Delta Upsilon
Initiation
Ritual
2001
The
Pledging Ceremony
This
will be the new associate member’s first significant experience with the
Fraternity. The chapter should make every effort to leave a positive and lasting
impression by organizing a positive and meaningful event. Because Delta Upsilon
is non-secret, we can share our ceremonies and rituals with others.
This
also can be an excellent way to introduce the new associate member class and the
chapter to campus administrators and faculty, the campus community, parents, and
alumni. Proper planning is critical to ensuring a positive and meaningful
ceremony.
The
Ceremony
The
Associate Member Educator and the Vice President of Membership Recruitment first
see to the arrangements in the ceremony room, including setting pledge pins out,
meeting with the associate members, explaining the declarations, and confirming
the pronunciation of each man’s name. They explain the flow of the ceremony
and all procedural instructions regarding the ceremony itself.
Once
all of the members are present, the Associate Member Educator and the Vice
President of Membership Recruitment lead the associate members into the room,
while the brothers sing the “Delta Upsilon Ode.” After the song is finished
and the associate members have reached their seats, the President instructs
everyone to be seated while the President remains standing in front of the hall
behind the table containing the pledge pins and the honor code that the
associate members will sign.
President:
To perpetuate the principles of our Fraternity, we
aspire to add to the membership of the … Chapter Name
Chapter of Delta Upsilon, those men who we believe will promote and maintain our
ideals. Since membership in Delta Upsilon is for life, we wish to add only those
men who will maintain our ideals throughout their lives, and who will be leaders
in our society.
You,
gentlemen, have been invited to pledge Delta Upsilon, an honor bestowed upon few
men. During your pledgeship you will learn more about our Fraternity, this
chapter, and the members assembled here. You will have the opportunity to decide
whether you desire to become affiliated with Delta Upsilon for life.
In
like manner, the members of this chapter will measure whether you meet the high
standards for membership in our Fraternity.
During
your pledgeship you will learn the history of Delta Upsilon, the first
non-secret fraternity, founded in 1834 at
Today,
being non-secret means that our principles and ideals are open to public
scrutiny and inspection, allowing others to judge whether we are living up to
our own expectations. These important fundamental ideals have allowed Delta
Upsilon to flourish continually since 1834, and to continue building into the
thriving international fraternity we are today. Our Four Founding Principles:
the Promotion of Friendship, the Diffusion of Liberal Culture, the Development
of Character, and the Advancement of Justice will be explained to you during
your pledgship. Our motto will become yours: Dikaia Upotheke, Justice Our
Foundation. Delta Upsilon seeks to select its members solely upon merit. We
continue to hold this philosophy foremost in our practices and in our evaluation
of prospective members. We believe each of you has the character and merit to
join the men who have perpetuated the ideals of our Fraternity.
If
an inspirational address is to be given during the ceremony, the President
should now introduce the alumnus member or guest who will give the address.
President:
During your
pledgeship we require that you take an active interest in college and Fraternity
activities, perform the duties assigned by your chapter, and fulfill your
initiation
requirements.
The
Associate Member Educator will now read those requirements.
At
this time, the Associate Member Educator reads in full the chapter's initiation
requirements and the chapter’s honor code. At the conclusion, he will ask the
associate members to stand.
Associate
Member Educator: Will
the associate members please stand?
President:
Gentlemen, after
hearing the principles of Delta Upsilon and the requirements for initiation by
this chapter, now is the time to affirm your desire to become associated with
our Fraternity.
If
you share our principles and ideals, you will come forward when your name is
called, sign the honor code before me, and receive the pledge pin, which will
signify you are a pledge of our Fraternity.
Remember
always that it is the property of our chapter, and as such you will wear it with
pride, and with the anticipation that upon completion of your pledgeship and
initiation requirements, you will become a duly initiated member of the Delta
Upsilon Fraternity.
The
Vice President of Membership Recruitment will read the name of each associate
member. Each will come forward in turn and sign the honor code. Each associate
member will then walk over to the Associate Member Educator and be presented
with his pledge pin after which he will return to his seat and remain standing,
facing the President. When all have signed, the President will instruct the
associate members to turn to face the members and guests.
President:
Brothers and
guests, it is my pleasure to present to you these newest associate members of
the … Chapter Name Chapter of Delta Upsilon Fraternity.
Here
those in attendance should sing “Hail, Delta Upsilon”, as the officers lead
the associate members ceremoniously out of the room, with the President
remaining in the front of the hall.
It
is appropriate after the song is concluded that the President make final
announcements concerning a follow-up reception or other activities, and express
his thanks to those in attendance.
