Ritual Education Manual is Now Available

By Kay Elam, Sigma Delta (Huntingdon College), Rituals, Traditions, and Jewelry Committee

My favorite scene from the 1977 movie, The Jerk, was when the main character, Navin Johnson, (played by Steve Martin) ran around his workplace yelling, “The phone books are here, the phone books are here.” Why? Because he’d see his name in print. Well, for the past few days I’ve told anyone who would listen, “The REM is online; the REM is online!” Not because I want to see my name in print, but because this third revised publication from RT&J (Rituals Book and Book of Rituals Instructions are the other two) is finally available to our collegiate Directors of Ritual Education (DREs), Vice Presidents of Programming and Enrichment (VPPEs), Chapter Presidents (CPs) and their advisors as well as Alumnae Chapter Presidents (APs), ELCs, Network Specialists and Directors and others who might need it.

The Ritual Education Manual can be found in the Ritual Education section of Fulfilling the Promise online. Permission must be granted for access so if you hold one of these offices, I urge you to request access sooner rather than later as there might be a little lag time in processing the requests.

How is the revised REM different from the old, print edition of the REM? First, it is virtual. It is also streamlined which makes it much easier to use. The Table of Contents has a link to each listing—yes, a link—so the content is easy to access. It is a “how-to” book of many resources for DREs/VPPEs and other officers who might need a Ritual moment, a workshop or just inspiration and ideas.

The REM has three major sections: The first explains the Ritual responsibilities for both collegiate and alumnae chapters. The second section is a list of Ritual Moments, including thoughts from two of our Founders. The third section includes thirty-one modules and workshops grouped by category including: Application, Education, Introspection, Games, Logistics, Recruitment, and Religion. Each module or workshop is ready to go as is or can be adapted to be chapter specific. And did I say everything is linked, so it’s easy to find?

RT&J hopes you’ll love this new manual as much as we do. Reach out to your RT&J liaison if you need help using it to strengthen your chapter’s relationship to Ritual.

While much of the content was created and organized by RT&J Committee members, we also solicited input and contributions from several other alumnae sisters. But none of it would have come to fruition without the hard work of two members of our AOII HQ staff. Mariellen Sasseen, Director of Strategic Partnerships and To Dragma editor, is the staff liaison to RT&J. She guided us through the entire process. Julianna Johnson, Graphic Designer and Webmaster, spent weeks formatting the REM into an online resource.

Now you know why I’m excitedly shouting: “The REM is online! The REM is online!”

You may contact the Rituals, Traditions, and Jewelry Committee (RT&J) about anything Ritual-related at RT&J@alphaomicronpi.org