Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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as a whole. Do they make decisions that help them to be better women, better students, better citizens and does ritual as the basis for who they are as sorority women play a role, any role, a significant role in that process? Do our rituals have an affect on their behavior today? Are sorority women understanding our creeds, ritual, mottoes, etc. and are these having an impact in their daily lives? I believe that for some, ritual does not have a significant role in their experience because they were never taught the significance of the meaning--the performance is the primary focus. I do believe, however, that many of our women are "getting it" because they are being taught that ritual is what sets them apart from everyone else and that if ritual is used as a foundation for the decisions that they make as people and as a group, then the benefits of this impact will be greater than they could have ever imagined. My question is are we teaching them about our foundations? Are we leaving up to the chapter members to teach one another? I think that these are difficult questions but these questions may become at least part of the solution to some of the challenges that we are facing today. I do not in any way want to conduct research that will harm the sorority community--all of us have to deal enough with outside people who wish to do that for us. I would like for this dissertation to matter--for something positive to come from this research. Maybe we do need to develop true programs that teach our women how to appreciate and apply ritual to their lives. I tell students wherever I am that if we all followed our ritual, we would not need risk management policies, hazing policies, insurance, etc. Fraternities and sororities would have waiting lists because so many people would want to join. I have also made it very clear to my committee during my general exam oral defense that I do not want to violate the secrecy of any group's ritual. I will provide a brief description of 154
common knowledge similarities--the fact that all of the NPC groups were founded based upon some religious concept--that each are value based, general information that in no way would expose any of the secretive aspects of our rituals. My study will primarily be conducted in the Southeastern part of the United States at a variety of different campuses based upon the willingness of the Greek Advisor or chapter advisors to assist with setting up random interviews. I hope that my fieldwork, if approved, will begin in late February and end by the beginning of May. I am enclosing a list of proposed questions and welcome any suggestions, additions, or deletions that you feel would enhance this study. I am open to any suggestions. Maureen Syring and Ed King have been working with me to understand how to approach this study and I hope that they will sort of serve as my Greek Advisors throughout this process. I value their experience and expertise and look forward to working with them. I have also been doing research in the area of adolescent development into young adulthood in females which has been a very interesting journey as well. I hope to incorporate some of that information in the development in sororities and how the sorority structure enhances their growth process. Please let me know your thoughts. I hope to move forward as soon as possible and as I stated earlier, the questions, as they are finalized will truly guide the process. If approved, I assume that the 26 NPC groups will be notified and if they have concerns, they will let you or their chapters know. Many of the historians for the sororities have already been very helpful in providing information concerning their historical development. I have found that each of us have our own history documented and NPC's history is documented, but how they all tie into one 155
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SORORITY RITUALS: RITES OF PASSAGE
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful
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for teaching me that a group of peo
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......
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CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, REC
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Each year th
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The member groups of the National P
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hopes of the founders rather than t
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ceremony is complete, that person i
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80,000 women join sororities. On mo
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issues, and topics …that formerly
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when do we use it? How do we use it
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the sorority experience has on the
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The lack of information concerning
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of the NPC member groups, and to co
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Thi
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Ritual Ceremonies and Symbolism in
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Robson writes further: In a world c
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strengthened by encountering differ
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student initiated and created to au
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Gradually, however, they took over
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Following the founding of Kappa Alp
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efer to themselves as "service" org
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Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Lombard C
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What Is Ritual? In order to explain
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theorist/researcher in the area of
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Ritual as a Rite of Passage Underst
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we are and giving meaning to us wit
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am I? Well, as I see it, I am a per
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Value Congruence Research conducted
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the majority of authors . . . have
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To better understand Gilligan’s F
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only women, all with varying opinio
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member transitions to a leader/role
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development. The isolation period a
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Gilligan’s point that sex differe
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undergraduate members. Understandin
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not an option. Actual observance of
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Role of the NPC Research Committee
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the chapters were part of large nat
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where I was able to travel based up
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a whole. I piloted the interview qu
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These categories were reflective of
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participated in my sorority ritual,
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sorority women was a cognitive asse
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In addition, only one participant w
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school. Sixteen (31%) sophomore par
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itual among themselves outside of t
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was founded in 1978. Their average
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chapters ranging in size from 150 t
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participants’ feelings about the
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A few of the participants expressed
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Several of the participants related
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One of the participants explained w
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During new member education, you le
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Women’s Development within the So
Page 113 and 114: Comments from several of the partic
Page 115 and 116: When I first joined my sorority, I
Page 117 and 118: the participants referred to other
Page 119 and 120: I think that ritual has made me a b
Page 121 and 122: The reasons that the participants g
Page 123 and 124: This study included both private an
Page 125 and 126: internal value system or they know
Page 127 and 128: sorority women’s length of member
Page 129 and 130: when an 18-year old woman joins a s
Page 131 and 132: ehavior of sorority women, it must
Page 133 and 134: * The level of responsibility and /
Page 135 and 136: to evaluate sorority women and the
Page 137 and 138: they are and what role ritual has i
Page 139 and 140: numbers vary from chapter to chapte
Page 141 and 142: that those ceremonies can bring to
Page 143 and 144: Butler, E. R. (1990). Initiations r
Page 145 and 146: Kuh, G. D., & Arnold, J. C. (1992).
Page 147 and 148: Pennington, D., Zvonkovic, A. C., W
Page 149 and 150: Taylor, S.E., Peplau, L.A., C Sears
Page 151 and 152: APPENDIX A CONSENT FORM 141
Page 153 and 154: APPENDIX B PROFILE QUESTIONS 143
Page 155 and 156: APPENDIX C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 145
Page 157 and 158: general? What would you say that th
Page 159 and 160: APPENDIX D (LETTER TO THE GREEK ADV
Page 161 and 162: APPENDIX E NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CON
Page 163: six months doing literature researc
Page 167 and 168: Correspondence II To: Shelia Barnes
Page 169 and 170: I truly appreciate your guidance an
Page 171 and 172: Application for Exemption from IRB
Page 173 and 174: VITA Mari Ann Callais was born in 1
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