The
Initiation Ritual
Rite
I
The
room in which Rite I takes place shall have a table at the front, with the Roll
Book open upon it, and chairs for the candidates and Examiner and Chief Marshal,
if desired. The Chief Marshal shall assemble the candidates in another room
conveniently located. From there he shall conduct them into the chamber for Rite
I, after which the Examiner shall enter. At the Examiner’s direction, all
should then be seated.
If
desired, there may be as many Marshals as candidates; in which case a designated
Marshal shall escort each candidate to the room for Rite I, and later to the
Initiation Hall.
Chief
Marshal: Brother
Examiner, these men, who have accepted the fellowship we offer, now present
themselves for admission into our brotherhood. They are ready to receive
instruction in the solemn and irrevocable pledges which they are about to take.
Examiner:
It is fitting that
you receive instruction in these pledges, so laden with responsibility and
fertile in opportunity. They bring to you life-long relations of friendship and
of brotherhood, with duties you will not easily avoid, and with privileges you
can receive on no other terms. This Fraternity will serve as your college home;
those who dwell here will be your brothers, your counselors, and your
protectors. Their influence will help to mold your character and your future.
You rightly ask much of a brotherhood to which you give yourselves without
impediment or reserve. They rightly ask of you not to surrender yourselves
without full realization of the meaning and finality of the pledges you are to
take.
Before
proceeding to such instruction, however, it will first be necessary to make
certain preliminary declarations.
Chief
Marshal: Do you on
your honor declare that you are members of no college fraternity, and are
pledged to none but this? If so, answer “I do” after your name is called.
Then
the Chief Marshal shall read each name, to which the candidate shall reply: I
do.
Chief
Marshal: Do you
also on your honor declare that you entertain no sentiment toward any member of
this Chapter that would prevent you from maintaining cordial and brotherly
relations with him? If so, answer “I do” after your name is called.
Then
shall the Chief Marshal read the names as before, to which each candidate shall
reply: I do.
Examiner:
Of those who would
enter our Fraternity we ask two things—that they know our ideals, and that
they pledge themselves to help us realize those ideals. We have instructed you
in the history and the principles of our brotherhood. We have told you of the
early secret fraternities, of the evil that attended their control of student
affairs, and of the sentiment hostile to themselves, which they bred. We have
explained the origin of the anti-secret societies at Williams, Union,
As
time passed, the character of the secret societies so altered, that hostility
toward them decreased. Delta Upsilon recognized this happier period by adopting
the principle of non-secrecy in place of anti-secrecy. This modification of our
ancient attitude must not be misunderstood. It meant no less hatred of evil
practices in secret societies; it served to acknowledge the disappearance of
those practices, and sprang from a logical devotion to our basic principle
taught in the motto of our Fraternity – DIKAIA UPOTHEKE- Justice, our
Foundation.
Our
first exercise in Justice, the protest against the secret societies, served its
purpose and is no longer necessary, but the battles of Justice are infinite, and
her champions are ever needed to serve her cause both in the college and in the
world beyond. To forward the ends of enlightened equity demands knowledge and
sympathy: the broad mind and the large heart. It is man's work, to be done best
by those who have enjoyed the twofold education of intellect and of character.
We
have therefore, formed ourselves into a Fraternity in order to advance justice,
promote friendship, develop character, maintain and diffuse liberal culture, and
to promote intellectual, moral, and social improvement.
After
a brief pause the Examiner shall proceed: We
have expounded to you our ideals. Because we believe them to be your ideals
also, we bring you to your initiation, wherein you must pledge your allegiance
to Delta Upsilon, you must promise to be faithful in every relation of
brotherhood, and you must solemnly declare, before many witnesses, your
determination to stand for the principles of our Fraternity. And you must
reflect that the spoken pledge is without any purpose unless your life also
exemplifies your words. Therefore, consider carefully, that you may approach not
unadvisedly to your initiation. The vows, once taken, are irrevocable. If you
are not in thorough sympathy with our ideals, if you are at all uncertain in
your desire to become a member of this Fraternity, you have now a last
opportunity to declare yourself.
After
a brief pause the Examiner shall proceed: As
a manifestation of your willingness to accept the pledges required of members of
this Fraternity, you will now inscribe your name within this Roll Book,
containing those promises, which you are soon to make in the presence of our
Brotherhood.
Here,
the candidates should advance when his name is called again by the Chief Marshal
and sign the Roll Book. As each candidate signs, the Examiner shall retrieve
each candidate’s pledge pin, either by receiving it in a cup or bowl, or by
removing it from the candidate’s shirt.
This
concludes Rite I of the Initiation Ritual. At the conclusion of this ceremony,
the Chief Marshal and his assistants, if there are any, accompanied by the
Examiner bearing the Roll Book, shall lead the candidates to the designated
place to prepare for their entrance into the Initiation Hall. Once inside the
Initiation Hall, the Examiner shall place the Roll Book, with a bookmark in the
place where the initiates have signed, on the table in front of the Master. All
should proceed to their places and remain standing.
