Conclave update - girls allowed in Ritual?

It has been a full day with interesting legislative developments.

At the Ritual presentation yesterday, many members were startled to notice a woman among the crew handling the special lighting for the event. Then they realized that none of the crew were SigEps. And they saw our ritual. And heard ALL the private parts. Along with the full interpretation. Err, oops. Cue outrage.

A hastily written resolution (#16) requiring that only SigEps participate in the stagecraft of the Ritual was sent to the Grand Chapter and passed on to the Ritual committee for examination. The committee listened to arguments for both sides, then recomended defeat. The compelling argument was apparently one of practicality - you can't find and equip a crew of all SigEp initiates for a Ritual in front of several hundred.

I'll save you the parlimentary slight-of-hand, but the resolution was almost not brought to the floor. Once it was before the legislature and a final vote taken - it was nontheless defeated.

Now, if I were one of the alarmist TV pundits, I would say we have just declared that our "Sacred Ritual" is no longer secret, private, or even just for SigEps. Imagine the thoughts of a new member who has not participated yet when he finds out that non-SigEp people were allowed to see what he can't.

I'll bet there will be more discussion on this...

SigEps gathering in Orlando

Over the next five days SigEps from around the country will be coming to Orlando FL for the 2009 Sigma Phi Epsilon Grand Conclave, The Conclave delegates attending the bi-annual conference and legislative session will determine the leadership and direction of the fraternity over the next two years. There will be lots of fun, finding old friends and making new ones, and a five day celebration of our great fraternity.

S&P will have more ongoing coverage this year with people who will be posting regularly, including daily updates on the legislative agenda. We also encourage you to follow us on twitter: @SigEpBlog and @SPEConclave09 (Use search terms #sigep and #conclave to help others find your own tweets).

We are holding this post for your comments and thoughts on the Conclave, whether it is your first experience, your "mumbledy-leventh" as a long time alumnus, or if you are stuck back home and could not make it. Let us hear from you.

--- This just in: ND Alpha also has a "Conclave blog" be sure to check them out too. ---

The Dalai Lama on Ritual

One of the people I follow on Twitter is @HisHoliness. The person is not the "real" Dalai Lama, but someone who tweets quotes from his works. Today I saw this set of 'tweets' and realized it speaks to how we as Sig Eps view our "secret" rituals.

When thru rituals and formalities you create the spiritual space you're seeking, the process will have a powerful effect on your experience.

When you lack the inner dimension for that spiritual experience you are aspiring to, then rituals become formalities, external rations.

In that case, clearly, they lose their meaning and become unnecessary customs -- just a good excuse for passing time.

There have been a lot of stories on this blog lately about hazing, and alcohol related injuries or deaths in the greek system. I would venture to say that the people involved in those incidents were probably not using their group's rituals and ideals to "create the spiritual space they are seeking".

What about you? Does/did the practice of our ritual inspire you to reflection and create a "spiritual space"? Did it have an effect on your experience? Or was it just an excuse for passing time?

Sound Mind, Sound Body, Missing Principles

One of our Regional Directors sent this message to his chapters today. It was the latest of several HQ based communications on the same topic sent out this year.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  IM Rankings and Varsity Athletes--Action Required
Date:  Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:40:07 -0500  
 
You may have noticed in the last few issues of the SigEp Journal that we have been 
highlighting our chapters who are leading their campuses on and off the field, 
academically and athletically.

Nothing shows the value of Sound Mind and Sound Body more than a list of 
intramural champions next to a list of our top academic chapters; a list of our 
Residential Learning Community accomplishments next to an expo on a varsity athlete.
[...]
Fraternally,

**************(signed)
*/Sigma Phi Epsilon
/Regional Director
310 South Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220

/This Fraternity will be different.../

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with touting Athletes and Academics as a reason to join a fraternity. But what about the "This Fraternity will be different" mantra that gets played in counterpoint to every celebration of SigEp being just like the others but better? Have the spiritual dictums of the Ritual been discarded because it is easier to get metrics on manpower, GPA, and intramural trophies?

We have seen several comments on the focus and direction of this email. Mostly they are wondering when we lost our way and forgot our principles. The last time I looked the Cardinal Principles were "Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love" - not varsity athletes and academic overachievers.

One of our alumni put it this way:

When I read this kind of stuff it makes me wonder where this fraternity lost direction. I read the ritual and we talk about Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love but that is no longer important.  There are so many dimensions to this fraternity and we care only about two things.  What happened to being men of high character, men who did what is right, men helping others?

