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

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ceremony when a member passes away. Some of the ritual ceremonies, referred to as closed ceremonies, limit attendance to initiated members only, while some, referred to as open ceremonies, may have non-initiated members in attendance. Like Turner, Driver (1991) refers to ritual in terms of performance. Driver (1991) states that if any one thing clearly distinguishes performance in the ritual mode from other kinds of events, it is that the performer assumes roles and relates what is going on in an “as if” way not appropriate to the workday world. As Turner insists, ritual realizes itself in a subjective mood. He believes that the so-called “sacred space" and “sacred time” of religious rituals are, above all, imaginative construction, “rules of the game.” The purpose, then, of performing rituals is to help make the ideas of a culture concrete, to take on a form, and to give direction to a group (Butler, 1990). Our understanding of the world does not come merely from mind, but rather from a coming together of mind, emotion, and body (Schultz & Lavenda, 1990). The consistent performance of the ritual has been the foundation of sororities since 1851. Many of the NPC sororities have made changes to the initial ceremonies since they were written by their founders as expressed earlier in the example of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The way that the rituals were performed, the ritual equipment used, and even the wording has possibly been changed over the years. Others have made changes due to certain religious challenges. Some of the rituals of the sororities were based upon or included certain religious references. Some of the sororities have even evaluated and changed the way that certain rituals are delivered. Whatever the case may be, it is important that the ceremony, as Turner (1969) and others have indicated, be performed with consistency and passion in order for the ceremony to have a lasting and meaningful effect on those participating. 42
Ritual as a Rite of Passage Understanding ritual not only from the performance perspective, but also as a rite of passage is very important. According to Schultz and Lavenda (1990), Arnold Van Gennep first identified rites of passage in 1909: Certain kinds of rituals around the world had similar structure. These were rituals that associated with the movement or passage, of people from one position in the social structure to another: births, initiations, confirmations, weddings, funerals, and the like (p. 177). These observations have led to the concept of rites of passage. The definition of rites of passage is as "rituals associated with the movement, or passage, of people from one position in the social structure to another" (Butler, 1990, p. 5). Leemon (1992) explains as well that through recurring social mechanisms, a society provides for orderly transitions in its social relationships. Rites of passage are most often characterized by these different phases. The first phase is the separation phase that comprises "symbolic behavior signifying that detachment of the individual or group either from an earlier fixed point in the societal structure, from a set of cultural conditions or both" (Turner, 1969, p. 94). It involves "separation from the old position and from normal time in which the ritual passenger leaves behind symbols and practices of his or her previous position" (Schultz & Lavenda, 1990, p. 177). The second phase is the transition, marginal or liminal phase. Turner (1969) presents that during this phase, the characteristics of the ritual passenger are ambiguous and that the ritual passenger is neither in her (his) old life or in her (his) new one. "The person is often subjected to ordeal by those who have already passed through." (Schultz & Lavenda, 1990, p. 177). In the liminal phase, Van Gennep believes that the person going through the rite is symbolically placed "outside society" and frequently forced to observe certain taboos or restrictions. During this 43
Page 1 and 2: SORORITY RITUALS: RITES OF PASSAGE
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful
Page 5 and 6: for teaching me that a group of peo
Page 7 and 8: TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, REC
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Each year th
Page 13 and 14: The member groups of the National P
Page 15 and 16: hopes of the founders rather than t
Page 17 and 18: ceremony is complete, that person i
Page 19 and 20: 80,000 women join sororities. On mo
Page 21 and 22: issues, and topics …that formerly
Page 23 and 24: when do we use it? How do we use it
Page 25 and 26: the sorority experience has on the
Page 27 and 28: The lack of information concerning
Page 29 and 30: of the NPC member groups, and to co
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Thi
Page 33 and 34: Ritual Ceremonies and Symbolism in
Page 35 and 36: Robson writes further: In a world c
Page 37 and 38: strengthened by encountering differ
Page 39 and 40: student initiated and created to au
Page 41 and 42: Gradually, however, they took over
Page 43 and 44: Following the founding of Kappa Alp
Page 45 and 46: efer to themselves as "service" org
Page 47 and 48: Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Lombard C
Page 49 and 50: What Is Ritual? In order to explain
Page 51: theorist/researcher in the area of
Page 55 and 56: we are and giving meaning to us wit
Page 57 and 58: am I? Well, as I see it, I am a per
Page 59 and 60: Value Congruence Research conducted
Page 61 and 62: the majority of authors . . . have
Page 63 and 64: To better understand Gilligan’s F
Page 65 and 66: only women, all with varying opinio
Page 67 and 68: member transitions to a leader/role
Page 69 and 70: development. The isolation period a
Page 71 and 72: Gilligan’s point that sex differe
Page 73 and 74: undergraduate members. Understandin
Page 75 and 76: not an option. Actual observance of
Page 77 and 78: Role of the NPC Research Committee
Page 79 and 80: the chapters were part of large nat
Page 81 and 82: where I was able to travel based up
Page 83 and 84: a whole. I piloted the interview qu
Page 85 and 86: These categories were reflective of
Page 87 and 88: participated in my sorority ritual,
Page 89 and 90: sorority women was a cognitive asse
Page 91 and 92: In addition, only one participant w
Page 93 and 94: school. Sixteen (31%) sophomore par
Page 95 and 96: itual among themselves outside of t
Page 97 and 98: was founded in 1978. Their average
Page 99 and 100: chapters ranging in size from 150 t
Page 101 and 102: participants’ feelings about the
Page 103 and 104:
A few of the participants expressed
Page 105 and 106:
Several of the participants related
Page 107 and 108:
One of the participants explained w
Page 109 and 110:
During new member education, you le
Page 111 and 112:
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 and 164:
six months doing literature researc
Page 165 and 166:
common knowledge similarities--the
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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Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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