Top Secret! Don’t Open Until Directed…

Shhh… don’t talk about it. Wait – put that away – they can’t read it yet. Oh no – we can’t tell you that secret.

What do you think we are talking about?

This is how many of our Delta Zeta chapters and members approach our Ritual. That it is a top secret thing that cannot be discussed or talked about outside of the ritual room the few times a year that the ceremony is performed. Many times, new members will not be able to recall what just happened after they leave the Initiation room because they were overwhelmed – or maybe underwhelmed if the officers performing the ceremony are not well prepared – and just cannot take everything in. Do we then take time, like Delta Zeta suggests, of doing a review of everything the Initiation Ceremony represents?

Delta Zeta’s Ritual is a something more than words to be read or half-way memorized. The rituals, not just Initiation but everything from our Pledging Service to a Formal Chapter Meeting, symbolize Delta Zeta’s values and beliefs. You can find them clearly enough in our Purpose:

The purpose of this sorority shall be to unite its members in the bonds of sincere and lasting friendship, to stimulate one another in the pursuit of knowledge, to promote the moral and social culture of its members, and to develop plans for guidance and unity in action; objects worthy of the highest aim and purpose of associated effort. Constitution of the Delta Zeta Sorority, Article II, Section 1
Delta Zeta’s Founders valued their friendship and wanted to pass it on. They did that by inviting new members to their group, like Elizabeth Coulter and Noble Miller who were the first members initiated on February 8, 1903. We continue that legacy by initiating women like those that were initiated yesterday by the Omicron Chapter at the University of Pittsburgh or the Alpha Alpha Chapter at Northwestern University. We celebrate our sisterhood in everyday ways, through helping a sister study for a test, supporting another with planning a chapter event, and though it might not seem like a super big, top secret thing, we are living the Ritual of Delta Zeta.

So, this week, in celebration of National Ritual Week, if you have not had the chance to reflect upon the thoughts included in our Delta Zeta Rituals, take a moment to go back and really look at what they mean. Gather a few sisters in the chapter room, dust off the Ritual Book, and read it for inspiration on how you can be living your best life as a member of Delta Zeta.