Pi Alpha
Xi
Initiation
Ritual
2010
Assembly
(Optional)
Marshall
or Advisor, addressing candidates: We
have the permission of the President of the society to enter for the initiation.
Calling
the Meeting to Order
President:
The meeting will please come to order *.
We are assembled today for the purpose of initiating into the … Chapter of Pi
Alpha Xi … number
duly elected candidate(s).
Vice
President: Welcome
to all family and friends that are with us on this special occasion. Today as we
gather together to recognize and reward the accomplishments of our newest
members, let us pause and remember our role, not just as horticulturists, but as
purveyors of beauty and stewards of the earth. Pause
3 seconds then continue.
President:
Candidates - please remain standing.
We are
gathered here today to honor Pi Alpha Xi members past and present and to welcome
new members to the society. It is important for us to remember those who have
made our gathering today possible. As we welcome our newest members, members
selected for their high qualifications, we honor ALL Pi Alpha Xi members.
We look
to these new members to continue our rich traditions – to foster fellowship,
collegiality, cooperation and to promote Horticulture in every aspect of their
lives. Welcome.
Inquiry
Advisor:
I wish to present for initiation into Pi Alpha Xi the following candidates: … identify
each by name.
President,
addressing candidates: Candidates,
do you come before the members of Pi Alpha Xi with an earnest desire that we
receive you into our society and grant you its benefits? If so, answer "I
do".
Candidates:
I do.
President:
Before proceeding with the initiation, it becomes my duty to explain to you the
aims and purposes of Pi Alpha Xi the honor society for horticulture.
The
purpose of this society is to promote high scholarship, to foster good
fellowship among its members, to increase the efficiency of the profession, and
to establish cordial relations among students, educators, and professional
horticulturists. Moreover, those of us in ornamental horticulture have an ideal
which has come down through the ages - the enrichment of human life through
plants.
Do you
hereby pledge yourself to uphold and promote the ideals of this society and take
upon yourself the responsibility incumbent upon membership therein? Please
respond with "I do".
Initiates:
I do
President:
It is my duty to charge you.
Are you
willing to seek further knowledge of Pi Alpha Xi and to be loyal to the ideals
of this society, and are you willing to render unto it such service as it may
require? Please respond with "I am".
Candidates:
I am.
President:
The candidates, please be seated.
Secretary:
The name of our
society, Pi Alpha Xi, represents the three Greek words meaning fellowship,
scholarship, and a love of plants.
These
are the fundamentals of our success in horticulture.
Some
member of society points to characters on key as they appear during explanatory
remarks.
Explanatory
Secretary:
A closer study of this name discloses that Pi, the first letter was chosen to
represent a Greek word
Πολυμάθεια “Polymathia”,
meaning "Scholarship".
This
symbolizes the knowledge and achievement which Pi Alpha Xi is organized to
foster. The philosophical Greeks tell us that "Education is a possession no
one can take away" and that one "who perseveres succeeds at
last".
A great
teacher has said that the educated person should be at home in all lands and in
all ages, counting nature a familiar acquaintance and art an intimate friend;
that he should have gained a standard for the appreciation of other people's
work and for the criticism of his own; and that he should lose himself in
generous enthusiasm, cooperating with others for common ends. Who shall deny
that one who lives out this program possesses both wisdom and achievement?
We may
sum up this ideal in three short words: "Always to excel."
Secretary:
A representation of an ancient writing instrument, the stylus, appears on our
key to symbolize this scholarship in which we strive to excel.
Alpha,
the second letter of our name, was chosen to represent the Greek word
Ανθοκόμος “Anthokomos”, which
describes one who "takes care of flowers." The traditions of Pi Alpha
Xi, however, date back to a civilization much earlier than the Greeks', to that
of the ancient Egyptians. Their sacred and eternal symbol, the Lotus of the
Thus,
Nymphaea caerulea, The Egyptian Lotus, appears upon our key and upon our seal.
In our designs the fully blown flower is accompanied by two buds. These buds
typify a promise of good things to come from the propagation of our ideals.
Appearing also on our key is a word signifying the Lotus flower, rendered in
script of three ancient types. The colors adopted by our society have come from
the pure cerulean blue of this noble flower and from the shimmering green of the
tropical waters with which it has for so long been associated.
The two
chief provinces of ornamental horticulture, namely culture and design, are
symbolized by two other characters on our key.
The
Egyptian hoe represents culture, while the ancient vase represents the use of
ornamental plants as decorative material. Not only were Lotus flowers grown in
Xi, the
third letter was chosen to represent the Greek words Zω “Zo” and
Ομόνοια “Omonoia” meaning “to live”
and “unity,” respectively. We interpret these words as symbols of the
brotherhood among those who are members of Pi Alpha Xi and the fellowship among
true gardeners. The ancient Greeks had a saying "There exists a tie of
kindred among all wise people".