The
Initiation Ritual
Rite
II
While
Rite I is in progress, the Chapter President shall call the members of the
Fraternity to order in the Initiation Hall. When the Initiation Team enters with
the candidates, all shall stand and sing the “Delta Upsilon Ode.”
Examiner:
You may be seated.
As
it is our duty to watch over the welfare of our Fraternity, that it may continue
in vigorous life, it behooves us from time to time to add to our number such men
as will most honor our Brotherhood. Upon these who stand before us our choice
has fallen. We are now assembled to receive the pledges of their devotion, and
to seal their acceptance into our Brotherhood. Not only to those who are
received and to us who receive them, but also to all who may come within the
influence of this Fraternity, these pledges and this initiation are momentous.
Since
our words and deeds have emerged from a common heritage of acceptance and belief
in a Supreme Being, it is an essential and basic part of our tradition to turn
to God in prayer, as did our founding brothers.
Chaplain:
Let us pray. God of
our fathers and our God, who inspired the formation of the Delta Upsilon
Fraternity with Justice as its sure Foundation, may we temper the rigor of our
present world with a deepened appreciation of the beauty and strength of
friendship.
May
we encourage one another and in common concern be ever faithful to the highest
and best we know.
Together
enable us to live bravely amid the discouragements of life; seek to acquit
ourselves like men and continue to believe in the best, even in the face of
failure.
May
we never use our brotherhood as a means to seek selfish ends and keep us free
from cynicism. May no unworthy thoughts or deeds cloud our skies. May our
actions never make rough the road for others who walk with us or who would
follow. May we never fail to keep faith with those who place their trust in us.
Let us renew the vows once made and now shared with these new Brothers.
Grant
us the strength to serve, and the moral courage to live more nobly and strive to
achieve the maturity of independent minds. May no pettiness, or pride of
exclusiveness ever keep us from rendering to Delta Upsilon the vision of the
highest and noblest purposes as they have emerged from Justice, our sure
Foundation.
In
all this we ask Thy blessing in the knowledge that the highest ideals and
noblest thoughts come from Thee. Amen.
The
Chief Marshal should move to retrieve the Roll Book Master:
Brothers in
Delta Upsilon, you have unanimously elected these men to membership in our
Fraternity: (Here the
Chief Marshal should again read the full names of each candidate.) Before proceeding to their initiation, however, it is
fitting that we should examine once more our own hearts. In a brotherhood such
as ours, a close and lasting friendship must unite all its members, creating
such an intimate and permanent influence as shall mold them to a rounded type of
manhood. Our past is secure; our future depends upon our vigilance. We must
jealously guard against any who may disturb the harmony of our fraternal life,
against any whose presence may lower our standards or becloud our ideals.
Therefore,
will the members of our chapter please rise? *
I now challenge each of
you in the name of Delta Upsilon: Does any brother know any reason why any of
these candidates should not be received into the fellowship of our Fraternity?
Here
shall follow a short pause, after which the Master shall continue: Your silence makes it your duty to remove from your
minds all prejudice or feelings, which might hinder the discharge of any
brotherly obligation.
I
therefore charge you so to rule your thought and conduct that, in all of your
future relations with these men, nothing should mar the trust and brotherly
affection, which should ever exist between you. Please be seated.
Here,
turning from the members, the Master shall address himself to the candidates.
Now,
as to you who would join our Brotherhood, this hour, to all of us impressive, to
you gentlemen, should be especially solemn. We initiate you into no meaningless
secrets, but into a Brotherhood founded
upon a principle, which it is our duty to exemplify in our lives, —DIKAIA
UPOTHEKE, —Justice, our Foundation. The relationship of brotherhood is a
sacred one. Its ties are noble, for it has been divinely established by the
Great Exemplar as the proper bearing of man toward man. It is therefore the
ideal of human relationship, an ideal that we seek to realize in our fraternal
life, thereby learning from our Fraternity the highest lessons of human duty and
opportunity.
In
this brotherhood, Justice is our guiding principle, and as Justice is but truth
in action, it is our deeds that testify our loyalty to the ideals of our
Fraternity, and our worthiness to conserve the heritage handed down to us by
past generations of Delta Upsilon. In three centuries now, time has endorsed the
enduring value of our principles. In chapters across the
Into
such a brotherhood we offer you the opportunity to enter. But in entering you
must pledge undying loyalty to Delta Upsilon and to its ideals.
At
this point, if a Charge is not to be given, the ceremony continues with the
Examiner’s statement below. If a Charge is
to be given, the Master shall continue:
It
is, therefore, well that we should here pause to consider those ideals more
fully.
Here,
all being seated, the Master should introduce the Speaker who will deliver the
charge.
