Learn it, Love it, Use it

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Learn it, Love it, Use it
Making Ritual a Part of Your Reality
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What links us all?
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Where It All Began
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Where We Are Today
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Common Denominator

• Ritual

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What does the term Ritual mean to you?
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Our Initiation Ceremony

• Adopted at the 12th Convention, September 1910
• Our Ritual is
• that of an art form
• a pageant, a dramatization of our ideals
• set against a backdrop of classical Greek
  mythology
• some religious references due to the organization
  being founded at a Christian school
• uses Greek terms and dress

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Why a Greek Pageant?

• Pageant gives life to our Ritual
• Our predecessors attention to detail in
  exemplifying Greek customs and dress shows the
  value they placed in our values and ceremony
• The result the ceremony gives us a meaningful
  way to learn our values and commit to living them

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Our Ritual

• goes beyond the ceremony.
• is a blueprint.
• is what bonds us.
• is what makes us Alpha Chi Omegas.

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• Ritual relationship

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Todays Challenge

• Enhance your relationship with our Ritual

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Enhance Your Relationship

• Learn it.
• Love it.
• Use it.

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Our Promises

• Tolerance and open-mindedness
• Strive to distinguish the true from the false
• Keep a proper balance between the head and the
  heart
• Harmony between the member, chapter, and
  fraternity as a whole
• Live to benefit others
• Ambition and industry
• Physical well-being
• Honor, uprightness and fairness
• Uphold standards of character, academic interest,
  financial responsibility, personal development,
  leadership

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The Relationship Balance
Ritual
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The Backstops

• Healthy Choices
• Human Dignity
• Should she stumble in her efforts to reach the
  heights, do not condemn, but help her regain her
  foothold should temptation touch her, shield her
  with your love should sorrow darken her path,
  comfort her with your devotion.

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Healthy Choices

• Healthy choices make my life better.
• I own my choices, and my choices impact my
  sisters. So, what choices do I have?
• Look to our Ritual for guidance.

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Healthy Choices
Do you live it? Or ignore it?
Strive to distinguish the true from the false Gossiping, spreading/believing rumors
Strive to keep a proper balance between the head and the heart Not listening, speaking when youre angry
Harmony within the member, the chapter, the fraternity as a whole Hazing, cliques, gossip, bad-mouthing others, not respectful of each other
Ambition and industry Laziness, procrastination
Physical well-being Abusing alcohol, drugs, eating disorders, sexual health, not exercising
Social awareness, poise, personal presentation, and cultural appreciation Not taking care of yourself, avoiding new experiences, immature, drunk disorderly
If our wills be varied, help us to refrain Heart and tongue and spirit, for fraternal gain Supporting only what you prefer, bad-mouthing the chapter or sisters
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Human Dignity

• The dignity of the individual is a basic element
  of a civilized society.
• Wheres the dignity in what were doing?
• What does our Ritual say?

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Human Dignity
Do you live it? Or ignore it?
Tolerance and open-mindedness Being judgmental, not giving sisters the benefit of the doubt
Moral integrity, dignity and loyalty Hazing, betraying confidences, abandoning responsibilities, not holding sisters accountable
Live to benefit others Putting your needs before others, showing up late to events
Honor, uprightness and fairness Cheating, favoritism, trying to get away with things you know are wrong
Guard her character from the breath of slander Belittling others, spreading gossip, not defending others
Kindness of heart Not supporting your friends and sisters, not helping less fortunate
Only words of truth and graciousness Alienating people, lying, meanness
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Aspirational

• Together let us seek the heights!

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Aspirational

• It is the responsibility of each chapter and
  member to perpetuate the use of our Ritual with
  a correct understanding of its nature and
  purpose.
• Enjoy Ritual!
• Learn it, love it, use it.

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Learn It

• Read the Ritual.
• It only takes 18 minutes!
• Review our promises.
• Are you seeking the heights?

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Our Promises

• Tolerance and open-mindedness
• Strive to distinguish the true from the false
• Keep a proper balance between the head and the
  heart
• Harmony between the member, chapter, and
  fraternity as a whole
• Live to benefit others
• Ambition and industry
• Physical well-being
• Honor, uprightness and fairness
• Uphold standards of character, academic interest,
  financial responsibility, personal development,
  leadership

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Our Promises

• What did you value when you were initiated?
• Did you think you were living our Ritual well?
• How have your values or priorities changed since
  you were initiated?
• How are you living our Ritual now?
• Can you do better?

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Love It

• Reflect on how amazing our Ritual is.
• Why do you love our Ritual?

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Use It

• Ritual ? perfect
• Ritual being better
• Recommit to living our Ritual.

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What are some common expressions of our Ritual?
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The Symphony

• To see beauty even in the common things of life.
• To shed the light of love and friendship round
  me.
• To keep my life in tune with the world
• that I shall make no discords in the harmony of
  life.
• To strike on the lyre of the universe
• only the notes of happiness, of joy, of peace.
• To appreciate every little service rendered.
• To see and appreciate all that is noble in
  another,
• be her badge what it may.
• And to let my lyre send forth the chords of love,
  unselfishness, sincerity.
• This is to be my symphony.
• Celia McClure, Delta Chapter Allegheny College,
  1914

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Our Badge
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Our Name - AX?
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E-mail Signatures

• Love in the bond
• Loyally in the bond
• In the bond
• LITB, ITB
• Loyally

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Our Holidays and Philanthropy

• Founders Day
• MacDowell Month
• Hera Day
• National Ritual Celebration Week
• Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• Your chapter of initiations founding date

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• To know how each of our Alpha Chi Omega
  expressions are rooted in our Ritual is to be a
  Ritual Role Model.

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• How can I be a Ritual Role Model?

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Moving Forward

• Learn, love, and use our Ritual.
• Find balance.
• Backstops
• Aspirational
• Know that
• Ritual ? perfect
• Ritual better.

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Learn it, Love it, Use it
Making Ritual a Part of Your Reality