Lecture
From
time immemorial flowers and ornamental plants have been associated with human
activities. When primitive humans abandoned the life of roving savages and
settled down to cultivate the soil, a garden seems to have been their first
dwelling place. Here they could find food, shelter, peace and beauty - the main
ingredients of a civilized life. It was in such a place, amid the green and
flowering plants, that our pursuit of a cultured and urban civilization had its
beginning. Ancients called it
Throughout
all history, the cultivation of plants and flowers has exerted an elevating
influence upon humankind. People learned to garden with ornamental plants almost
as soon as they learned crop culture. The historical record reveals the early
use of flowers and plant materials for festive, ceremonial and religious
purposes.
Landscape
design was practiced as early as the very dawn of written history. Florists,
gardeners, botanists and their associates, the physicians, worked throughout the
ancient empires of the east - in the Orient, in Egypt, Mesopotamia and India -
as well as in the later classical countries- down through the Dark Ages and
finally into the civilization of modern times. This is one of the oldest
professions, and one which has constantly enriched the world and ennobled those
who practiced it.
We
cannot imagine the Garden of Eden or any of the enchanted gardens of history
without their flowers and their groves. The ancient Egyptians used flowers to
honor the mighty pharaohs, to present to guests, to adorn houses, and to pay
tribute to the dead. We discover pictures, thousands of years old, and see the
image of a powerful Assyrian warrior who dines beneath a leafy arbor, and we
read about Nebuchadnezzar's
They
have been transplanted from country to country, wherever humans have gone, often
carried in the vanguard of civilization. The great and strong of all ages have
lauded the beauty of plants.
Cyrus,
the great king of Ancient Persia, planted tree parks with his own hands.
Philosophers, scientists, statesmen, and soldiers, from Plato to Aristotle to
Washington and Jefferson, have praised the virtues of gardening and proclaimed
the glories of ornamental plants.
Poets
and writers, from Homer to Shakespeare and down to the moderns, have also paid
their tributes. Legends have grown up around these plants. Throughout all ages,
though peoples and empires have come and gone, still the urge has persisted for
these good things which grow out of the ground. This is enduring evidence of the
fundamental need of humankind for the products of our horticulture industries.
Our work
is essential. There is a special dignity in our profession because it was an
early precursor of art, science and the craft of healing. Its practitioners have
also been responsible for the planning of cities and parks, the adornment of
temples, the discovery of natural laws and the introduction of many things which
have helped to establish a better, richer life upon this earth. Their flowers
have expressed deepest sentiment at times when no words could convey this quite
so fully. Their trees and gardens have adorned people's homes, from the humblest
dooryard to the most noble palace. Such are some of the accomplishments and
deeper meanings underlying our ancient and honorable calling.
Formation
of the Society and Chapter
The idea
of an honorary floriculture and ornamental horticulture society came from an
impromptu after-dinner discussion between representatives of several
universities attending the International Flower Show held at
Our
chapter, the … chapter, was the … chapter to be established. The … chapter
was founded … through the efforts of ….
Since
…, our founding year, we have initiated … (number)
members.
Conclusion
Today,
the only way in which we may fittingly discharge the trust received from our
predecessors is by living up to our noble traditions. As custodians of the
knowledge and scholarship which we are privileged to possess, it is our solemn
obligation to conserve the earth and to make it more productive and beautiful -
to the end that all people might benefit. We who are members of Pi Alpha Xi, by
reason of our learning and special attainments in the art and science of
horticulture, are entrusted with the special responsibility of employing our
skill and knowledge for the betterment of the world and unselfish advancement of
our profession. This is a sort of "Hippocratic Oath" which we must
accept out of respect for the traditions of our calling. To this, Pi Alpha Xi is
dedicated.
Over and
above all thoughts of commercial gain, congenial fellowship or individual
attainment, stands the deep and ultimate goal of our society, the enrichment of
human life through the advancement of our profession, the conservation and
extension of nature's beauty, and the contentment of the human spirit.
Oath of
Pi Alpha Xi
It now
becomes by duty and privilege to administer the oath of Pi Alpha Xi Society. You
will pronounce your name and repeat after me:
I, …,
/ do
hereby promise to faithfully adhere
/ to the
ideals for which Pi Alpha Xi stands
/ and I
will strive with diligence
/
towards the realization
/ or the
highest attainments
/ of
which I am capable.
/ I will
at all times
/ try to
foster good fellowship
/ among
members of Pi Alpha Xi
/ and
will ever be alert
/ to
find other persons
/ with
worthy achievements in horticulture.
President:
This concludes the formal initiation and now as President of the … Chapter of
Pi Alpha Xi, I take great pleasure in welcoming you into our Society as members.
After
receiving your materials and signing the Secretary's roll, the rest of the
members will welcome you.
President
shakes hands with newly initiated members.
Chapter:
each member follows President in shaking hands and offering congratulations.
Secretary:
please note that each initiate is to be assigned a permanent number which will
appear on the initiate's certificate and the records of the society. Some
chapters alphabetized the order of number assignment or even place special
emphasis on number.