Chi Eta Phi
Initiation Rituals

 
2003  

Induction Ceremony

This service takes place at the time both GRADUATE and UNDERGRADUATE pledges are placed on Probation.
PREPARATION: Table and white table cloth; Lighted Emblem; XH<P Pennant attached to front of Table Cloth; Green and Yellow ribbon for each Candidate; Florence Nightingale
Lamp of Service; Green taper for Lamp of Service; One Sorority Pin; Small Cushion for Sorority
Pin; Large Cushion for Kneeling; Water Lily; Clasped Hands; Book; Yellow Taper for Each candidate (Holder or Candle Guard, optional); a White Lighter or Matches with White Cover; Green Tip Pen; and Yellow Pledge Form.
ATTIRE: All members wear Sorority Colors (Green and/or Yellow). Those participating in the ceremony wear green stoles and white robes. Female candidates wear black dresses, black skirt and blouse or a black dressed pantsuit. Male candidates wear black suits.
INSTITUTION: Table properties as outlined.
A big sister/ brother is to be assigned to each candidate prior to the ceremony.
Members participating in the ceremony are to stand to the right and left of the table. Basileus to the right, membership Intake Chair (& Beta Sponsor) to the left.
Candidates are lined up in alphabetical order and led into a room by the Intake Chair and seated on the first row.
THE LAMP OF SERVICE REMAINS STATIONARY AT ALL TIMES.
Each candle is to be lit FROM the Lamp of Service.
 
 
Induction Pledge
 
Basileus: I light the Lamp of Service.
This ceremony marks the beginning of the official intake process. Candidates successfully
completing this phase will qualify for initiation into Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. The members of this chapter are obligated and committed to provide you an induction and orientation befitting a professional nurse (nursing student) with sisterly concern and love.
Membership Chair: Madam Basileus, Sorors / Praters, I introduce to you the candidates for
potential membership in Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. Please stand as your name is called.
Basileus: You may be seated.
Basileus/ Beta Sponsor: This Induction is the first step toward full membership in Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. Be inspired by the founders of this great organization. This phase will provide you the opportunity to learn significant facts about Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. and its unique contribution to the nursing profession. Take full advantage of this opportunity to provide self examination, personal growth and leadership skills.
 
 
Induction Ceremony
 
BASILEUS: Members of Chapter, I charge you to receive these candidates with feelings of loyalty, support and affection. Candidates you have officially applied for membership in Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. We are now ready to induct you into the Chi Club/or Lampinette Club of … Chapter.
Upon signing the pledge you will begin an extensive orientation period. Upon completion of the prescribed intake process, you will be eligible for full membership in Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.
MEMBERSHIP CHAIR: As I call your name, come forward, kneel, or stand, raise your right hand and place your left hand on the Sorority ribbons, take the pledge and sign the pledge form.
BASILEUS: Repeat after me.
I, state your name, willingly seek admission into the Chi Lampinette Club of … Chapter of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. I pledge myself to the objectives and goals of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. I enter these activities with serious intent of becoming a full member.
MEMBERSHIP CHAIR: Hand each candidate a yellow taper after they sign the pledge. Instruct candidates to stand on either side of the table.
BASILEUS: The Membership Chair is officially charged with your orientation. Soror/frater will now give instructions.
MEMBERSHIP CHAIR: Candidates please meet with me following this ceremony to receive Membership Kits and requirements.
BASILEUS: Assigned Big Sisters/Brothers please come forward and pin ribbons over candidates cardiac region. Pause until completed. Each candidate will now step forward light yellow taper from the Lamp of Service.
BASILEUS: I now declared you duly inducted into the Chi Club/ Lampinette Club of … Chapter. Sorors/Fraters please circle our candidates and sing Chi Eta Phi by Soror Spradley.
Membership Intake Chair extinguishes tapers and collects.
Welcome by members & fellowship
Candidates meet with membership intake chair
 