There are many outstanding chapters out there who are doing great things on their host campuses and we just ignore those chapters.  Our HQ staff is so focused on a marketing mantra of sound mind and sound body that we have lost focus on the heart and spirit of our fraternity.

Recruit lots of men, get a chapter GPA above 3.0, and win intramurals and you have a great chapter is the message from Richmond.

It just makes me sad.  What would our founders think of what we find important today?

What, indeed? I believe the men in our undergraduate chapters want the best FOR the fraternity and FROM the Fraternity. The chapter alumni and other volunteers work many thankless hours to help them get there. Our leaders and staff seem to be more concerned with hitting metrics than with developing character.

Conclave - Resolutions Round-Up

There are the usual mix of resolutions being proposed. Some good, some mundane, and some that make you wonder "What were they thinking?". Here is a sample. We will let you decide which category they belong to. Note - nearly all are still in the "committee" phase. Resolutions that have been definitively passed or defeated are indicated:

• R 1. Ritual equipment must be kept complete and in good order. Failure to do so could result in Loss of charter.
• R 2. (passed) If there is a vacancy for a District Governor in an area the HQ Executive Director may make Chapter Counselor appointments for that district.
• R 5. Raise the Housing Fund fee from $20 to $25.
• R 6. Rename the references to the National Housing Corp. to reflect the name of the new LLC created to satisfy tax requirements
• R 7. (passed) All Alumni Boards (AVC) must appoint an ex-officio undergraduate member.
• R 9. (defeated) Invocations and meal blessings are not to reference a specific religious denomination.
• R 10. (passed) Encourge full use of the Ritual interpretation; HQ to get involved in making sure there is uniformity in the perfomance.
• R 11. Add "Sound Spirit" to the "Sound Mind, Sound Body" slogan.
• R 12. Create an "Alumni Senate" to vote on matters of Chapters' Finace, Assets, and Operations. Adoption of those matters would be subject to approval by both the "Alumni Senate" AND Grand Conclave legislative session.
• R 13. Nominating committees may not have "interference" from uninvited "interested parties" while they are selecting nominees for NBD, Grand Pres., etc.

A reminder - all proposals and their ultimat disposition will be available on the HQ web site after Conclave concludes.

That's the update as of this morning. we will let the reader decide which of these proposals are "muck" that needs to be raked.

Conclave Rumors

We got a comment a few days ago chiding us in a mildly humorous way that we had not had any "inside dirt" on what legislation is coming up at Conclave and who the front-runners are for NBD and Grand Prez.

We hate to disappoint our loyal readers, so here is a smattering of what we have heard and surmised:

• There will be legislation introduced to add the heads of the Housing Corporation and the Educational Foundation to the National Board of Directors as ex officio members. This will have the effect of increasing the size of the NBD by 2 and, as a commenter mentioned, diluting the influence the student members have.
• Since the "traditional" model chapters now number less than 20% of the total number of chapters there may very well be a resolution introduced to set a "date certain" for all chapters to convert to the BMP. This year you can expect the measure to be roundly defeated, but it could set the tone for a serious push to establish a single development model in 2009 at Orlando.
• Someone may introduce a resolution to clarify the "official" colors of the Fraternity. If it passes it will probably be referred to a committee that will take 3 years to decide the issue.
• As far as the "race" for Grand President goes, the smart money is looking toward the "left coast". That is not a certainty, however. We hear that Diebold voting machines will be used so anything is possible. (Yes, we know that one doesn't actually "campaign" for the position - kind of like nobody campaigns to be Pope.)
• An outside possibility is adding an inclusionary statement on legal residence to the membership requirements - as in "we don't check green cards!" (hmmmm. Could that lead to the establishment of a chapter at Guantanamo?)
• There is also a possibility of a minor change - a clarification, really - to the Ritual. But of course if I tell you any more, well, then I have to..., you know.
• Then of course the usual highly controversial resolutions to "Thank the host chapter", to "Require decorum in the weekend activities" (i.e. no bottle rockets!), and so on.
• As of today we have not gotten any confirmation on a move to re-think the 2009 location (a resort outside of Orlando FL).

There you have it. If any of you readers have heard other rumblings please pass them along and we'll post them with our usual discretion.

We will see you in Atlanta!!! Remember, all are welcome at the Bloggers Breakfast.