Master:
Brothers and
guests, it is my pleasure to introduce our speaker who will deliver the charge
to the candidates.
The
Master will now read the prepared introduction.
Fellow
Brothers and honored guests, I am proud to introduce, Brother … Name,
… Chapter
Name and
Year. (Ex: “Brother James A.
Garfield, Williams ’56”)
Once
the charge has concluded, the Master shall proceed to the podium, and the
Examiner shall rise proceed to the end of the table to the Master’s left.
Examiner:
I ask that the
candidates please rise.
Brother
Master, I present to you these candidates present, to be admitted to fellowship
in the Delta Upsilon Fraternity.
They
have made the preliminary declarations, and, having learned the nature of the
pledges, are prepared to take them.
Master:
The pledges I now
propose to you, you must take upon your word of honor to hold them sacred and
inviolable forever.
The
Master shall read the Oath aloud, a few words at a time, the candidates
repeating each phrase in unison.
Master:
Each candidate will
individually pronounce “I” and their full name, and then in unison, repeat
after me.
I,
(here shall be
inserted the full name of the candidate), / of
my own free will and accord, / in
the presence of God and of these witnesses, / do
hereby solemnly declare / that
the principles of this Fraternity / as
they have been explained to me / accord
entirely with my own views; / and
I solemnly promise / that
as a member of this Fraternity / I
will faithfully adhere to those principles, / endeavoring
in every way to perfect myself / morally,
intellectually, and socially, / and
endeavoring also to act towards others / according
to that high standard of conduct / required
by the Fraternity.
I
solemnly promise that I will be loyal /
to the Delta Upsilon
Fraternity / and to this Chapter, / abiding by their rules, / discharging my
obligations to them faithfully, / and using all
honorable means / to
promote their interests.
I
solemnly promise that I will share with my brothers /
the duties of my
chapter; / that
I will uphold and encourage them /
in all that is
honorable and right; / that
I will ever extend to each brother /
the right hand of
sympathy; / and that at all times and in all circumstances /
I will endeavor to cultivate those sentiments /
which should ever exist between brothers.
All
this I solemnly promise upon my honor, /
without any
equivocation, / mental reservation, / or secret evasion of mind whatsoever.
Master:
Brothers, we are
all witnesses to these pledges.
After
a short pause the Master opens the Roll Book at the place where the initiates
have signed, and carries it before each candidate so that while the Chief
Marshal calls the roll, each candidate whose name is called shall have the book
before him.
Master:
Do you, before God
and in the presence of these witnesses, acknowledge this signature, which you
have subscribed herein to the pledges just now repeated? If so, you will answer
to your name, "I do."
The
Chief Marshal shall here call the roll of the candidates. Under the guidance of
the Chief Marshal, the candidates shall then pass before the Master to receive
the insignia. Each candidate shall stand before the Master, and the latter,
placing the ribbon with the badge about the candidate's neck, shall say:
Master:
Receive and wear
this badge in token of your membership in the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. I extend
to you the right hand of fellowship.
During
this interval a Fraternity song may be sung or music softly played.
Master:
Initiates of Delta
Upsilon, you have this day received a distinction, which is granted to few
men—decoration with the insignia of our Fraternity. It marks the confidence,
which we repose in you. May the ties which it symbolizes, strengthen
perpetually, and may its possession instill in you the spirit of undying loyalty
to Delta Upsilon.
By
virtue of the authority vested in me, I now declare you members of the Delta
Upsilon Fraternity.
Then,
to the assembled members, the Master shall say:
Master:
I ask that all
Brothers in Delta Upsilon please stand.
Forasmuch
as these men have now become your brothers, it is your part and duty to aid them
in their struggle toward a larger life, to recall to their minds what solemn
pledges they have just now taken before this company; to instruct, reprove, and
admonish them with all kindness, according to the principles of our Fraternity
and the truth that is in you; and to share with them the benefits and duties of
life together. You may be seated.
Then,
to the initiates:
Master:
And as for you who
have been newly received in our fraternal circle, it is your part and duty to
bear in mind that you are now one with us in principle and purpose; you are to
share with us the privileges and divide with us the responsibilities of faithful
service in Delta Upsilon. May your zeal in its cause never flag, may your
sympathy with its interests ever grow deeper, may our mutual regard increase as
time shall heighten our appreciation of the noble sentiments which have made us
one. May justice, culture, and morality be the motives of your lives, as they
have been the motives of our union. May the bonds forged today unite us forever
in sturdy resolve to attain that goal of true manhood, aspiration toward which
is the sign and seal of our Fraternity.
This
concludes the Rite of Initiation. With great pride I now present our newest
Brothers in Delta Upsilon.
Here,
all in attendance shall applaud and sing “Hail, Delta Upsilon.” The Ceremony
of Initiation concludes with the Master may make any necessary announcements.