 
Intake Ceremony
 
This is the most important ceremony. Parts should be rehearsed carefully. Those participating in the Intake Ceremony should be familiar with the content and dressed in the appropriate attire.
PREPARATION: Table and white table cloth; Chi Eta Phi Pennant attached in front of the
Table; Lighted Emblem; Sorority Pins or Green and Yellow Ribbon for each candidate; Small
Cushion for Sorority Pins/ Ribbons; Florence Nightingale Lamp of Service; Three Clear Candle Holders; Yellow Tapers for Candle Holders representing Character, Education, and Friendship;
White Chrysanthemum; Yellow Pledge (copy from Operations Manuel); Green Tip Pen; White Lighter or Matches with White Cover.
ATTIRE: All members wear black attire. Female candidates wear black dresses, black skirt and blouse or a black dressed pantsuit, male candidates wear black suits. All members are to wear their Sorority Pin. Members participating in the ceremony are to wear official white robes and green stoles. Prospective members wear Sorority colors, yellow or green as specified by the chapter.
INSTRUCTIONS: Properties are assembled as outlined.
Members participating in the ceremony are assigned parts by the Basileus prior to the ceremony.
Members participating in the ceremony are to stand to the right and left of the table. Basileus to left. Dean of Pledgees to right.
Soft music is played while candidates are led into the room in alphabetical order and assembled as on a line facing members participating in the ceremony.
The lamp of service remains stationary at all times.
Each candle is to be lit FROM the Lamp of Service.
The member is to step forward as name is called to read and/or light candle.
BASILEUS: You may be seated.
Basileus: I light the Lamp of Service (lights the green taper).
Anti-Basileus: Motto is Service For Humanity. Behold the glowing lamp of service (pointing to the lighted taper). It is a source of light that burns wherever Chi Eta Phi women or men are assembled, shedding rays to illuminate our lives, our communities and our society.
Dean of Pledgees: Madam Basileus, I present these candidates for admission into our Sorority.
Basileus: Prospective candidates, we are assembled on a most serious occasion. The Dean of Pledgees and members responsible for your probationary period and activities have indicated to the Sorors/ Praters of Chapter that you have faithfully carried out instructions and met necessary requirements for membership into Chi Eta Phi Sorority. As we proceed in this ceremony, will each of you consider this question: Do you submit yourself of your own free will to the membership of Chi Eta Phi Sorority?
Candidate: I do.
Basileus: You seek admission of your own free will and we have voted to accept you. From this hour you have pledged yourself to secrecy, loyalty, faithfulness, and trustworthiness to the cause Chi Eta Phi represents.
The Greeks had three words for it, Chi Eta Phi. The name of this sorority is Chi Eta Phi, the Greek letters denoting the purposes and aims of this organization. We have three words for it too. These three words are Character, Education, and Friendship. These are the symbolic words that stand for our Sorority. They are our Sorority, and all that it is.
A Soror/Frater speaking for each of these symbolic words will compare them for you to a Lamp - the glowing lamp, so that you may have a truer meaning, a fuller meaning of Chi Eta Phi. During the explanation, the three Sorors will light the three tapers representing our purpose and aims.
Basileus: Iwill light the Candle of Character.
Member: I will light the Candle of Character. Radiantly shining is the ray of Character.
Character is what we really are; it is the spark that quickens human life, the driving force behind all human actions, courage, kindness, sincerity, loyalty, tolerance, and integrity. All are traits of Character, but are of no value, if we are not able to personally adjust and maintain our selfrespect.
In this Sorority the character traits of us all should be so interwoven that we will become as one individual, who is endowed with all of the good character traits of us all, thereby making each one of us a representative of the whole, whether we are alone or in a group, in our homes, on our jobs, or in our communities. This ray is a bright one; may it never become dim, Character.
Basileus: I will light the Candle of Education.
