Memorable Initiations Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity
Memorable Initiations TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Suggestions for a Meaningful Initiation Ceremony...2 Essentials for Your Chapter s Initiation Ceremony...3 Explanation of the Phi Kappa Phi Motto...4 Notes...5
Suggestions for a Memorable Initiation Ceremony The following suggestions are intended to assist chapter officers in planning and conducting successful and memorable initiations. Initiation into Phi Kappa Phi can and should be a memorable occasion for new members and their guests. Use appropriate music, such as Phi Kappa Phi s Centennial March. Have flowers for decoration. Display the Phi Kappa Phi banner. Wear academic regalia. Have faculty and initiates enter the ceremony facility in procession. For optimal viewing of the initiation, the audience should sit, not directly behind the candidates, but rather in positions flanking them or as nearly frontal as reasonably possible. Provide programs listing new initiates, award recipients, special guests, etc. Templates are available at PhiKappaPhi.org. Invite university administrators, alumni members, parents, family, and friends. Have a speaker address a subject related to academic or professional excellence and achievement. Recognize any Fellowship/Award of Excellence, Scholar/Artist, Study Abroad, or Chapter Award recipients and explain the significance of the award(s). Encourage students to purchase stoles, honor cords, and medallions for use at graduation. Host a reception or dinner after the ceremony. For many students, cost can be a barrier to accepting membership. Many chapters have found that a reception is less expensive than a dinner banquet. Determine what month of the year, day of the week, and time of day is most conducive for participants and guests. Consider tapping new members. A tapping ceremony is used on some campuses as a vehicle to invite new members, including faculty and administrators. It provides increased visibility and name recognition for Phi Kappa Phi. For details, refer to PhiKappaPhi.org or contact the Chapter Development Department at 1-800-804-9880, ext. 224 for instructions and a script. Recognize national Board and committee members when they are in attendance. Photo courtesy of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas A presentation related to academic or professional excellence and achievement engages the audience and conveys the values and traditions of Phi Kappa Phi. Recognizing award recipients (national and/or local) from your chapter with a framed certificate adds a special touch to the ceremony. Photo courtesy of Florida Atlantic University Academic regalia adds dignity to the ceremony and conveys to new initiates and guests the honor of membership in Phi Kappa Phi. 4 The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi 4
Essentials for Your Chapter s Initiation Ceremony A memorable initiation ceremony involves considerable planning and attentiveness to detail. Below is a list of things to do and to consider doing to make the intiation memorable. SECURING LISTS OF PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS As soon as possible after the beginning of the term in which the initiation is to take place, chapters should: Obtain ranked ( sorted ) lists from the registrar s office.* Eliminate recent transfer students (less than 24 hours completed at your institution). Calculate the top percentage groups of second-semester juniors (7.5%) and seniors, graduate students, and professional students (10%). * Chapter officers should refer to the Society Bylaws, Article IV, Sections 3.1 and 3.2 for specific details regarding the undergraduate and graduate/professional school membership eligibility requirements. Many chapters have found that determining eligibility separately by using the academic units within the institution (at the university, college, or program level; e.g. MBA, College of Engineering, etc.) provides a broader opportunity to reach students across all disciplines. Section 3.4 of the Society Bylaws provide the explanation for inducting alumni and faculty/professional staff. Should you have specific questions related to the election of new members, please contact a member of the Chapter Development Department for assistance at 1-800-804-9880, ext. 224. SCHEDULE FOR THE INVITATION-TO-MEMBERSHIP PROCESS Write or e-mail invitees informing them of their election to membership. Acceptance rates increase when this letter is from the college/university president/chancellor or the chief academic officer. Mail invitation packets to prospective members two months before the initiation. Have prospective members return all materials to a designated chapter officer one month before the initiation. Place orders for printed certificates and other items with Society Headquarters no less than three weeks before the date needed by the chapter. INVITATION-TO-MEMBERSHIP PACKETS SHOULD INCLUDE, but are not limited to: Congratulatory letter from chapter president or chair of the member selection committee. It should contain detailed instructions on the acceptance procedure. Be certain to include local chapter contact name, telephone number, and e-mail address. Phi Kappa Phi information brochures. Permanent Record of Election Form (PRE, Form A-6). The new initiate should return the PRE form to the chapter, NOT