Sigma Phi Epsilon Colors

The official colors of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity are red and purple. Gold is utilized essentially as trim, but is not an official color. While gold is used on SigEp chapter flags for Greek letter chapter designations and as striping, it is NOT an official color of the Fraternity. While gold is used in the banners that have flown overhead at Conclave it is in the same regard, as a trim, but not as an official color of the Fraternity.

The official flowers of the Fraternity are red roses and deep purple violets. The Fraternity has two official flowers that match the same colors as the Fratenity's two official colors. There is not a gold colored flower that officially represents the Fraternity.

The same could be said of the flag of the United States of America whose colors are red, white, and blue. While gold fringe may be used in interior flags, gold is not an official color of the flag, but merely as trim --- identical in concept to the Fraternity's official colors --- and does not include gold as an official color.

Finally, and without revealing any secrets whatsoever of the Ritual, it clearly states the two very specific official colors of the Fraternity, red and purple, and for a very specific reason. Gold is NOT included.

Fraternally,
LEKAU

Ritual, Secrecy, and Relevance

There was an interesting thread in the "SigEp-Talk" mail list today. The general topic was how to study and/or refresh our understanding of the ritual. Obviously we are not going to go into details here, but I was reminded of a recent article from the Beta Theta Pi online magazine. The article discusses the use and relevance of secrecy as part of the fraternity experience. Except for the historical details, it sounded like similar discussions we have seen over the years.

American college fraternity origins rest in the fascination with early European secret societies. Freemasons, among others, selected few members for initiation who were instructed in the central teachings and philosophical wisdom of the ages. The organizations were so secret that often their members were not known, causing general public anxiety about their aims, objectives and influence on society.
[...]
By the late 1870s the role of secrecy in Beta Theta Pi was vigorously debated among members and in The Beta Theta Pi magazine. The prompt for the debate was the radical proposal by Wyllys C. Ransom, Michigan 1848, to publish a public constitution separate from the esoteric Ritual of the Fraternity to demonstrate Beta’s pure aims and relevance to universities and the world.
[...]
A March 1879 letter printed in the magazine from the Rho (Northwestern) and Psi (Bethany) chapters opposed the move stating that the issue, “strikes at the very principle in human nature out of which secret societies grow; that desire to know — to be connected with that which no one else knows or understands; to be regarded with a degree of romance by the uninitiated.” It was argued that men would rather join a secret group with the luster of old and the allure of secret aims.

The meaning and relevance of the Ritual is much more than "I've got a secret", yet there remains that aspect of exclusivity. ΒΘΠ did eventually publish their constitutions, as nearly all of the major fraternities have done now, Sig Ep included. The only real "secrets" we have are the specifics of the Ritual, the grip and word, and the esoteric motto. As the article goes on to point out, that may be a sticking point.

Newly initiated members can often recall the entire founders’ paragraph verbatim or a quotation on the “Beta Spirit” from Willis O. Robb, Ohio Wesleyan 1879, yet they cannot recite the obligations they promised to uphold. The reason may be, in part, that the newest members of the organization are not exposed to the obligations until the emotion-filled moment of initiation. Just like a nervous groom focusing on not tripping or stuttering on his vows, new members are usually consumed by the experience and rarely absorb the full meaning of revelations divulged in the initiation ceremony.

Sound familiar?

So how do we keep the teachings alive? How can we reinforce that emotion-filled moment in our daily life? Does your chapter have a process to discuss ritual in meetings? Or, like most, are the books and paraphernalia only trotted out once or twice a semester so you can welcome the new members into those "mystic bonds" - which will be promptly forgotten until the next group is ready to go?

The article concludes:

A rogue member publishing the principles and obligations on the internet would certainly be inconsistent with one of the obligations and the practices of the Fraternity. But, if someday the entire Fraternity chose to make them public, in an effort to increase knowledge and application of the Ritual, would the luster of the black enamel be forever lost? The charge for all Betas is to ask just why secrecy is important, what should remain secret and whether the Fraternity would be better off in such a future.

What do you think?

The Beta Theta Pi - Secrecy in Beta Theta Pi

Talking Points for CLA and Conclave

Who's Ritual is it? - Part II (See previous)

Our Ritual embodies the philosophy that forms our Brotherhood and is the basic grounding of our Fraternity. The words, the symbols and their meanings, the tokens and signs, even the placement of items and the order they are exemplified all should build to a mystical revelation of the bond between us.