Member: I light the Candle of Education. The lamp continues to bum, shedding still another ray. This one is called Education. Education? What then is education? Education is learning, learning which cannot proceed without special effort on the part of the person who desires to learn. Our society of today is complex and is becoming increasingly so every day through the industrial and technical skills and knowledge of our great nation. We, as Nurses, may develop from this ray the ability to become an even more valuable member of this great Sorority of which we are a part. We cannot afford to do less, but we can do more through the efforts of Education, through the Education of our minds, and our souls, so that all around us may gain full benefit of our knowledge. This ray must radiate to all, if we are to move ahead and keep the lamp burning brightly with a deep warm glow.
Basileus: I will light the Candle of Friendship.
Member: I light the Candle of Friendship. One would ponder about this mysterious lamp of CHI ETA PHI. Ah, but it burns ever brightly still; unstintingly, it burns rays of Friendship; Friendship, the state of being a friend. We as individuals, cherish kind and warm regards for each other, so much so that we have become sisters. The Friendship ray burns within each us; it denotes the full emotional development of each Soror and Frater. This allows us to make our own decisions and to help others to do the same. This ray enables each of us to win modestly and to lose gracefully, to accept new responsibilities and accept criticisms of each other, and to learn from our mistakes, but best of all, to be friends. It helps us to recognize and understand the strengths and weaknesses of us all; and after all who does this best? Your friend. So, at last, we see these rays of Chi Eta Phi.
Basileus: Thus these symbolic words- Character, Education, and Friendship, light our minds, our bodies, our memories, our habits our faults, our experiences, and our abilities, making each of us the stronger in all our endeavors. And, because we love our fellowman, we are able and will always share these rays from our Glowing Lamp of Chi Eta Phi. May they forever burn brightly within the minds of us all, illuminating the dark crevices of our homes, our communities, and this great Sorority in which we are an integral part.
Basileus now administers oath to candidates.
Basileus: Each candidate is to come forward as name is called. Place right hand over heart, and left hand on the Bible. Repeat: I, state your name, do solemnly pledge to uphold the standards of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, never to divulge any of its secrets and to give support to the cause it represents. This pledge is upon my sacred word of honor.
Pledgees signs Pledge Form.
Basileus: I ll read the significance of the Pin.
Member: The Significance of the Pin. The twelve stones are rubies and sapphires and represent the twelve charter members of Chi Eta Phi Sorority. These stones were generally used together in ancient times as far back as Job. They were found near Serpentine and traced as his veins.
Serpentine was so named because he resembled a serpent. Since these two stones were found in his veins, rubies have become symbolic of the arterial system and sapphires are symbolic of the venous system.
The caduceus found on the pin was the staff used by Hermes, the Messenger of the gods. The Mythologists explained this by the story of Hermes finding two serpents knotted together while fighting, he separated them with his wand, which crowned by the serpents, became the symbol of the settlement of quarrels. A pair of wings was sometimes attached to the staff in token of the speed of Hermes as a messenger. He is thus considered the god of commerce and the god of peace.
Basileus: As your Big Sister(s) or Brother(s) steps forward to clasp the sorority pin of Chi Eta Phi over your heart, we in the Sorority clasp you to our hearts.
The Basileus now calls for Big Sisters or Brothers to come forward and pin Little Sisters or Brothers.
Basileus: With this pinning, you have now become worthy of learning the Secrets of this Sorority.
Basileus now calls for designated Sorors to perform the following duties:
 will teach the handshake.
 will give the distress and recognition signal.
 will give the password.
Basileus: We congratulate you and extend the right hand of welcome into Chi Eta Phi Sorority.
Let us join hands and sing the Sorority Song.
All members form a circle. Neophytes may be placed in the center of the circle.
 
