOs

[Diamond Delta]

IvySpice=the voice of reason

[DGMarie]

The one vow I'd like to see us all keep is the one where we promise to pay our alumnae dues (if such a program exists in your GLO). How soon many forget....

[LilStarAngelOne]

i think you got a right to be upset ... even though you are now part of a national your vows to the first should be upheld

[SDSU DUck 02]

Well, I don't know how many of you actually know this, but my fraternity, DELTA UPSILON is the first, the only NON-SECRET fraternal organization in existence. We're proud of what we stand, henceforth we are open with anyone who wants to know about us. If you don't believe me, just ask, and I will tell you what you want to know.

[kddani]

Originally posted by SDSU DUck 02
is the first, the only NON-SECRET fraternal organization in existence.

I'd beg to differ about that. Don't know your founding year, but you're certainly not the ONLY non-secret fraternal organization. That's not true. There are many fraternal organizations that are not secretive. Phi Alpha Delta, of which I am a member, is not secretive, initiation is open to the publich, etc.

You may wish to quantify that with saying social fraternal, perhaps, but even then, I could pretty much guarantee that there's a local or regional out there that is non-secret.

[SDSU DUck 02]

Let me specify: the first, the only, NON-SECRET National Interfraternal Council organization. We're actually an International fraternity, but amongst all (inter)national fraternities in North America, we're the only non-secret.

[kddani]

Originally posted by SDSU DUck 02
Let me specify:

You should be specific. The first way you stated what you wanted to say it was blatently false. What you restated was true. It's one thing to be proud of your GLO, but don't make claims that aren't true

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by slickwilly95991
...The organization is no longer in existence. The constitution and rituals have been "replaced" with new values. This was the choice of the sisters when they chose to go national. The bonds of secrecy no longer apply to something that is no longer in existence. It makes no sense to keep something secret that doesn't exist. That chapter should make the initiation into a new ceremony just for their own chapter. Something they can do to kick off initiation week. If it is used in that manner, then it would be appropriate to be upset if secrets are exposed by alumni, or undergrads.

I have to disagree with this. My chapter of Pi Beta Phi was once a local sorority. While the ritual and constitution of our local are no longer used. The local is still part of our history, and out of respect for our history and our former traditions it is not right to share any scret information withoutside members. That means members who were initiated into the local do not share secrets with other. Our chapter to learns about our history and that history is also part of what binds us together. But there is no reason to learn about the rituals.

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by IvySpice
Unless the information were publicized, the review board simply wouldn't care. They're worried about the spirit of the law -- that is, whether patients are being publicly embarrassed -- rather than about the letter of the law -- that is, whether doctors are taking every secret to the grave. I've never in my life read about a doctor being punished for sharing confidential information with a spouse, even though it happens around ten thousand dinner tables every night. (And by the way, sharing the info minus the names is just as much against the ethics rules.)

True, and I think we're talking about two different things here. If a doctor wants to tell their husband or wife something about the day, a patient, whatever; it's not as big a deal legally as if he's shouting it across the hospital. Is he or she supposed to? No. Will he automatically lose his license for the first example? Not unless his wife is telling everyone around town.

Ritual is just different - there are no laws, just the trust that your brother or sister won't share the information with someone who is not a brother or sister.

[JessicaSideways]

Originally Posted by Glitter650

I dunno... I sure wouldn't want my doctor breaking their oath and revealing my medical history to his/her spouse...

As a future doctor and (hopefully) sorority sister, I would reveal neither secrets in confidence, patient's medical history nor our ritual to my husband.

[33girl]

Holy random bump.

I think I'd write them down, seal the envelope, give it to my lawyer and only permit it to be unsealed if someone researched and wanted to restart the org.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Jen

It brings up an interesting question about preserving a ritual - how would an organization do that if there was only a handful of surviving members?

What if it was your group? Your 98, on your death bed, and the last person who knows the rituals of your organization. Would you want those secrets to die with you, or would you write them down, in hopes one day someone might attempt to revive your organization?

Delta Sigma Theta has hundreds of thousands of collegiate and alumnae members and will not be defunct until the world explodes.

So, I'll try to put myself in the position of an organization that is less awesome than DST:

Is this a defunct organization that is expected to die with its last member? Were we not bringing in new members for a few years? Did we not plan ahead for this stuff? If so then I would expect it to die with its last member.

On another note, almost all rituals are written at some point, even the things that are never supposed to be written down. If I have organizational documents and don't give instructions on what to do with those remnants after I die, I would expect my family to shred the documents. What else is there to do with these documents? If someone ever hears about my organization and wants to bring it back to life, they will have to find whatever they find on their own and essentially re-found and re-invent everything.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Jen

I skimmed this thread, and have a question ...

I assume there have been some fraternity or sorority rituals that have died with the last surviving member, in cases where the organization just died out or was absorbed to the point where none of the previous organization's rituals were used.

It brings up an interesting question about preserving a ritual - how would an organization do that if there was only a handful of surviving members?

What if it was your group? Your 98, on your death bed, and the last person who knows the rituals of your organization. Would you want those secrets to die with you, or would you write them down, in hopes one day someone might attempt to revive your organization?

Let it die, shout it from the rooftops, whatever. In the end, ritual is not what make an organization, but the people in it.

[excelblue]

Rituals are a side effect of a close bond. If you had nothing to do with it, then you have nothing to do with the ritual.

If I was the last member of a dying organization, the ritual dies with me. It's just kind of like actual shared secrets between very close friends. If everything about it is dead, it is dead, period.

As for sharing stuff with your SO -- well, you wouldn't tell your brothers/sisters your SOs deepest secrets, so why would you tell your SO your fraternity/sorority's most sacred secrets?

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by Jen

What if it was your group? Your 98, on your death bed, and the last person who knows the rituals of your organization. Would you want those secrets to die with you, or would you write them down, in hopes one day someone might attempt to revive your organization?

This one has me really torn. The archivist in me would want to preserve the ritual for others to read far into the future. I love Kappa Delta's ritual and I would be sad that something so beautiful would be gone forever.

BUT, if KD really decided to pack it in and I ended up the last KD alive I honestly don't think I would breathe a word of it to anyone. The sister in me says to keep my vows.