The Ritual should change rarely and slowly and with much soul searching. It should be even harder to change than a constitution. It should not be left to the whim of a group of people without accountability to the membership and altered cavalierly to fit the needs of the member development scheme du jour.

If, as seems to be inevitable, we are in the process of recreating what it means to be a member of a fraternity then of course the Ritual must be altered to accommodate the change. That does not mean it should be divested of every mystical symbol simply because they are hard to understand or may 'look bad' or "it takes too long". It should not be broken into parts just because you have to do something after each "challenge" stage.

The Initiation Ritual could very well be structured to work in a 3-tiered manner. We already have a model, in fact. For those of you who came in late I would remind you that several of our founders were Freemasons. The Freemason's "Blue Lodge" Ritual is a series of three degrees, from Entered Apprentice, to Fellow Craft, to Master Mason, at which time one is "as much a Mason as you will ever be". (The higher degrees are more for learning and understanding than secret initiation.) The Masonic model in its current form has served that Fraternity well at least since 1717, and much longer according to which origin story you believe.

It is a sad indictment that a fraternity founded by Freemasons has so few of them in leadership positions. Perhaps if our leaders were more familiar with the concept of a fraternal organization we would have a stronger mystical context to the brotherhood. As things are today, we seem to be working from a business plan better suited to producing MBA candidates than a vital brotherhood. "What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul?"

Brotherhood is our "Core Business", not "building leaders". We must never forget that. A corporation that moves away from its core business is in danger of losing strategic focus and losing market share.

The Fraternity as a body should make it clear that we do not want the ground to move under our feet without the full participation of the membership. And by membership I mean ALL members including Alumni as well as Undergraduates, Volunteers as well as Paid Staff. We need a Ritual Committee made up of members who are well versed in the power of rituals - clergy, Freemasons, academics, or volunteers with strong Chapter experience. That committee would make recommendations which must be ratified by the Fraternity as a whole. That is the only way such fundamental changes should be made. Change will be slow - it should be. If the current leadership cannot accept that mandate then we need new leadership.

I am Diogenes and I approved this message.

Who's Ritual is it??

(Part 1. part 2 is Here)

The Ritual is a dynamic document. It should be consistent with the times in which we live. We didn’t even have an official one until 1907 and it was not the one submitted by our Founders. The one accepted was written by members of the PA Beta chapter. It has undergone numerous changes since that time – both in the way it is “performed” and in the content. Until relatively recently, two things have remained consistent: it has always stayed true to our Cardinal Principles, Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love; and each change that has occurred has been discussed and voted on at Grand Chapter Conclave before any change was instituted. Thus, over the past 100+ years a number of things have changed AND a number of things have not.

An interesting bit of information was recently discovered by our editorial staff. After decades, Sig Ep no longer has a National Committee on Ritual. Who now is to be the Guardian of this ineffable document, to evaluate recommended changes, to see that such changes are appropriately ratified by the Grand Chapter, and then appropriately disseminate these changes globally to our chapters? Guess it really doesn't matter as due process has not been properly exercised in well over a decade. Were you aware that some substantive changes have been made in our Ritual and instituted without ratification by the Grand Chapter?

For a little”modern” history…. When we embarked on the Balanced Man Program over 15 years ago, the Grand Chapter granted the Balanced Man Development Committee permission to “prototype” the existing Ritual, in order to adapt it to the schema of the program. That was apparently taken as a carte blanche to independently and texturally alter our most sacred document without bringing any of the changes to the GC for ratification. In the beginning, the Ritual was not going to be performed differently in BMP versus non-BMP chapters. However, because of the complaints from non-BMP chapters about how long it took to initiate a large new member class, the BMP Development Committee broke it into “modules” to fit Sigma, Phi, and Epsilon Rites of Passage. This carte blanche has continued, incorporating other dialogue and substance that has not been fully discussed and ratified by the Grand Chapter.

In reading the most current “edition” of our Ritual, were it not for the Crest on the Cover, in parts it would be almost unrecognizable as Sig Ep. Fortunately the basic intent of the Ritual has not been altered (yet). But.... is that what will be next? Whether you are comfortable or not with the changes that have been made in well over a decade is irrelevant. What is germane here is that protocol for altering this document, as specified in the By-Laws and Policies and Procedures under which we as an organization are governed, has not been followed.

Is it no wonder, then, that we have chapters out there that don’t use the Ritual at all or have their own “double secret” rituals (e.g., Hook ‘em horns. Cliff Jumping. Number 9.)?

I am Il Doge and I approved this message.