 
Charter Chapter Intake Ceremony
 
INFORMATION: This is a most important ceremony. Those participating in the ceremony should be familiar with the content. Notify the National Organizer of members who plan to attend so that assignments and arrangements can be made.
PREPARATION: National Organizer responsible for contents of kits.
ATTIRE: Members and candidates wear black attire. Members participating in the ceremony are to wear official white robes and green stoles.
INSTRUCTIONS: Properties are assembled as outlined. Members participating in the ceremony are assigned parts by the National Organizer prior to the ceremony.
Members participating in the ceremony are to stand to the right and left of table.
Supreme Basileus and National Organizer to the left, Regional Director to the right.
Soft music is played while the Pledgees are led into the room.
They stand at their seats with Big Sisters/ Brothers standing near or behind the chair of each pledgee.
Supreme Basileus (S.B.). or National Organizer (N.O.) lights the Lamp of Service.
The National Organizer gives signal to be seated, and then proceeds with the ceremony.
S.B.: Prospective candidates, we are assembled on a most serious occasion. Those persons responsible for your guidance and activities have indicated that you have carried out instructions and meet necessary requirements for membership into Chi Eta Phi Sorority. As we proceed in this ceremony, will each of you consider this question: Worthy candidates do you submit yourself of your own free will to the members of this sorority for them to guide you through whatever sacred rites they deem necessary to make you a member of Chi Eta Phi Sorority?
Candidates: I do.
S.B.: From this hour on do you pledge yourself to secrecy, loyalty, faithfulness, and trustworthiness to the cause Chi Eta Phi represents?
Candidates: I do.
N.O.: The Greeks had three words for it- Chi Eta Phi. The name of this Sorority is Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Incorporated. We have three words for it too. They are Character, Education, and Friendship. These are the symbolic words that stand for our sorority. THEY ARE OUR SORORITY and all that is.
Members speaking for each of these symbolic words will compare them to a Lamp - the Glowing Lamp, so that you may have a truer meaning, a fuller meaning of Chi Eta Phi Sorority. During the explanation, tapers will be lit, representing our purposes and aims.
N.O.:  I will light the Candle of Character.
Member: I light the Candle of Character. Radiantly shining is the ray of Character.
Character is what we really are: it is the spark that quickens the human life, the driving force behind all human actions, courage, kindness, sincerity, loyalty, tolerance and integrity. All are traits of Character, but are of no value, if we are not able to personally adjust and maintain our self-respect. In this Sorority the character traits of us all should be so interwoven that we will become as one individual, who is endowed with all of the good character traits of us all, thereby making each one of us a representative of the whole, whether we are alone or in a group, in our homes, on our jobs, or in our communities. This ray is a bright one; may it never become dim, Character.
N.O.: I will light the Candle of Education.
Member: I light the Candle of Education. The lamp continues to burn, shedding still another ray. This one is called Education. Education? What then is education? Education is learning, learning which cannot proceed without special effort on the part of the person who desires to learn. Our society of today is complex and is becoming increasingly so every day through the industrial and technical skills and knowledge of our great nation. We, as Nurses, may develop from this ray the ability to become an even more valuable member of this great Sorority of which we are a part. We cannot afford to do less, but we can do more through the efforts of Education, through the Education of our minds, and our souls, so that all around us may gain full benefit of our knowledge. This ray must radiate to all, if we are to move ahead and keep the lamp burning with a deep warm glow.
N.O.:  I will light the Candle of Friendship.
Member: I light the Candle of Friendship. One would ponder about this mysterious lamp of CHI ETA PHI. Ah, but it burns ever brightly still; unstintingly, it bums rays of Friendship; Friendship, the state of being a friend. We as individuals, cherish kind and warm regards for each other, so much so that we have become sisters. The Friendship ray burns within each of us; it denotes the full emotional development of each Soror and Prater. This allows us to make our own decisions and to help others to do the same. This ray enables each of us to win modestly and to lose gracefully, to accept new responsibilities and accept criticisms of each other, and to learn from our mistakes, but best of all, to be friends. It helps us to recognize and understand the strengths and weaknesses of us all; and after all who does this best? Your friend. So, at last, we see these rays of Chi Eta Phi.
N.O.: Thus these symbolic words- Character, Education, and Friendship, light our minds, our bodies, our memories, our habits, our faults, our experiences, and our abilities, making each of us the stronger in all of our endeavors. And, because we love our fellowman, we are able and will always share these rays from our Glowing Lamp of Chi Eta Phi. May they forever bum brightly, within the minds of us all, illuminating the dark crevices of our homes, our communities, and this great Sorority in which we are an integral part.
N.O.: I will read the Purposes of the Sorority.
Member: The Purposes of the Sorority are:
1. To encourage the pursuit of continuing education among members of the Nursing profession.
2. To have a continuous recruitment program for nursing and other health professions.
3. To stimulate a close and friendly relationship among the members.
4. To develop working relationships with other professional groups for the improvement and delivery of health care services.
5. To constantly identify a corps of nursing leaders within the membership who will function as agents of social change on the national, regional, and local level.
N.O.: I will read the meaning of symbols.
Member: 1. The Sorority colors are PEA GREEN and LEMON YELLOW.
2. The Sorority flower is the white Chrysanthemum with Ivy which signifies- Truth, Fidelity, and Friendship.
3. The Sorority Emblem is the Caducous mounted on a jeweled base with a plaque beneath bearing the Greek letters symbolic of Chi Eta Phi.
4. The Sorority jewels are Rubies and Sapphires.
5. The motto of the Sorority is SERVICE FOR HUMANITY.
S.B. or N.O.: I am about to administer the pledge. Will each candidate come forward as your name is called. Place your right hand over your heart and left hand on the Bible and repeat after me:
I, …, do solemnly pledge to uphold the standards of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, never to divulge any of its secrets and to give support to the cause it represents. This pledge is upon my sacred word of honor.
Each pledgee then signs the pledge as the National Organizer Directs.
N.O.: The Significance of the Pin will be read by …, so you may wear it with knowledge and pride.
Member: The Significance of the Pin. The twelve stones are rubies and sapphires and represent the twelve charter members of Chi Eta Phi Sorority. These stones were generally used together in ancient times as far back as Job. They were found near Serpentine and traced as his veins.
Serpentine was so named because he resembled a serpent. Since these two stones were found in his veins, rubies have become symbolic of the arterial system and sapphires are symbolic of the venous system. The caduceus found on the pin was the staff used by Hermes, the Messenger of the gods. The Mythologists explained this by the story of Hermes finding two serpents knotted together while fighting, he separated them with his wand, which crowned the serpents, became the symbol of the settlement of quarrels. A pair of wings was sometimes attached to the staff in token of the speed of Hermes as a messenger. He is thus considered the god of commerce and the god of peace.
S.B. or N.O.: As your Big Sister(s) or Brother(s) steps forward to clasp the sorority pin of Chi Eta Phi over your heart, we in the Sorority clasp you to our hearts.
N.O. or S.B. instructs Big Sisters/Brothers to come forward and pin candidates.
N.O.: With the pinning, you have now become worthy of learning our secrets.
… will teach the handshake.
… will give the distress and recognition signal.
… will give the password.
N.O.: We congratulate you and extend the right hand of welcome into Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.

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