to Society Headquarters. The chapter will forward all PREs to Society Headquarters. Self-addressed return envelope to the designated chapter officer for the return of PRE and other items. Letters from a chapter officer, advisor, president, provost, dean, or student member to invitee. FULLFILLMENT AND ONLINE ENROLLMENT PROGRAMS Society Headquarters has developed two programs to assist chapters with the invitation-to-membership process. Please contact the Chapter Enrollment Coordinator for details at 1-800-804-9880, ext. 220. PUBLICIZING THE INITIATION Before and after the initiation, publicize the event through campus and community media outlets. Before the initiation, announce the time and date, along with information regarding the speaker and/or special guests. After the initiation, provide pictures, a brief description of the ceremony, and the names of new initiates to the media, including your college/university news bureau. For more information, contact the Communications Director at 1-800-804-9880, ext. 218. MAINTAINING LISTS OF MEMBERS Chapters are encouraged to institute a procedure for identifying and tracking their members. When students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff are initiated into Phi Kappa Phi, the chapter secretary is encouraged to contact the registrar's office that Phi Kappa Phi membership may be added to the initiates' comments files in the college/university's records. The chapter is then able to obtain member reports based on various queries, such as: Current. A list of current Phi Kappa Phi members on campus. Graduation. A list that contains the names of students who are both Phi Kappa Phi members and who are scheduled to graduate. This information enables the chapter to submit a list of Phi Kappa Phi members for recognition in the commencement program. To identify Phi Kappa Phi alumni (members-at-large) in the surrounding community, contact the Chapter Development Department at Society Headquarters at 1-800-804-9880, ext. 224. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi 5
EXPLANATION OF THE PHI KAPPA PHI MOTTO Φιλοσοφια Κρατειτω Φωτωφν Let the love of learning rule humanity The following may be used in the initiation ritual. It is printed here to provide a fuller explanation of the motto. Φιλοσοφια Philosophía The first word of the motto literally means love of wisdom or love of knowledge and wisdom, a Greek word compounded from phílos meaning loving or friendly and sophía meaning wisdom. However, for historical reasons, the Society uses the phrase love of learning out of respect for the founders English version of the motto that seems to have preceded the Greek version. Because the founders probably intended to emphasize the value of what is gained through the process of learning and not merely the process itself, the original translator (Professor J.H. Huddilston of the University of Maine) apparently used philosophía rather than Κρατειτω Krateíto The second word of the motto is a verb in the imperative mood, meaning Let...rule. As a strong imperative, it is an exhortation to action, not merely a hope or wish, hence let is used rather than may. The basic meaning of the word is the exertion of power and control, derived from the noun krátos, meaning strength or might. Krátos is also a source of the terms democracy (rule of the people) and aristocracy (rule of the noble). According to Dr. Edward Schriver, author of the 1972 history of the Society (In Pursuit of Excellence: The Honor Society of philomátheia, the more common way of rendering love of learning in Greek (see Plato s Republic 499e for a nearly synonymous use of both terms). The 6th century B.C. Greek sage Pythagoras is traditionally credited with coining the term philosophía. Pythagoras modestly refused to call himself wise as some others did, preferring lover of wisdom. Pythagorean doctrines had a strong influence on Plato who, in the Republic, criticizes the claims of the sophists ( wise ones ) but advocates the idea of lovers of wisdom (philósophoi) as rulers of society. Phi Kappa Phi 1897-1971, p. 10), the original version of the Greek motto was Philosophía Krateî Photôn (then translated as The love of learning rules all mankind ). He notes (p. 21) that this claim was called a barefaced lie in 1962 by Joseph Wood Krutch, who had been initiated years earlier at the University of Tennessee. Others, agreeing in the wake of World War II that the world was, in fact, often ruled by selfishness, brutality, irrationality, and a greed for power, changed krateî to to krateíto and the English rules to Let...rule at the 1969 Special Convention in Los Angeles. Φωτωφν Photôn The third word appears in classical Greek poetry and drama; for example, in Euripides with the meaning of mortals in contrast to the gods or the immortals. The 1995 Convention in St. Louis changed the official wording from mankind to humanity on the grounds that the term mankind had come to have sexist connotations alien to the historically inclusive ideals of Phi Kappa Phi. 6 The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
NOTES This space is provided for you to document new tips and ideas to incorporate in future ceremonies. It also is a place to make notes for future reference of what may/may not have worked. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi 7
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